Because I am procrastinating

On Friday, two things of importance occurred:

I made cupcakes

Nemo tore the leg off his moose.

Yes I may have reached a low here. But its either find something to post or pack my shoes. And I'm just not ready to make that kind of commitment.

Now I will further avoid packing by helping to bathe the pups.

Oh, a quick side note. Last night I was watching Thank You for Smoking, and there was a line where the main character said he had a BA in Kicking Ass and Taking Names. I think I would like that. Has to be more useful than a degree in English.

Well this is sad.

So last weekend Dad and Tay and I went to visit the Gparents in Newport, of course stopping by Balboa Island. Now awhile ago I wrote this post about how they are slowly shutting down the Fun Zone, and Saturday I saw it in person.

What used to be the Dark and Scary ride is now (drumroll please)

...a public restroom. Sigh.

Something else that bugs me: when only one person has commented on a blog post, it says "1 Comments." I have very few pet peeves in life, but poor grammar is one of them. Ok well I have more than a few....let's see:
-poor grammar
-wrinkled clothing
-not matching
-nail biting
-not rinsing dishes before they go in the dishwasher

Ok I'll stop before I reveal all of my OCD tendencies.

I think I'll make some cupcakes to take to city hall tomorrow.

Yesterday's post

So I tried to do this yesterday but for some reason it wouldn't upload any images for me. And it just wouldn't have been the same without the picture.

Basically, the most exciting part of the Golden Globes was when Hugh Laurie won for House. And although many globe-recappers have not mentioned this as a highlight, it definitely was.


Additionally, today it flurried for about 5 minutes. This was quite the feat, since it hasn't snowed in the SCV since I was three. And yet it has ruined my plans for the day because my mother, like everyone else in Southern California, freaks out at any sort of weather anomaly and refuses to get on the freeway. Bah. Heans and I drove to Yale in a freaking rainstorm. Ok perhaps not our brightest decision but we're still here.

Marauding Bandana-its.

To escape Mom's Bunco group tonight, Dad and I journeyed to the Valencia Town Center (Westfield Town Center, Valencia? Valencia Westfield Town Center? whatever). And yes dinner was good and coffee was better (what can I say, I'm an addict) but the amount of teenagers (or as my Dad called them, marauding bandits) is really unbearable.

I guess I shouldn't say "teenager" since I'm only one year out of teenage-dom. But seriously, the jr/hs set was out in full force. I think what surprised me more than the sheer number of them (after all, there really aren't many options in our valley so I suppose its the favored congregation point) was their horrible sense of style. I don't know what's up with this emo/pop/punk style, but its really not flattering. I mean ok, I support skinny jeans, accept leggings, and can even tolerate a leg warmer or two (hmm yes two would definitely be better than one). But there is one piece of flare I must condemn: The Rocky Style Bandana Headband.

What would prompt a girl accessorize in such a manner? It's not doing anything for your hair, it doesn't make you look badass (this is Santa Clarita, for crying outloud) and you're not Rocky. Yet still some persevere.

I can only hope that what I saw was a minor case, and that it will not develop into a full blown epidemic.

Wow I really need to find new things to blog about.

A Diamond in the Rough

Driving to/home from Big Bear, we happened upon the best roadside stand ever.
From the front it innocently advertises itself as "Charlie Brown Farms," and according to my mom it used to be just that. And was particularly known for its date shakes. Now, however, it is also ANTELOPE VALLEY'S LARGEST GIFT SHOP. Some of my favorite items:








The classic self-condimenting hot dog




The village of gnomes (or so it was advertised...honestly we were a little disappointed)

Creative additions to any hunter's trophy wall

I really recommend that you all stop there. Oh my god it has a website!!! You can waste some time there, at the very least.

EDIT: Hmm, the website appears to neglect its collection of life-size statues. So don't be fooled, it's even weirder than it advertises itself to be.

One of these things is not like the other

I think this might be my favorite Rose Bowl photo:

Maybe if Darth Vader had played for Michigan they would have won. Of course maybe Megs and I should have gone as USC fans, but as UCLA fans we could not bring ourselves to do that. Plus, we got to make shirts with sweet wolverines on the back:


A little comment on the Rose Parade....Bring back Stephanie Edwards!! I don't even remember the name of the girl that took her place, but when the Long Beach float approached she said that it was "straight from the LBC." Noone watches the Rose Parade because they think its cool, so leave the cultural references at the door.

That is all for now.

Christmastime is here.

I've been trying to avoid posting because I did not want to recognize the fact that I'm back in the states and my semester is over, but I guess it's inevitable.

