Another Day at the Happiest Place on Earth

Another Day at the Happiest Place on Earth
Originally uploaded by mayshelley.

A Hippopotamus + A Rabbit = A Hip-Hop

Giraleffant
Originally uploaded by mayshelley.

You are probably saying to yourself, "If May talks about Napoleon Dynamite one more time I"m going to immediately remove this website from my favorites website folder (which May magically placed this website in) and re-evaluate my friendship with her." Then I remembered that this is my blog and I'm going to write about whatever I darn feel like writing about.

So here I go....for the past two days I have been substituting at the Alternative-Ed High School that I work at during the summers. The group of students in the class I worked in this week is one of the best groups I've had within the four years. Today I was working with a group of students on Math and somehow we got off topic and I was explaining to them that a Liger is a real animal. The math lesson turned into a Science lesson about cross-breeding of various species. After a few minutes of discussion, the students got on-task and continued with their Math work. In the corner of my eye, I noticed one of my students drawing something instead of doing his math work. The photo on this blog is a picture from my camera phone of his drawing. (Don't worry I have his permission to post it) He thought it would be really awesome if a Giraffe and an Elephant mated, hence the "Giraleffant." What can I say, my students are creatively gifted!

Written While Listening to "First Thing Tomorrow" by Kelsey Bulkin

Slave to the Bean

Disneyland coffee
Originally uploaded by mayshelley.

I'm at home this week for my spring break. Note that spring break isn't capitalized or emphasized a lot like a frat boy on the beaches of Cancun might say it (SPRING BREAK 2005!! WOO HOO). My spring break consists of watching tivo'ed shows, kickin it with the parentals, and checking my e-mail 200 times a day instead of the normal fifty. Yesterday morning I was surprised to come downstairs to find the world's greatest cup of coffee brewing (thanks Dad) and my twin sister's Disneyland pass waiting on the counter. So off to Disneyland I went. I was surprised to find out that my whole family, cousins and all, were at Disneyland that day for Naw Ruz. It seems that the whole Fam-Damily was planning this trip and unknowingly left me out of the loop until that morning.
My family loves discounts. This may come from having so many family members, that one learns to take advantage of any type of discount or loophole. It's not surprising to hear my Grandpa rattle off the list of discounts at any department store: AAA, seniors discount, Diner's Club of America, etc. Leave it to my Gramps to find Disneyland's one loophole. For $2.39 (perhaps Disneyland's cheapest item in the park) you can buy a regular sized coffee with free refills. When you want a coffee refill, you simply take your used coffee cup and the food service "Cast members" will exchange it for a new cup of fresh coffee. A few years back I noticed as we were entering the park, my Grandpa pulled out an empty Disneyland coffee cup from his Jacket pocket. He then explained to me that this was a cup he saved from his previous visit and was going to redeem the old cup for a new cup of coffee. When my Grandpa went to get his coffee and handed him the old cup, the "cast member" was confused because that was an old cup's design and Disneyland hadn't served that cup for over six months. Thankfully they still gave him a fresh cup of coffee in the newly designed cup. So yesterday, being the poor college student that I am, I was aching for a cup o Joe. While I was walking by an empty table, as if the coffee gods were shining a lone spotlight to show me the way to a coffee addicts salvation, an empty coffee cup sat there upon the table, taunting me "take me, I'm free." I looked around, made sure the coast was clear, and swooped up the empty coffee cup and redeemed it for a tasty, free cup of coffee. Is this considered stealing? Has my coffee addiction (yes, my friends I am admitting it) led me to cheat Disneyland out of $2.39 just so I can supply a constant IV drip of coffee to my veins?

Written While Listening to "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths

Doogie was the Original Blogger

doogie howser
Originally uploaded by mayshelley.

In the spirit of 2005 being the year of the Sweepstakes and the Blog, my favorite Aunt Juliet has been hooking me up with the 411 on the latest sweepstakes. This weeks sweepstakes, Doogie Howser the Lost Years, especially caught my attention. The contest is to submit a "Doogie like" blog entry in order to win tickets to the 2005 Emmy awards. As many of you know, one of my very few claims to fame is that my mom's first cousin is Wanda (Lisa Dean Ryan) from the t.v. show Doogie Howser M.D. Like all sweepstakes I enter, I checked the contest rules very closely; am I excluded because Wanda is my second cousin once removed? Blog away "Doogie style" my friends!! and if you win...you know who to bring.

