EEEEEEEEEEE
Eeeeeeeee~eeeeeee!
*excitement*
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
*faints*

UPDATE:
Okay, now that I can think a little more coherently...

I finally got up the nerve to ask Bossman for some vacation time this fall. (You have no idea what an ordeal time-off usually involves.) With great trepidation and much gnashing of teeth, I gave him my proposal and he essentially said yes.

I'm going to Australia. I'm going to Australia!

AMENDMENT:
And more importantly...
I'm going to New Zealand. I'm going to New Zealand!

Endless Echoes -- I'm not sure exactly who pays for this service... but you can apparently send radio-wave messages for your deceased loved ones into outer space. And they'll even send you your very own "Messages to Heaven" Certificate of Transmission.

Badgers invade Kenya... you knew it was going to happen.

Today in Postal History: find an enveloped postmarked with every date of the year... including today's.

Music of the Day
Tonjip Live Set found on this site... because it was Phil's birthday yesterday. I sent him honey mustard.

Petra and I went to see Two Brothers. Yay! I loooove baby tigers! (And Chris paid, so it wasn't even my $8 -- so there, Steve.)

I was going to post the photo of me feeding a baby lion a bottle when I was 18, but I can't find it. Sadness.

It's Not All Bad
I talked to my mom tonight, and she wished me a very merry half-birthday. Woo-hoo.

And I coined the most awesome term ever! I was telling Steve that I burnt my mouth on my 350-degree K.A.C.

To which he replied, "kac? wtf is kac?"

"Kick-Ass Casserole," I explained. "It could be kick-asserole."

Here's the recipe...

My Sister's Kick-asserole
Here's what you need:
▪ 1 package raw chicken tenders (even better if they have the pre-sliced stuff for fajitas)
▪ A couple big broccolis
▪ 1 can cream of mushroom soup
▪ 1 can cream of celery soup
▪ 1 package mozerella cheese
▪ 1 can French fried onions (optional... but really... is there any question here?)
▪ A double-boiler-steamer pan or a metal strainer that fits into a pan

Here's what you do:
▪ Preheat oven to 350 degrees
▪ Start boiling a couple inches of water in a pan
▪ Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces... making sure to get rid of all those icky parts that you end up chewing on forever before you discreetly spit out. (Totally sucks if you have issues with raw meat like I do.)
▪ Put chicken in boiling water and stir
▪ Cut broccoli into little bite-sized trees. (Choppin' broccoleeee-eee. Choppin' broccolye-eye. She's choppin' she's choppin' she's choppin...)
▪ Please someone get that joke
▪ Wash broccoli trees and either in the strainer or the double-boiler, steam them above the boiling chicken until tender -- chicken should be done by then too.
▪ Drain water.
▪ Mix chicken and broccoli with as much cheese as you want and then mix in enough of the soups to make it moist and casseroley.
▪ Put in oven-safe pan. Cover. And heat until cheese is melted. 40 minutes is a good guestimation. (You can put cheese on top too if you're really into that.)
▪ Add french fried onions before serving.
▪ Careful... will burn your mouth.

Observation
Tonight's moon looks like a big black and white cookie.

"The key to eating a black and white cookie, Elaine, is you want to get some black and some white in each bite. Nothing mixes better than vanilla and chocolate. And yet, still, somehow racial harmony eludes us. If people would only look to the cookie. All our problems would be solved." -- Jerry Seinfeld

Today's Been Craptacular!
I'm currently fending off another (another!!) computer virus. What the crap? Just mere days ago, Steve helped me get something else off it. Why does this happen to me?? Why? WHY???

So uhh... yeah. TGIF.

Remember Spirograph?



Okay so matt has taken the lead in the unofficial Spaced Penguin challenge with in impressive 412591.

Has anyone tried the Doom Funnel Chasers variation of the game yet? The same except instead of Kevin the penguin (that is so freaking hilarious, by the way... I need to see those movies), you have a large ball of duct tape... so you stick to planets instead of bouncing off them.

My Couch
(Hehe... made you look... not that couch... a real couch.)
I am getting such a rad couch from Karl's old neighbors. It's an awesome brown tweed. It belonged to her grandmother, so it that awesome vintage box-y look. Plus it has a really comfortable pull-out bed (I tried it) for all my visitors!

