So this is for katzamboni and other folks who are watching Craig on YouTube and discovering his awesome. Well, here's another reason to adore him. He played that maniac of a boss on the Drew Carey show back in the 90s and in this clip he brings in the harp. Which he plays. Really really well.



*swoon* That is one of the coolest things ever.

Sorry for clogging your flist. There's just so much love to spread around tonight. :)

I've been inspired to make icons. I'm actually rather proud of them, but I know they're not very good. These are just to hold me over until someone makes some better ones. :) You can tell what my favorite shot in the whole episode is, can't you? Yeah. I loved that little bit of dialogue.





( Wild spoilers for Doctor Who 4x13 )

I'm returning to normality. I was definitely not myself there for a bit after I watched the Doctor Who finale. I'm sad that there isn't any more Who for quite a long time. I mean, we'll get specials, but those are notoriously...not the same. And I'm sad that this is the end of an era for Who. I can't make myself believe that the Moffat team will be able make me as happy as the RTD team did. And it's rather sad to see the Doctor's face at the end of this season and know that what happens to him next isn't coming from Davies' head. Sad. It also seemed like we said goodbye to the whole team. They're all off doing their thing, set to be happy and fulfilled in whatever befalls them. I know Donna will turn up again, but we all know why THAT won't be the same. *sigh* So yeah, it kind of felt like the Big Fat End of the Entire Series Episode. That makes me feel sorry for myself.

Anyway, I have to pull myself together and face my other fandoms now. I was telling Carrie that Laura is looking forward to Batman more than anything and I was looking forward to this. *sigh* The rest of the summer fodder will be icing on the so far fabulous cake.

Tomorrow's fast sunday and I'm teaching. Carrie's having some of us over for dinner on Sunday night, which will be nice. She's a great cook, so I always love it when she makes dinner. :)

stargater...have fun at work. You are a genius. Just sayin'.

( Best. Episode. Of Doctor Who. Ever. )

Fabulous. Now I get to watch the entire season again to look for all the clues. Wonderful!

Waiting for the download and so I will update:

Yesterday was crammed and a bit rushed, but it turned out to be so much fun! We grabbed iowagirl11 and her yummy potato salad and headed over to my parents' place. The block party was more of a cul de sac party and it got going rather late...we had tickets for Wall*E, so we were kind of rushing. So, we ate like lightning and sent Gary and Sean ahead to save seats. I brought them brats, brownies, a hamburger and two Dr. Peppers in my humongous Rose-colored bag...right into the theater. It was rather hilarious and we didn't need to send them ahead because there were plenty of seats. anyway, we made it in time, met Becca there and proceeded to enjoy the hell out of that movie.

1. The trailer for Bolt made us laugh really hard. "The road will be tough!" "I have a ball!" I'm loving John Travolta doing the voice of the cute dog.

2. The Disney feel-good movie previews were also good. The girl playing quarterback movie with Ice Cube, and the cute Mexican little league team...yeah, I liked them.

3. The Presto Pixar short was the best one there is. Seriously. It beat out Lifted and The Birds, which is rather unbelievable. We were all wiping tears away and slapping our knees and stomping our feet as we all faced the danger of suffocation. I almost stood up and begged them to play it over again right then.

4. And on to Wall*E. I hate PIxar for making me cry no less than 5 times throughout this movie. It isn't sad at all, so don't worry. It's just that they created such a loveable and earnest character in Wall*E, and they told the story with their usual awesome. *sigh* I absolutely loved it. The funny was definitely consistent and the site gags were great. That troop of crazed robots was one of the funniest things I've seen in a really long time. So yeah, I couldn't recommend a movie more.

My summer movies so far: The Incredible Hulk, Indiana Jones, Wall*E, Prince Caspian, Kung Fu Panda, and Get Smart. Here they are ranked from most awesome to not as awesome.

