Beachin' with the Fam

My Mom and sister, Elizabeth, just came down to visit this last weekend. They went to Disneyland and then stayed with us in the Burb. for a couple of days. It was my Moms first time visiting us in California since we moved, so we were glad to have them here. These are a few pictures from Paradise Cove:

How does a duck have fun?

Come on, that's pretty cute.

East High Drama

Today I was cleaning out my closet and I came across oodles of old photographs, mostly from my old drama days in High School. So many floods of memories came back. I loved the drama department and our little East Theatrical Club.

For some reason I love this picture, it encapsulates my High School experience of hanging out in Carter's (my drama teacher) office. In this picture is Carter, Lauren Brady, Sophie Hayes, Cody Curtis, and Carla Era - I have more or less been aware of everybody in this picture in the last twelve or so years since it was taken, except for Carla, who I loved and I wish I could find her! They were good friends.


This picture is just a random picture of me pestering Carter. Man, he took a lot of crap from us, but was pretty good at giving it right back to us - like the time he sewed the arms and pockets of my coat shut or the time I stapled his jacket and fanny pack to the ceiling of his office. Good times. This was taken at the end of the night of our ETC end of year party my Junior year - his last year of teaching drama. It was my favorite year of High School before a weird Senior year came along. Thank goodness for the drama department, it was the one place I could be myself and have fun - I was just too shy amongst the other circles of High School life.


Anyway, I know no one cares about any of this crap, but for my own sake, I wanted to reminisce for a moment.

Face Paint

James Kuhn painted his face with different designs every day for a year - take a look here.

A Bit of..

I mean, how great is Stephen Fry? Here's a picture of his new cab from twitter. Yes, he's on twitter and it's lovely to read his little posts.



Why can't I be friends with Fry and Laurie? This feeling is exacerbated by my dream last night, where I was indeed friends with them, just hanging out with Fry & Laurie...it was great.

The Boat That Rocked

I am already so excited for this movie. I love Richard Curtis!

Food

Our friends and family know we decided to try a vegan diet a few months ago. I wanted to write this explanation as to where we are at now, because for some reason people seem to get really judgmental about other peoples eating habits. I know people snicker at other types of diets - those uppity vegans, those disgusting meat-eaters, whatever. I just think it's stupid. So to nip any sort of "look at the Hertfords they gave up quick on the vegan thing" in the bud - here's a little heads up to where we are at.

We really had been enjoying being vegan. It made me appreciate vegetables more, which I wasn't really great about before. It made me break a lot of bad habits. I love going out to restaurants now - so many fun vegan places/dishes to try in Los Angeles. Vegan desserts are fun to bake and I've learned to make desserts that are not as bad for me. So it was going well for us. We wanted to try this diet because we are striving to be healthier and make good choices within a culture and country that makes it very hard to be healthy and make good diet choices.

Unfortunately, I started getting worried because I noticed some problems. I have always had good skin - a pimple here and there, but it's never been a big deal. Since starting the vegan diet my skin has gotten terrible. I have breakouts all over my face (people are nice and say it isn't noticeable - but I know). It is depressing. But more than that I knew it could be indicative of a larger problem. I started reading up on veganism and break-outs and sure enough break-outs can be a sign of having certain vitamin deficiencies - many of which come from animal products. We also noticed that we actually gained some weight with this diet - and I read that it can actually slow down your metabolism. I also read of hair loss and a big one: birth defects and problems for pregnancy. Since we are trying to get pregnant and since I want my skin back and to not cause any long term health problems, I thought it might be time to add some animal products back into the diet - in moderation.

Now, with all that said - I'm sure you can live a vegan lifestyle and find replacements for the vitamins and nutritious properties lost in not eating animal products. I'm sure if you consulted a nutritionist or just did some good research you could make the diet work and keep yourself healthy, but I sort of feel like some animal products are meant to be consumed. But not as they are being consumed in the United States these days.

