One Year Left

Congratulations fellow earthlings! We officially have one year left to live. Yes, it is true. One year from this exact day the Mayan Calender ends and hence the World. I hope you are planning out everything you would ever like to do before this time next year. Here are some of the things on my list:

Pronounce Aluminum correctly
Read the last Wheel of Time book (really we made it through 14 already it would be a shame not to finish)
Become an Evil Overlord
Stop by Breaking Dawn Part II premiere and ruin a Twihards evening by telling them how it ends.
Don't bother solving World Hunger (we'll all be dead soon)
Actually manage to finish on of those peasant flower headbands (mine always fall apart)
Learn to Whistle



So I would like to thank the Mayan's for giving us a heads up on the end of the World. Really quite descent of them.

Christmas 2012

So I have been horrible this month, but here is a good link to a funny take on the Christmas Story to make up for it. Welcome to the digital age Baby Jesus!

Happy Thanksgiving

Animal Spirits

I know it's been a while since my last post. Mostly, that is because I forget to. But I was also out of town this last week on our yearly FAM to Southern California. We had some fun and I will be getting pictures up soon. (if I remember) So today I will start you out with a strange occurrence. We stopped a day at Knott's Berry Farm Theme Park, where Bruce got horribly sick but I will get to that later. While there we stopped by their Native American area. The Shaman was all into animal spirits. So we spent the remainder of the trip trying to guess our animal spirits. It was very accurate basically the rule were that everyone else got to vote on your the animal spirit and you just had to accept whatever they thought was the best. I lucked out and got the spirit animal of the fox. Later in the trip we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo where we all ran around finding everyone's animal spirits. While I am sure the Shaman would hate our way of finding animal spirits it was pretty amusing. We ended up with several breeds of dogs, a lizard, various forest animals, and my favorite a zombie sheep. What's your animal spirit?

Happy Halloween

So Happy Halloween yesterday! We had a little party at work and I went as Justin Beiber. Oddly enough my hair looks just like his once it is brushed forward.

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock

So I just had a nerd moment. While being manager another employee asked to leave a little early. Instead of just being lame and telling him yes I challenged him to a thrilling game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock! He didn't go for it. He really didn't understand how paper disproves Spock. I mean, come on.

Americans Map

So I stole this map from my good friend Ashley. She's in China so there isn't much she can do about it. But it made me laugh so I thought I would share it. Thanks Ashley.

Vintage Halloween Pictures

As most of you know I love Halloween. Not the scary Halloween stuff, just the fun part. Here are some cute Vintage Halloween pictures. I love these because they are super retro:




She makes me think of Samantha from Bewitched.

I am not sure what's going on in this last one. Check out that hat though.

Day off for Rocko

Rocko got some extra relaxation this weekend. He has been working hard all season and we are finally qualified for medal finals, which is about two weeks away. So this weekend he got some well deserved R & R. Really what does a high-strung show pony do on his days off. Well pretty much what other horses get to do everyday. He finds the perfect nice dirty spot to roll around in. He sunbathes. And of course works on his bad habit: cribbing. What a great weekend for a horse.

Confession

Ok, time for a confession. I hate meat juices. There now we all know it. Yes meat juices and I'll be honest it doesn't matter what kind of meat. Chicken, Beef, Pork, Turkey, Lamb, Veal, Bufflo, Whale... I am equal oppurtunity here. Not that I have every seen whale meat, but I am sure it is just as gross as the rest. Just thinking about it ugh! My stomach is already turning. It's not that I don't like meat it tastes great. I love BBQ and burgers. I just can't manage to look at it. Or cook it. You might be asking what's going on here. The truth is it all goes back to the dang Fire and Ice Grill. It's some sort of high class resturant in So. Cal where you pick your meat and sauce then they cook it for you. Sounds fun, but it's not. All the meat is just sitting there. All touching each other. Dripping it's juices into each other. Having amoebas. Doing mitosis. Splitting, replacting, floating, touching, growing, moving, contaminating!!!! Oh my. Hang on just a second............................... Ok the dry heaving is over. Chicken is pretty bad but beef is the worst. Steaks oh steaks I can't even think about them. Normally after I force myself to make meat for Ben I have to clean the whole kitchen. Then breath into a paper bag. Then say a calming haiku so something which just involes me chanting "It's not juice" Not really sure what that's supposed to do. But there you go. There is my confession. I was going to look up pictures for the post but that just disinagrated into terror. So we are going with Catholic saints instead. They like confessions right? and look no juices.

Wuthering Heights vs. Jane Eyre

So I have just recently finished reading Wuthering Heights. It was amazing. I truly hated Heathcliff and Catherine. They are horrible people and probably deserve one another. Really there isn't any decent character in the entire book, expect maybe Edgar Linton. And his life got destroyed!! I have no idea why I like Wuthering Heights. It was just a great book about miserable people. On the other hand I have also read Jane Eyre. Written by another Bronte sister. It's been a few years. I hated it. Honestly, the characters were better people with, basically, decent morals but I really have no desire to ever read it again. Or watch the movie. Or care if that weird guys gets himself burnt to death. Or if his crazy wife dies. Or if they all become polygamist. I just don't care. I am stuck in some sort of apathetic state. Does it really matter if I even look at the book again. Probably not. But Wuthering Heights...what the heck! Does Heathcliff really go crazy over a ghost or was it his conscience. No way he doesn't have one. So in general I loved Wuthering Heights but don't bother with Jane Eyre.

