Travels Aboard The Blue Selkie

I am a horrible person part II

2012-01-26T23:49:00.000-08:00

You know how a passage in a novel, when taken out of context, can look incredibly wrong and terribly disturbing?

Yeeeeeeeeeah.

You'd be surprised how often that happens in classic literature. I usually shrug it off as the product of my own twisted imagination. But this time....this time I swear it wasn't all me. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce Out of Context Thursdays*, where I quote a piece of classic literature for your intellectual perusal and general amusement without giving any indication of the larger context. It's more fun that way.

This week's installment comes from the Narrative of the Life and Escape of William Wells Brown, included in the novel Clotel or, The President's Daughter by William Wells Brown.

"Well I thought I had better show it to him. 'Now,' said he, 'let me touch my tongue against it.' I thought then that I had better give him a taste, but I would not trust him so far as I trusted John; so I called him to me, and got his head under my arm, and took him by the chin, and told him to hold out his tongue; and as he did so, I drew the barley sugar over very lightly. He said, 'That's very nice; just draw it over again. I could stand here and let you draw it across my tongue all day.' " (Brown 22-23)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find an adult...

*New content not guaranteed every Thursday.

Christmas Goodies

2011-12-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

Coming to a mailbox near you!

It's the first day of my vacation and I don't know what to do with it. Maybe I'll watch TV. I don't think I've watched actual TV in over a year. Maybe I'll finish reading The Complete Calvin and Hobbes.

But before I do either of those I will probably run errands. Those boxes aren't gonna ship themselves.

Incidentally, concrete is the worst possible surface to stand on for hours while you are baking and decorating cookies. My spine is in agony. God bless Timmy, who managed to pack the cookies and tie on all the bows long after I crashed. Now if only he could reach the pedals in the car so I could send him to the post office.

Let the floggings begin

2011-11-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

I just posted a word count widget in the sidebar so the rest of you can taunt me. I'll be lucky if I make it to 20,000 by the end of the month, but hey, who's counting?

Oh, right...

Are you allergic to aspartame?

2011-11-14T17:44:00.000-08:00

Yes? No? Maybe?

If, like my friend Scott, you are allergic to aspartame or avoid the artificial sweetener for other health reasons, you should definitely read this
http://healthfreedoms.org/2010/02/15/aspartame-has-been-renamed-and-is-now-being-marketed-as-a-natural-sweetener/

Timmy hams it up while I bullshit another novel

2011-11-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

I'm still waiting for Skeeve to send me some of the pictures she took while we were out and about (I should get those sometime tomorrow morning). In the meantime, please enjoy Timmy posing outside Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Hoo?

And yes, I am doing NaNoWriMo this year. However, because my life has been pretty busy since last November, I'm not pushing myself as I have done in previous years. Normally I be busting my ass at this point trying to get to 5,000 words before midnight. This year? I'm all the way up to two hundred. Go me!

Who knows? Maybe divine inspiration will shine down upon me in the eleventh hour. Hey, it's happened before on midterms.

Brakes! Where are the brakes!

2011-10-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

So Skeeve and I went on the new Star Tours last night.

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is our favorite Paul Reubens voiced droid pilot has been decommissioned.

The good news is the new pilot is C3PO...

I am totally ok with this.

I have to be in class in about two hours, so here's a picture of me after going on Grizzly Bear Rapids.

Wet butt club for life!

Who you callin' a rat?

2011-10-18T16:29:00.000-07:00

I just found a reference to hedgehogs in Macbeth. Thanks a whole lot, Shakespeare. Now Timmy won't shut up about it.

"Thrice, and once the hedgepig whined." 4.1.2

How do you like that, Dad? Apparently even the witches knew that Tobe ain't no rat.

That being said, I am still slightly nervous about reading The Scottish Play so close to Halloween. This is what happens to you when your mother has spent years performing and judging Shakespeare. You grow up with theatre superstition and you're not allowed to say "The M-word".

Because this is what happens if you do

So much excite!

2011-10-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

http://zs1.smbc-comics.com/comics/20111017.gif

I wish I could get away with that line of reasoning.

So! I have news. Skeeve is coming to visit for ten days! YAAAAAAAAAY! Of course I still have to pull off another English midterm while she's here, but who gives a damn? Skeeve is coming and we will do ALL THE THINGS!

I am so excited. Look forward to happy posts :D

Baby, you're almost as foxy as Francis Marion...

2011-10-13T00:53:00.000-07:00

Presidential Pickup Lines. Great website or greatest website ever?

http://presidentialpickuplines.tumblr.com/

Kitchen remodel update: We had termites in the attic. Richard sprayed insecticide all over. I can't step out of my room without getting dizzy and lightheaded. I can only hope that the fumes will have dissipated by tomorrow evening.

Someone help me...

Othello loved Desi like Adonis loved Venus...

2011-10-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that it's really hard to study with the Othello rap stuck in your head?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC-f0drvdmM

Oh, Desi!

I am killing Shakespeare

2011-10-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

As an English major, I must take either Shakespeare or Chaucer in order to graduate. I don’t mind this at all. But when my professor asked us to “modernize” a scene from As You Like It (to prove that we understand the text) I just about died.

You...you want me to what? How do I translate something that’s already perfect? I see what you’re getting at here, madam, but there’s no way I can possibly translate Shakespeare into “modern” English and at the same time preserve the original meaning of the text. I mean, how do you translate a triple pun? How???

Also, English majors, you should know the difference between verse and prose by now. Just sayin’. Just because it doesn’t rhyme doesn’t mean it’s prose…

Travels Aboard The Blue Selkie: Kitchen Remodel Edition

2011-09-02T00:42:00.000-07:00

So...my kitchen is currently being demolished

See?

Hopefully in the next month or two there will be a shiny new kitchen. Until then, what remains of the kitchen and everything in its immediate vicinity is covered in a fine layer of dust. Hooray. Sadly, there is nothing I can do about this aside from tucking a towel under my door and taping off the air vent in my room. I am wearing a bandana over my nose and mouth any time I am forced to go near the kitchen. Donations of masks and plastic sheets are appreciated. I am also accepting gifts of instant noodles and any other foods that require little to no cooking. I love you, Mom, but I am not going in there until the dust is gone.

Yep

2011-08-15T00:58:00.000-07:00

"I don't know, but if I do it differently, things will be different. Perhaps both futures will exist. Perhaps both futures always existed. I don't know. This is very complicated, Tim, and I don't understand it. I'm just making it up as I go along."

"Like the author," said Tim.

"What author?" asked Will.

"Any author," said Tim. "They just make it all up as they go along."

"No they don't," said Will. "Authors research everything. They plan every chapter, paragraph, and sentence. They never waste a word. That's what makes them such very special people."

"Turn it in, chief," said Barry. "Everyone knows that authors are a lot of drunken bums."

--Robert Rankin, The Witches of Chiswick

And just so this isn't another pointless post, I made a thing! Yes, I finally finished Kyra's blanket, which only leaves.....several more people to go. Hooray!

It's time to start drinking some motherf**king tea!

2011-07-31T01:39:00.001-07:00

The Daily Show - Accountability in the U.K. - David Cameron Kills it
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

I'm in ur office, writing my blog

2011-07-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

I'm helping Mom in the office today and figured I should post something because the photo of the young tot in the previous post is starting to give me the willies. Speaking of tots, the whole babysitting thing seems to be working out, albiet slowly. So far I've done a couple jobs for $15 an hour, which is definitely not bad. If at first, like me, you thought that was a little exhorbitant, try babysitting a toddler for ten hours. Go on. I dare you. Let's just say that's now my going rate if they're under five, though I am negotiable.

In other news, it is unlikely that I will be visiting either Skeeve and Jerome or Scott and Eden this summer, seeing as the summer's almost over. Skeeve and Jerome are also moving into a new house next month and I want to give them the space they need to do that before I show up for a visit. Maybe I can work something out between the four of them around winter break. Hopefully Vancouver winters are not as harsh as Red Deer winters o.o In either case, I will bring many layers.

Fuck. I still have to register for next semester. Don't grow up, kids. It sucks.

Well, you get to eat all the pizza and ice cream you want, but other than that it pretty much blows.

Weeeeeee!

2011-07-11T07:28:00.001-07:00

see more Historic LOL

Yes, I am babysitting today. No, I wont be using these

Happy Birthday, Skeeve!

2011-07-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Best Friend,
   You are amazing. Some days I don't know what I would do without you. I'm so glad you decided to say hi to me that one day back in Jr. High because if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I know that it can be hard sometimes to look at ourselves and see all the wonderful things that other people see in us. But I want you to know that no matter how bad things may seem and no matter how crappy your day has been, that you are special. You are a wonderful, caring, creative, and brilliant spark in this universe and I am so happy to be your friend. I hope this year brings you more stability in your life as you continue to build a home and a family and discover the fantastic person that you are. Happy Birthday, my friend. Timmy and I ate this doughnut in your honor.

   Lub,
   Livia

Get it?

2011-07-09T00:22:00.000-07:00

see more Memebase and check out our Troll Face lols!

He's a Tea Rex! Ahahahahahahaha! Ahahahaha! Ah ha ha ha...ha. Ha.

Well Timmy and I liked it.

Father's Day at the Huntington Gardens

2011-07-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day, Papa and I sojourned to the Huntington estate for tea and a stroll through the grounds. As always, we were accompanied by Timmy and his charming brother Tobe, whom I introduced to Papa. Papa of course found him to be delightful company and the four of us retired to the Rose Garden Tearoom for a spot of breakfast.

Pip pip cheerio and all that!

Papa and I chose the rose tea, which was positively enchanting. Very fragrant and quite delicious. We dined on fresh scones with a selection of devon cream, blackberry jam, and the best marmalade I have ever tasted. We enjoyed a wide selection of tea sandwiches and other savories followed by an array of sweet morsels and desserts. Messrs. Timmy and Tobe were quite full by the end of it.

Timmy helps himself to a lovely sugar cube

My platter of sweets was quite ecstatic at the prospect of being eaten!

Afterwards, we took a stroll through the rose garden and partook of many lovely blooms. I got a bit artistic with my photography and captured several blossoms on film. Below are two of my favorites.

Aaaaah, lovely

An exceptionally beautiful lavender

Open bloom with dew drops

We then stumbled upon a rather peaceful willow tree and found the most charming bench beneath its branches.

Here Papa poses with Timmy

Papa was quite keen on finding the lilly ponds and so we wandered in that direction. It was here I discovered that some parts of the gardens are more suited to what the common people call "sneakers"

Squishy, but tranquil

Taking the path to the right, we soon entered the Jungle Garden and found ourselves face to face with a manmade waterfall. We inquired within but Dr. Livingston was no where to be found.

I say! Rather striking!

We soldiered on in the direction of the Chinese gardens and came across this lovely fountain on the green.

Yes, quite

Papa and I found the Chinese gardens to be an absolute delight! The architecture was most enjoyable and the shade rather pleasant. The Chinese garden had its own tearoom with lunchtime comestibles available for purchase. Perchance we shall enjoy luncheon there at a future date.

Yes, the gardens are absolutely filled with architecture

And it was most delightful

Upon further exploration I found that the pond was absolutely brimming with koi. They all swam merrily to the surface and eagerly thrust their mouths out of the water to beg for a bit of food.

Positively brimming, I tell you

I was curious to see the hothouse and the rare and exotic plants enclosed within. Papa came down with the vapors upon entering the greenhouse and declined to venture further in. I explored on my own and came across many interesting sights such as this cloud forest.

One almost felt as though one were in another world

Having had my fill of the humidity, I ventured to the other side and found the most charming children's garden! Everything was child sized, including tiny fountains and hedge mazes. I quickly went about to the other side of the greenhouse and fetched Papa, who was just as charmed as I as we watched the children interact with the tactile aspects of the garden.

The entrance to the children's garden was through this cheerful, child sized blue door

The garden was absolutely delightful, particularly this playhouse reminiscent of Wendy's cottage in the musical of Mr. Barrie's work, Peter Pan

After our stroll in the gardens, Papa and I had just enough time to enjoy the library and museum collections that the Huntington estate had to offer. We saw some wonderful drawings by William Blake on display as well as an absolutely marvelous collection of rooms preserved as they would have been in the 1800s. The library, of course, is a must for any bibliophile. Such a rare and prestigious collection of manuscripts I have never before seen. And the smell of books is absolutely everywhere. It nourishes the soul in a way that no e-reader ever shall. I shall most certainly be returning at the earliest convenience.

How I Spent My Spring Break

2011-07-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

I'm guessing you guys are getting pretty tired of staring at pictures of me looking shocked at two in the morning. So here are the pictures from Washington I keep promising to put up. I know I always say I'm going to blog when I travel. That's what blogs are for, right? But it's way harder than it sounds. Especially when I'm visiting my BFF. It's a miracle that I managed to blog my way through Paris. Of course it helped that I had several people at home messaging me demanding pictures and waiting for the next update.

In all fairness, I actually did start writing as soon as I got to Skeeve's but then...stuff happened. Elsa, the dog Skeeve had been fostering for her sister, got into a fight with Peach. Not once, but twice. The first fight was the reason Skeeve couldn't come with Jerome to pick me up at the airport. The second fight led to the three of us taking Elsa to the emergency vet for what we all thought would be a couple staples but turned out to be "surgery" involving anesthesia and several stitches. I put surgery in quotes because I still feel that the vet's office went way beyond what was reasonable and necessary to make sure Elsa was ok. They really overcharged Skeeve and Jerome and I still feel kinda bad about suggesting that we take Elsa to the vet in the first place.

I'm not a veterinarian, but I've raised enough animals and been to enough vets to get an idea of what is essential to the health and well being of the animal and what is blatant overcharging. I understand that veterinarians have demanding jobs and deserve to get paid. Some of them just seem to go about it a little bit better than others, that's all.

There were only a couple wounds that were larger than a nickel that we felt might need a staple or two to make sure they closed up and healed properly. The vet did a physical exam and decided that all of Elsa's cuts needed stitches, even the small lacerations that probably would have healed up fine on their own. Not only did everything need stitches but Elsa had to be put under anesthesia which, if you've ever had a pet go in for surgery, you will know is very expensive. I'm pretty sure I asked at this point why they couldn't use a local anesthesia and staple the wounds instead. It's been a while and I honestly can't remember what the answer was. The vet might have felt it was safer. By the time they were done it was three or four in the morning and every single tiny laceration Elsa had was stitched up. They also put a drain in the one larger wound we were concerned about and prescribed antibiotics and pain medicine.

We wound up taking Elsa to a neighborhood vet when it was time to have her drain removed. The neighborhood vet was VERY nice and seemed confused as to why they'd put a drain in at all. He removed it for free and everyone, including Elsa, was very happy. He is now the primary vet for all of Skeeve's animals.

It was decided that Elsa would go back home to live with Roxzi. Elsa is a very sweet mama, but Skeeve understandably couldn't have a dog in her house that kept getting into fights with Peach. As of today, Elsa is back with Roxzi and doing well and is very, very happy. Needless to say, our list of things we had been planning to do shrunk substantially as Skeeve and Jerome figured out what they needed to do to make up for Elsa's rather large vet bill.