The View Recap
▪ Manda went first.
▪ They mispronounced her name.
▪ I giggled when they cut off her pre-makeover interview.
▪ Love the hair... really do -- the outfit? I see what you mean.
▪ Then came Leslie.
▪ She wins the spokesmodel award.
▪ Pulled off the Drew "look" with the hair/make-up/outfit triple punch.
▪ Felt bad for the other girl's pre-makeover interview when they froze it on her half-smile.
▪ I can't believe you hung out with JC's ex-fiancee.

Try beat my score (156828) in Spaced Penguin.

What do Calvin & Hobbes have to do with Fight Club? See for yourself.

Favorite Search Results
This is probably the best search that has found my site yet...
dude i just need some pictures displaying emotion hello anybody HELP

This is the greatest "about" page ever.

Don't Make Me a Liar
Sandra and the children are going to California today, and so we had a farewell dinner there last night. I stayed around to help finish packing and help control the kids. As I was tucking 7-year-old Dalton in, he admitted that he didn't want to go in the airplane. Knowing he had flown before, I asked why.

"What if there are bad people on the plane."

My heart sunk. I hate that this is his reality... that these are the fears that trouble a precious little boy.

"You know what? I know there were some bad people on planes a while back... but ever since then, they have been a lot more careful. Everybody goes through a metal detector -- and Hunter might set it off with the pins in his arm. That would be cool. And everyone's bags go through an x-ray machine -- so they'll see your gameboy and your walkman and stuff. And everybody is working hard to make sure that none of the bad people even get on the planes anymore."

UPDATE
Manda just called (from New York... *envy*) to tell me the outfits that they are being put in tomorrow. Manda is wearing Kirsten's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Premiere outfit, and Leslie is wearing Drew's Walk of Fame Ceremony outfit. (Yeah, Leslie definitely got the better deal... as Manda will never ever wear that again. But hey, she can always sell it on ebay.)

Everyone is remembering to set their VCRs and/or programming their Tivos for The View tomorrow, right?

Conversation between Two Personalities
Manda: My outfit is hideous.
Me: Hideous by your standards or mine?

Hrm....
Does anyone know... if I keep getting a Lycos search results popup box everytime I search with Google, does that mean I somehow acquired some spyware/adware/virus-y type thing? Grr.

Weekend Recap
- Swing dancing to a (great) 20-piece live band at The Factory.
- Casserole
- Dutch lessons, dankjevel
- Swing dancing to a live band at the Gibson showroom. Two live bands in one weekend -- unheard of!

Just a Suggestion
If you find yourself looking for a nice bottle of wine while you are in the Nashville area, may I suggest The Wine Seller. Every time I am in there, the people are so friendly and offer great suggestions. I feel like I leave having learned something.

Freaking Awesome
Songs to Wear Pants To -- it's like that guy who draws pictures based on phrases that people email him -- except with songs. The greatest so far are the THX Sound with Just My Voice and I am the First Fifty Digits of Pi.

Oh, and is Steve aware of No Pants Day?

I'm craving casserole. I'm thinking about crashing a potluck.

Manda's back and alive. Her hair is gone. Can't wait for Tuesday!

Yeah, Good Comeback
For no apparent reason I felt compelled to listen to the 9-11 commission hearing while working yesterday afternoon.

My favorite part was with the dude who waits for a brief pause as focus was switching to a new speaker... he stands up and says, "I have to say this commission is not answering my questions. I'm walking out. This is a farce."

Then some lady yells, "Please walk out."

"I will!" He retorts stomping off like a 4-year-old with his American flag in hand... which he presumably was going to go burn on the steps in an effort to pull off two media stunts in one day.

I can just imagine him sitting there for the first two hours... knees bobbing... waiting for just the right time to clear his throat and make his scene. Maybe it was genuine disgust, but it all seemed very staged to me. Please, if you're walking out? Just walk out. No need to do your own commentary.

Maybe if he had stuck around for the remaining three hours his questions would have been answered.

You can see it here. (Sept 11 Commission 12th Public Hearing: Day 2) It's right around 2:08-ish.

