tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-333601572024-03-07T12:29:25.139-07:00making owls cool since 1986We moved to Arizona to see burrow owls. Where the hell are all the burrow owls?Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-77027193486102326212009-09-18T15:47:00.001-07:002009-09-18T15:47:43.631-07:00Puttin' on the Boots<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/3932060917/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2588/3932060917_ff3cf51bd1.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/3932060917/">Puttin' on the Boots</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/erinanderic/">Thee E. Aldriches</a>.</span></div><p>We found this old Polaroid at an antique store it Tucson. It's rad. This dude should be named Joe Arizona.</p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-51710443190357859682009-08-02T22:29:00.004-07:002009-08-02T22:56:52.907-07:00The Year in ReviewI just checked the blog today and realized that we haven't posted anything for nearly a year! That's crazy! It's been a busy year. Maybe this will be the frequency with which we will post from now on. Here's what happened:<br /><br />1. We moved to <a href="http://www.visittucson.org/visitor/about/">Tucson</a>.<br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/Aldrich/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg" alt="" /><img src="file:///C:/Users/Aldrich/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.jpg" alt="" /><img src="file:///C:/Users/Aldrich/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-3.jpg" alt="" /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/3700874523/" title="Downtown Tucson Holgaroid 68/365 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/3700874523_eef54e8347_m.jpg" alt="Downtown Tucson Holgaroid 68/365" width="233" height="240" /></a><br /><br />2. I presented a paper on <a href="www.brockdenbrownsociety.ucf.edu">Charles Brockden Brown</a> at the <a href="www.pamla.org">PAMLA</a> conference in California.<br /><br />3. Our friend Jim came and stayed with us for a month or so.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/3242867746/" title="Jim Surveys the Landscape by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3469/3242867746_a11f441eb3_m.jpg" alt="Jim Surveys the Landscape" width="240" height="160" /></a><br /><br />4. We went home for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Sucks-Fruitcake-Finding-Miserable/dp/1598698125">Christmas</a>.<br />5. Our landlady got <a href="http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/pregnancytests/a/aa011899.htm">pregnant</a> and needed her house back so we had to move to a new house.<br />6. <a href="http://www.hikearizona.com">I did a shitload of hiking around AZ</a>.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/3410411850/" title="Desert Veins by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3410411850_09ed38f8fa_m.jpg" alt="Desert Veins" width="240" height="160" /></a><br /><br />7. I went to <a href="http://www.boston.com">Boston</a> and presented a paper at the <a href="www.calstatela.edu/academic/english/ala2/">American Literature Association</a> conference.<br />8. Erin's family came to visit and we went to the <a href="www.nps.gov/grca/">Grand Canyon</a>. We took a<a href="http://www.papillon.com/"> helicopter</a> ride over the GC and it was amazing.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/3586348414/" title="Grand Canyon Helicopter View 1 30/365 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/3586348414_1671bb2dcd_m.jpg" alt="Grand Canyon Helicopter View 1 30/365" width="240" height="160" /></a><br /><br />9. We went to <a href="www.calcuttaweb.com/">India</a> and hung out with <a href="http://www.prickofthespindle.com/fiction/3.1/sen/the_storyteller_of_ulatphet.htm">Ari </a>and his family.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/3779168875/" title="Ballygunge Gardens, Calcutta by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2421/3779168875_2a1eb72dba_m.jpg" alt="Ballygunge Gardens, Calcutta" width="240" height="160" /></a><br />10. I made this blog post.<br />11. We made a bunch of new friends.<br /><br />All in all, it was a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpLCFph9iv4">pretty good year</a>.<br /><br />Next time: Legit post on our trip to Calcutta.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-90526429274683586882008-08-21T23:00:00.005-07:002008-08-21T23:56:44.049-07:00Erin = unemployed = watches too much TV = brain dead = this blogErin here. I'm actually contributing to this blog!<br /><br />Having quit my job a month ago to start grad school on Monday, I've had too much free time on my hands. Now I'm not complaining <span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">AT ALL</span>, so don't get it twisted.<br /><br />Anyways, since it's too <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">hot </span>to really do anything outside and Eric and I are trying to conserve <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">money </span>because we are now both poor grad students, I've been watching a lot of TV. Why spend time reading books when I've got 3 years of reading books ahead of me?? So TV it is.<br /><br />As Eric mentioned in a previous post, I've been watching the <span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">Olympics</span>. Gymnastics is pretty cool but I fast forward through most everything else. (Thank goodness for DVR.) As Eric said, the commentators can be pretty rotten and repetitive at best.<br /><br />On to my next favorite show of the <span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 0);">summer</span>. Well actually it's a tie between two: <a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/gong_show/index.jhtml">The Gong Show</a> and <a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/reality_bites_back/index.jhtml">Reality Bites Back</a>. The Gong Show is pretty funny. I like <a href="http://www.myspace.com/attell">Dave Attell</a> as the host. The show follows the basic same format as the original show. Like <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Cobject%20width=%22425%22%20height=%22344%22%3E%3Cparam%20name=%22movie%22%20value=%22http://www.youtube.com/v/Qn_X-qLGHgY&hl=en&fs=1%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cparam%20name=%22allowFullScreen%22%20value=%22true%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cembed%20src=%22http://www.youtube.com/v/Qn_X-qLGHgY&hl=en&fs=1%22%20type=%22application/x-shockwave-flash%22%20allowfullscreen=%22true%22%20width=%22425%22%20height=%22344%22%3E%3C/embed%3E%3C/object%3E">this</a>. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Reubens">Paul Reubens</a> is <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Pee Wee Herman</span> if you didn't know.)<br /><br />So that brings me to Reality Bites Back. It's hosted by <a href="http://michaelianblack.typepad.com/">Michael Ian Black</a> in the format of any and every typical current reality show. Each episode parodies one or more reality shows. The cast is made up of comedians who compete against each other like in a reality show. If you watch any reality shows this show is funny because they (hilariously) point out how all those shows have the same formatting, dramatic effects, etc. I find all of the comedians really funny which is strange because in general I don't think comedians are actually funny. Maybe it's a change in the type of stand up comedy people are doing, maybe it's just me finally coming around.<br /><br />Ok, back on track. There is a comedian on Reality Bites Back named <a href="http://theovon.typepad.com/">Theo Von</a>. He is one of the funniest ones and I recognized him from being on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_Rules">Road Rules</a> a while back. So I looked him up online to see which season he was on and that started this whole thing where I <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">wikipediaed</a> Road Rules and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_World">Real World </a>cast members. Now I have not watched these shows in years but in my above-mentioned <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">f</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">r</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">e</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">e</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">t</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">i</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">m</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">e</span>, I thought it might be interesting to see what these people do/did with their lives after these shows.