Mostly Skeeve and I just hung out. We watched a lot of TV because Skeeve had all these shows she wanted me to see. She got me addicted to Misfits, an awesome science fiction/superhero British television series and Pushing Daisies, which I am also falling in love with.

We talked, we went to the PX, we played Monkey Island on Skeeve's iPad, we watched Blueberry make tribble noises as she coped with being in heat. It was a lot like being at home. But with your best friend, which is 100 times better.

This is Blueberry in heat. I swear she kept making these tribble noises and nothing could console her.

One of the things we were planning to do and that Skeeve had already bought tickets for was the underground tour of Seattle. We went on the adult tour--which comes with stories of hookers, murder, drugs, and free booze! Our tour guide was fun and the tour itself was both fascinating from an historical perspective (you are actually literally underground exploring the streets of old Seattle) and entertaining. There were dirty jokes aplenty. Did you know that back in the day prostitutes would use a silver dollar as a makeshift diaphragm? That's not a dirty joke, that's actually true. Something to keep in mind in the event of a contraception emergency. Though I wouldn't recommend it.

Here we are at the start of the tour...

...and here's Timmy by the end of it.

When the tour was over we all went back to the bar where the tour started and everyone got a free drink. Skeeve and I had some kind of tropical thing and Jerome wound up ordering this very bitter beer. Skeeve and I finished our drinks and then downed the rest of Jerome's, making faces the whole time. I don't know why we did it other than we saw it as a challenge. I think we drank enough that it actually started tasting better by the time we finished it.

One of the nice things about Washington is that, while you do get a lot of rain, you also get rainbows. Sometimes you even get DOUBLE rainbows! ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE SKY!

I snapped this photo from the window of Skeeve's kitchen. What does it meeeeaaan?

On Jerome's day off we decided to make killer cake. Well, Jerome did. He tends to take control of any cooking going on in the kitchen unless one of us is making something that he doesn't know how to cook. Even then, he still tries. The killer cake came out delicious and we ate it for breakfast the rest of the week.

Note: for those of you who don't know what killer cake is, I will explain in another post. Someday.

The other big thing Skeeve and I did was take the bus into Seattle. Oh, and Seattle? You have some nice public transit. Seriously. Congrats.

We spent the entire day at Pike's Place looking at all the goodies and eating all the foods. Skeeve took me to Starbucks. THE Starbucks. As in, the first Starbucks. The one that started it all. Yeah, I know, cheap thrills. Cut us some slack, we're broke.

Sure doesn't look like much from the outside, does it?

Here's something I like about Seattle. People here know how to spell my name.

They didn't even ask! They just knew!

After breakfast coffee we began our journey through the market. Timmy, of course, made time to document the moment.

Inside is a land of mystical wonders!

But wait...what's this?

It's Rachel the pig! She's famous and stuff.

And here is the inside of the market. See? I told you it was magical.

There were many neat shops in addition to all the foodstuffs. We found an antique poster/magazine shop that had an amazing selection of prints and original works for sale. I wanted to buy almost everything in there.

It wasn't long before we were hungry so Skeeve and I stopped to nosh on some fresh made mini doughnuts. They're amazing when they're still warm from the fryer and slightly crispy. Skeeve got powdered while I went for the classic cinnamon sugar.

Sooooo gooooood.

We also found a rather large Italian market and had fun peeking through the shelves and exploring all the different things. The sandwiches smelled really good too. Dad will definitely have to visit this place if he's ever in Seattle

A classic Skeeve pose.

Wandering around some more we found this. We kept hoping someone would put in a few quarters to see what it did. We weren't brave enough.

Well there's certainly something interesting in there.

Oh yeah, and the Doctor was there too.

DALEK SEC WELCOMES YOU TO PIKE PLACE. EXTERMINATE!! EXTERMINATE!!

And then guess what we found!

Another Timmy! OMG!

This is Timmy's brother, Toby, lately of Seattle. He's now living in San Francisco as my dad's new roommate and may even make a few appearances on my dad's blog. They are getting along just smashingly.

We started getting hungry for lunch and I knew exactly where I wanted to go. We went to Beecher's for some of their famous mac and cheese. Skeeve had a grilled cheese panini, also good.

Nummies!

The best thing about this place is they make their own cheese on site. Like, right there in front of you. We sat and watched the process and Timmy was fascinated.

Just lookit all that calcium!

Timmy approves, gentlemen.

So after lunch we walked around some more until we had finally explored every corner of the market. Except one, that is. I found some stairs and decided that we were going down them. What could be down there? Who knows! But we were going to find out.

Instead of leading us to another dimension, the steps took us here to this rather interesting alley.

You never know. Maybe the TARDIS is parked there somewhere

Aaaaaaaaand this. The world's grossest landmark.

Yes, that is what you think it is.

This, my friends, is the gum wall and it too is famous. It's also really gross and I don't recommend standing next to it for long, even though I made Skeeve do just that. That's what best friends are for, after all.

While this picture gives you an idea of scale, it does nothing to capture the look of disgust and slight trepidation on Skeeve's face. Here's a closeup we took with Skeeve's phone: http://blog.wolfidy.com/post/4190283360/we-found-the-gum-wall-tumblr-eww

"Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww," is right.

It's not so much the sight that gets you as the smell. The moment we stepped into that alleyway we were hit by the overwhelming smell of gum. All kinds of gum! Fruity, minty, cinnamony...it's all there. A terribly unsettling bouquet just wafting through the air assailing your nostrils. And yet, it was also fascinating. Much in the same way as an episode of Hoarders in that it's the most disgusting thing you've ever seen and yet you find yourself unable to look away.

Eww, eww, eww! Gum icicles! Omg, ew!

And that's how I spent my Spring Break with my best friend.

Demons run...

2011-06-06T03:35:00.000-07:00

This is my face after watching the series six mid-season finale of Doctor Who.

I will never sleep again.

The episode is a two-parter. Part Two doesn't come out until Autumn. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...

Neglect not the historians

2011-06-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

Since I discovered Psychology Student Platypus I've been wanting to create a meme for History students. I was toying with the invention of History Student Hedgehog until I found out that a meme for History majors already exists. Say hello to History Major Heraldic Beast. There are a lot of him and I've only just got through the first thirty pages or so. But here's an example of the past five hundred years or so of human history.

Yep. That pretty much sums it up. My area of interest tends to be everything from 1500 to the present so this basically sums up my entire field. Thanks, Nationalism!

Oh, and just for giggles, here's one I made! Because yes, this question gets asked. A lot.

And I have to try very hard not to murder people.

This better not be a sign of things to come

2011-05-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

I had a dream that Rob was a puppy again and had peed on a hardback copy of A Game of Thrones. Not cool, Rob. Not cool.

Huh..wha? I...how the hell did I do that?!

2011-05-27T00:08:00.000-07:00

HIS 361 Africa: Colonial Independ A
KIN 171A Yoga A
POL 100 Gen St: World Perspectives A
POL 354 American Political Thought A-

Straight fucking As? o.O Are you kidding me? How the hell did I manage that this semester? A semester which was full of stress and drama and me not knowing if I was going to have to kick ass and take names on any given night.

I still can't help feeling like there's been a glitch in the matrix and I'm going to wake up in the morning to a bunch of B minuses instead. Well, my Economics grade still isn't in yet so there's still some hope there I guess. Whoopie.

I still don't know how I managed to pull that off. Straight As....god damn...

On the bright side at least this saved me the trouble of sacrificing a goat at the end of finals*

*Kidding. Is it sad that I feel the need to clarify that?

EDIT: 10:24 pm

Econ grade just came in. Solid B. That's pretty damn good considering I had no idea what was going on in that class. I'm still pretty amazed, to be honest. I was expecting a lot more Bs this semester. I think this calls for ice cream first thing tomorrow ^.^

Did I say May? I meant October.

2011-05-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

I promise you guys, this will never end.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110524/ap_on_re_us/us_apocalypse_saturday

To see my Dad's account of the not apocalypse go here: http://sllightlyoffcenter.blogspot.com/

And I feel fine...

2011-05-21T01:25:00.000-07:00

Let the Rapture begin!

Skeeve's dog Kiwi has been taken up! Truly she is the messiah!

Nobody goes into teaching for the money

2011-05-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the pair of second graders that ran up and hugged me today when I came in to volunteer and told me I was "the best helper ever". You guys made my day.

A Finals Week Vignette

2011-05-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Le cast:

Me, finishing up my twelve page research paper for African History

Marc, a sympathetic friend

Me: Aaaaaand conclusion time.

Marc: It was the butler.

Me: ...the butler is responsible for changing customs of gender and social order in British East Africa?

Marc: Yes. Filthy Bastard.

Me: Well damn. Wish I'd known that three weeks ago.

Marc: Well, you only just now brought it up...

Me: Now I really wish I could write, "So, in conclusion, it was the butler. In Kenya. With the Church Missionary Society."

Marc: Rofl

Fin

D:

2011-05-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

Leave Zebra Cakes at home. Cry quietly into notebook.

When this is all over I am going to dig a whole to crawl into

2011-05-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

Dear PoliSci Prof,

Given that you've already assigned us a 10-15 page term paper, a multiple choice final would have been really appreciated. Instead you decided to assign another 12-15 page paper as the final exam. You are aware, sir, that this is a 101 level class, are you not? Ur expectations. They r not realistic.

Well, goodbye, straight A streak. It was nice knowing you for two whole semesters.

News of the day

2011-04-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

Think about getting something different for lunch. Wind up getting pizza anyway.

In other news, I've been dealing with some family issues lately, not to mention trying to keep up with school work. So I'm going to be slow again getting the pictures from Washington up. We didn't have quite as many adventures as we'd hoped due to a pet emergency but it was still great to see my BFF and just be able to sit around the kitchen table and talk like we were teenagers again.

I have class in about half an hour, so I should probably stop watching old episodes of How Clean Is Your House and go make sure that class isn't cancelled. Again. Seriously, we've spent the entire semester working on ONE thing. ONE. If I don't get passed I'm asking for my Dad's money back.

Heh heh,period.

2011-03-25T01:23:00.000-07:00

I'm finishing up a post about adventures with Scott and Eden over winter break, but I just now came across this video and had to post it. Immediately.

Support your local vagina today.

Winter break adventures with Scott and Eden

2011-03-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

So Scott and Eden flew down to California to visit over winter break. Needless to say, we went to Disneyland multiple times. I honestly think Scott would live there if he could. This is when Tron was out and Disney was promoting the film heavily with an after hours dance party at California Adventure. We decided to check it out and at least have a look around.

The music was kind of eh. I was honestly expecting more Daft Punk or at the very least some good 80s music to bring back the nostalgic feel of the first Tron film. But alas. Scott and I seemed to agree that whoever choreographed the opening dance routine needed to be shot. I've seen better choreography in the Main Street parade.

While at California Adventure we decided to see the new World of Color show. What we could see of it seemed pretty cool, but our vantage point suuuuuuuuuuuuucked. I mean seriously sucked. We saw the show twice. The first time we were too close to the water to friggin see any of the projections and the second time we got stuck directly behind a tree. It also didn't help that were was a kid in front of us who would not. stop. moving. Even though he had no damn reason to move in order to see any better.

This picture was taken at the end of the show after the crowd had dispersed somewhat. That's the only reason you can actually see the water. I should probably also mention that I was still recovering from jet lag the first time we saw this and was getting extremely sleepy right at seven o'clock and probably dozed off a couple times waiting for the show to start. I was also having difficulty regulating my body temperature and was freezing that night in jeans and a hoodie. I think it was in the low 60s, what Scott would probably consider a lovely spring evening. God damn Canadians and their resistance to cold.

In other news, we got one of these while we were waiting in line for Indiana Jones. We thought maybe something magical would happen once we reached the end of the line, but no. *sadface* Fun fact: the other side is in Spanish.

By the way, Mom, Dad. I'm really sorry for dragging you guys on the submarine ride all those times when I was little. It's just that the submarine ride had mermaids and I was really into mermaids when I was a little kid. I never realized before how much it sucked to be sealed into a tin can with 40 people and uncomfortable seats and the ever present scent of ammonia for the slowest, longest ride ever just so your kid could stare out a tiny window at some fake fish. Until they converted the submarine ride for Finding Nemo which is not one of my favorite movies (sorry, Pixar, it's nothing personal) and the ride lost all the charm it had for me. But Scott wanted to go on it, so we did. Hopefully we don't need to go on it again.

On the bright side, we found a real seagull sitting on the buoy with the animatronic ones.

One of these is a spy...

I just want to add that I like Eden's shirt.

Who's a cute little brain eating monster? You are! Yes you are!

Aside from Disneyland, we decided to go on a culinary adventure across L.A. and Pasadena. We went to three places, all of which have been featured on the Food Network. Needless to say, we got lost several times.

First we stopped at Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills, a place I've been wanting to visit for years now, but have never gotten around to. Omg, it was so worth the wait. There were three of us, so we each picked two to go and then shared them all. The cupcake flavors are, starting from the top row, left to right: red velvet, lemon, banana,, cinnamon sugar, chocolate marshmallow, and black and white.

The flavor combinations were excellent and the frosting was sweet but not too sweet. I think my favorites were the banana and the lemon. The only two that were somewhat underwhelming were the chocolate marshmallow and the cinnamon sugar. The cinnamon sugar was really more like a muffin than a cupcake and if I remember right, lacked frosting. The chocolate marshmallow was trying to be an upscale hostess cupcake. Those two I could pass on, but I would definitely eat the others again.

Our next stop was the Nickel Diner in Los Angeles because Scott saw their maple bacon doughnut on the Food Network and decided he had to have one. We really wanted to stay for lunch, but unfortunately had a time limit on our parking. So we picked up a maple bacon doughnut, a red velvet doughnut, a bailey's irish cream flavored doughnut, and I think a poptart flavored doughnut and were on our way again.

All of them were good, but unfortunately they were all the same kind of cake with different toppings. The dough itself tasted like babka to me, which was fine. I like babka. But it got old pretty fast. The maple bacon doughnut actually tasted really good. You already have all those flavors in your mouth when you're eating, say, pancakes with maple syrup and a couple slices of bacon. So the favor translates pretty well into a single entity.

We then drove a bit further into Pasadena and visited Galco's Soda Pop Stop and bought about $30 worth of soda. We originally had some kind of plan to review every single soda, but this really was the sort of thing that should have been done right then and there as a live blog. Scott and Eden took pictures of each soda we tried, but don't ask me to remember what every single one tasted like. It's likely we'll wind up out there again next time they visit for even more soda. If that happens I'll make sure we sit down for a tasting and record our reactions in real time.

At some point we got to the LA Zoo. I hadn't been in a few years and I kind of wanted to see the new elephant exhibit everyone was making such a big deal about. I also wanted to see Reggie.

There he is!

Rest assured, the elephants have lots of space now. I think a third of the entire zoo is devoted just to them. Unfortunately, all the other animals are still in enclosures that seem way too small. Especially the primates.