The two big issues I have with the carnivore diet are the horrible, disgusting, devilish treatment of animals in the food industry and the other issue is the poisonous, chemical, hormone substances in animals being sold at our supermarkets (I could go off on these topics for days, but I won't right now - can't wait for the new doc Food, Inc.). So, what we are trying to do is add animal products back into our diet - but in small amounts and trying to only purchase organic, hormone free, free range products. It's going to be hard, and we won't be perfect. But as with the vegan diet, all we are ever trying to do it make healthy choices we feel right about. We will continue with a lot of the habits we've developed in these last few months - we enjoy vegan food too much to not, but I will add in animal products here and there to keep our bodies balanced and healthy. We are learning and just trying to be healthy and yes, hopefully skinnier!

I know that was long, but wanted to explain it once and for all. We support all our family, vegan or not. Thanks.

Swashbuckler Obama

(from bigcrush blog)

The Easter Bunny is Crazy

(From Paul Scheer's blog)



AMAZING!

jakefogelnest:

I can’t think of anything funnier than this. Ann Bruno, you are my cyberstalking hero.

Pushing Daisies

Will "Pushing Daisies" Air Final Episodes on ABC in May?
Wed Apr 8, 6:50 pm ET

The never-before-seen final episodes of the series are likely to air Saturday evenings at 10 PM beginning May 30, according to the Hollywood Reporter. ABC Television is expected to make an official summer programming announcement in the coming weeks.

The popular series starred theatre veterans Kristin Chenoweth, Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene, plus Lee Pace, Anna Friel and Chi McBride. Tony Award winner Jim Dale served as the series' narrator.

Billed as a "blend of romance, fantasy and mystery," "Pushing Daisies" is a "forensic fairytale about Ned, a young man with a very special gift," according to ABC. "As a young boy Ned discovers that he can return the dead briefly back to life with just one touch. But his random gift isn't without deadly consequences as he soon finds out."

Guest stars on the series have included Raul Esparza, Christopher Sieber, Barbara Barrie, Mark Harelik and Hamish Linklater.

The second season of "Pushing Daises," including the final three episodes, will be released July 21 on both DVD and Blu-ray.

House MD

Now for some nerdy House talk:

House had been in a slump for a little while - I started having problems with it when the new team was hired, but the last few episodes have been great again. Last night House had one small clinic duty scene, at least, which is always a good source of humor, I was totally taken off guard by the death of a major character and the scenes from next time shows Cameron finally getting some juicy scenes again. Even the lighting and style of the way last night's episode was shot felt like the first season again. I'm really loving it again, now just a little less Cuddy and a little more Wilson and Cameron, please. I even don't mind #13 anymore, she's much better now that they're not trying to make her so edgy and complicated. And Taub is great, that guy is a good actor, I'm glad they didn't bump him off.

It's back, keep it up writers.

Some Weird Kids TV Shows I Remember

I have no recollection of this, but my family tells me I really liked this show when I was a teeny weeny child, they thought it was super boring:



And this one is for my sisters. I was a little young to enjoy this show, but I remember this song:



And on with the theme, remember this weird show, I didn't really like it that much, but I would still watch it:



And finally a non kid show, but a show I watched as a kid with my sisters, Almost Grown starring Tim Daly was an awesome show, but I have yet to meet one other person outside of my sisters who knows of this show. It's almost like it didn't exist, but for this 10 second promo clip:



(almost grown)

Spaghetti

BBC's 1957 April Fool's joke.

Springtime for Hitler, I mean Hertfords, not Hitler

It's Spring! And it's beautiful in So. Cal! The weather is so warm and lovely. Today I had a spring cleaning of my teeth with our new dentist, Dr. Burstein. No cavities for either of us - our teeth are doing well, I'm sure you'll all be happy to know.
That's all. Happy Spring.

Blergh

This is me at work right now. Pilot season can suck it!

Final Push

It's a big game tonight. The Suns are fighting to get into the playoffs and tonight they face the Mavericks who are in the 8th spot right now. Send all of your good energy the Suns' way.



Go get 'em!

Dry Makers

Courtesy of one of the best sites ever coolbuzz.org are some
awesome umbrellas

A couple of my favorites:

• Water Pistol Umbrella
An umbrella with a little funnel at the top that sends rain water down the handle into the water pistol grip at the bottom.



