A Couple of Post Updates

I know that I could put these in the posts themselves, but then who is going to see them?

For my May 1 post: Booktober Fest ’08.

I’m glad to see that Yahoo is following my blog. Of Course the real credit belongs to Josh and Charlotte. Imagine my surprise when I opened up my web browser and saw Josh’s face front and center on the yahoo homepage. Congratulations to the Erickson’s on their fifteen minutes now that their video has gone "viral." If the video is no longer on yahoo’s homepage you can still find it on my blog under May 1 YouTube of the week. Could this clip become the next "Star Wars Kid"?

For my March 8 post: Ok Hippies, You Can Put Your Chains away.
April took this picture while she was visiting campus a couple of days ago.

File it as one more under the "silly signs at UCLA" category. I hope that our ranking in Campus Squirrel Listings doesn’t slip now that we can’t feed our bushy-tailed colleagues.
If we can't feed animals, can we still feed bruins?

YouTube of The Week:

Now that clips featured here are making their way to the front page of Yahoo I must make my selections delicately. So for this week I’m posting two again. The first is a parody of a beer commercial campaign that is a pretty accurate portrayal of the law school on campus interview program. We all know this guy.


I’ve recently joined Facebook. Though there is much to like about it, this next clip expresses some of my feelings about this new social order. Enjoy Facebook in real life.

Adventureland

When we moved to Los Angeles almost 2 years ago, we knew it would be quite the experience. In fact, we decided it would be our own adventure. Not only would it be an adventure because we were newlyweds, but this was our adventure to explore California. We figure that we will probably not live here forever, and might as well enjoy it (especially before we have kids).

We made a list of all the things we wanted to do and hang it on the refridgerator. When we have a free weekend, or have tourist visitors, we find a new adventure to complete. We have done everything from Disneyland to boogie boarding to Koreatown. We also include cool restaurants and random hotspots. My favorite adventure experience was during our own special holiday time. We have Christmas on 12/25, my birthday on 12/28, New Year's Eve on 12/31 (the day we met), and our anniversary on 1/2. Steve's birthday is a few weeks later on 1/22. We used this time to celebrate and cross things of the list. This year, we went to the Los Angeles Zoo for my birthday, Disneyland on New Year's Day, and Catalina Island and Lowry's for an anniversary celebration.

I thought I would include our list. We welcome any suggestions. A* means we've done the adventure at least once.

LA ADVENTURES

• Ethnic Towns (Korea*, Filipino, Little Ethiopia, China, Thai)
• Downtown Districts (flower*, diamond, fashion*, toy)
• Universal Studios*
• Universal CityWalk*
• Disneyland*
• Californa Adventure
• Knott's Berry Farm
• Magic Mountain*
• Mormon Day at the Dodger Stadium*
• Sailing
• The Channel Islands
• Tide Pools*
• Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles*
• Amoeba Music*
• Boogie Boarding*
• Laguna Beach*
• La Brea (Spanish for "the Tar") Tar Pits*
• Hammer Museum
• Getty Center
• Skirball Center
• Griffith Park*
• Tonight Show
• Sony Studios
• Watch the Taping of a TV show* (We saw Jeopardy with my brothers)
• The Orchard* (Steve's family has an orchard in the valley)
• Hard Rock Cafe*
• Lowry's*
• Los Angeles* and San Diego Zoos
• Long Beach Aquarium
• Hikes*
• Surfing
• Venice Beach*/Muscle Beach*
• Santa Monica Pier*
• Santa Monica Pier Amusement Park
• Star Map
• Dog Beach* (this was a disaster. My dogs now HATE the ocean)
• Dog Park*
• Bike at the Beach*
• San Diego*
• Couch Theater
• Korean BBQ*
• Wicked
• Largo
• Palos Verdes*
• Museum of Science and Technology*---this is so good, we're going back again!
• Jack's Pantry
• Randy's Donuts*
• Filipino Restaurant*
• Bel Air*/Beverly Hills*