Oh, and in case you were wondering why a lot of zoos don't have chimps, there's a reason. Chimpanzees are fucking psychotic. Personally, I feel this is because they are so genetically similar to human beings. But this also might be because we put a bunch of them in an enclosure together with no way to vent their frustration aside from flinging feces at tourists. The chimps were screaming and climbing trees and making a ton of noise, which the other zoo goers seemed to love. There was even a stadium like seating area where you could sit and watch and it was packed with people oooing and aaahing at primate performance art. Even though we didn't give the chimps much more than a passing glance I somehow managed to accidentally take the best photograph ever.

Say cheese!

And then we went and played in the prairie dog exhibit at the children's zoo. Eden looks like she's on the moon! Or at least some alien planet that's been featured on Star Trek.

And that concludes the highlights of Scott and Eden's visit to California. Now to decide whether or not I should get coffee while I'm at the airport.

P.S. Did you guys know that Long Beach Airport has a wine bar now? Weird.

Rodin's House and Final Thoughts

2011-03-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hello, internet. How are you? I'm fine. Been a bit preoccupied lately with life, but most of it good.

So I guess I should wrap up that Paris thing now, huh? I mean, it's been what--almost three months since the actual trip? Yeah, I should probably do that. So...

Here's Rodin's house!

As I'm sure you'll agree, the dude had some seriously sweet digs. I didn't take any pictures of the inside, but most of it was filled with sculptures. Here are a couple more pictures of the grounds.

This is the kind of class that's missing on MTV's Cribs

Seriously, how many artists do you know that lived like this. How many??

And another thing, am I the only one who thinks Rodin looks like Santa? Please tell me I'm not: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R38535,_Auguste_Rodin.jpg

To learn more about the museum or explore the exhibits, click here: http://www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm

And now for some more glamour shots of food.

Gods, I would shank someone for a decent macaron stateside.

Perfect chocolate goodness.

See?

Must have more chocolate!

This, my friends, is a croque madame. It is easily the best thing the French have ever invented. Just get me some good bread, some ham, lots of gruyere, and a fried egg and I am in heaven. In fact, if heaven doesn't have this sandwich then I'm not going.

Drooooooool

Wait a minute, you may be asking, what the hell is this? McDonalds? You went to Paris and had McDonalds?

Yeah, yeah I did. Call it a cultural experiment. Companies like McDonalds and Starbucks have been global for years now and I was curious to see how they differed between countries since there isn't much difference, if any, from state to state as far as I can tell.

First of all, the menu is much, much smaller than the one here in the U.S. Things like drink sizes are also smaller, which I kind of approve of. The items on the dessert menu also looked smaller and the desserts themselves seemed fancier. There was some kind of mousse and a small brownie or cake as I recall. We tried to order one but didn't know the right term and wound up getting an instant hot chocolate instead and even that tasted better than the instant hot chocolate here.

I had something called a McFarmer, which was being advertised all over French television and internet. It was basically a cheeseburger with shredded lettuce in a kind of coleslaw topping. The meat tasted slightly different. Less salty but more flavored, if that makes sense. The fries, strangely enough, were rather underwhelming. If you want real french fries in France take my advice and just go to any restaurant. Don't bother with McDonalds.

They also gave you one packet of ketchup and one packet of "pomme fritte sauce", which basically tasted of ketchup and mayonnaise. I don't recall if they had condiments out where you could get them or if you had to ask for more. Either way, I didn't use my French ketchup and instead opted to mail it to Skeeve.

The restaurant did not function the same way as most fast food places in the states. Instead of going up to the counter and ordering your food, there were several touchscreens where you could order and pay for your food and then wait while the kitchen finished your order. I've used one of those before when Disneyland experimented with them in one of their restaurants at California Adventure. They're actually pretty easy to figure out, but I swear Americans must be too stupid to use them. I assure you this consensus is based entirely upon my observations of people at Disneyland trying and failing. For people who didn't want to use one of the touchscreens, there was a hostess walking around who took orders electronically and then brought your tray to your table.

On the whole, I'm not sure whether I prefer the French or the American version. I should probably try the chicken nuggets next time since that's what I usually get when I do have McDonalds anyway. I will say this though, French Twix bars are waaaaaaaay more awesome than American Twix bars. French candy bars are required by law to have a higher percentage of cacao to actually be called "chocolate". You guys have no idea what you're missing.

So let's sum up.

Favorite food: Croque madame.

Favorite pastry: I'm gonna say pain au chocolat but macarons come in a close second.

Favorite drink: Chocolat chaud a l'ancien.

Favorite food on the go: Nutella crepe, though the banana and the cinnamon sugar were equally delicious.

Favorite museum: The Cluny. I could live there, you guys. I'm not even kidding. Second favorite would probably be the D'Orsay.

Favorite place: This bookstore.

This is the oldest English language bookstore in Paris. It's awesome. Shakespeare and Company is housed in a very old building and I swear you guys the inside looks like a witch's cottage. There are books literally from the floor to the ceiling. They have a sunken floor so you step down when you walk in and the shelves are all twisty turny. There's even a crooked staircase leading to the children's section upstairs. Barnes and Noble wishes it could be this awesome.

And I guess that's all I have to say about Paris. I'm flying to Seattle over spring break to visit my best friend Skeeve and her husband Jerome so I wanted to get the blog somewhat up to date before I start making posts about my upcoming trip. Of course as soon as I got back from Paris Scott and Eden showed up! So I'll see if I can crank out a post about some of the stuff we did while they were here before I get to Seattle. Until next time.

Academic Interlude 2

2011-02-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

Someone please tell me this is a joke...

see more Political Pictures

I'm just praying that the misplacement of Egypt here was intentional because the alternative is far too sad for me to think about.

Academic Interlude

2011-01-31T20:28:00.000-08:00

How to Tell if Your Professor is Really A Bond Villain

1) He teaches Political Science. This is obviously part of his cunning plan to take over the world.

2) He wears a black turtleneck. Every. Single. Day.

3) He has a mysterious accent that cannot be tied to any specific country or region

4) His name is Dr. Lovelace.

'Nuff said.

Day Eight: The d'Orsay

2011-01-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

Day Eight: The d'Orsay

Jan. 7th 2011

Well I'm home, as I'm sure most of you have figured out by now. Sorry for the delay, I'm doing my best to catch up on these. Only a few days to go!

This one should actually be pretty easy because I have absolutely no pictures to show you from the d'Orsay. Why? The museum simply doesn't allow it. In retrospect, I probably could have snapped a few here and there without being noticed, but I really didn't want to get yelled at by museum security. And did I mention the soldiers carrying uzis at every national monument? Ok, so the d'Orsay wasn't really important enough to merit an armed guard, but Dad seems to think that the French police regard Javert as their patron saint and that's enough for me to be wary.

That being said, the d'Orsay is absolutely gorgeous and pictures probably wouldn't have done it justice anyway. Well...maybe a little. Here's the website: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html so you can ooo and ahhh to your heart's content.

The d'Orsay is a very specialized museum in that it only covers a specific time period. The works of art range from 1848 to 1914. What we're dealing with here is a basically the impressionist period. There's a bunch of Renoir, a shit ton of Degas, and more Monet than you could shake a water lily at. Speaking of Degas, I was never a huge fan until I actually saw his works in person. Up until then it was always, "Yeah, ok, we know you have a ballerina fetish. Yes, they're very pretty. No, of course I'm not implying anything."

I didn't fully appreciate Degas until I saw his work up close. Pastels are something you really have to see in person. A photograph in a book or on the internet just can't convey the same texture and shading as the real thing. And like everything else in the museum, these pastels were fucking gorgeous.

But my favorite part of the entire museum has to be the the decorative arts. Let me start by saying that I love art nouveau. I love it so much I want to marry it. It is my wish to have my entire house remodeled in that style in the event that I become an eccentric millionaire. As it turns out, the d'Orsay has several art nouveau furnishings on display. I just had to be careful not to drool all over them.

Now, I'm going to post a link here for you to look at. Just go and stare at it in appreciation for a good ten minutes or so. It's ok, I'll see be here when you get back.

Look at meeeeeee!

Is that not the most beautiful room you have ever seen? Is it not just exquisite? You want me to come up with more adjectives to describe this piece of art, but I can't. I'm too busy staring at the majesty of it all.

As I gazed into the loveliness of this room and struggled not to just stand there with my jaw hanging open, it suddenly dawned on me that this must be where the people who worked on the visuals and sets for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings got their inspiration. I dare you to look at that room and tell me it doesn't remind you of Rivendell. No wonder I'm so in love with the art nouveau style.

Somehow we managed to spend the whole day in a museum that was actually fairly small. We moved very slowly, appreciating each individual piece of art until we eventually found ourselves in the museum tea room where I had some of the best earl grey ever and a delightful salmon salad.

Next time: Rodin's house

Day Seven: Le Louvre

2011-01-08T01:18:00.001-08:00

Day Seven: Le Louvre

Jan. 6 2011

Today Timmy went to the Louvre. See?

That pyramid thingy is the entrance. Don't ask me why, cause I don't know.

It was a cold and grey day but luckily Dad and I had our raincoats. Timmy stayed in my purse for the most part while we waited in line. You guys see this?

Yeah. That was the line. I have come to conclusion that Paris is basically just Disneyland for the haute couture.

So we waited outside for a while, which wasn't too bad as it wasn't raining very hard and I got to stare at this giant gorgeous building around me. The Louvre palace used to be the residence of the French monarchy until Louis the XIV up and moved everything to Versailles. As far as I know, the building was still used as government offices until the revolution and Napoleon III was the last person to live there. As with other French national monuments I've noticed, soldiers with uzis were on standby to deter any would be terrorists.

Once we made it to the pyramid they xrayed my purse and we went down an escalator into the main lobby which springs off into three wings. Dad and I decided to start on the medieval level. Somewhere along the way we saw this.

No...Jewish photographers? OH! Oh, no flash. Riiiight, gotcha.

We got to see original foundations of the fortress. That was neat. For some reason they had all this modern art crap in the same area. I hate when they mix periods/genres like that. Drives me freaking nuts.

Here's Timmy in front of a model of the original fortress.

After that we wound our way over to the Greek and Roman relics where Timmy made friends with the Venus de Milo.

Heya, toots.

And now here's something people rarely see in their lifetimes...the backside of Venus.

Nice tokus

But my favorite part of the Louvre was probably the objects d'art and the apartments of Napoleon III. These are some niiiiiiice digs, people.

I like taking pictures of mirrors...

Now this is a dining room. I think somebody finally beat my grandmother's Christmas table.

Here we have the parlor

Timmy approves of the decor.

Speaking of Timmy, guess who got lost in the Louvre? Yes, that's right. Timmy got lost and I nearly had a fucking heart attack. It happened when Dad and I were looking around the Mesopotamian exhibit. I reached into my purse so I could take a picture of Timmy in front of a giant sphinx when I suddenly realized he wasn't there. Panicked, I turned to my father.

"Dad, Timmy's gone."

Dad looked just as alarmed as I was. "Don't even joke about that."

I hurriedly walked back to the previous room and retraced my steps around the corner and back to the stairs we'd walked down earlier and found Timmy sitting on one of the steps. I snatched him up and just held him in my hands for a good five minutes to reassure myself that he wasn't going anywhere. Timmy remained buried deep in my purse for the rest of our visit unless he was needed for pictures. Needless to say, Timmy was grounded for the rest of the day and did not get any pastries.

And now it's time to play the caption game. This is where Dad and I take a famous or not so famous work of art and add a caption to it to make it more interesting. Ready? Go!

I been here five years! They only hung me the right way up yesterday!

C'mon, guys! We got the hookers for the whole night!

And I will hug him, and squeeze him, and pet him and name him George.

Does this horse make my ass look big?

Jesus, I'd go blind painting in all those numbers...

Ahhhhhgod! I found Edward Cullen! KILL IT! Kill it with a stick!

And now what you've all been waiting for, the piece de resistance, the Mona Lisa herself!

Well, sorta.

That's Dad working his way toward the Mona Lisa. They only let you get about seven feet away from her and there's always a crowd of gawkers ooing and ahhing over a piece of art they can barely make out the detail on.

I will say this, though: finding the Mona Lisa was really easy. Unlike Pere Lachaise, there were signs everywhere saying, "This way to the Mona Lisa!" with handy little arrows pointing which direction to go. Why couldn't they do that for Jim Morrison's grave? The least they could do is tie some helium balloons to the tree so you know where the party is.

I finally worked my way through the crowd and got Timmy up to the front. Here you are.

Say "cheese," Timmy!

Day Six: Pere Lachaise

2011-01-05T23:34:00.000-08:00

Day Six: Pere Lachaise

Jan. 5 2011

It was actually sunny today so Dad thought it would be a good day to visit the cemetery. I had to visit Oscar Wilde at some point while I was in Paris and Mom had asked me to pay her respects to Jim Morrison. So we took Le Metro to Pere Lachaise.

The Metro is kinda cool because it runs on rubber tires so it's quieter and bouncier than BART. There are also more trains so you don't have to wait very long. There used to be first class seating on the train but now it's like any other public transit--everbody climbs aboard and holds on to something. One thing's for sure though, the beggars in the Paris metro are very persistent and are willing to risk bodily injury for a couple euro. We saw one guy hang onto the outside of the train as it was leaving just so he could get a euro from someone inside. Crazy!

Anywho, we finally arrived at Pere Lachaise several stops later and walked right into the cemetery without stopping at the entrance to get a map. Bad move. We then got lost looking for Jim Morrison's grave. How could we get lost in a cemetery, you may ask? Just look at this place.

Now this is what you call a necropolis

Jesus o.o

I did manage to get some rather nice pictures along the way though.

It's all very pretty actually, in a gothic kind of way

Spooky

Oh, and apparently Pere Lachaise is guarded by cats.

Hey, Cat! Do you know where Jim Morrison is?

Laissez-moi! Fucking tourists...

I think we walked all the way around to the other side of the cemetery before we finally found another map. I took a picture of it this time, goddammit. We went back to where we started and tried again.

Dad started making remarks about tying party balloons to the gravestone so other poor travelers wouldn't get lost like we did. We paid closer attention to the street signs this time and found this clue written on a nearby bench.

We found the plot where Morrison was buried and did a circle around it before we realized he must be somewhere in the middle. So we walked carefully between the graves until we found a small flock of groupies clustered around what had to be Morrison's grave. Turned out it was.

Tada!

Huh...I don't know about you guys, but I'm not that impressed. Dad though, did not pass up his chance to lean over the railing (did I mention that there was a railing? There was a railing) and put in his two cents. "Just for the record, you weren't that good." He then added, "You were good, but not Pere Lachaise good."

There was also this nearby tree that everyone wrote on. You can see some of the railing behind it.

And now you will all have that song stuck in your head. You're welcome

After successfully locating Jim Morrison (finally) we set off to find Oscar Wilde. I'm an English/History major, you see, so I was kind of obligated to stop by. I'm pretty sure it's a rule.

On the way there we ran into Marcel Marceau's grave--zee famous French mime. Dad and I stared at it for a minute until Dad leaned over and said, "Best 'man trapped in a box' evar." Yes, it's true. My father has no respect for the dead.

