Things I like this week

1. The way Elvis says the word "ghetto." The way he breaks up the two parts of the word... It's fantastic. Experience it for yourself.


2. What is... Jeopardy? Yeah, that's right. Me and Alex are prematurely old, and we watch Jeopardy. Don't bug me.


Celebrity Jeopardy-Cosby,Osbourne,Connery - Click here for more blooper videos

3. The huge sigh that starts "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." You know that this cowboy's gonna sing a sad, sad song if he it starts out with a sigh! Here, check it out. You can even karaoke it using the handy video below. Go on, you know you want to.



4. Anvil! The Story of Anvil. This movie is fantastic. It's about this Canadian metal band from the 80s who have stayed together and are still trying to make it. Lips and Robb, I love you guys. It reminded me of The King of Kong, which is oddly enough one of my favorite movies ever. Just watch it and see. Here's the trailer:



Also, I've got pictures from Halloween that I'll post shortly. Alex and I were Axl Rose and Slash from Guns 'N Roses, taking me one step closer to my dream of fronting a Guns 'N Roses tribute band.

Life moves pretty fast...

It's been a while since I've blogged last... I started working again, and the beginning of the school year is really busy. Also, Alex and I are both taking classes again, this time for a reading endorsement and (hopefully) a Master's degree--which we still have to apply for. We've got classes after work Mondays and Thursdays until 7. And homework and reading for those classes. On top of that, I was asked to take ESL endorsement classes this year, which thankfully will only be during the day, 6 days out of the year. However, when they pared the ESL program down from 200+ hours to 40 hours in classes, they made up those extra hours in homework (or so they say)... Then there's planning lessons and grading papers. I'm swamped. We took the writing section of the GRE on Friday, and my brain might be broken. As soon as I get the Master's application done and I get all my materials for my classes, I think I'll be a-ok.

Anyway... I'm done complaining. Oh wait, one more thing... Patrick Swayze died! It is so sad. I love him, and not in an ironic hipster way. I really love several of his movies, and when he dances, it makes the world (okay, at least the people in my apartment) smile. Point Break and Roadhouse are strangely two of my very favorite movies to watch. I know they're dumb, but they make me happy. It's similar to how I eat bags of mini-marshmallows or Texano burritos while watching the Food Network. I know I could cook myself something gourmet, but junky food makes me happy. I defy you to watch Point Break and keep a straight face. It's too awesome for that! Roadhouse doesn't achieve quite that same level of crazy-cool, but it makes up for it in ridiculousness. As you watch, you keep wondering, "Wait, did Swayze just rip a man's throat out using his bare hands? Hold on, did that monster truck really just drive through the car dealership? Did a giant polar bear just take out one of the bad guys?" It's great.

Now, I know this clip doesn't include Bodhi, but it's so funny, it'll inspire you to pull out your copy of Point Break and enjoy, preferably while enjoying two meatball subs.


Another Swayze movie I can't help but love is Dirty Dancing. It isn't my favorite 80's teen movie, but it's still pretty darn good. When Johnny leaps of the stage at the end... Priceless. See for yourself:




This leads me into another bit of sadness. John Hughes passed away too! The man who created some of the greatest teen angst movies of all time. The man whose movies Alex and I bonded over in one of our very first conversations! It went something like this...

Alex: What did you do this weekend? --awkwardly sticks hands in pockets--
Sheree: Well, I watched Pretty in Pink again. Do you like that movie?
Alex: Of course! The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles are, like, the Holy Trinity of 80's teen comedies.
Sheree: --Inward swoon--

John Hughes movies... the Brat pack.... they are so inextricably tied to good memories. I unabashedly love them. Pretty in Pink is one of my faves, but in my mind I change the ending and Andie goes to the Prom with Duckie and she doesn't wear such an ugly dress. I think everybody wanted to be Ferris Bueller at some point during his/her adolescence. Hell, I'd still sorta like to be Ferris Bueller, who am I kidding? Sixteen Candles wasn't my favorite, but I did have a crush on Jake Ryan. I looked that actor up one day, and found out he quit acting and became a carpenter or something. Funny ole world. The Breakfast Club goes without saying. It's so funny, and angsty, and ridiculous. Funny sidenote: I used to watch it on network TV on Saturdays with my brother, so until I got older and watched the DVD, I had no idea why they all started to dance in the middle. Turns out they get high, which is cut out of the TV version. I was always so confused...

If you are also a fan, you've gotta check out this post, entitled "Sincerely, John Hughes. It's about a girl who was John Hughes' pen pal during the 80's. It's really well written, and it's such a cool story.

