Question

How important is it to agree on politics in a relationship? I've been wondering about this lately. I would consider myself a moderate - I'm more conservative than my liberal friends, but more liberal than some of my conservative friends. But I find that if a guy is too extreme on either side, it's hard for me to feel like we really connect. Have you had experiences with this? How important is it to agree on politics? Do you and your significant other agree?

Wednesday Thoughts

You know what really puts a damper on your summer vacation? The possibility of finding a body in the water. On Friday night, a plane crashed just a few miles off the shore of the beach on Lake Michigan where we do the majority of our swimming. With the exception of one passenger, the rest have still not been recovered from the lake.

It's very tragic, and I don't mean to make light of it. But it's definitely made swimming a tiny bit creepier. When you can see huge coast guard boats not too far off the shore, it sort of changes the tone of the water frolicking, if you catch my drift.

But other than that, we've been having a great trip. Being around the family inevitably leads to hilarity. My 13 year old cousin said she's never laughed harder in her life than she has on this trip. I'm grateful I have a family I get along with so well. Here's a funny exchange between my 13 year old cousin, Katie, and my nephew James, who's 11:

Katie: "They said if I ask one more stupid question, they're going to throw me off the boat."
James: "If I were you, I'd stop talking."

Tonight a bunch of us went on a guided tour through some smaller inland lakes. We'd stop along the way and the DNR guide would tell us about the area, and answer questions. Usually I love that kind of thing, but these questions were becoming increasingly tedious. At one point, my nephew turned around on the canoe and whispered to me, "as soon as these questions are done, we are out of here. This is getting ridiculous." It only got good when at the end someone raised their hand and asked, "Has anyone ever seen Bigfoot here?" The guide didn't seem to think it was funny, which made it that much funnier.

Ok, I have to wrap this up now. I have a game of Sorry to get back to. I hope you had a good Wednesday!

Quick Update

Hey guys! Have you missed me? I've missed you. I'm on vacation on Lake Michigan.

It's been a fun trip so far. This picture is of my nephew responding to something my sister Katherine was saying. He had probably just gotten done accusing me of cheating at Battleship. If I cheated, how come I lost!?

By the way, for those of you who were interested, I did end up getting an iPhone. I feel really clunky using it - like Stanley in the Office when he was trying to get used to his new phone. My thumbs seem too big for this thing (and my thumbs are not big)! But I'm getting used to it. The guy at the store said that Apple offers classes on how to use it. I feel like if you need to take a class to figure out how to use your phone, it might be too complicated. Next thing you know colleges are going to start offering classes on it, then degrees. It's too much. But I bought it anyway. And so far I'm really liking it. Thanks for feedback and ideas you all gave me on my other post.

Anyway, I'll be back with some Wednesday Thoughts tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'll just be here getting more and more freckly and sunburnt by the minute.

Wednesday Thoughts

One of the perks we get where I work is that a massage therapist comes in every so often and we only have to pay half the cost of a seated massage. Since I threw my back out over the weekend I was really looking forward to this. About half way through the massage, the massage therapist told me she's six months pregnant. Suddenly I felt really guilty that she was on her feet massaging me. I especially felt guilty that I had requested that she "put more elbow into it." (I didn't really say that, calm down.)

In other thoughts, I was walking through a big parking lot today on my way to my hair appointment. In the parking lot, in between rows of cars there was a small island with a skinny, medium height tree. Underneath it a man was smoking a cigar. This struck me as very strange. The businesses surrounding that part of the parking lot are Chuck-E-Cheese, MC Sports, my hair salon, a gym, and a Christian book store. Which one of these did he leave to smoke a cigar and why did he choose the parking lot island to smoke it on? And why a cigar? And why in the middle of the afternoon?

Ok, last thought for the day. You know that awesome Old Spice commercial with the "I'm on a horse" guy? Everyone seems to love it, myself included. (Many spoofs have been done of it but the best one I've seen is the one some BYU students did - link.) Well, I read last night that even though the ad is incredibly popular, sales are down. One theory is that people associate Old Spice with their grandfathers or other older men. So I decided to check it out for myself today at Target. I grabbed the most generic looking Old Spice deodorant and took a whiff. My review: Me gusta. I'd even go so far as to say me gusta mucho. Not that I expect my review to have any effect on the sales, but I was curious. Do you guys like it? Who is the ad really targeted at? Do women buy body wash for their husbands/boyfriends? Do men want to be like that guy?

Apparently this Wednesday thoughts is more about Wednesday questions. I hope someone out there has answers. Especially the cigar smoking man - if that was you I saw today, explain yourself!

Happy Wednesday.

