Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Facebook Chronicles

Kody is like an old man when it comes to technology. Everything that would take me thirty seconds takes him at least five minutes.

Usually I let situations like this slide because I know he's more of an outdoorsy type of fellow, but when it comes to Facebook I feel like he should at least know how to get to his settings.

I mean, it's at the top right corner. How can you not get to it?


Sunday, May 27, 2012

I Heart Potatoes


Knock & Boots Downloads

I'm a singer/song-writer/ukulele player in the band Knock & Boots. We started out in Southern California and even though K and I are in Sacramento now, we still work on music thanks to Skype and the ability to email tracks.

We're in the process of making artwork for our band, as well as a website, and I made these Facebook Timeline covers.

Feel free to download and put them as your covers!

(And of course, if you want to know what we sound like, go here.)




The second one is the closest to what our album art will look like for North & South, our first album. The last one is inspired by our upcoming single, "Of Leaves and Women." The first is just me playing around!

Enjoy and Happy Sunday!

-Brit

Saturday, May 26, 2012

And We're Home

It has been one hell of a week! But now the pretty pictures of the ocean will be put to a full stop because we're back in Sacramento.


Okay, just one more.

We get a few days (two) to rest and then we have to put on our working boots (my father's favorite phrase) and pack a house.

Obviously today and tomorrow will be pure relaxation days, complete with 24/7 pajamas (if you can call what I'm wearing pajamas) and minimal showering.

Thankfully, while we're sweating up a storm and dealing with a severely stressed Raj (my mom), I can remind myself that as soon as we're done we can go back to Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz was amazing. The beach was just a block away to the South and Downtown was a block away to the North. We could be in the muck of society drinking beer and then turn around and be drinking in the view of the ocean.

Not to mention the thrift stores. 50% off the whole store? I guess I will be taking this green sweater vest, thank you very much.

My whole family is still reeling over the chaos that occurred on Monday from 3 to 6 a.m. but I'll be telling that story later.

Until then, here's a lovely photo of me holding a pickle. I'm quite proud of it considering I had to fake an injury to get Kody to feel bad enough to get it for me.


Faking injuries to acquire pickles since 1992.

Happy Friday!

-Brit

Scenes From Santa Cruz Part 4








Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Scenes From Santa Cruz Part 3









I can't believe tonight is my last night in Santa Cruz (until June)! It's been so nice waking up just a block away from the beach. Not to mention all of the thrift stores in Downtown Santa Cruz and 41st Street in Capitola.

There might have been a little drama that involved a very intoxicated man and two girls, but the rest of my trip was fantastic. Stay tuned for a post about the drama and another Scenes From Santa Cruz post.

Happy Wednesday!

-Brit

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Scenes From Santa Cruz

Life has taken a slower pace.

Drinking horchata, eating good food, riding roller coasters, walking up and down the boardwalk.

Tomorrow we're going to put on our suits and tan all day long.

Today I got a new dress. It's red. I feel stylish.

Attractive.

"Can we do a normal one?"

My red dress and a face that is meant to be sensual, obviously.
Until today, Kody had never been to the boardwalk. Actually, he's never even been to Santa Cruz! I had a fun time pretending like I went there all the time and I'm actually a local and everyone loves me here, they call me B-Dog.

Here's Kody being a tourist and me taking pictures of him because I'm a local.

Trying on hats. 
Santa Cruz boardwalk mini golf course. He loved it. Typical tourist.
And now I have some crazy cool news! We're moving here for the summer! We'll be moving into a hotel for about a month and then helping my parents move into a house. The whole summer will be dedicated to beach, sunshine, and family.

And then August we move back to Sacramento and life sucks again.

Happy Sunday!

-Brit

Friday, May 18, 2012

Packing Is A Pain

Usually on Fridays I spend my time gallivanting throughout Midtown Sacramento with my boyfriend without a care in the world.

This is not one of those Fridays.

We leave tomorrow for Santa Cruz--one whole week of beach, good food, and room service. And since we've been living in Sacramento since last August, the beach sounds like a dream come true. It's been way too long since I've seen the ocean.

The only stressful part about this beach vacation is the impending doom that is going out in a bathing suit. I know my thighs are nowhere near ready for that business. When I even start to think about walking around in my bikini, the chemicals in my brain decide to jump off what I can only assume is the cliff inside my brain and I spend the next three hours crying with shame and disappointment.

 Put me down for two churros. One for my boyfriend and one for my infinitely decreasing self-esteem.
Because of this I begin this cycle where I believe that even though I'm bigger than most girls, I can dress myself the best way possible...trendy, even!

And that leads to odd, and humiliating, outfit decisions.

Are those clogs?
The worst part is that I don't realize my outfit is bad until it becomes overwhelming that so many people are dressed so much better than me--and they're only wearing jeans with t-shirts! How is that FASHION?!

Until the aforementioned realization, I am blissfully unaware of my awkward appearance. In fact, I feel like a movie star.

Movie stars get away with wearing weird stuff all the time! They even get away with wearing nothing at all!
 The moment that the bucket of truth water pours its contents onto my unfashionable head is a disheartening one. I then begin to believe that all of my clothes are awful and ill-fitting. Getting dressed in the morning becomes a nightmare. My dresser becomes a monster full of poor choices waiting to be made.

Well, fuck.
All of this leads to a solid week (or even two) of me just not getting dressed, or only going out at night, where the lighting is dim and no one can see what I look like.

Because of this cycle I've decided to make peace with my body. All parts of it.

