All I Want for Christmas is a High School Musical Christmas Sequel

As an avid High School Musical fan, is this too much to ask?

Does anyone know who I talk to about getting a Christmas sequel for High School Musical? I've already come up with the title - "High School Musical: Home for Christmas."

The fourth High School Musical movie would have the blockbuster style of High School Musical 3 and would come out Thanksgiving weekend. The movie would take place a year or two after the crew goes to college when they are all coming home for Christmas. The soundtrack would include Christmas classics and a few High School Musical holiday originals and would become a Christmas staple for years to come. All of our cast favorites would make their returns including Troy Bolton, Gabriella Montez, Sharpay Evans, Ryan Evans, Chad Danforth, Taylor McKessie, Kelsi Nielsen, and Ms. Darbus. I am open to let actual screenwriters come up with a plot, but hopefully it would include some Christmas spirit with some service project or benefit concert or something, and perhaps a cozy gathering in a cabin ("Let It Snow"?).

I'm certain that this would make a lot of money for the HSM franchise, and it would make a lot of HSM fans REALLY happy, win-win right?!

Since I have come up with this plan, every time I listen to Christmas music, I REALLY want to listen to the High School Musical: Home for Christmas soundtrack, which isn't even a thing (yet), so I'm sorry to everyone else that this happens to.

Image via FanPop

LAND OF SMOKE AND SALT

blinding white // glowing red // golden birthday // smoke shadows

 photos by tia

Everyone is in Europe, Except Me + my hatred of FOMO

Photo by my dear friend Britt, in Grasmere, England, 2007

Everyone is in Europe except me.

And by everyone, I mean that Hey Natalie Jean (whose book is fantastic, by the way) and SaraBoulter are. They’re posting lovely images of far off places and art and food and magic and adventure.

Sometimes I spend my few spare moments while the kids are napping catching up on some much needed sleep. Sometimes I tidy up or sneak in a workout. And sometimes, I numbingly sulk because I am here and everyone else is… not. The whole world is amazing and I have wanderlust and I lack the ability to always be adventuring. By choice, of course, because I could just up and leave, but I also love being here.

I love hiking in the mountains with my kids and my sisters. I love making a home out of this house and dreaming up all the renovations that will probably never happen. I love watching my son wait outside for our neighbor to get home so he can play. I love quiet moments of watching Big Hero 6 or Wall-E for the illionth time. I love making pancakes or waffles for breakfast like a short order chef. I love waking up and thinking, “what should we do today?” or “where should we go?” I love my son telling me “Wednesdays are for grandma’s house” with the most confident tone as if that’s a scheduled thing that we do every week. I love living within thirty minutes of every member of my family and seeing them at Sunday dinner and being able to shop or chat or hang out with them.

I know my life won’t be like this forever, so I try to soak it all in while I can.

But Europe, right? 

On FOMO

In other news, my game face could use some work.

“FOMO” is something the cool kids say. It stands for “Fear Of Missing Out” and is the biggest crock of shit to ever be acronymed.

I’m all for “Carpe Diem” and seizing the day, but doing something because you’re scared of not doing it seems to be a pretty stupid idea to me. For starters, it encourages a drive motivated by fear, and fear is an ugly motivator anyways, and in my case, a precursor to anxiety. And then there’s the focus on what’s lacking, things that we’re missing instead of things that we have. I’m all for saying “yes” as often as possible, but being scared of feeling like I’m less because I don’t have something? No thanks, I’ll pass.

So buckle up kids because I am waging my own personal vendetta against FOMO. My cool points are suffering, but I think I might end up better for it.

We shall see.

Film February FAQs

If by "frequently", you mean questions that I have asked myself over and over and over again.

What cameras are you using?

For Film February, I am currently using my trusty Fujifilm Instax Mini, an inherited Welta Weltax, a newly purchased Holga 120, and a couple of disposable cameras. I’ll share the last two with B. 