<br /><br />This is when I came across <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Murray_%28The_Real_World%29">Jamie Murray</a>. His Wikipedia article is a perfect example of why Wikipedia is not always a reliable source. A very (wicked) funny example as well. Now I use Wikipedia daily and even used it for links in this blog so I'm definitely all for it. Especially when I find something like I did in Jamie Murray's entry. Since Wikipedia articles can be changed at any time I'm posting excerpts from it as it stands today:<br /><br />"Murray is currently selling a type of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_tap" title="Beer tap">beer tap</a> called the Ubertap <a href="http://www.ubertap.com/" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.ubertap.com/" rel="nofollow">[1]</a> and working as a clerk at the Chicago Board of Trade. His favorite food is all burritos and he is currently a level 35 Halo player. In 1994 he obtained the rank of Eagle Scout while being a member of troop 3 in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willmette,_Illinois" title="Willmette, Illinois" class="mw-redirect">Willmette, Illinois</a>.<p>Jamie was also a counselor at summer camp called Horseshoe, he was a cabin counselor for Ranger A considered the greatest cabin in camp, which included campers, Scottie Berman, Daniel Cohen, Jake Padorr, Chris Harms, Daniel Cohen, Wyatt Spector, Josh Kohn, Corey Kohn, Adam Biscuits Paull, Jordan Fox and Zach Kalter. Jamie was a great counselor who always cared about others before himself, <span style="font-style: italic;">unlike Craig</span>. Jamie was a camp counselor for 8 weeks" (emphasis added).<br /></p><p>Screw Craig! haha. Yeah, there's not even a period after the word weeks.<br /></p><p>Am I delirious? Maybe. Do you think this is as funny and Eric and I do? Probably not. But one thing I do know is this: working is for <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">SUCKERS</span>!!!<br /></p><p>Go <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">U</span> of <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">A</span> Wildcats!</p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKkeXXnHWpK2c8ymJY4yyIXw1EsSfhOmoAA86aYqOzzCDeYWo5Z0A3qdY3NmPa4SroZL1fJsD5MkOxojmdN4vCLRCT76V9EnZ3tsMJsVl1S0FiL3zH6OB6SvsMsI6KxsbrJd20A/s1600-h/wildcat_fear_this4.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKkeXXnHWpK2c8ymJY4yyIXw1EsSfhOmoAA86aYqOzzCDeYWo5Z0A3qdY3NmPa4SroZL1fJsD5MkOxojmdN4vCLRCT76V9EnZ3tsMJsVl1S0FiL3zH6OB6SvsMsI6KxsbrJd20A/s400/wildcat_fear_this4.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237229874832350434" border="0" /></a></p>Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08833674283498138623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-44778997902828329192008-08-16T10:14:00.004-07:002008-08-16T11:09:58.127-07:00Thunderstorms and Olympic Monotony<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2766621115/" title="The Big One by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 448px; height: 299px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3199/2766621115_69f0a84fa8.jpg" alt="The Big One" /></a><br /><br />The other night Tucson was hit by a huge thunderstorm. It rained, it hailed, and the wind was strong enough to take the metal lid off the grill. Pretty serious stuff. <a href="http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/related/93725">Thousands of people lost power for over a day</a>. It was a weird storm. The lightning was going off close to our house for a long while before the rain started. This gave me time to get plenty of pictures.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2767470576/" title="Lightning Bolt by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 446px; height: 298px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/2767470576_ebaa68aa52.jpg" alt="Lightning Bolt" /></a><br /><br />Lightning pictures are impressive and fairly easy to take. Actually, they're pretty difficult to take during the day. I tried that at Tumacacori National Monument (an old mission) last week and I couldn't get a single bolt. However, at night all you need to do is turn the ISO way down, the aperture way up, put the shutter speed on bulb, and wait. I choose the low ISO and high aperture so I can leave the shutter open for a long time. This increases the chance that lightning will go off while it's open.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2766611017/" title="Boom by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 449px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/2766611017_b317fecefd.jpg" alt="Boom" /></a><br /><br />There are more lightning shots on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/">Flickr</a>, as well as pictures from two recent hikes I took: <a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3175/2701715768_f627c30cb6_b.jpg">Mount Humphrey</a> and <a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2701717764_76af771284_b.jpg">Four Peaks</a>. I'll be posting our pictures from our trip to Tumacacori soon.<br /><br />On a completely different topic, I have been watching the Olympics. This is mostly because Erin watches them. I am not entirely enjoying the Olympics because I can't stand the commentators. The competition is fun to watch. It's fun to cheer on the United States. It's fun to watch Micheal Phelps set records and break records. However, it is NOT fun to listen to the asinine, repetitive dialogue of the commentators that NEVER STOPS! This is what I have learned from listening to hours of Olympic commentary:<br /><br />1. Michael Phelps is God.<br />2. His mother is there.<br />3. Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are friends, which is apparently surprising because they compete against one another.<br />4. Ryan Lochte is laid back.<br />5. The Olympics are in Beijing.<br />6. Dara Torres is 41.<br />7. Dara Torres is 41.<br />8. Nastia Luikin was born in Moscow.<br />9. Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson are friends, which is apparently surprising because they compete against one another.<br />10. Nastia Luikin's father won a gold medal for the Soviet Union.<br />11. Dara Torres is 41.<br /><br />That's it. Over hours of coverage. If you tried to take a shot every time they mention that Dara Torres is 41, you would die faster than she could finish a race. Yes, it's impressive that she's 41, but have you seen her? She's in incredible shape! If she was 80 and winning races, that would be surprising. If she was a big, fat slob and winning races, that would also be surprising. If she had some sort of mental or physical handicap and was winning races - surprise! An incredibly fit, athletic woman in her early forties should be commended for staying competitive, but I'm sure there's a lot more to Dara Torres and her story than just her age.<br /><br />Can you tell that I hate the Olympic commentators? They are ruining the Olympics for me. I'm pretty sure dolphins and horses have more communicative vocal variation than these people. Shut up and let us watch.<br /><br />The interviewers are idiots as well. When poor Alicia Sacramone made a mistake in woman's team gymnastics, they couldn't rub it in fast enough. The Chinese team's difficulty scores would have prohibited the U.S. team from getting gold anyway, so Sacramone's mistakes did exactly nothing - U.S. still took silver just like they would have if she hadn't made any mistakes. Still, the reporters couldn't rub her nose in her failure fast enough and torture her by asking other teammates how they felt when Sacramone fell right in front of her. Her teammates gave classy answers, but someone should have told the reporter to shove it.<br /><br />Did anyone notice how the commentators kept insinuating that the Chinese women gymnasts weren't 15-years-old? They have no proof or evidence other than the fact that they don't look 15-years-old. Shawn Johnson doesn't look 16. Maybe Chinese audiences don't believe that she's 16. They're not used to looking at 15-year-old American female gymnasts, just like we're not used to looking at 15-year-old Chinese gymnasts. Stupid.<br /><br />I wonder what they'll find to repeat over and over and over during track and field.<br /><br />Did you know that Dara Torres is 41. She is. She's older than dirt. Paleontologists have discovered new Dara Torres fossils in Montana. Carbon dating has confirmed that she's been in the Olympics 5 times, one of which was the original Grecian Olympics in 776. B.C.E. God actually created Dara Torres on the second day.<br /><br />I think I'm ready to be a commentator in London in 2012. By then Dara Torres will be 45. I can't wait.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-56297813440678383862008-08-14T12:31:00.002-07:002008-08-14T12:38:19.486-07:00Erin's Photo on SchmapA little while back someone from the online map website Schmap contacted us on Flickr and asked if we would submit this picture for inclusion in their guide of Phoenix.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2329644774/" title="Wingspan by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3157/2329644774_4db5586699_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="Wingspan" /></a><br /><br />Erin took this picture in the butterfly garden at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens.<br /><br />Schmap decided to <a href="http://www.schmap.com/phoenix/sights_zoos/#p=39868&i=39868_26.jpg">use it and here it is</a>! It's actually our second photo publication. We have another one on a website fora SCUBA diving company that operates in Placencia, Belize. <a href="http://www.scuba-diving-smiles.com/scuba-diving-belize-placencia.html">Here' the link to that site</a>. That's Erin's photo as well.