It's beginning to sort of look a little like Christmas...

In the interest of not being a delinquent blogger I feel the need to give a brief update as to the current goings on at the Lee (ok... Lee/LaMons) household. In preparation for our holiday party next weekend (consider this your formal invitation) Chris and I started the task of decorating for the holidays. I only slightly documented the event since we sort of stopped mid way to take care of some much needed doggy excercising and grocery shopping...not to mention I whipped up a healthy (and surprisingly deeleecious) chicken enchilada casserole for dinner (a recipe I am totally willing to dole out to interested parties- "Ask me about my casserole!")

Behold:


Doesn't he look cute when he's perched precariously on a pseduo makeshift ladder??









Our first set of outdoor Christmas lights....all the neighbors started putting their lights up too...we're convinced we started the trend and that it's not just that this is when everyone does it.








I swear I got further in decorating the tree, but forgot to take a picture. So...this is our naked tree. We picked a good one!








Indy was trying to read up on the cancer fighting benefits of kibble in my latest issue of Health magazine. You can't blame him for destroying the magazine...a lack of opposable thumbs makes it hard to manipulate the thin pages.

Dog Carpenter For Hire

Don't get me wrong. I love having a dog. Indy is fantastically cute and cuddly and surprisingly well behaved for a 9 month old puppy. A puppy that weighs 72 POUNDS!!!

See how cute!? "Hey!", he says.















In return for the food we give him and the shelter we provide, Indy has decided to repay us by modifying our dining room table. I think he wants it more oval shaped. "I don't see the problem...looks better to me...", he says.





I had hoped he would give up after the one corner. Turns out, no. He's a dedicated little fucker. Takes pride in his work. Sigh.




Who wants to have a dinner party at my house!?!? Better yet...who wants to dogsit????

Why I need to get some pajamas...

I'm having one of those days. Just one of those days where you can't see the forest from the trees no matter how hard you try. I tweaked my neck something fierce a couple weeks ago and promptly got a deep tissue massage that seemed to start the healing process. Then yesterday as I was reaching under the bed to retrieve a tennis ball that Indy had lost I felt the entire right side of my neck seize into the worst charlie horse EVER. I'm really not exaggerating. WORST. EVER. I couldn't even make a sound until 30 seconds later when the cramp had gone from mind numbing to just a confusing amount of pain. I've been stretching it and massaging it and popping Advil like it's Pez ( I can't even EAT Pez...okay. WHITE Pez). The point is nothing seems to help and now I've got some chronic headaches and a hunchback, but I'll be just FINE!

Then I walk out to my car to drive home for lunch and find a nice envelope on my windshield. Placed there by the kind folks at Parking Enforment. It seems I am PHYSICALLY INCAPABLE of parking legally. I just CANNOT remember that one side of the street has street cleaning on Thursdays while the OTHER SIDE is Fridays. I was oblivious. Completely blindsided. I. am. so. stupid. I am really kicking myself. This has not been a good year for me as far as "the law" and "my car" go. I think I just found my new years resolution: spend less money by not breaking the law. And REMEMBER STREET CLEANING DAYS. I think this calls for a post-it. Or maybe my company should spring for some employee parking.

I get home (it's still only 1:30pm) and am greeted by a completely random bill from a doctor who I haven't seen in MONTHS for over $100 from a "prior balance". No date. No explanation. Just complete bullshit. This correlates lovely with the random bill from an unknown clinic trying to charge me almost $200 for unspecified tests from JANUARY. I'm still waiting for them to send me the itemized breakdown of THOSE charges.

It's just one of those days where all I want to do is put on my PJs, curl up in a little ball and SLEEP. Sleep until I can wake up and not have to sit on hold with insurance companies and doctor's offices and deal with real life and money and bills and work and figuring out what to make for dinner. There comes a point when it's all just so exhausting. I don't think I like being an adult. I actually DREAD getting the mail. It's never anything fun like a card....or money. It's always bills. Whether it's legitimate bills or unexplained crap that I have to fight. It all sucks. The postman (Thomas) is not my friend. He's also terrified of Indy. The cliché amuses me.

