cool, huh?

I am getting closer to recovering both at home & at work to having the exam season come to a peak. I just had a chance to see the pictures from the AIDS Walk (which was really amazing by the way...)

These cheerleaders were encouraging people to be. agressive. be. be. agressive. in raising money for AIDS.

This is my co-worker, sometimes car-pool buddy, and AIDS Team Member, Monish.

I was too busy to post about the event, but it is really something to see 30,000 people on one street.
This is me at the finish line. Proof that I made all 10 miles. Mark thought this looked like a chemo surviving guy, so I had to clear that mystery up.

Evan came to town for a day and we had a really good time catching up. We really don't get to see enough of each other considering our great relationship and how much fun we have together. We can just talk for hours and we get each other's humor- which is really worth a lot.

A low flying alien magnet went over our house and killed all of our electronics on Sunday. We had set aside time to order pizza and watch a movie on Monday... and then our DVD player died - and our computer monitor... so there was no surface of moving images to stare at... we did what any recovering Mormon would do. Played board games. I know, I know. Family Night. Old Skool. We played "Worst Case Scenario" where you guess what the proper survival technique is for different situations. We got three situations in a row where the correct answer required you first to take off your pants. We were laughing so hard that Mark actually fell off the couch.

Ahhh, yeah.

Even if I failed, I don't have to study for a few weeks! Reason. To. Celebrate.

Let me just take a moment to prematurely do a victory dance. No backup dancers or bag-pipes playing. Just me and my tap shoes going ape on the downstairs neighbors hopes for sleep tonight.

...

Okay. That was very nice.

Oh wait, I'm still doing it. I can't seem to stop. I had a very good exam session. Either my sample was very easy and will be graded more stiffly and I should not be getting excited, or else I am a genius and just killed. I think that the jury, when they come back with my score, will find me to be a genius. However, the rules stay the same as before... I will post my exact score when it arrives in approx. 8 weeks. (Check back for that when the New Years' hangover wears off.)

In the meantime, I am spoiling myself silly with scrapbooking and otherwise over indulging in wasting time doing NOTHING practical. I do owe Mark dishes until after Thanksgiving. I could not have done it without him and Baja Fresh.

I took some portraiture of Madhuri & Arun - she is very close to delivering the baby. Going through them so far, this one is my favorite.

happy halloween

We made a quick drive out to AZ to trick-0-treat with Stephanie. In an outright revolt on the socially agreed upon age limit have, for several years, dressed up and trick-o-treated with her. It is always so much more fun walking around the neighborhood reclaiming the Right to Candy For People of All Costumed Ages. Not to mention the laugh we have at every house. If someone sneers, I simply implore them to join me - panhandling for candy... or offer them a piece as I am doing this for All Adults Everywhere who are not as shameless as myself (but they can't have my peanut m&m's) or I respond that I don't have an I.D. so they can't prove anything and slouch down a foot.

My favorite reaction was the old lady who asked me where was my tattoo and I showed her the eyeliner drawing on my arm of a skull & cross bones and the words "thug life" and she said... "Oh Yes You DO" and we laughed for a half-block. One house made us do tricks and when Stephanie and her friend Jaycee didn't have a trick, they made us start over... closed the door so we could ring the bell, they could answer & we could just say "treat" instead of "trick or treat." It was pretty funny.

It was a really quick one-day trip and the drive is hard that way. But it was worth it.

before and after the hurricane

McKay is a cop in the City of Pasadena which is slightly more inland directly behind Galveston, which is where Hurricane Ike hit. Here are some very good "before and after" pictures of Galveston that I found interesting.

welcome, child

I helped Madhuri prepare for her baby shower a little bit and was honored to attend.

They had a couple of Hindi rituals to bless and welcome the baby.

And had a full course meal followed by some games.

tired of having so much extra money?

I am supporting the effort to raise money for AIDS by walking in this annual fundraising event 10K. Please consider an online donation here.

Our team is named the "Techno Chickens - Hatch Support for AIDS" I am sending anyone who donates more than $100 a dozen freshly baked home-made cinnamon rolls. Email me at mona dot mccowen at gmail dot com with your address and proof of your donation for our team to receive your cinnamon rolls. (They are really good - see a prior post for pictures.)

it's a free country

I tend to avoid political discussion. To be honest, it is usually because I feel that everyone would prefer to:

a) watch tv for entertainment and avoid having an opinion
b) watch tv in order to find out their opinion
c) regurgitate something they heard on tv because it sounds good (with or without merit)

Personally, I don't watch tv. So when I eavesdrop conversations and I can't for the life of me figure out how everyone justs buys in for the slogan catch phrase and passes off these cliché ideas like they thought of them on their own.

That said, I read the state election propositions today. Man the blues and reds are really going at it like they have it all figured out for everyone. I don't know how they come up with the names on those things. If it is called the "People For Scrapbooking Bill," you can be sure that it makes cutting paper illegal and will somehow save the kids from predators. It really doesn't matter what the issue is, or who is for it... they are always doing it for the kids.

As I am deeply addicted to the blog-o-sphere, I am just
saddened when I see people commenting whenever someone says anything even
remotely political - like "shut up, nobody asked you." Well, why are they
reading this persons blog if they don't want to know what they think? And to
quote the aforementioned election materials I was reading today:

There are more ways to participate in the electoral process.
You can: [skip to the last bullet point]

* Help educate other voters about the candidates and issues by organizing
discussion groups or participatin gin debates with friends, family, and
community
leaders.

I just want to make the point that this is an important part of making an informed decision and participating in the free and fair democracy that gives us what liberty we enjoy.