So we kept on heading in the direction of Oscar Wilde's grave. This time we looked at the map and actually made it to the general area where Oscar was supposed to be...and then got lost.

I think I got the number wrong and we kept wandering around a huge plot with much more recent graves until Dad finally said, "Hey, let's look over there where all the old stuff is." The next plot over looked a lot more aged and it wasn't long before we found another small group of people clustered around what I recognized as Oscar Wilde's grave. At least this time we were in the right area and I actually knew what the gravestone looked like beforehand.

So without any further ado, allow me to present the man himself, Oscar Wilde! Wait...what's all that stuff on his headstone?

Kindly ignore the small child

Oh my god, that's a lot of smoochies o.o Had I know I would have brought my lipstick. How many of those do you think are women anyway?

So, with my quest now fulfilled, Dad and I got back on the Metro and took the train up to Montmartre so Dad could walk through hippie land. You have to remember that Montmartre at the height of the Bohemian era was basically the first hippie commune. Let the good times roll, baby.

We went to this tiny museum that had a lot of Toulouse Lautrec stuff and Bohemian memorabilia.

Look! Stuff!

Oooo china

And a shot of Timmy outside the museum with Dad in the background

I bought more souvenirs while we were there. Though try as I might, I could not find a shirt that said, "I froze my ass off in Montmartre and all I got was this lousy T-shirt"

Day Five: Fucking Tourists

2011-01-04T21:45:00.001-08:00

Day Five: Notre Dame Part Deux

Jan. 4th 2011

Today I dragged Dad all the way up the towers of Notre Dame. It was literally freezing outside and we stood in a long line that stretched all the way down the block just to climb what seemed like an endless spiral staircase of doom. An endless spiral staircase that you have to pay money for the privilege of climbing. Dad and I were able to use our museum passes to get in.

It was so cold that I nearly chickened out just as we were getting to the front of the line. My toes started hurting as I fidgeted to keep the blood circulating and I started to wonder if I was getting hypothermia and would need to have my toes amputated to save the rest of my legs. Dad kept encouraging me to hold out just a little longer until we finally made it inside.

There was a gift shop a couple flights up where we stopped to buy souvenirs before going up the rest of the way. My breathing was pretty ok, but at one point I was sure my quads were going to give out and I'd have to be dragged back down the tower. I think Dad was feeling the same way.

The stairs became narrower and more worn as we reached the top and I was extremely glad that Mom had rubber soles put on my boots for Christmas. Each step was worn down from centuries of climbing so that it curved in the middle. Someone was nice enough to install a railing, however, which made the journey slightly less treacherous.

Just as I thought I wouldn't be able to climb any further, the stairs ended and we reached the top. Finally, I had completed my quest. Now that I made it to the top, I had a job to do. I had to find...this guy.

Fucking tourists...

Mom and Dad took this same picture about 20 years ago and now I have finally duplicated it. As always, Timmy was there to lend a hand.

This was as much of Timmy's safety as I was willing to risk

Here are a few more of my favorite gargoyles.

This one reminds me of my doggies

Chicken is made of what?!?

I swear this one is Rob

Oh, and we also got to see the bell.

Here is the entrance

The bell

And the view looking up into the tower

Dad thought we'd go to the archaeological crypt under Notre Dame when we finally made our way back down the staircase. They have ruins down there dating back to the Romans. Much like Ankh-Morpork, most of Paris is built on Paris.

I took a lot more pictures of the ruins, but I figure you guys are probably tired of staring at bits of rock. On to the food!

From left to right: bouche noel, macarons, apple tartes, and an almond galette. Behind Timmy is a bottle of apple cider. Omnomnom

Yeah, that was pretty much our dinner. Dad just pointed out that if only the French had been able to hang onto all of Canada and not just Montreal we would have fabulous French food just across the border...le sigh

Day Four: The Latin Quarter

2011-01-04T00:49:00.001-08:00

Day Four: The Latin Quarter

Jan. 3rd 20100

Morning comes slowly in Paris due to the buildings blocking the sun. I'm sure the fact that it is winter also had something to do with it.

This is the view from the balcony of our hotel room.

Bonjour, Timmy!

Today I ate the best ham sandwich I have ever had in my entire life. It had a fried egg on top and was broiled and covered in gruyere. Omfg. My taste buds thought they’d died and gone to heaven. I also had French hot chocolate for the first time and I may be forming an addiction. They serve it to you as a pitcher of steamed milk and a small container of melted chocolate with a few packets of sugar. You then mix it to your preference of chocolate and sweetness.

After that we walked over to Notre Dame where Dad made me cover my head with my scarf to go inside because he’s all Old World like that. Just for the record, I was the only woman with her head covered, though there was a sign outside asking men to take off their hats. At some point when Timmy and I are feeling more fit we will climb up to see the gargoyles.

Impressive, non?

There is also a society of mutes that hang out around Notre Dame trying to get you to read their mission statement and donate money. There are a lot of them so I learned how to say “merci, no” pretty quick. Here are some more pictures of the inside.

Dad lighting a candle

Mary looking pretty good after giving birth without an epidural.

Pretty

Scroooooooge...

Ok, not really

After Notre Dame we walked over to the Musée de Cluny, which houses the unicorn tapestries and a great deal of medieval things. Part of the museum is built on Roman ruins that are still standing, which kind of makes my internal history major turn into a mass of gaping, awe-filled jelly. I kept wanting to touch everything, but didn’t because I know better. Part of the ruins you could touch, like the walls and the stairs. I may have laid hands on those more than once…

Without further ado, here are some pictures from the Cluny.

Outside courtyard. If I remember right, the Cluny was a Roman villa which was later converted into an abbey and then converted into a museum.

Wall detail of scallop shells

Well in the courtyard

Part of the Roman ruins inside the Cluny

Hey, I found someone with hair longer than mine!

The frigidarium where more artifacts are kept

I found a Cernnunos!

The unicorn tapestries. These are kept in low light to preserve the fabric. Let me also state that they are huuuuuuge and the detail is just astounding. The only way to fully appreciate them is to see them in person.

Medieval fireplace

Armor and weaponry. I know some of it is supposed to go on the horse, but don't ask me where.

Later we walked over to the Conciergerie and saw where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned. It's really spooky when you realize that you're walking through the same place where hundreds of prisoners were kept before they were guillotined.

Fun fact: I was born on the same day Charlotte Corday was executed. Neat, huh?

This is where people would have been led out to the guillotine. Dad looks rather cheerful.

The Hall of the Guards, normally an empty room according to Dad, was filled with all this neat film memorabilia.

I may have watched part of that on youtube.

Have I mentioned what a beautiful space this is?

Film set from Jeanne d'Arc.

Oooooo...

I want this dres, plz.

We walked around some more after that and Dad bought me a crepe ^.^ I got nutella and Dad had sucre et canelle (sugar and cinnamon). It is now official btw that crepes > churros.

The ham sandwich I had for breakfast kept me full for lunch so we stopped at a Chinese/Japanese restaurant and picked up some cheap pre packaged sushi for a snack back at the hotel. It actually turned out to be slightly better than what you usually find prepackaged stateside.

After a little nap Dad took me to a nice casual restaurant he's been to many times before. We each had a three course meal. I had steamed mussels in a white wine sauce for starters, roast chicken with green beans and french fries, and an upside down apple tarte for dessert. Dad had a niciose salad, steak (also served with green beans and pommes frites), and profiteroles drenched in chocolate for dessert. I can definitely say that I have yet to eat something I don't like.

Le chat noir

2011-01-04T00:14:00.000-08:00

This morning I awoke to find two emails from my cat, who seems to be growing increasingly desperate in my absence. Mom's been taking care of him while I'm away in Paris and I know he's in good hands even if her lap is not the same as mine. Here are the emails from mon chat to amuse you until I get another post up.

Allo maman,

Grandmere is barely meeting my needs as once again it pours liquid from the sky and the door into summer is nowhere to be found. Fortunately your robe de chambre is adequate and I have patted it into a semblance of moderate comfort. You will be returning with baguettes, n'est pas? A small rodent would not be amiss - I understand the variation in diet changes the flavour of the flesh.

(Help, I'm being held hostage by a gang of philistines who, when I said that after Sweeney Todd, West Side Story was possibly the best American Musical, replied "Oh no...uh, uh... Cats is..."

sigh...help....)

Pardon maman, I told her that she was not allowed to hijack my email to complain..... bad manners. Well, I am awaiting posts of your first days out of the americas... nothing forthcoming because I am sure you are eating your way through the pastries, pommes frites, and entrecotes. Well, I am missing your lap as grandmere refuses to sit with her legs crossed so I can nap.

Come home soon or I shall send a broom for you.

Avec affection,

Oberon

---------------------------------------------------------------

I have failed to find the door into summer.

He scorns the litter box.

He sulks atop the shed at the side of the house because I told him to take a stroll when the rain stopped.

He is miffed at the lack of fresh sushi.

I am desolate and will have to commit sepuku.

Love, moi

Day Three: London Heathrow to Charles De Gaule

2011-01-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Day Three: London Heathrow to Charles De Gaule

Jan. 2^nd 2011

Got baaaad motion sickness during landing in London. Possibly because I was facing backwards and possibly because I had to scarf the breakfast they served me an hour before landing so I would have time to take my meds. The meds may also have contributed to the dizzyness.

We had to go though security again once we got to Heathrow airport. Why, I have no idea. The lady who came to take us to our connecting flight didn't tell us we'd have to go through security again so it was somewhat of a pain in the arse. I still had my water bottle that they gave me on the plane in my bag, so they had to pull it aside, take everything out and run a chemical swipe over the inside. The security guard wasn't mean or anything. He just looked at me kind of matter of factly and said in his heavy London accent, "Who left this bottle in here?"

"I did," I replied apologetically.

He nodded. "You did."

"I'm sorry, it was given to me on the plane."

"S'alright. Just means we have to check it, that's all."

Of course I couldn't take the bottle past security so I used some of the water to down a couple ibprofen and let them throw the rest away.

We had to board our connecting flight immediately after we landed so I didn’t really get a break from constant motion. I barely made it on the ride over the channel, but luckily the pilot was the Doctor so he was able to bring us in without too much turbulence. Seriously though, the captain sounded a lot like David Tennant.

British Airways lost Dad’s bag and then we wandered around the airport for a long time looking for the shuttle to the hotel. The car ride didn’t help my motion sickness at all because everyone here drives like a crazy person. It’s like LA but with narrower streets.

We finally made it to the hotel and I just collapsed on the bed for a couple hours. Dad’s original plan was to walk around for a couple hours but I think he saw how dead I was so we just stayed in instead. I woke up later and managed to stay awake until 9:00 pm or so when Dad’s luggage finally arrived.

We watched American movies in French. It was interesting.

Oh, and it is cold here. But not as cold as I feared.

And that pretty much covers my first day in Paris.

Day Two: SFX to London

2011-01-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

Day Two: SFX to London

Jan. 1^st 2011

7:08 pm PST

I am currently in the bubble of a 747 so here are some of today’s highlights:

Got to SFX and sat in the British Airways lounge for three hours before our flight. It was filled to the brim with snackey poos! Even little sandwiches! And also booze. Then we stood in the special line and boarded the plane directly from the lounge.

Fancy!

That's a lot of booze

I took the window seat, which faces towards the tail of the plane. Dad tried to tell me what it was like to take off backwards.

DAD: You know that flume ride at Disneyland?

ME: Splash Mountain?

DAD: Yeah, it’s nothing like that.

This is what a business class seat looks like

When you fly British Airways you get called Madam. A lot.

When you fly business class you get actual cutlery and china.

And more booze.

There’s also a touchscreen TV with movies and TV shows on demand. I am somewhat amused that Gandhi is among the list of films. It’s like saying, “Hello, welcome to our country! Here’s a movie about the greedy imperialists we used to be!”

Oh! And there’s a map that tells you where the plane is currently and how much time you have left on your flight. It looks like we’re flying over Lake Winnipeg right now. HI, SCOTT AND EDEN!

Six and a half more hours left to go. I guess maybe I should try and sleep for a couple of them. Kay bye!

9:00 pm PST

Turbulence! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

12:30 am PST

Hay you guyz, I found teh sun. No reely.

I think I slept for maybe an hour. I need coffee and a neb -_-

Ooo la la

2011-01-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

I had to post this. Can you blame me?

Of course you can't. Besides, it's Judy Garland. Everybody likes Judy Garland.

Sooo....in about seven hours I'll be on a plane to London. Yep.

Dad's watching a clip of White Fang and Black Tooth on youtube. No wonder baby boomers are so weird...

Day One: LAX to SFX

2010-12-31T19:13:00.000-08:00

Day One: LAX to SFX

Dec. 312010

12:30 pm

Timmy was disappointed to learn that a first class ticket does not automatically grant entry into United’s Red Carpet Club. I did my best to console him with a café mocha from Starbucks.

Meanwhile I have half an hour until my flight boards and I am considering getting a sandwich since Timmy and I were deprived of the snackey poos we were promised at the Red Carpet Club. I’ll probably pass on the off chance they might actually feed me in first class. Either way I’m sure I’ll be pouncing on Dad and demanding sushi as soon as we land.

Thankfully, I had no trouble with TSA in LAX. They didn’t even ask about my medication. Hopefully this trend continues for the rest of the trip. Everybody cross your fingers.

12:51 pm

Aaaaaaaand I just killed ten minutes cleaning up my desktop. I can actually see my background now! Still hungry though.

4:37 pm

Hotel restaurant needs to open nao! I WILL EAT ALL THE THINGS!

Oooo, Twilight Zone marathon…

6:59 pm

Uhhhhg. I ate ALL the things.

9:39 pm

Hotel bed is squishy ^.^

10:11 pm

Commercial for a new blood glucose meter from Medicare comes on TV and the announcer man says, "And the best part is you no longer have to prick your fingers."

ME: Well you have to prick something.

DAD: That's what she said.

12:00 am

Fireworks!

Omg, you guys...

2010-12-28T01:26:00.000-08:00

I just saw Tron 2. I need a lightcycle right goddamn now.

Vrooom!

And the soundtrack was bitchin! See sample:

I fight for the users! Hell yeah!

Ok, that movie left me way more bouncy than I need to be right now. But it was really awesome. Srsly.

Yeah, you're right. I should probably go to bed now. Kay bye!

Some observations

2010-12-25T14:12:00.000-08:00

Dear City,

You know that stop sign over by Capitol and Gaffey? The one that's been run over, like, ten times now? Yeah, that one. What is the point of putting it in the middle of the intersection anyway? The plastic poles lined with reflective strips that surround it don't seem to protect it from getting run down every couple months.

How much does it cost you to replace that sign every time someone runs it over? I'm sorry, City. It just...it really doesn't seem worth it. Just thought I'd let you know.

Signed,

The resident college student who just doesn't get it.

Also, the new bathrooms in the university library are awesome. I swear the toilet seats are ergonomically designed to cradle your backside.

Thus ends today's random observations.

