Annie and Roo

Monday, September 15, 2008

The Phillips School of Sophistication

Lesson 1: How to Be Classy
I will use our weekend date as a template to guide you in your efforts to be as classy as us.

First: go to the art museum.

Roo: Who painted that?
Annie: Oh...umm...(try to catch a view of the tiny print information next to the painting without him noticing) Mondrian. (say it like you knew it all along. Then turn your head sideways to better examine the painting while folding your arms and tapping your chin with your finger. This pose lends serious artistic credibility. Believe me.)

Say things like: "Oh, I could do that!" and "Now that's what I'm talking about!" (especially if you are a man looking at a painting of a nude.)

Also, spend as much time in the museum gift shop as you do in the museum itself.

Next: Go to Dinner

Choose a high end, little known restaurant where they use square plates and stack the food all in the middle. If your hair gets in your face, don't bother setting down your fork when you brush the stray strand away and fling the food onto the floor behind you. Try to not let Roo notice that you did it. Also, pass your entrees back and forth between yourself and your date and use your tiny bread plate to cut up the filet mignon.

Next: Dessert and People Watching

Bypass the luxurious restaurant cheescake for Dippin' Dots in a styrofoam coffee cup that you bought from the movie theater even though you're not going to a movie. Sit outside a watch the people walk by.

Roo: Are you silently judging everyone who walks by, too?
Annie: No!
Silence for awhile. Someone walks by.
Annie: Can you tell me if that was a man or a woman?

Finally: Go to the Symphony at Abravanel Hall

While walking to your seat, make note of every place that Jason Bourne or Sydney from Alias could potentially jump off of to beat up bad guys. Then compare the floor layout to the course from Nintendo's Marble Madness video game.

Now notice the beautiful glass artwork in the foyer (and pronounce that foy-ay):
Roo: There is nothing I would like more than to shoot that thing with a shotgun.
Annie just nods.

Listen to the pre-concert lecture where the assistant conductor mentions that Beethoven's 9th Symphony is especially flavorant.
Roo: Flavorant? Is that even a word?
Annie is too busy wondering if we could outsmart security and spend the night in here to listen or respond.

While listening to the music:
Roo: What's a concerto?
Annie: I don't know.
Roo: What did Hayden write?
Annie: I don't know.
Roo: Who is better, Mozart or Beethoven?
Annie: I don't know.
Roo: Who is that guy from Alias that the pianist looks like? You know, the bad guy?
Annie: Roger Moore.
Roo: Yeah! That's the guy.

End the evening by sprawling on the couch in your underwear while watching TV late into the night. Then let your dog sleep in your bed with you.

This concludes our lesson for today. If you have any questions, I'll be here picking filet mignon out of my teeth with a pocket knife.

(Thanks for the fun date, Roo! I had an awesome time!)

Sunday, September 7, 2008

California: What's Not to Love?

If you can overlook the rage-inducing traffic jams, horrendously overpriced housing, potentially dangerous amount of air pollution, we think there's an awful lot to love about California. Our recent trip just proved that to us again. Here's what we love:

1. The road trip: Ten long hours in a car, good music, frequent food and treat stops, and the largest thermometer in the world in Baker, CA. This time, we got a ride with our sweet friend Sarah Champion, who is moving to LA. Around Ontario, she went her way into the city and we went ours. We were happy to hear later that she arrived at her mom's house without getting lost in Inglewood which would have meant near certain death. Thanks for the ride, Sarah!

2. There's always somewhere new to go that is surprising and beautiful. We drove up a winding road (and through the tunnel where they filmed Back to the Future--any real fans will know what scene I'm talking about), and up to the Griffith Observatory. Roo loved it for the science and I loved it for its beautiful Art Deco 1930's architecture. It overlooked downtown on one side, and if you look behind you, you'll see the Hollywood sign. We'd never been here before, and I think it's one of the neatest places I've been in LA.

3. The Hollywood Bowl: Every year we have the tradition of seeing John Williams conduct the LA Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. We love listening to our favorite movie tunes with people wining and dining all around in the warm evening. We also love the homeless guy at the entrance who earns extra change by making his grungy dog hand puppet sing old showtunes.

I took this panoramic picture of the bowl. There are ten thousand people there, but it still feels cozy.

4. Knocking out my father-in-law on Wii Boxing.

5. The Beach. You may be like Roo and think that you can choose to not swim at the beach...

...but then you walk up on that rock back there to look at the view and a giant wave crashes and soaks you completely. I know because that's what happened to me here. You can't tell, but I'm completely soaked. But the view was nice...

Sunday, August 24, 2008

There is...Another

Last Saturday, Roo and I were running some errands and went to Petsmart to get Lando some more dog food. The problem is that we are a couple of suckers for animals and the pet adoption people knew it. Inside the store were a bunch of homeless pets, one of which was a one year old green-eyed cat. At first we just looked, then we held her, and before we knew it, we were buying a cat along with our dog food.

Lando has taken the new addition pretty well. He likes to nip at her until she swipes his face with her little white paw. I guess she's a little feisty--just like her namesake,

Leia.

When they aren't chasing each other, they get along famously!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Four down, Infinity to Go

We got married four years ago today.

Time flies when you're having fun!

Friday, August 15, 2008

What Kind of Dog is That?

A few days ago, Roo was taking Lando out for a walk when he met a little neighbor kid who took an interest in the dog.

"What kind of dog is that?" he asked.

Roo was about to answer, but the kid didn't need him to. He looked at the dog and said, "He looks like he's part wiener dog part...(he thought for a second)...crazy."

How right you are, my friend...how right you are.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Wolf Creek--The Stuff of Legends

It is interesting how we are still getting to know our parents and our past even after years of living right next to them. Last weekend Roo and I went along with my dad camping with his side of the family. We drove up together in dad's pickup, Roo with Lando on his lap and me in the middle. It was cozy and made for excellent conversation. We drove through Park City up the mountain to Wolf Creek, the site of Wright family campouts and sheep herding for decades. My dad and his dad and his dad had worked and played here for years and years, and on the drive up we listened to my dad reminisce and retell the old legends and stories that happened here.

Wolf Creek is true wilderness, and the view to the valley below is breathtaking. After an evening of reminiscing and smore making, we spent the next day hiking. My dad led us into his family's old campsite, which has been closed to vehicles for years. As we walked through the woods, we found carvings made by my grandfather, my own father, and my many relatives over the years. Some call it vandalism, but it felt like seeing a part of my own history to see my grandfather's 1944 carving--like part of him is still ali

ve here. It was neat to see how thrilled my dad was to see the place of so many idyllic childhood memories. We were returning to the homeland. I'm glad he took us with him.

NORMAN WRIGHT 8/5/1944 (my grandpa)