K-I-D-S

Yesterday a sad realization was had when it was discovered in a conversation that Mal had never heard of one of the greatest TV shows of all time, Kids Incorporated. As I was watching kids (including your favorites Fergie and J.L. Hewitt)perform remakes of hit songs from the 80's and 90's while wearing the most coveted threads, Mal was perfectly content watching adults ten times her age perform show tunes on PBS (was I the one missing out?). Well what she missed out on in her childhood she made up in an hour on youtube. I admonish all who have not partaken of this production to do the same. Those who were privileged enough to have grown up dreaming of one day rocking out as a member of K-I-D-S, take a stroll down memory lane, you won't be sorry.

proof a liger is a real animal

First, two things: I just deactivated my facebook because someone unknown kept hacking into it, and running 8 miles completely justifies eating a Costco dog.

Back to the post at hand--Thursday brought a celebration of the Bean Museum's 30th year of existence. For those of you who are not familiar with this place, it is a building stuffed to the gills with taxidermied animals of all kinds (although types of deer and antelope seem to dominate). It is also the perfect place to go take awkward pictures. To make the anniversary more special, Shasta the Liger was brought out of the glass case and an official photographer took your picture posing with him. Thus:

Kenz also was an instant winner--she won a liger tee shirt. I asked if I could have one too, but was denied. Jealous! Anyway, we couldn't help but explore the rest of the Bean.

Not only is this thing coming out of the wall, but he caught some tasty treats from the drinking fountain.

At the Bean, they strive to be environmentally accurate. Apparently this Manchurian Sika lost control of his bowel functions in a very public place (awkward!). Also, there is a jaw bone.

My old friend Neal Hunt would be in heaven in this place.

Big nose funny.

CD released into the wild

This weekend, a really great thing happened. My parents came to town. And, they finally got to see Jon cinch his bass up to his chin and rock. I've been trying to convince Kirt and Lorrie that Jon has a rocker side, but it needs to be seen in person to really experience it. So they came down for Declaration's CD release show. They put on their best outfits, all black mostly (I think they wanted to blend in with the crowd). It was a great show. DJ Abstract (aka John our next door neighbor) spun some tunes in between bands--he actually scratches and everything--and it was amazing.
My parents didn't come to the whole show--turns out they (when I say "they" I mean "my dad") got sucked into the 7th season of Gilmore Girls at Kenz's house. They missed an amazing performance from Johan the Angel. They use a vibraphone, for crying out loud!

Who that?... I joined the band for the last song. It was always my dream to be on stage with Jon. I don't think I could be heard much, so I tried to look as serious as I possibly could. The guy on the left, (electric violin, unbuttoned shirt, earphones, power stance) on the other hand, was playing like the Titanic was on it's way down.

Me and Kenz put on our best "Dad, don't take my picture again" faces. Well, my face says that. Kenz is on the verge of "one more picture and I will break your face."

And, last but not least, the melodica finally made its debut. It sounded great. The crowd was wowed. Someone whispered "a melodica..." in a hushed, astounded tone. Actually that was me. But I swear someone else said it too.

My parents got ice cream to celebrate the show afterwards. And we watched a little more Gilmore Girls. All in all, a great weekend.

We finally finished purchasing all our inter-European flights for our trip this summer (after completely changing our order of countries to visit)! Next step, lodging. If you know of any cheap/good hostels or hotels in London, Paris, Prague, Rome, Nice, Barcelona, or Madrid--let us know. We are so clueless. And happily so.

I'm like my mother more than I know

And that's a good thing. Kenz bought me some wonderful fabric in New York that I am using for this and she also got me the cutest little mini mug and little cup. I recognized it as the same thing my mom bought because she thought it was so cute--and my mom does not buy things just to buy things. It comes from a love of small cookware and dinnerware. I want to fill my kitchen with tiny iron cast pots, individual ramekins, mini cake pans...much to Jon's dismay. I have a couple other mini mugs that I love to use to eat ice cream or drink a steamer out of. It reminds me of the chapter in the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle book where the kids play with their food and so Mrs. Piggle Wiggle brings them smaller and smaller dishes until they are so weak from lack of food they want to eat normally. Except I just want to eat all my food from tiny dishes forever.