<br /><br />We had to buy a new computer this week becuase our other one called it quits. I'll post some photos of our house soon.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-20987341369503135502008-07-29T09:15:00.002-07:002008-07-29T09:17:56.081-07:00What is a Juggalo?I don't even know what to say about this article. It's from the Tucson Citizen. Nerds have never felt so legit.<br /><br />This is the title and a link to the article:<br /><h1><a href="http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/92208.php">Some Phoenix fans of Insane Clown Posse tagged as gangs</a></h1><div class="storydeck"><a href="http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/92208.php">Gang connection alleged for Tucson Juggalos</a><br /><br /><br /></div>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-38091092237813942662008-07-01T15:03:00.008-07:002008-12-09T23:14:50.155-07:00Updates GaloreWe've had a lot going on lately!<br /><br />Here are a few highlights with corresponding pictures.<br /><br />1. We went to California for <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=6804584&MyToken=2f276265-800e-4756-873d-c731308d555e">Veau's</a> 31st birthday. It was a great time. Emily and her brothers threw him a surprise party. We surprised him too, as he didn't know we were coming. Of course, he was in the shower when we got there. The theme of the party was to wear the craziest thing you could. Erin wore entirely sequins. Here I am wearing a Erin's sequiny coat and Veau's in his tutu. <img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/E2/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-13.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ39b-Y5lChTHm7bDDfZr1zUVeug66ggpumvvu8BDOTM9cTyWDWgQPh8QpVAlcZ1UPuTCIU8YCa0XgC1YUiyRLVPv3VpEdhCkyh6QTCfMBC0xLtUDhS8HUDIyizlgYZHMMzkc5/s1600-h/WTF+party.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ39b-Y5lChTHm7bDDfZr1zUVeug66ggpumvvu8BDOTM9cTyWDWgQPh8QpVAlcZ1UPuTCIU8YCa0XgC1YUiyRLVPv3VpEdhCkyh6QTCfMBC0xLtUDhS8HUDIyizlgYZHMMzkc5/s320/WTF+party.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218174870400811794" border="0" /></a><br /></div><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/E2/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-14.jpg" alt="" /><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/E2/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-15.jpg" alt="" /><br />2. I went hiking with Chris again and this time we headed up to the Mogollon Rim. We camped out next to this great old cabin. It was one of the most idyllic places I have ever seen. Fantastic.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2581140702/" title="Me and the Cabin by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 434px; height: 290px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3175/2581140702_8bcbbf86e7.jpg" alt="Me and the Cabin" /></a><br /><br />3. I was supposed to teach ENG 241, which is American Lit. up to the Civil War, but it got canceled for low enrollment. Bummer.<br /><br />4. Katie and Jacob came to visit from California. We went to Tucson, Bisbee, and Tombstone. Tombstone is kind of neat. We also went back to the San Xavier Mission. I also went to a Diamondbacks game with them. That was my first major league baseball game ever. This is us outside the Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee. It doesn't look like we're having much fun. We went to St. Elmo's bar. They have one of those claw game things where you try to grab stuffed animals, except it has porn in it. Hilarious.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2606310661/" title="Copper Queen by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 456px; height: 305px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/2606310661_51c2b4f457_b.jpg" alt="Copper Queen" /></a><br /><br />5. Erin and I went camping on the Mogollon Rim and we went fossil hunting and hunting for geodes. We took the truck off road. We found some fossils, mostly shells, and some neat geodes and nodules.<br /><br />6. We went to the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix and went food shopping. We bought this fake chicken. It's made from Nazi mushrooms.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYghMDpZSDC7oA1ZjtnQbH1uevPAaKf-2Uh44rZGj_6-itndc_K6SxxQJVthAPigOGME7cQigh-bO9dKYVFua2To-LUedbKE85U5Rk_d1REb_r4e5gZC1TO0BA6ReK6YtDhK9/s1600-h/weird002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 369px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYghMDpZSDC7oA1ZjtnQbH1uevPAaKf-2Uh44rZGj_6-itndc_K6SxxQJVthAPigOGME7cQigh-bO9dKYVFua2To-LUedbKE85U5Rk_d1REb_r4e5gZC1TO0BA6ReK6YtDhK9/s320/weird002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218172633255679362" border="0" /></a><br />7. Ishmael's been acting crazy lately. We got a new brush that is the most amazing cat brush in the world. It gets tons of cat hair out. Here he is in the sink.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqFeY0T3sqyT9pJo5uxgSegevnyTcS0E-7vOlMemBUhLHDADySx8L6nlU1WtfVg-mVahRiFFJ6Fm0otUhyphenhyphenEALMF4TqD_pkcXv9BGtUv8hhJzLe__mj2b-naxo6o8kVLoTnjC1/s1600-h/weird021.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqFeY0T3sqyT9pJo5uxgSegevnyTcS0E-7vOlMemBUhLHDADySx8L6nlU1WtfVg-mVahRiFFJ6Fm0otUhyphenhyphenEALMF4TqD_pkcXv9BGtUv8hhJzLe__mj2b-naxo6o8kVLoTnjC1/s320/weird021.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218175358561620850" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />8. I've been trying to publish a book review for Catherine O'Donnell Kaplan's new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Men-Letters-Early-Republic-Cultivating/dp/0807858536/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214951295&sr=8-1">"Men of Letters in the Early Republic."</a> It's an interesting piece of intellectual history about bellistristic societies and other intellectual forums in the post-Revolutionary America. I'm learning the ropes of publishing and it's kind of fun, though I haven't found a journal to publish it yet.<br /><br />9. I'm reading Bryan Waterman's book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Intellect-Friendly-Literature-Intellectual/dp/0801885663/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214951405&sr=1-1">"Republic of Intellect."</a> Topically, it is similar to Kaplan's book, but it focuses solely on the New York Friendly Society, whereas Kaplan's work includes Joseph Dennie and the Boston Atheneaum.<br /><br />10. I've been revising a paper I wrote on Charles Brockden Brown that I will be reading at the PAMLA conference in Pomona, CA this September. One of the scholars I reference in my paper is Beverly Voloshin from San Fransisco State. She just happens to be presenting her paper right after mine. It's a little intimidating, but I'm feeling pretty good about my work.<br /><br />That's it for now. Of course, there are many more pictures and other interesting things on our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/">Flickr page</a>.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-25576364092586111972008-06-08T22:36:00.003-07:002008-06-08T22:45:09.245-07:00Motivational PostersSo, I was going to post the second part of our memorial day weekend on here - all about when we went to Frank Lloyd Wright's camp in Scottsdale (TaliesIn West) - but the tour wasn't that exciting. In fact, they allowed so many people in our tour group that it ended up being an overcrowded rip off.<br /><br />Then I found the Flickr Toys on <a href="http://www.hugebiglabs.com/flickr">Big Huge Labs</a>. There is a motivational poster generator. I couldn't resist making a few. Here is the fruit (albeit, rotten fruit) of my labors. Enjoy!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2562951443/" title="Gossip by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 456px; height: 365px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2562951443_69f6c70274.jpg" alt="Gossip" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2563768460/" title="Ishmael Glue Poster by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 442px; height: 354px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/2563768460_e29fac4aa1_o.jpg" alt="Ishmael Glue Poster" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2562933601/" title="Ishmael Motivator by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 457px; height: 367px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2562933601_24208094c3.jpg" alt="Ishmael Motivator" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2563914480/" title="Sad Dog by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 450px; height: 360px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/2563914480_d7c66cbbc0.jpg" alt="Sad Dog" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2563927832/" title="Sheriff Joe Arpaio by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 446px; height: 357px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/2563927832_6e2ec0d9d0.jpg" alt="Sheriff Joe Arpaio" /></a><br /><br />Of course, I have a few more on my <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/">Flickr</a> page and you can expect frequent new creations. Also, all these look way cooler if you click on them and make the larger. I have to shrink them a bit to fit the blog layout.