I have resorted to eating what might be the strangest and most disgusting food that I've become temporarily addicted to. Dried Lychees. They smell foul, look like something I might have to pick up with plastic bag and taste somewhere between sour and bitter. I can't stop eating them. Maybe I have a vitamin deficiency. I need to stop blogging in 3....2.....

Peak Inside My Brain...Welcome!

A few weeks ago Chris was working late on a Friday night and I had just come down with a cold. I was logging some quality couch hours pondering the larger questions in life while watching back to back episodes of "What Not To Wear" and chugging Airborne when Chris finally came home around 11:30pm. As he plopped down on the couch I turned to him and said "So I've been thinking about something serious...".

Let's take a break in my story for a moment to discuss how if you ever want to see true panic in your boyfriend's eyes and all the color drain from your his face all you have to do is turn to him and say "I've been thinking about something serious...".

Anyway...so what I'd been thinking about is something I still find myself pondering. If we were ever attacked by zombies or vampires...would I be one of the ones that survive? At this point you're probably scoffing and shaking your head, but I'M SERIOUS!! If our town was under attack and zombies were trying to break down the door would I be one of the people that movie watchers would see and know "she's toast" or would I be the bad ass chick with a sawed off shotgun blasting the heads off plague infested zombie killers! It's an important question. It also depends entirely on whether we're talking about slow Shaun of the Dead zombies or if we're talking about smart, fast and crazy zombies like in 28 Days Later. (And yes I'm aware that some people don't consider those to be zombies, but rather ordinary people who had been "infected". I call them zombies. My blog.) I'm thinking more along the lines of fast zombie monsters although if caught in a crowd of slow zombies I'm not sure what my strategy would be since I'm entirely aware that pretending to be one of them does diddly squat. I could go on and on. It also makes me wonder whether I would be able to outsmart a crazed killer who had pinpointed me as a target. Would I find a way to trap him and escape or would I be the one running upstairs to my impending demise.


So many questions.

I also burned my tongue this morning as I got a little overzealous with my tea. I subsequently spilled said tea all over my keyboard. Welcome to my life.

I'm a lover not a driver...

I was leaving work last night and ended up in the left hand turn lane behind my boss' car. We were both waiting for traffic to ease up so we could turn left and as the light turned yellow to red he got stuck behind someone who didn't turn fast enough and left him a little too far in the crosswalk but not far enough to just go through the light. So we both waited. It then occurred to me that because I knew him I was willing to let him, if he had wanted, reverse to get out of the crosswalk- something I would normally be annoyed at while thinking "hey buddy, your fault. don't reverse into me."

So I've embarked on an experiment.

Driving in Los Angeles, a city with the worst traffic in the country (that's an actual fact), can ruin your day. You can leave the house with birds chirping, the sun shining and a smile on your face and after sitting in 50 minutes of traffic to drive 8 miles you can arrive at work with a dark cloud above you grumbling your way to your desk. So I decided last night to try pretending that every other motorist on the road is a friend of mine and extend them the same benefit of the doubt and consideration that I would to my boss. It worked pretty well this morning although my commute was unusually light and uneventful so I wasn't sure if it was a good test. My commute home during lunch to let Indy out was, how do I say this, a clusterfuck. Nevertheless, I put on my compassion hat and allowed people to go before me at the metering light and slowed down to allow someone to change lanes. I'm actually surprised at how much more pleasant driving is when you just assume that everyone is your good friend. Now, that said, this is going to take some work to maintain considering that it's hard to like my new "friends" when they cut me off without signaling or speed up just enough to not allow me to merge and almost crash my car into the barrier. I found myself saying out loud thigs like "use your fucking blinker, FRIEND!". I'm a work in progress, but I do like my new strategy and will keep you updated on my progress. It's a never ending battle to find a way to cope with living in this wonderful (see "insufferable") city.



And now for some funny things that make me laugh.


















And my favorite.....





hee hee.

Fighting The Walking AIDS...

This past Sunday was the annual Los Angeles AIDS Walk. This was the first year I've done the walk and haven't lived in Hollywood with easy access to event parking and let me just say that the hour long drive maneuvering around all the closed roads and detours was nothing short of frustrating.


After parking and starting the walk to the walk we passed this sign. Clearly written by someone with a fuzzy understanding of both the event and the English language.



