Too cold for fitness?

Is "it is too cold outside" actually a good excuse for not going to the gym? I am currently in a good old fashioned internal debate about this, and I can't figure out if it is worthy or not.

Plans for tonight: Clean up, do some work from home, go to the gym, watch newest favorite trashy reality TV show, "Bad Girls Club", play some WOW and go to bed.

What has really happened: zero work, eating chocolates that work handed out, watching Comedy Central (oh, Stephen Colbert - you are KILLING me!!!) and of course, convincing myself that it is too DAMN COLD to leave for the gym.

I should be ashamed of myself.

Feliz Navi-paws

I haven't heard as much about the "War on Christmas" this year as I did last year, perhaps I am just not watching enough Fox News...at any rate if us crazy liberals were indeed waging a "War on Christmas", then I think that Vincent has been selected to lead the battle. The cat has done nothing but try to ruin Christmas in my apartment. No ornament is safe, no present is safe, and I have even caught him pulling lights off the tree. For someone who gets anxious at the site of a crumpled up post it note on the ground, his disregard for my Christmas decorations is more than I can take. I knew it was risky, but I thought that maybe I would think it was cute if he took ornaments off the tree and batted them around. It's not cute. It's not even a little funny. It may even make me more crazy than the thought of trying to find a parking space at a crowded mall.

Paulie, the Worthless Brother-in-Law

Okay - with the upcoming release of Rocky Balboa on next week, I decided I could not delay seeing Rocky V much longer. Saturday night, I gave it a whirl. I was expecting the very worst Rocky movie that you could imagine. Perhaps because my expectations were so very low it did not seem that bad at all. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the 5th installation was not only good, but better than the 3rd and the 4th by a long shot. It was still nowhere near the quality we say in the 1st, or came close to in the 2nd....but I really did enjoy it. There were no flashback scenes of Rocky and Apollo running on the beach and overall, it just didn't seem anywhere near as corney or as painful to watch. The loveable meathead that is Rocky was back to his sweet, naive self rather than just that moron that you can laugh at. How dare that worthless Tommy Gunn snub Rocky like he did, can you even believe it?! After all he did for him!! I am now fully excited for the new one to come out!

There are a few concerns I have about where this story line could have ended up since 5...

1. I had read there is no Adrian, so how can we watch a Rocky movie without someone yelling at him and telling him he can't suceed? How is that going to be any good?
2. Is it possible that a screenwriter could top the Mr. T antics we sat through in the 3rd. "My prediction...pain!" You don't know whether to laugh or to cry.
3. What on earth will Paulie be up to? Is it possible that he could ruin their lives any more than he already has? Maybe if Adrian is gone, he will be gone too? Also, do you think he has checked himself into AA yet?
4. Where is that singing group we saw in the first few movies, and then in 5 you could hear them but I don't think that we saw them. What happened to them?
5. Could any of the fighting be as exciting as a Knicks - Nuggets game?

How about those Jazz?

Okay, okay – I have been getting a fair amount of flack due to my lack of writing. I have no good excuse to offer. (Emphasis on good!) For those that know me well, you can probably identify a single source, but that is not really important right now.

At any rate, one of the exciting things going on in my life right now is that Matt and I got season tickets to the Jazz. We went in fully expecting them to not do well, so you can imagine our glee at how well they are doing! We have made a sport out of collecting free mints at the doors – current record is 12 – but we fully anticipate by the end of the season that 12 will look like kids stuff.

So, this leads me to my favorite jazz outing ever – and I cannot explain to you why it has left such a mark… Last year my brother and I attended the Bulls game and we were in the very top row. With 1.6 seconds left, Okur made a game winning 3 pointers, the bulls immediately took a time out and the crowd went nuts. I’ve seen a fair amount of frenzies in my day, but this one sticks out in particular. You would think the emotion would not be running so deep on the second to top row, but the guy in front of us displayed crazed sports fan like you could only expect to see court side. He turned around, and made the “give me a high five” gesture my brother, who very smartly ignored him. Then, I made the mistake of getting caught looking at the whole mess, so he turned to me. Against all better judgment, I let the moment also carry me away, and went right in for the high five. My brother then followed suit. After that, the crazed fan turned to the Bulls bench and gave them the throat slitting sign. Which by the way, I am sure was very devastating for them from the second to top row!