Dancin' Dancin' Dancin' Machine
I started learning Balboa last night. Woot. My calves are going to be hard as rocks if I keep it up though -- lots of standing on toes.

And don't miss the June Bug Jive this weekend (benefiting Happy Tales Humane) featuring a live 20-piece big band. $10 if you're just dancing -- $25 if you're eating too.

Recipe Wanted
Help! Despite my general dislike for cake, there is one kind that I am craving. My grandmother who passed away a couple of years ago made the most lucious yellow/lemon cake with some sort of brown sugar frosting. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Leave a comment or email if you might have a recipe resembling that.

Public Service Announcement
Many people have found this place looking for video of the Reagan funeral. I don't think I linked to that before, but C-Span.org has streaming video of all the major events that week. (The "Mansions of the Lord" recessional starts at 1:38:27.)

ThinkExist.com: Finding Quotations was Never This Easy

I finally clicked on one of the Scott+Baio+Reagan+funeral searches that came up in my referrals to see why I'm getting so many hits. (7th) So then, of course, I had to read what the other results were saying. As a result, I came across Broken Masterpieces. He references both Swtchfoot and This Holiday Life, who I thought I'd mentioned before, but apparently not. (Incidentally, important Swtchfoot concert tonight... a very special opener.) :)

By the way, I am the only result if searching for corey feldman stencil tshirt. I'm special.

No word from the New Yorkies. Not like neither of them have my number or anything. I'm just anxious to hear if they are chopping Manda's hair off or dying it red.

I think I'd be more apt to use my gmail account (does that sound dirty to anyone else?) if they came up with a program that would notify me of new messages. Or just make it compatible with trillian and make me really happy. Feel free to send me mail there though... the addy is kathedral at that gmail place dot com. Can't guarantee when I'll get it though, as I have no idea when I have new messages.

May I just say that I have the most amazing playlist right now including a fine selection from Matson Belle, Orbital, A-ha, Royksopp, Saso, Radiohead, Frou Frou, AIR, Krezip, The Notwist, Kula Shaker, Martina Topley-Bird and Arab Strap. Oh yeah, and finishing off with Duncan Shiek's "Songbird". Woo!

I know some people around here are readers of his, so I thought I'd let you know that David Sedaris was on Fresh Air yesterday. I took the extended long way home yesterday in order to listen to the end of the interview. What an odd character! Interesting, but odd.

More beautiful pictures: from someone's cycling trip across china. (scroll down... love the one of the darkened store doorway!)

Random Fact:
I don't know anyone named "Fern". Suddenly I'm wondering if anyone does.

New video for Phoenix's "Run Run Run" here.

* * * Breaking News * * *

Ravishing Replacement Chosen for View Makeover When High-Maintenance Honey Gets Uninvited
ORLANDO, FL -- With evidence that being kind and cordial pays off in the end, Leslie finds herself getting ready to fly to New York with Manda tomorrow... not to accompany her, but rather because she too is getting a look-like-a-celebrity makeover on The View.
    The adventure began when Leslie told Manda about the look-like-a-celebrity make-over that she had sent her picture in for considera-tion. She had been talking to producers when Manda also sent in her photo (and sympathy story of being a new mom and needing a makeover) thus distracting producers from Leslie--narrowly ooching her out of contention.
    The day before the makeovers were set to take place, Ms. Leslie received a phonecall from the producers grovelling at the thought of their mistake. She had handled her defeat with such grace that they quickly turned to her when one of their other makeoverees turned out to be a royal pain in the arse.
    Look out, New York -- here they come. Makeovers tomorrow. Live on The View next Tuesday.

Because This is My Life
(Only some people will get the significance of this.) How would you feel if it was your work-from-home day, and therefore you were feeling pretty unkempt to begin with? And then how would you feel if you were busy scrubbing the cupboards in the kitchen and look up to see this guy standing in your kitchen? Yeah, that was how I felt last night. Mental note: Be ready to be seen at all times... even your own home is not safe.

BBC's On This Day takes a look at the important events throughout this day in history.

Happy Birthday, Mom! Love you bunches. See you soon!

Four out of five search hits today have been looking for the recessional at the Reagan funeral as referenced in the last post. The rest have been for Scott Baio & Ronald Reagan.


