Hidden Treasure

I didn't even realize this little gem was hidden within the later half of the latest SNL episode hosted by John Malkovich. Thank you Casey for clueing me in. Enjoy.

Not-so-guilty pleasure

Oh, scrap magazines, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.....

I subscribe to way too many magazines, some of which I don't know why they continue to come in the mail because I haven't renewed the subscription in what seems like years. My two favorites, that I read cover to cover, are Creating Keepsakes, and Scrapbooks, Etc. I am constantly scrap-lifting ideas from these two magazines for my own scrapbook pages. I usually modify the details to make it my own style, but for the most part I get a ton of ideas from these magazines. I always have a smile on my face when I open my mailbox and see that another issue has arrived.

I'm still cool!! I swear!! I balance out my scrap magazine addiction by subscribing to SPIN and Paste magazines. Unfortunately, I don't read those cover to cover. I usually let them stack up on the coffee table, hoping desperately that they will project the image of indie cred' by the occasional music snob visitor (i.e., Kyle and Casey). I think my so-called indie cred' is unfortunately cancelled out by the stack of unread issues of Better Homes and Gardens on the other side of the living room. Who signed me up for that subscription anyway?

The Daily Frank

It has been awhile since I have done a Frank post. He is my most photographed subject, besides Atticus. Since I bought my digital SLR last year, Frank has become quite accustomed to it being in his face every few days. I can't help it. I'm a sucker for the little guy. He doesn't even flinch anymore when I take his picture. He appears so sweet in his photos, only to taint that image when the camera turns off and he swipes at my hand. He is a little wee bit of an a-hole at times. But I love him.

Recently I discovered a blog called Dooce. It is a blog by a woman named Heather B. Armstrong, who years ago lost her job because her employer found out her blog posts contained stories about people in her workplace. Yikes! Exactly the reason I don't mention my job on this teeny tiny blog. Who really knows who could be reading, right? Although I bet I can count on my two hands who actually follows this low budget piece of literary garbage. Okay, off on a tangent, back to Dooce. Anyway, Heather posts a daily photo of her dog, Chuck, on her blog, called the Daily Chuck. It is so popular that she actually sells a calendar of Chuck, check out Chuck's 2009 calendar here. My favorite month is September. Maybe I should start a Daily Frank? I'd need some serious photography and photoshop lessons because my photographs pale in comparison to the Daily Chuck shots. How does one get the colors in the photo to appear so vibrant and crisp? It is beyond my scope of knowledge.

Until then, here are some average shots of a not-so-average cat. Frankles.

Chillin' with the AVL.....

This little guy is becoming quite animated. He is one of the most chilled out kids I have ever met. Easy to fall in love with, that is a certainty.

So maybe I have a problem......

Admittedly, all I have been reading the past few months are books by Philippa Gregory (except for Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn in August). It all started back in June with The Other Boleyn Girl. I remember when Chris came to visit me in California, we were both laying out by the pool, totally engrossed in the book. Don't worry, we both had copies, it wasn't like we were reading from the same book:) After that first Philippa book, I was hooked. Next, The Virgin's Lover. And finally The Queen's Fool. Who knew historical fiction could be so scandalous? They were all page turners. Those three books take place in 16th century England, around the time of Henry VIII's reign. Right now I'm almost finished with The Constant Princess, which is about Henry VIII's first wife, Katherine of Aragon. I'm a little disappointed because it is a little slower than her other books, and it has been a struggle for me to maintain interest. But I'm going to power through!!

Today I worked over in the Magnolia area of Seattle, and on my lunch break I stumbled across Magnolia's Bookstore, cute little bookstore on McGraw. I walked in and immediately ran into a big stack of Philippa Gregory books with posted reviews by store employees. I was in Tudor England nerd heaven. I bought the following three titles:

I can't wait to sink my teeth into all three of them.

After that? I'm thinking of tackling The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Heather and Casey have been talking about that series for years.

Luther Burgers 2008

Last weekend we also made Luther Burgers. This is the very first time any of us have had a Luther Burger. Up until about 2 months ago, I didn't even know they existed, then my brother-in-law sent me the link to Wikipedia. Mike and Johnny like to make strange food on weekends they watch football and hockey, and Luther Burgers were on deck for this weekend.

What is a Luther Burger? If you check out the Wiki link you'll find that it is a bacon cheeseburger that is housed within the confines of a grilled glazed donut (used as the bun). Legend has it that it was one of Luther Vandross's favorite foods, hence the name. At first I thought it would be disgusting because I was picturing a traditional hamburger with all the condiments like ketchup, mustard, and pickles, along with the glazed donut bun. But in actuality, the burger is quite simple. Not condiments, just burger, cheddar cheese, bacon, and glazed donut. A true marriage of the savory and the sweet.

Shot of the grill. Donuts on the top rack getting some grill marks.
Stack o' donuts.

The finished product. Bacon cheeseburger with two halves of an original glazed Krispy Kreme donut as the bun.The look on Nic's face after his first bite....."surprisingly good"......

Heart attack waiting to happen....... a sweet, salty, tasty, heart attack.

Poutine Fest 2008

Wow, I'm still full from last weekend! So long low cholesterol. Kim, Nic, Heather, and I went over to my sister and brother-in-law's place for Apple Cup last weekend. It was a day filled with fun, football, and way too much food.

First on deck: Poutine. If you haven't tried poutine before, it is delicious. What is it? French fries, cheese curd, and gravy. My brother-in-law and his friend Johnny have been working for years perfecting the art of poutine preparation. I'd say they have it pretty much down pat. The key is to deep fry the french fries so they get hot enough to melt the cheese curds, then top that with gravy and the cheese curds melt even more. Pretty darn tasty.