Seriously, I high fived a COMPLETE STRANGER! I don’t generally like giving anyone the high five, not one for physical contact – but a complete stranger?! What happened in my life to make such an exchange acceptable?!

This year, in addition to gather so many free mints that Mrs. Cavanuagh’s has to higher more employees, I should make it a goal to high five a stranger every game. It seemed to make that game stick out in my memory!

Video Games!

As a fan of the video games, I was really excited when I saw this article counting down the top 10 worst video games of all time. Then, I became very, very nervous that my precious “Tapper” would make the list – which would ultimately be a crime. Luckily, it did not make the list – because it is AWESOME! In case you are interested – see here.

Some shocking omits: (Games that are so bad – you can’t help but love them)

Moon Patrol (Atari) – This one may not be that bad, but I could NEVER get past the second board, and that still really bothers me.

Baggage Claim (Atari) – Anyone who has never played this little gem needs to get over to my house ASAP. This game is a crowd pleaser! You basically wait for the plane to land, and then run back and forth picking up luggage. If you don’t get the suit case before it hits the bottom of the screen it opens, exposing someone’s sock or underwear. It is for the immature at heart!

Hide and Seek (Atari) – I may very well be the only person (and Matt- because this baby is 2 Player!) that has actually sat down and played this game (in the year 2006) anywhere on the planet. You hide in a house with like, 2 rooms, while the 2^nd player covers their eyes and then goes and finds you. I laugh hard every time I play

Ghost and Goblins (Nintendo) – This game isn’t really bad at all….but I cannot for the life of me finish it, and it will haunt me for the rest of my life.

So, the games on the worst 10 list… I only have experience with one, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I wouldn’t say this game is unfortunate, but every time you die you have to put up with some creepy voice telling you, “Wait, that’s not how it really happened!”

I am dying to find a copy of “The Howard Dean for Iowa Game” How awesome does that sound?

Election Day

I went to vote today and realized once again that I may be way too cynical for my own good. While I was parking and walking in, I was having my annual voting internal conversation about how I was exercising my constitutional right to throw my vote away (yes – I don’t vote along the standard lines around here – and I realize that can be unforgivable – but hell, it is my right!)…which inevitably gets interrupted by another more patriotic conversation about how I am lucky to live in a country where I can vote….blah, blah, blah…etc. Anyway, so up until now this is standard “election day” fare. What really struck me was when I was walking in. My voting location is at an Elementary school, and you walk in right by the front office, and then get directed down the hall, and into the gym. There are kids everywhere, and all I can think is, “WHOSE BRILLIANT IDEA WAS IT TO LET COMPLETE RANDOM ADULTS INTO AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WITHOUT ANY EXTRA SECURITY??? HOW IS THIS A GOOD IDEA???” I mean, we are talking about the fact that anyone off the street can walk into the school, and no one will bat an eye. Is that creepy to anyone else? I am over thinking this? Am I assuming the worst in everyone involved – that everyone is pervy or dangerous? Not to mention that fact that those kids could find a way to skew the results somehow – I mean, come on – kids these days are getting smarter!

Rock the vote – don’t nab kids from the polling location!

Happy Halloween!!

Myth: cats who play in water will like a bath

Even Vincent "The Mighty Sock Hunter" has to take a bath.

Happy Columbus Day!

Watch out Texas!!!

I have known Teri now for 27 years. That is a long time. Besides my family, no one has known me as long. We grew up next door to each other and have been involved in countless amounts of ridiculous behavior. We probably had at least 100 sleepovers, played Clue or Follow the Judge that many times as well. We have watched Girls Just Want to Have Fun so many times that I can still quote along without any trouble. We developed a written language so complex that I guarantee you if archeolgists found it in 2000 years, they would never, I mean NEVER be able to crack it. We have had good times, really good times in our lives. We survived Elementary, Jr. High and High School right by each others side (and she pulled my grades though as well!).

The reason for so much reminiscing of my fellow band geek and life long friend, is that her family is moving out of Utah in the morning, and I had to tell her goodbye yesterday. The good news is they are moving to Dallas, and I will now get to go back to visit and stay with them! I had high hopes of turning her daughters into the sort of trouble makers that we once were - but after Saturday, realize that my services may be unnecessary!!! :)

I love you guys and hope everything goes great for you in the Lone Star State. Let me know how the adventure filled trek goes and if any kids/pets don't make it!