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-29829201030540572172008-05-29T10:02:00.005-07:002008-05-29T10:46:29.443-07:00Memorial Day Weekend Part 1 - SedonaErin's friend Tori came out from New York to visit for Memorial Day weekend. That makes her visitor #2 (Kevin being the first), but the first person who came exclusively to see us! With only 3 days to work with, we wanted to show her the most cool stuff in the shortest amount of time. Considering that a lot of cool stuff in Arizona is really far from Phoenix, we figured Sedona would be our best bet. We planned on heading up Saturday, camping overnight, and coming back Sunday. On Sunday we would see whatever parts of Sedona we missed on Saturday, plus go to Jerome.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2529344946/" title="Sedona by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 443px; height: 296px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2529344946_237860a8e3.jpg" alt="Sedona" /></a><br /><br />Unfortunately, it rained all day Saturday. It never rains here and the one time it rained was when we actually had a visitor. We spent a lot of time on Saturday driving around Sedona trying to decide what to do. Camping was quickly ruled out; it was far too cold and wet. Instead we tried to find a hotel, but most were booked up. It was Memorial Day weekend, after all.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2528515343/" title="Slide Rock Lodge Hotel by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/2528515343_d471cd7439_m.jpg" alt="Slide Rock Lodge Hotel" height="160" width="240" /></a><br /><br />We finally found the Slide Rock Lodge. It was up Route 89A going toward Slide Rock (duh...). It was cheap and comfortable. It had a rustic, log cabin feel. The heat didn't work, but we had our sleeping bags, so we were ok. There was also a space heater that eventually warmed the room up.<br /><br />A couple years ago Erin and I visited Gettysburg, PA and we bought an audio tour. It was pretty cool. You just throw the CD in and drive yourself around while a narrator explains thing to you. We thought it might be a good idea to try it again, so we bought an audio tour at the visitor's center. It was narrated by a dude named Blake. It worked out really well. I am a total believer in audio tours.<br /><br />We did some of the tour on Saturday, but on account of the rain, we did most of it on Sunday. Here are some of our pictures from Sedona with descriptions. Check our more on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/sets/72157605292176269/">Flickr</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2529345430/" title="Sedona 3 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 467px; height: 312px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2293/2529345430_3b59c36d6a.jpg" alt="Sedona 3" /></a><br />Of course, we have many pictures of the famous red rocks.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2529339252/" title="Oak Creek Overlook 3 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2329/2529339252_68dbe32ec6.jpg" alt="Oak Creek Overlook 3" height="500" width="333" /></a><br />I took this picture on Saturday. It rained off an on while we were at this elevation. I think it was around 6000 feet. There were also little remnants of snow in the shade. I love the pictures we took from that overlook because they remind me of <a href="http://hamiltonauctiongalleries.com/COLE-T-FlsofK.jpg">Thomas Cole </a>paintings. This on is my favorite. Erin pointed out how the clouds are parted over the valley.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2528522299/" title="Palatki Ruins 5 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3087/2528522299_505e9ccd1a.jpg" alt="Palatki Ruins 5" height="500" width="276" /></a><br />We visited the <a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/red_rock/palatki-ruins.shtml">Palatki Ruins</a>, a Native American cliff dwelling site. There were many petroglyphs and theses remnants of a structure on the side of the cliff. This older gentleman was the Park Service interpreter who explained the site. He was very interesting to talk to and gave us tons of information. Getting there was a chore, though. Our car is not great on dirt roads and you have to drive down mile of dirt roads to reach the ruins. We saw lots of cows.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2528517655/" title="Cow 1 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 440px; height: 294px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2100/2528517655_fe8206572a.jpg" alt="Cow 1" /></a><br /><br />On Sunday we stopped briefly in Jerome and then headed back to Phoenix. The clouds from Saturdays rain made the pictures we took on Sunday have the coolest skies. It turned out to be a great trip even in spite of the rain and the remarkably poor service at Sedona's vegan restaurant,<a href="http://www.dlishsedona.com/"> D'lish.</a> In all fairness, we went there twice and the first time it was alright. The food was good both times, but on our second visit they ran out of what Erin ordered and didn't tell her until they brought Tori and I our food. Then Erin had to go and wait in line to order again. When she told the girl working the register what happened and asked to have her order expedited, the girl was really rude and unaccommodating. Erin ended up just getting her money back and eating half my sandwich. I don't mind mistakes, but come on...being polite is easy.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-50159692352198185362008-05-22T22:35:00.004-07:002008-05-23T10:03:27.345-07:00Kolob Canyon<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495069895/" title="Kolob Canyon by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 448px; height: 299px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2181/2495069895_5b0596cc6f.jpg" alt="Kolob Canyon" /></a><br /><br />Last week I set out for Utah with my hiking buddy Chris. We headed up to Kolob Canyon in <a href="http://www.nps.gov/zion/">Zion National Par</a>k. We planned for either 2 or three nights. Not surprisingly, it was amazing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495069635/" title="La Verkin Creek Trail by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3203/2495069635_054b10f04f.jpg" alt="La Verkin Creek Trail" height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br />The ride there was a little long. For some reason it took almost 10 hours to get there and only about 7.5 to get home. Weird. We had a lot of great scenery along the way, which made the long rides more bearable. Here are some examples of stuff we saw on the way there.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495072797/" title="Arizona Route 89 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 458px; height: 306px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2266/2495072797_efd06d8734.jpg" alt="Arizona Route 89" /></a><br /><br />Imposing cliffs, mesa, canyons, buttes, and mountains dominate the northern Arizona landscape. It was pretty impressive.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495065939/" title="Kolob Canyon019 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 455px; height: 304px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/2495065939_c5b62b5433.jpg" alt="Kolob Canyon019" /></a><br /><br />Much of the ride is through the Navajo Reservation. That part's a bit depressing. Coming from the east, it's a little weird to come face to face with the results of the historical oppression of Native Americans. That's not to say that all Navajos are pitiful and seeing their homes are shameful or anything, it's mostly the craft booths on the side of Route 89 that advertise "Nice Indians" or "Friendly Indians" combined with the inhospitable land they live on.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495889672/" title="Lake Powell From Route 89 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 448px; height: 268px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2495889672_eda79cb03d.jpg" alt="Lake Powell From Route 89" /></a><br /><br />We drove over Lake Powell, a man-made lake on the AZ/UT border. It' s pretty large.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495067003/" title="AZ 89 Entering Utah by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 449px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2341/2495067003_a360a3e8e5.jpg" alt="AZ 89 Entering Utah" /></a><br /><br />Here's a cool butte.<br /><br />Once we arrived in Utah, we had to stop and get lunch. We stopped in a town called Kanab. What a place. I ordered a sandwich at a Subway and the woman working at the counter didn't say a single word the whole time. Completely rude and weird. I know she could talk because I overheard her bitching someone out on the phone.