Youthful rantings

So I know my last post made me sound like a complete curmudgeon but trust me when I say that even though I threw my back out over the weekend, hated on modern technology in this very blog, and asked, "is this music too loud or am I old?" at a concert Friday night, I'm not old. In fact, I'm quite immature at times.

For example, I call someone a "brainiac" at least twice a week. And I "rickroll" Ann so often she probably doesn't trust any link I send her.

And I really don't hate technology, I just get a little overwhelmed by it. I also don't like that fact that 12 year old's understand much of it better than I do.

This week my real stress is coming from the fact that I need a new phone. My phone is completely possessed by a poltergeist or something. It's deleting pictures, replacing them with others, and not charging. It's been having charging issues for about nine months but has really gone downhill this week. The fact that it's been bad for nine months shows you how much I hate dealing with this stuff. So if you have a phone you could recommend, I'm in the market. (I'm leaning towards getting an iPhone. More details about the kind of phone I'm looking for in the comments section.)

From now on I'm going to try not to sound so old in this blog. So with that in mind... have you guys seen the new Jonas Brothers Camp Rock movie? (Am I trying too hard now? And did I go too far in the other direction?)

CDs versus cassette tapes

I have a bone to pick with CDs. I know people think CDs are soooo much better than cassette tapes and yes, I guess the sound quality is better. And yes, I realize I'm really showing my age in this post.

Here are my two complaints:

1.) CDs are too fragile. One little scratch and it's over. Cassette tapes were super tough. You could step on them, crack them, pull the tape out, splice it, twist it, flatten it, then wind it back in and the tape would still play. (The sound quality might suffer somewhat but it still played without skipping.)

2.) When you burn a CD, that's it for that CD. You can't add more songs later and you can't start over and record over the whole thing. That's it. With tapes, you could record over it as much as you wanted. Eventually it would become warped, but that took a long time. They were tough as nails.

That having been said, I don't totally hate CDs. They have some good qualities, I mean, it's nice to be able to skip to the song you want - rewinding, fastforwarding, and flipping the tape over did get tiresome (I guess).

It's not just CDs I have a beef with these days, it's music technology in general. It's too complicated. It's so complicated. I guess I "get" iPods. I mean, I get my iPod, but other MP3 Players....I dunno. I had one before I got an iPod and I could never figure out how to get music on it. I always felt like I was doing something illegal. Like if I use any other website other than iTunes, I'm breaking the law.

And you know what's worse? It's never going to end. Something new is coming. And it will probably be really small. And we won't plug it into a player, we'll plug it directly into our head somehow. Not our ears, our brain. We won't need speakers - using our brainwaves we'll send the music out of our heads and into the atmosphere. I know you think I'm making this up, but the technology is out there.*

Sigh. CDs, iPods, brain plug ins... it's all a bit much for me. And I've got the Kid 'N Play cassette tape singles to prove it.

*No, it isn't.

Looking back

A few days ago, my mom told me she found a box of my old journals in the back of the basement and asked me what I wanted her to do with it. My first thought was, "burn it."

But in the back of my mind I thought I might someday regret that, so I took it and stored it away. But before storing it I decided to open it and flip through one journal, nervous about what embarrassing memory it might hold. Turned out it was sort of amusing. The one entry I read was about meeting a guy who I'm still friends with and I kind of enjoyed reading about it and my first impressions of him.

But after reading that one entry, I put the journal back, sealed up the box and put it in a safe place. My old journals are a mine field of dating experiences - good and bad, embarrassing and hilarious, tender and painful, and so on and so forth. Maybe in 50 years I'll be ready to look back and laugh but I am nowhere near ready for that yet. At best, these old journal entries range from semi-amusing to painfully amusing.

The reason I mention this is because I've been going through old blog posts and labeling them, as I mentioned the other day. It's been interesting to look back. To me it's obvious that I write most posts and publish them immediately after writing them without waiting, rereading, and revising later. How else can you explain all the posts I wrote about Snuggies and the swine flu? My main thought when I was reading through past entries was, "this blog is goofy."

It was weird to look back on entries I haven't read in years (or at least year, singular). I'm not going to say it wasn't somewhat painful at times. In my attempts to never be too negative and to not reveal too much, I have at times focused on some pretty silly stuff in this blog. It is what it is though, and the posts made me laugh at the time.

Tonight I was at a Celtic Festival with Katherine. As I looked around and commented on some of the crazies in attendance, I realized I was there too and said to Katherine, "I love making fun of things I'm actively participating in." I think that statement can be applied to this blog as well. But you're still here so I shouldn't worry too much about it. I'm glad you've stuck with me.

