30 Days of TV

Around mid-December, my best friend Brenda shot me an email asking if I'd be willing to participate in a blogging challenge. For the next 30 days, my blog would center around a series of 30 subjects, regarding my favorite (and least favorite) television shows.

Day 01 - A show that should never have been canceled

Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching (currently on)

Day 03 - Your favorite new show (started in the year 2010)

Day 04 - Your favorite show ever

Day 05 - A show you hate (or dislike very much)

Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show

Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show

Day 08 - Best twist in a series

Day 09 - Best scene ever

Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like (or hated) but ended up loving

Day 11 - A show that disappointed you

Day 12 - An episode you have never grown tired of...

Day 13 - Favorite childhood show

Day 14 - Favorite male character

Day 15 - Favorite female character

Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show

Day 17 - Favorite mini series

Day 18 - Favorite title sequence

Day 19 - Best TV show ensemble cast

Day 20 - Favorite kiss

Day 21 - Favorite relationship (romantic, friendship child/parent)

Day 22 - Favorite series finale

Day 23 - Most annoying character

Day 24 - Best quote

Day 25 - A show you plan on watching, but haven't gotten around to yet (old or new)

Day 26 - Season finale failure

Day 27 - Best pilot episode

Day 28 - First TV show obsession

Day 29 - Current TV show obsession

Day 30 - Saddest character death

Well, as any regular reader of my blog might gather (all two or three of you), I'm not really great at updating regularly (as the last two months prove), and my history with writing about TV is pretty much nill. Honestly, as far as this blog is concerned, I've tended to shy away from television shows and written about books or movies instead. But it's a new year, and I think I've given television a raw deal. So, with a few changes to the categories and a big change to the process, I said yes.

So for the next 30 posts* (or a bit more if I go off subject), I'm inviting you into the world of the television I enjoy (or enjoyed) watching. Maybe I'll convert you to a diehard fan of a certain show, or maybe I'll make you steer clear. What I hope most of all, though, is that this process helps me remember what a great art form (and entertainment vehicle) the Boob Tube can be.

I'll also be linking to my other friend's blogs who are also participating. They watch way more TV than I do and have much better answers (I already know this), and are much funnier than I am too, so I highly recommend checking them out when you get totally bored with me. ;-)

My cool friends who do a much better job than me at this:

Brenda

Nikki

Dany

Jessie

- Over and Out -

*Instead of days, to make sure I wouldn't be staying up till one a.m. every night trying to finish the next day's blog post.

Catie's Aloha Bridal Shower

So I'd like to apologize in advance for the lack of anything cool in this blog for awhile. Work has been crappy at the moment, so I will make up for it by posting some wonderful pictures from Catie's "Aloha" Bridal Shower!

Catie got in from Seattle on Saturday night and she greeted us with her usual bright and loving demeanor.

(That's me tackling her. The old guy just got lucky to be in this picture.)

I did a lot of prep (read waaaaaaay too much) for the party, and I was really pleased with how everything looked. Plus, now my house looks like a beach party all the time!

The first game we played was a "Make Catie a Veil" game and I have to say we got some pretty creative entries. Luckily enough, we were able to have Dad model for us too. All in all, it was awesome.

(Here comes the bride!)



(Carolyn and I working hard on our awesome veil)

(Brenda with she and Nikki's veil contribution....possibly the greatest ever made)

I also made some delicious favors and some guestbook pages for everyone to fill out for Catie. They turned out really lovely, but like an idiot I forgot to take a picture of the actual Guestbook. Catie, you'll have to send those my way.

Plus there was delicous food. Believe or not, Carolyn had never had Fruit Pizza! FRUIT PIZZA, possibly the greatest invention EVER! Luckily, I remedied that with two different kinds. :-)

(Mmmmmmm Brownie)

Plus, flip-flops were required! Although I let Grandma get away with her normal hose and orthopedic shoes. They were definitey flip-flops in spirit. :-)

(Look away Nikki and Carolyn, we know you hate feet!)

Catie got lots of presents too!

(Lovely pajamas from yours truly)

And we had Mai Tais in Margarita glasses on top of a Kegerator.

You just can't beat that irony.

All in all, a lovely party, and a lovely time, and a lovely sister. :-)

Help Research Continue

I was reading Neil Gaiman's blog and I discovered that we are able to comment on the new regulations for Stem Cell Research. Unfortunately, several religious extremist organizations have totally decided to bombard the website with anti-stemcell research comments.

