“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

- Damon Runyon

I saw this bumper-sticker today:

"The road to Hell is paved with Republicans"

My reaction:

"So, you've been there?"

...just another service he offers.

Ahh, the Crooked Spoon. We were hungry after a long hike. My feet were tired. My mom, sister, and I had left my father at the bar down the street to watch the game end. Sitting at our table, I tried not to fall asleep. We perused our menus and decided what we wanted. There were only a few people in the restaurant.

We didn't have to wait too long before my father walked in. He seemed to be in a rather jovial mood. We ordered our food and then he shared his story of the man who had "played football before" and the other who was giving himself a pedicure at the bar. *Shudder* Anyway, after a while our appetizer came. It was goat-cheese-and-spinach dip (sounds great, no?) with pita bread. Our pita bread ran out before our dip did. We asked for more pitas, but that took forever, so we were eating the dip with our forks. When our bread finally came, there pretty much wasn't any dip left...except what my dad had scooped onto his plate earlier. My mom tried to take some, which resulted in my dad getting territorial. Like an animal. Actually, like an ape. "Ooh ooh ooh!" (How do you spell what an ape says, anyways?)

My mom was taken aback, but my sister and I started laughing. She should have told us not to encourage him, because he kept it up all through dinner- playing with his food, beating his chest and scratching his butt like monkeys do. Well, maybe he didn't really go that far; but whatever. He was scaring the other customers, alright? Because by this time, the restaurant was full. I saw the people behind my dad glance over a couple times, wondering what the heck was going on. I just kept laughing. I was tired, it was funny! We were really starting to wonder just how many beers he'd actually had beforehand.

That is one family vacation memory I will not forget. I'm scarred for life. Darwin would be so proud.

...is my cousin!!!!

Yes, that's right. Tonight, for the first time in 25 years, Inver Grove Heights has crowned a queen for itself. I went to the coronation, the audience of which was largely made up of Lindsay Irish supporters. Who's that you say? Oh, why that is just my cousin THE QUEEN.

You know, coronations are actually pretty boring except for about the last eight minutes. Then it's nail-biting suspense, and then either a sharp sense of disappointment and loss or one of overwhelming and exceeding joy and excitement; and all just for a (very, incredibly) sparkly crown. It almost makes me want to run. Almost.

Here we are, the two/thirds royalties:

She also won the community award. Every candidate had a box that their constituents filled with non-perishable food items, and the candidate with the most non-perishable food items won. Yay for the constituents!! I think she should also get the award for the loudest cheerers (read: screamers). The MC told her "Wow, it sounds like you brought your whole neighborhood tonight". Heck yeah. And I can say I knew her way back when:

*Sniff, sniff* Now I probably won't see her for a whole year, til the next coronation when she does the crowning.

Need I say more?

Last Saturday the Princess took me to see "Hairspray". It was absolutely adorable. And hilarious. I almost peed my pants from laughing so hard. It's probably on of the best musicals ever.

Nikki Blonsky does a great job as Tracy Turnblad, who knows she was born to dance, even if she doesn't fit in with all the skinny girls. She is a funny, out-going force to be reckoned with; and she teaches us that dreams really can come true! (Okay, that was a little sappy- *gag, gag*) Anyway, while she fights for her chance to prove herself, she also fights for the equality of her new negro friends, even to the extent of her "assaulting" a police officer! Yup, a great family film.

Zac Efron plays Tracy's love interest, Link Larkin, who is a lot cuter than- and not nearly as annoying as- he was in "High School Musical" (another movie the Princess made me watch).

Oh, and John Travolta makes a pretty good mom.

Watching this movie will most likely make you want to dance and sing- it's so infectious! I can't wait to buy it.