2011 in films... most of which i didn't see

It's pretty sad that I don't even recognize a third of these movies... I really don't have a favorite movie this year :(

a day after-the-fact, but still awesome

"Friends" is, and likely shall forever be, my fave sitcom. Entertainment Weekly is, and likely shall forever be, my fave magazine. I am thankful for both of them coming together for this awesome walk down memory lane: 10 Thanksgivings with "Friends"

rip steve jobs

RIP Steve Jobs. I remember being so excited to work on the Macintosh Plus in the high school journalism lab, thinking that boxy little computer with the minuscule screen was the coolest thing ever! And it just got better... Thanks to him, I no longer have 500+ cd's cluttering my house. I have music, games, email and the world wide web in my pocket. And I have experienced the magic of PIXAR storytelling for the last two decades. Thanks for simplifying, entertaining and innovating our lives Mr. Jobs. You will be missed.

A great lesson... Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

this stuff works!

"Kills on Contact" is no joke!

After discovering the first hornet's nest full of nasty stingers attempting to make my house their home at the start of my 3rd of July BBQ, I headed to Home Depot on the 4th and picked up this can of awesomeness for less than $3!

I sprayed the nest at dusk as instructed, and watched the hornets drop like flies (or dead hornets...). Five days later when I finally got around to removing the nest, it was still empty so I was able to take extreme pleasure in whacking it off the roof with my shovel, free from worry of a possible sneak attack :)

gardening in style!

Check out my fancy new lavender gardening boots, found on sale for super-cheap at Le Target' :)

sadness on e street

Saturday was a sad day for music fans. Clarence Clemons, the sax player in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, passed away from complications of a stroke.

I learned of his passing as I was waiting in a massive line to get into Angels Stadium in Anaheim for my third U2 concert of their 360 Tour Saturday night. Bono made me love him even more by paying tribute to "The Big Man" before the final song of the evening...



I first saw Bruce Springsteen in concert in 2005 -- minus the E Street Band -- on his acoustic Devils & Dust tour. The show was at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, and was, in a word, AMAZING. But I felt like I hadn't had the full Springsteen experience because the E Street Band wasn't backing him up, and decided as I was leaving the theater that I had to see him play with the band the next time they toured.

That opportunity finally came on April 16, 2009. Unfortunately, it required going to the LA Sports Arena, the only arena in Southern California that is quite possibly a bigger dump than the Forum. But I told myself, suck it up and go... who knows how many more opportunities you'll get to see Bruce with the E Street Band. In retrospect, I'm so glad I went. It was a great show, and part of what made it so great was "The Big Man." The playful on-stage camaraderie between Springsteen and Clemons is what made watching and listening to that band so fun. And now, half of that duo is gone. And there is sadness on E Street, and for all those who loved visiting it musically.

RIP Big Man. The solo below, starting at 2:10, is how I'll always remember you...

guess where i am...

my two fave muppets become x-men

X-Muppets by ~Rahzzah on deviantART

chills!

July 15th better hurry up!

home improvement... the 2011 edition

BEFORE: Sad, pathetic back wall being held up by either a) my neighbor's tree or b) the pony shed ... depending on which way the wind was blowing.

AFTER: New gray (to match my house) cinder-block, reinforced wall that my neighbor kindly handled all the details of building. I love just having to say: "Yes, we DO need a new wall" and "Who do I write the check to?" :) Added bonus: They had to pull the pony shed down to dig the foundation for the wall.  Woot!

PS: This was actually done back in March, but I'm a little behind on posts and photo taking.

read and be happy...

...then be cautiously optimistic till Tuesday ;)

Kings power up to tie series with Sharks

peep-tacular art

In honor of Easter next weekend, and everyone's favorite Easter treats, enjoy The Washington Post's annual "Peeps Show" Diorama Contest. The Chilean Miner Peeps rescue won, but my faves are #29, The Muppeep Show, and #31, "Peep Hoarders" :) Thanks to James Utt for sending the link!

damn you delicious grilled cheese!!

So yesterday, in honor of National Grilled Cheese Month, there was Grilled Cheese Cook-off in my kitchen. It destroyed my possibly achieving my 3-month Wii Fit goal that is due tomorrow. I now have 3.2 pounds to lose instead of the 1 pound I had left as of Saturday morning. (So my deadline may get pushed back to this coming Saturday, with two more trips to Runyon, plus Pilates, in between, but I digress...)

What made me gain 2.2 pounds you ask? Well, other than too much delicious Taco Dip, it was yummy recipes like this one for "Sophisticated Grilled Cheese" and other yummy concoctions including roasted garlic and truffle cheese; bacon, gruyere (I think) and loganberry preserves; caramelized onion and cheddar... ooh all washed down with freshly-squeezed margaritas.

