Who's the Better Cartoonist?

I forgot to add this to the Disneyland post.  At CA Adventure, Steve and I went to an animation class and learned to draw Donald Duck. Which one is best?

This is Steve's picture:

And this one's mine:

No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one. ~Elbert Hubbard

                      

This week has been a much-needed vacation.  We didn't leave home, instead, our vacation came to us in the form of many visitors over the course of one weekend, and many would-be visitors.

First, was the Man-Basket Society.  Stacy had to stay home and work, but Katie, Kristi, and Ashley (and Ashley's husband Andrew) came down for a few days.  We started off with Disneyland.

Thursday, we spent a day in childlike bliss.  We went to Disneyland and had a blast going on all the rides and being silly and immature.  Kristi and I even got to reminince about last time we were at Disneyland (8 YEARS AGO!) for Orchestra tour, flirting with boys and eating junk food. This was when Kristi and I really became friends. I tried to find a picture from that trip, but they are all at my parents' house, but I did find one from our senior year tour to San Diego. Is it scary how little we've changed?

Friday was a beach/girl day.  We went to Diddy Reise, ordered chinese take-out, did our nails, and watched chick flicks until we couldn't stay awake anymore and all fell asleep on a blow-up mattress.

Saturday, Katie and Ashley had a family activity, so Steve and I doubled with Kristi and Sam. We went to Boomers in Upland.  There was everything from glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, to race cars and rock climbing. It was a blast.

Saturday night, my oldest brother Phil, his wife Traci, and their kids Abby and Spencer came into town.  Spencer's favorite part was my "animal Rita" and the dogs.

                                                      

We walked around Griffith Park and La Brea Tar Pits on Sunday. Monday, we went to the science museum at USC and the beach.

Tuesday was an opportunity to use the CA Resident 2fer pass and go to CA Adventure with the kids. We had an amazing time and it was great to get to see family after living away for so long.

Spencer was thrilled to see Wall-E, and nearly hyperventilated when he walked by Lightening McQueen. 

Abby liked everything, but couldn't decide what her favorite thing was. She did enjoy this girlie-looking door and the letter A (for Abby and April)

Steve and I especially liked the Hollywood area, even if they put the Crest (which is in Westwood) there. 

All of the adults loved the Hollywood Tower.

Though it was fun taking a few days off to play, it is nice to have things back to normal now, even if it means I am back to work. But that doesn't mean I don't wish I were back at Disneyland. 

Runyon Canyon

We decide to go hiking today so we spent the afternoon hiking in Runyon Canyon with the dogs. The canyon starts almost right off of Hollywood Blvd. It offers beautiful views of the city (the white line in the above picture is the Hollywood sign)  and is a perfect hike for dogs. They had a great time running around. We stopped by Jalisco's on the way home for some al Pastor.

Progressive Brand Ambassador

Today I was chosen to be one of Progressive's Brand Ambassadors. I had to write a 500 word essay on how I help the Progressive brand. Out of over 20,000 employees, about 200 were chosen to go to the Cleveland Indian's opening game at Progressive Field.

                                                                                                                                     
I get to be involved with all the festivities there---a flag ceremony, the player's gauntlet, great seats, and much more. Plus I get travel and lodging expenses paid for by the company. It's a free vacation (and I might even get to meet Flo).

                                                                

Phree Phish

Phish is giving away a free download of every song from last night's show in Hampton Virginia. It’s really good too. It’s kind of a repeat of their classic Hampton Comes Alive show from 1998.

You can get last night’s show here.

This is one of the reasons why Phish can sell out any show that they play. The fans come first. Giving away concert recordings doesn’t hurt ticket sales. It boosts them. It boosts album sales as well. If I get to hear last nights concert, how good they are right now, of course I’ll want to see them when they hit my town next week. But most bands can’t see this. They have a severe case of tunnel vision that forces them to try and get money out of every song they play. It doesn’t even occur to them that they should give anything away. What’s in it for them right now? Instead they should put the fans first. Give people what they want for free and they will come to your show, buy your CD, and get it on vinyl too.

I wish more bands would do this. The only problem is that they can only play their own songs. Otherwise they would have to pay the statutory mechanical royalty (currently 9.1 cents) for each track downloaded. So they can’t do Dark Side of The Moon. But who cares when you’ve got a catalog like Phish.

