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Boulders Apartment Fire 1/22/12 Edition

2012-01-22T14:22:00.006-07:00

A mere 10 months after this fire, there was yet another fire in my apartment complex today. It was on the opposite end of the complex from my apartment, so I didn't notice anything until the fire was already pretty much out.

I don't believe there was any loss of life in this one, thank Heavens, and it looks like only two apartments have been destroyed, but it's still a shame. And a little scary. Aside from the Mar '11 fire, there was a big fire in Jan '09 here...it can't possibly be normal to have so many fires in one complex is it?

I haven't seen anything in the news about this fire yet and the people I talked to outside the building weren't sure of a cause. I'm anxious to find out what the cause would be. I'll keep you posted.

But first, a shower. My hair smells like smoke.

Welcome, Isabella!

2012-01-15T13:38:00.008-07:00

If you were thought we were crazy for having four cats in our house, you can just stop reading immediately. There is now a fifth. There has actually been a fifth since late November, but only since yesterday have I felt okay about permanently calling her our cat.

The only time I feel like we have too many cats is when people ask how many cats we have. It's like growing up in a large family; it never really felt that big because everybody in my family belonged there. These are all our pets. I have the time to give each cat individual attention every day, cat food and litter aren't particularly expensive and they all seem happy to be here. Besides, Khufu is Tylor's cat and will be moving out soon and four cats in a household isn't that much, right?

We found Isabella one night shortly before Thanksgiving meowing and meowing outside our front door. She acted lost and hungry. I brought out a handful of cat food which she was very excited to have. I found out shortly thereafter that Tylor had fed her a little bit earlier that day, as well. I pet her after she ate and she responded very affectionately. She was even happy to let me pick her up. And she just had these sweet pitiful eyes. I had to bring her inside and make her mine. We started calling her Isabella and she fit in immediately. The other cats didn't have nearly as much trouble getting used to her as they did with Khufu (I'm guessing because she's female?), and she hasn't tried to leave our house since.

She's so pretty.

I did feel a little bad about taking her in because you never know if there's some family out there lamenting the loss of their cat. She seemed fairly abandoned, but you never know. I knew that if we did find her original family, it would be the right thing to return her to them (I always assumed she had people before us; she's far too affectionate to be feral).

Yesterday I was out getting the mail and overheard a couple neighbors discussing a cat that looked somewhat similar to Isabella: "Yeah, the whole litter had fluffy tails like that." I inquired, and yes, this was Isabella's sister. One of the women said that she had taken two of the kittens into her house, but "my roommates made me kick out the grey and white one because she had litter box problems." When I told her we've been taking care of her she was like "Yeah, just keep her." So she is ours now, officially. And that lady is a piece of crap for just kicking a kitten out of her house to fend for herself. (As a note, we've never had litter box problems with Isabella, so I don't know what the deal was there.)

Things to love about Isabella: Her fur is bunny-rabbit-soft. She starts purring the second anyone touches her. She loves to play and keeps Khufu busy with endless kitten battles. Her meow sounds like a bird chirping. She has natural eyeliner. She has super long whiskers that tickle your face when she's being cuddly.

Kitten Battle #567

Trevor and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary a few days ago. We have (roughly speaking) added one cat to our family each year of our marriage thus far. It'll be awesome when we've been married 25 years.

If the cats were the Spice Girls:

Baby - Tiberius

Ginger - Julius

Posh - Isabella

Scary - Khufu

Sporty - Fidel

Top 10 Books of 2011

2012-01-08T17:24:00.004-07:00

1. Bossypants by Tina Fey

A highly enjoyable and quick read, this autobiography (kind of) had me laughing from beginning to end. Like every other woman in America, I'm sure I'd be best friends with Tina Fey if just given the chance.

Stylistically, Fey interrupts her overall story frequently: to give a discourse on the rules of impov, to write a love letter to Amy Poehler, to respond to random posts about her on the internet. There are transcripts from bits of SNL and 30 Rock episodes here and there that I felt were a bit space-filling cop-out (You already wrote these! Or: You didn't even write these!), but I suppose they make sense to have for readers who aren't as familiar with Fey's work but are still reading her book for some reason? The jumpy nature of the book felt a little gimmicky at first, but as I got going, I was a fan. The trick is to approach the book not as the autobiography that it's advertised to be, but as a comedy.

Personally, I had a high interest in the subject matter, as a first-hand account of a career path my Trevor hopes to take. In regard to that, I would've appreciated a little more detail on her Chicago improv years (there was some good stuff, but I would've loved more), but I understand why she'd focus more on 30 Rock and Sarah Palin...things that more of her readers would be interested in.

I was bugged, however, by how much she talked about how unattractive she is. I can appreciate self-depreciation now and then (particularly in an autobiographical setting where it's easy to start sounding full of yourself) but come on. You may have once looked like this/this/this, but now you look like this/this/this, so get over it. Most women your age would love to look like you. You can't make some joke about how ugly you are ever other page and look like you do, I'm sorry. If you feel like looks shouldn't matter as much as they do in television/film, why are you dedicating so much page space to them?

Also, the book cover picture freaks me out a little. I get the message they're going for, but I'm still glad I was reading this on a Nook and didn't have to look at the cover every time I picked it up to read.

All and all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the thing and if/when Tina Fey writes something again, I'm sure I'll be reading it. The comedic value alone makes this book worthwhile, but I also enjoyed learning about a person I admire and a business I have a lot of interest in.

2. Bossypants is the only book that came out in 2011 that I've read.

What? I had TV to watch.

How I spent my 2011.

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-04T23:20:00.002-07:00

Welcome, 2012! The year I will exercise more and be more generous and save more money and keep my house cleaner and be more productive at work and keep in better contact with my family/friends and consume only the most-worth-my-time when it comes to literature/film/television/music and eat a perfectly-balanced diet and I will be healthy and beautiful and intelligent and everyone will love me but I won't be doing it for their love, I'll be doing it because I am Good.

I will write more. For this blog, oh the glorious posts you will ponder and laugh about and cry over this year! For sketch group, I will be an infinite pool of cleverness! For America, I will write a novel so great that Salinger and Fitzgerald and Melville and Twain and Faulkner and Steinbeck will all rise from their graves for the sole purpose of dying again in shame! I'm sure that novel's here somewhere in this folder of rough outlines and four-page introductions that I start when I'm excited about an idea but never actually want to do the grunt work on.

Like many of you, I enjoy the tradition of setting resolutions at the beginning of the year and then promptly forgetting them. It is wonderful to imagine a great new year ahead of you, but when it comes down to living each day individually, it's much simpler to live 2012 in much the same way as 2011. Feeling guilty is such a drag.

2011 Resolutions Status Check

Last year I said something about eating out less. If it came down to a count, it is probable that 2011 had less eating out than 2010, though I certainly didn't stick to the only-twice-a-week rule. I think will scratch the less-eating-out goal for the upcoming year and instead just focus on eating as healthily and cheaply as I realistically can without worrying about if I personally prepared it or not. Spending a lot of time and thought on food is just not something I care about enough to do.

Around February 2011, I also set a goal to save a certain amount of money per month which was soon modified to "just spend less than we make each month." Our employment situation turned out to be much different than originally anticipated as the year went on and we didn't exactly do too hot.

Money Earned - Money Spent by Month

Came out ahead overall but not by nearly as much as I would've liked. Those summer months when I was working very few hours and then unemployed took a nice bite into our savings.

I have no idea what was going on in March. My first thought was tax return, but then I remembered we only got like $40 back last year. We even took a Vegas trip that month that cost us a fair amount of money. No idea. Hopefully more months like that in the future, though.

2012 Resolutions in Order of Seriousness

Save as much money as possible. - Hopefully 2012 will be better than 2011. Particularly with a Spring '13 Move to Chicago in the official non-existent plan book, we need all the money saved up that we can. As long as I can hold down my job, doing some serious money saving should be completely doable this year. Comedy income has been more regular for Trevor these last few months and hopefully sketch group will bring in some money before the year is over. Tylor, who has been living with us since July, should be on his own soon which will lower our food and utility expenses. I've been working my new job for three months now and hopefully hopefully hopefully I'll be working there steadily until the move. It's a much more stable company than my old job, so I don't worry about layoffs, but they're pretty strict about performance numbers and I'm not doing as well as I'd like to be. I think getting out of the holidays and into tax season will make it easier to get payments in the coming months and I'm getting better at being pushy with debtors, so we'll see how things go. The job thing is definitely the biggest cause of stress in my life currently. I'm not used to being bad at my job. Granted, my last job toward the end mostly consisted of messaging Trapper with the occasional drinking of water and going to the bathroom, but I was good at it!
Get involved in community service. - It was easy to do community service on a regular basis when I was in high school and there were service clubs and church groups I was involved in. I've done very little by the way of service since 2004 or so, however, and I think it's time to do a little more on that count. There's a community center less than a block away from my apartment that always has stuff going on, so I really have no excuse. I'm going to have to do some research and figure out a worthwhile way to get more involved. If you're doing better than me on this count and have ideas, let me know. I'm pretty serious about this one.
Do something to build credit. - I've never had a credit card and always paid cash for any cars or college tuition I've had, so I'm pretty sure the only thing I've got on my credit report is a cell phone bill I was past-due on for a couple months in 2007. Which combined with nothing is likely enough to make me fail any application for a loan or whatever people use credit for. I can't imagine why I would actually need a loan for anything in the near future, but it'll matter big when it matters someday, I suppose. It's silly to me that my having superb bill-paying history for the last few years doesn't count for anything and I have to borrow money to build anything. Even with a credit card, it just makes me feel icky. But it needs to be done. Because I really haven't been taking this whole credit thing seriously. It's something for adults to worry about, right? Oh. I guess I'm one of those now. Oh. I guess I should've started thinking about this when I was 18. Oops. If any of you have any advice on getting started on this, I'm all ears. I'm thinking about some sort of secured credit card because then you're only borrowing against yourself and I'd assume they're easier to get. I don't know why I'm so debt-averse; I remember when I was a kid and my mom explained to me what a mortgage was and I was horrified that my parents had done one of those because didn't they know they'd owe money for a long time? I understand now, of course, but there's just something inside of me that really doesn't like that kind of thing.
Eat more healthfully. - No specific rules. Just think about the nutrition of the things I consume more often and give it more weight when making decisions about what to eat. I think I've been better about that the last year or so than in the past and I'll hopefully continue that trend.
Keep better in touch with friends/family. - This will probably end up being reflected in lame things like more blog posts, but that's better than nothing, yes?
Invest more time in making my apartment look nice. - I really like the idea of a clean and well-decorated house. I very rarely experience that, though. I pretty much only bother getting my house into live-able condition for parties, in which case the place is immediately trashed. I'd like to dedicate more time each week to both household chores and doing projects to add more personality to the place.
Exercise more. - I won't do it, of course. But we'll throw it on here because it would be good for me and I like to imagine a world where I exercise.
Learn how to spell "exercise". - Even after spell-check got me with the first one, I spelled it wrong again a mere two sentences later. Maybe this will be the year I get it down!
Buy more dresses. - I would be willing to wager there are more dresses in my closet than any one of yours, but I need more. Always.

Christmas Songs

2011-12-18T01:54:00.004-07:00

Hate:

"Santa, Baby" - The main message of this song: "Women are extremely materialistic. The way they can get the sparkly things they desire: Be as sexually appealing as possible to men who have the power to give them what they want." And too many versions of this song are sung in that stupid annoying baby voice some women use when trying to be sexy despite the fact that the voice is only acceptable when used by Alison Brie.
"The Little Drummer Boy" - The melody is so boring and the song drags along sooo slowly. And, to quote Dave Barry, "If I were taking care of a newborn baby, and somebody came around whacking on a drum, that person would find himself at the emergency room having his drumsticks surgically removed from his rum-pa-pa-pum." I will, however, give a pass to the Bing Crosby/David Bowie version because it is just awesome that it exists (and the "Peace on Earth" stuff spices up the totally drab melody of "The Little Drummer Boy" stuff).
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" - I'm sorry, but the kid is way too nonchalant about catching his mother kissing another man. Makes you wonder what other things the kid has seen Mommy doing. Also, I'm not a fan of children's solo voices for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on (children's choirs are fine). And it weirds me out when adults sing it, so you lose either way.
"Christmas Shoes"- Cloyingly sentimental. And it would be better if it was told from the point of view of the cashier or in the third person instead of being all "Look at how I'm a great guy who gave the poor kid money to help his dying mother. That's what Christmas is all about!" And what kind of dying person wears shoes? The woman's probably not out-and-about a lot at this point. Come on now.

Okay-In-General, But Have Lines that Infuriate Me:

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - "You know Dasher and Dancer...but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?" - Umm, duh? He's the most famous reindeer of all. That's like saying "You've know Himmler and Koch and Goebbels and Heydrich, but have you heard of Hitler? The most famous Nazi of all!"
"Do You Hear What I Hear?" - "A child, a child, shivers in the cold. Let us bring him silver and gold." - Really helpful, guys. How about a blanket?

Love:

"God Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman" - Awesome.
"Sleigh Ride" - Awesome.
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Awesome.
"Silent Night" - Awesome.

Life Plan #682

2011-11-29T23:05:00.011-07:00

Like most other plans in this non-existent series, this one has been floating around in seriousness for only a few weeks or so and is subject to change. Allow me to talk it out, though.

We are planning on moving to Chicago in a year. A year give or take a few months, because this would be a terrible time of year to move.

Why move?

As you know, my darling and hilarious husband is pursuing a career in comedy. Because we're still young and starry-eyed and unattached enough to shoot for it. And he needs to make people laugh and I need to go to a ton of free comedy shows because I'm with him.

In order to take this thing seriously, though, at some point we need to get out of Utah. It's not exactly a state that's in good touch with the entertainment industry. Short of starring in a Halestorm Entertainment LDS comedy feature (are they even still doing those? I can't think of anything since Church Ball...), Trevor's already about as Utah Comedy Famous as you can be. He's in ComedySportz and has done stand-up at Wiseguys and The Complex...what else is there for this state?

As improv and sketch are Trevor's main comedy loves (stand-up is a distant 3rd), the best next step is going to be to study at one of the big improv schools (Second City, iO, UCB or Groundlings). This leaves us with four options of places to move to: New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Chicago.

Why Chicago?

Toronto won't work because it's in Canada and that just makes moving more complicated. Also, it's scarier because it's the one option I haven't been to before, which is enough to cause me to never give it serious consideration. (Trevor has never been to any of the four cities, but he doesn't matter, he's just the talent. What really matters is what I, the logistics person, feel comfortable with. Also, the ComedySportz International Competition for 2012 is in Chicago, so at least he will have been there once by the time we get there?)

Los Angeles has the best weather and the most TV/film opportunities, so there was definitely some debate about moving there, but cost of living, lack of good public transportation, and the general superficial vibe ultimately ruled the city out. Public transportation is definitely necessary for Trevor to get to/from classes/auditions/performances without relying on me. Also, the Second City location in Hollywood isn't wheelchair accessible. Groundlings would probably be the first choice improv school in LA anyway, but yeah, I just wanted to say how lame that is.

New York is the most expensive and doesn't have the best options for improv schools (it's more of a stand-up-centered town, comedy-wise).

Probably the biggest factor is cost of living. Statistically speaking, Chicago means only a 13% cost of living increase for us, which is more easily done than the 35% for Toronto, 43% for Los Angeles, or 55% for New York.

So yes, Chicago. And if we're going to Chicago, we better get Trevor enrolled with the mecca of improvisational comedy, Second City. The list of ComedySportz alumni that you've head of is pretty small (Jason Sudekis, Dan Harmon, Nick Swardson...uhh, there are probably others, but no way there are more than like, five). Second City is a much more established outfit and far more likely to get industry recognition for their performers. The list of Second City Chicago alumni that you've heard of is insanely impressive (Dan Aykroyd, Steve Carell, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Bill Murray, Jane Lynch, Stephen Colbert, John Belushi, Mike Meyers, etc., etc., etc.). Of course, most people who have studied comedy at Second City don't go on to a life of wealth and fame, but it's still definitely a good next step for trying to make a career out of making people laugh.

