For those of you at home - G4 is having an Arrested Development marathon - enjoy!

I've decided to blog about this season because;

a. I love the show

b. Two people from Boulder are on the show, which I've already mentioned before, but will do it again; Melissa and Hosea.

My post is going to be uber short because Doug is allowing me to get Sex and The City: The Movie On Demand tonight and because I'm saving all of my energy for my real ring post that will be coming shortly.

Quickly - my predictions for the top chefs that make it to the end (anyone want to bet lunch?): 

1. Stefan - because everything he makes appears to be awesome.
   
2. Fabio - he can cook and the judges really like him.
   
3. Jamie - her love of SSOUUUPPP is going to take her far.
   
4. Carla/Leah - both silent winners. Well, Carla isn't too silent, but they are showing a lot of her for a reason.
5. Hosea - I have to say him because Jax is my favorite restaurant in town.
   

After next week's episode, I may narrow it down.

On to my Boulder restaurant reviews:

Doug and I recently partook in First Bite Boulder. We ventured to the Greenbriar Inn and I have to say, it was average. I really loved the lamb that Doug ordrered, but my steelhead trout was just, well, average. The gnocchi appetizer I ordered had great flavor, but was overcooked. I'm going to put it on my list of 'don't go out of your way, but if someone is taking you, might as well.'

We also went to Radda recently. The appetizers we ordered weren't the best, but the dinner was delicious. The cocktails were laughable. Even worse, actually. I don't care if you're a wine place, learn how to make a cocktail. No Captain in house, no type of Seagram's whiskey, so I resort to the Gin Days and order a Tom Collins with a splash of grenadine. What do I get? Half of a tumbler full of gin on the rocks with  a splash of grenadine. What, not sweet and sour mix and no soda water? Geez. Doug's Jack and water was even worse, I'm not even going to take the time to explain. All in all, I give them just a bit higher than the rating I gave the Greenbriar.

My ratings:

1. Greenbriar Inn: C+
2. Radda Trattoria: B-

Doug's ratings:

1. Greenbriar Inn: B+
2. Radda Trattoria: B-

For all of you Boulderites, I'll get a list going of my favorite restaurants in town, so you know what I'm comparing them to. 

On to the movie!

We hold a monthly Twitter contests for one of our clients, SmartyPig. If you're looking to save for something, say, a wedding, or a new TV, this is the place. I'm not plugging for them, but genuinely believe in their service.

Back to the main point. The video. Enjoy us being complete nerds (my cohorts are Jason, Cofounder of Room 214,  who is doing the sweet dancing, Wendy, also with some sweet dance moves of her own, Stepan, who is lurking in the corner and James, Cofounder of Room 214,  doing a great job filming): 

Yep, we actually posted that on their blog for all of their customers to see. With that, Happy Halloween!

My Dad is visiting this weekend and I'm looking very forward to it. We're going to the Stanley Hotel for a Ghost Tour on Saturday - SPOOKY, hopefully. I'll have some updates and pics when the weekend is over. I also have a long overdue post going out to one Miss Genevieve!

TTFN

TWO chefs from Boulder, CO made it onto the show. One, a man named Hosea, who is (would it be - was?) the executive chef at Jax Fish House. For those of you who don't know - Jax is my favorite restaurant in Boulder - my favorite meaning it's usually my birthday dinner spot. Yeah - that kind of favorite. That said, I can't wait to see what he's going to cook up on this season.

As for the second chef, I'm not as impressed. She's the sous chef at Centro, which I don't think is that great. It used to be a place called Rhumba that served really bad jerk chicken, in my opinion. However, Jax and Centro (as was Rhumba) are owned by the same company. Which reminds me, one of my other favorite restaurants in Boulder is owned by the big red f restaurant group, too - Zolo. About a year ago, they changed their fish tacos and now, the dish is not nearly as good, but still worth going for. As for the guacamole, out of this world - best guac in town.

Back to Top Chef - the other chef is Melissa. I'm basing the fact that she will be good; not on her experience at Centro, but because she's from Maryland and knows about the amazing Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs.

What I wouldn't give to have one now....

It's really me, isn't it? I know - I think so too. It's a pink-purple center diamond set in platinum and rose gold. Total carat weight of 3.43. I've heard the saying that it's not really love unless it's 2 carats and I couldn't agree more. The person who came up with that saying is a friggin genius. Pure geniusy. I now know that he loves me 3.43 much. That's a lot.

