amanda...throws acorns with surprising accuracy

12.19.2006

it's a bitch convincing people to like you

so i apparently took like 289 pictures on my recent adventures down south. and, most are - as pointed out by my colleagues - of very random things. here, i shall attempt to show a smattering of those random things, with which i will provide a very colourful colour commentary. enjoy, cause this thing is going to take me forever. (or, as they say in the sandlot, forrr-ehhh-verrrrrr)
















we got into la pretty early, and were greeted by a sign that was made just for us welcoming us to the great city. turns out they don't tell you things on the sign, like how their rain smells like sewer, or how some denny's waiters are really strange. they save that for a different sign that i didn't get a picture of.
















right after we landed, we took a shuttle to the hotel. this is the view from our room - turns out that usually if my hotel room has a view of the parking lot, i think it's pretty shitty. but, since there are palm trees the ugliness is disguised, and all is forgiven.
















our hotel was like a fifteen minute walk from downtown disney - which is a place that i became very familiar with over our stay. turns out that there are a million and one ways to pimp a disney character - look! it's mickey mouse jelly beans! look! it's mickey mouse earrings! look! it's mickey mouse glycerin suppositories! (okay, i may have made that last one up...but i'm pretty sure disney is so thinking about it)
















so this is what i continually referred to as 'the happiest place on earth' during my trip. sephora is pretty much the best store ever. i'm sure that over the course of the week i spent like three hours in there - and my visa can prove it.
















this is me playing with settings on my camera - oooh, artsy. i'm so post-modern.
















so not to sound pretentious - even though we all know i am pretentious - but this is a picture of the mansion in the hills that we partied at one night. yes, mansion. turns out it was furnished with $80,000 couches designed by versace. it also turns out that it was fuelled by an open bar.
















which leads to this picture. of a lovely gent named paul. he was from toronto, and gayer than the hills. at this point, he was dancing on a coffee table, most likely during an 'interpretive dance break'. he kept telling me - or more like yelling in my ear - that i reminded him of someone from toronto. yeah, whatever buddy. oh, did i mention that there was karaoke? yeah, i ended up hosting the evening karaoke festivities. and may i say, the crowed loved my rendition of laura brannigan's 'gloria'.
















so one of the girls i went with had a friend in la. a lawyer friend. who lent her his mercedes, which we subsequently went driving around, thinking we were too cool for school. which, nothing but three pharmacy residents who think they're too cool for school are.
















another highlight of the trip was the $16 nhl game. here is a picture of the goalie warming up, in a move i like to call 'hump the ice like no tomorrow'. the whole arena was warm after that one.
















and here is a banner advertising wienerschnitzel. i'm not too sure why my colleagues think i take pictures of random things. clearly everything in my life is very significant, and those peons just don't understand the meaning of it all.
















one day, we went shopping at the biggest mall i have ever seen. it pretty much gave me an aneurysm. the only thing that could cure me was: a) more cowbell or b) fancy ketchup
















thank the lord for fancy ketchup!
















and in addition to the real happiest place on earth, we actually went into disneyland. which, was pretty much awesome. (minus the exorbitant h20 prices)
















my favourite thing about disneyland is that everyone looks like an idiot. this is a sneaky picture i took of a full grown man wearing a headband. and not just your normal, run of the mill headband...but a tigger headband. complete with ears. (ky, don't even think about it - he was already married)





















it was damon's b-day while in disneyland, so we bought him this shirt. he wore it all day. notice the white trash man on the lazy-boy with remote in hand. best shirt ever.
















damon is very important. some may call him a pimp. mickey knew it was his birthday, and sent a card especially for him.





















tigger was ballin' by splash mountin, sayin' 'hey-yo' to everyone. note his festive christmas hat.





















and of course, no trip to disneyland would be complete without a picture of the ever elusive, exquisite, educational, everlasting, entrepreneurial, elongated, edwardian, eager: doughnut tree. (from which comes all doughnuts)















and lastly, it's a blurry castle. anticlimactic, perhaps. but frankly, that's the best picture that my cruddy camera took of that stinking castle.

so, that's kind of my trip in a nutshell. i have many more pictures where those came from, but i need to get some real work done tonight.

happy tuesday, y'all!

12.18.2006

a special christmas box

so apparently, i miss the one snl in the last few years that was funny. dagnabbit. however, thanks to the godsend that is youtube, we can all enjoy this. *a warning to those averse to objectionable content - don't watch the video*

12.09.2006

musical feelings

i've been tagged by b-dawg. i'm going to try to describe my feelings right now, through song. well, okay i'm going to admit that i'm most likely just going to end up listing five songs i really like right now. but i'll try to include ones that at least make me emote. *note - i would link to lyrics, but apparently blogger dislikes mac, and doesn't want to let me link to things...boourns*

#1 - all apologies, nirvana
this song is amazing.
'all in all is all we are/all alone is all we are'.
i'm sitting alone in a hotel right now. so it's kind of fitting.

#2 - warning, incubus
i like the message that this song sends. i think i often forget to take the time to stop and think about how lucky i am.
'i suggest we learn to love/ourselves before it's made illegal/when will we learn/when will we change/just in time to see it all come down/those left standing will make millions/writing books on the way it should have been/she woke in the morning/she knew that her life had passed her by/and she called out a warning/don't ever let life pass you by'.

#3 - if you tolerate this your children will be next, manic street preachers
i suppose my mood currently is making me choose songs which have particular social messages. i find this song interesting not only for the lyrics, but because the band itself actually has an interesting story behind it (the lead singer mysteriously dissappearing back in '95).
'the future teaches you to be alone/the present to be afraid and cold/so if i can shoot rabbits i can shoot facists/bullets for your brain today/but we'll forget it all again/monuments put from pen to paper/turns me into a gutless wonder/and if you tolerate this/then your children will be next'.

#4 - do you realize, the flaming lips
this song just makes me happy. it's kind of trippy, in a good trippy way. like, bright colours and bunnies trippy. it makes me miss my friends and family. sigh.
'do you realize/that everyone you know someday will die/and instead of saying all your goodbyes/let them know/you realize that life goes fast/it's hard to make the good things last/you realize the sun doesn't go down/it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round'

#5 - jetsetter, morningwood
this song pretty much sums up what travelling for two weeks straight, eating out, and dirty laundry is starting to feel like.
'i'm writing cause i miss you/and i'm writing cause i'm stuck/all these strangers all around me/they don't seem to give a f*ck/and i'm tired of sleeping in strange beds/and i've done more than you allow/and i've had enough of jetsetting/and i want to come back now/this is a jetsetter music letter (from me to you)'

#6 - long way down, pete yorn
so, i like this song. it's not necessarily that i'm feeling this way right now, i just like to think about how pete yorn must have felt while he wrote this. anyways, i feel justified for listing six songs for two reasons. number one: it is pretty much a given that at any point in time, i can list a song of pete yorn's that can express how i'm feeling. number two: i just bought a ticket to see pete yorn on february 8th. february 8th will henceforth become my favourite day. ever. (in addition to may 7th 2003 when i saw him play at the guvernment in toronto)
'i don't love you/so why should i compete with other guys/all i know is: my father told me look out/look out/i don't want you/so why should i compete with other guys/i don't love you, no/i think i'll take a long way down from here/i think i'll take a long way down/i don't miss you, still i will take a car to be with you/i don't know you, of course you think you know me/i don't want you/so why should i compete with other guys/i don't love you, no/i think i'll take a long way down from here/i think i'll take a long way down/i don't love you'


*turns out that most of these songs are old. i guess i only like really old things. like white ninja.

12.01.2006

i lied

one last present before i get the hell outta dodge