Dear Haydn,

Have you ever wondered what you would say to someone you've always wanted to meet when you finally get to meet them? Trust me, I have a ginormous list of people I can't wait to meet in the next life. Most of them consist of really cool dead royalty and composers. For instance, I want to ask Mozart what he was thinking when he wrote the D major concerto and stuck that high D right at the start for four measures. I need to know if Richard III was a killer or just wildly unlucky, although if it's the first I'm sure the chains from the underworld for murdering his nephews will be a dead give away... I also want to ask Bach if he's ever killed a kitten. However, today I decided what I will tell Haydn should I ever meet him.

Dear Haydn,
Thank you for writing symphonies. I like them a whole heck of a lot. Second, thank you for adding flutes into your symphonies. Finally, thank you for sounding distinctly like yourself. I probably will owe my passing of the first midterm in music history due to your original sound and your use of the flutes, since I can pick them out with one ear tied behind... oh never mind. Anyhow, way to write good music.
The end.

Big Mouth

With the beginning of summer, since Utah has finally caught on and it's actually warm now, sun bathers are cropping up everywhere. I can't blame them. I never turn down a nap in the park or on the grass on campus. However, there are those who really worked to get a good base tan before it got warm, and they look like this:



It's all I can do not to follow them around singing the Oopah Loompah song from the first Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie.

IIIIIIIII'm Baaaaack!

Prepare yourselves for a torrent of posts. They're coming. But not today. Or tomorrow. They'll probably start showing up Wednesday or Thursday afternoon. We'll see. Until then I'll be a little busy. We're taking Trent to the MTC on Wednesday, so I'm trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with him before Wednesday.

But, just to whet your appetite, here are some things I've been up to:

*Climbed about in cool tombs from the last Chinese dynasty.
*Purchased two bamboo flutes.
*Got a mission call.(To Phoenix Arizona, Spanish speaking for those who may not have heard yet. I leave September 15th and couldn't be more excited).
*Learned to read the Chinese music notation system while trying not to pull my hair out. It was more than a little humbling after playing music for nearly 2/3 of my life now to not be able to quickly read and play simple pieces.
*Attempted to begin to understand the Chinese ornamentation system. If my reading skills made it to being an 8 after three weeks then my ornamentation understanding tipped the scales at a 3 out of 10. This stuff makes baroque ornamentation look like child's play.
*Learned to play said bamboo flutes. Or at least to make a good show of playing them. For three weeks I don't think I sounded too shabby.
*Ran around Tianjin.
*Took a weekend trip down to Hong Kong.
*Played more on my flutes.
*Explored a little of Beijing
*Came back to America.
*Chopped off my hair. (It's way short and I love it. Aaaand contrary to what everyone thinks, I didn't do it for my mission. I did it for me. I wasn't thinking at all about getting a "missionary hair cut" I wanted a Nicole sanity hair cut, aka short and easy. I don't leave for three more months people, puh-leese missionary hair cut. Not a chance.)
*Came up to Idaho.
*Cheered for the little brother while he finished a half marathon.
*Visited America's first Nuclear reactor.

Over the next few days we'll be visiting some more family so Trent can say good byes, going to Manti for the day, and dropping Trent off at the MTC. Should be lots of fun, and I'll have plenty for you after that. Till then, adieu.