Pixie Powered Ponderings

Books #17-24

2011-07-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Tee hee... Remember me? :) I have read lots of books... In no particular order...

I've been on an Evanovich kick... All caught up except for one in the Plum books. The top one was based on a character from the between-the-numers holiday stories, Diesel. The monkey, Carl, was also featured. Totally different premise, but lots of fun.

The Sookie book, as usual, was a great read. The books are so much better than the show too.

I think I may be missing a couple, but if I figure out which they were, I'll add them later!

2011-06-09T09:14:00.001-07:00

2 of my friends turn 30 today. It reminds me I'm almost there too. The bio-clock is RAGING today. I'm trying to distract myself, but it's not working very well.

Book #16

2011-05-24T09:26:00.001-07:00

10 Big Ones- J. Evanovich

Book #15

2011-05-23T13:05:00.001-07:00

Maus by Art Speiglman

The author/illustrator's father was a Holocaust survivor. This book is a graphic novel based on the journey Art takes personally while his father tells him HIS story.

2011-05-22T11:33:00.001-07:00

Beautiful gray day
All is quiet in God's House
Peaceful and tranquil

Books #12-14

2011-05-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

Mother Rant

2011-05-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Today is a day to reflect upon mothers. I have one. I'm fortunate to have had one that loved me very much and I never doubted it. I was also very fortunate to have her home with me in my younger years (not so for all of my siblings, but I was the oldest, and that's one of the pay-offs for being the guinea pig child) and when she went back to work she worked at a school so I still saw her all the time at home. I love my mom. Every day I see more and more how much she's impacted my life. Especially when Matt says things like "OK Ruth" to me. I'm her daughter in more ways than I could have understood as a teen. She raised me the best way that she knew how and I'm grateful for her love and sacrifices for me and my siblings over the years.

There's also a hard part of Mother's day for me. I'm LDS, will be 30 this year and married for almost 10 years. This makes me a bad person because I have no children. No one says it. No one hints directly to it, but it's the unspoken rule about being Mormon. No one asks WHY my husband and I don't have kids. They just ask when we're going to start. This is a REALLY personal question to be asking. This is when I feel like saying things like "we can't seem to figure out how, can you come over and teach us?" What? Why can't I say that? Because it's rude? So is asking me about starting a family. I started one when I married my husband in 2002.

I hate going to church on Mother's day. I love my religion, I love my congregation, I love my mother. I hate Mother's day at church. They have the kids get up and sing a song to their mothers (fine, and cute actually). They have speakers get up and talk about mothers, or being a mother (a little painful on the 2nd item, but I'm still OK). Then we have the closing hymn and prayers and this is where the torture starts. As a child, they used to have all the mothers stand up and the teenage girls would walk in with a flowerpot or chocolate or some small token to hand out to all the women standing. Then they'd make a contest in jest about the oldest mother, the newest mother, the mother with the most children etc. All that has been changed to "all women 18+" to stand because we're ALL mothers to children around us.

Guess what. I find the whole ritual insulting and painful. A person's relationship with their mother is a sacred, personal thing and shouldn't be paraded around. I'm not a mother to anyone in that room. No child on this earth calls me Mommy. Some days I wonder if anyone ever will, but at least I have my husband by my side to take that pain with me. There are many women in the church that never get married, or do so very late in life that having children isn't an option anymore. There are many women in the church that CAN'T for one reason or another have children. Are we lesser people? No. Stop insulting us. It's hard enough being in a faith that puts so much emphasis on having a family, and not "having one." I do have one. It's composed of 2 people. We may not be perfect, and may or may not grow in number, but it's the one I've chosen and love. I have a large extended family full of people, including children, that love me. I have children of good friends to be around. Those kids, I wouldn't trade them for the world. I love them and am thankful for them being in my life everyday.

But I'm still not their mother.

Alice I Have Been- Book #10

2011-04-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before that I'm an Alice in Wonderland fan. I've always loved the books, but the last several years has expanded my ability to kick my interest into borderline obsession. Isn't the internet great? Because of Netflix, I can now rent/stream film & TV adaptations that were hard to come by years ago. I can read fan fiction comics written by other fans- and their subsequent fandom. i can read reviews and easily access info on books and get them at the library or buy them. I can look at party, costume and collectible ideas. Crafting, photography, art. It's all at my fingertips.

I can't deny the excitement I felt when I first heard about Tim Burton's film long before it hit the theaters. I LOVED the SyFy channel's recent visit to Wonderland too.

I first heard the "darker side" of this story's legacy when I took a children's list class at Cerritos. I had to buy a copy of Gardner's Annotated Alice for the class and read the articles about dear Mr. Dodson and it broke my heart. How upsetting that a man by all means was a minor hear in my nerdasphere was so... icky. My only consolation was that it was a VERY long time ago and he wasn't benefiting from my patronage.

AS the years have gone by, I've read conflicting accounts and evaluations of the man. I prefer to choose to believe the better, more positive views. The poor lonely man. This book helped me see beyond all that and see the man for what I hope he was. Who knows the truth? Only a few people long gone, and I've come to realize that it doesn't' ruin Alice for me either way.

This book was ever-so-wonderful. It expanded the dreamworld of Alice. The author took the few known facts surrounding Alice Liddel's life, and common speculation, and wrote a beautifully heartbreaking story about a girl, and then woman, who lost her way along her life and was haunted by memories that she couldn't even remember. It was wonderful. It left me all dreamy for days after finishing it. FANTASTIC book! Favorite of the year so far!

Seven Up- Book #11

2011-04-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

2011-04-14T10:37:00.001-07:00

I feel a big burden on my shoulders
Emotions run deep & I cannot swim.
My life isn't perfect, as no one's is
But I have my partner & I love him.

The Virgin Suicides- Book #9

2011-04-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

2011-03-31T11:45:00.001-07:00

Feeling a bit bitter. I'm trying to focus on staying positive. But it's hard some days, like today.

ArchEnemy- Book #8

2011-03-28T12:47:00.001-07:00

Hot Six- Book #7

2011-03-11T09:28:00.003-08:00

The Other Boleyn Girl- Book #6

2011-03-11T09:28:00.001-08:00

Plum Lucky- Book #5

2011-02-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

I was still waiting on Hot Six and Seven Up when I grabbed this one (at the same time as Spooky). As you can guess, it's another holiday Plum book.

I liked this one better than Spooky. As you can see, it revolves around St. Patrick's Day and felt a little more like a regular numbers book. More bounty hunting (I think I forgot to mention that Stephanie is a bounty hunter... a really bad one that somehow still manages to find her FTA's) in this one than in Spooky, which means more of her usual side-kicks and wackiness.

I finished this one a couple weeks ago and have in my possession a copy of Hot Six from the BPL now. It and a copy of Archenemies have been sitting there on my table for 2 weeks while I work my way through The Other Boleyn Girl. That will be my next review. I wanted a break, and the Tudors are a VERY different world than Stephanie Plum!!

Words to Live By

2011-02-27T11:27:00.001-08:00

"As he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free." Battle Hymn of the Republic

Plum Spooky- Book #4

2011-02-15T16:27:00.001-08:00

We're back to Stephanie Plum books! I still haven't picked up with the numbers yet (they only have 1 paperback copy of #7 and I'm on a waiting list for it) so I grabbed one of the "between-the-numbers" books (they're all holidays).

Trena told me that they're not needed to read the number books. They're not, but I think I wish I had done a weensy bit more research before reading them. If you haven't started any of the Plum books, I think I'd start from One and go through but find out the publication dates of the between books and read them in the order they were written. They're not quite as good because Stephanie has two men in her life that make you gooey. The pull between the 2 makes for some great reading and tension and that isn't present in the holiday books. There's a 3rd guy in them and Stephanie pretty much writes him off because she's got enough complications. There IS a supernatural theme/twist to them though.

Any who- I believe this is the newest of the holiday books, but I read it first. It wasn't necessary to the plot but there are characters in it that I wish I had met before I read this one. Also it gives tiny spoilers to the number books if you play close attention (they overall have no plot clues, just the "current" dynamic in Steph's love life).

This one was a bit spookier than normal which was nice for a Halloween themed book, but don't let that hold you back if you're a 'fraidy-cat. It's not like a horror book at all!

Overall, I'd say a B+ for this one.

Kingdom Come- Book #3

2011-02-15T16:25:00.003-08:00

This book (YES IT'S A BOOK!) was a Christmas gift from my friend Allen. I've always liked comics but never been as into them as I have been the last few years (we can all happily blame Allen). I still don't read many, but that's mostly because it takes a lot of disposable income to read the ones I'm really interested in, and who has that these days? Not me!

As I'm unwrapping this, Allen says to me "I hope this doesn't end our friendship." You have to understand something... me, not a Superman fan. I feel like he's taking all the glory and totally cheating... he's a freaking alien! Wonder Woman? Boring! Batman on the other hand... HE'S THE MAN! I mean, assuming they were real...

Animated cartoon wise, I was never a fan of the Justice League either (did you watch it? HOW?). I've always considered myself more of a Marvel girl that made exceptions for Batman.

I think I kinda like DC a bit more now. Allen knows me well though. He knows I like post-apocalyptic stuff. This book is more like what would happen if the superheroes ACTUALLY WERE the cause of the apocalypse. So you can imagine how I'd probably be interested right there. I found it somewhat similar to The Watchmen if you want to draw comparisons, but it is totally different. I really enjoyed the art and the story was great!

Thanks Al!

Motor Mouth- Book #2

2011-02-15T16:25:00.001-08:00

Another Alex Barnaby Book. This is the 2nd (there are 3 so far) and I thought more fun than Metro Girl!

Sam Hooker (NASCAR Guy) returns with Alex and they manage to get themselves in another pile of trouble. RV chases, missing dogs and stolen microchip technology... what else can a girl want to do in Florida?

Metro Girl- Book #1

2011-02-15T16:24:00.001-08:00

This year I resolved to read a book a week. I doubt it will happen exactly that way, but I plan to TRY to read more at least!

First book... Metro Girl by Janet Evonovich

Years ago Trena got me hooked on her Stephanie Plum books (One for the Money, Finger Lickin' Fifteen etc). I LOVED them but didn't have a heck of a lot of time to read them as I was in school and felt that if I could make time to read, I could read my textbooks. So, for many years I only read for pleasure around Christmas and the summer! Harry Potter and Twilight took a lot of that time, but I borrowed the odd Plum book.

Flash forward to a couple months back, where I finally got tired of not getting my hands on books and FINALLY made the trip to the Buena Park Library and got myself a card! I started the Plum books, in order this time, resolving to read them now! The BPL is small, so not all the books I want are readily available 100% of the time. Metro Girl was sitting next to the Plum books and the next one that I needed wasn't in, so I grabbed it and what I thought was just another Evanovich book. Turns out it was the sequel to MG and I happened to read them in order.