Why in a year?

The plan is to save up enough money to survive (and pay for Second City classes) for six months in Chicago without employment. Realistically, we won't be able to do that in less than a year.

Hopefully, once we're out there, we'll find employment quickly and most of the saved money will remain saved, but that remains to be seen. The unemployment rate has typically been higher in Chicago than Provo (currently 9.7% vs. 6.8%), so there is some worry about that, but I think six months should be enough time to find something. If we don't find work and just run out of money, we don't deserve life in the city and will run home to family or something. I don't know. I don't want to worry about that yet.

Second City requires a year of progressive improv training before you can audition for their professional-level classes. Trevor will have reached that point with ComedySportz in January, so that'll be no problem. However, we are also in the process of starting a sketch comedy group with a first show planned for January and we'd like to see that project through for at least several months before leaving. (Yes, I'm saying "we" for this one, as I'm doing a little writing and performing myself).

So yeah, that's the plan. As I discover flaws, we'll adjust. Or come up with something completely different. Doesn't hurt to save up to move to Chicago even if we don't, right? But we will. Because I'd hate for you to have wasted sweet minutes of your time reading this post for nothing.

That's right. It's all about you. Just like you thought it was.

Radio

2011-11-19T17:23:00.001-07:00

We listen to the radio all day at my work, so I am much more current with pop music than I have typically been.

Songs I Originally Loved But Have Heard So Many Times I Now Hate Them
"Party Rock Anthem" - LMFAO
"Someone Like You" - Adele

Songs I Originally Hated But Have Heard So Many Times I Now Love Them
"Tonight Tonight" - Hot Chelle Rae
"Stereo Hearts" - Gym Class Heroes

Songs I Hated From the Get-Go
"Moves Like Jagger" - Maroon 5
"Jet Lag" - Simple Plan

Twenty-five

2011-11-12T12:24:00.003-07:00

On Monday, I will turn 25. I think this is the first birthday where I've felt a little bummed about getting older. To me, 25 marks when you're really not a kid anymore. And yes, this means a magical drop in my car rental and insurance rates, but is that really worth the fact that I'll likely never be better-looking than I am at this point in my life? And the fact that it's no longer an appropriate age to have still not committed to any sort of semblance of a life plan?

My parents had college degrees and three kids at 25. My dad was working for the same institution he does now. Their life was pretty much set. I know it's a grass-is-greener thing and people tied to careers and families and mortgages envy the freedom of people like me, but I definitely envy the stability of people who've figured out where they want to be and are putting down roots. And the sense of fulfillment that I imagine comes with working towards something.

Growing up, I always figured I'd do the stereotypical Mormon housewife thing when I was older. It's worked for a lot of women that I admire, but turns out it's not my thing. I didn't admit it to myself at the time, but I definitely lived the sad cliche of going to BYU to get married. That's how you fail out like I did, kids.

So I got married and realized having babies sounds exhausting and expensive and is such a tremendous commitment and here we are. I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grow up. So I'll just grow up and be nothing and then die.

Not that being nothing is all that bad, I suppose. I have a job that I'm okay at and allows us to live comfortably enough. We have a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs and clothes on our backs and still can go out and do fun things on a regular basis. It'd be nice to have a car again and maybe nice to own a house and/or have children and/or go back to school someday, but I'm still young enough to worry about those things later, right? I'm still a kid until at least 26, yes?

Slack

2011-10-27T22:56:00.000-06:00

Man, I've really been slacking on the blogging lately. I've been sitting on notes that were supposed to be "Series Premiere Thoughts, Part II - Free Agents, Whitney, Terra Nova, Heart of Dixie, How to Be a Gentleman" for weeks now. As well as notes for a post where I ramble about my new job that will likely never see the light of day as most of the opinions expressed in those notes have changed with a few more weeks of employment.

So instead you get this lame post saying that I'm still alive and I am not happy that the weather's been so cold lately and I am otherwise generally content.

And I can't decide if my favorite holiday-time flavor is pumpkin or egg nog. Both so delicious..

And I need to go to bed.

Series Premiere Thoughts, Part I - Up All Night, 2 Broke Girls, The Playboy Club, New Girl

2011-09-21T21:56:00.111-06:00

Assortment of thoughts about a few new television shows. I'm trying to watch as many series pilots this week as I can manage. For you, dear readers. Not because I care about actually sharing with you, of course, but because I want you to think I'm on the cutting edge of television knowledge.

Rating indicates likelihood that I'll watch more of the show: 0 = no way, 1-4 = depending on my boredom level and/or popular and critical sentiment, 5 = definitely. Show title picture links to a promo for each show because I'm not rehashing the premise. I don't care about you THAT much.

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Rating: 5

This pilot shows great potential. Will Arnett's and Christina Applegate's characters are unique but relatable. Maya Rudolph's is not so much, but has her moments. I would say the show provided the most genuine laughs of the new comedies I've watched so far. It wasn't supremely funny, but rare is the sitcom that reaches that level with one pilot episode (Community is the only one I can think of off-hand), and I have high hopes that it will come into its own soon enough.

One complaint I've heard about the show is that most of the humor is based on cliches about parenthood that have been played out over countless films/television programs, but I didn't personally find that to be the case. Will Arnett plays out the Mr. Mom trope, certainly, but the writing and acting take a unique enough perspective on it that it didn't feel tired. And when the inevitable diaper-changing scene happens, it doesn't focus on poop, thank goodness.

The one complaint I have have was the story didn't flow particularly well. The end of the episode felt a little forcibly tacked on for some sort of resolution after what was more a compilation of sketches about being new parents than a story.

The best thing about the show was I could definitely see bits myself in both of the new parents. They have their selfish moments and their idiotic moments; they're still kids themselves in some ways. But they love their child and want what's best for her, and in the end, you think it'll turn out all right. It's how I imagine I'd be as a parent. Minus the glamorous job as an assistant on a talk show and lawyer husband. Oh television, why must you always make the career part of the show look so much better than real life?

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Rating: 0

First things first: why on earth do laugh tracks still exist? All they do is remind us how not laughable most of the moments they follow are.

Aaaaand we hit the ground running with a joke where the punchline is "boobs" followed a minute later by a joke whose punchline is "vagina". The charm of Kat Dennings can't save this. Whitney Cummings, why? I've seen her stand up act; I should have known the humor would be based on girl quasi-shock humor. At least now I know not to watch Whitney, the other show Ms. Cummings is involved in. The one that all the buzz says will be inferior to 2 Broke Girls.

Maybe the rest of the episode got better, but I'll likely never know. I turned it off about five minutes in when the other female lead showed up and it became clear that she was 100% rich girl stereotype. Nothing to see here. Move along.

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Rating: 3

This show is lucky I'm a sucker for period pieces. Even if Mad Men weren't as fabulous as it is, there would be a decent shot that I'd watch it for love of the furniture and clothes and little references to news events of the day and such. Unfortunately, thus far there doesn't seem to be much going for the show other than sitting around and imagining what life would be like during the 60s (I'd look best in the emerald green bunny outfit).

The plot is a little ridiculous. Right off you have to suspend reality and believe that a kick from a tiny thing like Amber Heard would kill a grown man. Maybe it was a thing in the 60s to have razor blades glued to the heels of your pumps, and we're all supposed to know this so they didn't bother mentioning it?

Biggest problem of the show is they keep defining the playboy bunny in contradictory ways. It's the job you take to feel empowered. It's the job you take to get raped. "A girl can't be a bunny forever." "The bunnies were the only women in the world who could be anything they want to be." "More lipstick. More cleavage. Lose the wedding ring. Smile more." I understand that there is a dichotomy to these women, but it wasn't explored in any sort of smart way. Just everyone smiling and nodding that "Yep, that's what being a bunny is."

Also, I can't quite put my finger on what the deal is, but something about the show felt...not quite 60s. The men wear the suits and the women wear the dresses like they are costumes, not like clothes, somehow. Maybe I'm just comparing too much to Mad Men, which is hard not to do. I can't expect every period drama to have Matthew Weiner's completely obsessive attention to detail, but still. I think maybe it is the way people talk? There's no 60s slang, no referencing technology that we wouldn't reference today, hardly anything at all dialog-wise that puts the show firmly into it's setting. The one black bunny mentions discrimination, but do we see anything that looks like racism at all? No. We see the homosexual characters being careful to keep their sexuality a secret, but it's hard to feel any real conflict there when I don't recall anything derogatory said about gays or lesbians at all. Hopefully the dark side of the 60s will be explored a little better as the show goes on. The only thing dark at all about the pilot was the involvement of the mob, which so far isn't portrayed as a particularly intimidating group. And is kind of cliche for any film/television program set in Chicago.

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Rating: 4

It's kind of impossible to dislike Zooey Deschanel because she's just that adorable, but I think her character might be the worst thing about this show. I don't blame Zooey, of course; her hair is so cute, after all, and hello, vintage-y summer dresses. But yeah, her character is all over the place in a completely unrealistic way. She's supposed to be an emotional wreck about a recent break-up and she is maybe 50% of the time. In other scenes, her problem is that she doesn't know how to get guys? How does this make any sense? If you want to work a story about a girl being helped along to love with her new roommates, wouldn't it make way more sense that her big problem is fear of repeating the bad break-up she just went through? And then they're asking her how she can be so happy all the time? After watching her cry and watch Dirty Dancing for a week? No sense.

The inconsistencies in personality I'm sure are all attributed to "quirkiness". But I'm sorry, you can't just make your character weird and assume it will be cute just because it's Zooey Deschanel. She randomly sings stuff she's saying, and talks in these funny forced-sounding voices from time to time, among other childish things. It's just kind of...well I don't know anybody like that and it's not funny so why is it happening? The episode ended on what would've been a sweet note if it didn't bug me so much that Deschanel's character was in 6-year-old-mode. "Hey, it the guys entertaining their easily-entertained new roommate" instead of "Hey, they're all sharing a moment."

There was exactly one laugh-out-loud moment for me (a Lord of the Rings reference, of all things), but that's not too terrible for a 22-minute program watched by myself (watching with others encourages laughter, there are studies on these things). Toss on a few other smile-to-myself moments, and I'll say they do okay in the humor department. Certainly not impressively funny, but there's potential there.

Overall, I'd still say I enjoyed the show. The three guy roommates have good chemistry and somewhat more realistic characters. One of my favorite bits was the "douchebag jar" where the guys have to put a dollar each time one of them says/does something particularly douchebaggy. It felt like something many guys I know would set up AND it was involved in some of the stronger humor points. And Zooey Deschanel is still so cute. I hate how much that matters, but it does. Hopefully her character will become stronger as the season goes on.

Sweet Employment

2011-09-15T12:40:00.001-06:00

So after a month and a half of moping around, depleting my savings account, and contributing to the federal deficit, I finally decided to get serious about looking for new work last week. Yes, I should've done that back when my hours were cut at my job months ago, but I just needed to mope around, okay?

And low and behold, after only three days of finally being serious about finding work: an offer of employment! The base pay is slightly less than my old job, but commission opportunities should make up the difference. And even minimum wage would be better than what I was getting off unemployment, so I'm not being too picky.

I start on Monday, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Between starting work and new television seasons/series starting up next week, I'll never be bored again!

Memories of Grandma

2011-09-06T12:20:00.005-06:00

My grandmother, Winona Wonnacott, passed away last week. I spent the weekend in St. George where the funeral was held. She was a beautiful, creative, witty, hard-working, loving woman and I (along with the rest of her impressive number of posterity) will treasure her memory for the rest of my life.

When I was a very young child, Grandma and Grandpa Wonnacott were a house more than they were people. When told we were going to visit Grandma and Grandpa, I'd ask, "the stairs ones?" My hometown of Ridgecrest, CA is a small town with very few 2+-story buildings, and as silly as it seems now, at the time the #1 best reason to go to St George, UT was Grandma and Grandpa had a house with stairs and the possibilities of games you could play on those things were endless.

As I got a little older, the house and yard were also endless. While it is a somewhat large house (5 bed, 3 bath) on a decent bit of land, the imagination of youth expanded this to something of near mythical characteristics (There are four different doors to the backyard! The stuff of legends!). These childhood impressions last; even at the age of 24, I still have dreams about going to that house and discovering rooms I'd never seen before or hidden gardens in the yards.

And all so tastefully decorated! As I grew old enough to notice such things, I definitely recognized Grandma was the kind of woman who really took pride in making things look good. Many of my memories of Grandma involve helping in the gardens or with various home improvement projects. She was a hard-working woman who could make a lot out of a little. At the funeral, a couple of my aunts shared memories of her always finding old furniture to reupholster and/or refinish. And rocks! She'd always take home big rocks she'd come across that were interesting colors or shapes and find some way to incorporate them into her yards.

A couple years ago, Trevor and I stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Wonnacott's house on our way back from Christmas with my family in California. While I've seen her at various family functions since, this was the last time I had any significant one-on-one time with her. She decided to skip church that morning and just sit and chat with us for a good long while. She told us the story of her courtship with Grandpa (met and got married during various home leaves as he was in the military during WWII). Her version had a lot to do with how she looked (what she was wearing, whether or not she had lipstick on), which I loved (I may have inherited this tendency to focus my stories on these important details). The best bit of their story is on the day of their first date, Grandpa asked her "Now you're going to do your hair before the dance tonight aren't you?" and Grandma responded "Of course! You don't think you'll be the only fella there, do you?"

Grandma and Grandpa had a sweet long-lasting relationship that gives me hope that there is such thing as lasting love. They were always supportive of each other and making each other laugh during their 66 years of marriage.

She was one of the kindest people I've ever known; her house was open to anyone who needed a meal or a place to stay, and she always took the time to let all of us know how much she loved us.

She wasn't just a ball of love all the time, though. She was also a fiery woman. The frustration she would exhibit trying to get her hair curled right or trying to keep her plants alive or watching BYU sports during a bad game was kind of adorable (old woman anger is hilarious). She had a great passion for the things that were important to her, something I'd really like to emulate in my too-often wishy-washy passive life.

She was a good woman, and I will miss seeing her, but the love I still feel from her will stay with me. I'm grateful to come from the good stock that I do and have her example in my life.

Also, note to my siblings: I call the name Winona for my firstborn daughter.

I had a plan that was built on thinking too long...

2011-08-30T20:37:00.006-06:00

The best part of being in a down mood is music is way better. You can really feel it, man. This month's soundtrack:

"In Love with a View" - Mojave 3
"Plastic Man" - Seether
"Overdue" - The Get Up Kids
"Fake Plastic Trees" - Radiohead

Again! Again!

2011-08-18T15:15:00.000-06:00

I've been going swimming each afternoon the last three days. I think I'll try to continue that trend until either I get a job or it's too cold to swim. It feels pretty amazing to be doing something physical each day. And swimsuits are way cuter than gym clothes, so this is obviously my choice for exercise. And I get to use the fact that I went swimming in the morning as an excuse to eat all sorts of horrible-for-me things throughout the rest of the day. So it's terrific all around.
I thought that attending my dear friend Melanie's fabulous 20s-themed garden party would help quell my thirst to host a 20s-themed party myself, but all it did was add fuel to the fire. Because I just can't get enough of the fashion and music of that era.

When there's nothing else to blog about...

2011-08-10T17:43:00.000-06:00

...it's time for cat pictures.

Julius

Tiberius

Fidel

Indiana Ramble

2011-07-22T12:34:00.001-06:00

Trevor's been in Indianapolis all week participating in the ComedySportz International Competition (I don't think I have any regular readers in Indianapolis, but if you're there, the Provo team plays Houston at 7pm tonight; you should go see my hilarious husband).

