Caught in the Vortex

What the? As we were planning our day trip to Sedona, AZ, we were reading this list of suggested activities. I'm reading things like, "go on a day hike with a trained guide, take a pink jeep tour on one of the many trails, rent an inflatable kayak and float down the Colorado River..." and I'm thinking, "Wow, this place sounds really cool" and then I get to the phrase, "Take a spiritual, healing tour into the Vortex". I was like, "what?! What the? What is that? That sounds weird". Then Grant went on to explain to me how the place is known as like a worm-hole or something into the Universe that holds special spiritual powers that heal people. Interesting. Well, needless to say, we went and miraculously I was healed. Unfortunately, I will never know what I would have been ailed with because now, I won't get it. But really, we had a really great time, even though we didn't make it to the vortex, danget. Not to knock the mystical stuff. I mean, it's interesting and who knows, there might be some truth to it? Still, it was very beautiful. We had a ton of fun and we are for sure going back. It is worth checking out. This is a picture of the mountains or "rocks" that inspired Grant to declare, "It looks like a Filet Mignon". Yeah Grant, it kinda does. This particular shot is of a filet smothered with sauteed mushrooms.

An Announcement

You are invited
to the celebration for

Nancy the flexing Cactus
and
Grant Richman Lippard

on the
23 of September in the year 2008
as they celebrate their love.

Actually, this looks more like a prom picture pose.

Magic Fairy Dust

Best product for zie hair. Anne got this Bumble and Bumble hair product from the place she works at called Hampton Salon. My hair is so oily that I can't heed hair stylist's advice and not wash it every day because I can't stand it after one day of not washing it. It loses all personality and makes me look just plain dirty. Some women can totally get away with it, but not me...until now. When I spray it on my roots, the oilyness totally disappears! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still showering every day, just not washing me hair every day :) This product has made it possible. It adds volume and oomph to otherwise dead hair. It's easy to use, although it does have color in it so you have to be careful where you spray it but it is totally worthy of a check it out this. It comes in 5 colors: Platinum, Blondish, Brown, Red, and Black. Anyone looking for a product to add volume and a fix to oily or dead hair, this is it! Bette Midler calls it "backcombing in a bottle" from what I hear so there you go. It's worth the money.

How do you really feel about Jason Mraz?

The Gnome carried out by the artist in the beginning of the show.

The guy that gets to say, "I play the bongos, man".

The stalker photog that caused much concern when the people next to us told us he took more pictures of us than the actual performer on stage. Afterward, he got our names to put in some publication... hmm. (Hope we're not found dead soon)

The only girls with free tickets in the very front row (thanks to some confusion with the tickets that other people had our exact same seat, the only seats available were in the front row danget) that didn't know every word to every song.

The only guy Anne has wanted to see in concert and somehow was able to come upon free tickets to his show randomly. Jason Mraz. Thanks Annabee for taking me!

Summer with Sir Isaac Lime

This summer, I was acquainted with some old, but great friends. How good it was to see Strawberry Short Kook again. Also, Poncho Punch hasn't changed at all. Here they all are.

• Louie-Bloo Raspberry
• Strawberry Short Kook
• Sir Isaac Lime
• Poncho Punch
  
• Alexander the Grape
• Little Orphan Orange

Do you know them?

Decapitated

I was just remembering when Grant cut my head off on our honeymoon.



Good times.

So, Grant's sister Kelli came to visit us from Chicago and we did a lot of stuff that I had actually never done before but have been wanting to do. We went kayaking in Seal Beach, we went to Visitors Night at UC Irvine's obvervatory (where we saw Jupiter and 3 of it's moons through a telescope and it really looks like it has lines on it that all the pictures show, come to find out they are storms going on... pretty cool). One of the highlights was when we went up to LA to an Ethiopian restaurant called Rosalinds. It was 5 stars or 2 thumbs up or 4 diamonds or whatever. Amazing. The food was sooo good, combining spices like ginger, jalepeno, and garlic and infusing the meats and vegetarian dishes with the most wonderful flavors. I loved the chickpeas and lentils. Instead of utensils, you hold pieces of this thin bread between your fingers and you scoop it up. It was such a unique experience and cheap too. We were all full off of their combo that was 16 bucks! We all loved it and we are really anxious to go again soon, which we will be doing. It is right next to the Grove too, so we went and walked around there for a little bit. I always love it when visitors come because it gives us an excuse to PARTAY!

Perfect for Parasols

Any idea where you might catch a scene such as this?

At Target's Symphony in the Cities, of course.