Alex Barnaby (aka Barney) is this series' heroine. She's girly, but knows her way around a car as she was practically raised in her dad's mechanic shop. She comes to Miami in search of her brother after a disturbing phone call from him. She's now running around south Florida and the Keys looking for him with a NASCAR driver. Craziness ensues. If you like the Stephanie Plum books, I'd recommend these as well! Alex is a little more confident than Stephanie, but she's great at getting herself into trouble too.

Men!

2011-01-26T15:46:00.001-08:00

The fan pointed at my head is for air circulation for me. Not for your sweaty BO drenched body to stand in front of. PEE-YEW!

And so ANOTHER Obsession Begins...

2010-12-16T09:06:00.001-08:00

I was up WAY too late (4am!) reading a Disney Alice/Hatter ship fanfic. Now I'm just lost in this little fairly land can't focus. I want to read more!

2010-12-08T13:19:00.001-08:00

PS. As stated on here before, we shouldn't punish for being rich. Nor should we take from what is rightfully theirs & give to those who haven't earned it.

2010-12-08T13:18:00.001-08:00

Question for the populace angry about tax cuts for the wealthy: if they EMPLOY everybody, how do you think they'll make up the $ they lose? Lemonade stands?

2010-12-06T13:30:00.001-08:00

My friend Kristie thinks it's weird I stay friends with my ex boyfriends (only 2 of the 4 really). Sometimes I agree. They're nice guys, but they're weird. LOL

Gobble Gobble

2010-11-25T09:38:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Be glad you're not a turkey! I'm grateful for friends & family like you! :)

2010-11-24T08:45:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's rude to finish her sentences. It's also rude to cut in line & make me re-endure the same conversation I heard her have with you on Monday & last week.

2010-10-25T09:07:00.001-07:00

Overheard: He's like a dervish. (A what?) Y'know that little mammal in New Zealand that spins around. Wzzz wzzz. They made that cartoon. #fb

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2010-10-17T00:11:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (or really today now) I embark on a new journey at church. I have been the Primary Chorister (singing time leader for children 3-11) for just over 2 years. That means I've survived 3 programs, 3 pianists (one of them twice), gained friends, watched others move away and a whole passel of kidlets. I had them sing this year's "anthem" for me one last time last week and started sobbing 3 lines in. I honestly think it was the best they'd sung it all year. The little ones looked a bit freaked out because how often do you see adults cry like that? It was time for a change, but I'm still gonna miss the little buggers.

Tomorrow/today I start as the Beehive advisor (girls 12 & 13). I'm very excited for this group. I've been told they're the biggest class of teens in our ward (congregation). For you non-LDS folk (if there even are really), we separate our boys and girls for usually the last hour of church (they still attend Sunday School together, and yes, we have 3 hours of church). In those groups we separate them again into 2 year blocks. So I have the youngest ones girls, fresh out of Primary. Because I've served in our ward so much in Primary I know all of the girls already somewhat. No new names really, but I get to get to know them much better now.

This change has inspired me to try and take my personal spiritual growth more seriously. I've always had a testimony of the gospel and never really questioned it. It has always made sense to me. I know some may find that to be a bit gullible or naive to just take, but I've had enough good experiences in my life and felt a closeness to my Savior enough that I've never really doubted. I guess it's just been a blessing in my life that way.

This really goes against most of what people would normally expect of me. I'm very sarcastic and can be rather crude if the situation allows. I need to work on that more. I feel like I'm going to have to be a better person so that I may be a better example to my girls now. This may be the change I needed to give myself a kick in the butt.

Until then, I'm giving a chastity lesson for my first run. Greeeaaat. Wish me luck!

You Know If...

2010-10-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

*Paaarrppp!*

Me: (teasingly) Niiiiice.
Him: You know you're just jealous.
Me: Of your gas passing capabilities?
Him: Yup!
Me: Oh yeah. Totally. *giggle*

And then you giggle and run off to blog it because you haven't updated in awhile, it's kinda late and you JUST WANT TO SHARE!

So...

We have established that we're an old married couple that has no problem passing and discussing gas. And yet, we're still immature enough to make giggly jokes about it.

Yup. I married the right one for me!

My Poor Honey

2010-09-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

So, I got up this morning, and Matt, yet again, was sleeping on the couch. I snore (but he GRINDS HIS TEETH!!!), and he goes to bed later than I do so it's hard for him to get to sleep when I go first. I'm a MUCH heavier sleeper than he is. He was snoring and then hiccuping in-between each breath.

Inhale. Exhale. Hiccup. Repeat.

Not just any hiccup, but the body jarring, painful kind. They were LOUD and I have no idea how he was sleeping through them. By the time I grabbed the camera and got it going, he had slowed down some, but believe me when I tell you that it was EVERY BREATH he took for awhile there.

I need a nap!

2010-09-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

That is my gorgeous niece on her daddy's shoulder (Matthew's brother Aaron). Her younger brother got blessed today. Her cousin had her first birthday party yesterday. Miss Maggie is partied out! It was WAY past her nap time when I took this photo and she'd been having a rough time for a little while by then. Fortunately for me though, she finally held still long enough for me to get this shot of her. I love this girl!

I'm doin the 365 project!

2010-09-01T23:24:00.000-07:00

Here's my photo for the day!

I'm so excited to try this out this year. I've been meaning to do it for awhile, but keep forgetting to start on a memorable date. So here we go!

I brought Eggbert to work because I was so happy to have him again. I took him to my friend's house last night... or so I thought! I got there and he wasn't in my purse! I was tempted to go right home and find him right then, but I was trying to go walking and be "healthy" so I stayed. I just kept hoping that I didn't lose him with less than 24 hours from when I finished him, because then I'd be a BAD egg mommy! :) He wasn't lost as it turns out, just naughty. He'd "jumped" out of my purse before I even left home. I found him chilling next to the couch when I got back.

I brought him into work to "meet" my other toys (always a child, even now, I blame the geek in me for still playing with collectible toys). That's Violet (armadillo), Rosy (gecko) & Peach back there. I'll really have to grow up someday, but for now I'm enjoying my childish moments.

I used to have a bunch more of the LPS toys, but I gave them to my sister-in-law's niece on her family's side. I kept my turtles and iguana from before, gave my sisters each one (Roxanne was going on her mission, so I gave her a little friend to keep nearby as they're small). Roxanne now has my girl monkey and Kate has my hermit crab. I've since bought Kate another hermit crab and I saw a really cute monkey to send Roxanne for Christmas. I need to buy it soon. Kate is also getting another LPS from me for her birthday in October. It was so cute, I had to grab it. It fit in well with a conversation we'd had about particular animals. I won't say anymore on the off-chance that she actually pops in here and reads my blog (not likely, but I'm not saying anymore). I'm sure I'll eventually take photos of my bale of turtles for the project. They were favorite subjects of mine before I fell off the radar here (thank Facebook).

Eggbert!

2010-08-31T01:35:00.000-07:00

So... in attempt to get back to my blogging about crafting roots, I decided that I needed to actually CRAFT. So I picked up an unfinished project...

Meet Eggbert...
Matthew says he looks like an onion more than an egg. :( Not bad for my first amigurumi project if you ask me! He may be a bit lumpy, but he was mostly for practice anyway. My crochet technique isn't consistent really yet, but I'm getting there.

I found Eggbert's pattern via Owlishly's blog. She makes all kinds of cute dolly patterns to sell in her Etsy store. I've bought her ballerina and little girl patterns and because she thought she took too long to email me the files, she threw in a pattern for her snowflake girl. She REALLY did get back quickly though, within 24 hours, but I wasn't going to turn away a cute and free pattern. They're all really cute! If you see one on her blog that she doesn't have listed on her Etsy, she'll re-list it for you so you can grab it. Her blog also has several free patterns, including Eggbert (she calls them Huevitos).

Next I think I'm going to attempt her hearts (also free on the blog). I just want to do one more simple pattern before I jump into a harder one. Lemme know if any of you jump on in and try a pattern out!

2010-08-20T08:49:00.001-07:00

It's demoralizing to see HOURLY people get paid 8 hours when they leave for the day at 9 am. I work, on average, an extra 2.5 hrs a week without OT pay.

Not perfect, but getting better

2010-07-12T19:38:00.001-07:00

Wow. Just looked at my blog archive. I haven't posted much of anything the last 2 1/2 years really. I really place blame on Facebook & Twitter. Pixie Powered... what? Ha ha. We'll work on it. I think I averaged 1 1/2 posts per month last year. I'm just under 2 a month right now. Let's see if we can get it up to 3 by December. :)

I think part of it all is that I feel like nothing new is going on. I'm not even in school to discuss any more. We just run around with our crazy friends a lot and I constantly forget to use the camera that still resides in my purse. Gotta work on that one too I guess.

I cleaned up my blog roll to the side (it's just 1 big list again) and removed my archives links and some other link lists. I added a label cloud though. I like those types of visual representations better than an archive. I think the archive just makes me feel guilty.

That's about it for now. See you soon! (Hopefully)

Your Approval is Not Requested

2010-07-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

Apparently my "coolness card" was revoked when I told someone that I went to see Eclipse at midnight. This came from another geek. I didn't know we were even allowed to give those out.

I thought the whole point of being a geek was liking what you wanted and not judging. This came from someone who worships 2 guys who write, basically, a gaming blog and plays a virtual version of Magic the Gathering. He met his one of his best friends growing up by figuring out that the other kid ALSO had an older brother that played D&D. They bonded over that. And now play regularly.

Dude, I love you and all, but your "cred" to hand out "coolness cards" is a little lacking. : )

I've found a lot of anti-Twilight resistance out in the geekdom lately. Maybe I'm just sick of feeling like I need to explain why I like it.

The Kindness of Strangers!

2010-06-26T01:11:00.000-07:00

I went to go pump my gas today... And promptly locked my keys in the car. Only my ATM card was on me! I had gone inside to ask to use the phone to call Matt (because no one has Slim Jims anymore) and the guy that had been pumping gas next to me said that someone opened it for me!

I walked out and this BIG BEEFY guy had his pick-up pulled up behind me with his wife/girlfriend waving from the front seat. He was closing the toolbox on his truck & my door was open! I just thanked him over & over. He was very nice & said [Judy] had seen me trying to get in & thought I needed help. So I thanked all 3 of them & went off, back to work!

2010-06-16T09:07:00.001-07:00

I've been re-auntied! 8 lb. 2 oz. Born at 12:44 a.m. Trena and Milo are both doing well.

I'm in love...

2010-06-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

I just LOVE Etsy. Like, I never go on, because that'll be ALL I do that day. I got sucked in via another website today and found Birdz n Beez. They have the CUTEST clockwork jewelry (SO steampunk). And I found an Alice charm bracelet that I refuse to link to... because I want it. Check out their store though... really cute stuff & very creative!