How much, you say? Well, I'm not sure I really should reveal that, but, oh, fine, make me. A measly $259,999.99 from Costco, if you want to go out and get yourself one of these beauties. However, mine is one of a kind, so good luck finding it. It looks even better in person without the photo-shopped sparkles.

Honestly - if one is going to spend $259,999.99 do you think they're buying it at Costco? Is it really necessary to make you think you're getting a deal by placing the $0.99 on the end? Actually, I can answer my own question: yes - if it were $260,000.00, there is no way in hell you'd catch me wearing that thing.

Now onto the good stuff. Doug proposed to me on my birthday after a great dinner and FABULOUS dessert, I might add (It was a towering bowl of whipped cream, marshmellowy substance of some kind and a bunch of berries. I'm getting hyper and double vision just thinking about it. Um, okay, I shouldn't really think about that again. In fact, I should probably wear a button of some kind that says "Do not feed sugar." Then I could bust out the line "as evidenced by this button").

Back to the good stuff - he proposed to me in our neighborhood park while we were walking Zoe. Here comes the warm fuzzy stuff - it was perfect. Even though it wasn't really a surprise (I was told he was going to do it just hours before), I had butterflies in my stomach and can't remember one word of the wonderful stuff he said while he was down on one knee. Notta one. I think that might mean I love him more than 3.43 much.

Done with my lunch now, so must get back to work. I've done something idiotic and joined a coed soccer league that plays on Wednesday nights. Last game I pulled both of my quad muscles and hobbled around for the next two days on my 'wounded stumps' (Doug's sweet reference to my legs). I'll blog later and let you know what kind of pain I'm in as a result of tonight's game (for your information - I didn't play more than 2 minutes of the game last week - I pulled them before the game even started).

I couldn't have asked for a better culmination to my summer travels than the beautiful state of Oregon. For my readers: WARNING - I still think I work for the Oregon Tourism Board. Even though I actually haven't, I tout Oregon as the best place on earth. I heart Oregon the most of all. Browse my pics of Oregon, as well as a few from Jess and Dan's wedding. If there is one thing I've learned over the years - professional photographers take much better pictures than I do, so I don't even try.

My summer travels have seen me in Austin, Texas, back 'home' in Delaware (YEAH JOE BIDEN), New Jersey, Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon (twice), Taos/Angel Fire, New Mexico, Crested Butte and all over Wisconsin. Yep - it's been a busy one. I never did get around to that pop culture contest, did I? Okay - I promise it's coming in September. I'll have a lot more time this month. Who would have thunk that Dolph Lundgren would be such a popular topic...

Back to Oregon. Ah, Oregon. Do I miss thee. I would move back to Portland in a heartbeat and I don't think I speak only for myself. I'm pretty sure that most of the close friends that I met there would move back, too. You see, the thing about Portland is that no one knows just how great of a place it is. When I was moving to Colorado, I used to get so annoyed, and still get annoyed when people say 'Oh, Colorado, Beautiful!' You know, it is gorgeous and there are a lot of things that I enjoy about my life here. However, it's not even close to how much I enjoyed Portland. Not even a tiny bit. I could go on forever, but I'll spare you.

Another thing I know - I have an amazing set of friends. I'm sure all people say that, but I really do. I'm still close with the guys and gals from high school, most people I met while in college, and those I've met in Portland and Colorado. Driving through the Columbia River Gorge in the morning, only to catch sunset over the Rockies led me to realize how lucky I am. I'm lucky to have lived in and traveled to such gorgeous places, and am really lucky to have the friends I do. I wish that the contingents of people that I know on the east coast, west coast and the fly over states could all just move to one central place. That would be the life. Anywho...I should stop now before I start crying balling like I did during my speech at the wedding this weekend.

Summer of travels '08 is now over.

Oh, and to top it all off, Burnie (no, it's BURN-IE - that's some pop culture trivia for you, right there) not only pet sat for us once again, but I came home to an autographed copy of Mike Gordon's new CD that he got from the Fox show. Pretty sweet gift and he owes me nothing, nada, zero. I owe him a lot more, believe you me. See - good friends, I tell you.