Christmas Update

2010-12-25T12:29:00.000-08:00

Alright, Timmy, we've kept the people waiting long enough. It's time we explained just what the heck's going on in the next two weeks.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Yes, I know it's Christmas. So that means we have plenty of time to sit down and talk about Paris and--hey! Get your head out of that stocking! You can eat your Christmas chocolates later.

Don't give me that look...

Alright. So, long story short, Dad and Timmy and I are flying to Paris for about a week. Dad's been wanting to take me since forever. This will be my first time out of the country. Unless you want to count that one time I crossed the border into Canada for, like, five minutes. Timmy's very excited. Aren't you, Timmy?

Timmy?

Timmy! How many times do I have to tell you to lay off the cherry cordials? Now come back here, we're writing a blog post.

Where were we? Oh yes. Timmy and I will be flying up to San Francisco New Years Eve and then Dad and the two of us will fly from San Francisco to London on New Years day where I will get to spend one glorious hour in Heathrow airport jumping up and down and exclaiming, "OMG I'm in London! Eeeeeeee!"

After that it's a quick flight over the channel to Paris. Some of the highlights on this trip will be:

The Louvre (duh)

Musée d'Orsay

Musée de Cluny

Pére Lachaise Cemetery

Versailles (possibly)

I think Dad may have mentioned Montmartre as well and then of course there's the food, which I keep hearing is an attraction unto itself. Anyway, it should be lots of fun.

You all know how I am by now when it comes to updating the blog while on vacation. All I can say is I am bringing my computer and I will do my best. If nothing else I will try and post a picture every day to keep it exciting.

Timmy and I return to the states on January 10th and I get back home on the 11th. Then on the 12th my friends Scott and Eden and flying in from Canada for two weeks of fun and shenanigans. And, of course, Disneyland. They fly back to Canada right before I go back to school. January is going to be freaking awesome.

So that's my update and now you all know why I was freaking out at the amount of snow being dumped on Paris a couple weeks ago. Luckily, the snow has calmed down considerably so I should be able to deal with a reasonable amount by the time we get there. One of my Christmas presents from Mom was new soles for my boots so now I wont go slippy slidey on the wet streets of Paree. Hurrah!

Anyway, happy holidays, merry Christmas, and goodwill towards everyone and not just men. I leave you now with my Mom's new favorite Christmas song.

Merry Christmas, from Chiron Beta Prime.

What is "term paper"?

2010-12-12T15:53:00.000-08:00

Yeeeeah, things aren't quite that bad but I am wrapping up the rest of my finals this week. So as soon as those are over I will fill you guys in on Paris, my failed attempt at NaNoWriMo, and some random observations I've made over the past couple weeks.

Until next time.

Snoooooooooow

2010-12-09T13:03:00.001-08:00

Too much snow! Do not want! D:

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Heavy-snow-Paris-shuts-down-Eiffel-Tower/ss/events/wl/120910parissnow

Oh yeah, I'm going to Paris. Did I mention that? More when I get home or find an outlet for the charger.

Thank you, Disney...

2010-11-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

For crushing all my hopes and dreams. I think I might actually cry. And not in the good way.

At least Alan Menken did the music for Tangled. I still have some faith there even if Disney didn't let him do it in the style of a broadway musical. What's with you guys? Seriously?

*sigh* Maybe Disney's right and they're just adapting to change with the times. If that's true, the times fucking suck.

Full story here: "Disney animation is closing the book on fairy tales"

Paper is pwned!

2010-11-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! I have survived my term paper! I worked on it all day yesterday starting around 10:00 am and managed to finish it by 1:00 am this morning. Should I have gotten some of that done a little earlier? Yes, yes I should have. Did I? Obviously, no. Is anyone surprised by this? Of course not.

Well, now that that's over with I can get back to my regular school schedule without any further delay.

Wait...I feel a disturbance in the force. As if a million voices cried out in ridicule and were suddenly overwhelmed with mocking laughter.

...it's November 1st, isn't it?

*sighs* Ok, fine. You want some of this? You want some of this?! *pulls on NaNoWriMo shirt* Let's DO this thing! Bring it, NaNoWriMo! I'm ready for you this time.

Let it Begiiiiiiiiiiin!

I'm crazy. Have we established that yet?

Happy Samhain

2010-10-31T09:38:00.000-07:00

That's Happy Halloween to most of you. This year I am celebrating by eating Count Chocula and finishing a term paper on race and gender relations in colonial North Carolina. Exciting, no? If I finish early there might be enough time to watch Young Frankenstein before I go to bed, which is usually how I spend my Halloween's anyway so the only thing that's really lost is the dressing up. Ah well, maybe I'll put on a tiara or something.

In the meantime I leave you with this most awesome sign language interpretation of the Johnathan Coulter song, "Re: Your Brains". Enjoy!

100%, baby!

2010-10-09T11:11:00.001-07:00

Hell yes! I am fucking informed, bitches. Of course, the quiz wasn't really that hard. Especially if you're a History major. Kinda makes me want to shake my head at the other 99% of the population. What's with you guys?

How much do you know about the world's major religions? Take the quiz and find out!

http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/index.php

Update: It is indeed, "on"

2010-10-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

Got to class early this morning in an attempt to avoid traffic due to the rain. A couple students were already there and a few more arrived shortly after. All of us waited outside to avoid another encounter with Dr. Nutter. At 9:50 one of us decided to brave the classroom and see if the desks were still in crop circles or back in their original rows.

Guess which one it was?

Go on, guess.

If you said crop circles, then you were right, and this time they were slightly more askew than before. Oh yeah, now they're fucking with us.

We continued to stand just outside the classroom until Dr. Awesome showed up scarcely a minute later. Dr. Awesome sighed and started to tell us to just sit in the damn circle until we realized that would make it difficult to take notes. So, like the well trained team we are, we quickly put the desks back in order. Seriously, we've gotten really good at that.

Dr. Awesome left, presumably to find whoever the hell was responsible but came back empty handed. While she was gone there was talk of sneaking in early and stacking the desks on top of each other once we found out just who was moving them around. But alas, as of right now we still have no leads.

Oh, and we found out that Dr. Nutter does indeed teach a Humanities course. We also found out that she is a lecturer, not a professor. Which might explain why she got so uppity with us for "ordering her around". I may just stop calling her Dr. Nutter and go with my dad's suggestion of Ms. Headupherass.

So, uh...we may have started a war.

2010-10-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

And by "we" I mean my entire Colonial History class. Whom we may have started a war with exactly requires a bit of explanation.

Our class meets at 10:00 am. As is often the case, there is another class that meets in the same classroom an hour before ours. For the past five weeks or so our class has come in at 9:45 to find the desks far removed from their original rows and strewn about the classroom in a misshapen circle, as if some kind of bizarre tribal council has taken place during one of the previous classes. Twice a week myself and a few other kind souls do our best to return the desks to their original positions before class starts. Every single week.

At first we asked our professor what was going on and she was equally confused. She told us she'd try and figure out who was in here before us and see if she could have a talk with the professor, but that of course led nowhere. So we just continued to come in every morning and drag the desks back into some kind of order.

All that changed yesterday morning when it started to rain. A handful of us were standing outside and darted in the moment the previous class let out. The classroom was a mess but, to our great surprise, the professor was still there! The few of us moved towards the areas where we usually sit, wondering if we should put the desks back or leave them as they were for our own professor to see firsthand. A few more students trickled in as the professor from the previous class continued to put her papers in order and this is when one of my braver classmates decided to speak up and finally address this issue. "Excuse me," she said politely, "could you ask your students to put the desks back at the end of class?"

And the professor fucking flipped.

"No," she said flatly. "My class shouldn't have to be subservient to any other class and I'm not going to move them because I have a broken ankle. Why should my class have to put the desks back when we're not not the ones moving them? "

"Wait, you mean your class isn't moving the desks...?"

"No! We just come in and find them like this every day! They were like this the first day we came in so I just have class like this. You're the ones moving them!"

Some other poor student decided to step in. "No, no, Ma'am. That's not us, our class has always been in rows. We thought maybe you were moving the--"

By this time the professor had gathered up her paperwork and was ready to leave. "Well it's not my class and we shouldn't have to be responsible for putting the desks back!" and this is where things got really crazy. The professor then stormed out of the room, came back in, and pointed angrily at the student who had tried to intercede, "And you shouldn't be ordering professors around! That's rude and it's no way to talk to a professor!"

The angry professor, who from this point on shall be known as Dr. Nutter, then fled the scene, leaving the rest of us totally speechless. Except for one student who piped up as Dr. Nutter left for the second time, "Uh, we pay you..." Unfortunately, she was too far gone into her mental breakdown to hear him.

One giant, collective thought bubble with the letters "WTF?" hovered above our heads. No one knew what had just hit us or what we had done to deserve it. The class started mumbling and shaking their heads as we worked together to put the desks back in order. We sat down, resolved to tell our professor, who shall be known as Dr. Awesome, all about the shit that had just went down.

Dr. Awesome came in a few minutes later and the student who had started this whole thing with a simple question was bouncing in her seat. "Boy, do we have a story to tell you." We quickly informed Dr. Awesome of everything that had happened, including the accusation of rudeness that had been hurled at our fellow classmate, and Dr. Awesome stared back at us with the same expression of "Oh my God, are you serious?" that we had been sporting only moments ago.

Dr. Awesome apologized for what had happened and told us that was no way for a professor to speak to a student. Someone managed to get Dr. Nutter's name from the previous class and Dr. Awesome tried looking her up on the faculty database. We described Dr. Nutter to her and told her again, in great detail, about everything that had happened. . Dr. Awesome was definitely not pleased. The History department is a very close knit group for a couple of different reasons. One is probably because you have to be at least a little bit crazy to be obsessed with old things and the other is that History is still very much an underappreciated discipline. So we look out for each other. You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.

We also told Dr. Awesome that, according to Dr. Nutter, her class are not the ones moving the desks. And if that's the truth, then it has to be another class in the morning before Dr. Nutter's or one later in the day after ours. In any case, we somehow had to get in touch with the class that was moving the desks. So, at the end of class Dr. Awesome found a piece of chalk and wrote a note on the blackboard in very big, hard to miss letters:

10/4/10

Please return desks to original positions.

--Dr. Super Awesome

ex: 24601

She signed the note with her full name and extension number as if to say, "There, that ought to piss em off." Dr. Awesome apologized to us again because, since we had finally raised the issue, there was the high possibility of Dr. Nutter deciding to fuck with us in return. So it's possible that we may have just started a war with the Humanities department or whatever it is that Dr. Nutter teaches. I hear there's gonna be a rumble in the courtyard and if so, I absolutely refuse to participate without at least a 12 piece orchestra.

I may have an update tomorrow. Either way, I'll keep you posted.

Can I go home now?

2010-09-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting in my Geography class right now (I’ve been here since 4 o’clock) and all I can think of is that if we, as a class, can manage to keep the professor talking for another hour and fifteen minutes then we can all go home.

Except that I agreed to meet with my group after class to discuss this mapping project that we need to complete for 20% of our grade. What did I do that for?

Other things that make me happy

2010-09-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

So it's the fourth week of classes and so far I've done a pretty good job of focusing on school. Especially considering all the shit that went down during the first week. I'll fill you in briefly, otherwise we'll be here all day.

A couple weeks ago Richard's pancreas decided to go, "Grrrrr! I am an angry pancreas!" and essentially beat the shit out of his insides every time he tried to eat or drink anything. Even water. The paramedics came and took Richard to the hospital, but because Richard is basically the worst patient ever, he went AMA and came home thinking he was all better. This was the moment when his pancreas decided to go, "HAHA! Fooled you, sucka!" and the paramedics were called yet again. Fast forward to a different hospital with Richard actually behaving himself this time and his pancreas finally got a chance to rest for a few days and mellow the fuck out.

One thing that all that stress has made me realize is that we really ought to take a few minutes out of every day to think about the things that make us happy. And I mean really happy. Not just, oh isn't that nice happy, but big goofy grin happy. Things like this new blog I've discovered that makes me laugh so hard I actually start crying.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com

Or this picture of my best friend with a chicken on her head!

Or this epic music video by Ok Go.

Those are my big goofy grins for today. If you don't have any of your own yet, that's ok, you can share mine. Hopefully one of these has made you smile like an idiot :)

This is why I love John Stewart

2010-09-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Rally to Restore Sanity

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

I gotta admit, though, Stephen Colbert's pretty awesome too. John, I wish I could be there with you, man.

Oh, and here's Stephen's follow up. Cause you know there had to be one, right?

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

March to Keep Fear Alive

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

2010 Election

Fox News

Oh joy.

2010-09-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

Our washing machine is broken. We were hoping that maybe it had just slipped its belt or something, but nope. The repairman confirmed for us this morning that our washer that we've had for 7-10 years now is unquestionably, officially, busted. So guess who's dragging her books and several pounds of laundry to the landromat this weekend? I don't even need to ask, do I?

Actually it's not that bad. Like I said before, it's often easier for me to study when I'm out of the house. So hopefully I can get all my reading done while the laundry's going and then come home and type up my homework when it's all done.

There need to be laundromats made especially for students. With desk lamps and comfortable chairs and access to the internet. If something like that doesn't exist already, it needs to be made. Like, now. I demand a fancy laundromat catering to homeless college students! Make it happen, people!

I could have slept in, but noooooo.

2010-09-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

Who's got two thumbs and didn't check her email this morning? This gal!

Ok, so that joke doesn't work as well over the internet, but the result is still the same. I got to my 10:00 am class this morning, on time no less, only to find that the class had been cancelled. Usually I check my school email in the mornings in the event that something like this should happen, but I had my computer packed away to take to school with me today and didn't check my email.

Not that it would have made a difference because, as it turns out, there was no email saying that the class was cancelled. Now that's just rude.

My next class doesn't start until four, which gives me six hours between now and then to decide if I want to go home and come back in the afternoon. Then again, I do tend to focus better at school. So I think I'll just stay here and finish my homework for the week.

Meanwhile Timmy is still at home tucked away all warm and cozy in bed. Lucky bastard.

Seriously, how do multiple child households do this?

2010-08-30T07:58:00.001-07:00

Thanks to relatives moving in, I now share a bathroom with three other people. -_-

I don't know how mornings are going to work this semester. Maybe I'll just move in to Mom's bathroom.

This is so wrong...

2010-08-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I already knew this short existed. That was bad enough. What's worse is that it was made with the cooperation of the Inglewood Police Department and the Inglewood Unified School District. Thanks again for setting the example, California!

Thankfully, Doug Walker from That Guy with the Glasses has alleviated some of the awfulness by riffing the hell out of this short film of paranoia brought to you by the 1950s. Still, while this short is now funny, I can't help sitting here and thinking through the laughter, "Gods, this is wrong. This is so, so wrong..."

Enjoy!

I can has Italian bakery?

2010-08-21T15:42:00.001-07:00

So there's this place in San Pedro that's had a coming soon sign outside for like, three years now. And now, finally, they are open. Behold the wonder and the glory that is Amalfitano's Bakery.

droooooool.

