LWOW ≠ LL Cool J

My good friend KT gave me the nick name "Lwow" to poke fun at my slight obsession with the MTV show “Jersey Shore,” which is similar to one of the characters’ names in the show. This weekend D and I spent the weekend with our friend, who had recently purchased the Wii game called Def Jam RapStar.This game is basically a hip hop karaoke videogame and I was surprised how hooked we got, especially since D tends to shy away from any kind of karaoke situation. He mastered the Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre songs very well, while I was a different story. When it was my turn, everyone encouraged me to do LL Cool J’s “Mama said Knock You Out”. It’s a very angry song and I was getting into the song, swaying in place, waving my arms, and “spittin” the rhymes as best as I could. After the song was done, I triumphantly looked back and D and our friends were rolling on the floor with laughter. Apparently Lwow can’t rap as convincingly as LL Cool J. I think I’ll have to work on my gansta lean before we can try that game again. 

Van Morrison

To celebrate D’s birthday, we went to see Van Morrison at the Greek Theater last week.  One of our goals after moving to SoCal has been to go to at least one live music event every month and so far we’re right on par!  We had a lot of fun at the concert and the venue was amazing!  Stuck in the side of hill and surrounded by trees, the acoustics were wonderful.  We were some of the youngest people in attendance and quite enjoyed the antics of some of the “groovy” audience members.  Although I wasn’t as familiar with Van Morrison’s music as D was, I was really impressed with the whole concert.  I had read a review that he didn’t perfom his classics anymore and was a little worried before the show, but was relieved as soon as I heard the opening chords of “Into the Mystic.”  It was the final song at D and my wedding reception and was a fun way to end the concert and also remember the day we got married.  Overall, great evening!

"Marvelous night for a Moon Dance"

 

Night out

 

One of D's oldest friends came down to visit us on this past Friday and snapped this pic of us while we were out and about.  We were having drinks at the Terranea Resort and had a fabulous time!

Coug Game and "Flip Pong"

I survived my first WSU football game in SoCal this past weekend and report that I had an excellent time! I was a little nervous about going by myself without my “wing man,” but was able to track down some of my long lost college friends to tailgate with before the game. While I was there, I was asked if I wanted to play "Beer Pong" and did surprisingly well for someone in their, gulp, LATE twenties. We then tried a game, which I had never heard of before, called "Flip Pong" or "Beer Pong Flip Cup." This game combines both Beer Pong and Flip Cup, two staple drinking games in college. I was able to keep up for a while but the intensity of the competition and also the several beers that I therein consumed made me opt out from continuing far into the game. Soon after we went on to the football game, which was subsequently lost to UCLA, and is not a huge surprise to loyal WSU fans. As my Dad always said about WSU sports, "Those Cougs love to break your heart." Despite the loss, I’ll remain true to my school and say “GOOOOO COUGS!”

Rear Window

Aloha Friday!!! We've had a real heat spell the last couple of days and since our apartment doesn't have air conditioning we've been in the habit of keeping all of our windows open. It’s given us a nice cross breeze, but it’s also come along with an unexpected side affect. We are situated with a golf course to the west of us and a courtyard area to the east. If I'm in rooms that have windows opening to the golf course, I can actually hear conversations of golfers. If I'm working in my home office, I hear all the going-ons of the apartments facing into the courtyard area. It makes me feel like Jimmy Stewart from "Rear Window." Although, I haven't seen or heard of anything suspicious, illegal, or inappropriate, I still feel weird being able to listen in to other people's lives. I'll tell you one thing though, it has certainly made me aware of all the kids in the neighborhood! In case you've never seen "Rear Window," here's the movie trailer. I highly recommend it!

First SoCAL Cougar Football Saturday

I went to college and grad school at Washington State University (WSU) and am very passionate about my school. I do have a long family history associated with the school including both of my parents (they actually met there), my Aunt and Uncle (who also met there), another Aunt, my younger Sister (who is currently going there), and my Opa (Grandpa in German) was a professor there for over 20 years. My Dad actually grew up in Pullman, where WSU is located, and loves any excuse to go back there. D went to college at University of California San Diego, but still supports my sometimes insane love of the WSU Cougars (aka Cougs). While in the Bay Area, he went with me to various sporting events and even to alumni mixer events! Needless to say, he’s my “wing man” to Coug events. This weekend the Coug football team is playing UCLA in Pasadena and unfortunately my “wing man” has to work. Thanks to facebook I’ve been able to hunt down some long lost college acquaintances that are also going to the game. After a little tailgating, we’ll see how the Cougs will do against the Bruins!

No KITTY!!!

I like cats.  However, D is allergic to cats, which prevents us from having cats as pets.  Our neighbor has a couple of kittens that lounge about our complex.  After working a 30-hour-shift, D came home and called a maintenance man to come and make some repairs in our apartment.  Unbeknownst to D, the repair man had left the door open.  D came downstairs to find two kittens lounging in the middle of our living room.  He promptly “shooed” them outside and closed the door.  After sighing with relief, he heard a timid “Meow” from the staircase.  He looked up to find another kitten staring right at him.  He moved slowly toward the door and said “C’mon, you and I want the same thing here.  Let me just open the door.”  D was afraid that he would scare the kitten upstairs, but luckily as soon as he opened the door the last kitten bounded outside.  He reluctantly told me the story several days later, when I asked him, “Why is that one kitten hanging around our front door?”  I secretly think the last kitten bonded to D over their shared moment of panic and now enjoys waiting around for D.

D's curious kitten