Best Birthday Contest

Guess who turned four today?

(First person who answers correctly gets to choose if my next post will be about my trip to Six Flags Great Adventure a week ago or about the sandwich I made for dinner tonight. Either post is bound to be beautiful and awesome.)

Best "Tell Us What You Really Think, Brigham"

I have something to say about Sex and the City:

That TV show is garbage and the movie must be at least as bad and nothing about either is virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy. Don't waste anymore time or money or brain on this nonsense. It's wolves in wolves' clothing and the woman in the newspaper that spent $19,000 on a fake ticket got what she deserved.

Best Bringing of a Knife to a Gunfight

Guys, I saw Indiana Jones and the Adventure in the Jungle last night and, I don't know, maybe I'm very easily entertained this summer, but I thought it was magnificent! Pitch-perfect and perfectly entertaining. Maybe there were a couple of things I could nitpick about but, on the whole, Great Movie. I was surprised by how much I approved of Mutt, I was worried he'd be the JarJar of the movie (for those of you that didn't like Jar Jar)

Fun Fact: Did you know that at DisneySea their Indiana Jones ride is called "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull"? It is. And it predates this summer's movie by years. Wild.

This is what Collin has to say about the movie. He has more to say than me.

Also: This weekend I went to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. It is taking me forever to get the post made, but bear with me, when it comes to amusement park posts, I don't mess around.

Best Recommended Reading

Where are you Going, Where have you Been? by Joyce Carol Oates

I first read this story on the lawn in front of my great grandparents' home in Idaho. When I finished it I thought I'd be better off going back inside.

Today the story popped back into my head for no reason. You really ought to read it. But not on your computer monitor. Print it out and have a sit and read.

It's not like horror story scary necessarily, but it should spook you a little.

Best Memorial Taco

This morning's taco: chorizo egg and raisin.


It didn't start out as pretty as it ended.

Best Later on on Saturday

Later on on Saturday Collin and I had gotten off the subway and been to a couple of grocery stores (I was hunting for chorizo) and ran into Adrienne and Ashley. We walked around with them, went to clothing stores, called up Mike, sat in the Esprit and discussed the night and our hunger and decided to have spaghetti at my place. Because pasta is what I make! (and also tacos)

Had to stop into one more grocery store to find a few more ingredients. That's Mike and Adrienne, if you didn't know who Adrienne was. Or Mike.


Back to the apartment and I got right to work, cooking up sausage (non-chorizo sausage) and boiling up pasta.


Ashley gave the dessert a little pre-sampling.



Just because we were all busy chopping up things or grinding things didn't mean there wasn't time for fun.


Just as our hungers were about to consume us it was pasta-eating time!


Later on that night I'd get called-out for cutting my spaghetti, but here's photographic proof that for at least some of the night I was slurping!




Uhm, Adrienne, maybe you can explain why we don't have a picture of you during pasta-eating time?

Boy, I must be telling a real zinger here!


After dinner we were supposed to have s'mores but we didn't get around to it and Adrienne ate all the marshmallows.


Later on the girls went home and then it was just us guys and Mike got to fight with the TV, just like we all know he loves to do.


And that was the weekend! Well, pretty much. On Sunday I got asked to give a talk in my new ward (already?) and Sunday night everyone came over to watch Temple of Doom. No pictures. None.

Best Tuesday

Tuesday night I had the great fortune of being invited to the ballet. It was about pirates and watching all the ballerinas reminded me of this classic video from 2004:

Saturday there was a picnic in the Central Park (again? well, this one was a lot better organized and a lot better attended) on the part of the park called Pilgrim Hill. Let's get the history lessons out of the way, here's the statue of the Pilgrim that is found atop Pilgrim Hill, a hill dedicated to honoring the Pilgrims. Considering the difficulty I had as a child remembering the difference between Pilgrims and pioneers, it was a fitting place for all the Mormons to spend the day.


So many beloved faces were there, like Reghan and Lexia. Boy, it's been so long since we've seen Reghan and Lexia.


It's nice to know they're up to the same old stuff.


Yes, Maria, shocking, I know.


And there's Ali.


Ellie, showing off.


Di and a sandwich


I invented another food item, the a reverse nacho! It's Fritos wrapped in a slice of cheese. Totally delicious, of course!


Hey, it's Mindy! Being attacked by Collin.


Rescue! I was the hero! I was Mindy's hero!


Kristin gave Collin an airplane ride.


I spent a lot of time standing off to the side, wondering why no one would give me an airplane ride.


Or why no one wanted to share my orange soda.



Well, almost no one.



When the picnic was over I was a helper and we carried all the picnic stuff to the corner to get picked up.



Tim Riggins?


Activities-Chair Lindsay thought of a bright way to get rid of the leftover food.


(If you can't tell, she's trying to sell the bread)
With the picnic stuff sent off, Collin, Randy, Reghan, Lexia, Mike and I stuck around and held a picnic after party.





The afterparty was primarily tumbling-based.

/>handstands

cartwheels

These are two people walking their cat in the park. Of course. And the cat's name was Brad Pitt. Of course.


Later on, Collin met back up with his regiment.


At this point Saturday was far from over. Chance encounters on 14th Street lead to a spaghetti party like none other! Tune in next time I'm in the mood to upload pictures to learn all about it!

Best I Don't Just Cook Pasta

I also try out new taco recipes. For example, chorizo/potato/mushroom/onion tacos, as seen here.


Finding proper chorizo in a Manhattan grocery store? Pretty much impossible, mission not accomplished in this case. Finding acceptable corn tortillas? Also exceedingly difficult, failed in this case. But I bet the next time I make these tacos I get them right. Not that they weren't pretty good this time. But next time, watch out.

Best Gathering in Ages

Last week we did something we haven't done in a long time, hold a Guitar Hero gathering at my place. It was modestly attended, but totally excellent.




Mindy played for the first time and we all beheld a true love for Guitar Hero blossoming in her heart.


First time attender Amanda showed she had what it took to rock to the top.






Hey, look! It's Abby!


Over the months, as I've looked at other blogs and Facebook albums featuring people playing Guitar Hero I've realized how boring these pictures are to the people who weren't there. In fact, they're awful boring to the people that were there a lot of the time.

For example, the gathering was so boring that Matt thought the time would be better spent explaining population growth over the last two centuries to Emily. Yawners!


And then the Kansas City girls got caught up on the town gossip.


But then something happened that made the party exciting for us and for the internet, a superhero appeared!


There was something about him that seemed familiar, but we would never learn his secret identity.


Oh, wait. Nevermind.


Epilogue Jeff come over later that night. Are you ready for a t-shirt situation that will blow your mind?