So naturally I've spent some time thinking about Indiana this week.

I lived in West Lafayette, IN during my junior and senior years of high school, but I haven't stepped foot in the state since then (graduated in '04, so it's been seven years). I haven't really had a compelling reason to. I liked Indiana just fine, but I haven't stayed particularly in good touch with anyone there and there's nothing particularly exciting to visit in the state.

I liked fireflies and I liked corn fields and I liked the high school I went to. Would I go back for any of these things? Maybe. I might go to my 10 year high school reunion. Though reunions seem a little unnecessary in the days of facebook. I already know who got fat and who got rich and who got married and who got hot. Hm, but I suppose a Burroughs High School reunion still sounds appealing, even if a West Lafayette High School one makes me feel "meh". Even though I haven't seen much of many of the Burroughs people since I left for Indiana in '02, I'm more in touch with those friends. And it's still the hometown.

I've been to Indianapolis a few times, but don't remember much. I couldn't think of anything to recommend doing/eating there to Trevor. Chicago was more our big city when I lived in West Lafayette.

Prior to this week, Trevor had never been east of Colorado ("I've never seen so many black people in my life!"). It kind of makes me a little sad that he's out on new adventures without me, but I've enjoyed my time home alone as well. It's very relaxing to not have to answer to anyone for a few days. There will probably be more traveling in his future as he continues to pursue the comedy thing, so I guess I should get used to it.

LT-B = :(

2011-07-08T13:51:00.003-06:00

Living on a tighter budget, fast food consumption has been significantly cut down. However, I still indulge once in a while. Imagine the fattest person you can saying "I just get so hungry," and you are imagining what I feel like every day about two hours into my work day (yes, out of a whopping four hours...I just get so hungry, okay?). I just want something fast with lots of bacon.

Even when I try, the universe is denying me. Probably this means I should stick to bringing in lunch.

July 1st - Subway
I order a BLT sandwich with all the veggies. Sandwich, once unwrapped, turns out to be an Italian BMT. Which has Genoa salami, spicy pepperoni, and Black Forest ham aka way too much meat. It was pretty gross, it took me forever to get through that sucker. Also, I have no idea what BMT could possibly stand for. I just wanted bacon with my vegetables!

July 8th - Wendys
I order a BLT Cobb salad without chicken. Salad, once uncovered, turns out to be a BLT Cobb salad with chicken and without bacon or blue cheese crumbles aka the most delicious parts of a BLT Cobb salad from Wendys. And they put warm chicken on their salads which is almost as gross as 8 tons of Genoa salami, spicy pepperoni, and Black Forest ham. Why would anyone want warm chicken on their salad? It makes your lettuce hot. Which is disgusting. Also, the chicken soaks up all the delicious avacado ranch dressing (which actually might be the most delicious part of a BLT Cobb salad from Wendys...it's a huge toss up). I just wanted bacon with my vegetables!

The moral of the story: I need to buy bacon on the way home from work and eat BLTs for every meal. Because they are delicious.

In a funk

2011-07-04T15:44:00.000-06:00

It has been brought to my attention that it's been two weeks since I last posted something on my blog and that is longer than I am allowed to go. You, dear readers, are a insatiable bunch.

But I am in a funk. And I don't use the word "funk" lightly since July 2nd, 1979. The day the funk died.

My hours at work were cut in half a couple weeks ago. I'm still feeling angry/depressed about it, even though I understand the company's decision. I could go on and on about this (some of you can already attest to that), but I don't believe it's wise to publicly bad-mouth my employer. So yeah, just know that I am not pleased with my current work situation.

It's not about the money. Trevor left his work to do comedy full-time a couple months ago, which has had it's own ups and downs, so we are mostly living off of savings for the time being. However, there are promising things in the future for both me and Trevor; I think we should be okay financially. But I just feel so purposeless. I know I should fill up the extra time in my schedule with something worthwhile, but I mostly just sleep more. Like a ton. I need to feel excited about something again. Not that I've been excited about work much in the last year or so, but it at least passed the time.

I don't really get fireworks. They're kind of neat. And it is nice to have an excuse to be out on warm summer nights because I love those. And I'm all for celebrating the day Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum saved us from alien invaders. But still...what are you supposed to be thinking about when watching fireworks? Oh! Noise and light! Oh! More noise and light! And they are essentially the same thing year after year after year.

I was going to title this post "I'm not living. I'm just killing time." But apparently I had a post titled that back in January '07. It's a song lyric that's really stuck with me over the years, I guess.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips Review

2011-06-20T22:49:00.005-06:00

About a month ago, I tried out Sally Hansen's Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips. I just liked the idea of stickers made of nail polish, and while I'm not a tremendous fan of nail art, some of the options available were pretty appealing.

I opted for Glitz Blitz (top image), and I loved them. I got a lot of compliments and they lasted for a good two weeks without any hassle (much better than typical nail polish). I considered writing a glowing review of them back then, but decided to be fat and watch massive amounts of television while squirting ranch in my mouth, instead.

Around the same time, one of my coworkers tried out the same product in Laced Up (lower image) and she was not as pleased with them as I was. She said they chipped and came off really easily and felt like a huge rip-off. Since I had loved the ones I had tried, I chalked this up to what I supposed was my superior application skills. When I have a different experience from others, it's naturally because I'm better than them, right?

Then a few days ago, I tried Laced Up for myself. The strips weren't nearly as flexible or as sticky as Glitz Blitz, and have not stayed on well at all. I have only three fingers where the stickers remain, and I'll probably pick those off by the end of the night, since they kind of look ridiculous with just the three (I know, I know, nail polish remover won't destroy my nails nearly as much, but I just love picking at things, okay? Allow me these simple pleasures.)

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that the more opaque styles (like Laced Up) are all worthless, while the more transparent ones (like Glitz Blitz) are fantastic. This will require further experimentation that you may or may not hear about, depending on how lazy I want to be about follow-up (guess: pretty dang lazy). Also, I'm probably already way over my nail-care budget for the month (usually $0 plus a hope to get some polish in my Christmas stocking once a year...I'm definitely not a regular manicures kind of girl), so it's actually probably best for me to hold off on the experimentation. So actually the verdict is: Glitz Blitz rules, Laced Up drools, and you can find out for yourself what you think about the others.

Application Note #1: It took a long time (at least compared to polish) to put these on, but it's worth it to do them perfectly or you'll want to pick them off immediately. However, still try to do everything within an hour of opening the package. Remember that these strips are made of nail polish. I found that the longer they were out of the package, the less sticky they got and were harder to apply.

Application Note #2: The instructions are not entirely clear about this, but you want to use both ends of each strip, or you will run out. There are two packages in each box, and they should be good for two separate applications. Cut the strips in half to use both ends; there should be plenty length for two nails. If there isn't, go cut your nails. Long nails are gross and tacky (I know a lot of people who don't feel this way, but they are wrong).

Summer Watching List

2011-06-13T20:27:00.004-06:00

A lot of people are posting summer reading lists this time of year. I'm looking to put together a summer TV list. Because, let's be honest, I have developed myself a nice little addiction here. And while there are a few shows I'm interested in with new episodes starting this summer, most shows I love won't have new episodes until the fall. So we need to fill my need somewhere.

So I'm turning to the infinite wisdom and good taste that is you, dear readers, to help me find suitable programming. Let me know what current shows I'm missing out on or what old shows I never saw, but should have.

Here are all the shows I have seen every episode of (that I can think of) so you can know a) what not to recommend me because I've already seen all there is to see, and b) what my general taste is (note that there are no reality shows and a lot of comedies...). *'s indicate how much I like each show on a 1-3 scale.

30 Rock***
Arrested Development***
Californication*
Community***
Dexter***
Entourage*
Gossip Girl**
Happy Endings**
Life on Mars**
Louie**
Mad Men***
Modern Family***
Parks and Recreation***
Party Down**
Pushing Daisies**
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip*
The X-Files***

So White

2011-06-11T22:47:00.004-06:00

It's that sunburn time of year again; the skin that has gotten nice and pasty all winter is suddenly being exposed to a lot of sunlight. I've had a hard time finding people who feel the same way as me about this, so maybe I'm weird, but I really don't like the feeling of sun on my skin. It always feels like it's hurting it. And I don't like sunburns. Or skin cancer. Or even tan skin. Tan skin is vastly overrated. Pale skin is totally prettier, in my opinion. So I will stay out of the sun when I can and wear lots of sunscreen. I should also take to wearing big-brimmed straw hats. Perhaps that will be the new addition to my summer style this year.
I took a color code personality test the other day (if you care to, you can here). It's a fairly common personality assessment tool, so you may already know this, but here's a basic rundown: reds are motivated by power, blues are motivated by intimacy, whites are motivated by peace, yellows are motivated by fun. I was not surprised that I came out white, but I was surprised by how incredibly unbalanced my scores were:
I feel like reds are the worst people, so I'm glad I've got next to nothing there, but I feel like blues are the best people, and I've got hardly anything there either. Oh well. At least everybody likes whites and yellows. And I'll just need to work on being more ambitious and more attached to other people. Balance myself out a little.

On Being Married, to my sister

2011-06-02T23:01:00.001-06:00

My little sister got married a week ago. As someone who has been successfully married for 3.5 years, I'd like to address some advice to her.

When I say I'm successfully married, I mean I am still happy to be married to my husband and I believe he's still happy to be married to me. I do not mean that we have not had moments of meanness, disappointment, frustration, or bitterness. Dear sister, your marriage, like all human relationships, will never be perfect. But never fear, committing your life to someone you love will also bring your life more joy and fulfillment than anything else I'm aware of.

The culture of Mormonism that we grew up with has a very idealized version of marriage. While there is something to be said for shooting for an ideal, I know that in my experience and the experience of many others I know, this has led to a somewhat naive perception of what it is to be married. The hardest thing about my first couple years of marriage was addressing misconceptions I had about what it would be like. Keeping your eyes open early on will help you develop healthy ways of dealing with the inevitable struggles that come with matrimony.

Marriage is hard. Ask any married person to be completely honest with his or herself and they will all admit that they occasionally want out. This is 100% normal. You will not have the freedom you did when single or dating. All decisions you make will now effect a partner and not just you. All decisions he makes will effect you and not just him. You will not always agree on what decisions are best. You will fight. You will have to make sacrifices.

Make decisions now, early in marriage, about what you will sacrifice and what you won't for your husband and hold to them. Do not allow yourself to be lost to the unit. Having a partner in life will make everything more meaningful; the unit is a wonderful thing. But it is not the only thing. You are more than your husband's wife. Have goals and activities that are different from his. Encourage him to pursue goals and activities that are different from yours. Only you can allow yourself to feel tied down by your marriage. Having separate pursuits will also make you more interesting to each other, which helps keep the romance alive.

Being married does not mean that you or your spouse will magically stop being attracted to other people. Objectively, it makes total sense that this would be the case, but for so many people in their bubbles of we're-so-happy-we're-getting-married-and-the-rest-of-our-lives-will-be-perfect, this may hit you by surprise. It is better to be prepared for these feelings than caught-off-guard. Talk to your husband about what you're comfortable with and what you're not as far as interactions with other people of the opposite sex. This will help reduce risk of jealousy and/or infidelity.

Plan for time together. Just living together isn't going to cut it, as life has a way of keeping you busy even as you share an apartment and share a bed. Regular date nights are a terrific way to enjoy each other's company. You'd also be surprised how much things as simple as "we always watch this TV show together on Thursday nights" foster a feeling of togetherness.

Regularly address your relationship and what's going well and what can be improved. It's cliche, but it's because it's true: communication is the key to a successful relationship. If you're unhappy about anything in your relationship (this will happen more than you think...not to keep ringing the marriage-is-hard bell), learn to bring it up in a positive way and not as a personal attack on your husband. "We can get the bathroom cleaned faster if we do it together" will go much farther than "You never help clean the bathroom." When your husband brings up things he is unhappy with, try not to take it personally, but see it as an opportunity for relationship improvement (I'm terrible at this one, but it's still good advice).

Despite what much in American and particularly Mormon culture may tell you, marriage does not equal happily ever after. Rather than be disappointed, embrace this! You still have the majority of your life ahead of you. Do something meaningful with it, keeping your husband by your side.

Good luck. You've got this.

Don't Work It

2011-05-28T21:47:00.000-06:00

Upfronts ended earlier this month, and the award for new show I'm looking forward to the least goes to....ABC's Work It. The premise seems more like a mediocre SNL skit than a sitcom:

Ick. Jokes about how men are different from women are so original! And cross-dressing is always funny! And this couldn't possibly be very insensitive to the transgender community!

Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman

2011-05-26T14:04:00.001-06:00

I'm young because:

I check facebook before I check my email when I get onto my computer.

I'm old because:

I didn't wear makeup to work a good four or five days this month. I'm pretty sure this is how it starts. Soon my friends will be nominating me for What Not To Wear. And this doesn't even worry me.

Let's Not Get Political

2011-05-12T09:43:00.000-06:00

I took Pew Research Center's political typology quiz today (http://people-press.org/typology/). I wanted to see if I'm truly a wishy-washy moderate like I say to please everyone or if I really need to start standing up for something. According to this quiz, I'm a post-modern...the lightest shade of blue (there was no non-red or blue option):

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

Post-Moderns

13% OF ADULT POPULATION /14% OF REGISTERED VOTERS

Basic Description: Well-educated and financially comfortable. Post-Moderns are supportive of many aspects of government though they take conservative positions on questions about racial policy and the social safety net. Very liberal on social issues. Post-Moderns were strong supporters of Barack Obama in 2008, but turned out at far lower rates in 2010.

Defining values: Strongly supportive of regulation and environmental protection. Favor the use of diplomacy rather than military force to ensure peace. Generally positive about immigrants and their contributions to society.

Who they are: The youngest of the typology groups (32% under age 30); a majority are non-Hispanic white (70%) and have at least some college experience (71%). Nearly a third (31%) are unaffiliated with any religious tradition. Half live in either the Northeast (25%) or the West (25%). A majority (58%) lives in the suburbs.

Lifestyle notes: 63% use social networking. One-in-five (20%) regularly listen to NPR, 14% regularly watch The Daily Show, 10% read the New York Times. 31% trade stocks and 53% have a passport.

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

I think this fits me somewhat accurately. Though I'm not a huge fan of Wall Street, which I feel is a main contributor to the vast gap between rich and poor in this country. And I don't know if I qualify as well-educated and financially-comfortable; I am compared to some, I'm not compared to others. Anyway, I don't really have any major analysis. I just thought I'd post my results because it's an easy excuse for a blog post. Yes, I'm lame.

More Bullets

2011-05-04T18:55:00.006-06:00

My calves are really sore for no reason. I haven't done anything strenuous with my legs that I can think of lately. Goodness knows I don't work out.
Trevor is growing a mustache which is "stylish because it's out of style; that's really in right now." He wants to be Ron Swanson. So I tell him it makes him look like Freddie Mercury.
When I first read the headline "Osama bin Laden is Dead" on Slate, I figured the article would be some sort of editorial on how he has ceased to be relevant in the new Middle East and didn't click to read more. It wasn't until I got on facebook a few minutes later that I realized he's physically dead.
When people ask what kind of music I like, I typically give very vague answers. I thought about attempting an in-depth analysis of my music taste in a blog post, but it's too much work. So here are the 25 most-played songs from my computer's iTunes (you can click to expand if need be...I realize it's kinda small wording). It'll give you an idea of my taste. I'm pretty stuck in 2006, the last year I really cared about music. When it comes to more contemporary stuff, I mostly like stupid pop songs about wearing all your favorite brands brands brands brands brands, but this kind of thing is on the radio enough that I feel no need to download it. And no, I don't want to talk about how Mmmbop got so high on the list. And yes, I might be a little in love with Josh Ritter.