As I'm answering things and picking pictures about the Amalfi Coast in Italy, blue, cool whip and other nonsense that no one cares about, I stumbled onto question #10. What do you love most in life? Now - that's just ridiculous. Is the appropriate answer oranges, playing scrabble, stars? I mean, who the heck answers this type of stuff on a blog or in an email? My answer: this is a stupid question. I type that into Flickr and lo and behold....

The caption under it reads:

Piggy: Why are you asking me all these stupid questions? And what's an alibi? I didn't do anything and that's it.
Holmes: No reason to get hysterical. This has to be done. But I guess there's nothing more you can tell, so you can go.

What the hell? Miss Piggy in her evening wear, Sherlock Holmes and Captain Jean-Luc Picard talking biz over breakfast? Where'd they get the mini Entenmann's? Does that chocolate cake in the background talk? One more thing I just noticed - the calendar on the fridge is the Swedish Chef. I need that calendar, badly. Or a calender of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Seems as though someone on Flickr is making a soap opera out of pictures that they take of toys in a dollhouse or something. Interesting, no? Hilarious, no?

Oddly enough, this reminds me of my favorite xmas card that I've ever received. My friend Lisa has a knack for impeccably creative cards and each year, I can't wait to get them. My all time favorite was a card she sent when we were both living in Portland. It had a bunch of GI Joe's in a manger scene that she picked up from a garage sale. Caption: I Hope Your Holidays Are Action Packed. I'm laughing as I write this.

Another friend of mine emailed a picture of some stuffed animals he took in a compromising position that really cracked me up. Actually, he sent it to Doug, but I was lucky enough to see it. At least I know that there are other people out there in the world that find this stuff funny. Like dogs playing poker - why so funny?

No reason to get hysterical. "Woah, Leo, no need to get angry - calm down."

If you want to watch more - here are videos on YouTube.

I have also realized that I'm completely addicted to the Summer Olympics. Gotta go watch...

I really do. Every part of our trip to Wisconsin I enjoyed immensely; fishing with Doug and his father on a 15,000 acre lake in the north woods, having absolutely scrumptious meals cooked by his mother everyday, seeing good friends in Madison (my first visit to Madison) and celebrating at Mike and Becky's wedding. 

Oh, and not to mention The Terrace. I loved the University of Delaware and wouldn't trade my college days for anything. However, I have to admit, this is slightly better than the Deer Park Tavern (although the history is amazing) or The East End. Madison is a good place. Here's a pic of Doug on the Terrace overlooking Lake Mendota:

Check out some pics of the Turtle Flambeau Flowage (the lake where Doug's parent's cabin is), Madison, friends, the wedding and various other fun stuff. 

That said, I think my top 5 comedies that were/on TV are:

1. Seinfeld
2. Arrested Development
3. Curb Your Enthusiasm
4. The Office
5. Flight of the Conchords (although, 4 and 5 haven't really been on long enough to be able to determine that - but that's the list as of now).
   

We're off to the north woods, John Candy style for the weekend/week. Then we'll hit Mad-town, home of Camp Randall stadium, the stadium with the most envy of the Big House in all the land. Wow - it's almost college football season. Not sure how good the Victors will be this year, that makes me sad. You Badgers fans were hoping for a different kind of wow, weren't you?

Anyway, I've come to learn that my readers need to brush up on their pop culture trivia so I've decided that in August, I'm going to run a little contest - this time, for a prize. Like extreme sports band-aids, a squash from our garden or a Portland Beavers bobblehead from '94. No, I kid, I kid. I think it'll be for a cooler prize than that, like a signed autograph 8x10 glossy, Dolph Lundgren style.

So, for the last week of July, I go away, to the land of no internet and no cell phone reception. I hope to come back a more enlightened being, which will be impossible not to accomplish. Perhaps I'll learn how to levitate.

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye - adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu. Brush up on your pc trivia while I'm gone, will you?!

Oh, and watch this clip:

If you haven't yet done this hike - I highly recommend it. To get to Brainard Lake from Boulder, take Lee Hill Drive just off North Broadway (LOTS and LOTS of road bikers, so be prepared to be the pedestrian) to Old Stage Road. Old Stage will dead end - take a left onto Left Hand Canyon into Ward. Once through Ward, take a right onto Highway 72 (Peak to Peak) and then an immediate left into Brainard Lake Rec. Area. The drive from Boulder is about a 1/2 hour.

