Genetics Are Fun

I was going through my photos today and found two instances (from the same event) in which I think I look perfectly like my mother and my father.

This one, I think I look EXACTLY like my mom:

…and this one I look a lot like my dad:

Thesedays, anyone who knows and/or has seen my mom says I'm a carbon copy. I agree, but then again please consider my dad suffers from male-pattern baldness  (sorry Daddy, but it's true!)

I love that dependent on the camera angle, I look like a spitting image of both of my parents.

Genes are fun.

Throwback Thursday: Christmas Decorating

Being on a weird quarter system for graduate school has its perks. Instead of studying for finals up to December 23rd, I was done much earlier. This means I can actually enjoy the lead-up to Christmas! We hold the holidays at my aunt's house, so there won't be a tree at my parents' place, but that doesn't mean there won't be a lack of Christmas cheer (in the form of lights, lots and lots of lights, muahahaha).

Flashback to the late 80s and Christmas light prep. I must have been helping...somehow.

I can't help but giggle at my clothing choices back then. I'm pretty sure those are pink Minnie Mouse sandals with white socks. Mad props to my parents for letting me dress myself though.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everybody! Thanks to my awesome family, I've always loved Halloween!

My grandmother's friends: Helen, Sophie and my grandmother herself.
Wow, these ladies knew how to have fun!

My Aunt D., myself and my dad. Hehe, sorry for posting this dad, but it's just too awesome! 

The University of Wisconsin was a perfect choice, it has a HUGE Halloween scene:

City bus to State Street (ca. 2005).

Note: this photo was completely staged. I went as a "Coastie" and those cigarettes are 100% a prop. 

Now I live in Rainy City, U.S.A. and the Halloween environment is different. Different in a wonderful way:

Scissors (not pictured: rock and paper), Joan Holloway(Harris), Amy Winehouse and a witch. 

Carol from Where the Wild Things Are and The Dude 

Ladybug and I. What is it with me using cigarettes as Halloween props?!

And now this year, once again blown away by the costumes!

Myself, a 1930s gangster wife and Justin Bieber.
Yes, Bieber is the same guy who was The Dude from last year. 

Modern Saytr, Madonna, greek goddess/princess, Chola girl, and a cub. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Crater Lake: Hilariously Bad Weather

Well folks, I can 100%, without-a-doubt say that it is possible to visit Crater Lake National Park and not actually see the lake.

Yes, the deepest lake in the United States (1,943 feet). The lake with a 33 mile circumference, completely lost to the human eye this weekend. Thank you Oregon weather.

So instead of this:

(www.nps.gov)

We saw this:

(The lake is literally directly behind us in this photo).

Needless to say, we spent our time at the Crater Lake Lodge reading in front of the fireplace and playing Scattergories with newfound friends. It was fun, but definitely not the scenic hikes we had planned.

Even better, when we came to leave this morning it wasn't just raining, it was sleeting. Lord, thank you for Subarus and all-wheel drive. 

(Crater Lake ladies and gents)!

(Once again, the lake is behind us).

The National Park pass is good for another 10 days, so we're debating going back next weekend. Don't worry, the weather looks much more promising! 

Seriously, who could dislike this movie?

During my jaunt to Tar-gay today I made a small impulse buy, the 10th anniversary edition dvd of 10 Things I Hate About You. Two things: 10TH ANNIVERSARY (*%#! I feel old) and best.impulse.buy.ever!

I'm currently multi-tasking by watching it, researching for my lit review and catching up on my blog reading (and writing). First off, the casting is great- it's amazing to contrast the actors/actresses and their more-recent roles. Heath Ledger, R.I.P., as the arrogant Patrick compared to his role as The Joker in the Dark Knight?! Damn what a great actor. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his role as the ambitious Cameron, and who is now one of the burgeoning stars of the alt-movie world...(500 Days of Summer is currently on my Netflix cue). As a sidenote, what ever happened to Andrew Keegan? I know I wasn't the only girl with a poster of him in my teenage-girl bedroom, so what's the deal?

Also love the fact it's a modern take on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

Anyone else out there in blogger world love this movie as much as I do?!

Yep, It's Monday

Well, after a wonderful weekend in PDX (pictures to come), it's back to it in Rainy City, U.S.A. I was up early this morning to get a head start on installation at the gallery and WHAM, big case of the Mondays. Here's a timeline of exactly why it's a category 5 Monday pour moi:

1). Woke up, showered and promptly dropped my hairbrush in the toilet.

2). Got to the gallery and started unpacking the artwork we've received. Subsequently left the art closet and discovered I'd been trailing a wad of tape and paper stuck to the bottom of my shoe.

3.) Went to the post office and waited 30 minutes in line. Quite impressive in a city/town of 130,000 people.

4.)After said trip to the post office, I decided to make a cup of well deserved afternoon coffee...only to spill the used grounds on my kitchen floor.

It's only 6:30, but I'm thinking I should go to bed before I hurt myself!

Throwback Thursday

A bit of context: my dear friend e.k.s. and I lived in an interesting apartment our junior year of college... and by interesting I mean awful. We had countless issues with the building and our neighbors, ranging from rampant mold growing in our bathroom to having a Heineken bottle thrown through our window at midnight. Thank you oh-so-mature house full of boys from the swim team.

In hindsight, by far the most appalling problem was our lack of heat. Yes, lack of heat...in Wisconsin...until the beginning of November. Our Don Vito look-alike landlord was so cheap he didn't turn on our heat until we threatened with escrow. Priceless advice for said landlord: Don't ever underestimate two independent, determined (and freezing) women.

So, in efforts to stave-off hypothermia during our battle for heat:

(Take that ex-landlord, we didn't pay for utilities).

Ohhhh the memories!

My Love for Bill Bryson

In efforts to stay sane this quarter, I've really been pushing myself to continue reading for fun. Normally, I squeeze in a few pages (or chapters depending on the book) of reading before I hit the hay. I've been struggling to stay disciplined, and I've come to the conclusion it's the kind of books I'm trying to read.

Don't get me wrong, they're great books, they just require some deeper thinking than I'd like just before bedtime. I've started: Middlesex, The Road and Provenance and just can't seem to engage with the words on the page. Let me reiterate, it's not that they're bad reads, I just can't seem to make my brain work that hard after a long day of classes and work.

I found my solution yesterday when I picked up a Bill Bryson book I have yet to read, The Lost Continent. Two pages in I was laughing quite hard at his description of Des Moines, Iowa. I've always loved Bryson's writing style for its side-splitting honesty. My top two favorites of his are A Walk in The Woods and I'm a Stranger Here Myself. (The latter which I read on a plane and received some odd looks because I was laughing so hard while reading).

I look forward to The Lost Continent, where Bryson travels through small-town America to recall his childhood memories of road trips and adventures- evoking a refreshing air of American nostalgia.

A perfect read for someone who grew up in the Midwest and needs a distraction from her current jam-packed life as a graduate student.