Written While Listening to "The Legionnaire's Lement" by The Decemberists

Aggie for Life

For the past two and half years I have lived in the wonderful city of Davis, California while attending Sacramento State. Most of my days consist of studying and spending the majority of my time on the Davis campus and surrounding areas. One can often find me at Shields library, Mishka’s (the local UCDavis Coffee shop), or mooching swipes from the “Dormies”; I am even the Secretary of the UCDavis Baha’i club. Because I have a strong presence on the Davis campus and community, people are usually surprised when I tell them that I don’t even attend UCDavis. Well Ladies and Gentleman, as of today it is official….Next year I will be a UCDavis Aggie! Today I received my acceptance letter to the UCDavis Masters/ Credential program! Davis….Here I Stay!

Written While Listening to “Everything in Its Right Place” by Radiohead

Oh What Fun It is to Ride

In fifth grade- a very crucial time in every pre-adolescent’s life- I came across one of the most embarrassing moments of my childhood. While I was riding my bike to school, just as I did every morning, I cruised by the junior high school checking out the older seventh grade hunnies. Suddenly my front tire skimmed the freakishly awkward cut Long Beach grass and lost control of my bike, inevitably running into a parked car. As the crowds began to gather around (and the nurse brought out the stretcher and wheelchair) I had decided that boys were a bad distraction. Apparently, that life lesson only lasted a good two weeks before I completely forgot about it. Although I was not badly injured, I still have a permanent scar on both my left shin and my ego.
Shout out to Tati for sending me an article on sibling horses (Rusty and Becky) in Newfoundland that went on a wild rampage and smashed their sleigh into two cars, causing permanent damage. The article suggests that Rusty and Becky went on this car “slaying” spree because they were frustrated by a car’s exhaust fumes they were forced to breathe in; I found my accident lacking a good excuse. Life Lesson for the day: Boys and exhaust fumes only lead to horrible accidents involving parked cars.

Written While Listening to “Pressure Point” by The Zutons.

"This is the Night, Free Until the Morning Night"

Back in the day when I was a counselor at Bosch Baha’i School for Youth Week one summer, I met the famous “Slim Whodi.” This year Negin was trying to explain to me who “Slim Whodi” was and I couldn’t put a face to his name, but thanks to this video he sent me….it’s all coming back (Be sure to pump up the Volume).

Written While Listening to "Falling Away With You" by Muse

I Shall Start a Child Walking Service...Parents, Please Provide your own Leashes

Full Body Harness Leash
Originally uploaded by mayshelley.

Today is my dog Annie's eleventh birthday, which reminds me of one of my personal pet peeves; kids who are forced to wear full body harnesses. No, I am not referring to rock climbing equipment rather a dog like leash that parents strap on their kid's wrist, or belt onto their chest. Living within twenty minutes of Disneyland (the happiest place on earth for all children besides those in full body harnesses), I have witnessed this cruelty to young children far too many times.
A story that best explains my views on the issue is one of my sister Amy's coworker who wants to name his kids Freedom and Justice. When Freedom and Justice ripen to the age of walking he will strap on the kids full body harness leashes. Every time Freedom and Justice would try running away, he would whip their leashes back and yell out loudly for all to hear "Freedom, Justice come back here!"
I propose that we put an end to this child cruelty and ban on all Full-Body Harness Leashes. Instead I suggest taking an old beer (or Odouls) can filled with pennies and every time the child wants to run away or misbehaves, you shake the can incessantly in their ear until they have settled down.

Written While Listening to "Repilia" by The Strokes

Dawn is My Homegirl

I’m sure everyone knows of a few friends that are obsessed with Napoleon Dynamite to the point where they relentlessly quote it beyond sanity. Most of these friends that you have in mind are most likely between the ages of 13-19. By far, the biggest Napoleon Dynamite fan I know is the person responsible for bringing me into this world, our very own “Dawnkey.” I often find my mom quoting ND in everyday lingo. For example, When I was home from break I called up my mom and asked her what was for dinner and she continues to tell me to “make myself a dang que-sa-dilla” and then chuckles for a solid two minutes, quietly repeating the quote. My mom even went as far as going to one of the two forbidden stores in the mall, Hot Topic. For those of you who don’t know what Hot Topic is….it’s basically the Claire’s Accessories for the quasi-gothic and punk junior high aged kids. They sell “accessories” such as lava lamps, tacky Evanescence and Sum 41 posters, Anime shirts, “intimate toys”, and the largest known collection of Napoleon Dynamite paraphernalia. My mom’s current collection includes: buttons, two shirts, happy hands and many more. My mom is the most legit ND fan ever.
So when I received two ND e-mail forwards within 15 minutes today, I thought it only appropriate to dedicate today’s blog to my wonderful sophisticated highly intelligent Napoleon Dynamite loving mother. Dawn here’s to you!
Napoleon Dynamite Top Ten Clip (thanks Tati)
Which Napoleon Dynamite Character are you?

Written While Listening to "Chocolate" by Snow Patrol