Something else to think about

2010-06-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

Before I post this:

I did not write this. It was sent to me as the usual email fwd usually is.
I don't know ALL situations referred to, but have heard/know of many of them.
I'm not claiming GWB was the best president by ANY MEANS (we all know that the best one in the last 50 years was Reagan after all)
I'm leaving comments closed on this one because it's my blog and if you don't like it, don't read it. I'm not wasting time debating for something that I just found funny.

And now for the interesting point email that I got today...

If George W. was an idiot....

This is an eye opener - we need to pay closer attention to this president.

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics,would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had stated that there were 57 states in the United States, would you have said that he is clueless?

If George W. Bush would have flown all the way to Denmark to make a five minute speech about how the Olympics would benefit him walking out his front door in Texas, would you have thought he was a self important, conceited, egotistical idiot?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had misspelled the word "advice" would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and "potatoe" as proof of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush's administration had okay'd Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had created the position of 32 Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He did all this, and more, in his first year as president- so you'll have three years to come up with an answer.

I'm still in shock

2010-03-21T23:34:00.000-07:00

My heart hurts for our country. I stayed home from church with a stomach ache... and for the first time today, I actually feel like I'm going to throw up.

We hold these truths

2010-03-20T15:09:00.001-07:00

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

Free education is not a right. Free health care is not a right. Both items could technically fall under the 10th Amendment:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

But they are not a Creator-given right (or if you don't believe in one/any, it's not a basic human necessity as pointed out by countless philosophers). Therefore, they have no place in our Federal government.

There. I said it.

One may try to argue that they fall under the "pursuit of happiness" clause. And yes, I agree, getting an education and having health care falls under that. BUT, that line is only saying that we have the right to go after those things. Not that we HAVE TO be GIVEN them. See the distinction?

The only thing this country is obligated to give me is life, liberty and the freedom to chase my dreams. Because THAT is the true American dream.

I'm not guaranteed to actually BE happy. I'm not guaranteed a car, house, job, marriage, education, white picket fence, food, money or anything else. I'm guaranteed the freedom it takes to go out and get a job, work for those things, pay for those things and try to enjoy the new advantages that those things I've worked for now give me.

That being said, another great American said something that needs to be repeated over and over these days. We've become a greedy nation. A nation with it's hand out, demanding a job, demanding money for food, for education, for doctors (for free!). Franklin and Jefferson didn't have those things given to them, why should I? They've done more for my life and everyone else in this country than any of us have ever, could ever, do for them. So to you out there, demanding that the government gives us these things I repeat back to you:

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. President John F. Kennedy

Post Secret this week

2010-03-18T00:47:00.000-07:00

That's okay. Feel superior all you want. I'm secure with being Right. Oh, and I can spell Democrat AND Republican.

Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-07T23:21:00.001-08:00

It was everything I could have hoped for. I melted into the world that Tim created. Sucked into the music by Danny and just melted at the latest outcast that Johnny portrayed. Of all the previous Burdelfman movies I've seen, this may be my favorite.

Recap:
Edward Scissorhands (1990): May have been arguably my favorite previously, since it was the first. A modern-day fractured fairytale. A Frankenstein for an 80s world. *sigh*

Sleepy Hollow (1999): Another beloved movie of mine. I love Tim's spin on "period piece" and let's be honest, Christopher Walken? What isn't there to love?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005): I don't care what anyone says, THIS is the Willie Wonka I wanted when I first saw Gene Wilder's version. GW does a great job, but Johnny is king. This version also put back in the squirrels that I loved so much... the geese were just sad.

Corpse Bride (2005): Venturing back into stop-motion animation after 12 years for Tim and Danny. They added in Johnny and came up with a cute movie. While I liked it a lot, it was easily the weakest of the (now) five.

Alice in Wonderland (2010): Wow. I saw it last night and I'm still floating from the afterglow. It's my favorite children's story (followed VERY closely by Harry Potter... like millimeters). I did a full report on it for my children's literature class based off the top of my head. I'm obsessed with that poor, confused little girl. This movie just sucked me into it's story and I basked in the score, the art design, the characters, the vision.

I cannot say it enough: Thank you Tim, Johnny & Danny. Your wonderful streak continues. The wait was well worth it.

Name Abbreviations

2010-01-30T09:49:00.000-08:00

In high school, my girlfriends all had shortened 3-letter nicknames. Meg, Mia, Dot, Bob, Kim, Dez, Jen, Shy, Bon... you get the idea. We all thought it looked cute written out that way. I dunno why, but we did.

Now, all my name shorthand seems to be based on couples. Only if they're funny. Matthew's whole family has a set: M&M, T&A, S&M, A&M and H&M. Trena and Aaron are the weirdos with no M, but their children will shortly become M&M Minis. Once they have more or Matthew and I have kids, I'll be taking that one back.

Assorted married friends include: PJ, The SS, J&B and A-Ha. Can you think up one for you? Or guess who you are?

Am I weird?

2010-01-25T00:47:00.000-08:00

Gut instinct says a resounding "Yes!" but this is a specific question.

I don't remember my dreams very often, bit I usually remember WHO was in them if it's someone I know. And when I have celebrities in them its a total tame thing. I really can only clearly remember 2 celebrities even showing up. Johnny Depp did about 2 years ago, and Nathan Fillion has featured a lot lately.

When Johnny showed up, I was totally star struck & couldn't talk to him really. He was very cool and personable and just an all around nice guy (which I've heard before in the real world). There was a play at church or something and he was helping out (?).

Nathan Fillion is that "ruggedly handsome" goofball he plays in Castle & Firefly. In those dreams I had run into him at this crazy 100 story hotel that seems to be the center of my dreams lately. I've never been there before or seen it on TV or movies so I'm fairly its a composite of several places or totally made up in my head. Anyway, this hotel always has a lot of weird stuff happening in it. I cant remember particulars but I feel like its a TV series crossed between Indiana Jones and the TV show Las Vegas. Nathan has been randomly popping up to help out on various adventures. He showed up again during my nap and we discussed Twitter. Not only was he aware of me following him, but he had visited my Twitter page a few times.

Who dreams that? Talk about a dork! Most people have "fantasy" dreams. My celebrity crushes turn out to be normal people, and we just chill. Whatever. I still don't wanna wake up from them. :D

I'm Only Happy When It Rains

2010-01-20T17:50:00.000-08:00

You know that song by Garbage? Yeah, I've always joked that it was about me, but now I'm really beginning to wonder. I have felt so uninspired lately. Ideas come, but I lack the enthusiasm to start projects. NOW, when it's pouring like it hasn't since I was in high school, all I wanna do is craft. I've got all these awesome ideas whirling around in my head with no where to go. I'm going to be a crafting maniac!

Name that Tune

2009-11-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun playing "Name That Tune" on Twitter a week or so back, that I decided to post my "clues" for all you non-Twit folk. :) Answers in between the brackets in white so you don't get spoiled (just highlight in between and it'll tell you the answer).

NTT: Gifted group of spirits chanting for fairy resurrection.
>Blessed Union of Souls, I Believe<

NTT: Audio horticulture leads to planet explosion.
>Sound Garden, Blow Up the Outside World<

NTT: Standards of how to prepare for a hug.
>Creed, With Arms Wide Open<

NTT: Making vows to an idol in a white suit.
>Billy Idol, White Wedding<

NTT: There's a Hole in your famous epidermis.
>Hole, Celebrity Skin <

NTT: Bono may be on a higher level, but he still can't count.
>U2, Vertigo <

NTT: 90s "You're positive that you're stuck in a cliche." Title & artist are in clue. 4 pts.
>No Doubt, Trapped in a Box <

NTT: (90s classic) 2 songs/points, 1 artist... Counting ladies & car parts.
>The Wallflowers, 3 Marlenas, One Headlight<

NTT: (90s classic) Walking dead man... In your head.
>The Cranberries, Zombie <

NTT: (90s classic) You shouldn't reflect upon memories with unpleasant feelings. 3 pts
>Oasis, Don't Look Back in Anger<

NTT: (90s classic) Lacking in precipitation
>Blind Melon, No Rain <

NTT: This Weezer album reminds me of the picture book series about a Great Dane. (3pts if you get it w/o cheating)
>Pinkerton <

NTT: 90s classic... The aroma of deoderant
>Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit<

NTT: (Killers) How gossip starts
>Somebody Told Me <

NTT: Third Eye Blind wasn't singing about Hayden Christianson, but I wish they were.
>Jumper <

NTT: Spontaneous combusting underwear
>Kings of Leon, Your Sex is on Fire<

What's in a Name?

2009-11-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

So, I was thinking about baby names, as I often do. When there are no children in your immediate future, these thoughts float into your head sometimes. Well, mine anyway.

I was just thinking today, how much I like the name Hermione. I'd never use it, for obvious reasons, but I really like it. It makes me resent Harry Potter a little, but then I realize that I can't too much, because I may never had come across the name without it in the first place. I just think it's a pretty name.

Edward and Jacob have been ruined for me too. They've been on my "list" for years... thanks Twilight. (Isa)Bella wasn't on my list but would have been considered before now as well. Besides, if I'm gonna name my kid after a vampire, it'd either be Mick St. John or Louis. None of this sparkly glittery crap. :) Or for an immortal being in general I really like Connor or Duncan.

I think I got the need for normal but not popular names from my mom. She named me with the thought that I'd have a name that everyone had heard, but there weren't a million kids running around with it. That was November of '81. The Thorn Birds hit in March of '83. Whoops! Lots of Megans now.

She did it again for Roxanne, my sister. 8 years had passed since The Police song, but I think it had more staying power than she realized. My sister has had EVERYONE under the sun sing that song to her. I think she embraces it now, but I KNOW she hated it as a kid, even before she knew what the song meant. At least all of my mom's kids managed to escape having to have an initial permanently attached to their first name. I don't think I was ever referred to as "Meghan B" growing up. Well, unless it was "Meghan is a B." :)

What names are "ruined" for you?

For you Kristie

2009-11-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

I was informed today that I need to update my blog more often. *I <3 you Kristie*

The thing is, I don't really have anything to write about. No kids, no more school stress or assignments, work blogs get you fired and so all that leaves is the drama with my personal friends. Now, I don't like to keep drama in my life... so the drama that DOES exist, is their drama that I hear all about and like to laugh at.

So where do I start? Sell out my best friends (other than Matthew of course... that just goes without saying)? Allen is single and needs a woman... takers? Malia is single and needs a man... takers? No, I cannot hook them up together, they're incompatible in SO many ways I can't even begin to go there. To simplify: Allen is a staunch Republican and thinks that all Dems are evil. Malia disagrees on both points. We'll leave it at that. I could go into their drama, but that mislays their trust in me... good friends don't do that.