I heart cellulite.
I am going to wear my sun dresses and bikini and shorts with pride.

Here I come, Santa Cruz!

Happy Friday!

-Brit

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

You're Welcome, Wednesday

It's 5:00 p.m. on a Wednesday and I am most certain that my day has been spent doing lots of things and yet, at the same time, nothing at all.

I woke up, fixed my hair, put on clothes (possibly the same outfit I wore yesterday...okay, it is the same outfit I wore yesterday), and then proceeded to do all of the things I was supposed to already have done. Did some laundry, picked up after myself, wiped down counters, dishes, vacuumed--the whole deal.

But after I was done I realized that cleaning doesn't actually take up that much time if the place isn't really messy. What does one do with a whole day? I'm house sitting this week so I don't want to go too far. And I'm not exactly an outdoors type of gal. In fact, most of my time as a little girl was spent inside my room reading, pretending to be Pocahontas, or playing with my Gameboy.

Does anyone remember Gameboys? They were the sweet, sweet nectar of childhood that I yearn for in these dark and depressing days of adulthood.

I had a see through purple gameboy and I swear it was my best friend. I took it everywhere. School, car rides, the toilet...

Who needs sunshine?
My parents got me a bunch of games for it too. I had a Barbie game that had the famous blonde swimming in the deep ocean, looking for treasure. Considering the fact that I was (and still am) a slightly chubby, frizzy, raven-haired girl, this game definitely wasn't my favorite.

What was my favorite game? Pokemon Red Version. It was my everything. The sun rose and there was Pokemon Red. The sun set and there was Pokemon Red. I also had Blue, but for some reason my memory doesn't look as fondly on Blue as it does on Red.

For real homie.
And because a friend of mine has been making music with gameboys, I've had my old purple friend on the brain. I told Kody that I want one for my birthday. He said yes, but that day isn't until November! What does a girl do?

Introducing www.gamenert.com. It seems as if my entire life (after my gameboy broke, of course) I have been waiting to find this site. What does it have, my dear readers?

A VIRTUAL GAMEBOY. WITH TONS OF GAMES TO CHOOSE, INCLUDING POKEMON RED & BLUE.

Hours later I look around me and find that Kody is asleep, it is one in the morning, and I am nowhere near victory.

If you wish to take back your childhood, go here. Note: The gameboy is red. Yay if your gameboy was red, but mine was purple so there is something lacking...

Another thing that I enjoy from childhood? Tea. My gram makes the best tea, ever. And turns out it's actually not difficult to make at all. So guess what's in the fridge right now. That's right. A pitcher AND a stein of sweet tea.

Enjoying tea and being rad.
I also had success with flavoring the tea with mango pieces. Kody came home with some kiwi, a mango, and a lemon. So, I took it upon myself to be as creative as possible by cutting up the mango and putting some slices into the pitcher and the stein. I would have put kiwi pieces in too, but I ate the kiwi and didn't come up with the mango bit until after said eating of kiwi.

This is what a mango looks like when it being guarded by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
And now I leave you to your gaming in piece. I have to rest before I return to defeat Sarah. (That's right, I named my rival after the girl that stole my boyfriend in high school. Pokemon is no joke.)

Happy Wednesday!

-Brit

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Universe, Carl Sagan, and Genies


Hey all! (That was an awkward introduction to this post.)

Today is Tuesday, and on Tuesdays I like to not shave my legs and think hard about things I don't understand. Instead of doing dishes and laundry, which is what I'm actually supposed to be doing on Tuesdays. Or any day for that matter.


This may come as a shock to you, but I am a legitimate fan girl for Carl Sagan. Everything he has written, said, done--all of it instigates massive squeaks that are usually categorized under "Sound Pre-Teens Make Upon Seeing Famous Boys Who May or May Not Sing."
J14 Should Really Consider A Sagan Issue



For instance, "Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." 

You guessed right, Carl Sagan wrote that.

Whenever life is getting you down, for whatever reason (my unshaved legs and symmetrical spider bites on both ankles...), remember that all of it is taking place on a "mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." And if it's just a mote of dust is it that important? Shouldn't us dust-dwellers be focusing on things more important, like dust peace? 

I'm currently reading Broca's Brain by Carl Sagan and I must say, reflecting on the romance of science has never been sexier. 

It's not cheating if it's literature.

He definitely spends a lot of time debunking ridiculous things that people tend to believe when scientists don't speak up and educate people. But in the beginning he writes about Broca, a scientist that specialized in brains. He was a man that sought truth in a world that was intensely backwards. Sagan does let people know that Broca was not perfect and did have many flaws within his character, but he let Broca's accomplishments and influences shine. 

One of my favorite quotes in this book is not even Sagan's, but Broca's: "I would rather be a transformed ape than a degenerate son of Adam."

This will probably keep a lot of reader's away, but it spoke to me in a lot of ways that are difficult to explain. I was born and raised Catholic, my world had a God and a Jesus and angels and really fake people. In fact, I found that there were more fake people and judgmental people than anything else in Christianity. 

Either way, I think we can all agree that our universe is beautiful. Possibly (and probably) infinite, under appreciated, and exquisite. 

Did you know that the Hubble Telescope has a website filled with the most breath taking pictures? 

Here are a few that made my heart skip a beat:






If you're interested, go here.

And if you're still wondering why Genies is in the post title, well, I put my hair up in a super high ponytail today and felt like a genie. It got a little hectic because my cat ignored my offer of three wishes and that obviously upset me, y'know, because I'm a genie today. 

Genies cry too.


Happy Tuesday!

-Brit