<br /><br />We also witnessed a near car wreck. Man, Utah is weird. We were on a two-lane road. Behind us was a tractor trailer truck. Some weird woman in a Rav4 was trying to pass the truck, even though we were going about 70 on a two lane road (the speed limit was 65, FYI). When another car was coming in the other direction, that dumbass trying to pass the truck totally didn't move in behind the truck. We watched in the rear view as a the driver going in the opposite direction had to swerve off the road at over 60 mph to avoid that terrible woman. Guess what she did next. Passed us.<br /><br />When we finally got to Zion, it was pretty impressive. You have to drive through Zion Canyon and through a tiny tunnel that was designed only to accommodate Model T's. RV's and some trucks can only make it through if traffic is stopped and they can drive down the middle of the road.<br /><br />We got there kind of late and Utah is an hour ahead of Arizona at this time of year, so we were afraid that we wouldn't get our backcountry permit. However, we did make it in time and everything was A-ok.<br /><br />Kolob Canyon is still part of Zion National Park, but it's about 45 minutes north of Zion Canyon. As we drove from Zion Canyon to the Lee Pass Trailhead in Kolob Canyon the weather was looking pretty rough. We knew there was a chance of rain and it looked like we were really in for it. When we finally arrived at the trailhead and got out of the car, it was freezing. Us Phoenicians weren't ready for this. We were prepared with warm clothing and gear, but it was so cold. At that elevation there was still some snow on top of the mountains. Once we got down into the canyon it warmed up, but it was still a chilly first night.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495892364/" title="Kolob Arch by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 452px; height: 302px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2006/2495892364_e5e7ace82e.jpg" alt="Kolob Arch" /></a><br /><br />The next day we got up and hiked to Kolob Arch. Kolob arch is the biggest natural arch in the world. It's not free-standing like the ones at Arches Park, so it's not quite as impressive, but it's still pretty cool to see. That day of hiking was great. As I was used to hiking in the desert, hiking along a stream was a rare treat. The trail follows La Verkin Creek pretty much the whole time. We have water filters, so we could drink as much as we wanted, make a bunch of tea and food and never worry about where our water would come from. Beats carrying 2 reservoirs like I do in the desert. That night, we camped at site 15. This dude here hung out at our campsite with us.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495889242/" title="Lizard 2 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 458px; height: 306px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2212/2495889242_581ab2d300.jpg" alt="Lizard 2" /></a><br /><br />The next morning we got up an hiked 8 miles out. That was pretty brutal, particularly the last stretch out of the canyon to the trailhead. However, it was another impressive ride home in terms of views. My camera died, so I don't have any pictures from the last day, but I do have a lot more pictures on our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/sets/72157605075341458/">Flickr page</a>, so please check them out!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495072415/" title="Tree in Kolob Canyon. by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2495072415_01dcf61cb4.jpg" alt="Tree in Kolob Canyon." height="500" width="333" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2495069175/" title="Me by Kolob Arch 2 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 446px; height: 298px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/2495069175_288ccd31e6.jpg" alt="Me by Kolob Arch 2" /></a><br /><br />Oh, by the way, Kolob come from the Mormon Book of Abraham. I think that's an apocryphal book, so I don't think it's part of mainstream LDS theology. In that book, Kolob is the planet closest to where God resides. Interesting.<br /><br />Did I mention that we drove through Colorado City, AZ? That's the town with a high concentration of polygamists, including the infamous Warren Jeffs. It was a strange place. Lot's of half-built houses.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-18274322557875459382008-05-18T10:35:00.003-07:002008-05-18T10:37:25.200-07:00Owl VideoWe certainly haven't posted for a long while, huh? Finals and finishing up with school had me pretty well occupied.<br /><br />I promise to post something this week about my trip to Zion National Park, but for now, check out this video I found on Youtube about owls. A 5th grade teacher makes these videos for his students and I think they're pretty clever.<a href="http://www.notebookbabies.com"> www.notebookbabies.com</a><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GfUPeVfrvlg&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GfUPeVfrvlg&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-46376197302536258432008-04-10T10:01:00.006-07:002008-04-10T11:08:14.900-07:00Buying a Used Truck Part 4 - Right Toyota Sucks - Total VictoryLast Thursday (a week ago today), Erin called me from work and said that she had been calling around to car dealerships in Scottsdale and asking if they had any trucks in our price range. After hearing our price range, most did not call back.<br /><br />When Erin called <a href="http://www.righttoyota.com/">Right Toyota</a> in Scottsdale the person she spoke with told her that we would not get a bank to approve us for a loan amount of $8000 because it was too low. This, of course, is a load of shit, as we have subsequently obtained a loan for much less than that, but this is what the dude told Erin and they amicably ended the phone call. Erin had stress how we were not interested in negotiating or haggling, so presumably this person didn't want to waste his time on us.<br /><br />Not long after, a manager from Right Toyota named John called Erin back and said that they had "several vehicles" including "Tacomas" and "Nissans" and that they were in our price range. Erin re-emphasized what she had told the first salesman. We were not interested in haggling - our budget was set and that if we came up there and they did not have a vehicle in our price range it would be waste of their time and our time. John again reassured Erin that he understood and that they could help us, so we agreed to go to Right Toyota after work.<br /><br />When Erin arrived home, we first went to Desert School Credit Union and obtained our own financing. This is a fantastic idea. We got a great interest rate and they were very nice and helpful. It's also a great bargaining tool. Furthermore, auto dealerships have deals with Desert Schools (and, presumably other credit unions) that allow the dealerships to handle everything for you so you don't have to run back and forth to the credit union. Also, many dealerships have special representatives, usually the fleet sales or Internet sales people, who are your V.I.P. sales correspondent. They understand the banks terms and they can help you more efficiently.<br /><br />After getting pre-approved, we drove all the way to North Scottsdale (over 1/2 hour from Tempe) to Right Toyota. At this point Erin has already driven to and from North Phoenix that day, an around-trip journey of over 1 hour and she has not eaten any dinner. So when we arrived at Right Toyota we expected to be shown the trucks on our range, make a decision, and be out of there.<br /><br />When we got there the person we had an appointment with was gone. Strike 1. We waited around for several minutes until we were paired up with a salesman named Corey. Corey seemed nice at first, but he was turned out to be a condescending, arrogant jerk. Strike 2. One of the first things Corey brought up to us was that he knew our price limit. He then lead us to the used truck section. Things quickly began looking bleak. There were 3 used Tacomas, the oldest of which was a 2004 and $19,999 - only $11,000 above our budget! Strike 3. The other trucks were a Frontier ($13,999) and a Mazda ($12,999). We were immediately skeptical. After looking at the used trucks out front, Corey took us on a ride around the lot to see what else they had. They didn't have anything else.<br /><br />We all returned inside while Corey went to ask the illusive John, the manager Erin had spoken to, what he was referring to. We never did see John (coward). After this wasted time, we returned to the trucks out front.<br /><br /><span class="a"></span>The Frontier was not automatic, so that quickly disqualified it. The Mazda seemed nice, but was way out of our price range. Corey then began trying to sell us on the Mazda. He said he knew our price range and that we could work with the price. We again voiced our skepticism that a truck for $12,999 would go for $8000, but he reassured us that deal could be met and so we agreed to test drive it.<br /><br />We test drove the truck amidst Corey's snide remarks. I think he resented being put in a situation where he was sure not to make a sale and I think he could sense that we were skeptical, and, if things didn't go our way, we could get disgruntled. The best way to avoid making a sale, of course, is to make snide comments. Great work, Corey.