Tiberius

2011-04-27T23:37:00.002-06:00

On very good days, fluffy cats fall from the sky and land on my desk.

News Bulletin

2011-04-26T12:19:00.001-06:00

Things going on:

I really want to get more into sewing. Because I like having unique clothes and because it's something to keep my hands busy while chain-watching past seasons of every TV show available on Netflix (something way too much of my time goes to). I've started on a purple dress for my little sister's wedding in May. We'll see how that goes. I'm totally inspired by an old BYU friend of mine, Ellie, who has this amazing sewing blog and only started sewing ten months ago.
We're likely moving to a new place when our apartment contract is up in July. There's little point in living in Provo when Trevor and I both work in Pleasant Grove, so it's back to north Utah County for us. I'm tempted to pick a much nicer place than our current apartment since our financial situation is much better now than it was when we moved last, but I suppose it's best to live in some crap apartment again and continue saving money so we can go for the much nicer place when we've saved enough to buy rather than rent. The plan is to join the landed gentry spring/summer 2013, though there's of course plenty of potential for the goal to be pushed earlier/later depending on job fortune/misfortune.
I constantly get Gertrude Stein and Gloria Steinem mixed up in my head. Also Liz Taylor and Liv Tyler. I guess this isn't news, just something I was thinking about.
In other not-really-news-but-evidence-that-Andrea-is-not-as-bright-as-she-likes-to-think news: I am incapable of not spelling "tomorrow" with just one 'm' (it's always "tommorrow") or "sandwich" without and extra 'h' ("sandwhich"). Seriously. These are common words, what's wrong with me? Luckily, the vast majority of writing I do is automatically spell-checked. Yay, computers!
I went to the dentist last week for the first time in about four years. I have five cavities to be filled tomorrow. Probably should be better about regular dentist visits in the future. Fun fact: all five of my cavities are on the right side of my mouth. Apparently I'm right-toothed as well as right-handed (note: I don't think right-toothed is a thing).
I had a dream last night that Ricky Martin was not really gay and just came out for the press. Then I woke up and realized that we all knew he was gay long before he came out.
You've probably seen this on facebook, but I've started a book club that I'm pretty excited about. I had a phase when Trevor worked at Verio where I'd read a least one book a month while waiting for him to get off monstrously-long calls, but now that those days are behind us, I'm going to need to make more time for reading to be a good book club member. Probably means less Netflix TV shows.

Let's Talk Lipstick

2011-04-17T19:31:00.001-06:00

I am a fan of lipstick on other people when done right. Whenever I wear it, however, I feel silly unless it's involved in a costume of some sort. I don't know if this is because I haven't figured out how to do it right yet, or if I just don't have the guts for it. If it's the former, please help me figure this stuff out. If it's the latter, I need a little encouragement.

Or maybe lipstick is just a bad idea. I have a very difficult time not ending up with some on my teeth. And I'm skeptical about claims of long-lasting-ness. I talk and eat and drink and kiss and make faces with my lips so much that I just can't imagine it can stay on for long without wearing off.

And what's the deal with lip-liner? When you read beauty magazines or talk to department store makeup people about lipstick, they always seem to recommend it, but it seems iffy to me in real life. I really don't want the lip-liner-without-lipstick look when/if the lipstick part wears off. I don't know. I've never really worn lip-liner.

Figuring out shades is difficult, too. I've been told I have cool coloring so I need more pink/purple tones. I've been told I have warm coloring so I need more brown/red/orange tones. I'm guessing this means that nobody knows what they're talking about and I'm pretty neutrally-shaded. Which should mean I can wear whatever tones I like. But I mostly just feel like nothing looks that good on me. Here are the six colors I currently own:

Now out to you dear readers: What are your thoughts on lipsick? Any recommendations for me?

You Know You're a Girl When...

2011-03-31T09:09:00.006-06:00

You get a little teary-eyed during cat food commercials.

It's so fluffy, I'm going to die!

Character Strength Test

2011-03-25T17:13:00.010-06:00

Inspired by Allison's time-wasting with this questionnaire, I spent a chunk of my time today answering 240 questions to find out what my Character Strengths are. They have 24 different strengths that the rate you on. Here are my top ten:

#1 - Humor and playfulness
You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is important to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.

#2 - Love of learning
You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

#3 - Appreciation of beauty and excellence
You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

#4 - Curiosity and interest in the world
You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

#5 - Creativity, ingenuity, and originality
Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible.

#6 - Capacity to love and be loved
You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.

#7 - Forgiveness and mercy
You forgive those who have done you wrong. You always give people a second chance. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.

#8 - Leadership
You excel at the tasks of leadership: encouraging a group to get things done and preserving harmony within the group by making everyone feel included. You do a good job organizing activities and seeing that they happen.

#9 - Fairness, equity, and justice
Treating all people fairly is one of your abiding principles. You do not let your personal feelings bias your decisions about other people. You give everyone a chance.

#10 - Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness
Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.

I feel like this is pretty accurate, though I kind of hate that my number one strength seems kind of frivilous compared to some of the others. Though that's perhaps why it's number one in the first place; when self-reporting, I'm far more confident in saying "yep, I'm funny" than "yep, I'm fair" (or whatever the case may be), because I don't over-think it as much as some of the more serious personality traits. Though I guess my ability to make life fun has been an asset in many aspects of my life, and, I daresay, the lives of those I associate with (yeah..."Modesty and Humility" was way down at #20...).

My #24 (last place) strength: "Bravery and Valor". I'm a total wuss.

Sibling Wedding Extravaganza

2011-03-22T09:50:00.002-06:00

MacKenna got married in December, Jared got married this month, and now Melissa is (surprise!) getting married in May. Because she must've known I haven't had my fill of sibling weddings yet...

At least I'm getting my money's worth out of those adorable yellow slingbacks I bought a few months ago (the wedding colors have been/will be, respectively: gray and yellow, red and yellow, purple and yellow).

I was teasing Nate that Melissa beat him to the altar, because he would be next birth-order-wise and he said that we should trick Lowell (Melissa's fiance) into marrying him first and then make him work another seven years to marry Melissa. That is why Nate is awesome.

The Boulders Apartment Fire Update

2011-03-15T11:27:00.004-06:00

Two women were confirmed dead in the fire last night. My heart goes out to their families and to all the people who lost everything they own in the fire. I can't imagine having to start from scratch like that.

The worst part of the night was how helpless I felt. I wanted to help, but there wasn't much I could do. I was able to loan a couple camp chairs to the displaced people watching their building burn. Unfortunately, that's all I've got.

Oh what a night. The light and noise of firefighters and police officers didn't really die down until 3am or so. That plus the general nervous atmosphere made it very difficult to sleep. Julius, who was outside during the whole thing came home around 4am pretty anxious. I'm sure all the commotion was scary for him.

Apparently the cause was arson. By this woman who I totally recognize from around the complex.

Some pictures I took of the aftermath this morning:

Trevor and I have been debating whether we want to renew our contract at The Boulders when it's up in July. We like the neighbors and the cheap rent and how the management isn't full of sticklers for rules (like the last apartment complex we lived in). But the place is pretty old. There are sparks when you plug things into certain outlets in our apartment and the heating never worked very well. Until the arson reports came out this morning, we were both convinced that the fire had been caused by something wrong with the apartment, electrical or gas problems of some sort. So we knew we needed to get out. There was another fire in this complex that killed a woman in 2009. As far as I can find, the cause of that fire was never determined. We don't really feel safe. Now that we know it was arson and the building itself wasn't the cause, I feel like I should feel safer, but I don't really.

The good news is, Trevor and I spent a good amount of time last night talking about the best emergency routes out of our apartment and where we would meet in case we were separated in some sort of emergency and that sort of thing. I feel like we're better prepared now. I encourage you to make sure you have emergency plans in place for your family if you don't already. I remember my parents were good about this when I was growing up. We'd have fire drills where my dad would be the fire -- waving his arms around and blocking different paths. And we all knew to meet at the mailbox so we could make sure everyone was out. It was kind of fun as a kid to crawl around (to avoid the smoke) and climb out windows and such, but it was also a valuable teaching time. I hope to be good about this kind of thing when I'm a parent. For now, I'll just have to be sad that you can't really run cats through fire drills.

Apartment Fire

2011-03-14T21:25:00.009-06:00

Here's video I shot about 10 minutes ago. A building right behind my apartment is on fire. The neighbors are saying they saw a lady jump out of a second floor window and then she was taken off by an ambulance. I don't see anything yet in the news, so I don't know much yet. The neighbors say there was a big bang when the fire started, but I didn't hear anything, so I don't know...

It's hard to be so close but not be able to help. I'll probably post tomorrow with more info. For now, witness the insanity:

Probably time to think about renter's insurance.

Probably isn't time to boast but...I believe I broke this story! I don't see anything else about the fire online yet. Makes me feel cool. Except that the only people who will read this post will be my friends when they start getting bored at work tomorrow afternoon...

Apparently I'm Much More anti-Muslim in My Dreams...

2011-03-11T08:55:00.003-07:00

In a dream last night, I lived in the Philippines which looked kind of like Mordor. We were ruled by Muammar Gaddafi. Gaddafi made me kill a donkey because he wanted to "teach his people how to kill". There was also some sort religious significance to the donkey-killing ceremony, but it was lost on me. I just know that having to kill an animal with just a knife made me really sick/sad.

And then all the women were having a meeting and Gaddafi came in and said he was going to lock us in the building and burn it to the ground unless we got on these green buses that would take us somewhere where we would be forced to do more killing (presumably people this time). But I escaped with my sister through the help of a man named Thomas Cross and we lived in the lava mountains in fear of being found until I woke up.

The part that was most disturbing (while the donkey-killing scene was awful), was waking up and realizing how much anti-Muslim, pro-Christian sentiment was in this dream. Down to the green (traditional color of Islam) buses and the hero being about the most Christian name my subconscious could come up with.

"When I'm Rich" To-Do List

2011-03-07T12:15:00.002-07:00

Throw an over-the-top themed party every three months.
Have a home somewhere warm and on the ocean. Must include pool.
Purchase some sort of good-looking, fuel-efficient vehicle that can easily hold an electric wheelchair.
Give fabulous honeymoon packages for wedding gifts to any close friends/family getting married.
Buy my parents a second house in St. George, UT.
Start a foundation for disabled pets (why not disabled people? because cats/dogs are way cuter, duh).
Biddy biddy bum (all day long).
Wear at least one new outfit per week (related: give the best hand-me-down clothes ever to my sisters).
Visit as many Wold Heritage Sites as I can.
Get a college degree in something really interesting but fairly useless for fun (something in history or the arts).
Put more money/effort into trying to be environmentally responsible - solar panels, buying local/organic, etc.
Fund the professional recording/mixing/producing of a Part II album (Trevor and Tylor's semi-defunct band).
Buy all sorts of fancy sewing equipment and spend some serious time trying to develop skill there.
Give money to public radio to make up for years of taking advantage of free entertainment/information.
Have a Beauty-and-the-Beast-style library in my house.

Oscar Fashion Trend: Sleeves

2011-02-27T21:50:00.002-07:00

Just had a quick click-through of tonight's Oscar red carpet fashion and it looks like the sleeve trend hasn't reached its peak yet. I read an article somewhere once (can't seem to find it now...) that said that designers often turn to sleeves in a recession because they're typically the hardest things to make on a dress, making it more difficult for cheap labor to knock-off the design. Or perhaps I just notice sleeves more readily than most people having grown up Mormon and taught that sleeves are an important way to be modest. Ah, the struggle of finding prom dresses with sleeves (though it was awesome because my dresses were totally unique).

Anyway, some favorite sleeved outfits of the night, worn by Michelle Williams, Cate Blanchett, Amy Adams, and Florence Welch:

(Yes, Cate's "sleeves" are questionably categorized, but her shoulders are covered and what else would you call what's going on there? Besides, it's an awesomely unique dress and it deserves our love.)

Sleeves are more typical for older women, but I loved these looks as well (Celine Dion, Helen Mirren, Annette Bening):

But before we get too excited, let's remember that sleeves do not necessarily make your dress chic. I'm sorry, Jacki Weaver, but this heavy-looking dress does nothing for your figure. And Melissa Leo, I didn't even like your dress when it was a tablecloth.

Attention Pet Owners

2011-02-21T17:14:00.003-07:00

This beautiful cat had to be euthanized this weekend, a victim of parvovirus. Future Cat belonged to our dear friend Trapper for just a couple weeks, and it's really sad that she's already gone. I was just getting to know her.

Please immunize your pets. Future Cat's illness has an easily-attained vaccine and deaths like these are preventable. Feline and canine distemper vaccinations are often available through animal shelters and clinics at a low price.

Upon hearing about Future Cat, I went back through my cats' medical records and found that Tiberius didn't have all of the immunizations he should (Fidel and Julius are up-to-date). Tiberius now has an appointment to get some shots on Saturday. I encourage you to make sure your pets vaccinations are all taken care of as well.

(Note: I in no way blame Trapper for what happened to Future Cat; I know for a fact that he had plans to get her vaccinated in the near future and these things do happen. I only bring up that it is something preventable because I think it is an important reminder to keep our furry friends as healthy as we can. At the risk of sounding grandiose, I'll say: if other animals can be saved because of Future Cat's story, then she will not have died in vain.)

$28 Well-Spent

2011-02-20T12:59:00.004-07:00

Climate Change

2011-02-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Attention people of the world: PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CLIMATE CHANGE. There is scientifically-verifiable evidence showing clearly that earth is warming up. Denying it makes you and any other points you may have look ignorant. Glaciers are retreating, average temperatures are rising. It's happening. Get over that point and move on to:

Things you are still allowed to debate

What are the factors contributing to climate change?
What (if anything) can we do to slow down climate change?
How would climate change effect life on this planet?
How can we prepare for and/or prevent any adverse effects climate change may have?
Who's responsibility is it to ensure climate change stays under control?
What kind of time frame are we looking at here?

There's plenty more to be partisan about, don't you fret.

Trevie Treasure

2011-02-14T17:41:00.001-07:00

On this, his birthday and our Valentine's Day, a list of things I think of when I think of Trevor:

The best part of my life
Reason and passion in one
Envy-inducing talent
Vats of cuddles
Omnomnom
Richard Harris

Oh look at that! My list turned into an acrostic poem! Everybody's totally going to know that wasn't on purpose!

Speaking of poems on a more serious note, I came across this one today that I felt captured (in part) my marriage. A love poem for you, darling:

Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour

By Wallace Stevens

Light the first light of evening, as in a room

In which we rest and, for small reason, think

The world imagined is the ultimate good.

This is, therefore, the intensest rendezvous.

It is in that thought that we collect ourselves,

Out of all the indifferences, into one thing:

Within a single thing, a single shawl

Wrapped tightly round us, since we are poor, a warmth,

A light, a power, the miraculous influence.

Here, now, we forget each other and ourselves.

We feel the obscurity of an order, a whole,

A knowledge, that which arranged the rendezvous.

Within its vital boundary, the mind.

We say God and the imagination are one...

How high that highest candle lights the dark.

Out of this same light, out of the central mind,

We make a dwelling in the evening air,

In which being there together is enough.

Callous

2011-01-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

On the way to work this morning:

NPR Reporter: "...in response to the Tunisian man who self-immolated himself last month..."

Me: (eye roll) "Such a stonger statement than self-immolating someone else..." (pause) "WHAT HAVE I BECOME??!!"

With constant news coverage, horrific stories cease to be moving within a week or so. Not to blame the 24-hr news cycle for yet another thing wrong with this country. Because, let's face it, I have the same insatiable desire for news as anyone else.

New Years Resolution + Cry for Help

2011-01-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

Among my New Years Resolutions: Eat out three or less times per week.

