Adventuresome Times

Tonight Sonia, Jeremy, and I set out for a night of adventure and rebellion, throwing in a little illegal activity where appropriate. We took nothing but a camera with dying batteries and the clothes on our back, starting out at Balboa Park and ending on Harbor Drive. Here's a recap of the night, complete with visuals:

Adventure 1: The Tree

Rebellious Activity Involved: Climbing a fence to explore forbidden territory; hiding from security while in said tree; swinging from the old and historic branches of said tree...

Mission Status: Complete

Adventure Two: Finding a Stick
Adventure Details: Use the stick to fish out a nickel from a fountain
Mission Status: Failed

Adventure Three: Throwing a Penny Over a Wall and Into a Fountain
Mission Status: Complete

Adventure Four: Analyzing death rates from various heights on suicide bridge
Mission Status: Disputed as to Completion

Adventure Five: Recreating the movie Over the Hedge
Rebellious Activity Involved: Potential Destruction of Property

Mission Status: Accomplished

Adventure Six: Walking the Creepy Tom Sawyer Staircase

Mission Status: Failed (It got too dark)

Adventure Seven: Standing on Your Head in Front of the Fountain

Mission Status: Complete

Attention Frequent Male Visitors of Apartment B22...

Another of my roommates, Sarah Adelaide Dignal is off the market. You may go cry alone now.

Update on the New Shoes

Well, we're off to a rocky start. By rocky I mean an agonizing forty-five minutes of shoe rubbing the tops of my toes raw until I was bleeding through my sock. I couldn't hide the limp as I walked to my car afterward.

You have bested me tonight, new shoes. But tomorrow you will learn submission....

New Shoes

I hate wearing shoes.

I blame my aversion of standard footwear on camp, where the rules state that closed toes shoes must be worn at all times with the exception of your bed, the showers, or the pool. Fortunately, as lifeguard for three summers, I was able to wear my beloved flip flops for half the day, only slipping on those old tennies when dinner came around and for subsequent meetings after.

All of this is to say I don't buy shoes often. I'm not a girly girl who has a million pairs of shoes. Most of my "shoes" are actually sandals in some form. In fact, the only shoes I ever wear serve a specific purpose, i.e., my running shoes and my soccer cleats or the shoes I wear when it's raining (I have this thing about getting my feet wet....). I just don't see the point in dirtying a pair of socks when I much prefer my flip flops. So when I go out and buy shoes it's not just for the heck of it. It is because I absolutely, desperately, can't get around it anymore, must buy another pair because the ones I am currently wearing could fall of my feet at any moment. Because that's pretty much the point my shoes get before I'll give in and spend money on a new pair:

I give you Exhibit A:




















As you can see I had far exceeded that point where I needed new shoes.

I think I could have gone a couple more months on these bad boys except that indoor soccer at school is starting up tonight, and I must admit the duct tape makes me a bit self-conscious. It's fine for running around the block, jogging to my pink ipod. It's completely different to actually wear them out in public.

So I bought me some new shoes and I even wore them to class tonight to break them in a bit before the inaugural game. Good luck, new tennies. I hope we have many good times together, and hopefully you will not end up with the misfortune of your predecessors, whose current home is the kitchen trash. Until tomorrow, when their new home is the city dump....

First up... Snow White

This one was way different than I remembered it. Snow White is kind of ditzy most of the time, but the prince still loved her... that's encouraging for the rest of us ditzy girls!

"I'm wishing for the one I love

To find me today

I'm hoping

And I'm dreaming of

The nice things he'll say"

Yup, good song.

... And They Lived Happily Ever After

Six months ago or so, Mandy and I were watching the Disney channel one night and happened to catch Cinderella. It was pretty rad seeing a movie you haven't seen since you were, like, five, and I got the idea to watch all the old Disney movies, especially the ones that I didn't quite "get" when I was little.

For instance, Jenna rented Lady and the Tramp last week, and as we watched it I realized just how much went over my head when I watched that movie as a kid. I mean, there are a lot of references in that movie that an eight-year-old doesn't get.

Currently, Sonia, Jenna, and I are watching Snow White, which we rented from the library (free movie rentals this month- go check it out). Actually Sonia is slightly mocking it. I think she may have been deprived of Disney as a child. But Jenna and I are watching it, and I highly recommend to all my adoring fans that you also take an "grown-up" look at this movie. I don't know how I watched it at age five without being absolutely terrified. Or, maybe I was and it's just one of my many repressed memories....

Here's the complete list of Disney movies, with dates and some fun facts, that I'll be checking off as I re-watch each classic. Oh, the hours of childish enjoyment ahead of us!


Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (12/21/1937) Granted a special Academy Award for screen innovation in 1938: one large and seven small oscars.
Pinocchio (02/07/1940)
Fantasia (11/13/1940)
Dumbo (10/23/1941) The first of the animated films to have been released on video.
Bambi (08/13/1942) As a bit of trivia, this is the animated feature with the fewest lines of dialog.
Saludos Amigos (02/06/1943) Set in South America, this film was targeted more towards the population in Latin America as the audience in Europe, and revenues from that continent, dwindled in World War II.
The Three Caballeros (02/03/1945) This is somewhat of a sequel to Saludos Amigos.
Make Mine Music (08/15/1946) Almost like a second Fantasia, but featuring more popular music in 10 shorter sequences, which lack the depth that Fantasia had. It also included Casey at the Bat. Parts of this film have been released separately, under the titles Willie, the Operatic Whale and Peter and the Wolf.
Fun and Fancy Free (09/27/1947) Contained the two stories Mickey and the Beanstalk and Bongo.
Melody Time (05/27/1948)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (10/05/1949) Available as separate short films, under the titles The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Wind in the Willows.
Cinderella (02/15/1950) It has been said that this was Walt Disney's favorite film.
Alice in Wonderland (07/28/1951)
Peter Pan (02/05/1953)
Lady and the Tramp (06/22/1955)
Sleeping Beauty (01/29/1959)
101 Dalmatians (01/25/1961)
The Sword in the Stone (12/25/1963)
The Jungle Book (10/18/1967) This was the last film that Walt Disney worked on, as he died prior to its release.
The Aristocats (12/24/1970)
Robin Hood (11/08/1973)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Rescuers (06/22/1977) This film was the last that was developed by the original (Walt) generation of Disney lead animators.
The Fox and the Hound (07/10/1981) The first major effort by the "new generation" of Disney artists.
The Black Cauldron (07/24/1985)
The Great Mouse Detective (07/02/1986)
Oliver and Company (11/18/1988) Made $54M in it's initial release, which at the time was the highest box-office gross of any animated film in its first theatrical run.
The Little Mermaid (11/17/1989) Grossed $89M in its initial US release. This movie is generally thought to mark the beginning of the New Era of Disney animation.
The Rescuers Down Under (11/10/1990) Disney's first official animated sequel. Grossed around $28M in its initial US release. The first feature extensively using the help of computers, which makes it stunning to look at (even from today's view).
Beauty and the Beast (11/15/1991)
Aladdin (11/11/1992)
The Lion King (6/15/94)
Pocahontas (6/23/95)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (06/21/1996)
Hercules (06/27/1997)
Mulan (06/06/1998)
Tarzan (06/18/1999)
Fantasia 2000 (1999/31/12)
The Emperor's New Groove (12/15/2000)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (06/15/2001)