I could write about being in another friend's wedding in January... but what to say? We threw the shower last month. I got my dress... my boobs are too big to fit. I'm screwed. The end. :)

Anything else? Nope, I think I'm good. :)

Me again!

2009-09-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Don't fall over and die or anything though okay? ;)

I just wanted to pop in and announce that Breast Cancer Awareness month starts in just a few days! Please remember to click the magic daily mammogram button! It funds mammograms for underprivileged women. All it takes is a click a day from you (or more if you have multiple computers), but can mean the world of difference for some one's mother, aunt, sister, daughter, friend, grandmother...

I'll be going pink again for October this upcoming month and hope to have a new banner that not only FITS where it goes, but won't stay up for 6 months. :)

I hope to scrap my last 2 years at the Avon Walk this month, as well as my traditional yearly PSA one I do (I hope to eventually have a pink book of all kinds of ribbony goodness). But for now, here's the one from 2007 which I got a publish call notification for LAST year but only found out about last WEEK. Whoops! Maybe I should check my sb.com account more often!

Click for Credits

Poor Neglected Blog

2009-09-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

It's become so much easier to just avoid the poor page than to look at it and think about all the things I want to say that I just can't put to paper (so to speak).

I've been busy doing absolutely nothing! Nothing looks like this:

Click here for credits

IF I were smart, I'd have remembered to make a copy of the page together so you could picture it as it were side by side. Oh well. :) THAT has been my "nothing" summer. It's a little misleading though... there was A LOT more Disney than that batch of photos shows. :)

1. Colby eating ribs at TGI Fridays for Sarah's birthday
2. Sarah, Shyleen & Colby at Fridays
3. Liam eating a s'more at the beach
4. Matthew with Miss Maggie at the beach
5. Yippy Skippies ride again (Matthew, Allen, Jaana, Blaine, me)
6. Liam at the beach
7. Avon Walk closing with Malia
8. Avon Walk dinner at Wellness Village
9. Catalina Island
10. 75% of the Shelley family
11. Trena singing fireside
12. Maggie is very cold
13. Someday I'll get into Club 33. For now, I dream.
14. Amy & Byron
15. Fireworks over Disneyland
16. The cousins at Amy's wedding
17. Miss Delilah making a silly face
18. Pretty momma and baby girl
19. Silly girl!
20. Maggie with her daddy on her first 4th of July
21. Another pretty momma and baby girl
22. Event Eve for Avon Walk
23. Old Friends
24. Chad's birthday
25/26. Disneyland with the girls

NOW I must go to bed. I've been picking at this layout for a week and finally finished it, so I needed to post it while I was thinking of it. :)

All for you Treen, happy? ;)

Getting back to basics

2009-06-11T00:23:00.001-07:00

I've been digi-scrapping this week. I can't really go into details as the intended recipients of my fruits read here, but I will post photos as soon as I can. (I know I say that a lot, and never do, but I'm so excited to actually POST something that I'll actually DO it!)

So, in the spirit of my newly rediscovered muse I'll just share what's been going on in my scrapping brain.

I haven't been able to scrap much, digitally or paperly for about a year now. My external hard drive had an ugly "incident" which included the possible loss of GIGS of photos, music, and digi-scrap supplies. It's made me too sick to think about, let alone scrap. So, for the last just-over-a-year I've been putting my pictures onto my laptop (remember the Green Fairy?) and as our Internet is only cooperating with ONE computer I've been using my 1 GB flash ("Pixie Dust") to go back and forth between uploading to Facebook and storing on the Fairy.

All this just to say that I've been basically OUT of the scrapping loop for quite awhile now. I have no idea what new designers are out there really, nor do I know what the current trends include. I've just been reading my emails from Gina Miller (when they came) and Shabby Princess and occasionally buying a kit here & there from Sweet Genevieve or whomever struck my fancy when a really interesting kit/item/tool blipped on my radar. No Digi Shop Talk or ANYTHING.

I have no idea HOW I stumbled upon Britt-ish Designs but I immediately loved her stuff. She's a Disney freak AND she makes cute stuff. Her association with Scrap Matters has led me to other new designers... lots of cute stuff on that site folks! They've got a really nice gallery for inspiration as well.

I took TONS of fun pics at Disneyland last summer, and will continue to abuse my pass holder status this summer, so I plan to have many more. So NATURALLY I was even more excited when Britt's blog featured a Disney inspired charity kit! It's called Forester's Wish and was created to help a family cover the medical bills of their little boy, Forester. Forester and his family were recently treated to a trip to Orlando's Magic Kingdom by the Make-a-Wish Foundation (thus the Disney theme).

The kit is amazing! It's got a wide variety of styles and designers so there's something in it for everyone, and it's HUGE! If you're a Disney fan, this is a great value... as well as going to a great cause! Because, as we all know, cancer sucks! The blog I linked to also links to Forester's mother's blog where you can read all about their family as well as the beginning of Forester's struggles. Such a sweet and faithful family. Please take the time to check out the kit and help the family out if you can. I know times are rough, but it's totally worth it if you can help out!

Really, I've been doing nothing!

2009-05-14T00:19:00.001-07:00

I've learned a few things in the last week:

Dish soap DOES NOT work well with dish washers. We had this happen 2 more times since... apparently it takes a bit of time for it to rinse out of the machine too. Whoopsie!

JJ Abrams is the man! I went with friends on THURSDAY evening to a brand new Imax theater to see the new Star Trek. These photos were taken after the viewing ... you can tell by our faces how pleased we were.

This is us just as the lights were dimming. SO excited!

And that's about it. :)

PIF- Pay It Forward

2009-04-25T00:37:00.001-07:00

So my friend Shyleen posted a really cool idea on her blog the other day. I'm going to pass it along because I thought it'd be fun.

The first 3 people to comment here will get a handmade gift from me. Since all I'm really good at is paper crafting, it'll be something along those lines. After that, it all depends on what I decide to make you. :)

The catch? You gotta comment here first, and then you HAVE to post this back on YOUR blog. Gotta PIF!

(Facebook readers: Sorry guys, you gotta post to my actual blog. Get over there and comment!!)

Miss Maggie the magnificent

2009-04-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the most beautiful baby niece in the entire world. She turned 9 weeks yesterday (if you're counting, she was born on Valentine's Day). Today was her baby blessing. We had a huge freaking party at my in-law's. No joke, it was record breaking... 46 people, many being kids, running around eating, talking, sprinkler jumping, water-gun squirting... and I didn't take a single photo! Guilt is sinking in as I type. If you want to see pictures, go to the blogs linked as "Family Blogs." I'm sure SOMEONE will post cute photos, I'm just here, sharing what I've collected of the doll in the short time she's been here. :)

Ding dong, ding dong

2009-04-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law got married last weekend... here are the better shots I got during the day...

My dad, me & my "little" brother

The happy couple!

All smiley

So in love

Our nieces & nephew

Matthew's Brother-in-law (baby bonnet) & his younger brother

I thought the water pitcher was even pretty!

The cake topper

My & sister-in-law's cake cutting photos (along with other family's) around the cake.

It was kiltamania!

The wonderful food!

Cutting the cake

Say cheese!

First dance

Niece & "cousin" (common aunt/uncle) watching the dancers

Father/daughter dance

Me and my sissy

Throwing the garter

A book is worth a thousand expressions of love

2009-04-13T22:32:00.001-07:00

And this sucker was a labor of love! And it was filled with names of people who loved the beautiful couple too!

The hand sewn binding...

Deckled edged pages...

Cover...

Finished product...

Remember me?

2009-04-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Oh lordy lordy! Do I have fun stuff to post! Where do I ever begin? Let's start with my latest work of art.

I created a signature book for my brother-in-law's wedding. (Michael is married for those of you keeping score... no more Schulzes to farm out... this generation anyway... But I know a couple Bukowskis still up for grabs if you're interested. ;) )

Allie asked me to create a book after seeing one I'd made for Trena & Aaron as a wedding gift. Now, a paper-bag mini-album is WAY different than a whole guest book for the reception & open house of a wedding... WAY different. Her idea was that it'd be really cool to take it out and show the kids someday, "Your aunt Meghan made these with her own 2 hands!" Being the scrapping enthusiast that I am, it sounded good at the time. What a journey!

So I checked out Etsy's offerings for ideas... expensive too!

I bought books... thank you T&A and Georgie for the Amazon gift cards... they helped!

I went to the most amazing art store I've been to with my dear friend Jaime... we both fell in love... to get supplies.

And I made a book!

I got lots of nice compliments from family and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I've learned a new art technique... and I finally own my own pot of Yes Paste. A major w00t if I've ever had an occasion to. ;) Pictures to follow shortly...

Hello my baby...

2009-03-25T21:42:00.000-07:00

Hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal. Send me a kiss by wire, baby my heart's on fire!

I loved that frog growing up.

These days are finding me buried in wedding stuff and TV. We go walking twice a week and now have a stationary bike to use on non walking days. I found I can play my favorite FaceBook Game, Pack Rat, while doing the bike. ;) Multi-tasking is awesome!

Not much else to report. I'll check in again when there is! :)

2009-02-23T20:10:00.000-08:00

If you read my notes on FacebooIf you read my notes on Facebook, this is old. I'm reposting for those that don't. (originally posted 1/29/09)

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things about yourself. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I love to read. Up until last week I was rotating through reading 3 books at once.

2. I've always been a geek, but I'm just coming into my own and being happy with it in the last few years.

3. I took almost 9 years to get my degree. I only took 1 semester off (so 9 1/2), but with working full time and balancing time with family/friends/church, I never took more than 3 classes a semester. Some days I think this makes me a loser, but I don't care on days like today... I'm proud of myself and not giving up.

4. I realized during my last semester as a junior (3 for each level) that I should have majored in art history (or art), but it was a bit late to change. I may end up going back some day.

5. I'm a Twitter junkie. I'm on there all the time and have made several new geeky friends there. :) (Follow Warplayer & Okelay... they're great!)

6. I'm such a self-assured geek (& Twinkie- Twitter junkie) that I also follow several of my favorite actors from Star Trek: TNG, visit their websites/blogs and hope to attend my first Comicon this year (PAX would be better, but highly unlikely).

7. I still scrapbook, somewhat. I've been burned out the last year or so and hope to return to it VERY soon! :)

8. My favorite colors are black, red & blue, yet all my electronics are metallic sour apple green.

9. I <3 Tinkerbell, but my favorite Disney movies are Alice, Robin Hood & Dumbo.

10. I love all things Alice. My favorite PC game is American McGee’s Alice. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Tim Burton’s adaptation to the big screen. (It will probably become my all time favorite as it’ll have all my “perfect” movie elements as well as my favorite storyline.