I know that eating out three times a week is a massive amount to some of you (Valerie's succeeding at not eating out at all...), but it would represent a cutback from Trevor's and my current lifestyle. We'll be making progress while still eating out for our weekly date nights (couple's tradition), comedy nights (we often have to head up to Salt Lake straight from work so a home-cooked dinner is out of the question) and a freebie here and there (because I'm still lazy).

So here's the cry for help part. If you have any awesome ideas for a) packed lunches at work, and/or b) easy-to-make dinners at home, please provide in the comments below. I feel like my rotation of things I make is far too small.

A few things to keep in mind:

The reasons for this goal are to be more healthy and save money, so think nutritious and think cheap.
Trevor and I do have microwave access at work.
The reason we eat out so much is mostly because I just straight up hate cooking and/or packing a lunch for the next day in the evening after work (weekends aren't so bad). Maybe that's something I should just get over, but faster and easier things are more likely to be actually tried.
We don't really eat out for breakfast, so no worries there (Clif bars and juice bottles are breakfast on-the-go pretty much every workday, and then cereal/oatmeal works fine for weekends).

Tabernacle Fire

2010-12-18T13:32:00.001-07:00

As many of you know by now, the LDS Provo tabernacle burned down yesterday. Even though I live within a mile of the building, I had no idea until I heard people talking about it at work.

I've been in the building on several occasions and it's been enjoyed by many many people since it was constructed in the 1880s. It's sad to see such a historic building destroyed.

Since I live close to the building, I had several people ask if I could smell smoke at my house, but I didn't smell anything in the air. However, when Tiberius came home last night after being outside for most of the day, his fur definitely smelled like smoke. Because he's so fluffy absorbent. And no, that's not a mistyped sentence. The rule, when it comes to Tiberius, is that any adjective used to described him is preceded by the word "fluffy" ("He's being so fluffy nice right now." "Oh no, Tiberius is fluffy hungry." etc.). Don't mock me; everybody's got stupid things when it comes to their pets. Besides, you don't want Tiberius to get fluffy angry with you.

Open Mic

2010-12-17T00:41:00.002-07:00

As many of you know, my darling husband Trevor has been pursuing comedy pretty heavily over the last two months. It's been really fun to be a part of (I'm at a comedy show at least once each week), and opportunities are already coming out of it. So far there have been several open mic nights, two real gigs, and one comedy competition (which he won, of course). He's mostly doing stand up since that's where the most opportunity is, but there are some improv/sketch things going on as well.

To those of you who live in Salt Lake or Utah County: I encourage you to come see him perform live sometime (hit me up and I'll let you know when and where upcoming shows will be).

To those who don't have the opportunity to see him in person: I finally got around to recording a set at an open mic night last night. Perhaps someday I'll get a video with better sound quality and from a bigger show, but for now this will have to satiate you. (Note to those sensitive to this kind of thing: there isn't really anything dirty in the following set, but there is some mild language and brief mental nudity)

Emcee guy at the end is John Moyer, who wrote The Singles Ward, The RM, and Mobsters and Mormons. Yeah, brushing shoulders with all sorts of fame, here. Did I mention Trevor opened for Dave Ackerman of Diaries of a Dirty Tongue last week? Yeah. Big time.

I Want to Ride it Where I Like

2010-12-10T12:45:00.001-07:00

While getting exercise and saving the environment are not very good motivation for me to bike, an adorable bike helmet disguised as a herringbone cap, is a very, very good reason. Summer of next year, I'll likely be living within biking distance of my place of employment. I'll have to keep this in mind.

Also, need to start saving up the $9,500 I'll need for that Fendi bike that everybody makes fun of, but I must admit, I find quite charming (the perfect mix of vintage and modern! and all of that storage space! and a leather holder for your GPS device!).

Hmm, though perhaps then I need some sort of brown version of the bike helmet so everything ties together a little better...

Or, you know, go with the other option: not spending $9,500 for a bicycle. If I sold everything I own (including car) and put all of my savings toward it I'd be like...1/3 of the way there...okay, okay, I guess I get why you were making fun of it...

Date Night

2010-12-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

After dinner, we tried to go to the MikaRose Outlet, but it was

So we went to see "Tangled", which was a thoroughly enjoyable film. Aside from being full of Disney magic (like the Disney films of the good ol' days), it also solves this important problem:

Schemes

2010-12-05T15:38:00.003-07:00

Someday I want to have six kids. One boy, then four girls, then another boy. So my children will look like this:

What do you mean, family planning shouldn't be centered around name schemes?

(Also, what do you mean "Enne" isn't a real name? I have a mage gnome who would argue otherwise...What do you mean, "if WoW character names count as real names, I might as well name my child 'Lolyousuck'"? I pick good names; I think Enne is cute. Thank you.)

I didn't intend to write another cat post, but there was a cat event...

2010-12-02T14:20:00.003-07:00

Tuesday morning: Fidel comes outside with us as we leave for work, providing his typical morning kitty escorts to the car (he's a protective little guy). As we pull out of the parking lot, we see that Fidel has approached a group of women we don't know and is enjoying being pet by them. Trevor and I comment to each other how friendly and nice Fidel is and how much we love him.

Tuesday evening: We come home from work, expecting to see Fidel waiting for us by the door as it has been snowing and he does not like the cold. He is not. We assume he'll show up soon, but as it gets a little later, we start to worry and Trevor goes out looking for him (accompanied by Tiberius, the snow rescue cat). They come home empty-handed. We hypothesize that Fidel is in somebody else's apartment, as we've had more than one neighbor mention/complain that Fidel will just go into anybody's house he likes.

Wed midday: Fidel finally comes home, and we are glad he is okay. His collar is mysteriously gone. But he has been known to escape collars before (though this most recent one has lasted a long time comparatively).

Wed late night: I let Fidel outside again (he doesn't like to be cooped up for long). Trevor expresses concern that we shouldn't let him out before we get him a new collar. I don't worry much about it.

Thurs morning: Fidel comes home (he also doesn't like to be outside for long) wearing a brand new collar we've never seen before. Complete with jingle bell and rhinestones. Which is not appropriate (Yes, I know Tiberius has a rhinestone collar...but he's a fluffy, sweet cat meant for lying on velvet pillows and Fidel is an athletic, serious cat meant for hunting worg.)

So apparently somebody is trying to steal our cat. I can see assuming he's a stray. He's perpetually hungry and kind of a mess all the time. And his old collar was really shabby looking (months of trying to scratch that thing off will do that). And, as we've discussed, he's very friendly and doesn't understand that he can't go into other people's houses. But he's our cat. He may be loved elsewhere, but we loved him first.

The plan is to buy him a new collar today and replace the mystery collar. When he goes to whoever is attempting to adopt him (I assume he'll go back again; he can't be stopped from anything), hopefully they'll get the message. It kind of makes me sad for whoever is out there excited about their new nice kitty, because I'm sure she'll (of course it's a she...did I mention the rhinestone collar?) be sad that she can't keep him. But there are plenty of cats out there who need homes. And Fidel belongs to us.

Orabrush Review

2010-12-01T14:37:00.004-07:00

I bought an Orabrush last night (available at select Utah WalMarts), intending to review it for my blog.
"But Andrea, you don't really do product reviews," you may say.
"Well, the tongue-scrubbing Orabrush is a product of interest to me and I can do what ever I want," I may respond.
"Why is the Orabrush a product of interest to you? You are not exactly the queen of oral hygiene..." you may ask.
"What exactly are you getting at here?" I may ask back. After we have a conversation about how I should floss more, I may get around to those reasons:

Orabrush was invented and is headquartered here in good ol' Provo,UT. And who doesn't like supporting a local start-up?
Orabrush is a YouTube success story (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/business/media/27adco.html), and I'm highly interested in social media marketing stuff.
I'm a fan and acquaintance of local comedian Dave Ackerman who gets paid by Orabrush to make videos of himself in a giant tongue costume (best job ever?).

The original Orabrush video:

Note: I did the spoon test thing and think I'm okay. But I didn't really seem to get anything on the spoon, so maybe I did it wrong? I'm still afraid of having bad breath.

An example of the giant tongue costume:

Note #1: I know the idea for this particular one is somewhat ripped off from Orbit Gum's dirty mouth stuff...but it's amusing nonetheless.
Note #2: One of the construction workers is played by another local comedian acquaintance of ours, Jose Bacio...I'll have to post sometime about my immersion into the Utah comedy scene and my very funny husband's exploits there.

Anyway, time for the actual product review part. And the conclusion is: I suck at Orabrushing. It may or may not be a good product; all I know is I don't think I'm capable of using it how it's supposed to be used. I have a strong gag reflex and have a very difficult time with putting things on my tongue like that. I've tried and failed at brushing my tongue with a toothbrush and tried and failed at tongue scrapers, so I don't know why I thought an Orabrush sounded like a good product for me. This is my official non-review.

Worry

2010-11-22T11:35:00.002-07:00

I stress out about my cats all the time. What if they're outside and get hit by a car? or lost? or killed by some sort of cat-hating maniac? What if they're trapped inside the house when we aren't home and the apartment burns to the ground? Fidel has been lying still for a while now, I need to check that he's still breathing.

I don't know how people handle having kids.

So Long and Thanks for All the Dolphin Slaughter Footage

2010-11-20T01:03:00.005-07:00

Just watched The Cove, and have decided I need to stop watching documentaries on Netflix. Or at least the liberal/progressive/environmentalist/socialist sort that serve only to add more things to my list of reasons mankind as a species should feel guilty. Biographies of Catherine the Great are still allowable.

They all end with a call to action: Stop global warming! Stop animal abuse! Stop corporate corruption! Stop government corruption! Fix the prison system! Fix the healthcare system! Fix the immigration system! Fix the food industry! Fix the energy industry! Fix the financial industry! etc, etc, etc, etc. But there's only so much a letter to a congressperson can do. And there are so many issues to "do something" about. Unless you want to pick a pet project and dedicate your life to it, you're really not going to be able to do much, and even then there's certainly no guarantee of change. And most of my time is pretty much already taken up with just managing my household (okay, okay, so hours every week go to Netflix alone...but everybody needs relaxation time, right?).

And so I choose to ignore the guilt part and instead just feel vaguely proud of myself because I'm more educated about the issue de jour than I was pre-documentary-viewing.

Nobody likes vegetarians, anyway.

Oh, and in case anyone accuses me of being a raging liberal instead of the moderate I am (though in Utah: moderate = raging liberal), I'll mention that my list of documentaries watched includes one about the great need we have to reduce the federal deficit. Which is apparently a Republican issue now? Though I still don't get how they're always talking about lower taxes AND a smaller deficit in the same breath. Sorry guys, but it's not possible. But I suppose that's another blog post for another day...

But yeah, self-imposed ban on documentaries that have an agenda. Starting now.

Yep, that's my husband...

2010-11-12T12:31:00.004-07:00

A little recording from last night. We have fun. Trevor by making up ridiculous things in ridiculous accents. Me by drawing plaid onto an apron with a Sharpie. Trevor's fun is more fun to watch.

Maid of Honor

2010-11-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Someday, if it's ever not completely financially irresponsible, I will have a housekeeper. When I say this to people, the vast majority get a little huffy ("What, you too good for housework?").

Allow me to defend myself.

1) Having a maid doesn't mean that I can't take care of myself; it means that I would rather free up my time for pursuits that are more fulfilling than dishes/laundry/vacuuming/etc. If I was no longer able to afford a housekeeper, I could go back to doing my own housework...it's not like I'll have forgotten how to iron clothes. Perhaps this sounds like the cliche drug-addict response "I can quit when I want to", but I do have years of evidence backing up the claim that I am capable of keeping my own house in shape (maybe not always to perfection, but livable enough). That doesn't mean I enjoy doing it.

2) Having a maid doesn't mean I'd be forcing some peon to deal with my mess. There's a difference between owning a slave and employing a maid. I'd be GIVING SOMEBODY A JOB. People need jobs. And since this is Hypothetical Land where I can afford a maid in the first place, who's to say I can't afford to pay a decent wage? I've actually found that "I'd love to be financially comfortable enough to employ a housekeeper" is slightly less provocative than "I'd love to be financially comfortable enough to have a housekeeper".

Thank you for your consideration.

Salt Lake City Weekly: Reinforcing Stereotypes since 1984

2010-11-04T20:51:00.000-06:00

Three Person Halloween Party...Because We're That Cool

2010-11-01T19:59:00.002-06:00

There was supposed to be an epic Halloween party at Trapper's epic new house, which didn't happen as Trapper's epic new house is still mired in the world of paperwork ("I can't move into my house yet" is the lamest excuse ever, by the way). So we didn't have any Halloween plans.

As I sat at my computer between answering the door for trick-or-treaters (tons this year, ran out of candy...), I knew something had to be done. Trevor and his friend Owen were in the back room playing video games. And we needed a little Halloween, right this very minute.

I changed into my costume and told Trevor and Owen they had to wear costumes, too. ("You want us to sit here in costumes?" "Yes, it's Halloween." "Well okay, but only because you're intimidating as Catwoman.") We were able to assemble a disco outfit for Trevor (look closely: complete with chest hair!). I obviously was prepared ages ago with my costume (don't look closely: my mask is crooked, but I was tired of sewing at that point and stretch materials are so difficult...). And Owen...well...he got the odds and ends of the costume box and was a Rabbi Convict:

We trick-or-treated to our friends next door and then did the usual hanging around the house. But everyone wore a costume and that's what Halloween is always about. Especially since those kids took all my candy.

Before It Was Cool

2010-10-29T13:43:00.000-06:00

The mark of cool has always been "I did that before it was in style". One great thing about living in the information age: the geeks among us often the ones ahead of the curve. That doesn't stop us from being jerks sometimes, though.

Coworker: I'm thinking about starting a blog; do you blog?
Me: Do I blog? Please, I've been blogging since 2004.

And after I saw The Social Network, I also had to make a point of saying that I'm pretty sure I was among those first one million people on facebook that they celebrate . Yeah, that's right, the other 499 million of you are followers. (Let's not mention the sheer luck of being of college age when it came out and the sheer luck of having friends in the east where facebook initially took off).

Also...after a little research today, the blog thing is not true and the facebook thing is questionable.

Turns out the first post I have on my first blog was dated Jan 27th, 2005. It is really odd to read the old diaryland blog. I haven't looked at it in years. Such a horrible format. Also, I was far too concerned with: a) food, b) trying to sound smart, c) dating. (Readers of this blog know that I've since moved to far more reputable concerns: food, trying to sound smart, and cats.) Though there are little bits of cleverness here and there that make me not entirely hate myself at age 18-19.

I don't remember when I joined facebook (or thefacebook as it was at the time) and don't have access to my old BYU email anymore so I have to look for clues to figure it out. The earliest indication I can find is also from the diaryland blog. I know that on March 4, 2005, I had 92 facebook friends. So I joined sometime before that. Facebook reached 1 million users in late December 2004. So maybe I was one of those. Hard to say. Also, I don't remember if Emilee or I ended up winning the first person to 100 facebook friends contest back then. I do know I initially joined facebook before she did AND that currently I have 474 friends and she has 420. So we all know who the real winner is.

When I first joined facebook, there was that "find people in your network button", which some of you may remember. I recall that there were only around 30 people in the BYU network. And I was like "I don't know how useful this site is going to be for me."

I'm totally cooler than you because of this.