Last weekend, we were able to complete several of our adventures. I had planned to run the Palos Verdes Marathon with my dog, Nike. We had been meaning to take a drive around Palos Verdes for a while, and thought this would be the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out as planned. Nike cut his feet on the asphalt somewhere around mile 6. It was really odd because we had been doing this type of thing for years with no issues. I had some crazy woman yell at me like I was an animal killer for daring to run this with my dog. She probably didn't realize that he had run more marathons than she had. His feet were very bloody and I had to call Steve to pick him up and take care of him. It ruined my time, so I ran another 10 miles and decided not to wear myself out. We bought Nike some socks to pad his feet, and ease his pain (he's fine now, don't worry) They have racecars from Disney's "Cars" He looks very cute in his baby socks.

On the way home, we stopped at the donut place in Inglewood with the massive donut on the roof. The fare was among the best pastries we've ever had.

I've included a slideshow of our adventures to date. Hopefully we'll be have many more adventures to come and plenty of fun while we're at it.

View Album

Get your own

Mexico

We just got back from a fantastic trip to the Yucatan. Kevin served his LDS mission there so we went back with him to see the people he taught, the sights he saw, and of course the beaches of Cancun (ok, fine, Kevin never saw this last one during his mission). Kevin, my parents, and Mike and Catherine went a few days ahead of us (I had Finals) and April and I stayed on a few days after they left. The most notable souvenir that we brought back is April’s tan. Everyone we have seen since the trip has commented on it and with the exact same words in every case; “WOW, you’re SOOO tan!” Anyway here’s our trip journal:
Day 1
I had a final in Real Estate Finance Law in the morning and April had work. We flew out of LAX at 1:00 AM to the tiny town of Zacatecas in the Mexican high dessert.

Sunrise over Zacatecas

We then flew into Mexico City and then Cancun Airport where I was detained for a half hour by the airport police. Once we got that sorted out we headed to our hotel were we met up with the rest of the Fam. Every single one of them had a severe sunburn. I laughed to myself then. Little did I know that I was soon to join them. April never sunburns, though she looks like she came home a different race. We spent the remainder of the day catching up with everyone, chilling on the beach, playing some pool basketball (enter the sunburn), enjoying a variation of virgin cocktails, and some shopping at night. Suffice it to say, we were exhausted by the end. I racked up a couple hours of sleep in about a 36 hour period.
Day 2
We went down to the Ruins of Tulum an ancient Mayan city on the beach.



Afterwards we went to a Cenote for some swimming. Cenotes are fresh water sinkholes/caves that dot the Yucatan.


Here's Kevin who is just about to experience some serious pain.

We finished off the day with five or six games of pool volleyball.
Day 3
We spent the day at Xcaret (pronounced “each-ka-rayt”). It's 50% Polynesian Cultural center, 40% Sea World, and 10% Disneyland.




Day 4
We went to Church at one of Kevin’s old wards and then spent the afternoon visiting some families that he taught.





Day 5
We took the bus into the bus terminal where we got another city bus out to Chichen Itza. It was a three hour one way bus ride but we were treated with School for Scoundrels and Casino Royale, which was in Spanish. Chichen Itza is a large collection of Mayan ruins not far from Merida. It was lots of fun but unbelievably hot. Some of the coolest features were the main pyramid “El Castillo,” the massive ball court, and the observatory





This next photo is of the cenote or well into which the Mayans sacraficed virgins. Archeologists know this because they found human remains in the water. How they were able to determine that the victims were virgins is unclear.
We also found an ancient steam bath which seems odd because the temperature was over 100 degrees with 100% humidity.



Here's the "wall of skulls" I thought it was cool.

After wandering the ruins we caught the bus back to Cancun. We enjoyed some street tacos on the way.
Day 6
We relaxed at the beach until it was time to catch our flight.

Youtube of the Week: I’m starting to come down with a cold. Correction: not just a cold but a “man cold.”

