Eastertime in the LBC

Easter in Long Beach. There were eggs...


And adorable babies to hunt the eggs...


And Easter brunch at Parker's Lighthouse...


And merry-go-round rides in Shoreline Village.







Thank you Easter Bunny!

Matilda, Version 1.5

Today M. turned one and a half. I'm not one of those parents who throws a party or gives presents for my child's half-birthday--I hope a friend would beat me senseless if I was--but in many ways this day seemed like more of a milestone than her one-year birthday. She is more a toddler now than a baby, more of a little person than a little beastie I have to care for. We celebrated by throwing away all of her pacifiers and getting shots at the doctor--woo-hoo! She has not yet decided to speak English, although she is very fluent and expressive in Matilda-ese. She read aloud to the pediatrician from Dr. Seuss while he examined her. I couldn't resist the great light in the doctor's office, so I took the opportunity to shoot some half-birthday portraits.

Happy half-birthday, Matilda!

Bestiality and the Toy Industry

A while back, my friend Tammy sent me a photo she saw in the paper of a new toy from the New York Toy Fair. She thought it would make me laugh...

And I did laugh...after I got up off the floor from the apoplectic fit that the sight of this monstrosity threw me into.

I laughed because all I could think was, "It's a Whorse."

I guess they've gone through every permutation of Bratz and now they have to start sexualizing animals since all the little girl dolls are good and slutted up.

Lord help us.

A Very Belated Birth Story

Here is a prize for all of you loyal readers. I have, only 18 months late, completed Matilda's birth story. You can read it here. I started the post on her first birthday and only completed it today. So, if you are so inclined, you can read it. I know a lot of you have heard this story before, but it's a good one and worth reading. I will warn you, though, that it is very, very long and not for the queasy.

The Long, Dark Winter of My Blog is Over

So here's the thing. I HATE this time of year. From New Year's Day to Easter just, well, sucks. The weather is horrible. TV is horrible. No decent movies are playing. Valentine's Day happens. There is NOTHING to do but sit in the house and pray for Spring. During these horrible few months, my creativity is sapped. I don't want to scrapbook, I don't want to write, and I certainly don't want to blog. But my fans, all seven of you, demand that I come back to the keyboard. OK fine. After Daylight Savings Time, my spirits are a lifting a bit, and I feel my need to create slowly coming back. Plus, we've had a long spurt of Global-Warming-Is-Really-Happening weather. So I'm gonna get warmed up by posting some pictures of the world's cutest baby, and then I'll go think about what I'm going to post tomorrow.

I LOVE the swings! Love 'em, love 'em, LOVE 'EM!

I LOVE my brother! Love 'im, love 'im, love 'im!

I LOVE my sunglasses! Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em!

This post is dedicated to those people who ride my ass about not updating my blog: Lorna, Mom, Micaela, Doug, Meredith, Kat, and Tammy.

Our Tiny Little Foodie

When in a Vietnamese restaurant, do as the Vietnamese...

What are these sticks doing in my mouth?

Okay, Daddy, I got this!

Note: The goldfish are just an appetizer...she proceeded to chow down on some potstickers.

Meme Time

Dan tagged me with this meme a few days ago, and since I forgot to include him in my anglophilia list, the least I can do is reply.


Seven sets of eight things

8 things I am passionate about
Protecting the environment
Games
Rhetoric and critical thinking
Writing
Most things British
Food
Protecting our civil liberties by exercising our civic duties
My family

8 things I want to do before I die
Get a real job
Travel around the globe
Go to stunt driving school
Catch up on my scrapbooks
Eat at French Laundry
Pay off my student loans
Get fit
Rule the world

8 things I say often
“Please” and “Thank you”
“Stop that!”
“No!”
“Wha-wha-WHAT?!”
“For the love of all that is holy…”
“Whose turn is it?”
“PHONE!”
“I said ‘excuse me!’”

8 books I have read recently
World Without End – Ken Follett
Happier – Tal Ben-Shahar
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling
Reviving Ophelia – Mary Pipher
Getting Stoned with Savages – J. Maarten Troost
Mayflower – Nathaniel Philbrick
The Assault on Reason – Al Gore

8 songs I could listen to over and over again
“One” – U2
“Muhammad My Friend” – Tori Amos
“Lord Raise Me Up” – Matisyahu
“Shining Star” – Earth Wind & Fire
“Miracles” – Jefferson Starship
“Sabatoge” – The Beastie Boys
“Three Little Birds” – Bob Marley
“Gold Dust Woman” – Fleetwood Mac

8 things that attract me to my best friends
Sense of humor
Kindness
Intelligence
Spontaneity
Loyalty
Generosity of spirit
Talkative
Willingness to be silly

8 people who should totally do this meme
The eight (OKAY, nine) people in my sidebar.