Cat Notes

2010-10-27T11:21:00.002-06:00

You know I needed another cat post:

Tiberius likes fruit more than any cat I've ever known. Whenever I have applesauce, for example, he goes crazy trying to get at it like it were catnip. He leaves me pretty well alone if I'm eating like, chicken, though. So weird.
Nearly every morning, Fidel gives us kitty escorts to the car. Fidel is not as cuddly as Julius or Tiberius, but he shows he loves us by being our protector. It's really adorable. He even provides kitty escorts to the laundromat (a few buildings over from ours). And even though he does not like it there and meows trying to show me how to get home, he will stick with me. Because he knows I need him to help.
Thing I will miss most about the old office: kitten friends in the backyard across the parking lot. I've got an excellent view of them from my desk and they just run and pounce at things all day long. So dang cute.
The cats favorite spots in the house are as follows: Julius - the lower right-hand corner of the bed; Fidel - The brown chair in Trevor's computer room; Tiberius - wherever he can be most in the way.
I had a dream a couple nights ago that we got a little grey girl kitten that we named Cleopatra. I had a dream about a month ago that we got a little black girl kitten that we named Olivia. Little girl kitten hungry: not a good thing when you've already got three cats. Though I think this will be significantly quelled when Trapper's home loan finally goes through which means he gets the little girl kitten he has always wanted. I have, of course, had a spot reserved as Trapper's kitten shopping buddy since before ground was even broken on the house.
Trevor doesn't allow dressing up of cats for Halloween as it's not dignified. Julius and Fidel heartily agree. Probably Tiberius wouldn't mind it too much. If it were to happen, however: Julius would be a Darth Vader, Tiberius would be a John Lennon, Fidel would be George Washington. (Tiberius would actually be a bumblebee, but apparently that's what I said last year, so we can't have him in the same costume).
Because Julius is the smartest of our cats and likes to put his claws into people to show them he loves them, he has learned that he won't get pushed away for lovey kneading if the person he is loving has a blanket on their lap. He'll look at me and wait until I've put something on my lap while I'm at my computer and then hop on and claw away at my covered thighs. The other day, Trevor was putting on a sweater and Julius thought the sweater on Trevor's legs meant that he could hop onto his lap. Because he's always looking for the cue. Because he's a good boy.
Tiberius has a new sparkle collar. You can't really see it because he's so fluffy, but it's got rhinestones. And it looks very handsome on him.
When speaking to Fidel, I often make the mistake of calling Tiberius "your little brother" ("stop picking on your little brother" is a too common phrase in our house...Fidel just has so much energy and Tiberius is such a wuss; Fidel, of course, knows better than to pick on Julius). Tiberius is about three months older than Fidel and is larger in stature, but I think I will always think of him as the baby of the family. He's the least intelligent but the most cuddly...and he's got those big blue eyes. Even though Tiberius is actually quite a large cat at this point, I look at him and still just see the little fluffball with ears too big for his body that we first took home with us.
I've decided than when I have a home of my own, I definitely want to volunteer as a foster home for animal shelter overflow. It would be providing a service to the community (at least in this part of the state, there's apparently a big need for it) and hopefully satiate my desire for more and more cats in my house. Maybe dogs, too. If I always have animals rotating through, it would be like always getting new pets.

Victory!

2010-10-13T10:22:00.000-06:00

Thirty-three minutes after I wrote this post, my darling husband wrote this post. And the only prompt he really needed was our awesome cat, Fidel (though keep the votes coming...Trevor has stated intent to consider your input).

Let this be a warning to any of you on my blogroll who it's been a few months+ since your last post. I wield power. You may be next.

I don't think mimes sing...

2010-10-12T19:22:00.007-06:00

You may recall it. A little blog where we once read tales of great journeys, eternal struggles, and Johnny Cash hitting cripples with fish. A little blog by a brilliant but troubled man (I don't know why we still use the "but" when in much of modern expression brilliant = troubled). A little blog that has lain dormant for some time.

But that time has come to an end. Or will come to an end, rather. Or else.

Drunk on the success of my last attempt to change the blogosphere, I thought I would turn up the heat a little.

The usual response to the heat: "I have nothing to write about!". Well, here's a chance we all have to make a difference.

Pick your favorite prompt for a Trevor blog post.

Note: He may or may not actually follow the winning prompt. There's no controlling the man

Together

2010-10-04T19:21:00.004-06:00

The family was in town this weekend. It's the first time that all ten siblings, plus the one brother-in-law (so far Trevor is the only spouse brought into the fold, but Jared is engaged so soon it will be two), plus both parents have all been in the same room together. Ever. We've had at least one boy off on a mission since Whitney was born until quite recently, and then we've had four of us living in Utah and the rest in California, so it's taken a bit for the stars to align. Documented evidence of the whole family together:

Yes, Nate is on Jared's shoulders. Yes, I picked this photo over the formal portraits. Yes, I will play the mad pirate in your upcoming feature film.

Oh and Kayla is taller than me. Weirdest thing ever.

And Whitney called my cat Tiberius, "Tiberipuppy". She's adorable.

How Times Have Changed

2010-09-26T12:05:00.000-06:00

I was reading an article about bad fashion throughout the years this morning and came to a startling revelation: Bjork's swan dress, the dress that horrified my sensibilities in 2001 (did she think the Oscars of were a joke?), is kind of adorable.

I blame Lady Gaga. Straight up. The swan dress doesn't seem over-done costume-y at all anymore. Particularly paired with simple hair/makeup/accessories, what's wrong with a ruffly white animal turned outfit?

Not that I'm going to go out and buy one. Or that I'll ever think of Bjork again without the image of The Dress popping in my mind. But it'll be with more respect that I recall the once infamous.

In 2004 I turned up my nose at any pointed-toe shoe; in 2006, I bought a pair. In 2008, I was disgusted by leggings; now they're a staple of my wardrobe. This fall I plan on wearing a lot of boots. Ankle boots, even. I've always hated boots. Granted, I'll still be very particular about what boots I wear (I'm sorry, but the vast majority make your ankles look fat and/or make you look like you're trying too hard to be fashionable and/or make you look like a prostitute and/or don't fit with the vast majority of outfits and/or are too "ironic rural" and/or....), but still.

Couldn't Look You in the Eye

2010-09-23T13:11:00.004-06:00

While I groan everytime I hear "Oh I heard this great string/acoustic/choral cover of such-and-such rock song" because it's the kind of thing that excites oh-so-cool-college-student-sorts, I have to admit that I'm really digging the creepy choral version of Radiohead's "Creep" used on the trailer for The Social Network:

(for the record, my thoughts on the film itself are "meh", but that may change for better or worse when there's more info out there on it)

The "Creep" cover is apparently some Belgian girl's choir, Scala & Kolacny Brothers. I've been listening to their stuff for much of the morning; I'm a fan. And while the only thing more cliche than covering Radiohead is covering Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", I have to admit, this is absolutely lovely:

Finally, a Reason to be a Dictator

2010-09-16T20:04:00.006-06:00

I'm not a particularly power-hungry person and while I like attention, I'm uncomfortable with being the center for long, so I never really saw myself as the dictator sort. But today I realized I might want to start planning the coup. One great, often-overlooked aspect of complete power: You can wear whatever you like and nobody can say nothing. And they can't laugh at your double negative problem.

Thank you FP for this article/slideshow. In a world of constant turmoil, it's good to see that some people are paying attention to what really matters.

Also, if I were a dictator, I'd totally costume it up, Qaddafi-style.

Also, is it just me, or is Ahmadinejad kind of hot? I mean Holocaust denial and nuclear ambitions put aside...every man should dress like that.

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

Firefox is telling me that "slideshow" and "Ahmadinejad" are misspelled words. Come on now, this is the internet for heaven's sake...not the decennially-published Oxford Official Queen's English Dictionary. Aren't they supposed to be flexible about these things? If, say, a word has 159,000,000 results on Google (in the case of "slideshow"...or even 29,100,000 in the case of "Ahmadinejad"), can't they put it on a "this is probably a word" list somewhere? And have anything on that list automatically never again be called misspelled?

Yes, yes, I know I can add it to my personal dictionary. But that requires two whole clicks of the mouse. And doesn't stop me from feeling like a bad person for the second or so that that accusatory red squiggly line is there.

Red China Blues Review

2010-09-15T22:37:00.000-06:00

Since pretty much every time I finish a book I feel the need to share it with someone, but rarely do anything about that feeling, I've decided I'm going to start blogging book reviews on recent reads. Or rather, let's call it "my thoughts on some books" because I find the word "review" intimidating.

I originally started this post with something like "here are my thoughts on the six books I've read in the last six months", but after my thoughts for the first one ended up much longer than expected, I realized I'd never finish writing and readers would never finish reading the post if I did five more. So we'll start with the book I read six months ago and I'll catch us up over time:

Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now by Jan Wong

I originally purchased this book for a 20th Century China class that I didn't end up reading it for. And then it sat on my bookshelf for several years, gathering dust and doing little to tempt me. I knew enough about modern Chinese history to get by and didn't see the point of reading this memoir outside of educational value. And I have a problem where I can't really keep characters straight in any book where they don't have European names (a problem that I would like to emphasize is just how my brain works and does not make me racist). Yes, that is a good reason not to read something.

But "I have nothing to read" set in and...well, it turns out I thoroughly enjoyed this smart, informative, and surprisingly funny memoir of a Chinese Canadian woman's experiences through three decades of Chinese history. One of Time's 10 Best Books of 1996, Jan Wong's memoir is easily accessed by Western readers, as she's a Westerner herself, but gives insight into the culture of China that only someone of Chinese heritage who 100% immersed herself in the day-to-day life of the Chinese could give.

Wong originally left her native Canada for China as a Maoist college student during the heyday of the Cultural Revolution (1972), where she was one of only two Westerners attending Beijing University. The rare glimpse she gives of a world more radical than I ever realized (what have I been doing sitting around reading everything on the French Revolution when there was an equally crazy time more relevant to now that I don't ever think about out there?) is nothing short of fascinating. I particularly appreciated Wong's honesty in describing her starry-eyed view of communism in the early days; she'll admit that she snitched on her classmates and punished herself for bourgeois thoughts. Looking back, she admits she was a crazy idealist, but she presents herself as she was. Through her eyes, I came to understand the Maoist mindset better than I ever had before.

She returns to Canada after a few years and comes back to China as a journalist in 1988. As a reporter, she's much more critical, but her perspective as a former Maoist gives everything she says an unique take. She's happy that the end of the Cultural Revolution means more wealth for many Chinese, but she hates that women no longer braid their hair and men no longer wear Mao suits; what happened to Chinese pride? The battle within Wong over how she feels about China is just as interesting as (perhaps part of?) the battle the nation itself has over its identity over the same time period.

While the whole work is certainly worth reading, in a lot of ways the beginning and end of the memoir are just bookends to Wong's account of the Tianamen Square Massacre. I found her first-hand minute-by-minute reporting of the event completely riveting. The level of detail she puts into the account ("Between 3:15 and 3:23, I counted eighteen pedicabs pass by me carrying the dead and wounded.") makes everything very real. Very intense. Terrifying, really.

For some reason I expected the memoir to get boring post-Tiananmen Square Massacre, but in some ways, that's when things really get interesting. As China starts slowly embracing aspects of capitalism (drugs! traffic jams! penis-extension surgeries!), we get to see the beginnings of the China-As-Current-Emerging-World-Power that we know and love today, and it's kind of exciting (though I, along with Wong, found myself strangely sad to see the communist ideals that originally brought Wong to China fall apart).

The writing style is very straight-up informative. Very little poetry and a lot of facts. Wong is a journalist, after all. No dwelling on the way Tiananmen makes one feel like an ant; let's get some numbers: "Tiananmen could simultaneously accommodate the entire twenty-eight teams of the National Football League plus 192 other teams, each playing separate games." I personally found the writing style rather refreshing. I didn't have to analyze much I was reading; it was simple and extremely informative.

Oh, and I was pleased (though I'm sure some purists hate her for it) to discover that Wong made names as simple for Western readers as she could, liberally using literal name translations (Forest Plum Ma, Scarlet Zhang) and nicknames (Fu the Enforcer, Cook Mu). And she always converts yen into dollars when describing the costs of things. Hooray for helping out my hopelessly Western brain.

There are a few patches where I feel the story telling is a little slow (yes, yes, we get it, you were really into trying to be treated like native Chinese, we don't need another example), but in general, I found the book hard to put down.

The end of the memoir feels a little disjointed, as Wong seems to just be throwing together a bunch of interesting stories with little connection to the larger narrative, but as a 21st century reader (aka someone who routinely reads bits and pieces of different things on the internet with no methodology whatsoever), it didn't particularly bother me; I just cared that it was all interesting.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in modern history, whether or not you have prior interest or knowledge of Chinese history (Wong does an excellent job of filling in most of the basics, if you know who Mao is, you're pretty much good to go). Wong's insight into the changing Chinese world is both entertaining and educational. What more can you really ask for?

Hooray for being offensive toward another religion! Oh, wait, we're totally against it!

2010-09-08T22:01:00.005-06:00

Anybody else find German Chancellor Merkel's comments today at an award ceremony for Kurt Westergaard (article here) a little odd?

In honoring the Danish cartoonist who a few years back created waves with his depictions of the prophet Muhammad with a bomb for a turban, she says, "We are talking here about the freedom of opinion and the freedom of the press." Then, at THE SAME AWARD CEREMONY, she calls US pastor Terry Jones to burn copies of the Koran on Saturday "abhorrent", "disrespectful" and "simply wrong".

I'm no expert on what is and isn't offensive to Muslims (and unfortunately don't have any Muslim acquaintances to ask about it), so perhaps burning the Koran is much worse than drawing Muhammad. But I do know that both depicting Muhammad (with or without bomb turbans) and burning the Koran are considered blasphemy in Islam, so why is one good and the other bad? Considering that Kurt Westergaard sparked protests and death threats, I assume that what he did was fairly "abhorrent" and "disrespectful", at least to the Muslim community.

And I wonder if (even in secular Europe), it all comes down to Christian thinking. Bible burning is offensive, right? But what is the Christian equivalent of the Muhammad cartoon? Is it perhaps just a cultural divide keeping the Western world from seeing the offense in a Muhammad cartoon?

Or, other thought: Is it the fact that Mr. Westergaard is part of the press (so why wouldn't journalists love him?) and Mr. Jones is a religious figure (who journalists tend to not like much for several reasons I won't go into here), that makes one a beacon of freedom and another a destroyer of good? Thank you, media, for controlling all opinions.

For the record, I support both Kurt Westergaard's and Terry Jones' right to do what they like. Though I'm disappointed to see the support that both have received in what I consider [insert word that is like racist but for religion here....is there really not one?] activities. Also, perhaps this is just the cynic in me, but I kind of suspect that both may have some ulterior motives; what better way to make a name for yourself than to do something very publicly offensive?

Mew

2010-09-02T21:17:00.008-06:00

Because I am both too tired of looking at a giant picture of myself every time my blog comes up AND too lazy to write a new post, here are a few videos on a favorite subject for your viewing pleasure:

The internet is an excellent place for us cat enthusiasts.

Haircut: Now Available in Black

2010-08-20T00:48:00.002-06:00

(with brown highlights because I got the cheap dye AND am not particularly thorough)(also, I probably could've picked a less greasy time to take the picture, but I can't wait around until the new color is old news, so here we go)

Mosquerade

2010-08-18T14:27:00.001-06:00

I ask myself, "Are there honestly people out there that believe that terrorism and Islam are the same thing?" and millions of Americans shout back, "Here we are!"

I've been kind of surprised over what a big deal the mosque planned for near Ground Zero has become. And kind of disappointed by the number of people I generally respect who have been against it. It's one thing if someone was proposing building a museum honoring the accomplishments of Al Qaeda or like...a bomb-making school. But a mosque? Really? Is there anything more symbolic of peace and healing than a place of worship?

Winner of most hilarious (though perhaps rather misinformed) argument on the matter goes to a coworker of mine who shall not be named: "Wouldn't you want a mosque next to you to make sure you're not the victim of a terrorist attack? We should put a mosque on the top floor of every skyscraper in New York to keep terrorists away; they're not going to blow up a mosque!"

Haircut

2010-08-15T16:46:00.007-06:00

For those wondering how long it would take for me to get around to that previously-discussed haircut, the moment is now. Bored Sunday afternoons standing in the bathroom with a pair of scissors in your hand long enough will do that to you.