A couple weekends ago, Grant and I attended a free symphony at Irvine's Heritage Park. We set out our blanket on this perfect grassy hill and enjoyed the music amongst families and grandmas with parasols. They played music that we all recognized whether it be from old cartoons or Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure. Also, there were some featured singers and they performed a few songs from The Sound of Music, and towards the end, some sing along patriotic songs. One indulgence was to actually go up to the stage and conduct a song with everyone else that can't fight the urge to start waving their arms in the air when there is a live symphony present. (I totally do it.) The conductor disappeared and there the symphony played to our flailing hands. Next year, we are going to bring a picnic which they encourage you do. (We were running late so we didn't get a chance to stop and get any snacks.) Also, it only lasted maybe a little over an hour so it was just long enough to hold our attention. They have done it four years in a row and every weekend they have it at a different park. A very fun cultural experience, and it's free, so there you go.

Adventures in Gabbaland.

Anne and I had an escapade in Gabbaland! Foofa invited us (through our TV screen of course) to enter Yo Gabba Gabba behind the scenes and see the set where they film the whole thing and we got to play in the props and also watch Emma/Foofa do some voice overs, sing some songs, and do an interview as Foofa. She is so perfect for the part. She does the voice and plays the part in costume. We were introduced to a whole bunch of people who work on it, including the producer. The offices are decorated so well. Everything you would expect from the Yo Gabba Gabba team. It was a really fun experience since I had never done anything like that before. Thanks Emma, I mean Foofa, for showing us around Gabbaland and doing a Dancey Dance with us. (Here are some photos of Anne being sucked into Gabbaland through our TV screen. Freaky. I'm glad I was there to get the photographic proof.)

"Cal, I'm going to Gabbaland to wash my hands. I'll be right back... maybe"

"Anne, come back! Come back!!"

Pardon me

Like any RV that realizes its potential, the "INTRUDER" sends a message to all who come within reading distance. This vehicle enters and exits our non-suspecting neighborhood on its recreational whim, and while we (me and mine) enjoy deciding what we can learn from this title, I'm sure some dwellers sense a literal tinge in its statement. I wish to ponder on the importance of this message because aren't we all intruders at some time in our lives? Why else would there be a need for such phrases as, "Pardon me" and "Excuse me" and even "Sorry"?( And by the way, why do we say these kind of things with their french counterparts that sound like "Par-done moi" and "Excu-say moi"?) There are a few different ways in which we intrude. A popular intrusion is simply just to disrupt someones groove if you will. Simply doing something that causes discord within their very being, creating a feeling of awkwardness and possible confusion. We orchestrate awkward moments (some do on purpose), causing someone stress over how to respond or simply how to avoid the conversation/confrontation/interaction altogether. Many of us are literal intruders, forcing ourselves on people in their homes, conversations, driving lanes (guilty), TV shows(guilty again), dinners, sleep, when they're "in the midde of something", or free time. Although we are most likely not aware of it thanks to social graces, we're all seasoned intruders and in this we are all united. Consequently, being an intruder isn't as bad as it seems. Just a little something to think about. Possibly this RV is simply displaying that which we all are, demanding societys attention toward the part of ourselves that we try to deny, ignore or justify. Or maybe this statement is, in effect, saying "Look, I don't care how much room I'm taking up and I don't care whose room it is. I'm intruding hello! I'm going where I want to go, when I want to go, in this big RV. So, if you don't want to get hurt, get the eff out of my way." Regardless, it is something we should make ourselves aware of.

This won't let you down

Have you guys seen this? I stole this from my friend Heather's blog. I just couldn't resist. It makes me laugh every time I see it. I thought that I would represent, give a shout out to Heather for making this all possible, and thank every one for this opportunity. Watch carefully for the dancing in between the lyrics.

Yo-Ho Yo-Huh?

It was mid-day when my little sister Bailey (who is 8) showed me the project she had been working on. It was this felt rendition of a blond pirate girl ( about 8 years old judging from the length of the hair and size of the head in proportion to the rest of the body and lack of legs as a metaphor for dependency). I said, "wow Bailey. You really have a talent. I've never experienced felt looking so dang-darn realistic." (She enjoys when I talk like a complete idiot). Our interaction continued when I ritualistically asked if I could have it for keeps, falsely believing again that because she handed it to me to show me, it should now be mine. Bailey proceeded right on cue with the rolling of the huge blue eyes, (I'm convinced she designed her eyes to be so gigantic so that the rolling of them would cause the rolling of heads. What else could she need eyes that big for?) as she instinctively replied, "no", snatching the felt art from my hands. I never saw the "pirate" or her again, until...