Waiting for the walk to begin.






That's right...the number to call is 866-GODLESS.



The "holy rollers" like to set up camp at the intersection of Santa Monica and La Cienega with their messages of hate. Signs that read "Homo Sex is a Sin" and "Sodomy is Still Against God's Law" receive 'the finger' and a lot of boos from the passersby. It put a damper on that block of the walk until.....


A bus driver parked his bus right in front of the hate mongers. Cheers from the crowd!


The 6.2 mile route just happens to pass right in front of Chris and my favorite café Lulu's. So.....we took a slight detour. I'm only mostly sure this doesn't make us bad people...


Thank you to everyone who sponsored me and made such generous donations to AIDS Project Los Angeles. Together we were able to raise $600 to help fight AIDS. THANK YOU!!!!

The Science of Cute

If there is one thing I've learned from watching the video below it's that porcupines are a disarmingly cute animal. It's unexpected...what with their sharp spines and all, but just check out his little hands!!!

Now let's do the math:

If PORCUPINE = CUTE
and
ANIMALS EATING = CUTE

then PORCUPINE + BANANA = TWO CUTE (get it? two! cuz it's math, but it's a play on the word "too"...hehe)

It makes sense. It's SCIENCE!

BUT!

What do you get when you do THIS kind of math????

PORCUPINE + BANANA + HICCUPS(!) = WAY TWO CUTE.


Porcupine Eating A Banana

Add to My Profile | More Videos

AIDS Walk Los Angeles- October 21st, 2007

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." -Winston Churchill


On October 21st (this Sunday!) I will be participating in AIDS Walk Los Angeles. It's something I've done every year since moving here and even was part of a few times in San Jose. AIDS Walk Los Angeles is a 10K walkathon to support AIDS Project Los Angeles and other AIDS service organizations throughout Los Angeles County for men, women and children affected by HIV and AIDS.




It's an amazing event that actually, especially in a city like LA, makes you feel like you're part of a caring and compassionate community. If you have a few bucks laying around (who doesn't??? ) and would like to sponsor me and help me reach (and hopefully exceed) my fundraising goal just copy and paste the following link into your browser

http://aidswalklosangeles2007.kintera.org/jlee

I know money is tight...it always is (oh LORD do i know money is tight), but every little bit helps and remember...it's tax deductable!!

So I'll leave with a chinese proverb that I found...where else? the internet:

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.
- Chinese proverb

Even more famous family...

Also....and I've always thought this...there is an eerie resemblence between my Uncle Dave and...Gale Hansen from Dead Poets Society.

Famous Family

Have any of the Lees ever notice the amazing resemblence between Grandpa Lee and....wait for it....Benicio Del Toro. Chris was the first to point it out to me and over the weekend we compared the two....it's a little crazy.....









There are some even better picture comparisons but these are the ones I have access to right now.

Kickball Update

Sparked by Tracy's comment we should stop for a moment to reflect on the passing of another kickball season. This season was SOOO much more fun than the last due in main part to a team full of good people who not only care about the game, but care about eachother and care about having some good old fashioned F-U-N.

We arrived back from Yosemite just in time to play our second game of the playoffs...and WHAT a game it was!!! Until the 4th inning we were up 2-0 when a tragic error allowed the other team (the Rhinos?) to score 2. I actually had one of my better games this season and had two nice bunts and saw a little action in the outfield. After we finished the 5th inning tied we went into extra innings. Each consecutive extra inning finished in a tie. Apparently the person that wrote the "in the event of tie" section of the WAKA Kickball Rules was in a rush to go drinking and decided that the best way to settle a situation like this would be in a climactic game of "Ro Sham Bo" (aka "Rock, Paper, Scissors"). That's right folks. We lost an important kickball game- a game that would ultimately end our season- to a tragic throw of SCISSORS! Who throws SCISSORS?????

Sigh. Well. What can you do. The Championship would've been in Vegas....but who wants to go to VEGAS!? Phsssspt...certainly not MEEEEEE!!!!!!! grrr....oh well. It's nice to have my Mondays and Wednesdays back.

Let's take a look at a few priceless moments. Cue Green Day's "Time of Our Lives".








I rotated those pictures. Blogster rotated them back. Stupid blogster.