If you want to take a more scenic drive and have a little extra time, you can just follow Canyon Road into Nederland and then follow the signs to Highway 72. Go north on Highway 72 and Brainard Lake will be on your left just past Ward. Takes a little longer - about 45-50 minutes.

Now - back to those bikers. I think the road bikers in Boulder are insane. Boulder has three major roads that swerve through the Canyons into the Indian Peaks Wilderness area.

These 'major' roads are two lane roads that curve and bend in every direction up, up and up. AND UP - without much of a shoulder, at all. At any given time, on any given day, you are bound to see massive amounts of bikers, old and young, making their way up. When I catch a glimpse of any number of the climber's faces - they look like they are in serious pain. I mean what I imagine to be giving birth pain. Their bikes are in the lowest gear possible, their calves look like they are going to pop out of their skin and explode and their faces are as red as possible from the oxygen deprivation that their body has been experiencing the past 20 miles.

Mind you, the way down is no exception. I'm not sure I need to be doing 45mph on my bike while flying around hair pin turns and passing cars all the way. Nope. Not for me. Now, I love a nice bike ride and a great work out, but this is the EXTREME. I guess it is Boulder. I once had someone ask me what three extreme sports I partake in - "you know, if you live in Boulder you've got to be serious about 3 extreme sports." There really is no joke to that. We even have 'extreme sports' band-aids at the grocery store. They made out of town guests of mine pee their pants they were laughing so hard.

Back to the biking. I'd love to know how it feels, so maybe one day I'll do it. But, I do like my life, so I think I'll skip riding up Baseline, Canyon or Lee Hill on my shitty bike. If you're reading this and you're a biker - enlighten me about why you might do this, because just to get a good work out, or get out on a Saturday morning doesn't do it for me.

I've updated Flickr for all of you voyeurs out there. Well, and for me as I need an alternative to relying on my pos cpu to actually not crash and save pics.

Now for the real news: Doug and I have a community garden plot a block away from our house. We planted everything from seeds a little over a month ago and now have a good amount of produce growing (disclaimer: by using the term 'growing' I actually mean that there is green stuff in our garden that makes it look pretty. Not many plants have fruit on them, yet). We planted yellow squash, green peppers, cucumbers, onions (both yellow and chives), tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe and a handful of flowers. Tonight, we enjoyed our first meal with our fresh produce - a yellow squash. Below is a pic of our garden (just the first plot is ours) and our yummy dinner tonight.

We had a huge yellow squash to work with! So, I cut it up...

Threw it in a pan with some zucchini, garlic, onions, fresh oregano and fresh rosemary from the herbs on our porch, salt & pepper and a dash of Maggi...

Made some angel hair pasta and heated up some diced tomatoes, threw it all in a bowl and tossed it with a little bit of EVOO and topped with grated romano cheese.

I have to admit, it was the best dinner that I have made and eaten in a while. Now, for those of you that don't know, Doug has quite an interesting palette. When I'm away or 'eating light' he enjoys his favorite bachelor dinner of Kraft Mac & Cheese mixed with tuna. Mind you, Doug was a chef for some time and if he wants to cook well, he can do it. However, that doesn't stop him from eating all sorts of boxed and frozen shit. He LOVES having nutty bars (yes, the Little Debbie ones) for dessert.

Now, while we were eating I asked him if it was better than his frozen dinners. He replied "um....[long pause]...yeah, I guess, in some ways."  HUH? In some ways?

"It doesn't have any meat."

Ouch.

Bird's Eye Voila! Chicken Alfredo - 1, Getzan - 0.

Better luck next time.

In the meantime, I'm going to run a blog experiement and see if anyone catches on to it (Burnie - you can't participate). Just to give you a hint - this is the first one. I think I'll do it for the month of July - good luck all.

My travel is slowing down - at least for a few weeks. In the last two months, I've been to Austin, Texas, Southern California (LA area), Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey (all in the same trip, of course, but it sounds a lot cooler to say all three states than the mid-Atlantic) and Portland, Oregon. Next up: Wisconsin and then back to the love of my life, Portland, Oregon. It's a full summer ya'll.

For your reading enjoyment - Nate has returned to the blogging world - http://www.bumpersmash.blogspot.com/  His blog is sure to be full of some very entertaining crap. Much more entertaining than my crap. For instance, he has a conversation going about mustachioed baseball players as you're wasting time reading this. Very hip. Get over there.

