The Nerds don't need Revenge... they have Comic Con

Here are some pics from the infamous Comic Con:
I had a really great time celebrating my 23rd birthday with the Rechbergs at Comic Con in San Diego. I was super excited to see the cast from True Blood... although I didn't get autographs, I got really close to their booth - as you can see from the second picture from the bottom. The last picture is from the Weeds panel. I took a photo of the screen, because it'd come out better since it was so dark, but we were actually relatively close. You can see the writer, the woman, named Jenji Kohan, Silas, and then Uncle Andy (who's my favorite character). I also think Michael will appreciate the first two pics which are of me with Bumble Bee from Transformers. I also got a picture with a bust of Iron Man. However, the masterpiece of all photos is the third one from the bottom. This sight for sore eyes wore a thong to the convention. Yes, a thong. Not only was her lovely alabaster skin icing on the cake, but she added ice cream with her wonderful cottage cheese thighs. Jason was not pleased I took a picture, but I needed to document that gem to show you all. She truly embodied the crazy that is nerds all getting together to celebrate their favorite movie and comic characters. A lot of girls dressed really skanky, and let's face it, they really really shouldn't have. All the geeky guys begged them to get a photo with them. Sick. But somehow, incredibly entertaining. I wish you all could have enjoyed the moment with me. It was an "experience" to say the least.

Love you guys. And just a reminder... no matter how good you think you look, thongs are called underwear for a reason... they go under your clothes. Until next time!

Great Lakes. Great Times.

Here are some pics from my trip back home. I miss everyone already and can't wait to show them around Southern California. Jason really enjoyed his time... but will NOT miss the mosquitos. lol.

The Cove

I'd like you all to visit the site for a new documentary called The Cove. This cause is really near to my heart. Of course I'm concerned for all the humans of the world, but I think somehow our connection to the other inhabitants of the planet and sympathy for them add greatly to our humanity. If we show no mercy to what is below us, how can we ask for mercy to what is above us? Please watch the trailer:



Upcoming screenings of The Cove. If you can see it I hope you will. I want to see the August 7 showing in Irvine: http://thecovemovie.com/festivals/upcoming_screenings.htm

Here is a downloadable site that shows what seafood is safe. I would never advocate everyone stop eating seafood... but maybe we should just try to be safer about it...

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx

Me and Dancer Photos

Here are a few of the photos from our "photo shoot" on Wednesday. Danielle ended up taking hundreds, so here are a few of the best (I'm having a lot of trouble picking my favorites):

Book Update

IT IS FINISHED!!!
(for now at least)

Well, five months and 182 pages later it's done. I just completed my memoir about fifteen minutes ago and I'm so excited to get to work editing it and citing my sources. Once this is done, which should be sometime in July, I will be sending out copies to a few people for further analysis and revision. Hopefully I'll be able to get it to publishers in the Pacific Northwest, and maybe I'll get lucky and have it published. I'm looking forward to hearing what you all think and seeing where this project continues take me.

You are what You Eat

Where is Michael Moore on this one? I guess the issues he covers are only major media frenzies. Once again, he is also a victim of the profit-mentality: cover issues that will make money in the box office. The farms are after profits, the whistle-blowers are stifled, and the politicians seem to only care about being reelected. Who can we trust? This is another great video. The intro is a bit long, but the talking begins at about 1 minute. Watch it. Think about it. Pass it on. Start to make a difference:

Killing them Softly

Hey family,

Well I've been a busy little bee, painting and writing. Jason's house is coming along, we are still in the priming process (it's taken a lot longer than expected because we needed to patch a few walls). I'll take pics once the priming is complete in hopes of showing you the before and after face-lift.

I visited Jeleen and she seems to be doing ok for her situation. I feel bad that she's all cooped up and can definitely relate to her "cabin fever." She's suffering from the same condition many of the women in our family fall victim to: doing too much! She still wants to answer the doors, make conference calls, and get guests food. It's ridiculous and if you are reading this Jeleen, take a breather and let people wait on you a little bit. Sometimes it's ok to do nothing, you know?

I've spent a lot of my down time writing and now I only have two chapters left before I'm completely done with the first draft!!! I can't wait to finish it and give it a once-over and reference check before I send it out to family, friends, and ultimately publishers. I'm hoping to finish it before I go home, but we'll see.

In related exciting news, I've contacted Howard Garrett of the Orca Network (see credentials here: http://www.orcanetwork.org/contact/contact.html) and he offered to send me pictures of orca captures for my book as well as to give it the once-over before I send it to publishers! I'm so excited to have him share his opinions and hopefully he'll like it. If he thinks it's good, I'll most likely ask him to write a forward for me. Needless to say, I'm pretty much freaking out. lol. I also contacted my hero Alexandra Morton and asked if she'd allow me to use a photo of pink salmon fry infected with sea lice. She's given me the green light and added to my excitement about the project. (The picture can be seen above.) She, like me, came to the Pacific Northwest as a whale lover with an interest only in orcas, and expanded her horizons once she realized the danger the orcas were in as a result of salmon farms.

The largest farm in the area, Marine Harvast Canada, thinks they're providing a great service to the local economy and they claim to be committed to the environment on their web site:

For Marine Harvest Canada, environmental sustainability requires operating a business that is environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable. We recognize that environmental integrity, transparency and innovation are key values. Our commitment to environmental sustainability includes:

• Open communication with our employees regarding environmental issues and safeguards and promotion of our environmental sustainability and actions to our suppliers, customers and stakeholders.
• Commitment to meet and exceed all government environmental regulations, industry Codes of Practice and corporate guidelines.
• Dedication of resources to ongoing research and technological innovation to learn more about our local environment and to continue to reduce our environmental footprint.
• A commitment to communicate environmental sustainability research findings by making data available on our website on a regular basis.

Wow. I'm astounded by the load of crap they continue to dish out while they feed on our most precious resource: the environment.

Alexandra Morton is championing a cause to eliminate the farms and create a brighter future for the local ecosystem that is being suffocated by the farms' practices. You can help her in this effort by visiting and/or donating to the web site www.adopt-a-fry.org. Her video can be seen below: