The Giant Camera

SF has many large-scale attractions. One is The Giant Camera, or if you're smart and fancy, Camera Obscura. It's literally a giant camera situated underneath the Cliff House, another SF landmark. It's the 3rd version of the Cliff--the other two were destroyed in fires.

Husbie and I decided to spend a day in the city, and go somewhere besides Union Square. A novel idea, yes?


The Giant Camera. Just like it says. No one was manning the place, and it was locked. We went into the gift shop and asked them what was up--they told us the guy in charge just doesn't show up on days when it's cloudy. Um....right. Have you ever been to SF? It's the Forks of CA. The Cullen fam could hide in the city year round. According to this logic, the Giant Camera is open approximately 5 days a year. We didn't get in--what a bust.

But we didn't fret long, we just moved along and scurried inside the Cliff House for lunch and warmth. I got the Crab Louis. Who needs a gigantic camera? I'll take a gigantic plate 'o' crab.

Lucky Lancer got the open-faced crab sandwich--their famous dish.

We enjoyed our lunches while sitting watching out over the ocean. I love this state.

Lj got to try the hot, eggy popovers. I got to eat the butter. Boo-not a tradeoff. He asked me to shove a bunch in my purse to take, but I'm no low-class, pack-mule, popover thief. I'm a classy lady.

Yeah right! Check out my nifty handywork below.

The "packed beach" on the "lovely" and "warm" July day.

Maybe it's this friendly sign? I know that makes me want to jump right in. What a way to mince words, City Department!

After freezing on the beach, we headed down to check out the Dutchie windmill in Golden Gate Park. How have I lived here for 15 years and never seen this thing? I went to school a few blocks away. Hmm.

Totally unrelated, but I'm very pleased with our plush landscaping. It's enjoyed the mild summer weather--all of the plants have really taken off. I can't believe how much they have grown in the past 3 years. Lancer does a wonderful job keeping the yard in tip-top shape. He has quite the green thumb.

These Boots Were Made for Eating

Back in our newlywed days, people would jokingly call us 'Nick and Jessica.' I was the curvy (yet chaste!) blond that can't sing, married to a hottie with spiky hair and a penchant for music.


This became less funny when they started fighting like crazy and got divorced. No one has mentioned it since. I sure hope my partying, ego, and dad don't drive us apart.


Ego and divorce aside, I have a body like Jessica--most of the time, this is a good thing. Lately, however, it's been a bad thing--for both of us. Even Tony Romo knows what's up. I miss when my Jess-like body looked more like this:

And less like this:

((Shudder))

I want to be Daisy Dukes Jess, not Unfortunate Chili Cookout Jess. As you all know, I can trick myself into working out if music is involved. I spent hours putting together my cardio mix, and several people have asked for it. So--here you go. It has a lot of techno and 80's. Make sure you get the 'edited' or 'radio edit' version if noted.

The Mostess Does Cardio:

Addicted to Love-Robert Palmer
Always on my Mind-Pet Shp Boys
And She Was-Talking Heads
Bad Reputation-Joan Jett
Blue Monday-New order
Cha-Cha Slide-Mr. C
The Choice is yours-Black Sheep
Close to Me-Cure--make sure you get the fast version, not the slow melodic one.
Dancing in the Dark-Springsteen
Dead Man's Party-Oingo Boingo
Devil Inside-Utada
Der Kommissar-After the Fire
Do You Love Me-The Countours (Dirty Dancing)
Down on the Corner-CCR
Drop it Like It's Hot-Snoop Dogg--EDITED
Electric Avenue-Eddy Grant
Enjoy the Silence-DM
Anything by Prince
Anything by Madoona
Eye of the Tiger-Survivor
Faster Kill Pussycat--Paul Oakenfold
Feels Good-Tony, Toni, Tone
Fly-Sugar Ray
Footloose-Kenny Loggins
The Funk Phenomena-Armand Van Helden
Gimme More-Britney Spears--EDITED
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-Cyndi Lauper
Girls on Film-Duran Duran
Glory Days-Springsteen
Gold Digger-Kanye--EDITED
Gotta Get through This-Daniel Bedingfield
Groove is in the Heart-Dee-Lite
NKOTB-Hangin' Tough, Dirty Dancing, Twisted, One Song, the Right Stuff, 2 in the Morning, Summertime, Click-Click-Click, Cover Girl, Tonight
Heat of the Moment-Asia
Hip Hop Hooray-Naughty By Nature-EDITED
An Honest Mistake-The Bravery
Hot n Cold-Katy Perry-EDITED
Humpty Dance--Digital Underground--trash-tastic, but I love it. EDITED.
Hungry like the Wolf-Duran Duran
Hypnotize-Notorious BIG-EDITED
I'm Still Standing-Elton John
I Can't go for that-Hall and Oats
I Don't Wanna Go on with you like That-Elton John
I got a Man-Positive K
I Hate Myself for Loving You, I love Rock n Roll-Joan Jett
I Like the Way-Bodyrockers-EDITED
I Ran-Flock of Seagulls
Ice Ice Baby-Vanilla
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me-Billy Joel
It Takes Two-Rob Base/DJ Easy Rock
Jessie's Girl-Rick Springfield
Join in the Chant-Nitzer Ebb
Just Dance/Poker Face-Lady Gaga-EDITED
Let Me Think About It-Ida Corr vs. Fedde le Grande
Lips Like Sugar-Echo and the Bunnymen
Anything by Erasure--a few faves--A Little Respect, Oh l"Amour, Take a Chance on Me--anything off of Pop! 20 album
Livin on a Prayer-Bon Jovi
The Longest Time-Billy Joel
Love My Way-Psychedelic Furs
Love Will Tear us Apart-Joy Division
Low feat. T Pain-Flo Rida-EDITED
Mama Said Knock You Out-LL Cool J
Mirror in the Bathroom-English Beat
Money for Nothing-Dire Straits ( I want my MTV!!)
Mony Mony-Billy Idol
More than a Feeling-Boston
My Best Friend's Girl-Cars
My Life-Billy Joel
Now that We Found Loe-Heavy D and the Boyz
OPP-Naughty By Nature-EDITED
Ooh Wee-Mark Ronson/Ghostface Killah
Personal Jesus-DM
Proper Education-Eric Prydz vs. Floyd
Push It-Salt n Pepa
Put Your Hands Up-Fedde Le Grand
Ready, Steady Go-Paul Oakenfold
Rehab-Amy Winehouse
Relax-Mika
Rock you Like a Hurricane-Scorpions
Roll it Up-Crystal Method
Rush-Big Audio Dynamite
Save it for Later-English Beat
September-Earth Wind and Fire
Shiny Disco Balls-The Dj's of Euro Trance
Simply Irresistable-Robert Palmer
Smack That-Akon
Solar Twins-Rock the Casbah-from Brokedown Palace
Starry Eyed Surprise-Paul Oakenfold
Stop Me-Mark Ronson
Stronger-Kanye-EDITED
Summer of 69-Bryan Adams
Suppermassive Black Hole-Muse (Hi Eddie!)
Take me Home Tonight-Eddie Money
Tenderness-General Public
To Get Down-Timo Maas
Toxic-Britney Spears
Mickey-Toni Basil
Break Up Song-Greg Kihn Band
Bye, Bye, Bye-NSync
Rump Shaker-Wreckx-n-effect
Ditty-Paperboy
Zombie Nation-Kernkraft
No Diggity-Blackstreet
Born Slippy-Underworld
Tricky-Run DMC
Umbrella-Rihanna
Uptown Girl-Bill Joel
Vivrant Thing-A Tribe Called Quest---EDITED
Walk this Way-Run DMC
The Warrior-Patty Smyth
The Way I Are-Timbaland-EDITED
Welcome to the Jungle-GNR
Wehere's Your Head At--Basement Jaxx
Whip It-Divo
White Lines-Grandmaster Flash
Wild Thing-Ton Loc
Womanizer-Briney Spears
You're the One that I Want Megamix--Grease Soundtrack
867-5309/Jenny-Tommy Tutone
Day and Night-mix feat. Kid Cuddy-Cardio Workout Crew Album
Boom Boom Pow-Black Eyed Peas-EDITED
Anything by Fergie/Black Eyed Peas-EDITED

What are some of your fave workout songs??