As of today:
*"The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) launched a new"Oppose Destructive Stem Cell Research" campaign today, equipping citizensto contact Congress and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to opposeembryonic stem cell research ." -- WASHINGTON, May 6/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ www.usccb.org/stemcellcampaign

and that

". ..of the 6000 plus comments that NIHhas received concerning the draft guidelines, 99% were from people whoopposed embryonic stem cell research."-Carecure Forumhttp://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showpost.php?p=1039001&postcount=12

THERE IS NO WAY that 99% of the people in this country think helping find cures to terrible diseases is WRONG. If you guys could just take a minute of your time to leave a positive comment on the website, we could get a representative count of people, rather than something completely hoodwinked by the religious right. http://stemcells.nih.gov/policy/2009draft.htm

Here is a link to a great letter with lots more info and comment ideas.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd5vs2xt_0hkwp6xd8
Please help.

Just call me Jimmie...

Tuesday morning I was a having a great day until 2 p.m. Then as I was staring at my computer screen, things started to look a little odd. My world was spinning around me, and when I stood up it hit me even worse. After a "quck" visit to the doctor this morning, the facts were confirmed; I have a little something called

VERTIGO!!

(cue Bernard Herman score)

I have vertigo and it might last for up to 6 weeks! I at least seem to have a mild case, meaning no vomiting or having to lay in bed all day. It mainly just feels like I stepped off a rollercoaster when I'm walking around, and it's kind of hard to concentrate when I'm having a spell.

Anyway, Brenda has decided she will be calling me Jimmie Stewart from now on.

Although I have to say I have yet to be engulfed in a whirlpool of terror, but I'm looking forward to that pretty soon.

***On a brighter note, I entered a contest regarding "The Order of Odd-Fish" on Murphblog, and although I didn't win, it was tons of fun and definitely worth a read. James Kennedy's has links to all the posts as well on his blog too!

Challenge Accepted

I'm reading "The Order of Odd-Fish" right now by James Kennedy and I just finished the part where they tell you how to challenge someone to a duel. I'm pretty sure it involves throwing a shoe at someone's face and saying "Consider yourself challenged."

Well, Brenda has issued such a challenge, and although there is no shoe, and really no duel. I have accepted. One survey complete:

10 years ago:
1. I was finishing up my Junior Year in High School and getting really excited for the Europe trip.
2. I was in "high school love" with Daniel, meaning I worried constantly about everything in our relationship.
3. I bought my favorite pair of shoes ever in preparation for Europe. My purple Reeboks. I loved them...
4. Brenda was my best friend in all the world, and we at one point told people that we didn't need drugs because we were "high on life". Then we giggled and danced around for another half-hour.
5. I believed in God.

5 years ago:
1. After several months job searching, I had just got a job at the Department of Revenue in Jeff City and I was going to have to move away from Kirksville and Brenda. :(
2. I realized how much fun going out to bars could be, thanks to Theresa. :-) I never had more fun barhopping than I did with her in the winter/spring of 2004, and Brenda was pretty nice to come pick us up. :-)
3. I was planning my wedding and visiting Daniel every weekend and practically living in the Kappa Sigma house.
4. I watched Brenda get locked in the bathroom, and I made her sip water from a straw through the doorknob hole and fed her animal crackers while we waiting for the maintence man. And I did a good deal of laughing too.
5. Still believed in God.

1 year ago:
1. Daniel and I were enjoying living in our new house...although that whole mowing the yard thing was not so much fun.
2. I was working at Vold & Morris and figuring out that I acutally kind of enjoy the whole writing legal documents thing.
3. I was excited about going to Minnesota with Brenda over Memorial Day and getting to go somewhere out of the state!
4. I was not paying any attention to my Fantasy Baseball Team.
5. God? Not so much.

Yesterday:
1. I grilled pizza and it was delicious...plus I heard the little boys next door totally get in a fight and the older one made the younger one cry. Priceless.
2. Went to Sonic three times...Damn you Royals and your free Slushes!!
3. Checked my Fantasy Baseball Team non-stop while watching the Royals game in the background.
4. Called Brenda at least twice to tell her about funny things (see #1), and talked to Catie for a half-hour about her wedding and the Seattle vacation.
5. Read some "Order of Odd-Fish", watched one of the best episodes of "The Office" I've seen in a long time, and cuddled with Daniel.

5 snacks I like:
1. Trader Joes Sea Salt Pita chips
2. Almonds, Cashews and Hazelnuts
3. Tootsie Pops
4. Crispy Hexagons Cereal
5. Pirate Booty!

songs I know all the words to:
1. The Star Spangled Banner
2. Loose Lips - Kimya Dawson
3. Old Man River - Show Boat
4. Piano Man - Billy Joel
5. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond

If I had a million dollars:
1. Pay off any debt my or Daniel's parent's have.
2. Pay off the house and the student loans.
3. Donate money to Planned Parenthood and NPR.
4. Buy Daniel a car that doesn't flood when it rains, and myself a car that isn't falling apart.
5. Save the Rest....and maybe take a trip around the world.