1. Wall*E
2. Get Smart
3. The Incredible Hulk
4. Kung Fu Panda
5. Prince Caspian
6. Indiana Jones

I really liked 5 and 6. They just can't compare with the awesome of 1-4. :)

Anyway, we came home from the movie and the cul-de-sac party was still going on. We ate some more, sampled of my dad's fabulous homemade root beer, Helen's wonderful strawberry rhubarb pie, my mom's brownies, and Helen's baked beans. Yum. We started playing the ancient version of Trivial Pursuit (The Genus edition NOT the Genius edition according to my brothers). We realized how badly we sucked, so we go the junior edition (that came out in 1984) and did much better at that. We left the game to bring in all the food and ended up not going back. No worries. :) They started cul-de-sac fireworks (little fountains, firecrackers, etc) and we all sat and watched them with the neighbors. Katie and I snuck up onto the roof of my parents' house and we saw the fantastic Beaverton show through the trees. It was fun to be up there...I haven't done that since Alan lived at home. I had to call Gary to come hold the ladder so we could get down. :)

After that there were more nifty cul-de-sac fireworks and food...and then we all wound down and put everything away. It was a really great day.

Katie and I were going to go flying with dad this morning, but it was too overcast. Just as well. I was up too late last night and needed to sleep. Now we're watching women's beach volleyball and waiting for Doctor Who. Another great day. The only flaw (and it's rather major) is the fiasco with our plane tickets to London. *breathes* I just need to wait until Monday. I should hear back soon. I'm trying not to freak out.

I have to teach RS tomorrow, so I need to get cracking on that. I already have my topic and ideas for what I want to do. I just need to pull it together.

Happy Saturday, folks. Life is good despite the glitches.

Happy Who Day. Have fun. :) This icon is Rose and the Doctor watching the episode. Even THEY are freaking out about it. :)

Watching Doctor Who will take my mind off the fact that we've lost our plane tickets to London and are now without transatlantic transport. It's a terribly complicated story involving words like 'embezzler' 'consignment' and 'we apolgize for inconvenience.' Yeah, I'm calm on the outside and flipping out on the inside. *breathes* We'll see.

Anyway, I plan to have fun watching Doctor Who.
ETA 1:02 PM PST - And we are downloading. HAHA! "So Mr. Bond HaHA!"

The whole album.

I went on a hike recommended to me by my awesome Portland book. It's an anciently extinct volcano right in the middle SE Portland. I keep thinking that I've found the most beautiful nook in the city until I go on a new hike...and then I find a new one like this.

I am very much a nook person. Everywhere I've lived I have found a nook, a place where I can go and drink in lovely. In Chicago it was a small grove of trees behind our house. In Logan, there was a fabulous one. The hill on the far side of Old Main is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. In Brazil, it changed in every area. I didn't have much time for nooks in Brazil. I even have several special nooks in Tartu, Estonia. I could find it in a heartbeat if I got to go back. Here in Portland, I haven't really had a nook nook just because houses are so crammed together. But now that I've begun hiking the city trails, I have many nooks. Today was one of my favorites. I feel very Anne Shirley when I go on adventures like this. However, today ended up being more like Lucy Pevensie. I'll show you pictures to prove it (click to enlarge) :



Can you believe that these are the RESTROOMS? Yeah, the light and the turret just made me feel all Disney-like. Fabulous.

( But wait, there's more! )

Anyway, it was a great walk and a beautiful day. I'm not sure where my next nook will be, but I'm loving the adventure.

Happy Independence Day to you Americans, including Craig Ferguson! :)

Click on it. Fill out the survey, and friend.

My new bag is exactly the color of Rose's awesome jacket in this icon. Just sayin'. :) That may have been why I bought it...I did go back with second thoughts thinking "Magenta? Really?" However, I stuck to my pink guns and bought it.