Book Review: “Mine Angels Round About”: Mormon Missionary Evacuation From West Germany ~ 1939, by Terry Bohle Montague

My mom sent me this one for Valentine’s Day. The story of the missionary evacuation of Europe under the advancing clouds of the Nazi war machine has a special interest to my family. My grandfather Mark B. Garff was a young mission president in Denmark when the war broke out. As Europe drew its last breath before it was plunged into World War II, Denmark was one of the last places where people could escape from the Continent. As a result Mark Garff was instrumental in getting the missionaries home safely as the war broke out.
This book is not really his story but is the story of some of the missionaries who were forced to flee from the war. To tell her narrative Montague focuses on the personal accounts of these missionaries, reconstructing the evacuation from journals and personal interviews. The result is an often suspenseful story of the panic, chaos, wrong turns, and narrow escapes that Mormon missionaries experienced as they fled Nazi Germany. Some of the more interesting trials experienced by these missionaries include: piloting through minefields, commandeering a train, and getting arrested by Nazi officers. Many of these missionaries also witnessed first hand the plight of Jewish Germans as they tried to escape Hitler’s plans.

I recommend it if you can find a copy.

We won!

I won my first case. I can’t take all of the credit but it feels good to brag.

The Bucket List

I got tagged by my friend Amy so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not, then tag your friends.

Things you have done during your lifetime:

(X)Gone on a blind date
(X) Donated Blood
(X) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die (unless you count my dog)
(X) Been to Canada
(X) Been to Mexico
(X) Been to Florida
( ) Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
(X) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost
(X)Gone to Washington, DC
( ) Hugged a homeless person
(X) Swam in the ocean
( ) Swam with Stingrays (No way! I am terrified of ocean animals!)
(X) Been sailing in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Ran a marathon
(X) Sang Karaoke
( ) Volunteered at a soup kitchen
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
( ) Seen the Northern Lights
(X) Been on TV
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone calls
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
( ) Fed an elephant
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Fired a gun
(X) Danced in the rain
( ) Been to the Opera
( ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Serenaded someone
( ) Seen a U.S. President in person (but Steven saw Bill Clinton at UCLA)
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X ) Watched the sunrise with someone
( ) Driven a race car
(X) Been to a National Museum
( ) Been to a Wax Museum
( ) Eaten caviar
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
( ) Been deep sea fishing
(X) Driven across the United States (we put 11,000 miles on the truck in 8 weeks!)
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
(X) Gone snowmobiling
(X) Lived in more than one country---England
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets (or frogs)
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
(X) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(X) Seen the Grand Canyon
(X) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
(X) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
( ) Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
(X) Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
(X) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
( ) Been in a rain forest
(X) Seen whales in the ocean
(X) Been to Niagara Falls
( ) Ridden on an elephant
( ) Swam with dolphins
( ) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf
( ) Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing
(X) Been snow-skiing
(X) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
(X) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game
( ) Swam with sharks
(X) Been White Water Rafting
(X) Written a book or screen play --- does it count if I never got it published?
(X) Been to Europe
(X) Been to Vegas
(X) Climbed a lighthouse
(X) Seen the cherry blossoms in Washington, D. C.
( ) Flown a plane
( ) Owned a boat
( ) Gone skinny dipping
( ) Watched grandchildren grow
( ) Been to the Kentucky Derby (maybe someday?)
( ) Been to Key West
(X) Been to a rodeo

I'm excited to try to see if I can do more of the things on this list. I'd especially love to see the Mediterranian, the Great Wall of China, and dolphins/elephants are both neat. Knowing Steve, we will also one day own a boat and see the Northern Lights too.

I tag Dagny, Valerie, and Mike/Catherine; unless they don't want to do it, in which case, they are exempt without any hurt feelings.

Visits from Angie and Mike and Catherine

We were lucky enough to have three visitors come stay with us over the last couple of weekends. First April’s friend Angie came. We went down to Long Beach to see the aquarium.

On the way back we ate at Jalisco’s. This is a whole in the wall that has best al pastor I have had outside of Mexico.
Mike and Catherine came down to visit us and get the So Cal tour this last weekend. Unfortunately the weather was the worst I have ever experienced since I have lived here. But we did get a break from the rain to visit the San Diego Zoo.
(Camels are April's favorite)
We also:

toured UCLA including both the botanical and Japanese gardens,
walked through Bel-Air,

ate at Pink’s,
(Catherine and I both got the Lord of the Rings Dog, always a good choice) (I haven’t even started eating it yet and my fingers are already covered in barbecue sauce)

Mikes and April's dogs were pretty good too. ate at Diddy Riese twice,
drove through Hollywood,

went to the Grove and Farmers Market,

saw the La Brea Tar Pits,
toured the LA Temple grounds,
visited Uncle Dave and Aunt Mary Lou,

picked fruit at the orchard,
toured the fashion district,
inadvertently toured the warehouse district (or as Catherine called it the crime district),
toured the flower district,

drove through Downtown and China town,

listened to lot’s of podcasts while we were driving

walked through the Venice Canals and saw Venice Beach,
ate at C & O’s where April ordered the “chicken sink”

drove through Malibu,

drove almost the entire length of Sunset Blvd in to legs,

turned over 100,000 miles on the Ford’s odometer (Gloria-what he have named our GPS-was an excellent guide),

ate at Natalie Thai,

and had a wonderful time.

We hope that our guests will all come back sometime when the weather is good.