I Smile Grimace at Style

Making its appearance fashionably late is...

Ha. Me? Stylish? I think you got the wrong person, Syida. I'm assuming you didn't see my last post about my hatred for shopping (yes, this includes clothes shopping). But I'll accept the award, anyway. Thank you.

You know who totally deserves this award is my cat, Kudos. She craves this kind of attention. She lives for style. She loves playing dress-up (well, not that she has a choice...). It just makes her feel purrty.

Kudos graciously accepts her award.

Will you accept?

Katie
Betsy
Kelly
Kathryn
Patti
Jillsmo
TV
Kirsten
Tattytiara

If you so choose to accept this award, there are rules that come along with it (because nothing worth having comes easy):

1) Thank with all your heart and link back to the blogger that generously awarded this to you
2) Share with the whole Internet world 7 random facts about yourself
3) Award some great bloggers

I GUESS I better start telling you about myself before this award is swept away from me right under my nose. Here goes:

My Facts

1. Do you know how a completely otherwise delicious cookie or brownie can be ruined? Just add nuts.
2. I am against dressing your dog or cat up in human-like outfits. Unless it's Halloween or something, then it's completely normal...
3. I contradict myself.
4. My ringtone for phone calls is currently "The Breakfast Machine" song from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. For texts, it's the Seinfeld theme song.
5. I was with my family vacationing in New York City--even stayed in a hotel within the Twin Towers--two weeks before September 11. Two weeks!
6. San Francisco is my favorite city. I'll probably end up writing a post about all the reasons why I love SF, so I won't explain here.
7. My "favorite" number is 13.

Well, I think I've overstayed my welcome with this particular award, so I'm making my fashionable exit (uh, you totally didn't just see me trip right then...).

I Want to Get Back to My City by the Bay-ay-ay

In case you didn't know, the "city by the bay" is San Francisco, my f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e city. No doubt it's better than NYC, Chicago, London, or any of those other grand and glorious cities. But, you know, that's just my opinion. You know, I don't think there's a bay in Utah, and I liked my city by the bay, Vacaville, so...you know. You know what I'd like right about now? Everything California...but, you know, I'm guessing that's too much to ask. So, right now I'm going to limit my wants to just California weather because Utah weather blows--literally--snow's blowing all over the place, you know? And I very strongly dislike snow, especially when I have to drive to work in it early in the morning when the roads aren't clear and have to drive down steep, steep, steep mountains. No bueno. In honor of California weather I searched California on my iTunes and these are the songs I will be listening to all winter long...in my head...okay, fine, you know I'll actually be belching these at the top of my lungs while I'm alone in the car. Sorry, Christmas music, but you know you're on the backburner for now (you know, I'm actually doing you a favor seeing that you'll be out of the snow and next to a burner where it's warm. You're welcome.) Snow, snow, go away. Come again...never.

• Beverly Hills-Weezer
• California Girls-The Beach Boys
• Hotel California-Eagles
• California Dreamin'-The Mamas & the Papas
• California-Phantom Planet
• Californication-Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Dani California-Red Hot Chili Peppers
• California Sky-Unwritten Law
• California Love-2Pac
• Lights-Journey

...and it looks like I have a lot more downloading to do.

Hmm, Utah, I wonder why there haven't been any hit singles about you. Oh, I know why. If you don't know why, then just think long and hard about what you've done. Thanks.

You mean you still don't know why no one sings about you? Here's a hint (see pictures below):

Let's compare these photos, shall we?

Picture on the left: Utah, December 2010--after a snowfall lasting 24 hours

Picture on the right: Laguna Beach, December 2007--after visiting Disneyland the previous day

Picture on the left: white, annoying substance dominating everything in its path

Picture on the right: beige, annoying substance dominating everything in its path but is clearly welcomed with open arms

Bottom line: Choose the right.

Thunder Mountain Man--My Inspiration

Dear 50-Year-Old Shannon,

I hope to be like that 50ish year old man (except in a woman form) my brothers saw at Disneyland (in June) who was carrying around a fart noise maker and pushed the button near teenage girls at Thunder Mountain (how ironic...since that wasn't the boom of thunder the girls were waiting in line for). He was cool because he had a sense of humor and personality and couldn't care less of his age. Please don't be a deadbeat. Oh yeah, I hope you're rich too.

Sincerely,
Almost-25-Year-Old Shannon

PS: You don't necessarily have to carry around a fart noise maker to be cool when you're 50. On second thought, why would anyone need one of those, anyways, especially at Disneyland?? There's enough entertainment--you're at the happiest place on Earth, for goodness sake! Actually, that guy was also probably the type of guy who listens to his iPod at Disneyland--which, according to my brother, is like texting while on a date. Big no-no. Nevermind being cool like him. Disregard this whole letter. But yeah, I'm still hoping you're rich.