<br /><br />The truck drove well, so we returned inside talk about buying it. We sat down at a desk. We had been in such situations a lot recently, so our patience was gone quickly. Of course, Corey took longer to come back with numbers than any other dealership had. When, after a ridiculously long time, he did come back, the sheet had the price of the truck at $12,999. We instantly saw red. What the hell?!?! Corey tried to talk to us about prices, but we weren't having it. We repeated that we had been very clear that we were not interested in haggling. We would not pay more that $140/month. He tried to make us think that was impossible, but we weren't having that either. He asked us what we would be willing to go up to. We said $140. He said we needed to be flexible. We said we did not need to be flexible. We had been very clear that we never intended to be flexible. He then went back into their stupid office.<br /><br />He returned from the stupid office and tried to pass us off onto a manager. I don't remember the dude's name. He started in on some sort of spiel about how there was no way they could sell that truck at our price. We had seen all this negotiation crap before, but we had been extremely clear throughout this process that we were not interested in negotiating. We wouldn't have come if there were not trucks for us. Other dealerships had been honest.<br /><br />While I was sitting here looking at this guy, all the frustration of the day and the truck buying experience came upon me at once. We had been totally lied to. I know it sounds silly to get upset that a car salesman lied to us to get us in there, but, honestly, we dealt with many dealerships before and after Right Toyota and they were all mostly honest. The most infuriating thing was that one person had (correctly) discouraged us from coming to Right Toyota, then Shitty John the Cowardly Manager called back and told us to come!<br /><br />We kind of let this dude have it. I told him how we were not interesting negotiating. I told him how they had lied to us and how John had told us there was something for us and there was nothing. I told him how clear we had been the entire time about our budget. I told him how it was bullshit that Erin had driven all the way from North Phoenix and to Tempe and how they had dragged us all the way from Tempe to Scottsdale. He looked pretty taken back. I don't feel too bad about getting mad at him, because I made it clear that we understood it wasn't his fault, and I said that I would greatly prefer to have this conversation with John. This guy told us that John had gone home, but he said he would be happy to have me talk to John if he was there. It was incredibly shitty of Shitty John to pawn us off on his coworkers. He said, sheepishly he could give us the truck for no less than $11,999. He said I was "upset" so nothing he would say would make me happy. This was the last straw. I got up and said I we were going to dinner before I really lost my cool. We then left Right Toyota.<br /><br />Right Toyota sucks. Check out their rather lengthy bio at <a href="http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q5=right%20toyota&q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&Search=Search">Ripoffreport.com</a>. Compare that to no real entries for <a href="http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&q5=tempe+toyota&Search=Search">Tempe Toyota</a> and only a couple entries for <a href="http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&q5=tempe+honda&Search=Search">Tempe Honda</a> on which the issues have been reconciled.<br /><br />After leaving Wrong Toyota, we hit up some other dealerships in the area and talked to some more weirdos. For the most part, even though the people were odd, they tried to be helpful and didn't try to lie to us to get us to buy any particular vehicle.<br /><br />It's amazing how painlessly the whole saga ends. The next day we did some looking on cars.com and Erin found an 2002 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner at <a href="http://www.usedvwaudi.com/">LeSueur Auto</a> in Tempe. This place sells late model, used VW's, Audi's and Mini's. They had no real interest in keeping the Frontier, which they got on a trade in, so they sold it to us for Kelly Blue Book wholesale. We paid significantly less than $8000 for it. The funny thing is that Tempe Toyota had the same exact truck, same miles and everything for $11,000. That's actually pretty close to the KBB retail value of the truck. The dude at LeSeuer was named Dave. He was about our age. He was really laid back. He didn't seem like a used car salesman at all. We test drove the truck, they cleaned it up and we bought it. It drives better than the Tacomas we test drove at Tempe Honda - even the gold one! We're going to have it check out and get a tune up at <a href="http://www.salemboysauto.com/">Salem Boys</a>. Even if we need to fix something on it, it will still be way cheaper than any of the other trucks, which weren't in any better shape anyways!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">We totally win</span>! Here's a picture of the truck! WOOOHOOO!!!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2403807444/" title="Truck 3 by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 455px; height: 304px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2056/2403807444_51c67b70f5.jpg" alt="Truck 3" /></a><br /><br />Where are they now?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Eric and Erin</span> went on to drive the nice truck they got for cheap. They rule.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Marv </span>called to say he had a beat up old Jeep. He's still a nice dude who's probably still driving his ambitious managers crazy.<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.tempehonda.com/Preowned-Inventory-Frm.aspx">The Gold Toyota Tacoma</a> is, as of April 10th and according to their website, still at Tempe Honda. Go buy it from Marv. Tell him Eric and Erin sent you.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Robert</span>, the manager from Tempe Honda, is still in denial about what "no-pressure means."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sonny Stubbs</span> from Big Two's used lot is still way cooler than you'll ever be.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Corey</span> from Right Toyota wishes he was as funny as he thinks he is.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shitty John the Cowardly Manager</span> from Right Toyota still sucks. A lot.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dave</span> from LeSeuer is taking it easy.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-32808347182252086272008-04-04T00:48:00.003-07:002008-04-08T14:23:25.256-07:00Buying a Used Truck Part Three - The Silver TacomaMarv called me while I was at school and left a message saying that they had a 2002 Toyota Tacoma with only 90,000 miles on it with the "good rubber on it that you (I) like." That's his way of saying that the tires aren't bald. It was priced at $9500. Later that day, Erin and I went to check out this Tacoma.<br /><br />When we arrived at Tempe Honda Marv wasn't around. He was off somewhere smoking a cigarette. We saw Robert and Marv was paged. As Marv approached, one of his crazy coworkers said, "Here he comes. You can tell it's him. He's the bald guy with the gut." I felt sorry for Marv.<br /><br />After Marv arrived, we hopped on the golf cart and headed over to the shop where the Tacoma allegedly was being "gone over." It was not there when we arrived, so we stood around outside and had a very nice talk with Marv about his RV and the vacations he and his wife take with it. Erin and I have always wanted an RV, so we enjoyed this conversation.<br /><br />When the truck returned it looked mint. It wasn't extended cab or TRD, but it was still really nice looking. Marv went over and talked to the mechanic driving the truck. Erin and I got the impression that he looked unconvinced. We went inside and Marv talked to the mechanic for a minute before we took the truck out for a ride.<br /><br />This part was sketchy as we were unsure whether or not the truck had been check out by a mechanic yet. It seemed to us that the mechanic was taking a preliminary test drive when we got there and his demeanor suggested all had not gone well. We decided to try it anyways.<br /><br />We had to test drive it separately, as it was only a single cab and Marv had to go along. I decided to go first. I pulled the truck out and it felt OK until I tried to accelerate to about 40mph, at which point it really started shaking. When I got on Route 10 and tried to go above 60mph, it really shook like crazy. Something was clearly very wrong with the truck. Marv said he thought it was a U-joint, which is part of the drive train.<br /><br />Upon returning to the shop, it was determined that the truck was messed up and there was no need for Erin to drive it. I suggested to Marv that they give us the gold Tacoma, which was still there, for the price of the silver Tacoma and throw in the silver Tacoma's nice wheels. He asked Robert, but Robert said no. They tried to pressure us into buying something, as it was the end of the month and it would boost their numbers, but we said no.