And yes, that picture was taken on my bed because I am greedy and locked myself in my room with one of everything so I wouldn't have to share with anyone. Well, except Timmy. I can honestly say that is the best cannoli I have ever eaten. And this is coming from someone who, while undeniably Italian, usually has two bites of a cannoli and then doesn't want any more for the rest of the year. That cannoli was goooood. The cookies were excellent and the cream puff's custard filling was outstanding. My own mother assured me that these delicious baked goods were the most authentic she's ever tasted. Now all that's left is to get my Sicilian father down here to verify. What do you say, Dad?

Sandwiches, sandwiches, barely even human...

2010-08-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

Photo: Brian Leatart

Am I the only one who thought this was some kind of weird meat sammich? Cause it's not. It's actually some kind of weird ice cream sammich from some place in LA called Cool Haus. Found it here: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-35264484

Tomorrow I get to drive my grandparents up to Sherman Oaks for my aunt's birthday party. Wish me luck. I'm driving my grandfather's Volvo and it's oooooooooold.

The semester line up

2010-08-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

HIS 330 US Colonial Period

GEO 100 Human Geography

GEO 360 North America

PHI 383 Comparative Religions

POL 361 American Constitutional Law: Civil Rights

Gosh, I can feel the excitement already.

I'm still wary about that last class as it's supposed to be writing intensive. I wanted to take American Political Thought but that class conflicts with GEO 360, which I have to take to satisfy the history major and is only being offered every other fall. I may squeeze in an English class if I decide to drop the poly sci this semester and take the one I want in the Spring. Except that all the English classes are at night.

Why the feck is everything at night this semester?!? GAH!

Oh, and God's stealing my computer for a couple days because the PC she's been using has decided it doesn't want to run Microsoft Office anymore. See you guys in a couple days.

Well that was weird

2010-08-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

My cat does not like other cats, but apparently other cats like him.

Oberon is an indoor/outdoor cat in that he usually spends his days lounging in the neighbor's garden and his nights snuggled up on my pillow. I've never seen him make nice with another cat and he'll rarely allow anyone besides me and my mom to touch him. He'll tolerate Patches, the neighbor's cat, being in the same general area so long as they're outside but I've never seen him snuggle up to another cat since he was a wee kitten.

So it was really weird to walk outside and see an orange and white tom cat trying to make friends with Obie, who was having none of it. Though "huddled under the porch table in an indignant and confused ball" would be a more accurate description.

I think the fact that the cat was a tom surprised me more than anything else. How many friendly tom cats do you run into on a regular basis? And for that matter, how many people do you know who own an un-neutered male cat? He must have belonged to somebody because he was super friendly and was kind of shocked when I hissed at him to get him to back away from Obie.

I have no idea where he came from. He seemed like a nice enough chap but I told him that he wasn't getting any food under any circumstances. We just can't take in any more cats, not that Obie would let me if I tried. Hopefully he does belong to someone and is just having a look around the neighborhood and is not the new tom in town searching out his niche. In any case, Oberon is now spread out on my pillow like a black puddle, perfectly content to be the only cat of any importance in the house.

It was all a dream. And you were there...and you were there...and you...

2010-07-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

Timmy really liked Inception. He just thought you all might like to know. In case you were on the fence about seeing it or something.

We cooked a bunch of things yesterday and today but I only got pictures of part of the process. I'll probably post those when I get home cause I'm too lazy to get my camera out right now. Tomorrow we're driving out to Gilroy to finish up my back to school shopping. It's about a 90 minute drive so odds are I'll be sleeping part of the way.

That's about all I've got to report for now, so I'll be off.

Remember to go see Inception, though. It was a damn good movie.

Dad's creepy night light

2010-07-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

Today Dad and I went to the outlet mall in Vacaville for some back to school shopping. Timmy, of course, was in attendance and offered fashion advice when needed.

Vacaville means "Coo-beastie town" in Spanish!

I got a couple good cardigans and some comfy long sleeved shirts that will be good for fall and winter. I still need to pick up another pair of jeans, a new pair of sneakers, and some socks. If I find a new zip up hoodie that I actually like on top of all that I'll be really lucky.

We grabbed In-N-Out for lunch and headed back to the house to snack on jelly beans and watch Zorro the Gay Blade. Afterwards we drove down the hill and had sushi for dinner. I think tomorrow Dad and I are going to do some cooking for his office meeting/unit party thing on Wednesday.

On another note, I realized as I was starting to fall asleep last night that Dad's alarm clock has this creepy light feature that projects the time in big red letters onto the ceiling. I tried taking a picture but you can only see it when all the lights are off and the only thing you'd see is red numbers on a black background anyway. It doesn't quite capture the creepy/weird effect of seeing it on the ceiling. In any case, I now have Birdhouse In Your Soul stuck in my head. Hit it, John! Er, and John.

By the way, have any of you seen Cupcake Wars yet? That shit is intense! And the judges are all dicks! Jesus Christ, people, they're only cupcakes!

Aaaaand now of course I want a cupcake. Stupid food network.

Gru :D

2010-07-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

O hai.

So I got into Oakland today at about 2:30. Dad picked me up and we went to Daphne's for gyros--nom! Then we walked over to the movie theatre and saw Despicable Me. Timmy liked the minions a lot. Gru is freaking adorable :D I want to bundle him up and take him home. Maybe I will crochet a Gru scarf for myself this winter. I can creep around pretending to steal giant monuments ^.^

Seriously though, Despicable Me was a really good film. The story is good, the animation is great (a lot of French people worked on this film, incidentally), and the minions are hilarious. If you get the chance, definitely go see it.

Now I'm back at Dad's place watching old Bugs Bunny cartoons. I never realized before how many drugs Bugs can knock back in the space of one cartoon o.O

Also, Dad found a website where people post pictures of their airline meals and rate the quality of the food. That just sounds like something my dad would do, doesn't it?

Going to San Francisco for a week

2010-07-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,

Please take care of my cat while I'm gone. Tell him he is a pretty cat. And a good cat. Tell him I haven't abandoned him and I'll be back soon.

This just in from San Diego Comic-Con

2010-07-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

Guillermo del Toro to direct new 'Haunted Mansion' (AP)

Cooooooool.

Can't wait to see what Del Toro comes up with. Click the link for the full story.

The hell, you say?

2010-07-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so in case you haven't seen the Associated Press article yet (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_web_i_write_like), there's this website called I Write Like that's becoming increasingly popular. All you have to do is copy and paste a few paragraphs of your writing into the text box and the website will analyze your writing style, mostly based on word choice according to the AP article. I decided to play around with this a bit to see if my given writing style varies depending on genre/subject matter. Here are the results.

A selection of my 2008 NaNoWriMo novel, which I've been working on recently:

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Apparently I'm a chip off the old block despite not having read anything by James Joyce. Bad, English major, bad! *slaps wrist* Anyone have any suggestions?

(edit: 11:39 pm) I pasted the first few paragraphs of the same novel, which I haven't touched since 2008, to see if I'd get a different result and got J.D. Salinger. That's kinda cool.

A fantasy novel I have sworn to finish one day and haven't worked on since I was in high school:

I write like
Stephenie Meyer

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

In my defense, I did write it when I was in high school and I left all the formatting mistakes (paragraph wise) intact. For authenticity. All this says, really, is that Stephanie Meyer apparently writes like a shy, nerdy, 16 year old. I think I can hear Scott laughing at me all the way from Canada.

And finally, a blog post. Specifically, the one about Trix:

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I haven't read anything by Stephen King, either. Amazing how I write like all these authors I've never read.

Who do you write like? Share it in the comments!

Just because it's true doesn't mean I have to like it.

2010-07-11T20:40:00.001-07:00

Skeeve sent me a link to this a little while ago

see more Lol Celebs

That's right, internet, rub it in why don't you.

Happy Birthday, Skeeve!

2010-07-10T01:30:00.000-07:00

Today Skeeve turns 25 years old, which means that in exactly one week I will be 24. And that's just weird.

I have known this woman for 13 years. 13 freaking years! That's longer than most marriages last these days. Now I don't want to get all mushy and stuff, but I do want to take a moment to just say thanks. Cause if I'd never met you, Skeeve, I wouldn't have had half the adventures that I've had since we met when we were 11 and 12 years old. Thanks for making my life more awesome. And have a fantabulous birthday! :D

Today is a great day for justice

2010-07-10T01:22:00.000-07:00

For I...have conquered the granny square.

Apparently my great grandmother's mad crochet skillz are hereditary. Anyone care to guess what you're all getting for Christmas? If you said blankets, you guessed right.

Welp, back to the granny squares. I've only got about a bajillion of these to go before December.

Omg, best ice cream flavor ever!

2010-07-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

The carton says "Brownie ChewGooder", in case you can't read backwards. Seriously, though, this is one of the best ice cream flavors I've ever tasted. The brownies are gooey and delicious and just rich enough to take the edge off the sweetness of the vanilla ice cream and caramel swirls. I had to stop and tell the world

Ok, that's it. Now stop staring at me so I can finish this carton without the added guilt of witnesses.

4th of July Live from My Bedroom

2010-07-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

8:12 pm Both cats are inside and have so far managed not to kill each other. Lights are dimmed and new age music is on. Minor complaints in the form of vocalizations from Oberon.

8:14 pm Pearl is hogging the bed.

8:16 pm About 30 minutes let until blueberry pie is done. Woo!

8:21 pm Obie is a bit chatty but I'm appeasing him with petting. Engaging Doctor Who.

8:32 pm I think I just heard the first fireworks.

8:40 pm I <3 David Tennant.

9:04 pm Just took the blueberry pie out of the oven and put the brownies in. Feline truce is still in effect.

9:09 pm The big booms are starting now. Obie is calm but not pleased. Pearl sleeps on, oblivious.

9:49 pm So far the cats have done a really good job of ignoring each other.

10:18 pm Oh. Nevermind.

10:42 pm I have one cat curled up by my chest and another draped over my legs. I wonder if this is how crazy cat ladies feel.

11:05 pm Ok, Obie has realized that he and Pearl are sharing a bed and he's not happy about it.

11:53 pm Aaaaaaand Pearl has officially left (i.e. been evicted from) the bedroom. After trying to steal Obie's dinner. There's still a few fireworks going off here and there but otherwise it's mostly quiet so she ought to be fine. I doubt she's going outside any time soon. In the mean time I'm going to keep Obie inside as long as possible, though he'll probably insist on going out in a few hours. It ought to be safe by then.

Well, it's about five til midnight and I am officially concluding Catwatch 2010. Hope you all had as much fun as I did. I'm gonna go eat some blueberry pie!

Happy Birthday, Alicia!

2010-07-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

I don't have a more recent picture, so here's one from a few years ago. Gods, I can't believe that was Evan's first RenFaire. I'm getting old :P

Sorry, what was that? What do you mean "is there anything else I'd like to add"? Today is Alicia's birthday, what else could there--

Oh.

Right.

*sigh* Happy National Blow Shit Up Day, everyone. Or as you normal people call it, Independence Day, 4th of July, whatever. I hate this fecking holiday.

Now, before the thought police cart me away, allow me to make it clear that I don't hate America. Or the fact that we have a special day on which we celebrate America's birthday. I've got no problem with that. My problem is with the idiots who set themselves on fire every year and fill the air with enough smog and sulfur to choke a herd of elephants.

Every 4th of July I sit inside, lights low, quiet music playing, and try to amuse myself whilst making sure that the animals are all safe and comfortable so they don't go ballistic at the sound of....well, ballistics. Broadly speaking, this holiday sucks. For pet owners, for environmentalists, and for the firemen that have to go and save your stupid ass when you set your apartment on fire trying to launch rockets from your roof.

Please. Leave the fireworks to the professionals. It's what Sam the Eagle would do.

And now that I've finished my safety/anti-stupid PSA, I am announcing a live blog (well, sort of) of tonight's events. I will be sitting locked in my room with two cats who hate each other, trying to make sure that both are safe and calm while I watch reruns of something British. Probably Doctor Who. Hey, you celebrate America's independence in your way and I'll celebrate it in mine. By recognizing the fact that 234 years ago we all used to be British.

Cheerio then.

Ahhhh! Oh God, where the hell have you been??

2010-06-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

Uh, hi, guys. Apparently I suck at updating, even during the summer. Sorry.

It started with this series of books I was finishing. I was down to the last two and really wanted to finish both of them before I got back to blogging. Then when I finally did finish them...well, you know how when you've been absorbed in a book for a while it's kinda hard to separate yourself from that book once you've finished it? It's like your brain needs an adjustment period before you can step back into reality. Yeah, I know, it's just me and I should probably be on some kind of medication for that. But basically that's what happened. Not dead, not kidnapped by trolls, not being held hostage for drug money, just...me being a total and complete geek. Yep, that's me. Sorry.

Since I've already missed about a week, I feel I should give fair warning that I may be a little AWOL for the next few days as I attempt to tweak and edit my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel for the free print copy that I won this year. It won't be finished, in fact it's barely half done, but I figure I may as well edit what I have since I went ahead and got the unfinished print copy of my NaNo novel from 2008. That way they can be friends.

In the meantime, here are some glamour shots of Pearl. I swear she is the easiest cat in the world to photograph.

Until next time.

Gotta love the '50s

2010-06-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

Skeeve sent me this just now and since I haven't posted anything for today, you all get to stare at it with me. I never know whether to laugh or throw up when I read these sort of things. Here's a link to the original photo Skeeve sent me. I've taken the liberty of transcribing it below. My thoughts are in italics surrounded by parentheses.

http://www.picshag.com/pics/092009/the-good-wifes-guide.jpg

The good wife's guide

Housekeeping Monthly, 13 May 1955

Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him (and his life-threatening peanut allergy) and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home (Because they're too stupid to eat unless their wife tells them to) and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favourite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking (If you don't look perfect all the time then he'll know your entire marriage is a lie!). He has just been with a lot of work-weary people

Be a little gay (Ask him if Gary in advertising is still being obsessing over Judy Garland) and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it. (That's why Suzanne majored in fire-eating!)

Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. (You don't want the house to look lived in)

Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc and then run a dustcloth over the tables.

Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction. (Because you're not smart enough to pursue your own personal fulfillment)

Prepare the children. (They've been training for this moment for months!) Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them palying the art. Minimise all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

Be happy to see him. (Even though the sight of him makes you seethe with resentment and bitterness)

Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him. (Those drama lessons sure were helpful)

Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first--remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours. (In fact, never have a thought or opinion of your own. It's just bad manners)

Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. (Take solace in your collection of poems by Anne Sexton) Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Don't greet him with complaints and problems.

Don't complain if he's late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day. (Once he tells you about the Davison portfolio falling through, the hookers will seem totally justified)

Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. (Preferably spiked with arsenic)

Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice. (So he won't suspect it when you kill him)

Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him. (Who are we kidding? You don't have any rights.)

A good wife always knows her place. (And it sure as hell isn't here)

I think we need a little something to lighten the mood after that.

Ahhhhh, there we go. All better :D

In honor of Fathers' Day

2010-06-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

It's weird how we remember things. How do our brains decide which memories to store and which to move to the trash file to make room for new data? Why, for example, is it more important that I remember my dad making me blood orange juice for breakfast when I was six than how to find the hypotenuse of a right triangle? I dunno. All I know is that I have some vivid, seemingly inconsequential memories surrounding my dad and the things we used to do when I was a kid. So, in honor of Fathers’ Day, here they are.

