Yawk

NEW YAWK!!!!!!!!!!!

So obnoxious, I know.

This book has been purchased. By me.

Ostensibly for "official" purposes, but you know I'll stay up late at night reading this and dreaming of the day...

There is a strong possibility that I'm going to New York this February. On business. I'm so excited. I've been dreaming of this city since...well, for a long time. And now I'll finally get to visit! That deserves an exclamation mark or two!! Let's hope that I like it more than Rome (to clarify, I like Rome a fair amount. I just didn't like living there). It would be unrealistic to expect me to like it more than Florence. Florence has set the bar pretty high. All the other cities are jealous of Florence. And then Florence dances a jig around them and says, "Look at my cool Renaissance wig. And did I mention that I've got a few Botticelli's? Oh yeah, there is that one insignificant detail: I have some of the best art in the world. No big deal. Baci!" And then it flounces away along the banks of the Arno.

Florence is like a mean girl. Who knew?

Sigh.

p.s. This post has been brought to you by the passive. Coming soon to a blog post near you!

La Vita Vera

Hello, everybody.

So, this is the third place I'm posting this, but I'm just SO excited!

Here's the scoop. I work at BYU Broadcasting as a writer/editor. I work mainly on preparing program guides for BYUtv and KBYU Eleven (PBS), but we do a few other things too. One of them is blogging periodically about our shows.

So when my boss Kaitlyn told me I could do a blog post for a show airing this week (Oct 24-30), I was excited. I was even more excited when I discovered that The Food Nanny (a family dinner time fix-it show) was airing an episode filmed in Italy!

I adore Italy. Mmm.

And then I was even more delighted to discover on further research that she'd filmed an episode with my friends, Marco and Raffaella Ferrini from Florence.

Do you feel the excitement?!?!?!?

Deep breath.

So here's my tribute/labor of love/fan girl gushing:

http://byutv.org/seethegood/post/How-Italy-changed-my-attitude-toward-food.aspx


Another link about the fabulosity of the Ferrini family:

http://byutv.org/seethegood/post/Dear-Italy-Guess-whos-coming-to-dinner.aspx



Buon appetito!

p.s. hyperlinks might not be working...but the URL is correct.

It's Been a Hard Day's Night

...and I've been working like a dog.

Name the group, and you get fifty appreciation points. From me. Sadly, appreciation points aren't recognized as currency in any known country. So they're not worth much. Sorry.

Rather than let this blog fall into disuse, maybe I should make more frequent, shorter updates. What do you think?

But let's be honest, I probably won't. Not that I don't appreciate your opinion, reader. It's just that I like whatever I write/say (especially if it's going to be read by [potentially] lots of people) to be clever, pithy, life changing, or all of the above. What can I say, I'm vain.

The reason I haven't blogged is because I've had nothing but homework to write about. Most days I do homework. Lots and lots of homework. Then, to change up the pace, I do homework. On Fridays and Saturdays, I do homework. Homework and I should probably get on facebook and say that we're in a relationship. Whenever I feel lonely or sad, I know I can cuddle up to Homework to make me feel better. Homework is such a steady, reliable guy!

But don't tell him, I'm planning on breaking up with him on or around April 16th. Keep it on the DL.

I have a new guy in mind, and his name is SUMMER FUN!!!!!!!

Summer is going to be so great. I'm going to work full time (MONEY!!!!!!), finish writing my novel, go to Zumba classes with my roommates, volunteer at a fiction magazine on campus, hang out with friends, and GO TO ITALY IN JUNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So many exclamation points, goodness. It's just that I'm so excited.

This is the end of my short, brief post.
Sorry if it's not actually brief,

arrivederci,
Megan

Sad, sad face.

Firenze! Bella da vedere! Ci vediamo fra poco.

Unhappy Deathday to me, Unhappy Deathday to me

I've been home a year from Italy. Yuck. Blech. Phooey. Poo.

Go ahead and tell me that life is beautiful after the mission. Go on, do it. I dare you.

I'll believe you (haha). Because it is. I've done so many great things in the past year. I lived at home for a couple of months and chilled with my family (much needed after a eighteen months of no facetime with them). I started school and discovered that I really do love editing and writing. I've met wonderful people, and reconnected with other wonderful people. I hiked the Subway in Zion's National Park (and didn't die, praise be). I've been writing a novel. I've read who knows how many books.

I've also overcome many hard things...which shall remain nameless. This is a public blog, you know.

Honestly, it's the hard things that I remember the most. That have taught me the most. And that's good. Heavenly Father is determined to make me grateful for my life, no matter how bad it seems.

And even though I feel as if the universe is conspiring against me at times...let's face it. I'm so blessed, I should be ashamed every time I have the thought.

So, Happy Deathday to me. I hope the me I was a year ago can be proud of the me I am today.

Vi voglio bene,
Megan

How Many Megans Does It Take To Calculate Real Friends?

Hi. It's me. Blogging for a third time. Everybody look at me, I'm so cool right now.

A few items of business: First, if I'm measuring my real friends as opposed to my fake friends (parameters being facebook) 6 of my 473 friends are real. The rest are fake.

How did you measure that number, you ask?

Comments. (And maybe I didn't count right, but drop it because math is a TOUCHY subject with me. In case you were wondering 9x9 equals forty-freaking-nine and don't tell me its 81 BECAUSE I SAY IT'S NOT. See what I mean? Touchy).

So, you other 473 minus 6 friends (You do the math)ARE YOU REAL FRIENDS OR NOT? Consider this your challenge.

Second, my blog layout is boring. How do I remedy this situation? All of my other friends with blogs have awesome formats and fonts, and things that glitter and make them money. I really like glitter. And money. Any suggestions?

Third, I'm planning on running away from home for Winter semester 2011. I've been researching ways to get to Florence on this cool website called transitionsabroad.com. That site is a veritable spark to my travel fever. Add a few thousand dollars and BAM! I'd be hopping on a plane right now if I could. Anyone want to 1) run away with me and 2) fund our adventure? Make checks payable to me. I'll take care of the rest.

Fourth, yesterday I said something goofy in front of my family that I need to get off my chest. Tell me if this is not hysterical and typically me. Spenny (my little brother) was telling us yesterday about EFY. He loved it. Anyway, working in Helaman Halls I've become acquainted with the quaint habits of the EFY and sport camps students. Yeah, that means that I think that they can be obnoxious, bless their hearts. We love them anyways. Somehow in the course of the conversation I referred to them all as EFers. Sound that out. effers. Yes. That is what I said. EFY-ers...Efyers...effers. I didn't do it consciously, but my subconscious was having other ideas.

Fifth, I have a new idea for a novel. Let me back up here a few steps and talk about how I'm losing in the great Katherine Gee/Megan Gadd Writing Face-off. It's okay because Katherine is losing too. Basically, this is the idea. We have established three milestones: 10,000 words, 25,000 words, 50,000 words. Best two out of three wins the competition, buying me a plane ticket to her wedding. (It makes perfect sense in our heads). Anyways. I am stuck on my novel at 7,000 new words (meaning since the contest started) and about 15,000 total words. I need to get unstuck and soon. I don't have money to buy a plane ticket to her wedding.

But yesterday as I was sitting in Relief Society, this new idea starting pouring out of my brain into my notebook. I've never had a plot come out so fully formed. It's practically screaming to be written. And my fingers are itching to get to it.

I guess I could tell you what my two novels are about, but I probably won't. Sorry.

To all of you real friends, vi voglio tanto bene.

To all of you fake friends, meh.

:)

Third post, out.