For your amusement, the gingerbread community I made with Fiore and co. Yes, my house is the one with the GIGANTIC snowman leaning up against it because otherwise it would have fallen down. Er, I mean, my house is the one with the friendly snowman guard relaxing merrily against a gingerbread dwelling.

I'm going to miss Bath and my Northampton disfunctional family : /

A little anecdote from today...Burg and I finally bought Big Issues (for those of you who don't know, The Big Issue is a magazine in England that unemployed people sell, they're all over). We went to my favorite purveyor of The Big Issue, the man that stands in the alley above Ben's Cookies. Today he was offering a free animal with your copy of The Big Issue (in the past he has offered free smiles, done a little dance, serenaded people, etc). So we chose penguins and received the invisible Jim and Bob, complete with invisible cages.


EDIT: I've since read The Big Issue and while I recognize what it is doing for the homeless community...it really is a crappy magazine. Good thing it had George Michael on the cover so it wasn't a complete waste...

There shouldn't always be room for Jello

I think this picture sums up the 29 Christmas Party nicely
I'll now return to my bed, where I've been recovering for approximately 20 hours.

Oh but first, one of my favorite pics of the evening:
Under the chair: where jello shots go to die. And then be pried off the chair leg the next day.

This post is a bad idea

Um so I'm ridiculously tired right now. We got back from Stratford tonight to discover that the glorious wireless from a few days ago is STILL HERE and I just can't handle it. I've lived a surprisingly technology free semester what with no house internet and no cellphone, and now *bam* I have this and I'm abusing it. I need to go to bed. Someone tell me to go to bed.

I saw three plays in three days and I loved it. I think I could see a play every day and not get bored. Well unless it was a truly heinous play. Anyway, we saw three Royal Shakespeare Company productions, Merry Wives of Windsor the Musical (with Judi Dench, no less...*drop*), Pericles, and The Winter's Tale. They were all enjoyable, although Merry Wives wins for awesome cheesiness and The Winter's Tale wins for powerful acting. I guess Pericles can win for obscurity and creepiness. I don't think I could live in Stratford considering there's nothing to do past 10pm but it was fun and Christmasy and I caved to the deprivation of an entire semester and went to Starbucks three times.

Shakespeare's house was just as uneventful as it was the last time I was there. Saying I've been there twice is like the opposite of a *drop*. If I dropped that someone would just be like "Hey can you pick that back up, we don't want it lying around here."

And this is why I need to go to bed right now.

Mon Dieu

I've been to many many museums this semester. So many that I don't think I need to visit another art museum for a long time. Yet I don't know that any of them were quite as amusing as the Museum of Eroticism.




Anna and Josh think it's better than the Louvre...(I'm not sure if they're really comparable.)







Other Paris highlights:
-i love pastries
-la musee d'orsay is free if you (like the museum) are 20
-the catacombs: for everyone who enjoys being creeped out
-our dirty dirty hostel where the wallpaper was peeling and we slept under our coats instead of the blankets

oh wait, strike that last bullet from the list.

Tomorrow it's off to Stratford for a few days which should be a thoroughly Shakespearean time. I'm so close to home I can almost taste the La Cocina...

What's New at Northampton

My cookies...mostly doodles and Harry Potter








Karen's cookies..far more elaborate and blasphemous.








Our recyclables the day after the house party (the pics are on yahoo now)








My house is so diverse in our extracurricular pursuits...

Are there any Thanksgiving songs?

I have to say, it's pretty weird to be in England on Thanksgiving. What is a huge celebration (read: day of feasting) at home doesn't even exist here. As a result, they don't know when it's appropriate to put up Christmas decorations, they advertise for "Christmas turkeys," and I am not allowed to eat all day long. The program is making us a dinner tonight but it's not until 7... we all know that that's when the third or fourth Thanksgiving dinner takes place. It's alright though, I'll recover.

I am completely done with work until finals and it is glorious. This weekend I plan to bum around, reread the 4th Harry Potter, and watch the entire second season of House on dvd. I aspire to greatness, it's true.

I'm not really sure why I'm posting since I clearly have very little to say...I did make some excellent cookies the other day that were decorated by myself and Schreink quite amusingly, I think I'll post pictures of that soon. And perhaps some pictures from our house party, which was insane.

I propose that everyone who reads this (all 5 or 6 of you) send me a pumpkin pie. Just a suggestion.

A Few Numbers...

1 week until Thanksgiving.

2 weeks until Paris.

3 weeks until the Northhampton Christmas Party

4 weeks until I am home :-)

9 weeks until I am back at wam !!!