<br /><br />We decided it was time to leave. We were kind of pissed of that they made us drive all the way down there without checking out the truck first. Marv apologized for the inconvenience. As we were trying to pull out of the parking spot, Robert was gesticulating emphatically around the wheel of the silver truck. I rolled down the window and he told me that he had seen a wheel weight fall off and that it was no big deal and probably the cause of the shaking. They said that they would call us about the wheel weight.<br /><br />Later that evening, Marv called and said it had not been the wheel weight and it was, not surprisingly, something more serious with the drive train. He then told me that, because it was the end of the month, Robert had agreed to come down on the price of the gold Tacoma and set a "rock bottom" price of $9999. I was at school at the time, so I thanked Marv and said I would speak to Erin. Of course, the price drop from $10,250 to $9999 is only $256. I was a bit insulted that they thought I would fall for that silly trick. I later called Marv and informed him that the negligible drop in price was not enough to change out minds. Our monthly payment would still be over $175. I tried to get the price down one more time by citing the fact that they had never adequately addressed the issue of the body damage. As property damage adjuster know, something that looks like a small dent (not that the dent was that small...) can be a costly repair. Marv asked, but to no avail. He said he'd keep looking for a vehicle for us.<br /><br />You'll notice how frequently I use some incarnation of the word "ridiculous." You haven't heard anything yet. Wait until next time when I write about Right Toyota in Scottsdale!Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-84317032118898261332008-04-03T23:11:00.008-07:002008-04-10T11:09:34.699-07:00Buying a Used Truck Part Two - The Man Called Sonny Stubbs - The Saga of the Gold TacomaLast time I mentioned how Marv had called us back with a truck. Before I get to that, let me tell you about the Big Two lot in Mesa. After leaving Tempe Honda without the Jeep, we headed to a couple other dealership in the Tempe Autoplex. A nice man at the Hyundai place told us we should check out a used lot in Mesa run by a friend of his. He even tried calling ahead. We did check that lot out, but there was nothing there of interest for us that day.<br /><br />Across the street from that dealership was the Big Two used lot. Big Two is the name of several big dealerships in the East Valley (all this is taking place around Phoenix, AZ, F.Y.I.). This used lot was ridiculous. There were a bunch of overpriced cars and nothing we wanted. However, we did meet Sonny Stubbs, car salesman extraordinaire. This dude was dressed like cowboy, only he was an African American dude, and he told me that I looked like Mack Truck driver. Obviously, he was kidding, but it was kind of weird. He then tried to sell us on a 1998 Ford Ranger with 120,000 miles for $13,000. We pretty much knew it was over at that point. However, we went inside with Mr. Stubbs anyways because he was so damn amusing.<br /><br />First he told us that if we want a cheap car we should look in the obituaries. At first I thought he meant Craigslist, but he meant the real obituaries. Again, I'm pretty sure he was kidding, but the concept of check the obits, he explained, is that widows don't know how much their dead husbands' cars are worth so you can get them cheap. Moments later he said he knew where we lived and that he was coming over. Creepy. He does not know where we live. I made a joke that he should bring the beer. I laughed at this considerably.<br /><br />Throughout our conversation, Sonny kept saying, "Hey, I have just the truck for you" or "I know what truck you'd like," every time he was referring to the overpriced Ford Ranger. He must have done that 5 or 6 times. He was a real character. We both kind of liked him because he was funny and didn't take his job too seriously.<br /><br /><br />Well, over the phone Marv told me that he had a "nice little truck" for me. We set an appointment for noon on Saturday.<br /><br />That Saturday Marv called early and encouraged us to go down before our noontime appointment as other people were interested in the truck. We hit horrible traffic on the highway, so even though we left early, we still arrived there at noon. Not surprisingly, the truck was still there.<br /><br />The truck was pretty nice. It was gold. It was a Toyota Tacoma TRD Prerunner extended cab. It had 91,000 miles and no price sticker. Marv greeted us in his usual laid back manner and we test drove the truck.<br /><br />The truck drove pretty well, but there was some sort of weird rattling sound coming from the dashboard. Additionally, there was some damage to the driver's side rear quarter panel that extended onto the gate and the tires were bald.<br /><br />Since our last visit to Tempe Honda, we had read this great article on Edmunds.com called <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html">"Confessions of Car Salesman"</a> Our friend Damien recommended that article to us. The article is about a writer who goes undercover as a cars salesman and learns the tricks of the trade. Very illuminating.<br /><br />Armed with the information from the Edmunds article and years of experience in the insurance industry handling negotiations (mostly Erin's experience), we sat down with Marv to negotiate on the gold Tacoma.<br /><br />The first price Marv gave us was $13,999. We had previously told him we wanted monthly payments of $130, which is a loan of roughly $6500 at 7% interest. We agreed that we would say that we were willing to put $1000 down. Like any used cars salesman, Marv's manager had given him the numbers. He put the paper down in front of us. I just gave him a ridiculous smile and without us saying anything Marv got up, went to the manager's desk and came back with $12,999, a monthly payment of $249.<br /><br />I guess I understand that there are some people who don't want to pay a lot for a vehicle, but when faced with a vehicle they want they are willing to pay over $100 more than what they originally intended. We are not those people. Not to condemn anyone, but you'd have to be an idiot to get suckered into that. I hate haggling over prices, but sometimes you have to try.<br /><br />We began taking apart the price of the vehicle. First off, the price sheet had no interest rate on it. Marv told us he thought it was 10%. This was ridiculous, because there was a sign on the table that said that people with 700+ credit scores would be approved to 8.49. As our credit is in that excellent range, that was the interest rate we expected. We also gently reminded Marv that we were totally unwilling to pay more than $130/month so anything above that was wasting everyone's time.<br /><br />Marv returned with his manager, Robert. Marv clearly hated haggling even more than us. Marv likes to talk about his family, tell anecdotes about him and his wife, talk about his RV, stuff like that, but not haggle about money. Robert assured us that they were "no-pressure" in a very high-pressure way. Erin says that the "No Pressure" tactic is very passive aggressive. You're intended to interpret their pressure as your own fear of pressure that's not really there. Unfortunately for them, we were not falling for that. Pressure is pressure, even when you call that pressure "no pressure."<br /><br />Very quickly we had our 8.49 interest rate. Robert sucked up to us and praised our great credit. He pretended to intimate things about the cars sales business to us that we already knew, like how they can jack up the interest rate above what the bank approves you for.<br /><br />Side note: If you're buying a vehicle and they run your credit and the bank approves your for, say, 8% interest, the car dealership financing can charge you 10% interest and keep the difference. It's totally legal, but really shitty.<br /><br />Back to Marv and Robert. While Marv looked out the window, Robert came down another $1000. We remained stalwartly unwilling to budge, but we talked sympathetically and played along with the haggling game. Now, with our new interest rate, the vehicle at $230.00. Still ridiculous. Marv got us a Carfax report, which was useless because nothing had been reported in two years and 30,000 miles. That meant the 1/3 of the life of the truck was unaccounted for.<br /><br />We continued to haggle. Robert told us that the suggested retail value of the truck was $13,295 according to Kelly Blue Book. We countered that we knew NADA to be lower, but Robert said that the West Coast uses Kelly Blue Book and the East Coast uses NADA. I have since fact checked this and found out that he was telling the truth. Still, this truck was a 2001 (7-8 years old) with nearly 100,000 miles, body damage, and bad tires. Not to mention that you shouldn't show people who want to spend $130/month something that costs $230/month because that's not what they want.