11. “Perfect movie” in Pixie terms means it’s directed by Tim Burton, scored by Danny Elfman and stars Johnny Depp.

12. JD was my first (and only constant) celebrity crush… I think I was 6 when Jump Street started. :)

13. Current celebrity faves include: Edward Norton, Heath Ledger, Angelina Jolie, Isla Fischer & Adrien Brody.

14. I adopted the screen name PixieMegh to cover my love of all fairies (not just Tink). It has morphed itself into my nickname, Pixie, from all my ‘net friends.

15. I’d actually legally change my name to Pixie if I didn’t like my given name so much, it feels that much a part of who I am.

16. I’ve been married to the love of my life (gag me, right?), Matthew, for just over 7 years now. I think we’re just now getting used to living together.

17. My mom often told me while dating a certain HS sweetheart that I really wanted to marry someone that told me “no” once in awhile. She was right, and I did. What she failed to mention was how much I’d HATE hearing that stupid little word. ;) (“What DO you MEAN I can’t have my way all the time?”)

18. One of my best friends is an “ex-boyfriend.” He’s like family and can’t wait until I have kids to send off and pester him for me.

19. Another of my other best friends has been in my life since the first day of 2nd grade. I’d just moved there, and knew no one. She came up to me at recess and asked me to come and play. We recently celebrated her birthday by seeing Oliver & Co. at the El Capitan. It was the 20th anniversary of the movie, as well as our friendship.

20. I’m trying to be less snobby about my musical listening choices. It’s hard, but I’m really enjoying branching out. I still say that if it involves screaming, I’ll probably like it.

21. My dream job would be creating and selling things online. Etsy will work at first, but I’d eventually want my own store.

22. I have a Halloween costume that I’ve wanted to do for 5 years now; I finally may have the time to do it this year.

23. I LOVE Postsecret.com. I’ve only mailed in one secret, but often make them and rip them up when I’m done, it’s therapeutic.

24. I hope to re-teach myself how to play the flute this year.

25. I hate Valentines Day so Matthew usually gets me flowers the week before or after.

Only?

2009-02-23T20:03:00.000-08:00

If you read my notes on Facebook, this is old. I'm reposting for those that don't. (originally posted 2/3/09)

Copy and change the answers to suit you (using only one word) and pass it on. Be sure to tag the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Matty
3. Your hair? disaster
4. Your favorite thing? interwebs
5. Your dream last night? Nada
6. Your favorite drink? Pepper
7. Your dream/goal? Babies!
8. What room you are in? Office
9. Your hobby? LOTS!
10. Your fear? Armageddon
11. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Mommified
12. Where were you last night? Home
13. Muffins? Nummers!
14. Wish list item? PhotoShop
15. Where you grew up? D-town
16. Last thing you did? read
17. What are you wearing? Maddens
18. Your TV? Analog >:
19. Your pets? nonexistant
20. Friends? Loved :)
21. Your life? Transitioning
22. Your mood? Meh
23. Missing some one? yes
24. Car? Green
25. Something you're not wearing? socks
26. Your favorite store? Many
28. When is the last time you laughed? Minutes
29. Last time you cried? yesterday
30. Who will resend this? dunno

Censorship

2009-02-23T17:41:00.000-08:00

So, maybe I wasn't totally censored, but you decide.

I've got lots of friends. (Most people do, so I'm not tooting my horn I'm just stating the obvious I guess.) I was out with a few of them on Saturday night with Matthew. Four of us met at a house and decided where we were going, called the 5th on our way out the door to meet him there (Macaroni Grill). We got there first and put our names in while we waited for #5 to show. While we were waiting, #5 calls and says that his younger brother is supposed to take his "just friends" girl friend to a MG tonight too. We laughed and said it'd be funny if they ended up at the one we were going to and blew it off.

#5 shows up, our table comes up, we get seated. We're sitting for like 2 minutes when in walks younger #5 (now known as mini) and his "non-date." They're brought right past our table on their way to theirs and don't see us. And they're WHAT? They're holding hands.

"Just Friends" guys don't take "just friends" girls to MG by themselves and hold hands. Just saying.

So what do we do? What any mature group of late 20's people in this day and age do. We text bombed mini. We told him our own variations of "Just friends don't hold hands." He texts #5 back wanting to know where we were. We were in another room, but there was a fireplace in between that Matthew could see mini though. So Matt texts mini to say "I can see you."

Okay so we're done right? Not quite. There's a lovely young lady wandering around the place who had a lovely operatic voice. We had her go sing Josh Groban's You Raise Me Up to them. Our waitress was awesome and took a picture.

THEN we left them alone. We ate and left. As we were loading back into the cars, mini & date came out. They made some jokes about it... including her comment "you were making him be a bad date." (We think in reference to his texting)

We went along our merry little way. I posted the picture on Facebook in a Friends only album, tagged mini & date with some smart-arse caption like "Just friends? Really? Holding hands... yeah."

So then I was told to take it down. For what? Stealth dating is lame. Everyone else already knows you're dating, even if you two don't seem to know. Not my problem. I took it down to keep the peace, but I'm not happy about it.

To the girl in question: I like you, you're really nice and a lot of fun... but so is mini. You really should ADMIT that you're dating him. It's crap that you're either too ashamed or embarrassed to admit to dating such a great guy. He deserves someone that will be excited to tell people that he asked them out or, at the very least, doesn't care if she's seen in public with him.

To mini: you know all this already. Can't keep my mouth shut completely, it's the mama bear kicking in.

AMERICAN IDOL!!

2009-01-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

First rule of AI... don't try to be a triple/double threat. If you're one of those "I'm the whole package" people, you're not going to make it. Know why? Because truly talented people usually are a little more modest about it.

Rule #2, if you're the singer in a semi-decent band, tell the band you're trying out for AI. This first one through wanted to go "the Daughtry route" and add the band back if she makes it through. Problem? If I remember right, Bo Bice and Chris Daughtry both told their bands and got support from them, Constantine Maroulis didn't. He went behind their back and they weren't too happy with him if I remember correctly.

NEVER sing a diva's song, especially if you're male, unless you've sung before a PAYING audience.

If the judges are grooving and dancing with you, they're just making the best of a bad moment. If they really liked your singing, they'd be nodding, quietly listening, with a small smile from Simon. If he gives you a big SE grin, run. He's trying very hard not to laugh in your face.

Oh. And if the deny you, and you STILL think you are a good singer, take it professionally. Thank them for their time, maybe ask for some suggestions if you feel up to more criticism, and walk away. Maybe you're right, maybe you really ARE that good, but use this as a learning experience, don't act like an @$$ on national TV, someone may remember you as a drama queen, and hold it against you later. :)

I love American Idol!

Welcome back

2009-01-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

"Back to life, back to reality..."

Hi folks! Remember me? I used to be that girl that came by at least once a week and updated you on the odd happenings of her life. Or funny videos. Or jokes. Or links... you get it. Well, today I think I officially came back. The holidays are behind us and (hopefully) so are things like finals and the like. I finished what should be my last finals the week before Christmas and, boy!, do I (hopefully) love that feeling.

I'm hesitant to start the rejoicing because CSUF (Cal State Eff You as many of my co-alumni "lovingly" have re-dubbed it) is notorious for giving you a bogus grad check. What does that mean you ask? It means that you pay them $150 (I think, it was over a year ago now) to perform a "grad check" a year before your intended graduation. The idea is that a counselor that knows school policy and understands those types of things, goes over your transcripts and double checks that you are, yes indeed, on course to graduate in a year. It is a requirement and a scam to steal more from, nay rape and take, your starving-student wallet. The problem with this "check" is that far too many people I've known have "passed" their grad check and finished up their last 2 semesters, only to be told, "you're still missing a class" from some numb-nut at the admissions office post graduation and walking and all. They've done it to at least 3 people I know personally, and have heard from others that they know people that got screwed over too. Granted, I'm in different major than these 3 individuals, only one of whom was actually able to argue his degree back, and my friends that have left before I have in my major haven't had problems, so I'm hoping all is well. (But you understand my reluctance now, don't you?)

Moving on. I felt that as my email box and all matter of blogging has been ignored by me, that today, I'd kinda jump around the 'net and read what's going on out there. My first stop was via my mailbox from Crystal over at Boobs, Injuries and Dr. Pepper. She mentioned that she'd been nominated for a top blogger list from a mommy blog network. I went and looked at it and was glad she made it into the top 25 (she's hilarious and I cannot recommend reading her enough). I then skimmed the sum-ups of the other blogs mentioned. WOW. My sides hurt. Some of my new favorites are:

Miss Britt- had me cracking up the whole time in this post where she describes a VERY female fear. I don't think I have any male readers at all, but if I do, spare yourself if the word TAMPON scares you.

And while we're still on that subject...

Shamelessly Sassy discusses another wacky thing that those darn-stupid-teenagers have cooked up now. Really? Like REALLY? Wow. That's a first for me too.

It's no secret that I'm not a domestic goddess. My favorite fridge magnet proclaims it. I hope that someday, I might be, when I don't' have work and have children to chase around instead, but we'll wait and see. I have some deep seeded fear that I'll actually end up like this instead. Read ALL the comments. I was in fits of giggles for a solid 15 minutes I think.

This is why, though I intend to learn, I think sewing is craziness. (Eva, call me! LOL)

Had enough yet? Me too. I'll try to post personal stuff soon. (I suck, I know)

I'm not dead yet

2008-12-03T20:11:00.001-08:00

I'm just nearly dead. Maybe next week?

I haven't forgotten y'all. I've just been swamped with school, and then it'll be the holidays. Gimme a few more weeks and I'll be back to normal. Crafting, crazy me. I've got some exciting things in life coming up (youngest BIL is getting married in April and Trena's having a baby at the end of February) so there will be plenty of shopping crafty goodness coming up.

Just before school got really bad I got into Etsy again, and for good reasons that I'll explain at a later juncture. They have much to do with the coming baby and new SIL though.

Much love,

Pix

My "list"

2008-10-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Today anyway... it changes often enough... one person stays the same... guess.

1) Johnny Depp ~ 2) Edward Norton ~ 3) Jason Statham ~ 4) Ewan McGregor ~ 5) Christian Bale

Can you see the pattern? :) This isn't why, I just realized it after I stated it today on Twitter. There's actually 3. The first...

1) Finding Neverland ~ 2) The Illusionist ~ 3) In the Name of the King ~ 4) just posing ;) ~ 5) The Prestige (and Newsies and Swing Kids...)

Period films. :) Love 'em. They've also got quite a bit of UK in it. (Ok Ewan's in kilt, and not Moulin Rouge garb, I couldn't help it though).

1) Sweeney Todd ~ 2) American History X ~ 3) Crank (really all his movies) ~ 4) Star Wars Eps 1-3 ~ 5) Batman Begins/Dark Knight

They're all bad boys. ;) Or at least bad-azzes.