Today was completely lazy in every way. Fabulous. I just sent my resume and a fabulous cover letter into Boly Welch. I feel better. I REALLY want a job. I can't even enjoy my full week of fabulousness without worrying about it. My spending habits have me worried. Anyway, I felt good about Boly Welch because they seem so professional. I don't care if it's temp, permanent, part time, etc. I just need to work.

I may go find a hike tomorrow. I have to do welfare meeting in the evening, but a hike sounds good. *stretch* Yes, envy me. I'm terribly lazy.

I've been shopping twice today. The second time was for a fan...and I ended up getting a fan...a Brita water pitcher...two cheap deck chairs (clearanced!), and...another bag. *hides head* [craig] I KNOW![/craig] I can't believe I boought another bag. It's such a fabulous bag though. It's pink and huge and slings over my shoulders and doesn't have an over the top flap, so I can get into it. And it's long enough for me to wear low...and it fits around my body and lies nice and flat. Yes. I'm a bag-whore. I've turned into one. I don't even own that many ... let's see...12. That's purses and bags. That's so not that many.

Honestly, I'm a loser. Shopping is FUN.

We did some RS visits tonight to see some girls. We tracked down some girls who've been in our ward boundaries for 2 years. Just young gals, inactive. It was good to find them, talk to them, and invite them to church. We had a successful evening as far as church stuff goes. Jenny said "I'm so glad you're here. I'm not one to come right out and say "Do you want to come to church?" " I guess it's the missionary training coming out. Get to the invite, get the phone number, and get out. So, if I'm so good at the commitment pattern, why am I single? ;) And I don't care what anyone says, missionaries NOWadays are STILL using the commitment pattern, even though they don't call it that anymore. It's truth.

Tomorrow is nothing. I don't have anything in the evening but 'so you think you can dance'. I'm going to walk tomorrow and try not to die. I'm doing the sakeriver pushups and my pecs and arms are SORE. I can only do them on the wall still, and they still hurt! I'm a wimp.

One more thought about Doctor Who this Saturday and then I'm going to stubbornly not listen or talk about any other possibilities. I was telling katzamboni that this theory of stargater's is the one I'm sticking with. I'm holding out for it....the ultimate happy ending of awesomeness. It makes sense. It leaves Stephen Moffat lots and lots to work with once he's in charge. And it's what I want. *stomps foot* I will stubbornly keep my fingers in my ears until Saturday. And hum. Loudly. What shall I hum? Hmmmm "Fare thee well! Fare thee well! Fare thee well I'm on my way. And I'm going to Louisiana for to see my Suzyanna singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day!" Yeah. That's it.
( And just so I don't talk anymore about it, here's my list of questions )

Shopped some more today. It was my mother's fault. It's amazing how much I can find to buy when I go to somewhere simple and stupid like Walgreens. Bought some new capris and a couple more shirts. To add to ALL the shirts I own. I'm looking for church clothes. No dice. I just end up buying more casual stuff. Well, whatev. Shopping is fun. I'm a loser.

I've had trouble sleeping the last few nights. I haven't taken zoloft, ativan, or yaz since school ended. I say hmph to the thought that the zoloft is out of my system which is why I'm not sleeping again. Not 'hmph' just *sigh*. I don't mind having to take it. The thing I hate the most is paying for all of that medication every month. I've just added zyrtec into the mix because I'm an allergy-ridden sneezy girl this summer (for the first time in my life.) I guess I shouldn't have gone cold turkey. I'll get back on the zoloft at the lower dosage. I'm still holding off on the yaz. We'll see how the PMS is this month. If it sucks, I'm back on the yaz.

I'm sleepy after an afternoon of shopping. I've got relief society stuff to do tonight. I applied at Barnes and Noble this afternoon. What is it about bookstores that makes everyone want to work there? It doesn't seem like they ever hire because folks stay once their hired...because it's nice. And the discount is fabulous. I think the space/time continuum would split if I had a book discount. That's probably the reason I'll never work at a bookstore. Alas.