Feeling Hairy

So I am overdue for another haircut. It hasn't been that long in between but this last week I have been feeling like my hair has suddenly become super long. I am sure everyone feels like this sooner or later. You're going along just fine then... BAM! your hair is way to long and unmanagable! In fact I feel like this:




Yes, like a yak. I feel like a wet yak. Long hair dripping into my face. I guess it is time for another hair cut.

A simple, yet profound, Couplet of Mac & Cheese

Oh, my gorgeous Mac & Cheese,

you makes me shake down to my knees.

Your cheese is made of powder.

Some claim you are better than Paula Dean’s chowder.

Each time you cook up in my pot

I ponder, over that bowl, on what I have got.

Herb-Grilled Tilapia

I am normally to scared to cook fish, but Ben wanted to do something different. So it was up to him to take care of the fish. I am not a huge fan of fish. Ben assured me it would be great. We had tilapia which was suprizingly good.

Brush 5 oz. tilapia with 1 tsp. olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup fresh herbs (such as basil, rosemary, or thyme). Let marinate in fridge. Grill tilapia until cooked through and grill-marked on both sides. Pretty easy and really yummy!

Cabin Pics

This past weekend Ben and I spend the night up at the Cabin. We tried to see the meter shower that was supposed to be going on but the moon was too bright to really see anything else. Ben was really proud of the breakfast he put together the next morning. As you can see it was orange juice, yogurt, and english muffins with eggs and ham (yet again more meat).

Here are a few other things I love about the cabin, besides the sweet orange and brown color scheme. Plus, seriously, when was that vaccum made. I think it is made of cast iron. And of course the retro chairs.

Evil Overlord List

In my quest to take over the world, I have come across a helpful collection of hints for evil overlords. So if you need a minute of laughs or are planning on becoming a wicked ruler check it out. Here are a few of my favorites (although it is pretty are to pick):

-One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

-When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

-I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

-I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legions of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman footsoldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.

-All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.

-I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.

-I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.

-My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.

-All midwives will be banned from the realm. All babies will be delivered at state-approved hospitals. Orphans will be placed in foster-homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild.

-If my doomsday device happens to come with a reverse switch, as soon as it has been employed it will be melted down and made into limited-edition commemorative coins.

-If an attractive young couple enters my realm, I will carefully monitor their activities. If I find they are happy and affectionate, I will ignore them. However if circumstance have forced them together against their will and they spend all their time bickering and criticizing each other except during the intermittent occasions when they are saving each others' lives at which point there are hints of sexual tension, I will immediately order their execution.

Angels Stadium

During our trip we also went to an Angels Baseball game. It was pretty cool. I had never been to a professional Baseball game, but it turned out awesome. We got to eat hotdogs and peanuts. One of the players even got a homerun! Some of my favorite parts were the Rally Monkey and Ben eating a hotdog covered in relish.

Santa Monica Pier

We also went down to the Santa Monica Pier. We hiked along the beach toward the pier until Dad talked us into walking near the surf. We all ended up with wet pants all the way to our kness. The Pier had several resturants and rides along it. They even had a trapeze school.

Fist-Punch in Cement

We also checked out the handprints and footprints outside the Chinese Theater. There were some killer shadows so see if you can still work out the names.

I liked this one because instead of a handprint it has a fist-punch!!

The Stars on Hollywood Blvd

While at Grauman's Chinese Theater we also checked out the stars along the street. Here are a few that I managed to get pictures of without having someone standing on them. There are quite a lot of stars. They go along both sides of the street.

Grauman's Chinese Theater

This time we went down to Califorina we went to a few new places. One of them was Grauman's Chinese Theater. They had up a big poster for Harry Potter. Hollywood is a strange place while we were there we saw several random impersonators including a Catwomen, Elvis, Harrison Ford, and several Spidermans. We also saw a flash-mob.

Return to Disneyland

I guess we just can't get away from Disneyland. We headed down for a couple days to see Disneyland, Universal, an Angles Baseball game, and several other So Ca sites. The big deal at Disneyland this time were their new rides. We had a great time. Our favorite was Ariel's Undersea Adventure. It actually broke down right before we got off. So we had to wait with our Clam partners until we could walked out of the ride.

Ursula was pretty cool she moved around and so did her tenticals.

Here are Mom and Dad getting spun out of their Clam!!

Foot-Soldier with Battle Axe

This is Foot Soldier with Battle Axe. He sits at my desk at work. I will admit that when I get bored, or have an annoying call, or are feeling angry, or really funny I pick him up and use him to axe things. Things like pictures, pens, a mickey mouse cruise bobble head...you get the picture. I love Foot Soldier with Battle Axe. He just looks like he is trying so hard. You go Foot Solider with Battle Axe!



Something else I love about Foot Solider with Battle Axe is the company that made him. They are Swiss or German or Northern European but they don't have the best English translations. Here is the description for Foot Soldier with Battle Axe:

"Wearing the typical tunic of the time, the Foot Soldier swings violently with his battle-axe. Bold and brave, the Foot Soldier wields his axe in battle. Imagine the victories he's had in battle. With Schleich's Foot Soldier, you're sure to win."

Yes, just imagine the victories he's had in battle...against that mickey mouse cruise bobble head.