A few hours later, I am on my way downstairs and happen upon a pirate scene. Now, I have never happened upon pirates in their free time before. It has always been in formal settings, either when they're at work on the Pirates of the Carribean ride at Disneyland or when they are "playing it up" in film, like in "(insert name of pirate movie here)". Always stealing, swearing, drinking... Arriving upon this calm scene, I had to ask myself, "Are they felt?" But no! They were real and they were really there. This surreal happenstance really opened my eyes to how pirates are really no different from us. I mean, in their spare time they like to do things like:

think about real issues

read children's books

just hang out low-key

(and this one really surprised me)
they even lounge in laundry baskets very similar to the way you and I creatively used (and use) laundry baskets (as beds, sleds, etc).

I don't know how Bailey managed to pull it off, but she really taught me something that day. Pirates, felt or not, are really nothing to be intimidated by. They are just like us "non-ship-riding, non-treasure-stealing, non-red and white stripe-torn-clothing-wearing" people. Really, the only thing that separates us is what we do for a living, what we wear, and the way we talk, the time period we live in, the material we're made of, yada yada. Because if you got us all together during our free time, we'd all be chillaxing the same way!
PS. I've never said or written before, nor ever will say or write again, the word "chillaxing" or any form thereof.

It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy

This year's theme for the OC Fair was "Say Cheese" which we did, a lot. We had a grand time including riding a rockety roller coaster almost to our demise. How fun it was to have Brittany, Danielle, Kiffy, Mom, Bailey, Levi, Todd, Anne, Grant and I all together for some fair play which we did until midnite when the fair closed. Until next year when we'll do it all again! (Are you guys in?)

Levi, Todd, Brittany, Brittany's little boy Jake, and I all went on Friday to check out the US Open in Huntington Beach. It was a lot of fun and the highlight was probably the Moto-Cross.
There was 6 trick bikers and one got hurt doing some crazy move.

Jake felt inspired. (Cue electric guitar whammy)

I think seeing the extreme sports was life changing for Jake as he, upon leaving, was inspired to immediately start experimenting with some tricks in his stroller and is now really into extreme strolling. He puts his thumb in his mouth just to show how "at ease" he is in such extreme positions (and also to freak his mom out a little). That Jake.

RV stands for "right up my alley"

This is the first of many pictures in an ongoing pursuit of mine to capture those themes on which so much of my own exhiliration and happiness derive. You know those things that you enjoy most when shared with someone else who can appreciate their beauty? The people who "get it". This is one of those things. This goes out to all who can appreciate an RV's message...to humanity.

To me, RV's aren't just out there to carry it's owners to various destinations or to make camping more comfortable. Their purpose does not lie solely in being a home on wheels moved with a motor, nor is their existence fulfilled in being huge and taking up a lot of space for parking, or even in slowing traffic. They do much more than that. They teach us about life! I revel in the irony, mystery, comedy and truth I find in the names printed along the side that sends a message to us all. I mean, they could easily all read "Get out of my effing way!" but they don't. These owners (or manufacturers, I don't know) print messages we should all ponder. I mean, look at this guy. To me he's saying, "I'm not just moving for my health, I'm traveling here". Either that or, "Get out of my effing way!" (fyi: "eff" is slang for freak). Whatever it means, I think we could all take a page out of this guys book. What, my friends, does it mean to you?

Todd's first time

Cream Cheese Muffins

I recommend these very much if you like cream cheese.  They are very delicious.

Beware the Burrito

Levi: "Dude. You should've eaten over last nite"

Braden: "Why?"

Levi: "Cause you would've died.  Seriously, the food was the bomb"

(Pictures of Levi were not staged.  He had the food everywhere like hanging off of his nose eating at the dinner table so I decided to get my camera)

PS.  I made sweet grilled chicken, fried platains with garlic and onions, homemade guacamole, refried beans with jalepenos and Todd (Grant's bro) made a homemade tomatillo salsa and jalepeno cream sauce for smothering the burrito.  It really was better than any burrito any of us have had in a restaurant.  The flavors combined so well.  We all scarfed, Levi just happened to have it all over his face and hands too and as far as Levi and his friends are concerned, the meal reached "death" status.

Annabee and the Bee(hive)

Anne had her updo competition and did a fantastically high beehive (without using a cup people).  She did a great job with quotes from Barbra all around indulging in the  60's themed challenge.  You make us proud!  She is learning a lot and has a keen eye for style and detail.  She just knows what looks good.  If anyone is looking for someone who will do great hair, give her a ring (in other words, contact me and I'll hook it up).

If you haven't yet before seen the new iDance, here it is.  It is customarily done when one receives or purchases a new Apple computer, etc.  Here it is being done after the woman pictured just opened up her new Apple laptop and placed it on... her lap.  She also received a free printer/scanner/fax/copier and a free iPod Touch with her student rebates which prolonged her dancing.