Behold:
Much better, yes? Though we are using before/after technology so we could also go the other way and say much better:
But I am pleased with the cut. And Trevor can't stop raving about how much he likes it, and that also pleases me, as well.

And for those curious about the back/side. Behold:

Drafted

2010-08-12T12:04:00.001-06:00

First person to product wins, not first person to idea.

I started a blog post like a year ago that made a similar point to this article:

I like going to people's houses and being able to tell what kind of person they are from the films and albums and books on their shelves. Because, like the kind of nerd snob I am, there is a part of me that believes these things define who someone is (yes, I know it doesn't...technically). Ipods, Kindles, even Netflix ruin this.

My drafts folder is full of these. Ideas that I put down so that I'll remember to write something more elaborate later. Some are one sentence long (an applicable one, for example: "The internet just helps you realize more fully that all of your brilliant ideas have been thought of before."). Others are longer, but just never reached publishable quality (when did I even write these paragraphs about how I'm bored with the tired themes of African American literature? I don't remember this post attempt at all...).

But yeah, I was kind of upset/relieved to come across the Slate article because then I didn't feel like I'd have to finish the above draft. It's already been written about, so now I can just link and call my work done. (As if I was the first person to ever think it anyway...)

Running from Nazis

2010-07-27T11:40:00.001-06:00

I dream about World War II way more than any other historical event. I mean, I've been on the Titanic and I've fought in Vietnam and I've seen Caesar assassinated, but more often than not, if there's history involved, I'm running from Nazis.

As dreams often go, the Nazis are mashed up with other stuff (Sunday night was Harry Potter/X-Files/WWII dream), but even if Bill Clinton is president and werewolves are attacking the White House, Hitler is going to turn up somewhere.

I blame the over-saturation of our media with Hitler/Nazi references. I also hate that I dream about it so much because it makes me feel like I am one of those Fox News reporters who somehow turns everything into "Well, you know how this kind of thing went down in Germany in 1939." But I suppose it's not my fault. If I could control my dreams, I'd have even more about my cats doing awesome stuff than I do now. Like the dream where Fidel was swimming around and doing tricks in the bathtub. Way better than the Gestapo killing Dumbledore AND Agent Scully. And Neville of all people was a double agent? We were doomed from the beginning.

Yep, that's a mistake I make often.

2010-07-26T12:48:00.002-06:00

Did you mean to attach files? You wrote "I've attached" in your message, but there are no files attached. Send anyway?

Dear Google,

Yes, you may know a scary amount of information about me and I suppose I can see the "Google makes us stupid" argument. But it's the little things that will make me always love you.

Sincerely,

Andrea

Change the World. Vote!

2010-07-23T10:05:00.007-06:00

The husband is requesting short hair. And I suppose I could go for a change. Generally short hair seems more stylish. Long hair can be stylish as well, of course, but it requires some work and, let's be honest, I'm pretty much ponytailing it every day. Also, I love how easy it is to blow dry your hair when it's short.

So time for your input. Which of the following short hairstyles do you like best? (or, of course, give your own suggestions in the comments). (Note for the men in the audience: I know this is hard for you guys, but please try to think about what haircut would look best and not which model is the hottest.)

Mod. Short tapered bang, shorter in the back. Most retro of the options, which is something I dig. The little curl in front is terrific, and wouldn't be that difficult to style. Not a particularly versatile option (I guess it could be worn wavy?), but it's cute enough that it might be worth the fact that my hair would look much the same everyday.

Boycut. The shortest of the options. Arguably the most fashion-forward . Will have to make sure to do clothes and makeup in such a way that I'm not mistaken for umm...is there a polite word for the very-masculine-lesbian-type? Can I also say, I love what's going on with the color with this one (not that this is a color discussion rather than a cut discussion, but yeah, I love).

Emo. Straight bangs that could also be swept to the side, significantly shorter in the back. I would do something like this, but a little more choppy (there's something weirdly round about this picture, but I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for). I like that I'd still have a little bit of length, though I'm not really sure why.

Romantic. A somewhat layered bob. Bangs would have to be trimmed regularly to keep in check, but I do love the way they bring attention to the eyes when they hang just there (also...wouldn' t be required to keep eyebrows in check with this length, haha!) To go for the wispy effect in the picture this one would require a little more styling time, which I wouldn't do everyday, but I think it would probably be fine just letting it dry naturally, too (though I do particularly love the wispy thing).

Classic. Basic bob with longer, side-swept bangs (as I've decided while looking through pictures that no short hairstyle looks good without at least some sort of bang). The most versatile option, as far as ways it can be worn, which is appealing, but it's also not a particularly exciting cut.

It's better than drinking alone?

2010-07-19T17:47:00.002-06:00

I enjoy the following activities immensely. However, I prefer to do them by myself, thank you:

Driving: I always say I like driving, but really I only like driving alone. Driving with other people stresses me out because everybody's a backseat driver and what if they don't like what you're playing on the radio? Making a wrong turn doesn't bother me in the slightest if I'm by myself. Other people make it embarrassing. Also, while I don't have qualms with singing in front of other people, singing along to the radio by yourself with complete abandon is one of the greatest pleasures of life.

Clothes Shopping: I'm confident enough in my purchases that I don't need other people getting up in my business with their opinions. I like what I like and don't like what I don't like, thank you. At least as far as clothes go. Also, shopping by yourself means I don't have to spend more or less time in a particular store than I want to because of somebody else's needs. Why girls typically go shopping in packs speaks only to their insecurity (or maybe like you know...a desire for human interaction, but that makes me sound like the horrible unsociable introvert that I am, and we wouldn't want that).

Dancing: Now this one may seem odd. But the liberty of dancing with yourself is amazing. Because it feels better to move like you don't care what you look like. Dancing with groups is terrific, too, but also better if I'm there by myself and don't know anybody. Then you don't have to match anybody.

Hnnn, upon finishing this post, I'm worried it's not that interesting. Also perhaps it will provoke unnecessary worry in people who have driven/shopped/danced with me (I still love you all).

Oh well, I've already written it and it's been a couple weeks since I've posted anything...posting.

Happy 4th

2010-07-05T17:16:00.003-06:00

The events of this holiday weekend can most accurately be summed up with one video. Thank you Russell and Trapper for doing what you would never allow the children to do:

Twilight

2010-07-01T19:32:00.004-06:00

I'm just worried this franchise will ruin teen girls' perceptions of real vampires and werewolves.

-Mark Jordan Legans

I've resolved to read the first Twilight book. Despite warnings like this and this, the "how can you have so much disdain for something you haven't read" argument is a strong one. Because, let's be honest, there's a good chance I end up liking them. Gah, I hate that I even have that possibility. But it's just because I dislike the stereotypical Twilight fan so much. But we'll be open-minded. Or try to be. I mean, I like Harry Potter and that's kind of along the same lines of hugely-popular-liked-by-every-lonely-ugly-middle/high-school-girl-universally-money-machine kind of thing, right?

I've resolved to not spend money on this venture, however. So if anyone has a copy I can borrow, let me know.

Hm, and I have a lot of thoughts about the Twilight franchise that I want to throw out here, but I'll save them until I have at least read the book and my opinions have more authority. So you can look forward to that post.

Side Note: I was in a Burger King yesterday looking at the Twilight paraphernalia crawling all over the place and suddenly realized that at some point between now and when the debate first began, I switched from Team Edward to Team Jacob. Now I make these important decisions based on essentially nothing, as I have never seen any of the films or read any of the books, but based on what I could find in that Burger King, Jacob is better-looking. I think I'm kind of burned out on the whole emo aesthetic (at least for dudes...for girls it's still okay, I suppose, in moderation). I'm still kind of into the pale skin thing, but ugh...I dunno, the hair is too much. You just know you wouldn't want to be with a guy with that hair.

It's that Lara Croft Again

2010-06-26T17:29:00.006-06:00

Tomb Raider fan trailer starring our own Trevor Kelley as well as our friends Steven, Trisha, and Trisha's boobs:

Variety Pack

2010-06-23T19:12:00.004-06:00

I have yet to work up the courage to swim in my apartment complex pool. It's been open for a couple weeks now and pretty much every day I tell myself I will go for a swim between getting off work and picking up Trevor from work. But then I chicken out. It's so full of Latino children and I just feel out of place. Today when I scouted it out, there were a few people my age there for the first time that I've seen, so maybe today will be the day. Probably not. I should come up with a new exercise routine. Anything other than "think about going to the pool and not go" will do.

The mayor of Salt Lake announced that he will be participating in the pie tasting contest at the county fair, among other events. At first I was all excited like "Oh man, I want to watch him stuff his face with pies" but then I realized a pie tasting contest is not synonymous with a pie eating contest. I assume it means he'll be judging pies that people baked, but my second thought then continues into the realm of "I tasted that pie so much better than you!"

I've decided to try getting into music again. The line I've been using in general of late is "If it happened post-2006, I don't know it". Which is generally true, though I suppose I'm not to shabby when it comes to 2007. But I've given up on new music because it takes so much time to stay on top of and sift through and then I have to learn new names and lyrics and what's the use if I've got a set of music at home that I like already? Besides, isn't keeping up on music something that you do when you're trying to be cool and I'm so over that game? But there probably is good stuff out there and that I could be appreciating. And I'm afraid of becoming the old person that is always talking about how music was good back in their day. Well, and Trevor and Tylor are talking about getting a band together again and being in touch with what's going on currently in the music world can help me appreciate/understand anything they create that I'm asked an opinion. Because I'm a comparative appreciator of music. If that makes sense.

Back when I last registered to vote, I registered with a party even though I consider myself pretty moderate/independent because I figured at least it would mean I could vote in the primaries. Did I vote yesterday? Nope.

Default setting in my brain for the last couple months has been "To the Dogs or Whoever" by Josh Ritter. If I find myself zoning out, I catch myself singing "Deep in the belly of a whale I found her..." I've realized that a favorite feature of mine in music is lots of words. I think because I like singing along so much and when there are lots of words (strung quickly together...even better) in a song, it's way fun to sing. As long as the words make sense. But not too much sense.

My new car has a sticker in one of the windows with a panda and another window has a sticker for some karate place (with, yes, an American flag with some kid high kicking in front of it). I feel neither of these suit me whatsoever. Someday I kind of want to do one of those family car sticker things. Actually, we will end with an illustration:

Way to go Pixar

2010-06-19T22:45:00.003-06:00

So you've already read it, but Toy Story 3 is terrific. I laughed. I cried. I felt terribly guilty about any toys I may have given or thrown away as I grew older.

Trendy Shmendy

2010-06-18T13:31:00.001-06:00

Pho is a good young people food because old people have never heard of it and we can think ourselves superior when they mispronounce it. I first heard of it only a couple months ago and I swear the stuff is all over the place now (perhaps Utah is behind the times, as usual; or it could be just a regional obsession, I don't know). All of a sudden, the need to consume the stuff is present in various groups of people I associate with. It's like the day in 4th grade when suddenly everyone you knew had a Tamagotchi and you'd never heard of it because you didn't watch as much TV as your peers. Except this time I'm not asking my parents for pho for my birthday. Probably won't try pho until/if there's ever a drive-thru version in town. I'm not leaving my car for food. What do you think this is, a nation where less than half of the citizens are overweight?

Here in My Car

2010-06-16T11:04:00.003-06:00

I have reentered the wheeled population as of Monday. Dark blue 1993 Chevy Lumina purchased from friends. Having a car is very liberating. Also, expensive. The car was pretty dang cheap for a running vehicle, but it's still a larger than average purchase and then there's insurance/registration/gas. And the less inherent factor that it's much easier to eat out or go shopping or take trips with a car that will probably increase our living expenses.

The freedom that a car produces is like no other. You can go anywhere and so quickly. The extra time! The walk/busride/waitfornextbus/busride/walk commute to work would take me just short of 2 hrs each direction. The work commute is 15-20 minutes one way now. That allows me with a significant amount of extra time in a day that I am so excited about. And grocery shopping will be infinitely easier. I've really missed the proximity to WalMart of our old apartment (and basically nothing else...the new apartment is so much better...almost because it's so much more ghetto).

The day that I bought a car, Allison posted this. And I thought it was a cool coincidence that she would post about wanting a car the day I got the car so I commented about that. But what I actually meant to say is, "Allison, I've got a car now and if you ever need someone to take you to get your hair cut or go grocery shopping or anything else, please let me know and I'm happy to help you out." And that really goes for anyone who is in need of a ride out there who lives in these parts. I've bummed so many rides off the world that I definitely owe the world a few. So let me know if I can be of service.

Though I of course would still want to live in one of these places. I do really like walking. (Also, I want to live in NYC because I've been rewatching Gossip Girl with a friend who has never experienced it, but that's a different story...). Alas, my current residence has a walk score of 48.

Oh, and more NPR in my life. Take me to work, Diane Rehm, and take me back home, Kai Ryssdal.

What are necessary elements (as well as unnecessary but favorable elements) to a successful garden party?

2010-06-11T14:02:00.003-06:00

Hi, Allison.

As a successful planner of numerous failed garden parties, I consider myself an expert on the subject and am glad you have come here for advice. The following elements should be considered:

Setting

Obviously a garden is kind of a key element. Though garden is a pretty loose term here, as really a lawn is about all that is really required. Weather should be appropriate for prolonged outdoor activity, so try to plan accordingly (though really all you can do is hope that it won't rain and not be a complete moron and plan it for January or something). Generally late afternoon is about right as it will still be light out, but nobody wants to go out in the morning/mid-day. Aside from some form of greenery, shade and seating need to be taken into consideration.

Activities

As with most parties, milling about and general chatter will probably be the primary activity for your guests, but it is highly encouraged to have games on hand to keep people entertained. Lawn games and garden parties go along hand-in-hand, so have at them. A few games to consider: croquet, badminton, bocce, egg rolling, lawn darts. Though essentially any party game could work if brought outdoors (Pictionary on blankets with an easel on the lawn would be fun, for example).

Food

While I don't recommend going with a strict theme for the party as a whole, I would recommend sticking to something fairly specific for the food. You can go with a Southern theme (watermelon, fried chicken or something barbecue-y, mint juleps, etc.), an English theme (cucumber sandwiches, scones, tea, etc.), a French theme (baguettes or croissants, cheese, creme puffs, etc.), whatever suits your fancy. But maybe that's just me. I mean, I suppose you can't really go wrong with like fruit and vegetable trays and some punch. And though it takes away from a little of the formality aspect, feel free to delegate food responsibilities to some of the closer friends attending; most people our age these days are on a budget.

Dress

Dress for a garden party has already been extensively covered here . As a host/hostess, it is imperative that you make it clear to each invitee that dressing up is highly encouraged (Unless you don't care, I suppose, but who doesn't care? Outfits are the best part of any themed party). Also be prepared to offer advice/encouragement to invitees who may be nervous about their attire for the event. If you want to go all out, you may even want to have some props on hand (parasols, fans, canes, hats, etc.) so that people who aren't as done up for the event can have something to make them fit in better in pictures.

Decor

Decor can be fairly simple, as just the outdoor setting creates the atmosphere you're looking for. If you have lawn furniture, it can add a nice touch and be practical. Paper lanterns are kind of nice and outdoorsy, though not really necessary unless you're wanting to do things in the evening (which I don't recommend as the games would be trickier if it's darker out). I also think mirrors are always fun to have around at dress up parties, because everybody likes to see themselves in costume (right? I'm not the only vain person here, right?). Whether you have some big mirrors to prop up somewhere or maybe some little mirror squares on the table or something, they act as both classy but simple decor and add to the fun. Flowers are also good, if you have some garlands to put around the food or whatever.

Ask me anything...you know, that isn't incriminating.

Maybe she's born with it...