That's all I got for ye. I'm gonna go nap now.

Funny pictures on vacation at Comic-Con '09

So Alex covered our Comic-Con trip pretty extensively on his blog: check out Day One, Day Two, and Day Three. As my own addition to the pantheon of Comic-Con posts, I have compiled an assortment of ridiculous pictures of Alex, all taken during our vacation by yours truly.



This was at the San Diego Zoo. You can see Balboa Park in the background if you look really closely. This same morning, Alex had a phone interview with a junior high school principal and received a job offer on the way down to San Diego. He was feeling a little jaunty. Also, he loves animals, so he was a little excited. It was weird.









So this picture was taken Saturday morning. While waiting in line for two hours to get into Hall H (the massive room where the big shiz goes down), some girls promoting the roller derby movie Whip It roller skated by with some free sweatbands for the crowd. Now, since the crowd consisted of geeks in California in the summer, it was kind of a nice gesture. Alex looked adorable in his, as you can see.






This picture was taken in the exhibit hall (where people sell their wares and you get a bunch of free stuff). On Sunday, we decided to cruise the exhibit hall before we took off. For some reason, this wolf head was mounted to the side of one of the booths. We had just recieved free Schticks signs from a nearby booth and this strange shot was born.

And finally, my personal favorite, taken on the drive home:

Sidenote: I originally posted this on my PC, then I checked it out on Alex's Mac and it looked crazy. I fixed it, but sorry if it now looks weird on a PC.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

So here we are, in the middle of summer. As you all know, I am currently on vacation from work (and Alex is still job hunting), so we have a lot of time on our hands. When I began this vacation, I was concerned that I would grow weary of the lack of structure and the free time. I couldn't have been more wrong; I loooove it. Now I feel bad for the chumps that have to work every month of the year! Suckers!

Anyway, in honor of my fantastically lazy summer, I thought I'd do a list of things that occupy my free time:

1. The Price is Right: This is a super nostalgic thing for me. When I was a kid, summer meant waking up late, watching Bob Barker while enjoying a huge bowl of Alpha-bits... Some things never change. Even though it's now Drew Carey and I have traded Alpha-bits for Cap'n Crunch, I still get my Price is Right on most mornings at 9 AM.

2. Food Network/Wii Fit: What a deadly combo. I've been trying to be healthier and to exercise daily. However, I also love to watch the Food Network, which makes me hungry and makes me want to cook. A lot. I also have stumbled on some great food websites: The Pioneer Woman Cooks, The Impulsive Buy (which is also hilarious), The Kitchn, and Serious Eats are some of my faves, and they usually have delicious-looking recipes. Sigh.

3. True Blood: Okay... Now I wouldn't ever recommend this show to anyone else, and it took me a while to like it, but now... I may be hooked. The acting sucks, the accents are some of the worst I've ever heard, and since it's on HBO, there's tons of gratuitous sex and violence, especially in the first episodes. I was ready to give it up after the first disk. However, the story is just interesting enough to keep me watching, and I think it is improving. They've toned down the gross stuff, and the actors might just be settling into their accents. Sidenote: This show has an awesome theme song:



4. Etsy and other websites: It's slightly embarrassing, but I spend waaay too much time online. Etsy is a particular killer. For those of you who are uninitiated, Etsy is sort of like Amazon for sellers of handmade goods. It has an abundance of awesome stuff to buy, and I can spend hours browsing and putting stuff into my "Favorite Listings." Right now, I have over 500 things in my favorites (and that doesn't even include my favorite sellers)! My favorite thing I've ever bought from Etsy was my sweet robot cake topper.

5. Y: The Last Man: I wish I could say that I've read a ton of books this summer... but I can't! I have started reading a comic by Brian K. Vaughan (one of the writers of Lost) called Y: The Last Man. I actually started to get interested in the series when I saw Hurley reading an issue in Spanish on Lost. The premise is simple: Every male creature on Earth dies... except Yorick, the main character, and his pet monkey Ampersand. So far, the series is good. Imperfect, but interesting enough that I'm going to keep reading.

6. Local Bakeries: I'm a sucker for baked goods, and Salt Lake has a ton of great restaurants and bakeries. My favorites are Mini's Cupcakes, where I like to indulge in the Chocoholic cupcake and a batch of freshly made marshmallows, and Tulie Bakery, where I have discovered some of the best croissants I've ever had. I've been trying to be good and avoid stuff that's so bad for me, but what can I say?