P.S. Nate and Tracy: That episode of Kitchen Nightmares made me gag. Seriously SO VILE!!
P.P.S. Did I mention that Tracy did the dishes all weekend? I'll cook for her any day if she cleans up after me. :):):) Thanks T!

Yosemite!!!

We're safe and sound at home after a terrific Yosemite vacation and I'm dealing with those mixed feelings that always hit just after a vacation. I'm ready to be home, but a little overwhelmed and stressed at the idea of having to deal with real life again. You mean I don't ALWAYS live in a beautiful house in the forest away from people, traffic and pollution surrounded only by furry critters and trees? Bummer. That's a real disappointment, but let's focus on the good- just how AWESOME these past four days have been.

Thursday-

It took us a bit longer to get up to Yosemite due to a slow Togos line, a distracting GAP outlet, an impossible to find bathroom and a disappearing highway onramp, but we made it and met up with Nate and Tracy around 2:30pm. We had a couple hours to kill before we could settle into the house so we went on a short hike (just a couple miles) to chat and download eachother on the "how's work?", "how's the house and dog?", "you're pregnant. that's weird". You know, the usual. We unpacked at the house around 4pm, made a grocery list for the next few days and headed into town to pick up the necessities- groceries and scary movies.
Dinner: Spaghetti (a la Jess), garlic bread (a la Nate) and Caesar Salad (a la A Bag).
Movie: Vacancy.


Friday-

Nate and I started this day off with some coffee and good conversation while we waited for the lazy bums...I mean...loving significant others...to wake up. After a hearty breakfast we headed into Yosemite for some cycling and a bit of hiking. A 2 mile hike may sound short, but it was basically a vertical ascent. We were, however, rewarded with some terrific views and some classic conversation. After 4 or 5 hours in the park we headed home.
Dinner: Tri Tip (a la Chris), mashed potatoes (a la Nate) and Mexican Fiesta Salad (a la Tracy's recommendation and...a bag.)
Movie: The Descent.





Saturday-

We decided to take it a little easy this day. We started off with a relaxing breakfast and a dip in the highly cloroxed hot tub. Seriously folks...we're talking burning lungs and tarnished rings. We all wanted a more relaxing hike and less of a drive so we headed to the closer Sequoia forests in Yosemite. These trees are amazing and some are even thousands of years old. Just incredible. We had planned to take one night off from cooking so we went into Oakhurst and had dinner at Crab Cakes. Good bread and Clam Chowdah. Crappy crab...or...CRABBY Crab....hehehehehehehe.....sorry...I digress..We capped this night off with some wine and s'mores by the fire. It was cold. I was wearing a tank top, short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt, hoodie sweater, Chris' zip up hoodie and Nate's ski jacket....and two pairs of socks. After all that I was actually pretty toasty.





Sunday-

The weather really cooperated for our boating plans. We rented a pretty sweet boat and spent 5 hours on the lake waterskiing and relaxing. My only other attempt to waterski was in high school and I couldn't even get up on the skis. I was frustrated with my first attempt this time around and couldn't quite make it up, but on the second dive in the ARCTIC water I got up and had a few good runs! This is something I could really get into. Chris had the longest ride of all and Nate looked like a pro making sharp turns and jumping the wake on his one ski. Trace and I were so proud!





What a terrific time. I really needed to get out of LA for a little bit and take some time to recharge with good company, good conversation and some clean fresh air. It was great to get to spend some quality time with N & T and really get to know each other a little more.


I love these guys!!!

T-minus 1 day...

I just have to get through what will most likely be an extremely busy day at work....and then OFF TO YOSEMITE!!!!! I'm so excited, but feel a bit unprepared. Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine.....as long as we can find our way up there....here's a pict of the house we've rented:



fingers crossed it actually looks like that.

and this is where Indy will be staying:




pictures to come....


ok. time to buckle down....

UBS....similiar to restless leg?

Unnecessary Braking Syndrome is a tragic illness that affects millions of drivers in the United States every year. The numbers are growing each year with hope for a cure dwindling each and every day. That is why we have created "TFFUB" (The Foundation For Unnecessary Braking). This organization's goals are to increase awareness of Unnecessary Braking Syndrome (UBS), to improve treatments, and through research, to find a cure.


