walk like an Egyptian

way-o way-o
Jillian went to Egypt last week during her Middle East adventure. Here are some pics. She is so cool!!

books

I like to read. A lot. I credit my mother for instilling this in me. I remember being little and going to the public library and having stacks and stacks of books to check out. I always felt sorry for the other kids I saw whose moms only let them get two or three. What would I do with two or three? I'd just have to come back the next day. Might as well get a whole bunch. Also my mom knows never to take me into a bookstore otherwise I'll have four books I want to buy within 15 minutes. It's a disease.

Right now I am in possession of an enormous amount of books and I just keep adding to the list. I have about seven checked out from the library alone. They include:

-Two mystery books about a detective named Monk who just had amnesia; written by Anne Perry
-Three mystery books about a girl in 1800's London, they're actually for youth but Marissa let me read the first page of one and it had the phrase "I had to kill a man..." in it so I was already intrigued. The first one is called "The Ruby in the Smoke" by Phil Pullman, the guy who wrote the Golden Compass books.
-All Quiet on the Western Front-Erich Maria Remarque-somehow I never had to read this one for school. It's quite good so far.
-Hunger Games-trying to get my hands on a copy of this one. The public library has like 30 copies but last time I checked there were 219 holds on it. I might get it by next year. So many people have recommended it to me.

Also I've decided that I need to read all the Harry Potter books again. I could read the first four books in about a day if that's all I did.

If you have any recommendations let me know. I like almost anything but I WILL NOT read anything by Nicholas Sparks or Sarah Dessen. Seriously.

30 Rock

I know I just posted about TV shows but I thought I'd just let you know that Matt Damon guest starred in the season finale as Liz Lemon's new love interest. He is an airline pilot, just what Liz dreamed of. I watched it and it was fantastic. There's talk of him guest starring in more episodes next season.

"How did you get past security?"-Liz
"You walk confidently in a pilot's uniform they let you in just about anywhere. I was once in the upstairs of the White House at night while the Obamas were sleeping."-Matt Damon

Also, there's talk that next season of The Office might be Steve Carrell's last. If it is I hope the show ends after that because it would just not be as good.

*Addition-So I probably watched this episode twice. There's another great line I'd like to share.
"What do you think of Sully Sullenburger? I'm thinking of giving him a talk show."-Jack
"He's a nice guy but he's not that great of a pilot. I mean, do you know what a good pilot would've done? NOT HIT THE BIRDS. That's what I do at my job every day. Not hit birds."-Matt Damon

I like to watch...

GLEE-Simply put, it's just fun. If you haven't seen it, it's like High School Musical but for a more mature audience. They sing songs every week, from contemporary, to oldies with show tunes sprinkled in. I love it because they sing some great ones and I also discover songs I had no idea existed. I love the different characters and the actors that play them. Probably my favorite character is Mike Chang. He doesn't really ever have any lines or singing parts but man, he can dance. I think that's why he's on the show. Also I love the cheerleader Brittany, she is the dumb blonde but has some great one-liners. "Sometimes I forget my middle name." "I think my cat's reading my journal." "Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?" Sue Sylvester also has some zingers but I don't remember them right now. Plus they have great guest appearances by Idina Menzel, Kristen Chenoweth, Josh Groban, Neil Patrick Harris, and Olivia Newton John, who do great things for the show. I will say one thing which some people will hate me for. I don't love the GLEE versions of the songs more than the originals. I've heard several people say they like the GLEE version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" more than the original. WHAT? How can you say that? No one can compare to Steve Perry, ever. The GLEE people do very well. But you cannot ever replace Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, Steve Perry, Dionne Warwick, etc. Anyway, I am very entertained by this show and love the music!

30 Rock-Tina Fey is a comedic genius. I love the way they work in pop culture references into the dialogue. Some of it is very witty and sarcastic. The characters on the show can get very crazy, but sometimes I laugh out loud. And who knew that Alec Baldwin was so funny? I love the way he and Tina Fey act together. The show is not afraid to use stereotypes. Tina's character of Liz Lemon is great. The way she fantisizes about marrying "Astronaut Mike Dexter," her favorite day being sandwich day, or how her mom almost married Buzz Aldrin. My other favorite character is Kenneth the page because he is so innocent but always gets into trouble. He is part of Tracy Jordan's entourage with Grizz and Dot Com. (Great name for an entourage member, Dot Com.) Some episodes are not as great as others, but are still really entertaining. And did I mention that I love Tina Fey?