GOOD LUCK!

she's kicking ass....that's what she's doing!

I had a great movie weekend this weekend, which is good, because I started my movie fest with Brick on Thursday night, and was not as pleased as I had hoped to be. It made me feel like I was in fact too old for high school movies with the simple fact that I couldn't understand the dialogue. It was like watching Shakespeare when you are 10, and you can't figure out what they are talking about. Okay, it may not have been that bad, but we had to turn on the subtitles and still were pretty confused. Perhaps I didn't learn enough "street lingo" growing up in Bountiful, Utah.

Friday night I watch Little Miss Sunshine and loved every minute of it. I cannot remember laughing that loudly in a theatre ever before. I am talking shameless, and uncontrolable laughing, and not caring who heard it or who it disturbed. While I watched it, I wanted to dislike it for being so horrible to it's characters. After all, that is the same thing I complained about after suffering through Napolean Dynamite. These people were just so redeemable, that I couldn't help myself. Next on the weekend movie list was League of Ordinary Gentlemen. This is a documentary about the Pro Bowling Tour, and the people behind the marketing of getting an audience interested in pro bowling. I know, it sounds like a potential snooze fest...but I can assure you it wasn't. I love documentary's like this....the best ever was American Movie. Although this was was not as painful to watch because you are so embarassed for them...there is actually only one person in this that you feel really bad for and have to cover your eyes when they are telling their story.

a better way out of work?

Now that Eltonmania is finally dying, my life is slowly returning back to normal...which means trying to figure out ways to not have to work! My personalized Google page has a "How to of the Day" that includes Wikipedia articles that give you all kinds of random how to's. My favorite was how to get your favorite celebrity's autograph...which by the way still hasn't worked. Anyway, today was a great article about how to act crazy to get out of obligations. (I know there are probably some that would argue I could write a more effective article!) I especially love the tips where they say to include your pet. Vincent definately helps out with my crazy factor - especially the non stop stories about what adorable thing he did the night before.

Why can’t it be yesterday? I was happy yesterday.

I finally got my CD yesterday, and it is a good thing because Sir Elton ended up doing SIX songs from it all in a row!

I am fighting the post Elton John depression, and I don’t know how well I am doing it. Luckily it has been busy enough at work to take my mind off the fact that at this moment, I have nothing to live for. (Well – LOST starts up on October 4^th, that will have to keep me going.)

The concert was really, really good. Elton put in almost 3 hours of pure audio bliss. He sang almost every hit you could ever think of, and then some. His new material translated well into the concert setting, and I look forward to listening to it more.

The seats turned out to be worth every penny. I will say the people on the floor were having much more fun. I always seem to get stuffed in-between some fuddy duddies that shoot you the occasional dirty look because you have to scream. Imagine that, going to a concert and making noise?! I will never figure out why people would pay $125 to sit there with their arms folded and a grumpy look on their face.

High point: Many actually… Started very strong with “Funeral for a Friend”…but my very favorite song “Levon” was probably the best point of the show for me. “Bitch is Back” was also awesome, and seemed to be one of the crowds favorite.

Low point: Okay, I know this wasn’t Las Vegas, and I couldn’t expect the production I received at the Red Piano Tour, but that light brightish backdrop was really unnecessary. I mean come on, during Crocodile Rock there was some weird animated croc that made the ones in Atari’s Frogger look brilliant.

Happy Elton John Day!!!

I am sitting here at work, getting close to lunch time, and I am starting to get crazy antsy about my new Elton John CD. The concierge is supposed to have picked it up for me this morning, but I haven't seen it, or the conceirge yet today. Yesterday, when I filled out the form for this transaction, I actually used the phrase, "Life or Death". Perhaps she saw through that a little bit and decided that I would have to wait. If it is not in my hot little hands by 1:00, I am leaving to get it myself...because I cannot go to the concert tonight unprepared! I think I need to go find a paper bag to breath in.

i must break you...