Yep. I knew that damn grilled cheese would do me in. Oh well. At least it was delicious! :)

let the playoffs begin!

So my LA Kings made the playoffs (barely). By losing their last two games to the Sucky Ducks of Anaheim, they dropped from a potential 4th place finish with home ice advantage to 7th place, which was only thanks to Detroit beating Chicago and saving them from a sure first-round death against Vancouver, the #1 team in the NHL this season. No Anze Kopitar and no Justin Williams has meant practically no goals the last two weeks :( That won't bode well against San Jose, who has the #2 power play in the league. Let's hope the Kings' #4 penalty killing unit can shut them down and our little 12-year-old-looking goalie Jonathan Quick becomes a brick wall. I'm not deluding myself into thinking we'll make it out of the first round. Everything points to bad news. But the Kings have proven lots of people wrong before. Remember 1993... Game 7 vs. Toronto...



I believe (for now ;)

Plus, the good part of not having home ice advantage is our first home game isn't till next week. Which means I get to take my baby brother to a game for his bday. Yay :)

long time, no type

It's been two months since I've been on here. It's been a rough two months. My workplace has been torpedoed and my professional support systems removed one by painful one since December. Been doing a lot of thinking... and pouting... and thinking. The last week finally started to feel normal there somewhat... a new normal, I guess. I was actually busy for the first time in a long time. But still thinking. However, I don't want to dwell on that here. This blog is supposed to be my outlet from that, to focus on entertaining nonsense that means nothing in the grand scheme of things but still makes me smile. So, in keeping with that, here are some of the few bright spots of the last two months...

I discovered an amazing singer a lot of people cooler than I probably already know about... the awesome Adele. I bought her CD "21" on iTunes in March and have been listening to it non-stop at home as I cook and garden (yes, I've been cooking and am welcoming spring so I can get back to my beloved yard work ;) Here's her current video "Rolling in the Deep" -- amazing! (Have I said that already?)




Since January 12th, I've been sticking to my "Get Healthy" goal, and have been working out on my Wii Fit 4-5 days per week. I've also being eating healthier food (lots of salad, lean cuisine and yogurt) and less of it, with just one cheat day per week. I've lost 11 pounds and have four more to go by April 12th to hit my first 3-month goal on the Wii so my little animated Wii Balance Board won't yell at me :p Last week, I decided it's crunch time and I needed to kick it up a notch, so I went back to Runyon Canyon for the first time in more than a year, since my knee problems. I finished the stair-side loop in one hour exactly...just in time to save my car from the "No parking after sundown" ticket in the Mulholland Parking lot.

Finally, my LA Kings have been playing awesome, despite losing our top two leading scorers six days apart last week. They are one game away from securing a playoff spot. They could have secured it today had the Sucky Ducks of Anaheim beaten the Stars, but alas, the Sucky Ducks of Anaheim never do anything Kings fans want them to do. So now we wait till tomorrow night for a hopeful win against the Sharks (eek).
The Kings' magic number remains at two - latimes.com

That's all for now... I'll try to be back here before June ;)

BEST commercial EVER!!

I hope VW's ad agency gets a big bonus for this one. It spread like wildfire online today. So awesome!

a good reminder

Someone sent this to me in an email today. It's a great reminder to be thankful for every day and your health... not everyone is so lucky:

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words.  He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning?  What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way. I wrote: 'Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.'"

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story:  Be thankful for what you have...

• Be creative.
• Be innovative.
• Think differently and positively.
• When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile.
• Face your past without regret.
• Handle your present with confidence.
• Prepare for the future without fear.
• Keep the faith and drop the fear.

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling. And even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!

the aura of "4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42" continues...

Thank you, Hurley! 'Lost' numbers pay off as winning Mega Millions numbers

home is where the awesome spa shower is

I've said it before and I'll say it again: While I love the massages, Burke Williams has lost some of its luster since I moved into my house, which has a better spa shower than the spa. So sad... for everyone but me! Mwhahahaha!

grace

I received some great smelling Philosophy lotion and bath gel from my friend Niki for Christmas. And while I normally don't read packaging, the photo on the gift set was so cute that I read this one, which I find extremely poignant...

How you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain, and so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big gigantic test followed by one big gigantic lesson. In the end, it all comes down to one word: grace. It's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and back luck, the darkness and the light.


Sadly, not a lot of people seem to know how to be graceful these days. When I think of that word, I picture Audrey Hepburn. Many know of her as an iconic actress, but towards the end of her life, she was a selfless humanitarian. This poem she quoted, when asked for her beauty tips -- originally written by Sam Levenson -- is one of my favorites:


"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
    For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
    For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
    For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.
    For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
    People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed.
    Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
    As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others."