Speaking of entertaining - we (at work) are doing some work with the Travel Channel and got our hands on a sneak peek video of the 2nd half of Anthony Bourdain's 4th season of No Reservations which premiered last night with an episode in Laos. It's a great video:

I have so much to blog about, too - that never happens! My trip back east, my nephews, my surprise at work when I came back from vacation, the community gardens, my upcoming trip to Portland for Jess's bachelorette party (happening tomorrow) and a whole slew of other 'random shit in the city' (that one's for you - and you know who you are).

I can't take time out at work to blog, so I'll update you as soon as my computer is in full swing again (sometime next week, I hope).

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this:

Ha - it's just too good to be true!!

So what happened at the Joe Louis Arena on Monday night? GEEZ! Lord Stanley would be proud. "The Face" of the NHL, Mr. Sidney Crosby is proud. The NHL franchise is proud. (Surprisingly Game 3 had more viewers than the Pistons vs. Celtics game. Who knew?)

However, I am not. Now we have to win the cup in Pittsburgh, or drag it out to a game 7, just to make the late Joe Louis proud. I know what you're saying, 'a typical comment from a typical Red Wings fan.' You know what, reader - suck it up. I hope you're not one of those people who hate the Wings because they are 'the Yankees of hockey.' Feh.

GO RED WINGS!

(Zoe Shef-Getz is unsure who to root for because Doug is an Avs fan. barf.)

I talked to my dad yesterday after the race and he quickly said "Oh...boy, how was it? You and I just aren't built for running." That's an understatement. The thick Getzan legs are perfect for short sprints on the hockey field or side shuffles on the tennis court, but I certainly am not tall, with lean legs, like most runners. However, I do have endurance, so I got that going for me.

I had to participate in the 2nd largest 10K in the country this year (as this is the first time I've been in town in the almost 4 years that I've lived here). It's nothing but a good time with bands playing along the way, people offering you bloody marys as you're running, and a good supply of sprinklers to run through. I wasn't aiming for speed, by any means, as I ran about a 12-13 minute mile. My goal was really to at least jog the whole time, which is exactly what I accomplished. I ran it with 3 friends, who were awesome BolderBOULDER partners - thanks Megan, Burn and Kate! I should get a finish picture emailed to me within the next couple of days, so I'll make sure to post it - it's bound to be a good one.

Some stats for you:

• My division place (females who are 31) was: 566 out of 673.
  
• My gender place was: 18,692 out of 26,287.
• The course starts at 5,300 feet with the highest point being at 5,391 feet and runs all through Boulder.

I shouldn't leave out that my favorite band playing along the way was doing an awesome cover of Van Halen's 'Running With the Devil'. If you happen to know who this was - let me know!

So, I thought I'd share our poker night pics with you from this weekend. Enjoy.

Here are the cards I was dealt most of the night:

Here's a few more:

If you want to check out pictures from the night and others - check out my pics on Fllickr.

My sister is graduating from nursing school this weekend. I have no idea how she did it, with a family - and included within that family are twins, no less! But, she did. I wish I could be out there celebrating her accomplishments, as well.

Erika - I hope that you have a fabulous weekend and know how proud all of us are of you!

By the way - my sis needs to uproot her family and move here, soon - those little boys are getting Jersey accents, I swear to it. Just check out this pic from the younger years. Tell me you don't hear a Jersey accent.

You may have already seen it by now, but Things Younger Than McCain is really worth your time. Plain and simple, it's damn funny.

Some of my favorites include: The Chocolate Chip Cookie, Scientology, Alaska (and Hawaii), McDonald's and Teflon. Are you kidding me? Geez, McCain, you are ancient.

Actually, putting down Scientology as one of my favorites just allowed me to post the awesome Saturday Night Fever pic below. When I was little, I used to dance on our oriental carpet and pretend it lit up like the SNF dance floor. Or, wait, was that after the 'Beat It' video came out?

Thanks to Andrew Hyde for the Tweet about it!

You might think that I would spend my precious blogging time expressing my thoughts about Obama picking up 26 super delegates in the last week, global warming, the recent earthquake in China, or the cyclone that devastated Myanmar (latter day Burma). However, that is not the case. I've chosen to entertain you, my dear readers, with my intelligent musings on my findings while thumbing through the latest issue of SkyMall.