Tasting the gravy to make sure it isn't substandard.
Who is excited to taste the delicious poutine? Kim is....even though she was calling it 'poontang' for days leading up to it.

Is this Heather's debut on the blog? It very well may be. Poutine Fest 2008 will go down in history.

This is one of the only photographs I have of Nic where he isn't making his usual photo face. I may just frame this photo. He ate the shit out of that poutine, btw.

Overall, I think I may have converted a few of my friends over to the poutine dark side.

When you can live forever, what do you live for?

It is no secret that myself, Kim, Heather, and Corey are all on board with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight book series. It was around January 2008 that I picked up Twilight and couldn't put it down. Then came New Moon and Eclipse. The final installment, Breaking Dawn, was icing on the blood-sucking cake. The four of us have been exchanging emails for months regarding the release of that final book, and the movie of the first book. It all came to fruition the morning of Saturday, November 22nd, 10am at the Oak Tree Cinemas on Aurora. Kim, Heather, and I got in line along with many a 12 year old girl to see Twilight, the movie. It did not disappoint. I think I had a smile on my face the entire movie. We are going to see it again this week with Corey. I am not ashamed to admit that I wish I had an Edward Cullen to call my own. Robert Pattison is a dream boat, make no mistake about it. Plus, the Iron & Wine song on the soundtrack is delicious.....check out "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" on iTunes, if you have the means, I highly recommend it.

Takin' it back to the old skool.....

Facebook really brings people out of the woodwork, no? Lana emailed me tonight and asked me if I remembered a name from highschool, someone that added her as a friend that she couldn't for the life of her remember. The name sounded familiar to me, but I had to bust out my senior yearbook to put a name to the face. Once I had the yearbook out, I started reading what everyone had said when they signed it...... here are a few...... guess who? my comments will be in italics. Please note: these notes are riddled with inside jokes, they may not be entertaining to anyone but the people that wrote them!

#1
Pimpmaster Newanda, (you gotta love the nicknames from high school)
Well Hilton, what can I say? This year has been a big party without a hangover (many hangovers were had). You are a laughing machine. Shove a quarter in your ass and the laughs never stop. There has been so many times this year and the past 5 in fact, that I thought that I was going to laugh to death. WSU is going to be a bore without you next year (dead giveaway there). Don't be surprised if I come back with a slick track boyfriend named Jed. After all "all dirt roads lead to Pullman." Oh!! The nausea of existance! Look at the peanut, look at the peanut! So SNL let us down this year but I think The State made up for it in the end. The Jew, The Italian, and the Redheaded Gay. It's funny the things you remember over the years. I remember walking up and down my road with you talking about everything in the world. That is what I think I will miss most about you Jess. You are the only person that I can spend endless amounts of time with and not want to hang you from a tree. You are such a free spirit Jess. "No! I want my plaid shlong pants!" Everybody should take a shower. Ocean Shores rocked. I'm going to have that time etched in my memory forever. Truck boy. I'm still in awe over the fact that school as we know it is over. No more Girafee or Kennedy or Red Haired Bitch (not sure who that last one is...) No more Mr. P and day 180. But this summer will be awesome baby with a capital A baby. Just don't let some strange guy through your donk wa (ah, the one handed donk wa.....). Shit nig (verbatim), I'm really going to miss you. We'll have to have a serious PAG over Christmas break and sing Frosty the Snowman outside my basement. What can I say EB, you are my sister. I don't know what I'll do without you next year. 90% of my best memories are crazy things the 2 of us have done together over the years. Grocery shopping with Carol. Old school times sitting for Satan. Chilling in front of the boob tube watching MTV (John Sencio never looked so jacked up on freeze frame). I wish these times could last forever but all good things must come to an end. These have been the happiest years of my life and I owe a lot of my happiness to you my friend. Thank you a thousand times for being my friend and always being there for me. I know our friendship will be lifelong. Dr. Hilton. Tampons in the Sr tea scrolls (sic). Punk rock ahhh yea!! Carpe diem!
*How cute we're chewing gum
*My name is Cornholio give me T.P.
*Mangs wear size 12's (yes they do, which leads me to the following.....)

#2
Jess:
Life has been good. Things have gone up since you were stuck in the goose pot. After extensive experiments with drugs and alcohol, and many travels to the far reaches of Washington state i discovered there are no better friends than the ones i've got in Marysville. Life has been good, except for the occasional panty raid victim or brief sighting from a bare naked flasher (you wanted to see it). 2 pair always beats one of a kind and beer will never die as long as you believe in yourself and all the beer gods i.e., Kris, Joe, Casey, Josh and so on (1 out of 4 isn't bad). Memories last a lifetime (my ass) (true that). For just that reason we must keep in touch. You've taught me much about feelings and respect (though it may never show) and i thank you (Boyz II Men watch out). Thoughts of you will always give me gas and make me want to wet my pants but aside from that i love you. p.s. i'm still macho you f*cker. (well said)

Not surprising that I'm still friends with these two crazy kids.

Check it out peeps........

This is my ridiculously awesome new bracelet courtesy of Casey and Kim. They kindly thought of me while in Cancun last week and picked me up this sweet bracelet. What is it? It's a picture of a mexican wrestler attached to a strip of blue leather. Yes, it is kinda creepy, but I like off the wall stuff like that. It is all about separating yourself from the herd, and if that means wearing a bizarre looking mexican wrestler on your wrist, then so be it. Sign me up.