Three Cheers for the Pioneers

This Pioneer child (woman)

sang (muttered under her breath) as she walked...

and walked...

and walked...

...dutifully pushing her heavy handcart across the plains (of Costco).

Truthfully, things could be worse. I could be in RS (that's not a challenge/invitation, mind you) but instead I get to throw parties for church. The last one was Pioneer Day. I actually don't mind the shopping--I have done this event 4 times now, and every time it gets better and easier. Know how you just show up with your salad and play corn toss? Let me show you what goes into it:

Shopping List for 125 people:

120 hamburger patties
16 veggies burgers (we live in CA!)
64 hot dogs
120 hamburger buns
64 hot dog buns
1 package of cheese containing 96 slices
2 containers of ketchup
1 container of mustard
1 container of relish
1 gallon of sliced pickles
Assign out burger toppings: lettuce, onions, tomatoes
2 24-lb bags of charcoal
1 container of lighter fluid
6 bags of ice
1 container of lemonade mix
Aluminum foil
Aluminum pans
Cups
Plates
Napkins
Silverware
Trash bags
Tape
Tablecloths
Paper Towels
Fire spark starter

You also have to bring: tongs, serving spoons, knives, cutting board, Pam Spray, grill brush, large whisk for lemonade, (2) 5 gallon jugs for water and lemonade, and a large cooler that could double as a little casket (thanks Leeflangs!)

We assign out the side dishes, salads, and desserts. We always get a good mix of things, and nobody got botulism. Bonus!

This year we held our picnic at Fairwood Park in Sunnyvale. It was great--nobody was there with us, so we had it all to ourselves. Lots of space, shade, and 2 play areas. I think it was a hit. Looking forward to next year!

Pretty Please??

Can all of my friends, family, loyal readers, and blog-stalkers (as long as you're not creepy) please refrain from the following for the next 10 months:

*Death

*Marriage

*Divorce

*Retirement

*Baby Having

*Party Throwing

*Anniversaries

*Birthdays

Why, you ask?? BECAUSE NKOTB WILL BE HAVING ANOTHER CRUISE IN 2010. May 14th-17th to be exact. So--if you insist on engaging in any of the aforementioned items, plan on excluding me if it's during those dates. Consider yourself warned.

I will not have another near miss!!

Time to start packing! I'm fairly certain I will need this and this and this. But not this. I have dignity.

Curious Dobbie

Dogface took a cue from this mischievous guy:

I was getting ready to enjoy my nanner last week when Dogface rolled up, intrigued. We wondered what he would do, so I let him go for it. He chopped that baby up with his teeth and sucked it down. It was gone in a minute. I was surprised at the gusto in which Dobbie ate it, but Lance reasoned "What's not to love? Bananas are a tasty tropical treat."

It's that Time if Year Again!!

What time you may ask. Time for this business--SPOOKY VILLAGE!! Here is what's on my list:

The Haunted Opera House:

The Witch's Brew Haus:

I'm so-so on the Mortuary:

This is the piece in the Wild Wild West Village. It's the Dry Gulch Jail:

Plain spooky home:

I took the brochure to dinner and tried to make Lance guess what I wanted. He declined. My sister Eriika was a much better sport. When she lived in Colorado, we would run to Michael's at the same time and pick over the display piece by piece.

There are all sorts of nuances with Spooky Village--there are "sub-villages" within the Larger Village. For instance--they have a Halloween carnival, pirate village, wild west village, and a cursed Egyptian village. These are in addition to the main village pieces. I only do one sub-village--the western one. The rest of my pieces are just plain ol' spooky buildings.