Now, I have actually consciously tried to resist my love of SkyMall, but it hasn't worked. I've tried to not pick it out of the seat-back pocket in front of me, but to no avail. People who have traveled with me know my problem and those who have flown to see me many times, know to bring me the latest issue. However, every time I board a plane, I can't help but reach for the special in-flight entertainment (would it be considered that?) of the ever so popular random product magazine that is filled with the most useless crap you can think of. I do admit, though, that while thumbing through it this evening, I found some things that I might have actually ordered - like the marshmallow shooter, the talking R2-D2 robot, or the 206 bird song identifier.

So, without further adieu, I give you my favorite products of SkyMall, Late Spring 2008 issue:

Decorative Plant Stand Litterbox: ("The Greatest Gift" is the subtitle, just to let you know.) With its Tuscany handfinish, the new litter box looks like a real clay pot, complete with an attractive, artificial decorator plant. Simply turn the entrance to the wall and no one will know (if your cat doesn't tell)! Finally, A Decorative Litter Box You Don't Have To Hide!

"Keep Your Distance" Bug Vacuum: This cordless insect vacuum quickly captures bugs from up to 2' away. Flies, bees spiders and other insects are suctioned by a 22,400 rpm motor, sending the insect through a one-way valve in the extension tube to an electric grid in the handle that instantly kills the pest. The extension tube removes to place dead bugs in the garbage, shutting off the electric grid in the process to protect curious fingers from electrical shocks or burns. The lightweight plastic design allows complete control while chasing flying insects. I'm a huge fan that you can keep your 'curious fingers' from electrical shocks and that the lightweight design allows complete control while chasing bugs.

Rain Waterfall Gutter Chimes: Beautify your home on rainy or sunny days. Upgrade your home with Gutter Chimes. Typical downspouts are unattractive and hide water, but these decorative, linked copper cups look great as they channel rainwater where you want it to go. The description also says: On sunny days, they catch the light and will acquire a rich patina over time. Wonderful, that must be a beautimous way to hide those unsightly gutters.

Train Yourself to Stop Snoring: Wear it on your wrist when going to sleep and the tiny microphone detects snoring and sends safe electronic pulses to the wrist. The pulses are not powerful enough to disrupt your sleep, but will make you change position and then the snoring stops. The last sentence of the descriptions says: Extended use may actually train the body to stop snoring.

In case you're looking for your next purchase, or perhaps a gift, visit the SkyMall website.

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers: Just a great, fast, entertaining read filled with anything and everything about life. He's an extremely talented writer, who has been around for some time. TED has a great write up on him. However, I didn't enjoy You Shall Know Our Velocity and have yet to get into What Is the What after two attempts.
  
• The Kite Runner | A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossieni: If you haven't read these yet, you must live under a rock, have kids, think they are 'girly' (anything but), or are illiterate. It has been my impression that you favor whichever one you read second, which is surprising. The Kite Runner is also just recently out on DVD but I have yet to see it because it's subtitled and I'm that lazy. Horrible - I'm aware of that.
  
• Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff: If there was ever one book in which the back description does no justice, this is it. I wouldn't have picked this up in the bookstore, yet, it's easily one of my favorites on recommendation from Nate. A fiction story about a man with multiple personality disorder - but don't think Sybil, nor Me, Myself and Irene. The book is written extremely well and is really more of a story with many characters.
  
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole: I'm not even sure how to preface this book. In short, it's about a social nerd living life in New Orleans. Word has it that John Kennedy Toole committed suicide and his mother had his manuscript published. I may have that wrong, though.
  

A few authors in which everything they've written should be read:

• Tom Robbins: I'm partial to Jitterbug Perfume and Skinny Legs and All, but any and every book by him is the best. "Master of the Metaphor" as he's known. I had to include this short description of him on Wikipedia - "His novels are complex, often wild stories with strong social undercurrents, a satirical bent, and obscure details." He was a philosophy major with a religion minor in college, if that helps you.
  
• David Sedaris: Holidays on Ice and Me Talk Pretty One Day are my favorites.
  
• I wasn't really sure if he should get his own bullet point, but what the hell, Bill Bryson here you go, your own bullet point on igetzit.com. Now you're a star. Start with A Walk in the Woods, which focuses on his time hiking the Appalachian Trail. He actually has some sort of website, too!
  