You're Allison Reynolds! "the basketcase"
quiet and shy, you stay in the shadows. That is
until you blurt out something random and Wierd.
You're artistic and misunderstood. If only
people would take the time to listen or notice
you...
Which Breakfast Club Character are you?
(hat-tip to stepdad)

You may have heard Stephen Paulus's "Pilgrim's Hymn" if you listened to Reagan's funeral. (PDF of all music used during the service) You can download an mp3 of it at this site and read the beautiful words. Gorgeous.

That PDF also helped me figure out that the chilling recessional was "Mansions of the Lord" from We Were Brothers.

I tearfully watched the burial ceremony last night. What a beautiful ending.

(Did I really see Scott Baio there though? I know I saw Scott Hamilton... but Scott Baio?)

Double--no, triple--our troubles and we'd still be better off than any other people on earth.
    --Ronald Reagan

The funeral service is being broadcast live on wbez among others, I'm sure... if you're interested.

Horrible Segue Alert
I just came across DiedOnline.com: the Internet's first ever death notification system. "Ever wonder how your online friends would know if you died? ...You login to the system every few days, or whatever time period you set it at. If you don't login within that certain amount of time, the system will email all of your friends with your custom 'Hey, I'm dead now' message."

They do have precautionary measures in place in the event that you forget to log in. And you can also put a little alive/dead icon on your website.

It's a Small World After All
Okay... so I believe it is confirmed. To help everyone understand the weird round-about way this all came to me, I will give the background info along with a little pictorial for reference.

---

Once upon a time I moved to Michigan. This was where I became a rockstar. (Long story.)
* I can't really sing.

I was on the road with Jack and Mark.
* Mark is only that tall because I had already taken off my rollerskates.

After tour was over...
▪ I stayed and worked in the office.
▪ Jack stayed and went on the road again.
▪ Mark went out on the road with this band.

While with that band, Mark played drums. The bassist's last name was Conrad, so he was known simply as "Rad" for short.

Meanwhile back in Michigan, I met Manda, because she too wanted to be a rockstar.
* Wearing my ugly knit camo hat (with visor) from Dave.

There were also some boys who wanted to be rockstars. Including one named Brandon. Only he thought maybe it wasn't the right time to become a rockstar and ended up going home after a couple weeks of training.
* He is Conrad too... but he is not "Rad".

Fast forward... in no particular order...
▪ Mark moves to Nashville.
▪ Eventually I move to Nashville.
▪ Jack & Manda get married. Aww.
* Manda's going to kill me, because I found my pictures from her wedding after I made her get out of bed to scan this one. Oops.

So earlier I was reading a messageboard to keep up with what people are saying about my guys. I noticed a message mentioning the site of one Steve Conrad.

"Rad!" I exclaimed in all senses of the word.

Now Mark had told me several years ago that he had gone on to play bass for RSJ. So I went to look at his pictures from the tour.

Lo and Behold, I saw this picture and said "wait a minute." Went back to read the caption... Brandon.

I had to go home to check my pictures, but it is, indeed, the same Brandon. And if I had only known that three months ago, I would have tried to track him down when Leslie and I were wandering around backstage at that show!

So anyway, I probably could have told that leaving out Jack & Manda altogether, but I just wanted to make clear why she would be the only one who cares. And here's a spare wedding picture just because I have it scanned now.

Having a Revelation
Holy crap. I just made the weirdest scariest small-world discovery ever. Must go home and drag out old photos to confirm first. Manda's going to be the only one who cares. But still.... WEIRD!!!

Happy Birthday, Hanna!

Now is the New Later
So yesterday Leslie and Manda, the two Floridian hotties, sent in their photos to The View for the look-like-a-celebrity makeover. This is funny for multiple reasons, most of which you probably need to know at least Manda personally to agree. (She was the one who made a video audition for The Amazing Race and never sent it in, etc.) My immediate thought was that I could have a lot of fun with this and totally mess with them... something like Leslie's casting call last year. However, I refrained.

But would you believe Manda got picked?? What in the world? That doesn't happen to real people! Haven't heard if Leslie has heard back or not. Craziness.

So be sure to watch The View on Tuesday the 22nd, because Manda's going to be looking a lot more like Kirsten Dunst.