In fact, I am so obsessed with tiny things, that me and my old roommate Barb once had a mini party where we served mini hamburgers, mini apple pies that I spent forever making, mini ice cream cones, mini cupcakes, mini carrot sticks, mini grilled cheese sandwiches, mini brownies, and probably like 5 other things that I can't remember. I had so much fun making the food and we planned it for weeks. In the end, about 15 people came, and I felt a little dumb that other people didn't think miniature food was as cool as I thought it was. It was like I shared something special and people didn't care. I will be more careful with things I cherish in the future.

Bored at work? Save the world.

I am addicted to this game. A way to test my smarts and feed hungry people? I'm in.

I keep it hotter than a stick of hot glue, and I'm scrapbooking everything we do

The day I was waiting for finally arrived. Gem day. Yes, Leslie and the Ly's finally happened. Jon, Meredith, Amber and Cass were all there and that was amazing, but to be honest, I would have gone by myself if necessary. And I was not disappointed. The place was packed, and we were squished next to some very nice gay guys who smelled of some sort of sweet cocktail. Leslie came out in all her gem speckled, gold spandex, 200 pound glory. It was hilarious, awe-inspiring, and dancetastic. I drove back to Provo with a smile on my face, and I woke up at 6:00 in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep because I was thinking about it. That's how great it was.

Our gay friend that we made at the show actually designed the fringe part of the outfit and the belt. Fierce.

The best part happened at the end, when she ended the concert with an impromptu dance party ala Britney Spear's Toxic. One of the greatest dance tunes of all time. We rushed to the stage and Leslie began to exit, and I basically leaned against her and blocked her from moving until Mere got this picture. Yes, I am going to blow this up to poster size and hang this up in my house.

We also discussed the possibility of Tapered Panties (the artist formerly known as Covington) getting back together. All we need is a little bit of Garageband and a little bit of magic.

Tator Tot: Oct 31, 2007-March 13, 2008

Bad news. Yesterday, my goldfish, Tator Tot, died. I was gone from the office Monday and on the way to work Tuesday Leslie gave me the bad news: Tator Tot was exhibiting weird behavior and it looked like the end. He was in a C-shape floating at the top of the bowl, except when he would do a series of acrobatic twists and dives. It actually looked pretty awesome. Except he was dying. This behavior lasted until Thursday. I couldn't get him to eat, and it looked like he was suffering badly. So I googled "kill goldfish." I didn't want to flush him or anything. I was looking for euthanasia tactics. One method was to give him a dose of clove oil and vodka, two things I did not happen to have on hand at work. I found one measly comment on this site about how someone tried Alka-Seltzer. Bingo. I asked around and found some. Tator was hovering near death, and I hoped this would push him over the edge. Several other coworkers gathered around, and I put the tablet (of death) in. It was like a bomb had gone off in the bowl. He was thrown around powerfully by the effervescence. Again, looked cool but a little sickening. Then it ended, and he was thankfully dead. Now he's in a better place, with better fish food and more oxygen. I think that's what killed him in the end. (my fault). I ended the day with cookies and a small emailed eulogy to celebrate Tator Tot's life. You can't spell funeral without fun, as Meredith has taught me. I miss him, but not enough to buy another fish. It would be nice to say I don't want to replace him. Really, I hated cleaning that nasty bowl.

something funny I haven't told anyone until now

I always pick up a call at work by saying "this is Malorie, how can I help you?" Yesterday, I said, "This is Malorie, how can I hell you?" I did not correct myself, as I thought I would bring attention to my misspeak. (and believe me, there was no semblance of any sort of "p" sound) Instead, there was a long pause as the lady probably knew what I did but questioned the truth since I was so deadpan about it. Then she asked her question. Got you!

McCall, McFun.

Cute little Reese. It's obvious that I don't know how to hold babies. But I do know how to accentuate my man hands in a picture. Kenz has the right idea. Keep those guys in tight fists.

It's hard to tell, but we're sitting on Payette Lake right now. Looks like someone fulfilled his dream of looking like a member of Team Zissou.

