Beach.

I took 12 photos the whole trip. I am so lame.  Jen has good ones on her nice camera.  I'll try and steal some.

Cal. So cute.

Lilly and friend.

Lilly and her pail, which she continued to ask me to fill with water, "Go get water, Bee"

Crabs. Yum.

Traditional crab night.  

Just not feeling it

I'm reading this book right now. It's won a bunch of awards and is supposed to be all sorts of amazing and beautiful and genius, but I just can't get into it.  I'm on page 67 and I want to give up, but I hate not finishing books.  It seems like such a waste and I feel like a failure, to be honest. 

I read My Sister's Keeper last week at the beach-mainly because I want to see the movie and I have a strict policy on reading the books before seeing movies that are adapted from said books.  It was ok.  Definitely a thought provoking story idea, but the ending was so abrupt and annoying. 

I heard the movie ends differently. Hmm.

I finally got my camera cord sent to me and will post photos of the beach soon. And by soon I mean eventually.  

Return of the Photo

My flash is annoying. I wish I had a cool camera like all the cool bloggers.

But he's so cute so it doesn't even matter.

Reason #43 DVR has saved my life

We had a great weekend. I did manage to snap some photos and we'll get to that but I have some things I need to take care of right quick.

So You Think you Can Dance has become somewhat of a good replacement for all the shows I usually watch that are on hiatus this summer. I haven't gotten super into it yet and for that I blame on the obnoxious-as-hell judges. It's a great show, but I will not watch it unless I can fast forward through the stupid judge's remarks. I can't handle them. Just like I can't handle Paula Abdul trying to put a coherent sentence together in her medicated haze. But, at least Paula's laced-out quirkiness is somewhat endearing. I mean, when I don't want to throw my shoe at the TV, I'm usually left laughing hysterically over the way she gets up and dances, or whatever it is she's doing, during every performance. But the SYTYCD judges take it to another level. Mary Murphy, in particular.

Seriously, what is her deal? She is so obnoxious with her screaming, and awkward phrases, and the screaming, with the nasaly voice, and all that screaming. She's like a tranny Paula Abdul meets Marie Osmond, meets the Joker, on crack. She's a mess. She's a hot tranny mess is what she is.

This brings up an interesting question: Why are all reality TV judges/hosts so annoying? As bad as Mary Murphy is, the worst of the worst are those fools on Dancing with the Stars. How many people do they have running that show? Like 15? It seems like it, especially when they cut to Samantha Harris and her riveting backstage interviews with such stars like Melisssa from the Bachelor and that guy who was in that one Pauly Shore movie about the army. I mean, really Samantha Harris? In what world does your job serve any purpose? Also, does anyone else notice how she ends every sentence with, "...blah, blah, blah......Tom." Can she not, with all her groundbreaking entertainment journalism experience, come up with another out to Tom Bergeron? She's like one of those awful female sideline reporters for Monday Nigh Football, asking the dumbest questions and just getting on everyone's nerves. And it's like, since when do we take those people seriously? I mean, I just don't get her. And she needs to eat something and chillax on the hair spray if we are being completely honest here.

I get that it sounds like I am a religious viewer of shows like this. You're probably going,

"Brianne, if you are so annoyed with these shows and the idiot people on them, why do you even watch?"

The thing is, I don't watch them. Not really. It's not like I'm jetting home every night so I can catch the opening credits for So You Think You Can Dance. I'm not. It's more of me being acutely aware of my culture and it's obsession with really awful television. Specifically, it's my roommates who are the culprits. They're the ones that are crazy for this crap and I can't get away from it. It's really not my fault. You should see our DVR. In fact, I can can tell you right now that The Hills*, The City, 90210 (the new one), Real World/Road Rules Challenge The Gauntlet in the Inferno IV, and The Real Housewives of New Jersey are currently being recorded on a regular basis.

Really. You should actually feel bad for me. You should.

*I am so anti- The Hills that I will literally leave the house when my roommates start watching it. If we continue to enable these people then the terrorists win, you guys.

I promise to take photos

Going back to San Jose this weekend.

Taking Dan to Monterey for his 26th birthday.

Activities include:
-Monterey Bay Aquarium
-17 Mile Drive
-Picnic dinner on the beach...at sunset.

Cute, right?

I'm excited.

'merica

The City of Logan has just announced this years theme for their 4th of July fireworks event at Romney Stadium...

Are you ready for this, people?

Land of the Free. Home of the Brave.

Genius. Genius, is what that is. 

Adventures in Silicon Valley

This weekend was a good one. I left Friday evening for San Jose to visit Dan. Notable airport story: I had to change planes in Vegas (I hate Southwest-do they fly anywhere non-stop?!). While me and the other passengers were lining up, I noticed this unfortunate looking couple with two beers in their hand who were either, A) Completely confused with the logistics of boarding an airplane B) Totally wasted on airport-bar cocktails, still in hand. I concluded the latter, especially since they somehow managed to stumble onto the right plane and sat in the row across from me and immediately asked for two Jack and Cokes the second the flight attendant walked by. No big deal, really. The guy could handle his liquor better than his girlfriend, or whatever she was, but she struggled forming complete sentences. I noticed when we were getting ready to land they still hadn't finished their drinks, which were still lying on the folding trays, which were obviously not locked in their full and upright position. So, when the plane hit the runway and came plowing to an abrupt stop, their drinks went flying everywhere, including onto me. When everyone stood up to get off the plane, the woman started yelling about how she needed to get off the plane right now. "NO SERIOUSLY, I NEED TO GET OFF THIS THING."

I can't think of anything more pathetic than being drunk on an airplane.

Anyway.

The rest of the weekend was great. Dan had to work Saturday till 2, so I took my photoallergic chances and laid out by the pool. Three(3) hours and one(1) application of SPF 15 later, I was rash free. Phew.

Later, we went to the Winchester Mystery House and took a very well-staged 60 minute tour from Danielle. Danielle was a great tour guide. She was very animated and had good comedic timing. She sounded like she'd memorized the "Winchester Mystery House Tour Guide Manual" a few times. I'd never been, but always seen the billboards for it along highway 50 to San Francisco. I can remember driving along that freeway for volleyball or basketball tournaments and being all, "What the heck is that place?" I didn't even know what it was until we took the tour. The story of the house is weird, and a little creepy. The tour is a little pricey ($25 a ticket) but it's something I'd recommend doing once if you're ever in San Jose.

Saturday night we hit up Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I still can't decide how I feel about Cheesecake Factory. The first couple of times I went there, I wasn't impressed with it. But I tried the Chicken Di Pana last time I went and loved it. So I guess now that I found something I like on their menu, I'll stick with it. That menu by the way is like a freaking magazine. I mean, there are literally full-page ads in it. I don't know about anyone else, but it's a little overwhelming. Also, I make a better cheesecake than them. I'm just saying.

Sunday we went to church, wherein the San Jose mission President proceeded to single out an investigator and make her stand up in front of everyone and explain her questions about the church. I'm no missionary expert, but I'm going to venture a guess that maybe singling out an already anxious and confused young person in front of a room of about 100 strangers isn't the best way to nail down a baptism date. Really.

I really need to be better about taking photos. I bring my camera, but it just sits in my purse the whole time.

I won't tell you how many times I've watched the *New Moon clip via MTV.com. It's shameful. But, I will say that already, the overall quality looks so much better than Twilight.

*(ok, Jacob? Ummm...yes please)