1) Sleepy Hollow ~ 2) The Incredible Hulk ~ 3) Crank ~ 4) Miss Potter ~ 5) Little Women

And the love birds. This was fun... and cheered me up. I had a major bi-otchy attitude today. Who is your 5?

Help!

2008-10-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

I can't remember how to change my header! LOL I made a new one (it's really cute!) and now I can't put it up!

2008-10-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

First off: Happy Pinktober! :) These are the little (3' long really) pink ribbons someone ties on trees/lampposts near my work every October. There are more than double the usual amount this year. They made me happy.

This next one made me think of Trena. I could just hear her voice saying "in bed" after reading this one aloud.

Had a family bridal shower last weekend. Here I am with my cousin Kristal (we're 3 months apart) and her darling baby girl.

It's that time of year again, Los Angeles is burning. Well, really the San Bernardino mountains. Here was a view from a street near my house (you can hardly tell in the photo but it LOOKED close... it's really not).

But the fun part about LA burning is the purtiful sunsets we get here. Give and take folks. Again, the real thing was MUCH more vibrant, deep reds there at the middle of the horizon.

Ta-da! Save 2nd Base! ;)

And another...

2008-10-06T18:15:00.001-07:00

My friend Sarah's little girl. Ain't she a doll?

Panda Land Kit here by Sweet Genevieve

Adapted from Silke Ott's sketch

Did this one Sunday afternoon too.

My Cause

2008-10-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

So here it is... I bit the bullet and just finished the sucker.

Here's another video of the same walk. She got some really cute pictures too. :)

Shoulda been doing homework

2008-10-05T14:47:00.000-07:00

But instead I created. I needed to. This is my new niece, isn't she cute? :)

ETA: Items are all Sweet Genevieve at Oscraps, found here.

I know, I still haven't posted Avon Walk photos. They're coming... it's being edited when I get little snippets of time here and there. You'll know as soon as it hits the Tube. ;) Meanwhile, remember that it's Pink-tober and learn something about boobs! :D

Much love,

BIZZ-ZAY!

2008-09-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

School... Avon Boobie Walk... homework... Primary program... bills... work... Pixie is losing it!

The walk is this weekend... it's going to be so fun! (And you can still donate here if the fancy strikes you. Crew isn't required to raise money... but anything I do goes to the cause right?) I'll try to remember to stop and take pictures and then I'll hopefully, eventually, have a slideshow of some sort. Sorry that I've been essentially absent here lately. It'll get better when September is over... I hope.

This is why infringement sucks

2008-08-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

So I was poking along in Twilight Land today. Just killing some time before I had to go to a family baby shower and I went to see how Twilight Guy was doing. This post was at the top and made my jaw drop! For those that don't want to click... someone got a hold of Stephenie Meyer's manuscript of Midnight Sun (the companion book to Twilight) and POSTED IT ON THE FREAKING INTERNETS!!

How could ANYONE do that? Her response is to now put the book on hold. This is why copyright infringement is illegal. It ruins things for the actual artist, and then for those that are trying to follow along in the "game". Cheaters ruin it for everyone.

She provides a link to the actual manuscript that's been posted, in her way of taking control of the situation, but I'm not reading it. In fact, I'll be writing my first fan letter to her. I want to tell her that I'm sorry and upset by this and that I want her to finish it. I encourage any of her fans that read my blog (not many readers, but I think most of them are Meyer fans) to also write her. Her posting made me very sad for her as she's always been very gracious and appreciative about her fandom. If this had happened to Jo (it kinda did) I'd want the same thing.

I want to read what she had polished up and got ready for public consumption, not the work in progress. (Although it'd be kinda fun to read it later and make comparisons... but in a learning the process kind of way, not cheating and getting ahead way.)

Its the same with music and movies. I'll admit to have downloaded things in the past, but I put a stop to it in our house a few years back. It's dishonest and takes money from the artists. They're just trying to make a living and support themselves like I am. They work hard for what they put out and they deserve to get fair market value back.

Annoying

2008-08-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one that has a problem with this commercial?

WHO wears a pink dress with rust orange pumps? GAG!!

He Found the One

2008-08-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you about my friend Chris. I met him very near the beginning of my 7th grade year, and I was hooked. :) I thought he was the most adorable guy I'd ever met. We were in band together (he's a barry saxy). He quickly became my friend's boyfriend and a good friend of mine. He was a bit (UNDERstated) girl crazy so that relationship (like many in the years to come) didn't last very long.

Our friendship remained. I think in part it was because of the crush I had on him at the time but he was also this fountain of liveliness (is that even a word?). He wasn't always the easiest person to put up with... a pest really... but I just couldn't stay mad at him for very long. He always knew how to make me laugh and forgive him in the process.

I didn't see him much the next year as he had gone on to high school, but come freshman year, we picked right back up. He became my first boyfriend, and first heartbreak. When that happened I got a pile of "I told you so's" (remember he's got a reputation at this point... in 10th grade!) but somehow I didn't care. I knew what I was really getting myself into, and because I cared so much for him as a person, I didn't really hold any of it against him. We ended up getting back together for a month or so a few months later, but quickly broke up again. Thus becoming my only repeat boyfriend.

I ended my freshman year very confused about boys in general (really not him at this point) and he told me something that I held onto for years after. He told me that I was a great girl that would make someone very happy someday and that someday he wanted a nice girl like me to marry too. Silly, a little, generic, probably, but coming from Chris at that moment in my life was exactly what I needed to hear. The hope for me that he had, in our weird friendship, and for himself. I wasn't alone in my lost feelings, I had his friendship to help me out that moment.

He spent a lot of time at my house that summer. I should say the front porch because my mom didn't want to encourage me to have boyfriends at that age (I was only 14). Her solution was that he could visit, but not come in the house. He came to my house almost every afternoon though. We'd sit and talk about whatever and get annoyed the hell out of by Roxanne. I used to get so mad at her for bugging us, but years later I realized my mom probably sent her out there to chaperon. (Trena this story was for you because you love it so much!)

Our friendship has been cemented by laughter. Mostly at the expense of each other, but we laugh. Whenever I get to see Chris 2 things happen. I get a big goofy grin on my face (because his energy is infectious) and we pick right back up where we left off. That's how you measure a good friend, not by how often you see them or how often you talk, but how no matter how much time has passed, you can just pick up where you left off.

This story leads me to Lorie. I've talked about her here before, but I came today to post something. Chris found his Ms. Right. It was one of the first things he told me when he introduced us a bit before they got married. "Meghan, this is Lorelei. I've found my girl." I was SO very happy for him, you could just feel the joy radiating off of him. Lorie and I hit it off right away and to this day I love to brag about how talented she is on here, and I tell her all the time. It's gotten to the point where I email, blog and Tweet back and forth with her all the time... Chris who?

SO, to the real reason I'm posting here today. I've been playing catch up on my blogs this afternoon and I ran across this post on Lorie's blog. When I read it, I remembered that letter and talk I had had with Chris all those years ago and I was overcome with happy mushy feelings for my old friend. One that always held a special place in my heart. The lovable imp. I embrace my obnoxiousness because Chris taught me that you can be a lovable pain in arse.

Lorie, I don't know if he's ever told you any of the weirdness of our friendship in those days, and even then, it's different coming from the guy's side. I'll be forever grateful to you for being such a blessing in his life. You may think he needs a medal for putting up with you, but I say you're a saint for taking on him. :) Oh! And I could have spared you all the blushing and embarrassment if there was only a way for me to comment on your blog. Instead this became a long winded run-down of how a silly boy I met in band caused me to meet you, and in turn, how you almost made me cry today.

When do we see you guys next? :D

Hopping on the band wagon with the new peanut

2008-08-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Face Your Manga is the newest avatar craze. I jumped in on the fun...

And my other good news that I've been having to hold close to my chest for a bit... I'm gonna be an auntie again! Trena is 14 weeks along... here's her U/S from her 12 week appointment.

(S)he's waving at us!!

Oh! And I finally finished Breaking Dawn so hopefully I'll be getting better about posting more regularly.

This is the game that Allie and Trena play. Allie wants to feel the baby "kick" so she puts her hands on Trena's belly and waits. Then Trena twitches her stomach and Allie gets all excited. She does this for LONG periods of time. When Trena gets tired she just tells Allie the baby is asleep. It's funny to watch because the kick and sleep usually only have like 5 seconds in between.

Breakfast Club

2008-08-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

Another JC Penny commercial that I totally love. I'd really like to talk to their advertising agency, some fun creative folks there.

Still coming to terms with geekdom

2008-07-31T17:49:00.000-07:00

Anyone that reads here semi-regularly will know that this is a topic on my mind a lot lately.

I had friends drop everything to run to Vegas the day I mentioned that Star Trek: The Experience was closing. If I hadn't started reading Wil's blog, or subscribed to his Tweets, how would THEY have known? Yet, I didn't go. They tried, REALLY tried, but I couldn't justify going into debt for it. Instead they bought me a tribble and communicator badge from TNG. Good enough, no? I just resigned myself to knowing that I didn't know what I was missing and there's the chance it'll open somewhere else... and then I won't have to worry.

I really think I was destined to be a geek really. I am the daughter of 2 Trekkies and my mom is a big Tolkien fan. From the time I was a tiny kid I remember begging to look at her Froud Fairies book or through her jewelry box which contained various silver charms (ones that I'll kill my sisters for when she dies; they can have the opals and pearls, I want the silver unicorn and moon).

Anyway, my personal geek journey probably can be listed as starting when I was like 5 or 6. In my little world D&D was a cartoon (in reruns) that I wasn't allowed to watch. At the time I was told that it was too scary and would give me nightmares. As an adult I found out that Mom didn't want me, the obsessive little thing that I was watching it. The last thing that she needed was a small starting on a pathway to rolling 20s.

She had had a lonely childhood (friends wise, with 8 kids in the family, she was around plenty of people). I think she was trying to spare us the grief. Well, 3 out of 4 of us geeked out anyway. My youngest sister and I had it easier (geeky chicks are worshipped! lol) than my brother though.

Because of my obsessiveness, I'm beginning to think that the geekiness started before that (like just after I turned 3). From the time that I could barely talk, I was all about Rainbow Brite. I, again, didn't know this until I was an adult, but I could barely talk, and talked a blue streak about Smurfs and RB. I saw that happen when my nephew went though his Thomas the Tank Engine phase. it was so bad that my preschool teacher (who hadn't' seen me since I was like 4) remembered it. A few years ago she was at a family wedding (my aunt had kept up with her) and she immediately asked my mom "Where's Rainbow Brite?"

