She's also anti-polar bear

"Adding polar bears to the endangered species list is the wrong move."

WTF?

Am I the only one who is slightly offended that John McCain pegged a woman for his VP for the sheer purpose of attracting Hillary supporters?

Historic

Last night while watching Barack Obama's speech to except the Democratic nomination, I was overwhelmed with what an amazing piece of history I was witnessing.  

When the cameras panned over Mile High last night, my mouthed hung open at the sea of people and flashing bulbs.  I could not get over what an experience that must be to be there live and see first-hand Obama step into his place in history, the same day 45 years ago that Martin Luther King had proclaimed his dream for human equality.

 Regardless of your political preference, no one can deny that Senator Obama has changed the face of American politics as we know it. We will likely never see a candidate like him ever again and I'm excited to see where the next 9 weeks takes him.

Graduated

Last weekend, my little sister Shannon took her last steps as a BYU student and received her degree. My whole family came out for the big event so that was fun. We are all very proud of her for sticking it out and graduating. It wasn't always easy for her, but she prevailed like a true Cougar and now leaves, the world as her campus. ssss..sssss.sssss.Shannon has already moved down to Phoenix and start her real adult life with her boyfriend, Brad. They've been together a long time, dating mostly long distance, so I know she's is happy to finally get to live in the same city and I'm happy for her. Shannon is really smart and gifted and a hard worker (when she wants to be). I'm sure she's headed for great things. Congrats, seagull!

What am I without you?

Last night I went to the California State Fair with some people I've met here in Sacramento. I've shamefully never been in all my years as a Californian so I was excited to see what all the hoopla was about. Luckily, we picked a great night to go because AIR SUPPLY was live in concert and you better believe we got tickets.

I'm not sure there's anything greater than seeing vintage bands still rocking leather pants and selling out venues. There was just something about Russell Hitchcock and his tatted-up arms and awkward efforts to psych up the crowd with his gyrating dance moves and "give it to me" hand gestures that really spoke to me. I may or may not have cried a little when he sang the last chorus of "All Out of Love." Music is so much better live. Even 80's Brit ballad bands.

Unfortunately, I was a lazy idiot and opted to leave my camera in the car rather than carry it around with me, because that would have been totally annoying and heavy tucked away in my back pocket...

We also rode the huge ferris wheel, played some basketball carnival game, where I sank both my shots ( I still have it, people), and ate some yummy gelato. I REALLY wanted a corn dog, but no one in my group was into the fair food so I didn't get one. Usually I wouldn't care, but these people don't really know me all that well and I don't want them thinking I'm that partial to food eaten off sticks.

Maybe next year.

Auf'ed

Out

In

Rachel Maddow has got her own gig. She'll be replacing Dan Abrams on the 9 P.M. hour on MSNBC.

It's about time.

RM is the smartest woman on television. She's intelligent, eloquent and consistently makes Pat Buchanan look like an idiot.

Well done, Rachel!

OWNING IT

Oh man.  Ok, Michael Phelps is rocking my world right now. Tonight's 100 fly race was epic. My heart literally stopped those last 50 meters because I though he'd lost. How in the world he touched that wall 1st, I'm not sure. He is insane. 

So is his body. It's poetic.

Passive Aggressive 

When I was a freshman in college, I lived with this girl who would cook every single night with her gross boyfriend and then fail to clean up after her and said gross boyfriend.  It was annoying (Q, I know you feel me on this). It was also annoying when I would walk in on her and gross boyfriend making out in the living room at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. But that's a blog for another day.

After weeks and weeks of dirty dishes, I scribbled out a note and taped it above the sink:

Dishes are like boyfriends: DO YOUR OWN.

I tell this story because I found this little gem of a website, Passive Aggressive Notes,  and it immediately took me back to Snow Hall circa 2003. "Thx Sandra" is golden. Everyone knows someone like Sandra. I know I do and I want to throw things at her daily.