Being finished with 3/4 of my papers has prompted a lot of excitment over here.

On a more terrifying note, last night the largest fattest spider crawled in through my window...and disappeared.

What a horrible way to conclude this post. Instead, a picture:

.

Yess Lego Santa.I love consumer holidays. I'm not being sarcastic; I really do.

Ah!

It's a good thing I have Fiore, or I might've missed THIS.

(go! click it! it's exciting!)

Public Art, Munich Style

So Santa Clarita has this giant bear statue in Valencia Heritage Park. I named him once when he spent a week in City Hall, but I can't remember what name I gave him (Franklin?). Anyway, he's a part of the CA Bear Project (hmm that's kind of a weak link), which is an attempt at some CA-wide public art... I say attempt because I'm pretty sure Franklin (?) is one of the only art bears.

Munich, however, has the Lion Parade (and the website is awesome).

When I first got there, I saw one or two of these lion statues. They were painted and kind of random and I wasn't really sure what they were doing...but no, they're EVERYWHERE. I don't think you can walk 100 feet without encountering a lion. And I'm pretty sure no two lions are the same. Some of my favorites:

This one has a stein. How appropriate.


Neopolitan?


Art, a bench, and a trashcan: quite the multitasker.


I think this one is having an identity crisis.

So yeah, I thought that was pretty cool. I think the SCV should adapt the bear project into something equally cool, although I'm struggling to come up with a smaller animal that lives there...besides, like, the coyote. The coyote parade would not be very impressive.

On a mostly unrelated note: now that I have had German beer, I can never drink another beer again.

The Pubs of Bath

From left to right: The Dark Horse, Saracen's Head, The Rat and Parrot, The Huntsman, The Boater, St. Christopher's, and The Pig and The Fiddle

We earned our first place prize...even if splitting a bottle of champagne 7 ways doesn't amount to much.

Pope on a Rope.

Finally back in Bath, and I am overjoyed.

Things That I Will Miss About Fall Break:
-the gorgeous weather in France and Italy
-gelato (particularly from the place to the right of the Trevi Fountain)
-Euro MTV (particularly the weird german/italian soap and the Scissor Sisters video)
-free croissants for breakfast and real non-instant coffee/espresso
-stores being open past 6
-buying on the euro
-once in a lifetime opportunities, like making Pope jokes at the Vatican

Things That I Will Not Miss About Fall Break:
-living out of a backpack (particularly wearing the same pair of pants so much that i have to roll them at the waist to keep them on)
-not being able to straighten my hair
-reading maps all the time
-hotel beds and bathrooms and showers (particularly when the hotel showers ARE the bathrooms...)
-once in a lifetime opportunities, like walking across Rome at midnight barefoot (um, I know.)

So it was a wonderful time but I am very much glad to be back. The pictures are being updated slowly, seeing as it is a long and arduous process. Currently the Nice pics are up so hopefully those will hold you over until I have time to add the Italy pics. For now, a preview:



Just a little shot of the Sistine Chapel. Apparently the only reason you're not supposed to take pictures of it is because Japanese TV has a copyright to it (lame). So obviously when I found that out I had to get a picture just to spite them.

Also, If anyone can think of something brilliant for me to be for Halloween, please let me know within the next 24 hours.

Roman(ish) Holiday

Hello hello

I am currently at an Internet Cafe in Florence, which we all know is no way to be spending my vacation, so I'll make this short... I checked my email and saw that I owe a lot of you emails, which I will gladly return once I'm back in Bath on Monday. Miss you all and wish you could be here to sample many varieties of pizza and gelato with me :-)

A Very Merry UnBirthday

I'm going to culturally enhance my blog slightly today with a little link to the play I saw last night, The Birthday Party. It was good....but very very strange. I mean I guess that's the point, but it was certainly one of the more confusing plays I've seen. I also saw Conflict Tiger, this crazy russian documentary about man eating tigers..... both were on the study trip my modern british fiction class took to Bristol. It was an interestng day but I was ready to get back to the little bubble that is Bath.

My house has really maximized its pong potential in recent days. The danger being that sometimes the pong ball bounces out the kitchen window and has to be retrieved. Good times though, good times. Karaoke was a success. Sang a little Journey because, after all, we're in college. There were some other great contestants as well, particularly Pistol Pete who rocked out to some song that I can't remember, and Panda (yes, that was his name..) who 1)sang a Meatloaf song and 2) looked like Meatloaf. Too bizarre.

I continue to be grateful for itunes for making Grey's so downloadable. Tonight Burg and I will enjoy last week's episode, and perhaps a little guac. For now I am journeying home.