7. Local Vintage/Consignment Shops: Another favorite local thing of mine is the abundance of awesome vintage or consignment shops around. If you like funky/cool stuff, I'd recommend Emilie Jayne or Abode. If you want something a bit more stately/Mod, I like The Green Ant or the newly opened Now and Again. If you want a good deal, try Ninth Avenue Chic or (my personal favorite) Moriarty's.

8. Salt Lake-y type stuff: I have really enjoyed all the cool stuff going on downtown. The Living Traditions Festival was a glutton's dream, the Farmer's Market each Saturday is awesome, and if you get really bored, Library Square is fun to browse. I'm looking forward to the Twilight Concert Series, even though we'll be in California when one of my favorite bands, The Black Keys, is scheduled to perform. For free.

9. Crafty pursuits: It is probably strange to some of you, but I enjoy making stuff. So far this summer Alex and I have turned an old door into a pretty cool shelf:
I also have plans to repaint and recover this chair:

AND to make these plates:

We'll see if that happens...

10. Not studying, planning, or even thinking about school: Oops!

No more pencils, no more books

So it is Monday morning, and I am not at work... Friday was the last day of my first year teaching high school. I went to graduation to see my little seniorkins get their diplomas, and then, I was a free woman! What a year. Sometimes I loved it, sometimes... not so much. It's amazing how much better the second half of the year went than the first. Overall, it was a good year. But I'm glad to have a break!

Awesome things from the internet

Here's some funny things floating around the interweb:

Mickey Rourke and a bird:
This joke, from filmdrunk:
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Mickey Rourke walks into a bar with a parrot on his shoulder. Bartender says, “Whoa, where’d you get that?” Parrot says, “Rawk! Passed out behind an Arby’s.”

Kevin Smith and his daughter talking about Twilight:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Tim Gunn and Iron Man!


Coming soon: A review of Drag Me to Hell

I'm so angry, I just want to dance

So I have 2 weeks and two days left of teaching.... The kids are going crazy, like that one episode of Johnny Bravo when he used chili instead of hair gel and all the squirrels attacked his head... My students are the rabid squirrels in this crappy metaphor. I don't think you need an English teacher to tell you where that leaves me. Sigh. Also, as we creep closer to summer, the temperature's rising. As you may recall, we have no air conditioning at my school. It turns my room into a hellish inferno. But... almost two weeks left! Eye of the tiger.

On days like today, however, I don't want to focus on the positive. I just want to... dance!



Just kidding. I really just want to slip into a Del Taco-induced food coma with old reruns of Seinfeld flickering in the background.

I can't really embed that clip without including this one. So clever. I wish I could have gone to Flight of the Conchords. It would've been really nice if someone would have offered to get us tickets when they scored theirs...

Enjoy!

Paul Rudd is adorable

I'm a little bit in love with Paul Rudd. He's awesomely adorable in everything: I Love You, Man was great; he's hilarious in Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin, and Anchorman; he helped make Role Models better than it should have been; I even enjoyed him in Friends and Clueless. Here's yet another reminder of how just how awesome Paul Rudd really is:

If Batman did rap battles

Check this out (from mightygodking.com).

Best not come to battle because if you battle me
You’re gonna suffer a f***ing bat-astrophe
Kal-El, what the hell, you wanna get in a fight
F***er step off or I’ll synthesize Kryptonite
Diana, I wanna introduce my Batpole
To every one of your wonderful Wonder-holes
Green Lanterns? F*** you, you’re alla you overpaid
I’ll beat you with daffodils, beat you with lemonade
Martian Manhunter’s tough, so I’ll light a Bat-Match,
Smoke a cigar and I’ll make him my bat-byatch
And the Flash? He runs fast, but you know he can’t handle me
I’ll just activate Anti-Flash Bat-Plan Twenty-Three
Aquaman, he’s a joke, you know he ain’t tough enough
Let him sit back till I want me some dolphin muff
Even Aquaman’s fishes, they know I bat-vicious
The League are my b*tches, they do as I wishes
Cause if I don’t want it the bad guys will never win
Down ‘em like House downs a handful of Vicodin
Lex Luthor, Ra’s Al Ghul, or even Per Degaton
They all the worst and I be the “better than”
Battle neverending you know that I fight it
My victories endless, you cannot deny it
Cause they dead y’all, and they dead y’all
My parents are muhf***in dead y’all

(repeat last two lines until Batman breaks down crying in front of parents’ graves)

Heh, heh, heh. Also funny: Birds stealing ice cream cones.