Breaking Dawn: A Review

(This post contains spoilers. Do not read further if you plan on reading it and care about stuff like spoilers, ok?)

Let's just cut to the chase here, shall we?

Didn't like it.

I felt that the entire book was written by some crazed 15 year-old girl who wears amber contacts and makes her parents call her Bella while she pretends to text her imaginary boyfriend, Edward.

I was a little bummed out that it was so out of left field. And it was. WAY out there. I thought it started out really good, right up until Bella got pregnant and then, I was so over it. Forget the fact that I was completely disturbed by Bella getting knocked up with the half vampire spawn of Edward. No, most disappointing was the sudden change in all the characters. I thought everyone was a bit off. Bella, although selfish as ever, was all of a sudden was this matured motherly figure and I forgot she was still 19 years old. And what was the deal with Edward? If SM was going to dream up a baby between these two, fine. I could live with that. But where was Edward's place in all this? I don't even remember him holding Renesme (HATE her name, btw). We didn't see any bonding with Edward and her. And he was such a pushover with Bella. She walked all over him. Although, that's really nothing new. I just didn't feel like the book was about those two as it should have been. It was more about Bella and her baby and a bunch of other random vampires. Edward seemed a little absent. It seemed he was around purely for sexual gratification and that's it. That was kind of sad.

The ending sort of got better, however the whole Volturi conference was annoying as hell. I mean, she spent half the book anticipating this horrible, hopeless confrontation and then...they left. For 50 pages, they stood around and talked about what they should do and then, they got over it and peaced out. WTF? She did the same thing in Eclipse.

I also found it annoying that the book was separated into 3 sections, one of which was from Jacob's point of view. Am I the only one who cannot stand Jacob? I mean, the ENTIRE series is written entirely from Bella's pov. Why all of a sudden change it now, especially by throwing in Jacob's perspective? The series isn't about Bella and Jacob. It's about Bella and Edward. If SM was going to stray from Bella's pov, she should have included Edward's along with Jacob's. I mean, that would have at least made sense and even been pretty cool, right? This just adds to my point that Edward seemed like a secondary character in this book and that bothered me. A lot.

Obviously, in the end, we all got what we ultimately wanted: Edward turned Bella into a vampire and they lived happily ever after. So I guess I can't be too pissed. I thought SM definitely left a huge opportunity open for a 5th book. And I guarantee you she'll do it, especially since most reviews are hating Breaking Dawn. She won't go out like that.

Break-Up

Last night, I rode up to Willows with Jen so she could hand off Lilly to our mom for the weekend. On the way back, we listened to a This American Life podcast episode called "Break-Up." It chronicled the post break-up song-writing process of one of their contributors who had recently been dumped by her boyfriend. She had no musical background, but like most of us who've been heartbroken, reveled in the depressingly awesome music that accompanies a break-up. It's hilarious and pathetic and for someone who has been down that road once or twice, painfully true. Phil Collins even gives his expert advice on the subject.

Listen HERE.

Anna and Chip got married.

Anna and Chip tied the knot last weekend in a beautiful ceremony at Memory Park in Salt Lake. Anna looked gorgeous of course and the wedding could not have been better. Anna and Chip have been together for a long time and I was so excited to get to see them and be a part of their special day. Congrats!

Rachel and Michelle ( whose business card should be double sided to fit everything she is good at) did Anna's flowers, which turned out so pretty!

My attempt at arranging flowers ended badly.

Anna walking down the aisle with her dad.

Michelle, Rachel and Armstrong.

The happy couple.

Pre-wedding fun at the Heber City Fair.

Also: I finished Breaking Dawn last night and am currently in the midst of writing my review on that piece of work. Stay tuned.

September

Can't wait.

Is my blog bright enough?

Because I'm really not sure.

I need help. It's hideous. Not that I care all that much, but my design skills only carry me so far. I mean I have good taste, ok? My blog right now is not exactly emulating that but I swear I do.