Yes, indeed, my dad used to make me fresh squeezed orange juice from Sicilian blood oranges. But that wasn’t the end of it. He also told me weird stories about how Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Scotty had to beam down to some alien planet to get said oranges. Don’t ask. Just smile and nod and drink your juice, that’s what I did. My dad also made me scrambled eggs in every color of the rainbow after I became obsessed with Green Eggs and Ham. Scrambled eggs were the first thing he taught me how to cook and I could make them all by myself by the time I was five or six. Of course you can’t have scrambled eggs without toast, so my dad would make toast and then use various cookie cutters to make all sorts of different shapes and sizes. I had rocking horse toast a lot.

Both of my parents love language and were eager to feed my rapidly growing mind with a wealth of vocabulary, but it was my Dad who witnessed my first word when I was six months old and convinced my mom that I knew what the hell I was talking about. Now, obviously I don’t actually remember the moment I said my first word. I was six months old. I’m willing to bet I was more interested in wondering when my next meal was coming than the nuances of memory retention. My first word was "kitty cat". Pretty complex for a six month old, even if it did come out sounding more like “key cat”. But the point was that I connected the word to the thing and it wasn’t until we were in a restaurant and my mom saw me staring at a picture of a black cat on the wall and exclaiming “Key cat! Key cat!” that she realized my father wasn’t crazy.

Like most parents, my dad told me bedtime stories. But if you’ve been paying attention so far, you know that they couldn’t possibly be the same fairy tales that every other kid got. The one I heard most often was “Ronnie, Sununu, and Quayle”—a parody of “The Three Little Pigs”. Nancy Reagan was The Big Bad Wolf. But instead of trying to eat all the pigs she blew down their houses because she wanted to have a look at their china pattern. As you can imagine, I had no chance of growing up in a politically neutral household. Add that to the fact that my dad introduced me to both Mel Brooks and Monty Python at a very young age and I didn’t have a chance.

The first Mel Brooks movie I saw was Young Frankenstein and it was from there that my young brain learned the concept of quoting movie lines in everyday conversation. My mom and dad were in the kitchen one day putting away groceries and getting dinner started. Dad was on the floor putting away sodas while mom was doing something in one of the cupboards. Intending to help, I walked up to my dad and asked, “Need a hand?” whereby my father and I looked at each other in a moment of mutual inspiration and declared, “No thanks—got one!" My mom slowly turned around, staring down at us with a look of abject horror on her face as if to say, “Aw, hell. Now there are two of them.”

This may surprise people, but I was somewhat reluctant to learn how to read. My mother used to be an actress, you see, and she read to me so well that I didn’t really see any reason why I should bother to learn. She made me practice anyway, much to my chagrin, and promised me that the more I learned the more I wouldn’t be able to help reading. Every letter had a sound and every word had a meaning and there would come a time when I wouldn’t be able to look at a word without reading it. Turns out the bitch was right.

The part my dad played in all this was less active but no less involved. He went crazy on Microsoft word one day and printed out labels, which he then taped to nearly every object in the house so that whenever I walked by something I could see the word for it in bold block print. Kitchen, door, stove, microwave, window, bookshelf, table—everything in the house had a label. He would have taped a label to the cat if we had one when I was four.

My dad also taught me big words like actually and rhetorical and I was using them correctly when I was five years old. I think he knew for sure by then that I was way ahead of most of my peers.

Of course I’m sure it helped that I was taken on a lot of intellectual outings as a kid. One of my favourite excursions was the Getty Museum, back in the day when there was only one of them. I’m not sure how much history I actually picked up there, but I did learn two very important things: 1) How to behave in a museum and 2) How to enjoy museums. I don’t know how my parents managed it, if I just had a laid back temperament or if my parents were more interested in my enjoyment than they were in theirs. Whichever it was, I discovered that I liked looking at old stuff and thinking about how people lived a very long time ago. You can probably blame both parents for my double major in English and History.

One thing my dad still goes nuts over is Christmas. When I was a kid he would hang garland wrapped with these round frosted red and white lights that looked like berries all over the house. I really miss those lights. I can’t find anything else like them. I still have a strand of the white ones on which only one half of the lights work, but you’ll never get me to throw it away.

One year Dad brought home some clay and acrylic paints and we made our own ornaments using Christmas cookie cutters. We did a bunch of stars and tiny reindeer with different colored saddles. I also made a couple ornaments that weren’t Christmas themed, like a giant chocolate ice cream cone. Dad taught me how to use a toothpick to make a waffle cone texture in the clay and we baked them all in the oven after poking a hole in the top for the hooks to go through. Mom still has those and every year they go up on the tree.

The first Christmas song I ever learned was “Santa Clause is Coming to Town." I used to sing it a lot with my grandfather, who would stop at the end of every refrain for my solo, which consisted of an exuberant, “Tooooo tooooown!" I liked it so much that my dad arranged a jazzy version of the song for the piano and played it for me almost every day in December. My dad also taught me more obscure Christmas songs, songs that most kids my age probably didn’t know. One of those was “Christmas is Coming” and it was my second favorite song after Santa Clause.

I don’t know why I’ve remembered all this stuff, but I’m kind of glad that my brain saved these random bits of childhood for me to look back on. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, thanks for all the random bits of childhood, Dad. And...you know, all the other stuff you do on a regular basis. Happy Fathers’ Day.

Obie finally ate something!

2010-06-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

So I know that's not exactly newsworthy to most people, but my cat's been driving me crazy for the past few weeks refusing just about everything I put in front of him. I picked up some glucosamine treats a few days ago for his little kitty joints and he scarfed those down right quick, so I knew he wasn't sick or anything, just being an entitled pain in the ass. You know, like most cats.

I wasn't too worried about him getting food because I know for a fact that he hunts his own game. The old boy is 13 years old and an experienced hunter. In fact, he was yowling his head off just yesterday because he needed to show off the mousie he caught as he was eating it :P He's brought home birds, mice, rats--big rats, and...scary looking...rodent....things that I'm really not sure what they were. In any case, he wasn't acting sickly, just stubborn. So I was more annoyed than worried.

Then finally tonight he ate the entire can of shredded food that I put down for him. Now hopefully he'll sleep through the night and won't wake me up and 2:00 am because he's feeling peckish and needs to go out and kill himself some breakfast. Crotchety old man...

Suddenly, second graders! Thousands of them!

2010-06-18T22:47:00.000-07:00

I'm running on about three hours sleep right now.

I knew I'd have to be up before seven this morning, but I really wanted to finish the book I was reading last night. So I finally got to the end at about 1:00 am, which meant I'd get roughly five hours of sleep. Not great, but not awful. Then I went out to the kitchen to get a glass of water and wound up talking to my mom, who was also awake for some reason, for another hour. By the time I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and actually got into bed it was 3:00 am. Mom woke me up this morning at 6:30 -_-

I spent a full day (plus two and a half hours after school) helping kids type Fathers' Day letters, packing away crayons for the summer, and helping Mom fill out her cumulative reports. That's new school talk for updating students' permanent records.

And what do I have to show for it? Bruises all over my legs from bumping into cold, unforgiving, institutional student chairs and desks that only come up to my knees. It's not quite as bad as it sounds considering I inherited my mother's thin skin. Everything shows up no matter how miniscule. I'll get a bruise if I bump into a mattress the wrong way.

I'm gonna go now cause the computer screen is starting to look kinda fuzzy. Time for all good house elves to go beddy bye. Nini.

Yeah, yeah, I know

2010-06-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

I missed another day :P I had to get up at an ungodly 5:45 am this morning to accompany my mom to school and help her clean out her classroom for the summer. I fell asleep last night before I could write up a post.

Tomorrow is the last day of school, for the students at least. The parents are organizing a party, which means I get free lunch tomorrow--woohoo! We have to have the room in order by Monday. I know Mom will be giving away a bunch of books and throwing out other things she hasn't used in the past five years. I should probably make some kind of resolution once I become a teacher to go through all my junk every five years and give away anything I haven't used. Sounds good to me.

I came across this Monty Python skit that I don't recall ever seeing before. Check out John Cleese in a tight shirt and short pants. Hot damn!

What I would give for a cookie and a shower...

2010-06-15T23:48:00.000-07:00

Yup, still reading. There were more books in the series than I thought. Well, not really. I knew all this other stuff was supposed to happen before I picked up the latest book, but I couldn't remember the titles of the ones I was missing. Looked at the inside cover and sure enough there were the two I'd forgotten about. So I just started re-reading one book, I've got two more after that, and then I'll be able to start the newest book that I have yet to touch. Yup. Reading is good. I'm knocking out about one a day so at this pace I should be up to date with the series by the end of the week. Depending on how much help God needs packing up her classroom for the summer.

Not much else happening around here. Right now I'm waiting for everyone to go to sleep so I can take a shower in silence. Don't ask me why they're watching loud movies at five til' midnight. I don't know either.

I'm also getting random cookie cravings. Anyone wanna come over and bake me some cookies? Rob will lick the bowl so you don't have to worry about cleanup! Or better yet, how bout we go out for pizookies? I think I'll skip the orange cream soda this time. God damn, that was a lot of sugar in one sitting.

Aw, hell

2010-06-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

I missed a day. How did that happen?

I guess that's what happens when you're busy reading. I've only got about three more books to go until I'm caught up with the series. Give me a break, I haven't had the time to read anything but textbooks all semester.

More to report later after I have finished my current book.

Ohai

2010-06-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Can't talk now. Readin' my book. Trying to get to the end of the series by the end of next week.

Tomorrow I'm going for walkies even if it kills me.

That's all for now. Check in tomorrow to see if I've survived.

Because I like taking things to the nth degree

2010-06-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

And also because I didn't have anything in particular to write about today.

...and because I was having too much fun fooling around with the new blogger templates >.>

Ahem. Anyway, I received this email from a Concerned American (i.e. my father, who likes to constantly test my creative and intellectual abilities). Normally I would address such an important matter myself, but I was feeling kinda lazy so I let Timmy handle it instead. Hedgehogs are good PR managers.

Edited for spelling and punctuation.

Note: yes, of course this is entirely satirical. Don't get your panties in a twist.

Ciaó Principessa,

While I love your Blog with its biting commentary, educational visual aids and general "American Can DO" spirit, I'm writing to you today as a concerned Patriotic and Proud American Movie Goer with one simple question: WHY is the cartoon given German captions? What is Minnie, if that IS her real name, doing instructing our Nazi enemies in life saving skills? What kind of turncoat is this rodent. Is her real name Axis Minnie or Munich Minnie or Minnie the Municher? Is she greasing with the blood of brave American Animators the wheels of the Axis in its role to world domination?

I'm not too surprised at whatever part Figaro, Der Furher Feline plays since cats are notoriously unfaithful, drawn to whomever has the most kibble, the biggest ball of yarn or the catnip with the biggest nip. I won't get into the Nips right now either, but I'm sure the Land of the Rising Sun also has been getting more than a little help from this sushi loving Siamese. How much plastic surgey did he get to make him look like round eyes so he could spy and blend in? A visit to Dr. Samurai and it's Kitty Time for Tojo! Just where was HE on December 7th? NO doubt with his furry little heinie in the air pointing toward the Arizona!

And Pluto, poor bastard. No doubt pulled from some stalag at gun point, forced to eat snitzengubenchow, and subjected to medical experimentation that makes your mind reel. He'll get the purple heart AND the medal of honor I swear and he will be avenged!

Concerned American

-------------------------------------

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your interest in our blog! Customer satisfaction is our highest priority and we pride ourselves on responding promptly to all reader inquiries. According to Skeeve, our animation specialist, the cartoon to which you refer was subtitled in German by the person(s) who originally uploaded the video in order to circumvent copyright laws enforced by www.youtube.com Our specialist explains that doing so helps avoid detection by youtube and various copyright lawyers, resulting in the video remaining on the website longer before it is eventually detected and removed.

We have no reason to believe that Minnie Mouse or Figaro Kitten are in any way affiliated or otherwise connected with Nazi Germany. As we are sure you are aware, Mr. Figaro served proudly with our allies in WWII http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figaro_(Disney)#WWII_Mascot and is a decorated veteran in both the U.K. and the United States.

We hope this has answered your question. If you have any further inquiries please do not hesitate to contact us at http://theblueselkie.blogspot.com/ Thank you again for your interest in our blog.

Mr. Timothy Hedgehog,

Customer Service

Travels Aboard The Blue Selkie

I think Timmy handled that rather well. He is a professional after all.

And no, I didn't know Figaro was a WWII mascot either. I just went to wikipedia to see if he has a last name. He doesn't, but I gave him one anyway.

This is why it pays to have friends who are animation geeks

2010-06-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I posted a photo I took of a drawing I found of Pluto being bandaged up by Minnie Mouse. As I'm sure you all remember, I found it oddly disturbing at the time and couldn't figure out why Minnie appeared to be so cheerful about something that was obviously causing Pluto a lot of discomfort. Well, that's why I have Skeeve.

My friend Skeeve, Wolfidy here on Blogger, pointed out that the drawing was actually a reference to a Disney cartoon called "First-Aiders" made in 1944. She even provided a link to the cartoon on youtube. After watching it again I can actually say that I vaguely remember the damn thing! So here's the cartoon in all it's classic technicolor glory for all to see.

I always felt kinda bad for Figaro. It's because of him we have the rumor that Walt Disney hated cats.

Trix are for stoners

2010-06-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

So I was up late reading last night (I decided to re-read the entire series before I start on the newest book) when the hungries struck.

So, like any twenty-something year old awake at one in the morning, I poked through the kitchen looking for a post-midnight snack. We had a fair amount of food in the house: yogurt, tea, cheese, chips, but nothing that really called out to my tastebuds. And then I found the Trix.

We all remember Trix, right? That sugary cereal that pretended it was made with real fruit and vitamins so our parents would buy it. Well, your parents, maybe. I grew up on Kix, Kashi, and Raisin Bran. I vaguely remember having Coco Pebbles every once in a while. If I ever got my hands on Corn Pops as I child I was in freaking heaven. It was, as my father is so fond of saying, "like watching a heroin addict get their first fix." I still think Kix and Raisin Bran are pretty good but I hate Kashi. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaate it. And my mom spent my entire childhood trying to convince me it tasted good. Bleck.

I don't actually eat a lot of sugary cereal as a grown up, despite having been denied it as a little kid. When I do eat cereal it's either Special K or regular Cheerios--not the honey nut kind. Every once in a while when I'm dying for a fix I'll get a few of those single serve cups of Frosted Flakes and Corn Pops. Usually I stash them in my room or in an out of the way corner of the pantry where my diabetic step-father won't see them and get all grumpy because he can't have any.

Lately though Richard, that's the diabetic step-father I mentioned, has been picking up those mini boxes of various cereals. Usually it's things like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Honey Nut Cheerios and when I get bored with the Special K or the regular Cheerios I'll have one of those for a change of pace. Even though Cinnamon Toast Crunch does leave a nasty coating on your tongue :P I spotted the Trix sitting next to the other cereals and figured what the hell. I've never had Trix before, or if I did I couldn't remember what it tasted like. So I opened the two little boxes and poured them into an over sized coffee mug.