5 things I would never wear:
1. Acid Wash Skinny Jeans from the 80s
2. A Girdle
3. Granny Panties
4. Shoulder Pads
5. Sequins

Favorite TV shows:
1. The Office
2. Mark & Olly
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel
4. Veronica Mars
5. Six Feet Under

5 bad habits:
1. Pretending I don't have any bad habits.
2. Not calling people when I need to.
3. Procrastination.
4. Not working out.
5. Filling out surveys at work. ;-)

5 biggest joys:
1. Daniel
2. Brenda
3. Rainy Days with no work and a good book.
4. When life is bustling around me and I am in the center of family/friends and I have that perfect moment of knowing that this is where I belong.
5. Endless summer days with friends, baseball games, BBQ grills, cool drinks and popsicles.

fictional people I want to date:
1. Jim Halpert - The Office
2. Atticus Finch - To Kill a Mockingbird
3. Belle - Beauty and the Beast
4. Sam Wise Gamgee - Lord of the Rings
5. Fat Charlie Nancy - Anansi Boys

So now if you've read this (THROWS SHOE AT YOUR HEAD)

Consider yourself challenged!!

Love Me, Love My Jacket...

So my good friend Nikki had her birthday several Saturday's ago, and she just so happened to have an 80's birthday party to celebrate the year of her birth! Now I know as well as the next person that the 80s should never, EVER come back into style, but for celebrating one day, I'm all for going all out in crazy 80s style.

So being a crazy, fun-loving, fan of dressing up and looking AWESOME, my good friends and I helped create the most awesome thing that has ever existed: my beloved jacket.

Yes. Behold it's beauty. It says my name. It says 82 Rules. It has rhinestones and hearts and Bubble letters and stars and squiglies. It's THE most awesome piece of clothing I own, and I know that I am really not worthy to wear it. I love this jacket.

Here is a good front view, plus an awesome picture of my good friend Ashley. :-) She was totally rocking with a big shirt and big belt and some totally rad shades.

Brenda dressed up like the lady from Some Kind of Wonderful, plus she had a flask. Please look closely at the jacket and you might just see the shoulder pads!!

These two cool dudes are really just too cool for school.

The cutest couple I know....plus they look like they could totally do a mosh pit and be cool rock stars and such.

An awesome group pic that I stole from Nikki, but it looks totally sweet, so that's just how I roll.

Another awesome shot of my totally sweet jacket. And a great shot of Carolyn too. :-)

Seriously, though:

Jacket Haiku

Oh, oh my jacket

Comfort me with joyful thoughts

I love you, jacket

It's On Like Donkey Kong!!

So you may have heard from a certain blog that a challenge has been issued!

That's right, as of last Friday, I'm working out to become a lean, mean, kickin' ass and takin' names machine!

And luckily my good friend Brenda will be there to keep me on track....or take my monies if I don't keep up!

So here's to a new year of NOT being a big fat lazy bum! Woo!

Peanut Butter Crappers

A few weeks ago, while drinking a rather delicious beer at Harry's Country Club with my friend Ashley, I decided that I liked cookies. Now, this wasn't too big of a revelation, since cookies are great, but what WAS big was that I thought,

"Why don't we all get together and MAKE cookies?"

And so the "Cookie Party" was born.

Yes I know. I am a genius.

We all met on Sunday afternoon with cookie doughs in hand (with the exception of Belinda who had been catching rays in California that weekend), ready for an awesome time. And I have to say that an awesome time was had.

Here are a few of the awesome cookies we made.

We made some in the "traditional style"

And some untraditional. :-)

(Carolyn's Christmas Shark)

As you can see, we got pretty creative. :-)

Maybe a little "too" creative.


We even made a new mustache for Daniel!

I made Alex a little Alex cookie!

They got along really well...

And of course we made some "not-so-nice cookies" too...
(Cover your eyes kids!)

We named them Eunich, Adam, and Eve!

Adam forgot to wear pants, Eve wore her Christmas Tree Fig Leaf, and Eunich, has no pants, but he does have a raher nice bowtie. Thank you Ashley!

All in all it was one lovely afternoon of cookie making, baking, and decorating! I'm pretty sure we've started a new tradition, and I'm glad.....cause I lika dem cookies! Mmmmmmmm!