I'm not saying we're not a country full of thinking, socially responsible people. I'm sure everyone is responsible for thinking that they think. And me not excluded.

unique

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

here's a problem that, even solved, remains a problem

friends

This is Madhuri. I have been scrapbooking with her and she is quickly becoming very special to me. She is letting me practice learning how to take portrait photography with her -with an emphasis on photo journaling her pregnancy. It has been very fun. These are my first shots of her taken yesterday.

Aside, I went to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls - 4 shots were perfect! And I swam today - learning that all this time, I have been counting my distance wrong by half. I am swimming nearly 1 mile every time I go! Yay!

sport-a-licious

I went golfing and found out that I really enjoy it. I'm thinking of taking it up seriously. I have taken up swimming (thanks a lot, Olympics... I didn't have enough hobbies already.) I have only gone 4 times, but I am up to 20 laps (still less than 1 mile.)

I taught Nancy how to make cinnimon rolls using this amazing recipe I found. (Usually I just toss ingredients, but it turns out that it pays to actually measure!) They were the most amazing accomplishment in my life. Hands down. If you are in a little competition with someone about who is the better homemaker, I recommend taking these beauties to the next pot luck. No one will know what hit them, and you will become a Legend.

Michael what's-his-name who just sleeps, eats, and swims....? That will be me. Eating these cinnamon rolls, swimming so I can eat these cinnamon rolls, and then sleeping off the sugar low afterward. Mmmm.

We went to...

a comedy improv show...
the planetarium...
an underwear parade (a charity run for cancer, but some people's panties were very small...) The California Science Center (Body Works...)

The Natural History Museum...

And the Exposition Rose Garden....

No wonder I haven't posted in a while...

Whew.

crazy amounts to discuss

We have been doing so much stuff with Brittany. Meditation gardens, Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art's Friday night Jazz (above), an Improv Comedy show with Madhuri, a barbeque taco night at Nancy's, to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D and "Dark Knight," to a mid-night party for the release of her favorite author's newest book (Stephanie Meyers,) shopping for school stuff, Scrapbooking with Madhuri every weekend, mini-golfing and batting cages, and the planetarium. Of course it wouldn't be LA without getting on set of a TV show (they were filming something for MTV at the mini-golf place) and being shaken up by a pretty decent-sized earthquake. (We're fine, by the way. But we were IN it. And it was relatively scary.)

We do have a lot of pictures, but not a lot of time to post. It's been a whirl wind.

Oh, and I got the score for my exam - a four. If you recall, six is passing, and last time I got a zero. So, four is okay. I can accept a four. And that means that next time, a six is within reason. Oh, and exam study season is already resumed. I need to kick butt.

welcome to sunny california

Jennifer, Stephanie, Lindsey, the doggie-dog Annabelle and Brittany were all here with us last week. Our guests enjoyed a flurry of Six Flags, beach sand castles, and everyone stayed in a hotel in San Diego to go to Sea World one day.


Doesn't this look wonderful? This hotel was reasonable and had a kitchen, living room with pull-out couch and double beds to sleep six. But no one guessed it would have this view! Everyone loves the eels.

I much appreciate Jennifer and Lindsey making sure that Brittany had a chance to do a lot of fun stuff while I was at work or unable to hang out.

Houston, we have lift off

I'm home from my sweet vacation. I could totally move there. We went to the space center, had a pre-4th warm up party on the 3rd, and then had a blast and drank ourselves silly at McKay's big party. It was awesome!

txensen

texas style

I finally got some pictures off my camera from the past couple of days.

I've had some adventures since last post. Last night, we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and I got some of the best chicken-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and steak fries ever.

Today, I was hanging out with the kids while McKay and Kim did some shopping and I got bit by a snake! The kids found this snake in the backyard and it was scaring them. Nolan wanted to kill it, but I thought it was just a gardner snake, so I looked it up on the internet. It matched, so I went out and got it's head under a broom handle. Just when I reached to grab it right behind it's head the broom handle slipped and the snake just latched onto my finger. I couldn't get it off, and the kids were kind of freaking out at that point, so I decided to just start heading toward somewhere where I could set it free and figure out how to get it off my hand when we got there. So while I was walking through the house, I pried it off - but once it was free to bite me again, I got nervous and dropped it IN the house! Then the kids were really screaming! So I just grabbed it again real quick without getting bit again and dropped it in the gutter across the street. It didn't hurt or anything, but everyone was really shocked.

I got some ingredients to sew a little star on the shirt I'm going to wear for the 4th. Kim is cooking the most delicious smelling roast right now. Mom, Brandy, and Macayzsha will be here in a couple of hours and I'm really excited. Evan and Stephanie will get here later. So far, I've had a blast... and I'm loving this place. It's what would happen if Utah and Arizona had a baby.

houston, can you read me?

I've been hanging in Texas with McKay, Kim and his crew for the past couple of days. It has been quite a vacation thus far. We spend 90% of our time hanging out in the garage, which doubles as an open-air living room when the door is up. The neighbors are all members of the family, like one big block-wide household, they come and go from each other's houses, exchanging kids, pantry items, and gossip freely. It's such a change of pace, relaxed and mellow. I've jammed guitar with the neighbors, taken walks with the kids, enjoyed the paths of the local arboretum, and dare-deviled the local water park the whole family (all the neighbors too, of course.)

I have gotten acquaited with McKay's kids, and we've had a really fun time. I really love sitting with coffee in the morning in the garage. All the neighbors come, have their coffee and start their days with you... and it's real nice. I don't even know my neighbors names (or faces.) It's a big contrast.