Grrrr...

People who pull their cars into the crosswalk make me want to resort to violence.

Just thought ya'll should know.

I don't know if ya'll know this...

Hillary & Me
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

but I'm sort of important ;)

See...

I know this is confusing for the White House but real journalists actually set the terms for their interviews. I know this is difficult to comprehend after 7 years of kowtowing by the media but at least it's just ONE more reason to love NPR.

P.S. Don't miss that a certain Senator from NY respects journalistic integrity ;)

The Best Hillary Moment in the History of the World

Not to overstate it or anything. Russert had just asked her a hypothetical torture question. She stated that torture isn't the answer. This is what happened next.

Will Work for Blog

So I just love these interactive posts don't ya'll!?!

Well, this time I think everyone should take this quiz and then posts their scores in the comments. I got at 85% and Nicholas got an 82% but that probably shouldn't surprise anyone since I am WAY smarter than he is. ;)

P.S. I was thinking Pamela shouldn't be allowed to play because I resent her and her brain enough already, but since it doesn't involve word play at all I guess I'll let her participate.

The Best Comedy EVER!

First, let me be clear, the best comedy of all time is Designing Women. Period. However, since it wasn't on the bracket, I guess we'll be naming the second best comedy ever.

We're going to ignore Erin and Pamela with their Golden Girls and Wonder Years, because that's just silly talk. ;) Annie isn't too old because my final two were The Cosby Show and Seinfeld. The reason I excluded Arrested Development is because I think historic importance and mass appeal are incredibly important and in both categories it falls short. Like Nicholas said, without Seinfeld there would be no Arrested Developments. I think there is a solid argument that The Cosby Show is more historically important, mainly because of the barriers it broke down. I also think The Cosby Show was a bigger accomplishment because of the freshness it brought to family sitcoms and the fact that it is still funny and entertaining after all these years. BUT then again Seinfeld was completely groundbreaking and deserves so much credit because of what it made possible (Arrested Development, The Office, and of course Curb Your Enthusiasm).

So, in other words, it's a tie.

Chicago...

Chicago
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

was awesome! This is me in the reflection of the Cloud Gate at Millennium Park.

Three in a row...

Seriously...
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

We took this in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot. I am not kidding.

Hello from Chicago!

Let's put it this way - I'm glad New Hampshire didn't work out. :)

This should be fun

Ok kiddos I just had the best idea! Everyone is going to do this and THEN post your winner in the comments section. THEN we can watch all sit back and enjoy the ensuing fisticuffs. ;)

The Boss Queen

For those of you who read The Sweet Potato Queens books, you are surely well aware of the author Jill Conner Browne's love of all things bacon. Well, I just stumbled upon this little bit of bacon memorabilia and knew she had to know about it. I just shot her a quick email through the Contact Us link on her website yesterday, not expecting much from it.

But ya'll she totally wrote me back!

"BWAHAHAHAHA! Thanks so much for thinking of me, hunny! I was tempted to order it until I read that it resembled a LEANER cut of bacon--because, of course, I prefer the FATTEST I can find!

Be Particular--jillconnerbrowneTHEsweetpotatoqueen"



P.S. - For those of you who DON'T read The Sweet Potato Queens, take your sorry butt down to the bookstore and pick up a copy real quick like. There are six different books to chose from (and by chose I mean which order to read not which one to buy!) ;)