Sleepy. *snore*

The hugest of Doctor Who spoilers for next week's episode that none of us have seen yet are at the other end of this link, so beware:
Laura, here it is. Read the blurb at the end of the post for some comforting conclusions. It's a good thing I'm not part of that group, but now these pictures just give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. I didn't think it would go with the Doctor's character to DO that...but after the last two episodes, I've changed my mind. I'm way ok with it. :)

How nice.

And now I have to quote the prayer posted by one of the commenters on that post. (coaldustcanary) It made me laugh really loudly.

Hail Rusty, smug of face;
The Time Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among fanboys,
And Blessed is the fruit of thy brain, New Who.
Blessed producer, eternal fan-tease,
Make it not suck!
Now until the hour of Series 4.

Amen.

I've posted these before, but this is my journal and I can be repetitive. I was just going through old entries and found the audio links to my chamber choir (Portland Vocal Consort at www.portlandvocalconsort.org). I find myself laughing when I dream of us making it big in the recording/touring area of professional chamber choirs. I need to listen to these again and again to remind me that it's possible. Wow. Here are my two favorite short clips. They give me the chills. (Keep in mind: there are only 18 of us and I have the privilege of being in there somewhere.) :)

Os Justi, by Anton Bruckner

O Magnum Mysterium, by Morten Lauridsen

I'm really blessed to be able to sing and be a musician even though I've stopped teaching. It may just be the way for me to find the balance I need. Not sure.

I went through my 'Hike Portland like champ' guidebook last night and picked out all the hikes I want to do this summer. There are some fabulous ones. They all have what I love: cool and shady forest parts, wide open meadow parts, 'holy crap look at the view' parts, and clearly marked trails. I can't wait.

Here are a few pictures from the Hoyt Arboretum loop we tried to take took last Thursday. It's me and three of my siblings. We're 3, 4, 5, and 7 of 7. 6 is on his mission and we miss him. And I always miss 1 and 2.

( click to embiggen )

I got too little sleep last night. I need a fan, it was distinctly uncomfy last night. We had a really nice thundery storm in the evening yesterday, but it left the most annoying 'drip...drip...drip' outside my window when it was done. All night long. So, that was irritating too. I may go back to bed. I wanted to walk today, but it may not happen. Blitzed.

What an idiot I am.

I'm shopping but not purchasing at ebags.com and zappos.com. I'm searching for casting news about Doctor Who (and what I found confirms my gut feelings) to post on my forums. And I'm excited to find out that James McAvoy is the rumored Bilbo Baggins for the Hobbit movies. Wouldn't that be fabulous? He's short enough. ;)

Anyway, after my Doctor Who press release discoveries, I'm feeling better about going to bed. Whew. :)

meme of awesome swiped from peace_bloom.

Type the two words into google search.

type '{your name} needs' into a google search:
Cecily needs a vacation stat.

type '{your name} looks' into a google search:
Cecily looks a little sleepy too.

type '{your name} does' into a google search:
Cecily does not completely fit the patriarchal stereotype of a sweet, brainless woman.

type '{your name} hates' into a google search:
Cecily hates to be shutting the barn door after the horse is out.

type '{your name} goes' into a google search:
CECILY goes towards JACK; he kisses her brow in a melancholy manner. (I like this one, especially if Jack is played by Colin Firth.)

type '{your name} loves' into a google search:
Cecily loves her new family of monkey children and tries to make them as happy as she can.

type '{your name} eats' into a google search:
Cecily eats her steak, she closed her eyes to savor it.

type '{your name} has' into a google search:
Cecily has a crush on Anders.

type '{your name} will' into a google search:
Cecily will dance in the RAIN with Alex

type '{your name} went' into a google search:
Cecily went to Melbourne where she worked in commercial radio.

type '{your name} was' into a google search:
Cecily was, quite honestly, a mistake.

type '{your name} believes' into a google search:
Cecily believes Ernest more than ever.

type '{your name} wants' into a google search:
Cecily wants only to flirt and play, but her own superficiality traps her into marriage.