This was my first and last time playing in the snow this winter. It was fun to break out my new snowpants from Christmas. McCall was so relaxing, although gastrointestinally challenging. My darling mother will make any kind of food we want when we come home. I wanted sugar cookies, and Tyler wanted pumpkin pie. She always makes fresh salsa too, and when we finally finish the drive home we always graze for about an hour no matter how late it is. I always feel a little sick afterwards (known as junkitis in our house), but it's worth it.

It was so great to have everyone together. It's hard to have Jake and Lindsay live far away when we've all lived in the same place for the past 4 years. Reese was a super cute baby with the most expressive face. Seeing her makes me feel a little less scared to have a baby eventually. It was a flawless trip, except when my dad got a speeding ticket on the way up. I tried to get the universe to give him a warning, but it didn't work. It's weird, because I usually do really well at manipulating the universe.

Often times when frequenting the mens room on campus I see men leaving the room without washing their hands first (after going number 1 and 2). A couple of times I have also seen men inside of the room eating various things (today one was eating a snickers bar). I wonder if these are the same men who do these things?

see you friday.

p.s. This episode of yo gabba gabba was gem-tastic!

ID

The thrifting has been AMAZING. I tried on at least 15 dresses at DI alone, bought about 4 sweaters, Jon bought 2 pairs of Wranglers. One of my favorite dresses is nicknamed the "April O'Neil" for obvious reasons. We're up in McCall right now, in 3 feet of snow. Baby Reese is so adorable, and the whole family celebrated when she pooed after a 5 day dry spell. Pictures of a great sledding outing to come. I heart this weekend.

I want to paint that

Yesterday I had a super crazy day at work, and I came home and didn't want to make dinner. Jon suggested going to demae to eat some sushi. I was shocked because Jon doesn't really like sushi, so if he was going to mention it I had to take him up on the offer. It's funny how there really isn't much that Jon doesn't like, especially any type of vegetable or weird non-fat thing (sushi is too "fishy"). So we got a couple rolls, and I thought things were going smoothly until the end when Jon proclaimed that it was getting too "fishy" which was the kiss of death. I had hoped that he would like it more--but we left with Jon saying he wasn't going to suggest sushi again. Dang.

Last night we also watched "My Kid Could Paint That." This documentary was waaay more than I thought it would be. I thought it would be some happy movie about a kid painting, but instead it delved deeply into the originality of Marla Olmstead's work, and let me tell you, her dad looked pretty sketchy. It was a fascinating movie. I was left pretty conflicted at the end, and it was sad to see a family changed by fame and the exploitation of the media. The paintings were pretty rad, though.

I see you starin at my kicks, foo

A while ago I found some almost-brand-new red high top chucks at the Idaho Youth Ranch (oh Boise thrifting, I miss you! but I will be seeing you soon.) One was missing a shoelace, so I recently stole shoelaces from Jon's old shoes so I could wear them. Then.. Jon starts looking at red, high top chucks online. Turns out someone had a case of shoe-envy. Then a box arrives from zappos. Now we have twinner shoes, and I couldn't be happier. I personally love it when we match, probably because Kenz never wanted to do it when we were going to college. She missed out.

Yesterday I got my first haircut in a while.  The thing I hate about needing a haircut is that I call to make an appointment when I am sick of my hair, and am ready for it to go.  Then I get the next appointment two weeks later. So, after two weeks of ponytails, I tried something slightly different.  I was nervous and I never know how to explain what I want to my stylist, Patrick, who can tend to be a little intimidating and has often said to me "I don't know what you're talking about." Because I don't. So I took to the internet that afternoon and tried to find a good, short haircut on a celeb.  I'm setting all shame aside in saying that I brought in a picture of Katie Holmes.  I thought it would be more like a guide but it came out almost just like the picture.  All I needed was a baby with a Japanese sounding name with "the donald" baby toupee.  I guess that's what happens when you have to take off your glasses when you're getting your hair cut and you can't see what's going on. But I like it. PS. That's jon licking chocolate off his hand.

Tonight we went to an "avant garde" music recital.    This is what walked out...

A RECORDER. He played a multi-movement piece and I had to sneak in a shot.  We were hoping for a little more quick arpeggios and snazzy free form solos, but it was still a great avant garde performance from some guy with pleated pants.  We stayed until a harp and flute duet started taking us to snoozeville.