UBS appears to affect drivers 16 years of age and older although is primarily seen in adults over the age of 35. Individuals living in large cities such as Los Angeles seem to be more predisposed to developing UBS than those living in smaller cities or rural towns. Scientists are unsure whether UBS is a genetic disorder, but they have not ruled out the possibility that it is caused by a defective chromosome. If that is proven to be the case doctors may one day be able to detect a fetus carrying the defect and possibly even cure the disease before the child is born. Unnecessary Braking Syndrome has a gradual onset and most sufferers of UBS are unaware they even have the disease. It is very apparent to outside observers, especially those following in cars directly behind, that an individual has UBS.

Symptoms of UBS include:
- Putting an unnecessary amount of space between your car and the car in front of you (especially in high traffic)
- Braking spontaneously without cause (the car in front of you did not break and there are no obstructions on road) in what seems to be an effort to annoy the person behind you.
- Sudden varying of driving speed from 10-15 miles below the speed limit to 10-15 miles above.

Those with UBS may also experience:
- Slow drifting from side to side within a lane and possibly drifting into other lanes
- Changing lanes without signaling
- Leaving turn signal on without changing lanes




Sufferers of UBS are advised to not talk on the phone while driving. Even handsfree handsets can create problems for UBS sufferers. Eat while driving or apply makeup also increases your risk of Unnecessary Braking Syndrome and should be avoided.

If you think you or someone you love may have UBS please seek help. While there currently is no cure doctors are working everyday on potential treatments that may may UBS manageable. Treatment is still in the experimental phases of research. Side effects have shown to be nausea, diarrhea, upset stomach, headaches and more unnecessary braking.



If you would like to help TFFUB in the fight against UBS we will be holding our first annual "Drive For the Cure" event Saturday October 6, 2007. TFFUB is currently accepting donations to continue research and treatment.

Mail donations to:

TFFUB
Yarmouth Ave.
Reseda, CA
make checks payable to "Jessica Lee"
All donation amounts acceptable.

Thank you. Let's work together to fight Unnecessary Braking Syndrome. Together we can make traffic better...and Jess less pissed off.

Just. Plain. Sick.

There are a few things that I find REALLY, truly and genuinely disgusting.

Office kitchens, for example, are one of the most foul places on the planet. -I'm writing this blog after standing in my office kitchen waiting for my hot water in the microwave.- Everything in our office kitchen seems dirty. It seems....used. The coffee pot that someone once pulled out of the box and admired as brand new, sits completely unused, covered in brown stains and calcium deposits. The white plastic has faded to a dingy yellow and no one seems to care. The toaster oven, which OBVIOUSLY has seen a lot of use, sits so covered in bagel crumbs and grime that no one will touch it even to clean it. An old bag of peanuts (shells on) sits opened on the counter as though it had just been brought in as an office treat...i'm sad to admit when desperate hunger and boredom hits me at 4:00pm I've been known to sneak a few of these...I'm not dead yet, so the peanuts are really the least of the worries. There is a wicker basket full of styrofoam cups holding utensils and random packets of tea and opened/half eaten instant oatmeal. The biggest conundrum of it all are the office kitchen mugs. Who do these mysterious mugs belong to? I'm starting to believe they were here long before we arrived in this office. They sit strewn about, sometimes with coffee or tea stains in them. They come and go...it's obvious people are using them. Due to a serious lack of styrofoam cups (not that i approve of styrofoam) I have resorted to drinking my Ginger Tea this morning out of a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. mug with a smiley face on it that says "stupid is as stupid does". I feel like it's talking to me...I've washed it thoroughly. It still feels dirty.



Along the same lines of the office kitchen filth...I also find the following incredibly disgusting:

1.) Toilet lids being left up (not just the seat, but the whole lid...you know feces can spray up to five feet when you flush. now think about where you put your toothbrush).

2.) Men and women with long toenails who insist on wearing sandals (Birkenstocks? add 5 points).
2.a) Men with long fingernails. ew.

3.) People who walk the streets of LA barefoot...especially celebrities.

4.) People who publicly snort their snot. Especially next to me in a quiet movie theatre.
4.a) Men who spit.