ListentoaMovie.com: Low quality, but sometimes you just need something else to listen to at work. I find it helpful if it's a movie you've already seen. Otherwise you're going on sound effects alone during the non-dialgue parts. They've got a zillion movies (a good chance to catch up on director commentaries) and even some television shows -- including Seinfeld, Saved by the Bell, The Simpsons and Futurama. (See the whole playlist)

Cellphone Etiquette 101
If you are in a place where ordinarily you wouldn't speak above a low whisper, and due to some serious emergency, you are forced to be on your cellphone... do not speak at a volume level above a low whisper.

Such places include, but are not limited to:

▪ Libraries
▪ Houses of worship
▪ Funeral homes
▪ Hospital hallways
▪ Elevators
▪ the back of Barnes & Noble where people are trying to read... sheesh.

(Yeah, that means you, crazy loud direction-giver lady.)

The Gospel of Empire Records.

Nooma: Yes, that's Rob "I'm not your grandpa" Bell. I almost forgot how awesome he is. Mental note: check out his online messages.

Tut tut, it looks like rain.

I have something to say... later.

Holy Crap. Lions!
In the meantime... huge thanks to Manda for showing me this little Kenya cartoon and getting that stupid song stuck in my head.

Ick
While supplies last... get your very own Copper-coated cicada-shell lapel pin with stunning green patina. Someone offered to get one for me. But you see, just like when my old boss was going to buy me a ticket to a Michael Bolton concert... these things are not rewards.

10 9.5 9.5 9 9.5 10
After reading Cleolinda's Harry Potter & the Prizoner of Azkaban in Fifteen Minutes, I decided that JK Rowling must be a figure-skating fan. Can't you just hear it? "Up next we have Viktor Patronus, and we'll be watching for his triple-salchow/triple toe-loop combination."

Due to my unwavering admiration for Scott Weiland, I believe I will have to be purchasing the Velvet Revolver release today.

But actually my first priority purchase today is Jason's highly anticipated album (featuring the guitar stylings oflRumsey). He has one of those sweetly soothing voices which suits his personality as well.

Not going to New Orleans. Couldn't take the extra days on either side to hang out with Michael's fam.

Bossman is going to DC this week and will most likely take the time to pay his respects to Reagan. I can hardly imagine what that would be like.

Song for the Day
Do You Call My Name (Real Audio) - Ra
~Do as you are told
And maybe then we'll let you out
You might be dead and cold
You might be full of doubt~

Goodnight Ronnie
I was watching the memorial service for former President Reagan. Afterwards Nancy went up to the casket with the children. She put her cheek down gently, briefly on the casket. The Reverend went over and embraced her from the side, and you could see her say, "I can't believe it." That's when my tears came.

You Go, Girlfriend
Print this out. Frame this. Send this to every single woman you know. "Boyfriend & Husband are Separate Things" Can I get a "preach it, sista"?

Take it from me, the biggest mistake you can make when it comes to having a boyfriend is pledging your eternal and undying love under every and any circumstance, forgiving them for every transgression, finding yourself indebted to them financially, physically, professionally, emotionally and spiritually; being loyal to the very end, even when it is not promised in return, cleaning up after their messes (figuratively as well as literally) by taking on all of their problems, their bills, their strongholds, their character flaws, and their issues.

Love It or Leave It
Michael left his Keane cd in my car three weeks ago and hasn't come back for it. Maybe I should feel a little more guilty than I do about letting someone else borrow it.

HOLY MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA, BATMAN!
Hello. Speechless. Oh. My. Gosh. Nashville has finally come through for me! The Cure. Muse. Interpol. Et. al. I'm so there.

Oh yeah, and Cake, Fuel, Collective Soul and Live are going to be at Dancin' in the District.

Went to see the latest Harry Potter flick last night. I thought the beginning trodded along a bit, but the end was rather clever. Loved the closing credits. Adore Alan Rickman.