I made more headway on my catching up on Rocky project by watching Rocky IV this weekend. Again, like the one right before it, it was enjoyable enough, but cannot compete with the first two movies. A sub-plot involving some pretty creepy robots, a flashback scene of Rocky and Apollo running on the beach, and Paulie tagging along to Russia….how can you go wrong? Well Mr. Stallone, I will tell you where you went wrong. In a movie where patriotism dripped freely from every scene, you did NOT make a Toby Keith fan out of me. Perhaps I am dead inside, but that scene with Apollo smugly dancing around in an “Uncle Sam” suit made out of sequins and topped off with the dumbest looking top hat I have ever seen actually forced me to cheer for the Russian. I’m sorry – but that is not acceptable now, and how could it have possibly been acceptable in 1985?

I did love the speech given at the end by Rocky. It didn’t seem to make a lick of sense, but I loved it! "If I can change, and you guys can change...then everybody can change..." Prolific.... Maybe something that deep only made sense in the thick of the cold war.

All in all, the first 2 movies were very good and inspirational. The next 2 have been entertaining and really funny – but more in the “not meant to be funny” kind of way.

Rocky V – you are up next, and then I will begin the Jaws series which I missed when I was busy missing the Rocky series growing up.

a sad day

This is one of those entries that will make me completely emotionally vulnerable, and also accentuate my complete lack of dignity. For those of you who will enjoy that…please read further:

Several years ago, Fox 13 started showing reruns of Yes, Dear every night after Seinfeld. At first I mocked, as most of you still do. I stated the NO ONE could possibly find those people entertaining. For some reason though, I kept watching. (At the time I didn’t have cable!) Like any bad addiction, it just crept up on me, slowly making me feel like it was okay, until one night I caught myself laughing out loud, all by myself, and I was hooked!

I only told a selective few of my embarrassing TV habits. I am lucky enough to have a boyfriend that not only supported this habit, but encouraged it. He wasn’t quite as secretive about it as I was, and eventually we uncovered that there were others out there that were watching, laughing and maybe a little ashamed. (You know who you are)

Anyway, my publicly admitting how much I relied on Yes, Dear for my late night entertainment does not take away the current problem. Fox has replaced it with the only show that any of you could argue is worse: Still Standing. I was so concerned with this, that I wrote an email to Fox. I won’t include what I wrote, due to the fact that I have already embarrassed myself enough, but here is their reply:

Dear Tiffany, unfortunately Yes, Dear will not be coming back; this program was acquired for our station from a corporate level just like Still Standing was, meaning that we had no influence here at the station level. I'm sorry you miss Yes, Dear but hope that you will be willing to give Still Standing a chance.

Thank you and have a great day

Sincerely KSTU Programming

it still wouldn't change the fact that i don't own a car.

50 Best High School Movies! As a fan of High School Movies, (now old enough that I should be embarassed) I found this article/countdown to be fairly interesting. It did leave me with a few questions:

1. How did Jake Ryan and his cool Porche not rank higher than #49. Blaspheme!
2. How many times exactly do I think my brother's made me watch The Bodyguard at #45? Over 100?
3. Brick at #35 - Is this movie any good? I was intrigued back when I read the review, but never made it to the theatre. Netflix - here I come!
4. How is Hoop Dreams not ranked higher? I mean, come on, it didn't need to be as high as Jake Ryan and his Porche, but it was a really good documentary. Although, I would rivel their description as it being "Inspirational" to more "Depressing". It was pure documentary gold!
5. When they talked about Donnie Darko at #14, why is there no mention of Sparkle Motion?
6. Why, oh why is Ferris Bueller's Day Off not at #1?

Good job on them putting Election and Heathers in the top 10...

the new badger?

Over 2 years ago I found a love for Badgers. I couldn't get enough of reading about them and looking at their pictures. Some may even call it an obsession. I knew that I had discussed my love for the badger WAY too much at work when my obsession took a bizarre and even creepy turn. One of my co-workers decided he was doing me a favor by bringing in some frozen Badger paws in a ziplock bag that he had borrowed from his neighbor. (Obviously ignoring the fact that I celebrated the Badger's life, not death at the hands of a hunter!) Imagine explaining to your boss why a ziplock bag with frozen Badger paws was being handed around...I don't have to imagine it, I actually made that explanation.

With that said, I do love the Badger...however, there is a new critter starting to take the turn into the Badger's spot.