Plus, lest I think it's all fluff, remember the post I wrote about cupcakes in April? Well, tonight I was on NPR's website and on the main page saw an article about the cupcake trend. So there you have it. If it's good enough for NPR, it's good enough for me. Plus, my post was better. (And I'm more humble, obviously.) But that's enough looking back for now. See you in 50 years, previous posts!

I love you?

What is an acceptable response to "I love you" when you can't say it back? Apparently laughing isn't an option. Ideas? Funny responses would be best. What do you think of "thank you"?

(Don't be feeling too sorry for any guy here, by the way, as his statements of love aren't overly genuine. This is all in good fun.)

Wednesday Thoughts

The "man" is really getting me down this week. I need a vacation. I took a long lunch break today and went to the farmers market and out to lunch at my favorite restaurant. It helped but I think I need a day to sleep. Doesn't that sound so nice? Just a day or two. Or a week. Yeah, a week would be nice. Is that asking too much?

In other thoughts, I had some amazing gazpacho a couple weeks ago and I have been craving it ever since. It was like eating a bowl of summer - all the ingredients were so fresh! I've been trying to find a good recipe for it since then but can't decide on one. Do any of you either:

1) have a good recipe for gazpacho, or
2) trust a certain recipe website that you could recommend?

I'm excited to make some. I've only made it once before and it was so long ago I don't remember how to do it. It should be an adventure.

There is one thing I make every summer that symbolizes summer to me: zucchini bread. I love zucchini bread and I associate it with the hottest days of summer. What is your summer specialty?

And lastly, I've started labeling (tagging) my posts as you'll see on the lower left side. It's going to take me a long time to go through and tag all of them but it's been kind of fun to go back. Dang, I blogged a lot about the swine flu last year, didn't I? The funny thing is, just this past weekend I was with a group of friends and someone said, "what ever happened to the swine flu?" I'm not sure if he was waxing nostalgic or if he was just wondering.

Oh great, I just realized that by talking about it again, I'm going to have to label this post as being about the swine flu. Hopefully this will be the last time.

Happy Wednesday, friends.

How hungry would you have to be....

...to drink a bbq chicken sandwich from a can?

I got an email from my friend Chris this morning that started with, "I suggest you sit down and take several deep breaths, then look around and take a mental picture of the way things are in the world as you know it, because your life is about to be changed forever." Then he sent the link to an article about the candwich. And that's when my life changed forever.

If a sandwich in a can isn't gross enough for you, the pb&j ones have a piece of candy in them! How does that happen? You're just drinking your sandwich when suddenly a Runt falls into your mouth? Or is it gum? I don't want to chew gum while I'm drinking my sandwich.

Chris doesn't think it's an actual drink but if that's the case, how does one "eat" it? I'm confused. Is it eaten with a spoon? Maybe it's best not to know. His email ended with, "All I know is, someone has finally made good on the promise of gourmet on-the-go food that has been waiting to be fulfilled since the appearance of Go-Gurts."

I can only think of one group who this would appeal to: people with their jaws wired shut. Would any other (sane) person regularly consume this? Would you? Not since Willy Wonka's three course meal in a piece of gum has a food seemed less like a food.

Dunder Mifflin

Let me just start this post by saying that I used to be a huge fan of The Office. I thought it was the funniest show ever. Never missed it, laughed my head off, talked about it the next day at work, etc, etc... But the last couple seasons really haven't been doing anything for me. The story lines feel recycled, Pam and Jim are happy (oh yeah, spoiler alert), Michael's an idiot and so is Dwight, I get it. It's so played out.

I heard recently that Steve Carell is leaving the Office after next season and I thought, "good, they should end the show." But turns out, they're not going to end the show - they're going to milk it for all it's worth. And not only that, but they want to make Dwight the boss. Come on! We get it, Dwight's going to be an awful boss. It's so incredibly predictable.

If they must keep the show going, I think they should get some fresh blood - hire a new manager outside Dunder Mifflin. The one person I can think of who would make the show funny again is this guy:

Yeah, that's right. John C. Reilly. Just look at that guy. He would be hilarious, don't you think? His imdb profile describes him as having "a homely mug, lumbering gait, and unruly mop of curly hair." I can't believe he let them keep that up there, but I guess it hasn't hurt his career any. But anyway, if you don't like John C. Reilly for The Office, here are some other picks:

Michael Cera - He'd be funny for about one episode. It would get old after that, but one episode with him would be hilarious.

James Franco - I'd watch the show no matter how unfunny it got if James Franco was on it.

Brett Michaels - Just kidding.