I'm a nut--these things are super pricey--up to $70 per piece. But I **never** pay full price. I wait until they aren't on sale, pick over the ads looking for a 40% coupon only good on full-price shwag, buy 10 papers at the Mercury News HQ in San Jose, hit 3 different stores for 3 days straight...and I have all of my pieces for almost half off.

So genius it's S C A R Y

Backstreets Back Allright!!

Backstreet Boys are back, and you can thank Oprah!

"If it wasn’t for their appearance on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’, the BSB might not have gotten back together. But on a show focusing on McLean’s battles with substance abuse, Winfrey coaxed his bandmates to surprise him on air. After the emotional reunion, the group holed up in a hotel room and talked about a comeback. “There was probably even some doubt among us when we first started talking about it,” Howie Dorough tells The Associated Press. “But I think no matter what we did individually… we all realized our strength was among the five of us together.”

They're planning a comeback album, tour, blah-blah-blah. Really? Does anyone care? Is there anything more lame than a has-been group of old losers being screamed at by housewives now in their 30's? Really people...time to move on and get a life.

JSYK

I get this bit a lot: "You're the biggest NKOTB fan I've ever met!" and "Wow--does anyone really go to their concerts besides you??" and "Are people really still into them??"

People, let me introduce you to The Blockheads. Sorry for the horrible screamer. Shamefully, it's me.

Get on the Floor and do the New Kids Dance

Remember how I bragged that I couldn't lose?? Apparently, I can. I should never gamble big in Vegas for this very reason. Donnie cleverly evaded me yet again. I know I should just give up, but this just stoked the fire even more. As my friend Ashley stated, the quest continues. Stalking Donnie is a great hobby. Plus, I have 5 months left in the year. Not to mention the 2010 cruise.

I went with my friend Carolyn. You haven't heard of her, because she isn't a "friend-friend." Truth be told, we met on Craigslist last October when she sold me the set of tickets for the San Jose show. We emailed after the SJ show about how great it was, and then kept in touch. Now we're real friends, the kind who hang out and talk about The Kids. She was such a fun Blockhead!

What kind of Blockhead would I be without car paint??

We had to leave our clever signs in the car because they weren't allowed. I was annoyed at the time, but glad I didn't have a stupid sign blocking my view of The Kids.

LOOK HOW CLOSE WE WERE!!! Carolyn's awesome cousin hooked us up. I love that guy. We had section 2 (center stage) on the floor, in the aisle.

Jabba opened for the Kids again. They are weird and amazing.

I ran into my other NKOTB friend from the Fresno show. She did the 5 star meet and greet. She's a Joe girl, and she made this cute shirt in honor of his song Popsicle. Sweeter than candy, better than cake, yo. He slapped her butt. Lucky.



The other opening act was Jesse McCartney. If you have a tween, you know who this is. He was a talented little cutie.

Onto the main stage. The boys were looking fine. The new stage, set-list and crowd were KILLER. San Jose was special, but this was by far the best Kids concert. They had fireworks that were so hot because of how close we were!

Cutie JoeyMac hopped onto the piano while singing Posicle.

After the concert, we headed over to the Infusion Lounge for Donnie's after-party. The line was all the way around the block, and the club was very small. But we waited it out.

Inger and I doing our best 'DW' hand signs. Mine looked great, but Inger's 'W' needs some work.

This is me at the front of the line. YAY! We were going to get in!! The door is right there!! And then...

FAIL!!!!!!!!

They claimed they were at capacity, and turned us all away. Donnie slipped through my fingers yet again. I have to say, I have a little gem to tide me over until next time. I *did* make eye contact with Donnie twice. My seat was at the end of the aisle, and I spent the majority of the time in said aisle dancing, singing, and jumping around. D-Dub saw me and gave me a little smile. It's not a hug, but it will do. Until next time, Blockheads!

Kids--we love you!!!