Whoa, dude, I thought, colors! They were some kind of promotional berry swirl Trix. Aqua blue swirled with a mellow purple and a highlighter yellow mingled with neon orange. It looked a bit like the 80's had thrown up in my cereal bowl. But more noticeable than the layers of vivid colors dancing against the stark whiteness of my cappuccino mug, was the instantly recognizable smell the moment I opened the package. It smelled like fruit snacks. Exactly like fruit snacks.

I was starting to wonder how this thing was going to taste, but I added milk anyway, figuring I might as well go ahead and find out. To be honest I just kinda stared at it for a while. The colors were so psychedelic I couldn't help wondering if someone could make an art project out of this cereal. Someone probably could.

I took a bite, convinced I was going to have a multi-colored bowel movement in the morning. Thankfully, it didn't taste nearly as much like fruit snacks as it smelled. I think the milk helped damp down the overly artificial fruit taste. Overall, I can't say that I enjoyed the taste of Trix, but it wasn't awful either. At least it didn't taste like a bowl of fruit snacks. That would have been really weird.

In conclusion I can only say that Trix was made to appeal to one specific group of people. Trust me when I tell you that it isn't kids.

Disney binge! Part 3

2010-06-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, so in case you haven't figured it out by now, Scott and Eden basically looked for any excuse to go to Disneyland the entire time they were here. The last day I spent at Disneyland was with Scott, Eden, and Pat. Denise was invited as well but she decided that she couldn't afford the admission. Maybe the next time around.

So the four of us drove down to Disneyland some time in the morning-ish and the first thing Scott said we had to do was go see Captain EO. For those of you who have absolutely no idea what the hell I'm talking about, I refer you to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_EO

We stopped at the Blue Ribbon Bakery so I could get a Mickey Mouse cookie and a small hot chocolate as I was not prepared to sit through a Michael Jackson Sci-Fi on an empty stomach. After a quick breakfast we walked over to Tomorrowland, put on our 3D glasses, and waited for the show to start.

We snagged a pair for Timmy too.

There was much larking about as we waited in line. Especially from Scott.

Yeah.

So Scott felt he should give me some sort of idea of what to expect before we went into the theatre. Needless to say, his summary didn't help much.

"Ok, so Michael Jackson is the captain of this space ship, right?"

"Kaaaaay."

"And he lands on this alien planet where he fights the Borg with the power of dance!"

"Riiiight. Is Q involved in this in any way?"

"Sadly, no. But you know who is involved?"

"No?"

"George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola!"

"Wait, what?"

That's right. Captain EO was written and directed by George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. And this was when George Lucas was still a proud, prestigious, relatively young writer/director with the world at his fingertips. This was before George Lucas knew the shame of the Star Wars prequels for God's sake!

"This show is gonna make me laugh like a maniac isn't it?"

"Oh goodness, yes."

Dear readers, I...I have no words. I was in hysterics from the moment Captain EO made his first appearance on screen. There is nothing, nothing, that can describe the uncontrollable laughter that came over me as Michael Jackson, excuse me, "Captain EO", the most effeminate starship captain in the galaxy, ascended from below deck in the heat of epic space battle to proclaim in the most breathy, girly voice I have ever heard out of a man, "We're goin' in!"

BWAHAHAHA!!!

Nothing, not even Mr. Lincoln, will ever equal the amount of hilarity I experienced at Captain EO. Nothing.

Several rides later we decided it was time for lunch. Scott and Eden took us to the all you can eat barbecue place in Frontier Land. It was actually pretty awesome. I'd eat there again, and this is coming from someone who's not all that fond of barbecue.

After lunch we introduced Pat to our new friend Señor Tortuga, who lives in the pond across from Thunder Mountain with the mechanical fish.

Un tortuga?

We coaxed him on land and fed him some of our leftover cornbread.

Señor Tortuga was much obliged.

We wandered into the sword shop in Fantasy Land and spotted this guy hanging above a display case. I know he's supposed to be a candle holder, but all we could think of when we saw him was, "Two udon noodle! Order up!"

You guys want fortune cookie with that?

Later in the day we walked over to California Adventure where Scott and Pat went on Grizzly Bear Rapids. Twice. Pat, predictably, got soaked while Scott remained mostly dry. Scott's kind of a bastard like that. Eden and I waited for them outside as the sun was going down and we didn't want be in wet clothes for the rest of the day.

We also went on the ferris wheel where we invented a new song to the tune of Ghost Riders in the Sky! Our version is Hans Grueber Falling from the Sky....scraper. Personally, I like our version better.

As night fell we went back over to Disneyland to see the fireworks. After that, Scott took us over to Pixie Hollow, where Tinkerbell and her friends hang out to promote the new pixie franchise or whatever it is. Scott just told us we had to wait there for fifteen minutes. So we did. During that time a police helicopter was circling overhead with its search light on and we wondered if the Disneyland PA system was going to suddenly come on and say, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, due to unforseen circumstances, Disneyland will be closing early this evening. Right.....now. Please calmly make your way to the nearest exit and have a magical day!"

That didn't actually happen, but the helicopter did swing kinda close to the Matterhorn at one point and Scott and Pat kept making references to Running Man.

Then out of the blue Pixie Hollow suddenly lit up and a choreographed display of lights and water danced to Irish inspired music. It was neat!

We left the park shortly after midnight and piled into Pat's car to go home. Pat's car has heated seats! My butt was warm all the way home ^.^

Time for bed. Nini.

2010-06-07T23:21:00.001-07:00

Gah! I was out helping my mom today and forgot to write up the third installment of Disney Binge. So tonight you get a filler post about things that don't matter. Yay!

Lesse...I did yoga tonight, which I've been neglecting as of late. I'm gonna start doing at least one or two sun salutations every morning when I wake up. That way I'll be more motivated to move for the rest of the day. I will also probably start walking the route that Skeeve and I used to take up by Pt. Fermin Park for our weekly walkies. It's much cooler (and prettier) on that side of town. Anyone care to join me?

I also discovered this awesome web series. Note: naughty puppets using naughty language. Not for kiddies.

And now it's time for bed. I'll write a proper post tomorrow. Promise.

Disney binge! Part 2

2010-06-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

Dude, I wish I could recall specific events from the next few days but everything is just a blur of awesome.

The last week I spent with Scott and Eden was probably the closest thing I have had to summer vacation in years. At least, it's definitely the closest thing I'm going to get to summer vacation this year. The next few days ended in me going to bed around one in the morning, waking up around 10:00 am, and getting a call from Scott and Eden.

"Hey, we're going to Disneyland. You in?"

"Right on."

Roll out of bed, throw on some clothes, smear on some sunscreen, grab my sunglasses and about an hour later Scott and Eden were there with a Robeks smoothie waiting for me to take the edge off the Disneyland hangover from the night before. *sniff* I love you guys.

I also love Robeks. God damn, I love Robeks.

The rest of the day and evening was spent roaming around Disneyland doing random things and being generally silly.

We went to the Frontierland petting zoo and saw the baby goats! I think these two were trying to infiltrate the pen where Disneyland keeps "The Happiest Turkeys on Earth". More on that in a minute.

Squee!

Please ignore the weird discoloration in the bottom part of the next photo. That's a blog post for another day.

This baby goat looked like a cow!

So you know how the president pardons a turkey every year for Thanksgiving? Ever wonder what happens to those turkeys? No? Well I'll tell you anyway. They go to Disneyland. Where they eat themselves to death. At least that's what the lady who worked there told us. Scott asked a castmember about the turkeys since we were all kind of wondering just how many there were if the president pardoned a new one every year. Do they rotate the turkeys on display? Do the turkeys stay at Disneyland for a year and then go live on a farm somewhere when the next presidential turkey comes in? Apparently Disneyland doesn't really have to worry about such things because the stupid birds usually eat themselves to death within a year or two of their arrival. Um...well...at least they die happy?

I do remember that on one of our many trips to Disneyland over the next few days Eden scraped her knee getting off the Thunder Mountain ride. So we went over to first aid so Eden could get a band-aid and some disinfectant. Scott and I waited in the waiting room while Eden went in the back with one of the nurses and filled out an incident report. Yes, the nurses are required to fill out an incident report with you. Disneyland is thorough. I remember this one time (I think it may have been the first time Scott visited) I got a splinter from running my hand over the railing on the Snow White bridge and we went to first aid so I could get a pair of tweezers to pry it out. The nice nurse gave me a pair of disposable metal tweezers and some disinfectant and asked me for my name, address, phone number, and where the accident took place as I poked around with the tweezers and managed to extricate the offending splinter from my hand. First aid will also give you ibuprofen and aspirin if you ask. All you have to do is sign for it. Disneyland is awesome.

Anyway, as Scott and I waited while Eden tended to her knee we noticed this, uh...disturbing picture hanging above our heads.

Does anyone want to tell me why Pluto is being crucified? Anyone? And for that matter, why does Minnie look so happy about it???

Let's see...what else did we do that wasn't quite so disturbing? Oh, we stared at one of Disneyland's prominent new phallic symbols.

Ok, maybe not less disturbing. But the interesting thing about this phallic symbol is that it's also a yonic symbol! Note the flower at the base of the fountain.

We also learned that the new Pixar movie Toy Story 3 has a hedgehog! Timmy was very excited so now of course we have to see it as soon as it comes out.

He even has lederhosen! Lederhosen!

As delightfully surprised as we were to discover Mr. Pricklepants, he was not the biggest surprise of our week long Disney spree. Oh no. That honor, my friends, is reserved for the tram. Which now has doors. Probably in response to this incident I blogged about back in May of 2009: http://theblueselkie.blogspot.com/2009/05/oopsies.html

God, that looks weird.

Next time: Tortugas, Pixies, and Captain EO

Disney binge!

2010-06-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so remember these guys?

A little over two years ago these guys got married and moved to Canada. Well, Eden moved to Canada. I suppose Scott just went home. Two years and a whole bunch of paperwork later, Eden finally received her permanent residency card--yay! So to celebrate the first step in Eden's quest to become a Canadian citizen, she and Scott decided to take a month long vacation to California. Honestly, I think the two of them were suffering from Disney withdrawl. The reason Scott and Eden waited so long to come visit was that Eden literally couldn't leave the country unless she wanted to forfeit the whole permanent residency thing. Now that Eden has what is essentially her green card she's allowed to leave Canada and visit whenever she wants--yay!

The only unfortunate thing about their visit, or "not yay" to use the technical term, was that they arrived the week before my finals. This of course meant that I had limited time with them for two of the three weeks they were here. But oddly enough it all sort of seemed to work out. Scott and Eden spent the first week and a half more or less visiting family and hanging out with Denise and Pat. In between my finals and studying we'd go grab ice cream or coffee and hang out for maybe one or two hours. By the time my finals were finally over Scott and Eden had fulfilled their familial obligations and were prepared to kidnap me for the duration of their vacation.

After my last final on Wednesday, I needed some relief. Badly. So obviously the first thing we did was go to Disneyland. My final was over at 10:00 am and Scott and Eden picked me up from my house around 11:00. After a quick stop at Robeks for a revitalizing smoothie, we were on our way.

Once there we puttered around Main Street for a bit. Scott insisted that I go see Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln, which I had never seen, so I did. Now let's get one thing straight. I have a great amount of respect for Mr. Lincoln. He was unpopular in many political circles and served as president during a very troubling time in American history. His writings and speeches were always short and to the point but never lacking in eloquence. All in all, he was a very thoughtful man who did his best to hold the nation together through four years of civil war.

That being said, it was all I could do to keep from shouting "BANG!" just as the curtain closed. I think my brain was trying to decide between that and "Mr. Lincoln! Look out behiiiind youuuu!" In hindsight, it's probably a good thing that I was too busy controlling my laughter to say anything. My ass would have been banned from Disneyland so fast...

After surviving that wicked temptation we poked around the art gallery and Timmy was delighted to find Disneyland models that were just his size! Well, almost.

R2, light speed to Endor!

Does this thing come with a swimming pool?

Then we had lunch at the new Chinese restaurant over at California Adventure and it was awesomesauce. Scott told me that the entire Disneyland resort had recently hired a new head chef, at least according to some Food Network special he happened to catch, and believe me it shows. The quality of the food has improved all over the park and they've even introduced new goodies like the Matterhorn Macaroon *drool*.

We went on Grizzly Bear Rapids and miraculously didn't get soaked, though Scott swears it was by his sheer force of will. You can steer the raft to some degree if you know what you're doing and have the cooperation of the person sitting next to you. Scott's hat flew off during the ride and I managed to grab it before it went into the water, so Scott thanked me by not maneuvering me head first down the waterfall. As a result, I got wet but not drenched, Scott got splashed, and Eden got freaking soaked. At least the sun was still up.

Before we left California Adventure I made sure Scott and Eden went on the new Toy Story ride. My score on that one is improving! :D

After that we skipped around Disneyland for the rest of the evening. They closed early that night (I think 9 o'clock) so afterwards we went to Carrows for dinner. Scott and Eden dropped me off back home sometime around midnight and what followed the next day...and the next day...and the next day was the greatest Disney binge ever recorded by man.

But I'll save that story for tomorrow.

Oh, and in case any of you were wondering what my final grades were this semester...straight A's, bitches! WOO!

We're baaaaaaaaack.

2010-06-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

Woah...

Where am I?

What day is it?

All I remember is this bright light coming towards me. And...voices--hundreds of voices! Singing out in all the languages of the world.

"This planet isn't big enough for both of us," they sang. "It's a world of laughter," they taunted, "and a world of tears. It's a world of hopes...and a world of fears. There's only so much we can share. And it's time we're aware...it's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all..."

Damn, that was one hell of a week long Disney binge. Or one creepy alien abduction. One of the two.

Anywho I'm back, whichever one it is, and I have an announcement to make. Now that I am out of school for the summer, I will be making a blog post every day. That's right, every damn day, from now until August 30th. Enjoy it while it lasts, folks cause after that it's back to school and irregular updates.

More about Disney tomorrow!

Ksaldria! You just finished the last of your finals! What are you gonna do now?

2010-05-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Disneyland!

...what? No, really. Come on, it's not like you're that surprised.

I feel like my brain has been emptied of any and all useful information. All that's left now is mush.

I saw a baby bunny at school today! Baby bunny! :3

What's that? No, of course I haven't snapped from all the stress.

ANDREW JACKSON, STOP TRYING TO CHALLENGE EVERY WHIG IN CONGRESS TO A DUEL! And put that pistol down this instant, you'll shoot your eye out!

I think I'm gonna go now. I don't like the way you guys are looking at me...

"Disneyland river to run again"

2010-05-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

Just in case you ever wondered just what was at the bottom of the Rivers of America.

From the L.A. Times, 5/5/10:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0505-disney-river-20100505,0,18338.story

Sand fleas! Sand fleas!

2010-05-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

Two weeks of school left. Two finals and two projects due this week. Two finals next week.

...hit it, Disney.