Liveblogging the VMAs

9:00 - Britney, oh god I'm scared...
9:03 - Well, she didn't fall off the stage. So that's good - but she seemed so half-ass. I don't even know why she bothered lip-synching. Anyway, she survived but it wasn't Britney's comeback.
9:05 - Sending Sarah Silverman out next? This is not going to be good for her.
9:07 - Ok, wrap it up Sarah. I'm getting bored.
9:08 - "Jews are like snowflakes" Ha! Who's the live band?
9:09 - NO RERUNS!?! What?!? They should have made that more clear beforehand.
9:10 - I want to go to JT's party!
9:11 - Hey that chick from Pussycat Dolls stole Amy Winehouse's hair.
9:12 - Holy crap how many nominees are THERE!?! I don't like that Umbrella song, but you know what I do like? Rihanna's dress - she looks like Barbie :)
9:15 - It's officially times for someone to explain those glasses everyone at Kanye's party is wearing. I don't get it.
9:22 - I knew this text thing was too complicated. I voted for the wrong one. Damn! I think that officially makes me too old for this.
9:23 - They texted me back the opportunity to buy Britney ringtones. No thanks.
9:24 - I really hate the way they are presenting the nominees. Although the winner is clear: Justin Timberlake! ... THAT'S RIGHT! Look how cute he is! I think he's drunk. Still cute but drunk.
9:25 - These little mini-party/performances are lame. I want big stage productions. I don't feel like I'm there. I feel bored.
9:27 - God I wish I was watching The Hills instead.
9:33 - Oh!!! Kanye and 50 on one stage. What could happen!?! I'm guessing awkward jokes and stares.
9:34 - Again, the winner is clearly Justin Timberlake...WHAT!?! Beyonce and Shakira over Sexy Back. Are you freaking kidding me?!? At least, I was wrong about the Kanye/50 awkward jokes.
9:35 - Holy mama! I think her boobs might fall out. She seems one tuck away from disaster.
9:36 - Adam Levine is sexy. I wish he wasn't wearing a vest but he's still sexy.
9:37 - Jeez another commercial.
9:41 - Nipple alert!
9:42 - False alarm - they were pasties.
9:43 - A real performance. Thank God.
9:44 - Chris Brown?!? Really? I do love those little kids he dances with. They're amazing.
9:45 - Something tells me the Charlie Chaplin reference is going to be lost on this crowd. The dancing on the tables is kind of cool though, wouldn't want to be the ones they were jumping over but still.
9:46 - Someone actually singing - that's a nice change.
9:47 - Ok Billy Jean. I can get down with this and he really can dance.
9:56 - WHAT no Heidi! LOL! If JT doesn't win, I'm going to throw something.
9:57 - YEAH!!!! He is the hottest. Seriously, hot. I lose my language skills, all I can say is hot. See - mumbling, not making sense, still hot! It's like magic.
10:00 - The lead singer of Gnarls Barkley is really fat. Just sayin.
10:04 - When is the pole dancing going to be over? I'm so over it.
10:05 - Timbaland has some serious guns.
10:06 - The only thing lamer than Shia Labeouf's mustache is his name.
10:07 - The winner is Amy Winehouse. Come on! .... FERGIE! Seriously! - Actually who am I kidding? I have Glamourous as a ringtone. I can't lie.
10:08 - I thought Pamela had her boobs taken out. They don't look any smaller. Also, I think Nicholas has bowed out for the evening. He's disappeared.
10:10 - Oh that helicopter shot is cool.
10:13 - I'm all over Pageant Place. Believe that.
10:19 - A place we've never been before? We'll see.
10:21 - I've been here before. Fog and lazors? It was called Stone Mountain.
10:24 - I love the White Stripes. I hope they win ... Fall Out Boy - right, why am I still watching?
10:34 - I like Alicia but I'm not feeling this.
10:36 - Don't drag Stevie into this! Oh hell no! I know she's not dragging my favorite song of ALL TIME into this. Please god, leave it alone. I'm begging you.
10:37 - Stop it. Stop it now. Before I beat you with your sparkly boots.
10:44 - Pudgy pale guy taking his clothes off would definitely NOT be a good time.
10:45 - Tommy Lee and Kid Rock fought?!? Now that would have been worth seeing!
10:46 - Someone save Jennifer Garner. Quickly.
10:47 - You've got to be freaking kidding me. Amy Winehouse is hands down the most creative, real thing to come out of the music industry in like years. I know she's a hot mess but she's still crazy talented.
10:48 - Miss Teen South Carolina!!! ha! Props to the girl for showing her face.
10:55 - Mary J. Someone with talent.
10:56 - Dr. Dre, even more talent. Maybe he can save this sinking ship.
10:59 - Great the song I don't really like beat out two songs that I loved. With that I think it's time to call it a night.

Thanks for nothing MTV. I thought after the Movie Awards this might be decent. I was wrong.

11:05 - JUST KIDDING! More JT. I'm still here. And I love Nelly.
11:06 - Now this is more like it. I really like the Vegas showgirl feather send up.
11:07 - Seriously, Timbaland is like RAMBO. I can't get over his massive arms.
11:08 - Justin!!! Hot. Hot. Hot. Love the disco ball. Watch him move.
11:10 - I love the three of them together. See now, these last five minutes have been awesome. Too bad the rest of it sucked.

Intolerance

D.W. Griffith's 1916 silent behemoth Intolerance was a response to criticism of his previous film Birth of a Nation and its racist overtones. Griffith set out to tell the story of "how hatred and intolerance, through all the ages, have battled against love and charity" through four different mini-plays: The "Modern" Story, The Judean Story, The French Story, and The Babylonian Story.