5 Things That Sated My Anglophilia This Week

1) The Tudors: If Showtime and HBO aired only original shows, I would happily cough up the money for premium cable. I am, however, unwilling to pay good money to sit through the crappy selections of movies just to watch the 3 or 4 shows I want to see that will come out on DVD eventually anyways. One of those shows is The Tudors, which has been ripening on my Netflix list for months. I just got the first disc this week and am promptly hooked, despite the fact that Jonathan Rhys Meyers looks nothing like King Henry VIII.

2) New episodes of Charlie and Lola: I play these while Matilda's in the room, even though she pretty much ignores each episode after the opening song plays. Still, I play them for HER.

3) Jane Eyre: Absolutely the greatest adaptation I have ever seen! Thank you, Masterpiece Theatre, for this intensely satisfying 3.5 hours of period drama. My toes curled.

4) The Bayeux Tapestry couch gag on The Simpsons: I cannot find a clip or even a picture of this week's brilliant couch gag, wherein the Battle of Hastings is replaced by a medieval battle between the Simpsons and the Flanders over the Simpsons' couch. Hopefully you saw or recorded it.

5) The Other Boleyn Girl: The book currently occupying my nightstand. I though I'd better read it before the movie comes out. I am, though, getting a little confused by reading this at the same time I'm watching The Tudors. Still, there's no such thing as too much of a good thing.

The Great Reading List of '08

So I've been meaning to add a "Books I'm reading/read" widget for a while now, and what better time than the New Year to start tracking my reading habits? Nobody has ever questioned that I read a lot (hello--Literature major?), but this year I will discover exactly how many books I read. I'm even going to try to review the books I read, but we'll see how that goes...no promises. So far I haven't completed any books, so the two you see in my sidebar are both "in progress." Check it out!

Who's Your Candidate?

Well, my boy Joe Biden has dropped out of the presidential race--I'm not at all surprised, but still disappointed. However, according to this quiz, I shouldn't have been supporting him in the first place--I should have been supporting Dennis Kucinich, with whom I agree on 94% of the issues important to me. Hmph. Who knew? Because, you know, HE has such a great chance at making it to the nomination! Second place is bat-shit crazy Mike Gravel, followed by Edwards, then Richardson, then Clinton, then Obama. Funny how my issues preferences seem to be inverse to how each candidate is doing. If I were a Republican, my best match would be Ron Paul (blech!) followed by John McCain.

As much as I dislike one's civic duties being narrowed down to a five-minute quiz, I must admit, it's pretty cool and you should check it out. At least it's better than choosing/not choosing somebody because you just have a "good/bad feeling" about him/her.

Let me know your results!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Welcoming 2008

It ain't Vegas, but it's home.

I love him just as much this year as last year.

And a happy new year!

Because I Have Nothing Better to Do

I have started reviewing on Yelp. Y'know, I was just sitting here in the middle of the night, and I was all like, you know what I need to do? Avoid my blog and start writing reviews for strangers on the internet. But I've been having fun, so, whatever. Then I found out that I can get blog bling, so it's kind of like killing two birds with one stone. Check out my sidebar for links to my very important opinions on all things Reno. I've written six reviews so far. I've been going through all the places I've been in the past month. We eat out a lot in December. And January. And now that the internet is depending on my reviews, maybe we'll even eat out a lot in February.

A Christmas Gift for You!

As a Christmas gift for my readers (all 12 of them a day), I thought I would share the recipe for our favorite Christmas drink, Cola de Mono (Tail of the Monkey). It's not a secret recipe or anything--I got it out of the Sundays at Moosewood cookbook (the only vegetarian cookbook allowed in our house) several years ago--but I have included my tips for success, so MERRY CHRISTMAS!

What you will need:
12 cups of milk (whole or 2% work best)
2 cups of white sugar
5 cinnamon sticks
1/2 cup of instant coffee
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
4 cups tequila

A one gallon glass jug (buy a gallon of apple cider, drink the juice, and voila! you have a glass jug!
A large stockpot
A funnel

What to Do:
In stockpot, bring milk, sugar, and cinnamon sticks to a boil. (Warning: AS SOON AS the milk starts to boil, it will rapidly foam over. This is why you need to use a large pot and keep a close eye on your milk...trust me, I have had to scrub milk off the stovetop more than once.)

Remove milk from heat and stir in instant coffee. Let sit for an hour to cool down.

Once cooled, remove cinnamon sticks and pour milk into gallon jug using funnel to avoid a really horrific mess (again, experience is the best teacher). Put in refrigerator to chill.

Once chilled, add tequila and vanilla.

Serve cold. "Tail" will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, although it rarely lasts that long.


Despite the odd-sounding combination of ingredients, this drink is GOOD STUFF! However, because it is so tasty and so sweet, people have a tendency to suck it down. Beware, for the Tail of the Monkey will knock you right on your ass if you do not exercise restraint!

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Carol