• Pileus umbrella
Pileus umbrella takes photos with a built-in camera, uploads it to Flickr via wireless internet connection and then lets you view these pics on the inside surface of your umbrella itself.



• Solar Umbrella
This umbrella is a wireless lighting solution for places where there is no mains electricity. Unfolding the umbrella automatically turns on the system and it begins generating electricity, which is stored in a built-in battery system.



• Double Umbrella
Two lovers walking down a solitary lane huddled under an umbrella is the classic picture of love.

Peter

If you know me, you may know that The Monkees were my sisters and my life as kids - we loved and love them, so I was so saddened to see this story today:

Monkee Peter Tork has rare cancer
Peter Tork, a former member of 1960s group The Monkees, has a rare form of head and neck cancer, he has revealed.

He disclosed the news on his website on Tuesday but has said that it has not spread to other parts of his body.

Tork, 67, had surgery in New York on Wednesday which his spokeswoman said had gone well. He will begin radiation treatment after a recovery period.

The Monkees' TV show first appeared on NBC in 1966, while their hits included chart-topper I'm A Believer.

Tork said on his website that adenoid cystic carcinoma had been found in his tongue but that it was "a bad news, good news situation".

He added that it was so rare to find such a cancer on the tongue "that there isn't a lot of experience among the medical community".

"On the other hand, the type of cancer it is, never mind the location, is somewhat well-known, and the prognosis, I'm told, is good."

He said he had been "humbled by the encouragement, affection and support" of friends, family and fans.

He said he hoped to perform a planned gig with his new band, the Shoe Suede Blues, in Manchester, Connecticut.


Peter seems like such a cool, nice guy - in my little experience of meeting/seeing him - he was uber kind and funny. I really hope he responds well to treatment and stays strong.

The Rest of the Story

Paul Harvey died today and hearing that made me sad. Growing up my dad listened to Paul Harvey all the time. I have memories of afternoons hearing Paul Harvey's distinct voice telling stories over my dad's little radio as he painted or rested in the other room. There was something comforting about that sound. I mean really it makes me sad because it's another reminder that time is passing on and my parents, as all of us, are not getting any younger. It makes me miss the safety of childhood - childhood that felt like it would last forever. It's amazing how one thing can open the flood gates of sentimentality - sometimes it's seeing a toy that was beloved as a child, but which I had long forgotten, sometimes it's catching the whiff of a scent that I didn't even realize I knew, sometimes it's hearing an old commercial jingle that is somewhere deeply ingrained in my psyche, or in this case reading the headline on msn that Paul Harvey died at the age of 90. I know I can't dwell in the past because I need to be living in the now and thinking about the future, but I am so grateful for my family who gave me so many memories to enjoy reflecting upon.

And now as Mr. Harvey always ended his broadcasts... Good day!

Oscars

I thought the Oscars were classy this year. I couldn't get over how gorgeous the stage was - the crystal curtain with the colored lights was beautiful. I loved the very beginning when the band was on the stage and the lit crystal was revealed - it was an effective throw back to old Hollywood. I thought Hugh Jackman was refreshing. I like when comedians host sometimes, but I thought it was a good year to forgo the snarky comments and just have a more positive, classy show. I won't go into all my thoughts on the Oscars, because who cares, really? I will say I loved how the actor awards were presented - a great idea to have past winners take the time to highlight the nominees. It made it feel like each nominee was really appreciated, not just the winner. I was thrilled for Kate Winslet as she is one of my favorite actors. We could probably pass on some of the montages - like the montage to action films, comedies etc. and the random "The Musical is Back!" number, but on the whole I thought it was a fun show. And I did pretty well on my ballot, could have done better, but did all right (17 out of 24). I also did well on seeing most of the big nominees - we didn't get to The Visitor in time, we'll watch it this week, didn't see The Changeling, scared to watch Angelina taker herself too seriously, also didn't see Frozen River, but other than that - I was well-viewed.

"Please don’t get baffled by the size of the picture, actually the Oscar statuette sits in the eye of a needle. Yes… a needle! This photograph was shot with a camera attached to a microscope; a 22 carat gold miniature Oscar sculpture carved by Willard Wigan, in Birmingham, using a shard of diamond working 16 hours a day for six weeks. "