The sheer scale of Griffith's film-making is incredibly impressive. He basically built a full-scale city of Babylon on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard that is the inspiration for the gates of the new Hollywood Highland Center. You can also see the influence of this film in any epic battle scene from Lord of the Rings to Braveheart.

However, much like Birth of a Nation, his heavy-handed moral tone seems dated and ignorant, apparently audiences of the time agreed and Intolerance was a huge flop. Its historical importance might be that it was the first massive spending spree by a self-important director that turned into a tank at the box office (think Ishtar, Waterworld, Battlefield Earth). Either way I'm not really sure why Birth of a Nation was removed from the list and this was added.

Tubing at Harpers Ferry

Tubing at Harpers Ferry
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

After much cajoling and a successful bid on priceline.com, I convinced Nicholas to take a tubing trip down the Potomac as a last goodbye to summer. We set out on Saturday morning, after a quick trip to Target for water shoes (that's right I now officially own Crocs!), and arrived at Butt's Tubing - really that's the name - at around noon.

The shuttle bus driver dropped us up the Potomac, after dire warnings not to go past the green bridge if we wanted to be picked up because he "could not help us." We parked our butts in our butts tubes and started floating. The trip was really nice - flat and lazy in parts with just enough rapids to make it interesting. I even got tipped over once. However, the water was only about three feet deep so it was always easy to get back on course.

I was covered up in my standard all-day-in-the-water attire: long sleeved black t-shirt and black swim trunks. I still got a little red on the top of my knees but nothing too bad. Nicholas, however, applied Neutrogena spray sunblock that had lost some of its aerosol and kind of splattered all over. He ended up with a very weird splotchy sunburn.

Despite the sunburns, we had a really wonderful day floating down the river and can't wait to go again.

Dirty Dancing UK - Julia and James First Dance

Nicholas should wake up every morning and thank God I didn't think of this.

Air-adding

So, here's the thing. I like Mary Louise Parker. I liked her in Fried Green Tomatoes. I LOVED her on The West Wing and I watch Weeds religiously. She's smart. She's sexy. She's funny. You know what she's not? Voluptuous.

Mary Louise Parker is a skinny bitch. Nothing against skinny bitches - I've made friends with some recently and they're not that bad. And, in all fairness, she hasn't always been a skinny bitch. Remember when she thanked her newborn son for her bodacious breastfeeding boobs at the Golden Globe in 2004? But now? Now, she's a skinny bitch.

That's why I find the above picture so angering. It's one thing to airbrush out fat. But to add it back in! That's just not fair. If us normal size girls have anything, it's our curves. There's something to be said for a little extra padding. Marylin Monroe had padding. So does J-Lo and Beyonce. However, you take away a little of our pride, our specialness when you can just give Kate Moss a Queen Latifah makeover. Not cool.

Seriously, not cool.

Ah ha Moment

I have a friend at work. Let's call him Matt because that's his name. Matt and I spend a lot of time talking about relationships. In particular, I spend a lot of time trying to convince him it's not near as complicated as he's making it. Today he had a breakthrough:

"So, maybe girls aren't crazy. They just think differently."

God bless him, it only took him 24 years.

Labor Day Weekend
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

We had a fabulous weekend in Atlanta for the first annual Holland*Con. All the Holland siblings were there, along with Lynn's sister Pam and her son Josh and his family. Needless to say, it was a wild weekend. I got there on Thursday and hung out with the babies. We also made a Dairy Queen run where the above picture was taken.

On Friday we did some eating and some shopping. I had told my sister-in-law Jenn that for my last 10 trips to Atlanta I'd only eaten at The Varsity and Athens Pizza. She made it her personal mission to change that and I'd say she did a pretty dang good job. Over the course of weekend, I tried Taqueria Del Sol, Crescent Moon, Brick Store, and Canoe and engaged in some chocolate decadence at Fritti and The Chocolate Bar.

Nicholas arrived late Friday night and we awoke early on Friday morning for a trip to the new Georgia Aquarium. It was pretty amazing, although the babies largely lost interest after about 15 minutes. We had big family dinners on Saturday to celebrate Elizabeth's first birthday and Sunday night for the Holland*Con family portrait. A grand time was had by all, especially the kids who all ate more sugar, watched more TV, and stayed up later then they would have normally been allowed.

Of course, I have a little baby hangover - known better as a cold you get from the little petri dishes - but it was worth it. We had a great time with all the family and it was over way too soon.