When it started at a point that I can remember clearly would be 21 Jump Street. Mom would watch it, and I remember being glued to Johnny Depp. Judy (Holly Robinson) was cool and all, but I loved Tom. That little tid bit in itself isn't geeky, but because of that, I was led to Tim Burton and Danny Elfman. That also meant that all I wanted to do for my 12th birthday was have my parents take me to see Nightmare Before Christmas.

Then there's Star Trek. I loved TNG! That flowed over to Deep Space 9 and Voyager. When Generations came out, my friend conned her dad into taking us down to Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood and seeing it there (I think) on opening day. Oh and also X-Files (which I'm Netflixing now and loving it!) and Unsolved Mysteries.

Did I mention that I read too? All kinds of things from Anne McCaffrey's Pern books to CS Lewis' Narnia, to Nancy Drew. Let's not get me started on comics okay?

Jeebus how didn't I "know" this before? I always knew that I was weird (and proud of it... popularity was overrated) but sheesh! Then when you throw in band, a passion for musical theater and the Buffyverse... yeah...

Sorry Mom, I never had a chance.

Magnets can change their shape, but they still attract

2008-07-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

For a smallish timespan, I changed my banner every month. For one reason, I loved how Dooce changes that often, and for another, I'd get very bored with my banner. Then one day I realized I was a metal geek magnet. I found if funny and spent more time than usual on my banner. Then the month came and went, and I still really liked my banner. I thought it was fun and I'd leave it up for awhile longer than normal. Several months have gone by and a couple promises of updating as well... but the banner remains (cue the Metallica riffs).

The last couple weeks I've really decided that I needed to change it, but didn't make the time and when I did, I didn't like any concepts I'd worked up. So it's still there due to laziness. After last night, I'm thinking that I won't take it down for a LONG time.

So...

Matthew and I went to RatLand for our ritualistic public "drunkeness". 2 Skippies were skipping out, 1 planned, 1 burned out so we planned to meet Allen at Downtown Disney for dinner with Matthew's 2 brothers (Trena got her behind conned to going to Girls Camp again so Aaron is a free agent this week) and possibly hang out for a bit in the park if we felt up to it (getting old again I think).

We got our food at the Tortilla Joe's window and the guy leaned across Matthew to yell out the little window at me. He wanted to know if I was excited about "the new album." And then proceeded to tell me that he can't wait until he can see them live. Die hard Metallica fan who was desperate to escape Disney insanity for a minute? Or could it have been the Metallica logo stretched across my boobs? Who knows... but they always wanna talk to me.

Hi-dee ho!

2008-07-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

I know, I've been slacking off. I don't really have any true excuses so I'll spare you. Wanna see what I've been up to? :) Of course you do!

We have a friend who recently obtained his pyrotechnics licence. He had several friends from church come down to assist him in his first show on the 4th. Jeremy was totally in charge of the whole set-up and take down as well as all that went in the middle of that. Here is Matthew and his buddy, Rocky, taking a quick break while Sarah, Rocky's wife, and I took their picture. The boys had fun, but it was a LOT of work!

That whole set up behind them is their "camp". Here is a fun photo and some footage of the show. It's sideways because I'm terrible about turning the video. I'll fix it someday... but for show here it is!

My cousin's little baby girl, Delilah, was blessed that Sunday. I wasn't able to make it to the blessing in LA (I'm the new Primary chorister and it was hard to find a sub so quickly) but had lots of fun at the open house afterwards.

Kristal, my cousin, has given up on scrapbooking due to time constraints & motivation, but she asked me to customize her prints for the blessing for her instead, so I have the whole set anyway! ;) Here is our grandma (my maternal, her paternal) my aunt, Kristal and Delilah taking a 4 generation picture. I'll post some of my creations with the photos another time.

And the Yippy Skippies at Disneyland this last week. The 5 of us on the right have been going every Wednesday night for the last 6 weeks or so. Seth even made a shirt to commemorate our fun little group. Those are my beloved new Chucks on my feet there too. :D The 5 of us go, invite our other passholder friends, and just have a blast being stupid silly together.

(L to R: Dawn, Jaana, Blaine, M&M, Seth, Allen & Cindy)

That's the quick version of what's been going on. I hope to post again soon!

Yippy in my Skippy!

2008-07-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Good Lord. Last night has to go down as one of the craziest trips to Disneyland ever. We've been going weekly for the last month or so and LOVING it. Cindy has been bringing assorted people but her new buddy Seth has been coming every time. He's hilarious! The first time we went with him, a few weeks ago, he yelled "Yippy in my Skippy" as we were finishing up on Thunder Mountain. As of last night, we are determined to get people to start yelling it. Someday it'll be the thing to do while you're on a ride and we'll be able to tell our kids we started it all! So next time you go over the dino bones, you gotta yell it loud and proud!

We had quite a good time last night. I think most of it was one of those "you hadda be there" type things.

Makes you wonder…

2008-07-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

According to this article the US citizen test gets harder starting in October. They include a sample test of 20 questions that are among the "harder" ones. Granted, the REAL test isn't multiple choice, but almost all of these I would *hope* that the average American could answer, or at least come close. The sad truth is that most of us probably couldn't. I'll be honest, I took a guess on one (got it right) that I should have known… and now I do.

The one I got wrong, I should have known, and may have if I had spent time really thinking about it. I'm protesting that one because my American History classes rarely got that far. Isn't that sad? My 5th grade history was supposed to take me up to the Civil war, and we never got close. In 8th grade we as far as the Industrial Revolution I think, I don't remember ever discussing WWI. High school probably got up to the Korean War but she was cramming it in so fast that I don't really remember much. We studied up to the Civil War enough to actually retain, and maybe finished out the century but after that it was a BIG BLUR. And college? Ha! I graduate with a degree in Liberal Studies next semester with only 1 actual history class under my belt. I picked it myself from many different options. It was a survey of American history UP TO the Civil War (and I don't think we even got that far!).

It makes you worry about "the system." I think myself to be pretty knowledgeable about HOW the government is set up to run, but look at how one question points out huge holes in my education. Another one that made me think is the last one. Susan B. Anthony. I don't think I remember EVER discussing her in a class. It may be my faulty memory as far as school goes, but I know I learned about her from my grandmother. She really worked on me and my siblings to start collecting coins so she quite often gave us silver dollars or something like that for our birthdays. At the time, I think she was the only historical female to appear on a coin (or at least that I know of) so I was really interested.

If you're curious, my results are here.

It's that important

2008-07-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

I love PostSecret, and support anything that Frank tells me to. He's always been highly supportive of Hopeline on his site and what they do is incredibly important. They need help. Please watch the video and donate if you can help.

Wow... just wow

2008-06-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

I really think that the title says it all. So glad I'm not out there fighting the good fight. I'm also linking all my single guy friends to this so they can KNOW what I will kick their @$$ for if they EVER pull this crap.

The Douchiest Phone Message In History

Custom Chucks that make Bono proud

2008-06-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love my new shoesies!

Even the box is cool...

A shoe bag? Wow, cool!!

How's that for personalization? I wanted PixieMegh on the back but I had one too many letters. My scrap-board girls call me Pixie anyway... it's now become a nickname of sorts.

I'm thinking I should have made the tongue blue too now, but whatever. I wanted them as close to my usual as possible. I'm weird about matching so the minimal blue is really okay.

See? They're officially Red-ed. I wanna meet the coolest Irishman to walk the planet now.

For all you globally aware people, I am aware that (Product) RED is controversial. I bought the shoes that I normally would have... except now their customized... I paid more and SOMETHING is going to a good cause. That's better than what I would have given before had I just gone to the mall and picked up my usual pair of black low tops.

Post-dated

2008-06-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

So you know... I started this review of the new ride at Disney's California Adventure a week ago, but my internet went down and then I had issues with updating. It's finally done and I left it dated of when I had originally intended to post it. Click the link and catch up! :D

Apparently I grew up in a sex-crazed ghetto

2008-06-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

This wasn't the exact dealership that I Twitted but you get the idea...

This one is actually worse than the one I was watching. The person SELLING the cars was a suited dude and the girls were just wearing some slutty dresses. These ads are so bad they're all over YouTube!!

Twitter 1

Twitter 2

Twitter 3

The hands down best ride ever!

2008-06-11T21:07:00.001-07:00

I got to ride the new Toy Story Midway Mania ride at Disney's California Adventure. I won the chance in the Passholder Preview drawing. I had asked for two tickets for ANYTIME I could get them. I got them for a Wednesday day window (10-3). Matthew didn't want to take the time off work, but I get vacation! I called my friend Sarah as she's a formeer castmember and we always have a lot of fun! :) Andwe were going!!

This is me in line with Miss Melodie (Sarah''s ADORABLE little girl). Isn't she freaking cute? She's pretty shy of strangers and never seems to wamr up to me enough to let me hold her. We became best buddies this time. She actually asked me to pick her up!

Here are the cars. It's two of these booth things, back to back and then 2 sets of 2 are linked into a car. Confused yet?

So we got to the FRONT (as you can see from the position of the pictures) and it broke down! We had to "reverse" in line and as we were leaving, Melodie freaked out. She knew we were getting jipped... so we rushed over to the carosel so she could get on SOMETHING.

We then took a ride on the Sunwheel, and while we were on it, we could see that they were putting people back in line so we rushed on over. The line didn't move for awhile, and when I went forward to find out why, it turned out that the Beckhams were there that day and so they got to cut in before they re-opened the ride! I apparently had just missed them getting off the ride. Bummer. Well, we got back through the line and actually made it ON this time!

So, see those cannons? You pull the strings to shoot whatever you're throwing at that particular moment. The ride itself is 7 minutes long with 5 (I think) mini-games. You wear 3d glasses and launch different things. One games is throwing darts at balloons (and you feel air blasts on your face when you pop the big ones up close!). Another you break plates. One is like an actual shooting range and the ride moves along as you try to shoot the moving targets. That's my fat arm there below.

That's my score... 85,400. Not bad for a first time, and I can promise it will probably not get much better as the years go by. Sarah and I both agreed that they have all the potential to change the games if they want and vary it so that it can be different almost everytime if they want.

As we were being pulled back up to the docking area. We had so much fun!!

Thriller with a side of awesomesauce

2008-06-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

From last weekend's Star Wars Days at Walt Disney World. It's pretty self explanitory after that.

The Great Twitter Debacle

2008-06-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

For those of you that follow me on Twitter via wireless something... I apologize for the Twit-storm. It never dawned on me until my sudden shut-up moment that I may be disturbing others. (No one has complained yet, but I wanted to pre-empt any bad feelings.) :) Since my 2 friends have started on it we have used it as an IM/Group Chat service a few times, this one was the funniest by far, so I'm including the transcript for sharing. I've eliminated their names as they have private Tweets.

(All my spelling errors and everyone's rampant neglect of the shift button have been left intact.)

M: I hate my life.

S: Move up to Oregon with meeeee! :-D

M: I need to finish school so i can get a job so i can get my own place!

