My new car!

I would like to introduce you all to my new car!!! I love love love it!! Give or take the icicles... Yesterday it snowed a lot!
Here's a close up of my license plate surround... BYU Alumni! Thanks Mom and Dad!!!! (it looks even better when not covered in dirty snow!)

Quote of the Day

"Contrary to common opinion, the maintenance of all the complicated structures we see around us -- galaxies, stars, hurricanes and kangaroos -- have the net effect of increasing the disorder and entropy of the universe. But to be fair, their contributions are negligible compared to the entropy of super-massive black holes," added Dr Lineweaver. (Here's the full article for clarification...)

This guy adding "kangaroos" to the list of complicated structures tickled my funny bone.

Galaxy - - - - - - - - - - - - - Black Hole - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kangaroo

Little red pen.

Yesterday I really needed a red pen to make notes on my black pen list. So I asked to have two red pens ordered for me. The person we order from actually had two extra red pens and dropped them off at my desk. I tossed one in my drawer, and started using the other, when I noticed the end of the pen looked... weird. Looking closer I realized the pen had been CHEWED on both ends! I paused for a moment, tossed the pen in the trash, threw up in my mouth, and went to the bathroom to wash my hands.

All's quiet on the Virginia front... mostly

I posted awhile back about jack hammers at midnight when I lived in NYC, and how excited I was to be moving to the suburbs where it's never loud at ALL! And then I moved here, and it was very quiet... and then one night I was laying in my bed and started to hear a faint helicopter noise. And then it got a little louder, and a little louder, and even louder! until it sounded like it was right above my complex, right above my building, about to CRASH INTO MY WINDOW!!!! Luckily, it did not. This noise scares me about three times a week. And each time as it gets closer, I pull my covers over my head- as if it will save me in the unlikelihood a helicopter really did come through my window. My point is, I was happy in NY despite the jack hammers, which I don't really miss. And I am happy here with my mostly quiet suburbs despite the crazy helicopter that almost crashes into my bedroom 3 times a week.

AVATAR

I realized while perusing Jon's blog that I have not blogged about AVATAR yet! I mean, I shocked myself! But now that I've come to my senses, lets talk about it...

#1 - This film was a cinematic masterpiece. I've always been a fan of movie magic, and this film blew my mind. The detail was astounding. There is a scene where the team first goes into the jungle, and the main character Sully jumps out of the plane in his blue avatar body. The wind whips his hair and the plants around the helicopter. His eyes move back and forth, scanning the jungle. They start walking through the jungle and little bugs are flying all around them. That is ALL computer animation. Artists created every speck of that world, down to the alien mosquitoes. Look at this picture, you can see the veins in his arms, and the sweat on his body!
#2 - If I could dream like James Cameron, I would never want to wake up. The floating mountains of Pandora were both startling and magnificent. Original and incredible! Just as the characters jaws dropped in the movie, mine did in the audience!
#3 - The Na'vi are beautiful and so human like. They look like real beings, down to their emotions, the most stunning of which (in my opinion) was laughter and smiling. Props to the artists who worked on the faces. Impeccable!
#4 - If you're still reading this, and you haven't seen this movie, please do. I've heard lots of people say they liked this or that, but hated the story. Yes, it's kind of like Pocahontas... are there original aspects? Yes. Are most Hollywood movies the same? Yes. Are most stories in general in the world the same? Yes. We like to see the "good guys" win. Sometimes the bad guys win (not in PG-13 movies, duh). The hero either lives or dies. There's usually some messed up liberal view on things... which I guess I am blessed to look right past! And so should you. :)
See this movie, and love it for what it accomplishes. It is truly a cinematic masterpiece. And if you're feeling really daring, stay and watch all the credits and witness the hundreds of names of people who had a hand in creating this work of art. It's amazing.

Okay, I'm done bearing my testimony about Avatar. ;) See it- see it for what it is!