Quick Recap
▪ I was at the office from 4:00 yesterday afternoon until 2:00 this morning. If only those could be my hours every day.
▪ I now have a $100 giftcard to Barnes & Noble burning a hole in my pocket due to the aforementioned overtime.
▪ My house is presently a disaster, and we have no couch.
▪ I'm off to Bossman's daughter's birthday/pool party.
▪ I don't swim.
▪ I need to bring a watermelon.
▪ I don't eat watermelon.
▪ To select a decent watermelon, Karl suggests getting one "that looks good". Huh?

I just heard Mindy Smith's cover of "Jolene". It's absolutely beautiful. You can see the video at launch.com which is gorgeous -- features Dolly too, who is also amazingly gorgeous to this day. (Anybody see her on Ellen last week? Wow.) You can listen to just the song here otherwise.

We Have Too Much Fun
On the phone with Manda last night...
Manda: Okay, hold on. I'm just going to say that I am walking into the grocery store, and I'm going to be that person who walks around talking with their earpiece that people think are crazy and talking to no one.
Me: So now is when I try to get you to say really embarrassing things?
Manda: [laughs]
Me: Oh, hey... what does "OB-GYN" stand for again?
Manda: [laughs more]

Mission accomplished. She may not have been saying anything embarrassing... but how many non-crazy people do you know who just stand around laughing to themselves?

Aww... former youth groupies all grown up.

RIP Ronnie.

This is How I Started My Morning
Go into Starbucks.
Nadia: Danielle! Cinnamon or vanilla today?
Me: Cinnamon today.
Nadia: [to no one in particular] "Cinnamon" is her stage name, if you know what I mean.
Guy Around the Corner: Where do you work?
Me: Nadia....

The best thing about MSN IM w/ Webcam Feature is insisting that the person on the other end actually make the smilie instead of typing it. (Kinda like this, except I don't know that guy.)

The Gallery of Regrettable Food -- be sure to check out the "More Fun with Coffee" and "Cooking with Dr. Pepper" ones.

Did you even know there was a site called CoffeeGeek.com? (Complete with Guides and How-Tos.)

It's a Small World after All
New roommate moved in yesterday. I knew essentially nothing about her except that she is from Miami and is interning for one of our clients this summer. Turns out that she is good friends with the girl who is marrying the bass player of the band I used to work for and is going to be in their wedding.

I Get My Kicks above the Waistline, Sunshine
I'm running all over the free world this afternoon, but I leave you with this... "One Night in Bangkok" streaming video. If you're over 25, don't tell me you didn't rollerskate to that song.

If I had access to power tools, I would totally build myself an Adirondack chair. Those directions look relatively easy to follow. Maybe someone with access to lumber could hook a girl up! (Inspired by the Memorial Day picture at the glen.)

Oh BLECH!
I thought I could watch it. I have a fairly strong stomach. But this tested my limits. Cicadas. Ick. (via JoeParadox)

modern oragami... this ain't your grandpa's paper crane.

Grottos of the American Midwest. I remember when my best friend in junior high invited me to go to the Grotto of the Redemption with her and her family, but my mom said no. There was probably a good reason that escapes me now.

Mom sent me pictures of the dogbite wound. Looks horrible, but the brave boy is still smiling. That kid is such a trouper. I think it was barely a year ago when he fell off the merry-go-round and chipped a tooth and needed stitches in his lip. Are all boys like this?

Song for the Day
Jazzy Bach - from The Triplets of Belleville Soundtrack
I'm in the mood for dancing. Whee.

Last night Michael and I watched Miracle and the documentary on the 1980 Olympic team. After watching the documentary, I appreciated the filmmakers' attention to accuracy in choreographing every play exactly as it happened. Pretty amazing actually.

Talked to my sister's family for two hours yesterday. My niece is a total trip! She is such a gabber now. How cute!

Sadly though, my nephew got bit in the face by their dog on Sunday night. Needed 22 stitches. Makes me want to cry just thinking about it. So they brought the dog away yesterday. Good riddance too. I have always hated that stupid, yippy, mean, little dog.

Retractable fountain pens... I always write nicer with a fountain pen.

FYI
Should you ever find yourself wanting to switch your natural gas account from your roommate's name to your name, due to the departure of the aforementioned roommate, you will find yourself facing a $268 deposit if you use Atmos as your natural gas supplier. In the words of Steve... "wtehf."

I am Mario. I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble. What Pre-1985 Video Game Character Are You?