wow, that's fun. I'm amazed at how literary my name is. Faulkner and Wilde and others. Fun. And I was, quite honestly, a mistake. And I do want Jack to kiss me on the forehead and then I do want to dance in the rain with Alex. Whoever he is. :)

We just took my dad on a date. We went to dinner and then ice cream and then The Incredible Hulk. It was a really fun time. We had lots of good food and the movie was a great time. It was the most romantic comic book movie I've ever seen. Yowza, I'm madly in love with Liv Tyler and Edward Norton as an onscreen couple. They're perfect. I loved them both in this. The movie was also rather thrilling. I love action movies that make me grab my head in anxiety or gasp at the sheer awesomeness of the sequences. This one was like that, and I really liked it. I know the critics didn't like this one, but I sure did. I'm actually going to own it. Yeah. That's a big deal. I don't own comic book movies. :)

This week has been crawling by. I figured out why tonight. I'm subconciously dying for the next episode of Doctor Who. 48 more hours...or less. :)

Oh! My two brothers and Laura and I went and got completely lost in the Hoyt Arboretum in Washington Park. Have I talked about how much I love Portland? In Portland, within the city limits, there is this HUMONGOUS park. Within this park are acres and acres of forest, the Rose Garden, the Oregon Zoo, the Japanese Gardens, Pittock Mansion, and benches and parks and meadows. Today was the most beautiful day and Laura and I had dipped our toes in the Arboretum trails a couple days ago. So today, we grabbed the boys and went to do a longer trail. Hopelessly lost. Our two mile trail turned into about 4-5 miles because of all the circles and backtracks. We had such a good time though and it was so beautiful. Much of our walk was in the shady forest, though some of it was over creekbeds and through lovely meadows. I'll post pictures and some silly video soon.

Anyway, now I'm feeling the sore. Not quite yet, but it's on the edge. I need to stretch out really good. I took a little nap this afternoon before we went out and I almost couldn't get up. :) *snore* I'm excited to go to bed. THis is the fourth day I've gotten exercise. Yay! I also haven't had fast food in...three days. Yeah, I'll do better at that.

And, because this is the entry where I tell everyone all the useless facts about my jobless days, I'll talk about what I'm reading. So, I'm back to Robin Hobb. I'm reading the Liveship Traders trilogy which was written in between The Farseer trilogy and the Tawny Man trilogy. However, I thought they were just books written in the same universe until I read Fool's Fate. And then, I realized that my favorite character (possibly in all the world) shows up in the Liveship Traders trilogy between the other two trilogies. Now that I'm reading it, I also see that there's a zillion things I'm learning about the lore and the universe that really would have helped me understand stuff in Tawny Man. However, I'm not irritated. It's just another great excuse to reread the Tawny Man trilogy. We'll see if I can handle it, it was rather traumatic in a fabulous way.

Laura and I are watching Craig Ferguson monologues on Youtube and laughing like insane people. He is one of the funniest people who ever lived. Letterman, Leno, and Carson got NOTHING on him. He's so endearing and so proud to be an American (he became a citizen recently) and so natural with the audience and his guests. No one does an interview like him. Conan, and all those other guys (even Ellen at times) make their guests uncomfortable more than they have a good interview. Not our Craig. He either knows everyone really well, or he does really good research.

Anyway, enough with my Craig Ferguson love letter.