2010-06-08T15:26:00.003-06:00

Every once in a while, I think I should spice up my life with a new mascara and every time I end up disappointed. Yes, I've been doing it for years now, but Maybelline Full 'n' Soft, let's stick together for many future years.

What is your greatest weakness?

2010-05-31T23:22:00.001-06:00

Worst job interview question ever.

Since this is not a job interview, however, we'll just go with a personal kyrptonite:

Dress-up parties.

We may not be that good of friends, but if it's cocktail dress required, I will see that I'm invited to your party. And of course theme parties with costumes are immediate death. If you want to near-guarantee a visit from me plan, for example, a Mad Men themed party and I'm there in my best Joan Holloway dress (okay, so I'm probably more of a Betty Draper...). The only thing that could keep me away would be if someone else was throwing an Alice in Wonderland tea party the same day (I would go as one of the animals, probably, Alice is too easy. And I'm not blonde). Also, Halloween should be like four times a year.

(Yes, I did think about answering this seriously as some sort of personal growth exercise, but the weather's so nice out and I'm feeling frivolous.)

Ask me anything...you know, that isn't incriminating.

Bloggity Blog

2010-05-31T21:06:00.007-06:00

I know I'm behind on several formspring questions from you all. I was going to do some today, but the site seems to be broken...who knows if I'll still be in the mood when it starts working again, mwhahaha!

So this would be old news if I ever checked Analytics on my blog, but since I rarely do, I'll just now point out something interesting I discovered. This is what my visits to my blog look like since I started keeping track: So apparently there was one week where I got a gazillion visitors (or almost 900) that kind of makes all the rest of the weeks of my life look worthless (around 100/week). Turns out that was the week of President Obama's inauguration and the post that most of those people were looking at was from a month earlier when I was speculating about Michelle Obama's inaugural gown. I'm pretty sure a lot of people out there were talking about that, but apparently I didn't do too bad in the Google battle there. Which isn't really that huge of a victory (my goal here is more to keep in touch with people and share things I find interesting than to have a bazillion people read it), but still, kind of makes me proud of myself in a artificial-validation-that-I'm-important kind of way. Bounce rate was only 56% which isn't too bad...

Yes, I redid the background. Can't be sticking to the same thing all the time. And it's springtime now and I figured color is good for the soul. Keeping the layout, though, because it works and it's too much bother to change.

I want to have a reunion this summer with all my children and spouse (I was going to say spouses but that doesn't fit our family yet)? Where and when should we do it?

2010-05-26T13:20:00.005-06:00

Hi, mom.

If you're wanting all your children, I'm assuming that means after Nate is back from Chile and whenever Jared is available (when does he come back to UT from NC?). So later summer. Time doesn't matter that much as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure Trevor and I could get work off whenever with proper notice.

As far as place, I've been kind of wanting to go to Ridgecrest again, but I know that's not exciting to you that live there. Trevor is, of course, not a huge fan of travel, so I'm sure he would vote the close the better. And probably he would prefer not camping. I'm not picky myself.

We're financially more free than we have been in the past, so that'll make travel easier.

So yeah, I guess just somewhere not too far away and as comfortable as possible (camping is okay, I suppose if it's a clean/sissy enough campground) is probably our only criteria. Let me know what you're concocting and I'll throw in more input as needed.

Ask me anything...you know, that isn't incriminating.

Wonnacott Wars!

2010-05-23T10:36:00.013-06:00

This was apparently put together for a cub scout pack meeting for my little brother, Kevin. Enjoy:

The Great American Art of Star Wars Parody at it's finest.

Award for Worst Actress goes to: Mom. (Love you!)

Two confessions

2010-05-19T13:56:00.001-06:00

When I go clothes shopping, I mentally place pieces I see into the following four categories: Serena, Blair, Vanessa, and Jenny.

Everything I have eaten today so far falls into two categories: Oreos and Sour Patch Kids.

How many countries have you traveled to?

2010-05-18T12:00:00.001-06:00

Très (that's "three" in Spanish; look at how cultured I am!): Canada, Mexico, United States.

And for those people who say I can't count the United States because I'm a native, just let me have it. My list is already fairly pathetic. And technically I have traveled to the United States by traveling to various places in the United States, right?

I've never spent a night in a foreign county. I've spent an afternoon in Tijuana and an afternoon on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and that's all I've got. And I've never been outside North America (well, I guess Hawaii counts as outside North America...but it's still US). The vast majority of the travel I have done has been to places that can be driven to in a Wonnacott family station wagon or van (farther than you think), because that's how we roll.

However, I would love to be a world-traveling sort. I have a well-documented appreciation of foreign places. I suppose lack of money and anyone to travel with has limited me. Trevor's not a huge traveler, though given the right destination (Ireland and Scotland, perhaps, love?), I think he could be persuaded. If we can get him over his fear of flying. Though of course money is the bigger problem, but a trip could be saved up for if planned far enough in advance. Basically what I'm saying is...does anybody want to go on a trip to a foreign country with me? I'm down for basically wherever. When would depend on the where (as when depends on cost, weather, and events). Let's plan something.

Ask me anything...you know, that isn't incriminating.

What's the oldest piece of clothing you still own and wear?

2010-05-14T11:07:00.003-06:00

I'm not sure. I know I have a fair amount of clothing that I had in late high school that I still wear...mostly t-shirts, I suppose. I just recently got rid of a dress that I know I had in 9th grade, but I got rid of it because I hadn't worn it for a year, so I guess that doesn't count. Actually the shirt I'm wearing today I'm pretty sure I originally purchased in 10th or 11th grade (from Wal-Mart and it's still in good condition!), though I didn't wear it much until I was in college.

Which brings me to something I really think clothing manufacturers should do (yes, this is straying from the original question; no, I don't feel guilty about that because this is far too important of a cause to stay silent on):

One day, a couple months ago, I was sitting on the toilet and noticed something on the tag of my pants. Along with the brand name (Old Navy), the washing instructions (machine wash warm with like colors, tumble dry low), and country of origin (Indonesia), there was the season and year the pants were produced (Fall 2005). Awesome. Why don't all clothes have that? It would make thrift shopping all the more amazing (How do I know if this is actually from the 80s or if it was created during an 80s revival period? Or if it's actually part of an 80s costume, heaven forbid?). And it would certainly come in handy if you were ever in a situation where you had to answer "What's the oldest piece of clothing you still own and wear?" and needed a 100% correct answer instead of something wishy-washy followed by a semi-related tangent.

Of course, I love chronology more than the average person, so maybe it doesn't matter that much (I'm the kind of person who Mark Twain's Memory Game was made for...not because I'd be good at it, but because I would love to be good at it). But still.

The only people I could see being against this are the super snobby high-end fashion people who would be like "Well, of course, that's from Givenchy's Spring '97 collection, what do you think I am, an idiot?" But since that's a very small portion of the clothing market, whatever. Though maybe having the season/year stitched on the tag is actually something common in the high-end clothing market. I really wouldn't know.

But anyway, that's my cause. Write your congressman (I mean, I technically hate government over-involvement, but...).

Ask me anything

Too Late to be a Trendsetter/Too Lazy to Think for Myself

2010-05-12T22:05:00.003-06:00

Way to go, Rachael, you got me jealous. So here goes: http://www.formspring.me/awk4

Basically, the thought is this will help me generate topics for blog posts without me having to, you know, use my brain. Thinking, I believe they call it.

So ask away, my friends.

And the new Supreme Court Justice nominee is....

2010-05-10T12:19:00.002-06:00

Paul Blart, Mall Cop.

Awesome.

Prior to today's nomination, everything I really knew about Elena Kagan came from an article I read a few weeks ago about how it shouldn't matter whether she's a lesbian or not. So naturally the second I find out she's the pick, my reaction is to walk the world wide web for conclusive evidence on her sexual orientation. Way to fail that one, Slate.

Okay, okay, now you're making me feel guilty. I'll go read about her abortion stance or something...

Cinqo de Mayo

2010-05-05T10:01:00.004-06:00

I generally use this day as an excuse to show off my vast knowledge of Mexican history to at least one poor person who says "Happy Cinqo de Mayo" to me. It's not really that vast, but I did take a Modern Latin American History class once and the internet is never too far away, so I'm a pretty realistic fake expert. Well, and since most people know essentially nothing other than "The Mexicans are going to take all those good American jobs that...well, yeah, we don't want those crap jobs, but...stupid Mexicans...also, I love enchiladas", I'm pretty safe.

I was debating writing out a brief rundown of the wars for Mexican independence here (hint: The Battle of Puebla, the reason for Cinqo de Mayo, is not actually that important), but I've decided that's actually kind of silly, since like every news source will also have something written about it today (and every Cinqo de May for years to come) and anybody who cares already knows.

Nothing like holding onto information that really serves no purpose other than to give me a smug "I know something you don't know" feeling. Of course, thinking I'm smarter than everybody else is a key part of my personality...but let's not talk about that.

Cinqo de Mayo's greatest contribution to my life: Company provides Mexican food for lunch today. Whoohoo!

William Shatner is a Great Man.

2010-04-27T09:18:00.006-06:00

I'm so glad this happened:

Also a great man: Whoever put this classic together. The people of the world owe you much.

Oh man, now I can't stop listening to this song (thanks a lot, Trevie...).

Priceline Negotiator!

Fidel Saves the Day!

2010-04-24T11:12:00.000-06:00

The rules for cats outside are as follows: 1) Fidel can go outside whenever he wants because he can take care of himself. 2) Julius can go outside when he's not being a wuss (so very rarely). 3) Tiberius is not allowed outside without adult supervision because he is too clumsy and can't see that well and would probably get lost immediately. Does this look like an outdoor cat to you? He's too sweet and fluffy.
But I am a bad cat mother and broke rule #3 Thursday night. The heater doesn't work in our new apartment which means we had a space heater provided by maintenance which means we had to keep out bedroom door open for warmth which means cats were bugging us which means I kicked Julius and Fidel outside. Tiberius is allowed to sleep with us because he doesn't cause trouble. And he sometimes lies across my neck like a kitten scarf. He's so cute.

Anyway, Tiberius ran out the front door with the other boys that night and I was half-asleep and I wasn't dressed and I didn't really want to run out after him. So I figured "He'll probably be okay," and went back to bed. And then spent a very distraught next 24 hrs where he was nowhere to be found. (Julius and Fidel were waiting dutifully by the door when I woke up the next morning, of course).

And it rained most of the morning and I knew my little Tiberius was out there cold and wet and scared (he's scared of everything) and the rain would probably make it harder for him to smell his way back home. I was worried.

However, last night around 2am, I woke up to scratches on the back door. "Oh, Fidel wants in," I mumbled to myself as I got out of bed. And there Fidel was looking up at me expectantly and he had his brother with him! We know that Fidel found him and brought him back, because I'm positive Tiberius didn't even know about the back door.

Tiberius was happy to be home, but didn't cuddle until he had cleaned off all the mud and debris from his fur because he's polite like that. And then he slept on my pillow next to my face and we were happy.

And Fidel gets medals. And a parade. He is such a good boy.

Handsome Man in Handsome Glasses

2010-04-17T13:22:00.006-06:00

After a lifetime of blindness, this husband of mine can see ("Holy cow, I can read everything...look, way down the street: 'Big Five'!"). He picked out the frames himself and I must say I'm impressed ("I could tell these looked good because the girls in the store got all excited when I put them on.")

For some reason my employer will give us a vision plan but offers no health plan.

As a side note: the picture is taken facing Tylor's room...I would never approve of the longboard against the wall or the psychedelic poster above the bed.

Don't Stand So Close To Me

2010-04-13T13:02:00.003-06:00

I like walking by myself because then I can sing to myself. I'm sure the people along my bus-stop-to-work route think I'm mad. I don't care. I don't need to attract friends or lovers; I do need to let the music out of my soul....or, you know, keep myself mildly entertained (the old-fashioned way!).

Standards in my repertoire: "In Love With A View" by Mojave 3, "Five Foot Two" that 20s classic, "Idaho" by Josh Ritter, "Superstar" by the Carpenters (I know it was originally by someone else, but since my voice sounds exactly like Karen Carpenter's...oh wait.), "Something's Coming" from West Side Story, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Whitney Houston (the one I struggle the most with hitting the notes for, but also the one I sing with the most enthusiasm).

No Cable...Plenty of TV

2010-04-07T12:06:00.006-06:00

When I tell people I don't have cable, I often get the reactions: "Good for you!", "I don't think I have the willpower for that.", etc.

I let it go and let people think that I'm a saint, but in reality...I watch tons of TV. I don't understand why more people haven't realized this yet but...everything you ever want on TV is available on the internet. Much of it is even legal. And then whatever program you want is available whenever you want...I'm not constrained by the time restraints of some network. It's even better than TiVo because you can watch virtually anything. Want to see the first season of How I Met Your Mother? Yes, it originally aired five years ago, but the internet has the answer.

Each week that there is a new episode, I will watch: Project Runway, Gossip Girl, America's Next Top Model, 30 Rock, Family Guy, and The Office (mylifetime.com, cwtv.com, hulu.com). I watch The Daily Show probably a couple episodes a week. And this is just new programming...let's also mention that over the last three weeks I've watched all three past seasons of Mad Men. Oh, and I watch probably around two documentaries on Netflix a week. This adds up to lots of hours of my life staring at a screen.

So no, I am not a good person for not having cable. I waste as much or more time as you do in front of worthless programming. I've just sacrificed good picture quality for money. That is all.

Note: Don't judge me for any of the programming I admit to watching here. I realize many of these shows are past their prime and perhaps one or two never even had a prime; I will continue on. I will also defend the value of Gossip Girl to society until the day I die.

Dear Mother Nature,

2010-04-06T11:45:00.000-06:00

Do we really need more snow? I am not amused.

Thank you,

Andrea

alphabetgame.blogspot.com

Boulders Apartment Fire 1/22/12 Edition

Welcome, Isabella!

Top 10 Books of 2011

2012 Resolutions

Christmas Songs

Life Plan #682

Radio

Twenty-five

Slack

Series Premiere Thoughts, Part I - Up All Night, 2 Broke Girls, The Playboy Club, New Girl

Sweet Employment

Memories of Grandma

I had a plan that was built on thinking too long...

Again! Again!

When there's nothing else to blog about...

Indiana Ramble

LT-B = :(

In a funk

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips Review

Summer Watching List

So White

On Being Married, to my sister

Don't Work It

Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman

Let's Not Get Political

Post-Moderns

More Bullets

Tiberius

News Bulletin

Let's Talk Lipstick

You Know You're a Girl When...

Character Strength Test

Sibling Wedding Extravaganza

The Boulders Apartment Fire Update

Apartment Fire

Apparently I'm Much More anti-Muslim in My Dreams...

"When I'm Rich" To-Do List

Oscar Fashion Trend: Sleeves

Attention Pet Owners

$28 Well-Spent

Climate Change

Trevie Treasure

Callous

New Years Resolution + Cry for Help

Tabernacle Fire

Open Mic

I Want to Ride it Where I Like

Date Night

Schemes

I didn't intend to write another cat post, but there was a cat event...

Orabrush Review

Worry

So Long and Thanks for All the Dolphin Slaughter Footage

Yep, that's my husband...

Maid of Honor

Salt Lake City Weekly: Reinforcing Stereotypes since 1984

Three Person Halloween Party...Because We're That Cool

Before It Was Cool

Cat Notes

Victory!

I don't think mimes sing...

Pick your favorite prompt for a Trevor blog post.

Together

How Times Have Changed

Couldn't Look You in the Eye

Finally, a Reason to be a Dictator

Red China Blues Review

Hooray for being offensive toward another religion! Oh, wait, we're totally against it!

Mew

Haircut: Now Available in Black

Mosquerade

Haircut

Drafted

Running from Nazis

Yep, that's a mistake I make often.

Change the World. Vote!

Your favorite?

It's better than drinking alone?

Happy 4th