Where are all of my favorite female authors? This is no good. Ladies, speak up if you have some. Oh wait, Anne Lamott definitely makes the list, who else?

On a very different note: I'm not too depressed and you shouldn't be either, Flyers fans - they have lost the first game of each series in the playoffs this year. Here's to a good game on Sunday. In other news, the Wings continue to kick ass. I'm not wearing any pants, film at 11.

I don't have many celeb encounters. In fact, one of my guilty pleasures is reading In Touch magazine (for the Sudoku, of course, as US doesn't have the games) and watching horrible reality TV (think The Hills). So, as you can imagine, when I do happen to stumble upon someone that I consider to be a celebrity, I usually don't have the most profound things to say.

My first run-in with Mr. Krakauer was at Brandon and Kate's wedding last summer. I have to admit that once I noticed him, I would randomly check in on what he was doing from across the room - while we were having dinner, listening to speeches, dancing, etc. I wasn't stalking him, I was just waiting for the right time to approach him and tell him how much I enjoyed Into Thin Air.

Sure - like that was going to be something original he had never heard before.

I came to the conclusion that I would be just another annoying fan, but decided to say something anyway, as I probably would never have the chance to speak with him again. I sheepishly walked up to him (for those of you that know me, you can attest that I'm anything but sheepish, but I swear, I was being quite shy) and introduced myself. Much to my surprise, he patiently listened to me rant about how I'll never know Everest first hand and that I appreciate he wrote about his experience. He responded with an extremely sincere thank you; he was warm, friendly, approachable and was the opposite of what I expected. I guess I expected someone who would act bored with my comments, or brush me off. Krakauer does live in Boulder and there are a lot of mountaineers/climbers/adventurers who live here, but he still acted as if it was the first time someone told him their opinion of his book.

My second encounter with Krakauer was at Brandon and Kate's house this past weekend. Kate just finished taking the boards for med school (congratulations!), and was celebrating that, as well as her birthday. Her parents were in town (that is the connection with Krakauer), and much to my surprise, he was there on Saturday night for her little soirée. This time, we were having dinner and hanging out in a very intimate setting with many opportunities for me to say something completely unoriginal to him. Of course, I jumped at the chance and once again, he was very friendly and seemed as if he appreciated and cared about what I had to say.

By this meeting, I had watched Into The Wild and immediately bought the book afterwards. I love the book, and read it in a day. I told him that I thought the movie was great and came out really well (I had read about the family's apprehension for the past 10 years, about Sean Penn wanting to make it perfect, and about Krakauer's hard work interviewing whomever he could that crossed paths with Chris McCandless). We talked briefly; I told him that I enjoyed the chapters he included of his time in Alaska (I really wanted to say something about him lighting his tent on fire because he was smoking, but held back) and he responded with the fact that many people have told him that is their least favorite part of the book. I found that to be a surprise, but then laughed, letting him know I had heard that from some people.

Again, Krakauer wasn't arrogant (I didn't really expect him to be this time, but he's pretty famous, and I guess I just assume it comes with the territory) and was seemingly eager to talk. Later in the evening, he was discussing his new project, a book on Pat Tillman, with the group, how it is much more interesting than he had imagined, and how it has been extremely intense, hard work. He spent 4 months in Afghanistan and has been collaborating with Pat Tillman's mom (who also wrote a book, which is out this week).

Under the Banner of Heaven is next in my que (no, I'm still not finished reading Kitchen Confidential), so hopefully, by the next time I see him, I'll have something to say about that one, as well (actually, I hope I can conjure up some more interesting conversation for him). I did tell him that when I was in the Border's on the 29th Street Mall, the man who helped me reach (they were on the top shelf - way too high for someone who is 5'1) Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven told me that the latter was by far his best work. Krakauer said on Saturday night, "it's the weirdest, for sure." I can't wait!

In case you haven't read anything by him yet, I suggest at least the two I've read, and from what I've heard, the third, as well. Here are links and reviews of the books:

• Into thin Air
• Into the Wild
• Under the Banner of Heaven
  

4 years of RARELY having a day off, working exhaustingly hard, writing, reading, presenting, grading and everything else that your world has been is finally coming to a close!!

So, here's to all of your hard work, I'm constantly amazed by you.