5.) Black hair in the corner of people's bathrooms...i'm not sure why, but black hair is way more nasty looking once it's detached from the head. I apologize if you're offended. deal with it. my blog. get your own.

6.) The white goo that collects around the corner of someone's mouth when they're talking too much and getting dry mouth. Especially when they refuse to take a sip of water.


But I digress....

There are just some things in the world I will just not understand...like why some people wear Crocs.

Happy New Year!

The following occurred to me a little while ago and I still haven't been able to shake my anxiety.

In three months, it will be Christmas.


Let that sink in. It's almost 2008.

Doesn't that wig you out????

If not, congratulations. You've got a sensible grasp on the passage of time and are in no way freaked out by how quickly the year has gone by and how few of your goals for this year you've actually accomplished. Or maybe you're like me and haven't even gotten around to making your 2007 list of "goals to accomplish this year". I thought I had more time! In my mind it's still March. Which made me realize another shocker. In 6 months I'll be 26. This is bringing me way more anxiety than the whole "christmas" thing. Years are just slipping by at an alarming rate. I can handle being 25. I'm in my mid 20's. At 25 you can even pass for early 20's. Once you turn 26 it's just a downward spiral to 30 and what will I have accomplished????

I'll take a break from my quarter life crisis to mention to all my fellow 20 somethings that this whole 26 is basically 30 thing really only applies to me. If you're 26, 27 or 28 don't worry, you're not almost 30. You've still got time. You've got your whole life ahead of you! You're just a baby!!! If you're 29, there's nothing I can do...you're basically 30.

So back to me.

It's the little things that make me feel old- like starting a 401K. Yes, it's very smart of me to be planning for my retirement, but nothing makes you realize you're gonna die soon (and pennyless) like a 401K. Teenagers make me feel old. The discussion of High School Musical 3 makes me feel old. 15 year old runway models make me feel old (and fat). Pregnant friends make me feel old. Married friends talking about getting pregnant makes me feel old. Let's just slow this whole thing down!!!! Or maybe I just need to hurry up and get my act together. Some of my friends even have CAREERS! Yikes!!!

Now, you can all post comments saying how young I am and how I have my entire life ahead of me and to just settle down. Yes. My rational brain realizes that in a cosmic sense my 25 years on this planet are but a tiny pore on the face of time, but that doesn't stop me from feeling startled by how long ago it seems that I was a freshman in High School or even graduating college. I've been out of school for 4 years now and feel no better prepared to face adulthood than I was as a freshman in college. Except that now I know how to pay my bills online. Too bad I have twice as many to pay.

The brightside to a swift move into 2008 is the upcoming Presidential election. Oh thank the lord that man will finally go away.

Britney Spears Brings Me Joy...for once.

First of all....what is up with Weekends....seriously. Why is it that Monday-Friday at 7/7:30am I cannot seem to DRAG my butt out of bed...and could sleep for HOURS AND HOURS...and so could the dog! Yet come Saturday and Sunday morning, Indy is whining at 6:30 and I can't seem to sleep anymore!! What is up with that!??! Can't a girl sleep in??? I mean...for realzies.

Now...onto the more important stuff.

Let me preface this next stream of consciousness blurb by saying...I do not buy into celebrity gossip. I do not regularly troll sites like perezhilton.com or thesuperficial.com (although I have recently discovered www.wwttd.com- genius.). I have never bought a copy of People, US Weekly, or any other celebrity tabloid (although I will peruse them at the dentist office). I do not talk about celebrities as though I know them or discuss who is dating who and who divorced who as though these people matter to me or..you know...the world.

Now, that said, let's discuss the awesome genius that is Britney Spears and why the fact that her heroically bad VMA performance brings me so much joy.