The Rock - Ok, now I'm just looking for a way to get my celebrity crushes on The Office (well, him and James Franco - I do not have a crush on either Brett Michaels or Michael Cera, for the record.)

So, Office fans, what do you think? John C. Reilly? Dwight? Who should be the new Office boss, or should they just cancel it? And by the way, no one from NBC will ever see this blog post so don't get your hopes up when you cast your vote. Sorry to disappoint you.

Michigan

This post is dedicated to trying to get you to visit Michigan - unless you're a creepy creeperton who I don't know, of course. But if you're a friend who lives outside of Michigan, or a cool blog reader who I haven't met yet, you should come visit this state.

This mosaic is made up of pictures of Michigan I've taken in the last few years. Click on it to see the pictures a bit bigger.


I'm feeling love for Michigan these days because it's hot out and it's road trip season. My heart freezes and thaws with the seasons, so ask me in January how I feel about Michigan and you will get a completely different response.

What are some of your favorite things about where you live?

Wednesday Thoughts

It's only July 7th, and I'm already tired of yelling "woohoo." Summer is the season of woohoo, I've decided. I've been forced to yell it at baseball games, concerts, summer festivals, and fireworks so far and there's more to come. I can't yell "woohoo" without feeling self conscious. I just feel silly. It seems that once you get on this side of 30 you should be allowed to simply clap. But that's never enough - you feel like a dud if you only clap. And everyone thinks you don't really care about baseball or you don't really support the Tigers if you don't cheer. "Make some noise," they say. So I cave. I don't want people to think I don't care. I've decided that a simple "woo" is less embarrassing than woohoo, but I still feel ridiculous. Am I alone in this? I can't be.

Ok, moving on. How was your 4th of July? Mine was fabulous. I went out of my way to try to be patriotic over the weekend. To start, I ate the most deliciously patriotic ice cream sundae ever. But if that's not patriotic enough, I wore the flag that came in the sundae in my hair on Sunday night while watching fireworks. Oh, and I bought an apple pie (which I did not end up eating, but that's neither here nor there). Top that.


I also got a very nice deep sunburn which I was going to post a picture of but won't. I showed Justin the picture yesterday, which is of the area just below my shoulder - showing the whiteness of where my bathing suit strap was and the redness around it. I asked him if the picture was appropriate to post and his expression told me it was not. Then his words confirmed what his expression told me. So no shoulder shot for you. I won't scandalize you like I did Justin, who by the way will no longer make eye contact with me. (I'm exaggerating, of course. He's over it - I'm the one who hasn't moved on.)

Anyway, I had a great weekend. I swam in the waves (one wave was so tough it yanked my pony tail holder, which was triple wrapped, right out of my hair!), I walked along the beach, I hiked the trails, floated down the river, watched fireworks on the beach, tested different kinds of smores, and bonded with friends. I hope you all had a wonderful 4th as well. I'd love to hear about it!

Happy Wednesday.

Some simple Facebook requests

A short list of requests from me to my Facebook friends:

1. Please don't tag me in ugly pictures. I know you look cute in that picture, but I don't. Crop yourself out or just don't post it. I'm trying to get married here and that hideous picture is not helping things.

2. Don't write a cryptic status update that makes me worry about you but doesn't give me any details about what's actually happening. For example:

• "Robin Smith just can't take it anymore!! And is about to lose it!! And it's been nice knowing you!"
• "Carry Allen is really going to miss him."
• "Tom Miller's life has just changed forever. And not in a good way."

I don't know what those mean! Should I bring over a casserole? What if I barely know you but you were in one of my classes in college so I accepted your friend request? Should I comment on your status?

3. If you're a cute guy and I have a crush on you, update your Facebook page more often please. I'm trying to Facebook stalk you and I need updates.

4. If you're a close friend, please don't let me hear major news about you in your status update before you tell me in person. If you're engaged, pregnant, or dying, please call me before you update your status. All I want to hear about in your status update is how your day is going, what you're eating, and when you're going on vacation so I can rob you.

5. If you are super political and think everyone who disagrees with you is an idiot, please don't write about it on FB all the time. Is that really any way to talk to your "friends"? (Or maybe FB friends are different than normal friends?)

6. Don't say you're in a complicated relationship unless you're joking. That's so dang embarrassing for the rest of us to read. Plus, it makes us super curious which is just not fair. If you're going to post that, the least you could do is elaborate.

7. If you're my friends and you did something really fun that you didn't invite me to, don't post pictures of it that will show up in my news feed. (Haha!)

8. If you were injured and it's really bloody and disgusting, please don't post a picture of it. I beg of you.

Ok, I think that's all I have for now. What are some of your requests?