My Dirty Little Secret...

You know, The All-American Rejects aren't that bad; they have some good things to say. For example, they encourage us to reflect on our own dirty little secrets. Here's mine: I love celebrity gossip and I don't know why. Today I might wonder if Prince William is behaving himself (see pic for details on what he's been up to lately...). Tomorrow I might ponder Diddy's next birthday party...

Part of me agrees with the people who say we should give celebrities their privacy, but it's just a small part. For the most part, I love to know the juice. I try to put myself in their shoes but it doesn't help. It's true, I wouldn't want pictures all over the web of me taking out the garbage. I wouldn't want to hear speculations on my relationship status buzzing around in the air, but I guess it's the price you pay for being a household name.

I have no PO box for fan mail, so maybe I'm just insensitive. Perez Hilton is my friend and I will not be ashamed.

Festivals - help me create a comprehensive list...

I love festivals. Many of you must know that about me by now. I don't care if they're well attended, boring, if there's free food, if it's lavishly decorated... There's so much more than that. I love seeing how people interpret the word "festival." It's about seeing people share their passions.

I once wrote a story about the shock of going to my first Chocolate Festival where instead of white tents with white lights and chocolate fountains as far as the eye could see, there was a plastic bowl full of unwrapped Rolos on a fold out table in the middle of a gymnasium. That has become on my favorite festivals ever because I learned that festivals are not only about pleasing the attendee. It's about a community getting together and sharing something they love. It's about learning what interests people. I love going to festivals.

Last weekend my mother, sister and I went to the Canby Tamale Festival. Was it as magical as it sounds? Of course. There's nothing quite like watching a man in a mullet wait patiently for his tamales. My mother posed a question which caused me to think. She asked, "Lily, have you kept track of all the festivals you have attended?"

Here's a list of what I can think of. Please add to this list if there's anything you can think of..........

To get the ball rolling, here's a picture of my sister Emme and I at the 2008 annual Portland Pirate Festival at the park under the St. John's bridge.

The Chocolate Festival - at the Provo Community Center
The Chocolate Festival - at the Expo Center in Salt Lake
The Gingerbread Festival (2 years) - at Thanksgiving Point, Utah
The Taxidermy Festival - at the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum on BYU campus in Provo
The Dalai Lama's Birthday Festival - outside his house in Dharamsala, India
The Dahlia Festival - at the State Fairgrounds in Salt Lake City
The Dahlia Festival - in Canby Oregon
Asian Festival - BYU Campus in Provo, Utah
Sundance Film Festival - Park City, Utah
India Fest - Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah
Llama Festival - Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah
Festival of Lights - Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah
Festival of Colors - Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah
Himalayan Festival - Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah
Festival of Trees - Salt Lake Expo Center
International Food Festival - Salt Lake City
International Festival - BYU Campus
World Fest - Salem, Oregon
The Tamale Festival - in Canby Oregon
The Wilsonville Art Festival
The Greek Festival - in Honolulu, Hawaii
The Greek Festival - in Salt Lake City, Utah
The Greek Festival - in Portland, Oregon
Latin Festival - Portland, Oregon
WordStock - Portland, Oregon
The Portland Pirate Festival - in Portland, Oregon

Snow Day

Today it snowed. Apparently Portland hasn't had weather like this for FIVE WHOLE YEARS. I made a video on elfyourself.com. I watched Amelie. I tidied up around the house and napped. I took pictures outside of my garden gnome in the snow. I started a blog. Clearly, this day has been momentous in more than one way. I wish I could have a snow day every day. Or at least once a week.

So, why should I start a blog? Maybe the proper questions is: why has it taken me so long to get one started. I'll be honest, this is my third blog attempt, the first two having failed miserably. The good news is that I have two things now that I didn't have before: a laptop and my own apartment. These two things can lead to social withdrawal, so why not start a blog? Again. I can keep up with my other bloggy peeps and they can keep up with me. I am sure there are many people who will be interested in my blog.

This is going to be a fresh start. I can't be a back-blogger. There's too much. Of course I'd love to write about that the Christmas Party I went to last night or Zac Efron's 2oth birthday, but I plan to live in the now. I will let blog worthy events rise into my life naturally and I will wait patiently for Zac Efron to turn 21.