The Man Basket Society

I spent last weekend up in Utah for one of my best friend's weddings. Katie and I have been friends since high school woodshop, and have grown close since the creation of The Man Basket Society.

***
Back in high school and college, I was a hermit. I had friends, but would spend days and weeks on end by myself, just to get away from all the drama and complications of having a social life. Even my voicemail stated, "I've moved to Hermitville to become a professional hermit. I'll call you back when I 'm feeling social."

***
A few days after my 20th birthday, our good friend Kristi Green threw a New Year's Eve party at her apartment in SLC. Katie would not give up on convincing me to go (it's a good thing too, because that's where I met Steven). Katie, Stacy, and I went to the party, had a great time, and were utterly convinced that we should all get together again sometime. The Man Basket Society was born.
***
The Man Basket Society has two distinct origins that have fused together into our own creation. Kristi and her sorority friends would jokingly talk about having the various men in their lives in a "Man Basket" through which no other girls may draw from. This is where The Man Basket Society gets its name. Mostly, this group was just 4 friends determined to stay friends forever. The second part is what "Man Basket" is all about. At Snow College, Stacy and her friends had a tradition of "owing" a treat during significant developments in their lives, i.e. a friend who had just kissed her new beau would owe the others ice cream. For other milestones, we have created a system of dues (pizza=I Love You, steak dinner=engagement, cake=baby).

***

***
The Man Basket Society holds regular monthly meetings, with a rotation of who holds the meeting. The meetings have varied from sleepovers with chick flicks to dinner parties, and once we even held one at a Rascal Flatts concert. Each month, any dues are paid to the group as we catch up on our lives. The Man Basket Society is our special organization. It's almost sacred in the way we regard the ritual with reverence. It's very similar to the book/movie "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" (which by the way, came out AFTER we formed our group). Missing a Man Basket meeting is rarely excusable. One day a month is all we ask. We figure it's worth it to keep our friends forever.

***

***
Weddings are an extra special occasion for The Man Basket Society. The night before we have a ritualistic "Man Basket Burning". This symbolizes the act of no longer having a pool of men to draw from, as we now dedicate our Man Basket to one special man for the rest of eternity.

***

One of the major downsides of living in Los Angeles is that I no longer am part of the regular monthly meetings, except via cell phone. Luckily, we arrange for meetings to take place when I am in town, but I miss the uniqueness of our "members only" club. I miss the group dynamics: Kristi, the creative one; Stacy, the good one, April (me), the athletic one; and Katie, the one who keeps us al together. Now that it has been a few years we have added a few more members; some new additions, like Ashley, who seems like she was always part us. Also we have some members that are more occasional---such as Emma, Katie's sister; Cindy, our friend from WJHS; or Esther, our British Babe. Even so, one things for certain: we are permanent.

Booktober Fest '08

Some of you may have been expecting a review of Cochella this week. Although I am a music snob, as April likes to put it, I didn’t make it out this year because it’s just too big a commitment right now. Why they have to always schedule it in the middle of law school finals is most undoubtedly the result of some vast right-wing conspiracy (think about it; most law students are liberal and most Cochella attendees are as well). On the bright side I also happen to be a major bibliophile as is my wife. And the annual L.A. Times Festival of Books is conveniently held at UCLA every year. It is the largest book fair in the country, miles of white tents. So we went there instead. Which of course was a bad idea. You see, my wife and I for the most part have diametrically opposed tastes. This comes in handy because we keep each other’s purchases in check. My wife keeps me from spending too much at Amoeba Music (which is just soooo easy) and I keep her from spending too much on running doodads. But when both of us love books the ceiling disappears. This was especially true once we found the $7.50 for any book tent and the $2.00 books that the UCLA Store was trying to unload. So yes we spent close to one hundred bucks but we got twelve books. Don’t worry not all of them are just for us, but most of them are.

I've put a list of the books we got as well as some others that we've been reading on the left.

YouTube of The Week:
Two this week. Josh showed this video he and Charlotte made at last month’s Ward Talent Show. Enjoy.


This is good.