A reason to go to REI

I was driving around the other day, passing lots of shops and bad Virginia drivers, when I noticed an REI store close to my home. I remember thinking aloud, "I would like to be the kind of person who has a reason to go to REI"... days later, after spending a couple days traipsing around in the mud and cold of the Jersey river front, I realized my tennis shoes and jeans just weren't cutting it. I needed waterproof HIKING boots, and THERMAL underwear! I needed to go to REI!!!When I walked in the front door, there were beautiful bicycles hanging from the ceiling. I had arrived. I stuck to my list for the most part, except for a *few* items I ultimately deemed necessary. And as luck would have it, the cutest pair of hiking boots were on sale! (these were the cutest, I promise...)And check out my new FANNY PACK, which I nearly forgot is an absolute necessity when shooting... don't know how I've survived so long without one! This particular pack spoke to me, I could not leave REI without it.
AND check out my special gloves and socks. These were some pricey socks, but I have a feeling they will pay my feet back time and time again. (*pics of thermal underwear left out intentionally)

The end!

PS come visit me soon!

On the Road!

On location shooting in Camden, New Jersey for my new show Break It Down! Here I am bundled up with my safety gear on the demo site.

I'm not supposed to post pics of the project, but I can post pics of myself! You can see a little of the site behind me in each shot... :)
Guard tower and razor wire. It was so cold, and there was mud EVERYWHERE.
This building is coming down! To stop dust from rising, they spray huge amounts of water wherever the big excavator machines are working.
It was even colder on the roof! Here I am with most of my crew... the sound guy is taking my picture. :)

My Bathroom!

I finally got my bathroom organized and situated in a way I deemed fit.

I hung a curtain over my storage closet, and nailed my black mirror to the back of the door. I smashed my finger in the process (it still hurts, but is not black! so I am okay about that...)
I got some cute decorations...
Here's some neat little jewelry hangers in the shape of tree branches! How very anthro of me, I know...
I love love love this panel of the tree branches over green. That baby cost me $3 at Target! The clock was also uber cheap, and they look great!
Lest we forget about the commode... Another NY park pic, and a gray furry rug.
Did I mention I have some closets? I have so many closets, I decided to separate my belongings into groups.

Storage closet in bathroom... for pants, and miscellaneous stuff.
Huge walk in closet, off of bathroom... for all my other clothes and luggage!
and another closet in my bedroom! For my jackets, shoes, hats, scarfs... :) Come visit soon!

Discovery in the Amazon

The gradual devastation of the Amazon—the felling of thousands of square miles of forest, the clear-cutting of the jungle—has produced, paradoxically, one of the greatest archeological discoveries: a vast and complex ancient civilization. In cleared-away areas of the upper Amazon basin, researchers, using satellite imagery, have recently pinpointed a vast network of monumental earthworks, including geometrically aligned roads and structures, constructed by a hitherto unknown civilization. According to a new report published in the journal Antiquity, the archeologist Martii Pärssinen and other scientists have documented more than two hundred and ten geometric structures, some of which may date as far back as the third century A.D. They are spread out over an area that spans more than two hundred and fifty kilometers, reaching all the way from northern Bolivia to the state of Amazonia in Brazil.*Click here for the full article.

New Years Eve and Day

My pretty mom
Grandpa and GrandmaMe with Grandpa and GrandmaMe with Grandma Kay
Happy New Year! Mom, Dad, Matt and Court toasting the new yearMe and Shelby toasting the new yearMe and DadStellaChloe patient with Stella
Visiting Derrick on New Year's day in LASunset somewhere in LA (can't remember exactly where we were...)

Painting

I started thinking about this print I used to have of two women in white walking arm and arm down the shore with a purple sky. I couldn't remember what it was called, or who painted it. But thanks to the marvelous internet, and with a few descriptive words and phrases, I was able to find it! I love this painting.

"Summer Afternoon on Skagen Beach"
by P. S. Kroyer

New Bedroom Pics! (Cleaned up version...)

Bed...
Reading corner...
Desk!
Come visit me!

My New Room!

Albeit messy and not completely put together yet...There is more room between the bed and desk than this pic showsAnd this is my lovely little reading corner! I love that green chair.

Polar Obsession

This is amazing. We have a photo display going on at Nat Geo right now of all these photos, but the story behind it is even better!