The Office-I've got to admit that this season has not been as good as previous seasons. Could it be that we aren't rooting for Jim and Pam anymore? I still like it, but some episodes have not even been funny at all. I do enjoy the storyline of Andy and Erin trying to date each other. It's so awkward it's painful to watch. Probably the other funny moment was "Megadesk." Where Dwight used all four desks while Pam and Jim were on maternity leave and built one huge one. I just hope they quit while they are ahead and don't pound the show to death.

Big Bang Theory-Four scientist friends and their neighbor girl. Sheldon is very eccentric and they are all very nerdy. Comics, video games, dressing up, they do it all. There are some great lines on this show. My personal favorite comes from Sheldon. "I'm not crazy! My mother had me tested!" Sometimes he is too smart for his own good but it's usually well meant.Sheldon likes things the way he likes them so he annoys a lot of people. Sometimes the show gets a little dirty so you have to be a little careful.

and last but not least

Modern Family-This is the newest find but probably the best show to watch out there. I love this show! Jay is the grandfather and he has two children, Claire and Mitchell. Claire is married to Phil Dunphy and they have three kids. Mitchell is gay and has a partner, Cameron, and they've adopted a little girl, Lily, from Vietnam. Jay himself is remarried to a young Columbian woman named Gloria and she has a son Manny. They all live near each other and do family things. This show is simply hilarious. I thought I wouldn't like the gay couple but they aren't gross or weird about it. They are the funny gay type that like nice decorations and drinking wine. And their little baby is so cute. She's a very well behaved baby to be in a TV show. Phil is hilarious and says things that are wrong but he doesn't know he's saying them wrong. In fact the whole family says and does things at some point, screw up, but in the end they really love each other and it's very heartwarming. I will now share some of my favorite lines from the show that I can remember.

The family goes to Hawaii on vacation, Mitchell and Cameron lose Lilly in a banana plantation. They are running around looking for her-"Why you did dress her in jungle print?!"-Mitchell "Because I thought it would be cute!"-Cameron "She's going to think she's back in Vietnam!"-Mitchell

"I'm sort of like Costco. I'm big, I'm not fancy and I dare you not to like me."-Cameron

Cameron talking about a snotty friend that went to the school Columbia and her friend that went to Brown. "I wish she would just take her little Brown friend and go back to Columbia." Gloria accidentally overheard this...

"My insides feel like velvet."-Phil after a dose of morphine before his surgery.

Better yet go to this website to see all the quotes.I just might buy this show on DVD when it comes out. I highly reccommend it.

And let me know if you have any reccommendations for me. I have a lot of time on my hands right now.

If you were wondering...

I finally got called back by the health department. I didn't get the job. Oh well. Somthing else is out there for me. But that whole deal is finally over.

I may or may not have done a couple of dumb things this weekend that I would like to erase other peoples' memories of. These could lead to some more awkward moments in the future. I actually like awkward moments though; like I've said before-"Life's awkward, then you die."

I stayed up until after 3 last night chatting and laughing with some awesome people. It's awesome getting to know people and recognize their traits and attributes that make them different from me. They are different but it makes me want to be like them and I love them for their differences.

And here are some of my pictures from graduation-no photoshop, but a few turned out ok.

198th wardies

Rachelle, Leland and me

Me and Jillian

Dad, me and Mom

now I'm 2 legit 2 quit

scrumdiddlyumptious

Cake balls, or cake bites are so delish! Miss Jenn sent me some for my birthday and I had to exercise restraint not to eat them all at once. Then a month or two later my roommate had some extra cake so I decided to try my hand at them. The result-not hard to make, just time consuming and a lot of effort. I did have to be strict about them or my roommates would have eaten them all in one day! The cake bites are made of crumbled up cake mixed with frosting and dipped in chocolate making a delicious truffle. Use this link if you want to try. They are tasty, but I probably won't attempt them again soon because they took so long!

I drizzled chocolate over the top to make cool designs, this would probably look cool with white chocolate too.

I'm ready to be the next Willy Wonka.

thank you, Kenny Loggins

I like this song. For some reason I find it inspirational in a makes-me-want-to-punch-dance kind of way. I need inspiration or this interview will kick my butt. Also watch for comedic relief, Kenny and his band sail the colorado river complete with early 90's clothes and haircuts. I miss Full House and Family Matters.