I'd also like to use some other inherited cameras: an old Kodak Instamatic and an inherited SLR - if I figure out how to work them.

Why February?

It’s the shortest month of the year, it starts with “F”, it was soon (I started thinking about this early December, so I was getting antsy).

What does this mean for your instagram?

I don’t know. Things might be slow until my first batch of film is developed. I might just post old photos. I will allow myself some digital pictures if the concept is directly related to something. Maybe I’ll allow digital photos of instax photos. I made the rules for myself so I will allow myself to add addendums as I deem fit.

Can I do it too?

Always. #MyFilmFebruary so we can be besties.

photos taken with a Welta Weltax and processed and scanned by Alpine Film Lab

Raptor Dance

I never met a dance contest I didn't like. This is the full-length version of my Raptor Dance for the Sonnet James Dance Off.

Film February

I remember my first camera: a Mickey-Matic I received for Christmas (above: NOT my Mickey-Matic; that's a Welta I found at my grandpa's farmhouse). It took 110 film and required flashes that attached to the top and were purchased separately. Film was hard to come by for a child who had no money and therefore only obtained film by way of Christmas, Easter, and birthdays. Flashes were even more rare: a flipflash-style set of four flashes that also needed to be purchased (gifted) in order to use a flash. I remember the amount of thought that went into taking a picture. Is this picture worth having one less exposure? And if that answer was yes, is it too dark in here? And if that answer was yes, is this picture worth using a flash?

In the digital age, I never have that conundrum. I can snap away a bazillion pictures and then sort through them later, looking for the “perfect” one. Of course, none of them are ever perfect, so I end up with four similar images, each with its own redeeming quality.

And somewhere along the way, there was this push that came with digital photography to “document life." Did you eat? Document it. Did you play? Document it. Did you smile? Document it. Did you laugh? Document it. Did you cry? Document it. And having a phone attached to our hip all day allows us to snap away at life every time we want to remember a moment.

Now don’t get me wrong - I’m all for documenting. In high school, I ALWAYS had a disposable camera in my backpack just in case something photo-worthy arrived. But with this newfound saturation of picture taking, are our moments being diluted by our sheer number of pictures? How did we used to think about taking pictures? What was our thought process when we couldn’t just snap away all willy nilly. When we couldn’t see the result of our pressing the button until weeks later?

I have dubbed the month of February “Film February.” It’s an exercise in restraint. An experiment with thought. A rewiring of my brain.

My goal for February is to temporarily abandon my digital cameras (phone included) and shoot with film.

We’ll see how this goes - I’m even planning on teaching B about film. I want him to experience the uncertainty and waiting and the excitement when the pictures arrive. And I want to experience that too.

a sexagenarian

I can't wait to be sixty and dye my hair unnatural red purples and wear whatever I feel like. Muumuus for days and crazy glasses and shoes and hats and jackets and quality pieces and comfort and style. A rocker and boho and sleek and minimal and over the top and crazy. And instead of it looking like a hot mess mom who needs a day off, it will look like style and wisdom and stories and life.

Thank you Kelsey for helping me live out my red-headed senior citizen dream.

the ritual of sickness

We've spent the past few weeks in varying stages of illness, and two days ago, it finally caught up to me. My Friday was spent lying on the couch falling in and out of sleep whenever my children were gloriously occupied by Frozen.
There are obvious downsides to being sick: the fatigue, the insomnia, the body chills, the pain. But there's also a refreshing shift of priority: survival. Your body quits and leaves you no choice but to tend to it. Drink lots of water. Go to bed early. Keep cozy and warm. Go outside for fresh air and sunshine. Befriend humidifiers and vitamins. See food as fuel to fight this infection and as its nutrients: banana = potassium, rolls = much needed energy, V8 Fusion = vitamin C and fluids. Listen to your body. How do you feel? What do you need? Rest. Relax. Cancel unnecessary plans. Give yourself permission to take care of yourself.
If only I would take a sick day when I'm healthy.