serious LOL

So I sent this to my brother today because I thought it was hilarious. I seriously found it doing research on action figures for a job.

So he sends back this with the caption THIS MEANS WAR!

And then this



Oh my stars I'm still wiping the tears away.

good times

Here are some pics of my weekend at the ward outing in Lava Hot Springs. That's Idaho you know. I'd never been there and must say that it's very pleasant in that extremely-small-town- tourist-spot kind of way. The hot springs were fabulous and they make a great shaved ice up there.


Here's my friend Cinda floating down the river. Before this three of us went down on a three seater which we thought would be more stable. We actually only got dumped out once, but the water is so shallow that you go right onto the rocks below. Needless to say most everyone in the ward that went down the river came out bruised and bleeding. Good times.




This was the all bulls rodeo we attended. I haven't been to a rodeo since the ones we'd go to out at the state prison when I was about five. ('nuther story) It was facinating, hilarious, and horrifying all at the same time. Luckily they wear helmets and everything now or we might have witnessed something fatal. One bull landed on his bucked rider's chest and then threw the clown about 10 feet in the air. Everyone walked away. We had to leave early, but I heard later that we missed one of the cowboys getting four teeth knocked out and the ensuing search for the teeth in the dirt of the arena. Once again, good times.

highly recommend

I had been thinking about the old Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman movie version of this that I only really remember snipetts of when I came across this in the bookstore. I thought the cover was stunning as well so I bought it. There were questions when this was released in 1969 about the truthfulness of Mr. Charriere's account of his life in and eventual escape from the penal colonies of French New Guinea in the 1930s and 40s. There were investigations and his story checked out, but there are definite times of incredulity during this read. Nevertheless, I couldn't put it down and, if it is true, is an amazing tale of hope and perserverence.


I also finally saw the new X-Files movie the other night. When this series first came out I was a total and complete X-Files nerd. My friends and I would get together every week and watch it and I video taped and re-watched several episodes. When the series switched from Friday nights to Sunday nights I pretty much stopped watching. 1) There was really no way I could justify watching this show on the Sabbath 2) I'm still rather a video/dvd recording dufus and 3) I think they had all but "jumped the shark"* with the series at that point. I saw one of the movies (Have there been two prior to this?) and was pretty much ashamed that I ever was a fan so I didn't run out to see this. May I now just say that I should have. My faith in the X-Files has been renewed! I think it was great because it wasn't trying to move any big conspiracy or alien theories along. It was just a great story with great characters and mostly great writing, great cast, and great signature X-Files creepiness that I came to know and love. Thank you Chris Carter, et all!
* "Jumping the Shark" refers to the Happy Days episode when the gang is on vacation in sunny California and the main plot line involves the Fonz taking a waterskiing jump over a tank of sharks. The phrase is now used to define the episode or exact moment when a tv series starts it's swift decline to its cancellation.

beautiful day

Here are some photos of an outing we took to Pine View to inaugurate my brother-in-law's new sailboat. That really is a very pretty lake. My bro-in-law totally knows how to captain that thing too. Especially with all the motor boats and wave runners on the water that day. Very impressive. A beautiful day.

the ultimate tortured artist

Yes, It's Don Music the famous song writer from Sesame Street. When he comes to an artistic crossroads he screams, "I'll neva get it! Neva! Neva!" and throws his cranium onto his keyboard. CLONG!! It's awesome! And a reality check to make me laugh when I actually feel that way. (Also, FYI - Don Music and Guy Smiley are only separated from each other by a set of eyes and a wig.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M30g3In8ao&feature=related