I'm not sure what it is about Ms. Spears that makes me despise her so much. It could be that she is a no-talent ass hat that has led a charmed life of fame and success despite everyone (even her fans) admitting that she is just a performing monkey. Or maybe it's that no matter how awful her performances are night after night and year after year she continues to have fans...as in...people who will pay ridiculous amounts of money to watch her LIP SYNCH for 15 minutes in a slutty outfit. It could be that she is straight up trailer park trash and the worst excuse for a mother EVER (asking her kids to fetch her cigarettes or "Mamma's Lollipops" as she calls them). You know it's bad when you can make Kevin Federline look like father of the year. Whatever it is, the very sight of her performing makes me want to light myself on fire and jump off a tall building. I admit that she had some catchy singles back in the day. Songs that, when you find yourself in a club after a couple rum and diet cokes, make you want to shake what your mommma gave you, but that's not hard to do- just ask Justin Timberlake or Beyonce. All this hoopla about her big "comeback" at the VMAs was making me sick to my stomach and to hear this morning that she royally and most excellently F-ed it up BIG TIME brings a silly wave of giddiness over me. I actually trolled the internet this morning digging up dirt about her VMA performance last night. The best commentary was from www.wwtdd.com:

"I think maybe people are being a little too harsh. They say her performance was stiff, but in her defense, she's a tubby piece of shit. Let's see you eat two dozen doughnuts and then dance around. That's what I thought. They say she was lip synching, but if her mic was on, all you would have heard was her gasping for air and clutching her heart, so I think this was much better. Speaking of things you hear, here's my impression of those dudes whose arms she fell into, "oh jesus christ, my knees are about to explode!"




I'm sorry, but that's funny.

And while I'm on my rant about prissy pop princesses....let me share with you part of an interview with Avril Lavigne-someone who actually has talent and looks, but ruins it with arrogance and comments like the following:

"I am a very giving person. When the hurricane thing happened, I went to my closet, filled six boxes of stuff and said to my assistant, 'Take it to Katrina!' I also like to give stuff to people who are my 'workers,' especially if they don't make much money."

"People love me and people hate me, but I'm comfortable in my own skin and that's what counts. And anyway if you do hate me, you're the loser, not me."

Um......ok....where to start. We'll just side step the part where she dismisses a massive national tragedy as "the hurricane thing" and move on to my favorite part where she likes to give stuff to her workers cuz they don't make that much. Or you could just pay them more. Cheap spoiled brat. I can guarantee you that my "workers" will make plenty of money and won't need me to "give them stuff" when I'm rich and famous. You have that in writing.

Ok. I think I might be done for the day. I can only handle so much celebritivity (that's negativity and celebrity combined) in one day.

For Dog Owners...

I recently was introduced to a website that I think any and all dog owners need to at least peruse at some point. It's called www.dogfoodanalysis.com. It's a website dedicated to analyzing the ingredients of various dog foods and rating them on a six star scale (with 6 stars being the highest). They give you the ingredients and then a review analyzing whether the food is nutrionally sound.

Indy started having some...shall we say....digestive problems recently and I started to suspect the food we were feeding him. I'm not sure why, but having read about this site I thought I'd check it out. We had been feeding him Natural Balance, which was recommended by the people we adopted him from. Turns out the main ingredient in this food is grain (which also turns out is not part of a dog's natural diet) despite the first ingredient on the list being meat. We have since switched his food to one recommended by the site (I believe it's a 5 star food) called Canidae and not only does he OBVIOUSLY like it more, but no more digestive issues and he seems to have tons more energy (just what he needed!).

Anyway, if you own a dog or are thinking about getting a dog...check out the site. A friend of mine, who's dog hated her food and was having allergies, found out the food she was feeding her was pretty bad and switched to a 6 star variety....her dog gobbles up the food now and seems to be doing so much better. Yay! One doggie at a time!

We also mix in plain nonfat yogurt with Indy's food (for the toots) and Missing Link (a really awesome supplement with Omega-3)

Labor Day Fun!

Well it was back to work today after the nice long holiday weekend....The only escape from the blistering heat in the Valley was to visit our friends in their new house...with their new pool....


Saturday we went over to Dustin and Bill's and introduced Indy to the pool for the first time. He waded on the first step and stomped in the water at first...


Indy made it into the water...with a little help from Bill.


"Secret Lovers" was playing in the background...


After all the pool fun we had to play a little guitar hero. The look of sheer concentration on Chris' face is genius.



On Monday we headed back over for more BBQ and funinthesun. This time Indy was more brave.

With a little help from Chris and Dustin...Indy learned to surf!









And here are a few of the awesome canonball picts courtesy of Sam.... :)