Turn it to !!: May 2005

Me.---taken by Matt. ( I was actually extremely sick this day (India) and couldn't get up to eat. What a jerk, exploiting me for art...)

Me and Gail after one glass of wine!

Me after 19 more! (that must be the only explanation for this photo)

Kayla and Alaska

Aaron and Kayla after the birth of Alaska

My Anti-Pick-of-the-Week

It's a tie! Congratulations to Our Friendly Neighborhood Grill, Applebees, and, Disgusting Russian Family! Its been a long hard week of sorting them out and picking a favorite, but here they are, the Anti picks of the week!

Disgusting Russian Family; spotted from afar at the local Starbucks (Matt's work), they appeared to be having a fine time hanging out at the tables outside the store--laughing and talking, as if life couldn't be better! Upon closer inspection (if you're eating right now, skip this part), it looks as though one of their children was very sick--the evidence being a large pile of vomit on the ground next to their table, not to mention just about directly in front of the entrance. To avoid disturbing their good time, they threw a napkin over it so they could only see half of the pile instead of the whole thing. Never one to let a good ol' case of the flu to get her down, one of the Russian women proceeded behind me to the counter to order a large round of yummy lattes and hot chocolates for the kids. How sweet! Apparently though, they were hoping the starbucks employees would clean up the pile AFTER making their beverages, so as not to contaminate their drinks with icky flu germs. She returned to the tables as I left, handing out drinks to the group of smiling, thankful faces, who greedily drank them up while swapping cute stories about what their silly little rugrats did this week. According to inside sources, they left a while later, leaving a better-than-gold tip for the employees to clean up! This Anti pick of the week goes to you and your fine manners (not to mention your stomachs of steel for being able to sit next to a pile of puke for so long), disgusting Russian family!

And, well, in retrospect, Applebees doesn't seem so bad now--but they at least get a shout out. Applebees, you consistently have the worst food I've ever tasted, and pretty shabby service, too. I am ashamed to admit that I've been there more than once, but sometimes its late and you're hungry--a girls got to do what a girls got to do. Every time that I trick myself into thinking it wasn't that bad, and I try it again, I always rue the day. Yuck. Not to mention the 50 tv's always set to some terrible channel, bad sports paraphernalia, cheesy Hollywood crap, and a group of locals at the bar that need no further explanation than the fact that they attend happy hour everyday at Applebees. And dear Melissa, our server, what in the world did we do to insult you so bad? Why do you hate us? yikes. As the fellows at the bar say; Applebees, this one's for you.

Me and Mum

Like mother....

...like daughter. Does anyone else see a similarity here?

Note: NEW LINK

Rebel Rebel

This is my new hit song.

push the magic music button - click to play

Celebrity Sighting Pick of the Day

It was like any other unhappy days work at starbucks. Sleeping to little and rising to early, I spent my shift furiously serving up high maintenance drinks to picky, snobby, corporate office workers--and always with sarcasm and bitterness. yay for work.

However, as the morning progressed, it proved to be quite different from my average day of slipping decaf shots into lattes of sassy customers desperate for their morning fix (this is, ah, off the record). "Tall chai" I say, as I put a drink up on the bar. "Uh, is this a...tall chai?" I get my eyes into the full roll position for the every other drink response--"ya, that's what I just said, tall chai". But as my eyes returned from the backs of their sockets, they fixed upon not just any customer--but a tall, familiar, hairy, mustachioed man. He met my stare with a condescending retort of "ya, thanks (thought bubble: jerk!)" And then, as I cocked my head and narrowed my eyes, searching to place his familiar face, he swished away in shiny athletic pants(tall chai in hand, of course), surely interpreting my gaze as further dispatched rudeness.

"Who is this shaggy haired man with a stunning specimen of a mustache!?" you are all dying to know? Alright, I'll tell you. Its a Mr. Tom Skerritt (actor), of such notable acclaim as Top Gun (commander Viper), Alien, Steele Magnolias, A River Runs Through It, Singles, Contact, and precisely 81 others. And I bet you didn't know this little jem of a lesser known fact (go, brag to all your friends), he was the police officer in Harold and Maude (one of my favorites!). So tell all your friends that you know someone who knows Tom, and works at a celebrity starbucks. And if you happen to run into Mr. Skerritt (rumor has it he's local), tell him I didn't make his drink decaf.

my dear Tom

Awesomeness Pick of the Weekend

Sitting atop a barstool in a certain Capitol Hill pizza parlor (a one "Hot Mama's" on Pine--only the most 'scrumptulescent' and cheap pizza in the state-o-Washington--please inquire further if interested in taking Matt and I there on a cheap date) we noticed a small, green PT Cruiser spinning wheelies on the sidewalk in front of our window. How is this possible, you ask? A more appropriate question would be "how small was the car?". It was a small, remote control car, operated by a crazy man in a wife-beater sitting on the corner. Average, you think. It is capitol hill after all. Until the madman drove the car directly into to traffic, dodging vehicles that were far to haughty to follow the laws of crosswalks that surely apply to remote control cars. Victory! It makes it. Safe at last on the other side, it makes a daring move, once more, to safely re-cross the street. However--it launches itself right in front of a turning, tricked out Supra--whose driver screeches to a halt with furrowed brow and upraised fist. If I were not as surprised, humiliated, or just plain ridiculous, he seemed to say with his shaking fist, I'd crush your little PT Cruiser under my awesome overkill racing slicks! Next time, Cruiser! But alas, our little green hero sped to safety unharmed--and in such style, as Supra man revved his powerful engine in anger and raced up the street, chased by a cloud of smoke from those rockin' tires.

This has been Matt and Danelle's "Pick of the Week". Check back next week for more awesome moments.