Quote of the day:

"If you make a country singer angry, you are a horrible person." - Laura referring to Tim McGraw pulling a guy out of his own audience and kicking him out. We made guesses as to why and it turns out it was because Tim saw the guy rough up a woman. :) So he REACHED INTO THE AUDIENCE with one arm and dragged him up onto the stage. Then he threw him to the security guards that were rushing up to the stage. Awesome. :)

I would post a Craig Ferguson video, but I'll spare you. I can't pick my favorite anyway. The one where he describes 70s Scottish porn is one of the best. "Even now whenever I see a woman in tweed, I say 'Well, hello.' *waggles eyebrows*"

:) Today was successful. Actually VERY successful. I got my work done for work (all done! I'm really done!) and emailed that to the powers that be. Then I sang for a good long time, made an awesome omelette, went for a good walk (3rd day in a row!), came home, got all pretty and then went to audition. My audition went really really well considering that yesterday I could hardly sing. I love Ryan and I'm excited to get singing with this group again. He's added performances, so I'll make more money and get to sing more! I envision us one day going on a tour, making CDs and getting wildly famous...or as wildly famous as a chamber choir gets. :) I'm just jazzed to be able to make money singing. Yay!

So now that all that stuff is done, I'm kind of done for the week. Laura and I are taking my dad out on a date tomorrow night. We'll go see the Hulk and take him to dinner. We're going to the Hoyt Arboretum tomorrow morning with the boys. Hm. Tomorrow is busy after all! And then this weekend is Hatrack weekend. We'll probably go see Wall.E on Saturday night. We're excited about that.

And after that useless rundown of my weekly plans, I'm going to sign off so I can watch...you guessed it: Craig Ferguson.

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Produced by Joss Whedon (and maybe directed and written as well?) Starring Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris, two of my most favorite men in all the universe...there's just nothing better!! I can't wait. :D

Maintenance man noise outside my window has me up before 9, which is amazing. I'm planning to get WORK done this morning for work and then warm up and sing a bit and then go for a walk and then sing and rehearse some more and worry about this audition tonight. It's ok, I'm not THAT worried about it.

Laura and I went big chief grocery shopping last night and it's nice to have real food in the house. I've wasted more money on fast food this month than should be legal. I'm going to try REALLY hard to do better about moving and eating better. It's been made very plain to me by higher powers that I need to be outside for at least part of the day. It drastically improves my mood and feelings of well-being. So, if I'm outside, I can walk or run or whatever. I went on a long one yesterday, just around here and it was awesome. A bit sore today, but not much.

So, I have plans for a busy day. Let's hope I can stick to them.

DING DING DING DING! But wait! Not before I link to this awesome picture of Donna and the Doctor that Katie posted over on Galacticcactus (Click on it to enlarge and see what it says):

I went outside! It was fabulous, such a perfect day. I got some good sun, some good exercise, and listened to Viva la Vida at least three times through. That album is mind-blowingly good. My favorite is track 5, the double track with 'Reign of Love' as the second song. The title track is also freaking fabulous, probably the first single released. i love it. (Talking about Coldplay for those who don't know.)

I have to get out of the house because if I stay home I just think about money and how I need it and how Laura and I still don't have jobs. Not for lack of trying. grrr.

In our jobless state, Laura and I have taken to watching the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I'm so in love with that man. He's so effortlessly funny, and that's sexy and endearing. He also does stellar interviews no matter WHO he's got on the couch. I was really impressed when I saw him interview 50 cent. Seriously, one of the most fun interviews I've ever seen. He actually made me want to stick around and watch him perform, which I did! He's so good.

I have to audition for this choir tomorrow. Yeah. So not ready. I'm hoping that the fact I'm a currently a singer in the group helps. Ryan has heard me sing a zillion times over the last 6 years. I'd be really sad if I didn't make it though. I'm counting on the chance to sing with a good group this fall as I will be in a music famine.

I need to go write Evan.

I've readded dwicons just to get my icon fix again. I'll ditch it in a few weeks. They're very prolific posters over there.

Had Doctor Who dreams all night. The only one I remember was a funny cross between Doctor Who and Get Smart where he basically pulls a fast one on the Master (who looked strangely like Douglas from the IT crowd) by switching the real TARDIS with a fake one. Definitely funny.

I'm a loser today. I will go to church, but I got up too late for my meeting. I need to go early so I can renew my temple recommend as well. It's a lovely cool day today. I love it when it's cool without the rain.