S: It was worth a try... heh...

M: Thanks though

P: Besides Oregonsmells of unwashed hippies.

M: I like hippies!

P: Not stinky dirty ones.

S: Not all of oregon... lol... Just parts... Kinda like how parts of LA smell like BO and urine. Hahah

M: Lol really really hating my life

P: @ S. Roflmao

P: Yes M. you like hippies. But hippies are like clowns, they're funny to watch but you don't want want to live next to the circus.

M: Good analogy Megh! Thank you

S: Hahahaha... Actually, hippies are quite amusing to watch...

S: And they're fun to live close to... Its like going to disneyland to people watch... but for free

P: I know! I said they were.

P: No. Because you get to go home & leave the scarey fake animals @ home after disneyland. The hippies stay, especially if you feed them.

S: Hahahahahaha... Megh's channeling eric cartman tonight... Damn dirty hippies!

P: Ok I'm laughing so hard I'm crying & can't see!

P: Jeez! I must be tired.

S: One nice thing about hippies... They have nicely kept lawns and gardens... And they leave all the steak for me to eat! Haha

P: Where dod they grow their pot then?

S: Hahaha... In their "hydroponic" indoor garden. In the basement.

It was actually where I made the crying comment when I realized that I may have faux pas'd myself. Please forgive me, I was having fun on a Friday night. :)

I love my friends.

Greetings nerdlings

2008-06-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

Do you know how happy finding Wil Wheaton's blog has made me the last couple weeks? I feel my inner dork coming out more often now. We can thank my sudden possible intrest in playing FF11 on two things: the rest of the family playing... and my realization that being geeky is something that I just need to fully embrace. It's a part of me that isn't going anywhere and it doesn't compromise my "cool points." I can thank Aaron, Munchkin and Buffyverse RPG's for that!

So to honor my newfound full comfort with dorkdom (let's face it, I've always admitted to being geeky... I'm just finally fully aware of and happy with the extent of it) more droolness for Wil fans. ;)
The beard just enhances people. And not everyone who can grow one carries it off well either. Jessica is lucky to be married to someone who CAN carry it off. Matthew can't and knows it so he doesn't even try... thank heaven! Can I just say he seems like the nicest person in the world too? Not just some pompous @$$hat that thinks the world owes him something. I can't wait to have enough extra money to buy one (or all) of his books. I'm even overlooking the whole Democrat thing. He's not obnoxious about it, and he's from LA. Most folks around here just are that way. I forgive him.

And the other dork moment that made me totally gasp today...

To anyone that said Robert Pattinson was a horrible casting choice for Edward... eat that!

When I first read the books I had nobody in particular in my head (I don't think up actors to act out my books... I just kinda get vague images in my head, probably hybrids of people I've known or something, any way) so if you had asked me my favorite casting choice I wouldn't really have had an idea. I would have guessed some actor that's way too old for the part because I don't really know many of the young ones these days (guess that's good since I'm 26 now). I just would have said that I'd know him when I saw him.

Then I read who they cast. I was ecstatic! I knew INSTANTLY he was perfect! All those other actors that girls were boo-hooing about not being in it were all wrong. Those nay-sayers must not have really read the books because they all had the wrong coloring... skin, hair etc. Tan/olive skin and dark brown hair won't work people! She distinctly repeats over and over that he's got BRONZE hair. That's like a golden redish color. RP is a doll and I'm totally stoked for this!

Enough for tonight though. :) Have fun drooling and I'll post again soon!

Lake Beauvert

2008-06-02T19:06:00.001-07:00

Lake Beauvert
Originally uploaded by elementalPaul

Here's another awesome one!

One If By Sea…

2008-06-02T19:02:00.001-07:00

One If By Sea…
Originally uploaded by carpe icthus

I just hadda draw attention to this one. Beautiful!!

The one where I avoid hijacking Trena's blog

2008-06-01T13:58:00.001-07:00

Trena posted this and I started to respond... but it quickly got long winded and so I've turned it into a post.

I like Jessica's explanation... not changed, just expanded. I still live by the "if it screams I like it" mantra, but so many awesome and different bands have come out since HS. The Killers, Muse, etc. I still list Metallica and Korn as my favorites of all time, but my "current" faves have shifted to Killers, Morrissey and Muse from 311, PM5K and Depeche Mode. Doesn't mean I love the others any less, they're just not as high on my playlists right now.

Plus I've always appreciated 80s rock but didn't have as much access to it then as I do now. I'd heard The Cure, Smiths, New Order etc. but I only had access to what was played on the radio... not that I'm complaining. ;)

I went through high school during an amazing time for music. I know just about every decade says that, but we have a one up on the 80s or 70s kids... we had the benefit of those types of music too. Thusly why our music rocked so much. Those bands we had were influenced by the older styles.

When you thrive on music like I do (Trena MUCH more-so than I), you always look for the new and exciting. I firmly believe that 90s grunge & alternative will always feel like home to me, but I will always listen to contemporary music stations. Even when KROQ starts a 90s station, I'll always try to keep up with what's new. Granted there will be periods of timewhere I can't stand what they're playing and will jump around, but I'll always come back. Winter '06- winter'07 was a period where if I heard that STUPID 30 Seconds to Mars song ONE MORE TIME I'd have gone postal on some random emokid on the street. Not a happy time for music IMO.

During that rough year, I was constantly checking back to see if it had gotten any better... no? Okay maybe in a month...

I can't stand the thought of missing something new and cool. I've never been willing to go digging around for underground stuff. Granted, it may be better at times, but I really do believe in the free market and feel that the good stuff will eventually get there. There IS crap on the radio. I've bought CDs due to the heavy marketing of said crap and can look back and say some purchases were mistakes. That being said, I still enjoy said mistakes, but I just realize that it's mindless crap (Limp Bizkit for example). There's stuff that I love now, that I know Trena probably doesn't, that leads me to belive that it will also be a mindless crap mistake that I love anyway.

Then there's the mindless crap that I hated at the time but years later I'm able to go back and love it for what it is (or vice versa). You wouldn't have caught me dead watching, listening to or buying into the Spice Girls way back when. I now own their movie and have downloaded songs and videos since. There, I said it... I ENJOY the Spice Girls! Britney Spears? I bought her first album. I saw potential there. Never again. Gave that sucker away about a year later. It goes both ways for me.

When all is said and done, I don't think your taste changes. The bands I like now are influenced by the bands that I liked 10 years ago. I think you just keep looking for that similarity (ask any Grannie, they'll tell you that Squirrel Nut Zippers or Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is great music). Easy listening in your older years only uncovers the fact that you didn't really mind it back when, it just wasn't a priority to you then, and now it is. I listened to KBig and Kost as a kid/early teen. I didn't start listening to KROQ until 10th grade. I've been making up for it ever since, but I'll never deny liking to listen to Phil Collins and The Police either. Or Dire Straits and the Beatles. My parents had much more influence on my music tastes in those days and it shows through on my iPod playlists (as I've posted here in the past). Hell! I'll even listen to GOOD country music (none of that Honky Tonk Badonkadonk crap... classic Garth Brooks or Johnny Cash!) on occasion.

Old age just makes you less rigid to what you'll listen to at that given moment. When you're a teen all caught up in angst and anger, that's all you want to hear, when you're older and your moods diversify more, so does your playlist.

Catch Up

2008-05-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

It's been crazy! Here's some photos to catch you all up on what I've been up to.

First up, my little troop has grown! I don't think I've posted pictures of my newest turtle. Easter also brought me an iguana. So meet: Jonas, Bree, Rhiannon, Emma, Chloe and Iggy!

This spring brought babies for 2 wonderful people in my life. I'd decided that I wanted to give them something truly from the heart so I found fabulous fabric (way more expensive than I'd thought, oops!) and had my dear friend, Stephanie, sew them up for me. Didn't she do a beautiful job?

I got my hair cut and dyed the weekend before Easter. Ain't it cute? It's faded a lot since then to a more brownish, but I was so sick of the really grown out bleached blonde nastiness. :) Much happier now.

Got bored one day... here's my school. This is the view from the top of one of the parking structures. That building in the front is the performing arts building/theater. The windowed one on the far right (top of the skyline) is where I've taken all my math and science classes. The visual art building is behind those trees on the left.

More gift fun! I made these onsies for Michelle (my friend from school who has kept me sane on this LONG journey). Her blanket & burp cloths are the cherry pattern seen above (they also went into the bag). Sweet and Rockababy credits can be seen in each link.

I had WAY too much fun wrapping that!

Trena started a bunko group. I forgot to take pictures before anyone left, so I took this one instead. I had a lot of fun!!

Went to Disneyland on 5/2 with T&A and the Richins'. We had a lot of fun! Matthew got on the carrosel with Liam. Cute shot huh?

Dear friends of ours bought a Coldstone about a half hour away from our place. He was in our wedding line and Matthew's best friend growing up. I'm looking forward to many nights down that way this summer!

My mother's day gift to my mom. :)

We went to Minnie's Moonlight Madness last week with our friends Kim and Matt. We had lots of fun and came in 121st place out of around 400. Not bad for 2 newbies (the Matts).

And I got these great shots of Main Street being essentially empty. The first is with my back to the hub and castle. That's the train station and flag pole at the end. The second is at the other end with the pole behind me looking at the castle. So cool!

Saturday of Memorial Day weekend always has my behind at the fair grounds for the Highland Games. We spend most our time at the athletic fields watching Allen compete, but we also eat meat pies and go shopping. Here's Allen preparing for his first caber throw.

And his second throw... messed up by some OLD crazy lady (no really... she doesn't look so bad in the photo but you had to actually SEE her to understand) who just randomly stopped right in front of me. Thanks!

The Highland Midgets. I've got video of them too. I'll post that later. ;) They were pretty funny.

And my latest acquisition. ;) I love it.

Sunday was Liam's birthday. Matthew is officially the favorite uncle for a bit as he picked this out for him:

That brings you up to date on me. It's been crazy busy. There was a lot left out too. Whew!! Stay tuned for fun video clips in my next post. :D

Cracked me up!

2008-05-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

If you don't know my husband's 2 brothers this may not be as funny to you. But I obviously do. I've linked PA before, but it's this webcomic that my BIL's read. You have no idea how much these two characters (Tycho in blue, Gabe in yellow) embody Aaron and Michael (respectively). Even down to similar hair styles and colors (A is reddish brown, M is a dark brown). Their stuff is about gaming a lot, and I don't "get" all the jokes, but when it comes down to personality jabs, I'm always ROFLMAO.

Cute kit, good cause

2008-05-21T22:29:00.001-07:00

Songbird Avenue picks a charity each month and gets LOVELY kits from the combined efforts of popular designers.

Benefits go to Susan G. Koman for the Cure. Think it out. It'll be gone at the end of the month.