Myspace Nostalgia

I haven't been on Myspace in forever (sorry, Myspace, but Facebook has kind of been the new "it" thing since it beat you in popularity in 2006 or something. You were cool before you became uncool.) So, I thought I would login to my page and reflect on the good times Myspace and I had together. Apparently, I had written a couple of blog entries on my Myspace blog, so I guess this isn't technically my first time blogging. It was kind of fun to reminisce through my grand total of 2 blog entries:

July 10, 2007 - Tuesday
My Research
Current mood: Lollipop

For the last week I have been doing some serious research, with no grants, nonetheless! I have been observing people doing one of life's most pleasurable acts--eating. Eating, however universally pleasurable it may be, is also very telling of the kind of person the eater is--especially when it comes to hot dogs. Through my observations, one may be able to detect the eater's personality based on the toppings the eater has on his/her hot dog.

What topping you put on your hot dog says about you:

Hot dog with just mustard on it: You like to be the spice of life, or...get this!...you think hot dogs with mustard on it tastes yummy...?

Hot dog with just relish on it: You tend to like the sweeter things in life, or...get this!...you think hot dogs with relish on it tastes wonderful...?

Hot dog with mustard AND ketchup on it: You like everyone to get along. Everyone should be treated equally regardless of race, sex, or height. Why shouldn't red and yellow be able to coexist peacefully?...or, you like the taste of ketchup and mustard blended. Is that a weird observation or what?!

Hot dog with "the works" on it: You have a tough time making decisions and you're one who tries to please everyone. You can't decide which topping you like best, so you throw 'em all on. This act of using all possible choices to go onto your hot dog also satisfies your need to please everyone. You have successfully made every topping feel as if it was wanted or needed. You want everyone to feel welcome, or...get this!...you like to eat hot dogs with the works because it satisfies your taste buds...?

I hope this hot dog observation has been as beneficial to you as it has been to me.

February 11, 2006 - Saturday
You Know You're From Vacaville When...
Current mood: Nunchucks


-You remember when the Nut Tree was a fun, family-oriented place
-Every raised truck you see driving around reads "Nor Cal"
-You take pride in telling people that Vacaville is where the band Papa Roach is from
-Your other claim to fame is you have The Outlets (but don't shop there...often)
-You know at least two people who work at Mary's Pizza Shack, Chili's, or Brenden Theatres
-You have been to the Zodiac Killer's shack
-You don't ever go to the mall because it's too far and Fairfield is hecka scary
-You use the word hecka
-You know Jarrett Bush, of the Green Bay Packers, is from Vacaville (and my bro knew him)
-You remember when Andrew's Park was a whole new concept and The Wooz was SO much fun!
-You've been to Candy Cane Lane at least 3 times every Christmas
-You are afraid of Markham & Brown St.
-You have raced to "Hamburger Hill" for lunch
-The Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony is mandatory at least once in your lifetime
-You know that the Vacaville prison held Charles Manson
-You remember that the-building-that-is-now-a-church on Marshall Road used to be a movie theater
-You remember that the-building-that-is-now-a-church on Orange Drive used to be Galaxy 8, the second theater to be converted into a church

Myspace, thank you for having "blogs" on your site--you have taught me the ways of correct blogging--by writing about dumb stuff. Seriously, thank you. Also, please thank Tom for being my friend on your site. He stuck with me the whole way. What a good guy. Say, how come they're not making a movie about him?? He should be the one having a movie made after him. After all, that dude from Facebook isn't even my friend on Facebook. Lame! Now he has his own movie? What's this world coming to??? Oh, that's right, it's come down to basing people's personality types off of hot dog toppings.

I ♥ UT

I was at Wal-Mart today when I was amused to see a woman wearing an I ♥ UT shirt...in Utah. Seriously, though, who sells shirts proclaiming their love for Utah? Even better, who buys a shirt proclaiming their love for Utah? I just find that so funny--in fact, I thought about taking a picture and sending it to peopleofwalmart.com, but alas, I don't think many people would find it hilarious like I did...unless, you have a unique sense of humor, I guess.


Normally vacation spots such as New York City or London will sell shirts that consequently say I ♥ NYC or I ♥ London. Well, San Francisco happens to be one of those cities who is also supportive of selling these shirts. I'm originally from a city about 45 minutes from San Fran and so my family would "travel" there every so often. When we found out we would be moving to Utah my sister decided that she needed to have a San Fran shirt to remember that beautiful city by. So, now we're living in Utah and one day my sister decides to wear her I ♥ SF shirt. Bless this Utard's heart, but someone actually came up to her and said, "Wow, I didn't know Spanish Fork sells shirts." Sheltered? Yes. I mean, has this person never been out of Utah before so they think that SF can only possibly stand for a farming town with a population of around 30,000? That is freakin' awesome. Utah natives, I ♥ U.

I ♥ LAMP, too.