Is it really November?
Hmm, well back in September I went to L.A. It was an insane week for my brother and sister-in-law. In fact, my sister-in-law was unexpectedly sent to England on business, and my brother ended up shooting a national commercial, getting ill, and hurting his back all while I was there. Despite everything, he was a very gracious host.
Part of the inspiration for the trip was spending my birthday at Disneyland, since it's free and all. It was very hot and there is only one incredibly unflattering picture of me. Please, enjoy this instead:

Other California institutions to check off my list: In'N'Out Burger, seeing the Los Angeles "river", celebrity sightings (I saw NPH at Magic Castle and Steve Carrell's wife at Barnes & Noble on Ventura Boulevard), the Magic Castle, and Magic Mountain.
At Magic Mountain there is such a thing as Muslim Family Day, and it is very popular. You don't have to be Muslim to attend, but it is encouraged, although some of your fuller hijabs may make harnesses awkward. As we approached the first ride after almost an hour of waiting I said to Brett, "I hope I like roller coasters." Turns out, I do. I'm only really afraid during the first slow ascent. click


click




CLICK
Anywho, that first ride was Tatsu - 17 stories high, 62 miles per hour FACING THE GROUND. That's right, put your flip flops in a cubby, lock yourself into a seated position, and rotate parallel to the floor. Which is all fine and good until you go into a head first spiral towards the ground. I'm pretty sure the previous guy in Brett's seat threw up.
See, there are several cars of riders, and after your ride is complete you wait to be brought back into the main loading area and, well, unloaded. There's a metal floor beneath you, painted yellow except for all these round eroded patches in front of each seat. Brett's eroded patch had vomit on it.

This is what 17 stories looks like from the ground.

On an evening while Brett was working, I spent a few hours at the Redondo Beach Pier. It's a slightly gross touristy spot but it got me out of the house and gave Brett some time alone. I was trying to see fire dancers at a lobster festival but I had Brett drop me off at the wrong place and missed them. So, I got shrimp in a kitschy bar where a bottle of beer was $5 and ate funnel cake. I watched fishermen fishing with glow sticks and pelicans floating on the water. After awhile I tried my hand at some night photography. Not great, but I think they're cool.


I also took some glamour shots of the resident cats, who were just beginning to accept and appreciate my presence when I left. Here's my fav.

Many internet videos were watched, Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion was re-visited, very yummy doughnuts were eaten, and my new favorite movie quote was discovered - That's a lot of thinking for a bear.

Since returning home, things have been quiet. We hosted a costume party for children at work, complete with library mascot photo ops . Her name is Sophie and she is an otter. What I am is open to speculation.

I had another fabulous time at the Wallin's annual pumpkin carving fun.

I'm looking ahead to Thanksgiving with Grandma Doris in Yuba City. I haven't been there since high school and this time I can help drive.

Whew. Happy? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? Katie!


read recently: Fablehaven books 1-4, The Monstrumologist, Catching Fire, The Sookie Stackhouse novels 1-4

cat bath or cat anorexia?
you be the judge

I

heart

It's a problem.

Since December...
it feels like not much has happened, though plenty of time has passed. Reasons I find it difficult to maintain a blog: it showcases my general lack of activity.

Nich and Meghan got married, which all of you already know about having been there. I will say, it was the most "true to the couple" wedding I've ever attended. Awesomely awesome (new favorite thing to say).

Ten years after being legally allowed, I got my driver's license. It only took two tries! Thanks for the learning, little brother. And the use of your car, Jerry. I didn't even damage it. Mostly.

Just kidding.

Mostly.

I had a run in with the police, actually. Housesitting for the McConnells, like I do, I'd forgotten to take the trash out. I asked M to do it, and in classic "I don't hear loud noises or acknowledge that I'm making them" form, he slammed the back door repeatedly as he took it out at 11pm. A neighbor heard the racket and tried calling the house to see what was up. I didn't answer, since the owner's of the house were away due to a family tragedy. Whoever it was either knew where to reach them or didn't need to talk to them immediately. The phone rang again, and again so I finally answered. It was the neighbor. She asked for the owners. I said they were out of town and she said, "I know. Who are you?"
"The housesitter."
"I heard slamming. What are you doing?"
"Taking out the trash. Why?"
"Well, I tried calling and no one answered so I called the police. They said they'd been by."
"Well, they haven't."
"Oh, how funny. Never mind then!"
General irritation ensued on my part. About ten minutes later the phone rang AGAIN and M answered. It's the police. They're outside and they want everyone in the house to come outside immediately. But I'm in my pjs sans pants, so M says we'll be out in a minute. Apparently, not something you say to the police.
We opened the front door and a big light is shining on us. We can't see and they tell me to take my hands out of my pockets. Then they act highly suspicious and all 4 of them pile into the house and interrogate us for about ten minutes. They didn't seem to want to believe that anyone would ask two tattooed young people to spend the night for just 1 cat that isn't even sick. But since they couldn't get a hold of the owners of the house and had no real reason to believe we were lying, they left. Henry Louis Gates, I feel you.
I mean yes, they were doing their job, but yes, they were also jerks.

We moved to a two bedroom apartment in our complex. Still crappy, but on the ground floor, still cheap, and new carpet. Unfortunately, this has increased my orange kitty's tendency to jump out windows. He has escaped twice and spends a lot of time scheming. It's like he just figured out he can cut class without getting caught.

My dad got re-married. Congrats again! The happy couple had an intimate ceremony and were positively glowing the whole day. Or at least once the ceremony got started. Dad looked a little green beforehand. Plus, there were kittens at the reception. Oh, and all my brothers. That was cool, I guess.

~An interlude of discoveries~
Band: The Tiny
Books: Marcelo in the Real World; If I Stay; Dust of 100 Dogs
Movie: 500 Days of Summer
TV Show: Dating the Dark
Quote: Babies like to breath, but they're sneaky.

Happy Holidays!
I know it's been ages, but I said I wouldn't be good at keeping this up. Work has been quite busy but the good news is I get to keep my job. We (and everyone else) had layoffs recently but I was neither laid off nor bumped into a lower-level position.
Last I posted we were headed to Seattle. We had a lovely time. M met Dad, Cindy and Grandma Annie, whose laugh he loved. (He said it was jolly.) He impressed them with his ability to not say a thing. Amazing...
Probably my favorite part of the trip, besides Meghan's meatloaf, was the Underground Tour we did. Just the kind of nerdy educational fun I love. Plus, our tour guide was possibly an idiot savant.
Thanksgiving. I made rolls from Grandma Doris's recipe and got the yeast to rise on the first try! M and I went to a friend's house, where there were a dozen or so dogs. It was the biggest dog in the pack that decided to bite me on the arm, but at least everyone had eaten dinner and pie already so the blood didn't kill anybody's appetite. It was scary but not serious.
Soup I made.
Grandma Doris turned 86, surpassing her own mother by ten years and becoming the oldest person in her family. Katie had another birthday, too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SISTER!
And now we're in the thick of the Christmas season. M and I made a paper chain to count down the days, which I'll also be adding a photo of soon. His family doesn't have many Christmas traditions, which made me realize how many our family does have. We watched "A Christmas Story" and "White Christmas". M had never seen "White Christmas" and joked that he would leave the house when I turned it on, but he found himself strangely compelled to watch. He asked me why they spoke so quickly, and we've been singing "Snow" to each other for the last few days. We've had a few sightings.
Look forward to photo documentation of M's first time making cookies in his almost 30 years on earth. OH! and funny cat pictures. Cheers!

new with me

I've been a bit lax on the blog front because I've been distracted. A certain someone has returned to the Pacific Northwest, and in addition to a busy schedule at work, we went on vacation to the Long Beach peninsula.

Our second stop, aside from a coffee break in Kalama, was Astoria. We ate at the Elliot Hotel restaurant (which is not in the Elliot Hotel, but across the street). We had AMAZING open-faced crab melts and I took this picture from the grounds of the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

We stopped at Fort Columbia just across the bridge in Washington, then headed onto the North Head lighthouse. We didn't walk the 65 steps to the top because we didn't bring the required $2, but the view was still beautiful.

After the lighthouse it was late enough to check into our hotel, the Inn at Discovery Coast. It was a lovely room with a huge tub, and warm scones with yogurt instead of continental breakfast. We took a walk along the boardwalk and took this picture, which is my absolute favorite, ever.
We walked back along the main drag where M tried on the ugliest hat I've ever seen and tried to convince me that its being practical was worth the cost. We did not buy the hat.

The following day we explored Ocean Park and all the other little communities north on the peninsula. We spent an hour or so at the Willapa Bay National Wildlife Reserve. On our way back to town we saw a bear on the side of the road. M just kept saying in a really high-pitched voice, "What do I do?"
I wanted to get a picture but M wouldn't slow down. This is the resulting photo.

After the Wildlife Reserve, we visited the Cape Disappointment lighthouse. We also visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, which made me feel like a fourth grader all over again, in a good way. It was raining on and off that day, including some wicked downpours so the trail to the lighthouse was very muddy. No one slipped though and I got a some beautiful shots of the afternoon sun.


In addition to my first grown up vacation we
*went to Joe's Place Farm and picked pumpkins
*rode our bikes all the way up the street before mine went kerpluey
*attended a couple fun and quite disparate Pumpkin Parties
*celebrated Obama's crushing victory with BV pumpkin shakes
AND
*planned a train trip to Seattle this Veteran's Day weekend to meet the family and karaoke our little hearts out

Here we come, Seattle!

"His perfectly round face hints Orient Express and beautiful spies."

Katie challenged me (assuming I'm the only Lou you know) to
1- Get the nearest book to you, or one you're reading that contains over 123 pages.
2- Go to the 123 page.
3- Find the 5th sentence.
4- Post the 5th sentence.

I am sitting in a library surrounded by books, but I picked up the first 123 page book within reach of my chair, which happens to be this Steinbeck novel I've never heard of. Awesome tag, my dear.