Coming soon to a blog near you: Big Macs vs. Whoppers--a scientific analysis. Stay tuned!

I love it

Today I bought a 7 dollar bar of chocolate. However, it isn't just any chocolate bar--it's Mo's Bacon Bar by Vosges Haut Chocolat. That's right. Bacon. I couldn't resist. I already wrote about the joys of bacon-related desserts. They can be sooo good. I haven't eaten it yet; I'm going to wait for Alex. Otherwise, I'm worried I would just eat the whole thing without waiting for him to try any.

It even has special instructions on how to eat it: "Breathe...engage your 5 senses, close your eyes and inhale deeply. Be in the present moment, notice the color of the chocolate, the glossy shine. Rub your thumb over the chocolate bar to release the aromas of smoked applewood bacon flirting with deep milk chocolate. Snap off just a tiny piece and place it in your mouth, let the lust of salt and sweet coat your tongue." I'm so excited!

I know that seven dollars is a little ridiculous to spend on chocolatey goodness, but I have a crazy-awful cold. Teaching with a cold sucks. I sound like Kathleen Turner during the mannish years and there's nothing worse then having a runny nose while trying to look impressive in front of people. Also, I puked the other day--I don't even want to mention how gross it was. So anyway... I think I deserve it!

UPDATE: I just tried the bacon chocolate. Wow. Mmmm, mmmm good, and also awesomely strange. I definitely let the lust of salt and sweet coat my tongue. Delicious!

Moles and trolls, moles and trolls, work, work, work, work, work.

What in the world has happened to Val Kilmer? There's no way he's been doing movies if he's looking like this. Good grief. The last thing I saw him in was Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, which is was awesomely funny in, but he was slightly puffy. Now it looks like the puff has taken over!

Don't forget, he used to be sooooo sexy. I love him in Real Genius. I pretty much love everything about Real Genius. (Funny sidenote: As I typed "genius" the first time, I spelled it wrong. Irony!) Anyway, Val Kilmer plays Chris Knight, the sexy hotshot genius who wears ironic t-shirts way ahead of their time. And did I mention he's beautiful. He's got great cheekbones. Check it out:
Speaking of Real Genius, has anyone (besides me and Alex) ever noticed that Mitch looks exactly like Sarah Jessica Parker? Observe:



It is uncanny. Now, to wash away all of the weirdness, check out a squirrel going nuts on some Doritos. Awesome! See them all on Cute Overload.


One last thing: I just finished my first semester of teaching. I can't believe I've survived! It's kind of impressive. Here's hoping the rest of my first year goes lots better than my first semester... At least now I have BSG and Lost to comfort me.

Lists! Pert Near Perfect Seasons of TV + The Year in Burgers

So, I kept trying to make a top movies of 2008 blog, but I didn't see enough awesome movies. So instead, I've compiled a list of nearly perfect seasons of television. Feel free to suggest new shows; I need something new after Veronica Mars.

1. Twin Peaks Season 1 : Obviously. I even thought that Veronica Mars had a whiff of Twin Peaks about it.

2. Freaks and Geeks Season 1 : Tragically, also the whole series. Someone will not pass go OR collect 200 dollars when they die for this one.

3. Veronica Mars Season 1 : Super fantastic. Season 2 was good, but not as wonderful. Funny story: After I watched this show, I dreamed that Logan was in one of my classes. Weird.

4. Lost Season 4 : Lost! Is coming! Again! Hooray...

5. Firefly Season 1 : 've said enough about this. I think all I need today is a picture... Oh yeah...

6. Arrested Development Season 2 : It's just so funny. Like this part:

Tobias: Well, Michael, you really are quite the Cupid, aren’t you? I tell you, you can zing your arrow into my buttocks any time.
Michael: Okay, you know what you do? You buy yourself a tape recorder, you just record yourself for a whole day. I think you’re going to be surprised at some of your phrasing.
Tobias: Butterscotch! Want a lick?

Honorable Mention:

BSG Season 2. This one only gets honorable mention because (like most of the seasons of BSG), it has a few notable pile-o'-crap episodes. The worst offender? Lee Adama's "hooker with a heart of gold" episode--"Black Gold." Alex also hates the next episode, "Scar," which I tend to agree with. I was so happy when they killed off Kat's character.

On the flip side, however, most of Season 2 is amazing, particularly the Pegasus episodes. Gaius and the Six? Cain and Adama's stare-downs? Priceless.


Ready for another list? Check out this 2008 hamburger retrospective. It's pretty awesome. Burgers R Great!