Introducing....the BLUE-FOOTED BOOBIE!!

rocketman

yo adrian - it's me...rocky III

For some random reason, I have recently just discovered a movie series most people have watched and moved on from. 30 years later, I saw Rocky for the first time and was instantly hooked. I am catching up on the series before the possibly doomed return of Stallone's Rocky in December. I just finished up Rocky III and can say that I fear the series may be heading down hill. I did enjoy the movie, don't get me wrong. It was actually funnier than the first two...between Mr. T's crazy talking antics, and the long runs on the beach between Rocky and Apollo (that one may not have been intended to be funny!) I was laughing pretty hard. Here was the problem with the movie: it simply did not pack the emotional "punches" of the first two. (Which basically means that I was not in tears at the end, and threatening to rename my cat "Rocky")


At any rate, I can't wait to see what happens next. I am told that if the next installment does not make a Toby Keith fan out of me - nothing will! I also cannot wait to see if V is as big of a disaster as I have been lead to believe!

creature of habit

As a person who does enjoy her routines, I can respect the after work ritual my cat has developed for us both. As soon as my key goes into the front door, I can hear the jingle of his little bell around his collar and I know what comes next. I have only had this cat for three months, so for awhile I wondered if it would continue. I know count on it and look forward to this time every day!

Once I am in the door, he does what we call "the plop" onto his side where he waits to be scratched and pet. He does not settle for a half hearted effort, and he stretches himself the entire time and expects you to join him on the floor. After approximately 2 minutes of this, he gets up, stretches and then moves about 5 feet, where "the plop" occurs again. I have determined that this is to test my loyalty, and I always move over there to continue. Then, he goes about his business of being a cat, and I go about my business of starting my evening.

No day would be complete without this delightful ritual!

the new laguna beach

The animals, the locations and the drama -- are REAL!!!





Meerkat Manor is the new Laguna Beach!






Don't get me wrong, I will continue to tune in every Wednesday night to see what that nasty little Kyndra will do next...it is the Beach, and it cannot be fully replaced.

How cute are these Meerkats? You want to talk about "real drama"...I can't remember an episode of Laguna Beach where they actually tried to find and kill the children of a "rival" family. That is real drama.

Learn about Meerkats!

hole in one!

East Bay - Provo
Hole #3
8 Iron - 155 yards
Congratulations Matt!

denimgate

We all put up with a lot of crap at our jobs – but an “Unspoken, unwritten dress code policy” that was literally made up by the big boss on his drive to work should not be one of them!

I am willing to admit, there is slight – very slight – possibility that an original policy had been communicated last January to the effect of when a client visit’s, we should not wear jeans. However, I know that emails since Jan/Feb have all said don’t worry about this client or this one and so forth until the visits meant nothing but “tidying up our area”. I know from my Supreme Court class in college that a “precedent” is not something to take lightly, and the precedent had definitely been set in this one. Anyway, I show up to work this morning to an email alerting us all that we were in some sort of violation and chaos ensued as we debated, discussed and argued the policy amongst ourselves. To add to my embarrassment about my seedy looking appearance, I was wearing gym shoes! (Those were due to an unrelated incident yesterday where I was unable to turn a corner without rolling my ankle, thus meaning I had to wear the comfortable shoes for my healing foot.)

The real kicker was when I was standing outside my cubicle bitching about the email with two co-workers and my boss walked right around the corner while I was yapping my big mouth. For those of you who were present for the Oscar Party fiasco of last year involving Ralph, peroxide and a Q-tip know exactly what I am talking about with my big mouth. However, this one was not quite as awkward, as my boss did not openly acknowledge he overheard anything, as Ralph did.

Denimgate seemed to really set a tone for today, and I have been unable to recover and just get on with my day. I should be old enough and mature enough to just let it go…but that is not fun, and has never really been my style.

happy birthday to me!

Def Leppard/Journey Stats

Standard Mullets - 7 (surprisingly low!)
"Aggressive" Mullets - 2
Shirtless guys - 6 (including member of Def Leppard)
Couples slow dancing during Journey - 2 (I suspect more were out of my view!)
Sammy Hagar look-a-likes - 1
Kenny Rogers look-a-likes - 2
Sexual assaults to my brother and friends by skanky drunk girls - 4 per victim (3 victims)
Boob flashings - 1
Amount of girls jumping on one car in the parking lot - 3
Number of creeps that layed on the hood of our car while we were stuck in the parking lot - 1
Length of time it took to get out of the parking lot - FOREVER!!!