<br /><br />Citing the ridiculousness of getting us all the way down there to the dealership for something we can't afford and the damage to the truck we worked the price down to $10,750 and then down to $10,250. We also learned that in certain circumstances the dealership can opt to finance you through a credit union or other bank for a lower interest rate. Our interest rate was now at 7.49%. Robert said that was the best we could do anywhere. We have since disproved that, but I don't think he was intentionally lying. In the course of about 1 hour, we had talked the truck down nearly $4000 and 2.5% interest. Not bad, but the price was still $204/month. Unacceptable. In a last ditch effort to show good faith, we asked to have it calculated if we put $1000 more down, $2000 total, which took us to $185/month. While this is still not doable in our budget, it was more reasonable. Unfortunately, we wasted about 1 hour of our life trying to get to something reasonable. I understand that's how buying a used car works, but I resent having my time wasted all the same.<br /><br />When it became evident that we weren't going to get the truck, Robert tried to sell us some sort of Ford Explorer thing. Marv gave us a ride over and chatted. I think Marv was glad to be away from the nasty money table. The Explorer was still being cleaned up. It was not what we wanted. We got out and looked at it. Marv looked too and understood it was not what we wanted. Marv is really no pressure. He gave us a ride back to our car so we could go eat lunch. As he was telling us to have a nice lunch, Robert came out and tried to convince us that we were crazy for not buying the truck. He tried to say that we could make sacrifices, like skip Starbucks, to account for the $50 difference between the prices. It reminded me of the scheister at Courtesy Chevrolet who tried to sell us a giant, junky truck.<br /><br />We shook our heads too, and we were off to get some lunch.<br /><br />A few days later, Marv called about a Silver Tacoma. Our experiences surrounding that Toyota will constitute the next chapter of our story.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-78848882704796745242008-04-03T22:35:00.009-07:002008-04-04T01:02:50.949-07:00Buying a Used Truck Part One - The Road to Tempe Honda - Introducing Marv<img src="http://www.4x4offroads.com/image-files/2001-toyota-tacoma-trd-4x4-extra-cab-new-flares-2.jpg" /><br /><br />The time has come. Erin and I can no longer exist with only one vehicle. For nearly a year now I have been relying on my bicycle to get me around, but circumstances have changed and now we need more wheels. While we have not actually purchased a truck yet, our attempts to purchase the truck have become so ridiculous that I thought it might be fun to share our experience as we go along, hence this series of blog entries.<br /><br />When we lived in Massachusetts we would never have considered buying a truck, but now that we live in Arizona, we have found that there are some benefits to owning a more durable vehicle. Since our move, we've really taken up hiking and camping as serious hobbies and there are lots of great hiking/camping areas that can only be accessed with a higher clearance vehicle.<br /><br />We don't want an SUV. We're looking for something more practical. Our car, a Toyota Matrix, is a great hatchback, so an SUV might offer more room, but not considerably more room. We decided on a smaller size truck. Our favorite is the Toyota Tacoma. Our ideal vehicle is a 2002-2004 Toyota Tacoma TRD Prerunner extended cab. They have great clearance, decent gas mileage for a truck, they hold their value well, and they look rad. The one pictured above obviously has a serious lift, but even the regular Tacoma Prerunners have good clearance.<br /><br />We have become quite savvy shoppers. However, let me take you back a couple of weeks and catch you up to speed.<br /><br />One Saturday a couple weeks back, Erin heard an add on the radio that a Nissan place on Camelback Road was selling repo-ed vehicles. We went over and the inventory was pretty picked over, so we headed across the street to Courtesy Chevrolet. We told the salesman who was "helping" us what we were looking for. This man took our request very seriously. We said we didn't want to spend a lot of money, so he lead us to a lot about 1/4 of a mile away to a lot that looked like a junkyard. He then tried to sell us sundry jalopies, including but not exclusive to a busted Land Rover, some sort of a V8 Superduty, and an employee's Tacoma TRD. This was our first introduction with the Prerunner TRD. Love at first sight...<br /><br />Needless to say, we did not buy a truck at Courtesy Chevrolet, even in spite of the salesman's assurance that we were making a big mistake in not paying $12,000 for a giant, junky truck that was probably intended for the auction.<br /><br />Erin and I then headed over to Tempe Toyota, which is where we bought the Matrix. They were nice enough when we bought the Matrix, so we thought we'd try them again. They were still very helpful, but they didn't have anything in our price range that day.<br /><br />Next we headed next door from Tempe Toyota to Tempe Honda. Upon arriving we were greeted by a friendly older gentleman named Marv. Marv has become an important and ubiquitous figure in our lives since then, so let me begin my drawing a character sketch of our friend Marv.<br /><br />Marv is retired. He retired from a very successful business career, moved to Arizona, got itchy in retirement, and so now he sells used cars at Tempe Honda...for fun. Marv is the best used cars salesman from the buyer's perspective because Marv doesn't HAVE to sell you the car. If you don't buy anything, no skin of his back. He's just happy to chat, which is cool because he's fun to talk to. He does try, only he's honest, so his trying is actually helpful. However, we have noticed that Marv's honesty and nonchalant demeanor exasperates his sales manager. This is also a good sign. Erin and I are tough customers (literally) and instead of getting frustrated and giving up on us, Marv says he admires us and he tries quite hard to get us what we want! Marv's the best.<br /><br />However, our first ride with Marv was ill fated. We found a 1999 Jeep Wrangler on the lot of Tempe Honda and it was reasonably priced, so I decided to try it out. Only problem was that it was a manual transmission. Erin doesn't drive manual. I haven't driven manual in probably 8 years and I was never any good at it in the first place. Nevertheless, I hopped in the driver's seat, Erin climbed in the back, and with Marv riding shotgun I lurched and jerked my way around around the block. It was not a comfortable ride, but I only stalled it once and the clutch survived. We did not purchase the Jeep. Marv was very reassuring during the ride, but when we arrived back at the lot he did not seem to hold the same hope for the improvement of my shifting skills he displayed during the ride. Perhaps his confidence was a survival mechanism more than a sales technique...<br /><br />After we parked the Jeep, no one could figure out how to remove the key from the ignition. They put the thing in all the different gears, messed with the emergency brake and the clutch, turned it off, turned it on, pushed in on the key. At one point there were 4 people trying to get the key out including me. Finally, I noticed that there was a button behind the ignition that you had to push in and we removed the key. It was ridiculous.<br /><br />Marv took our info and it wasn't long before he called back to tell us that he had Toyota Tacoma TRD Prerunner extended cab. However, I will leave the saga of the Tacoma for my next blog entry.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-29327597858643487532008-03-23T08:39:00.003-07:002008-03-23T08:53:16.071-07:00San Xavier del Bac<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2348137858/" title="Altar with Candles by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/2348137858_a2a167f65a.jpg" alt="Altar with Candles" height="500" width="330" /></a><br /><br />Last weekend we took a trip to Tucson and went to the <a href="http://www.sanxaviermission.org/Index.html">San Xavier del Bac Mission</a>. This mission is a Spanish Colonial style mission and was built between 1783-1797. It was way cooler than we expected. We have, admittedly, missed the sense of history we left behind in New England. Phoenix has a great climate and great hiking, but the whole place looks like it was built last week. Seeing the mission was a welcome respite from the all the strip malls.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2347196458/" title="San Xavier Mission by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 463px; height: 309px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2357/2347196458_9dfd4a2230.jpg" alt="San Xavier Mission" /></a><br /><br />Actually, Tucson looks a little more like home. We ate at a vegan restaurant and there were trees, roads that bend, slight hills...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2346365439/" title="Cross by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 457px; height: 305px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2021/2346365439_52ba526bf4.jpg" alt="Cross" /></a><br /><br />Anyhow, back to the mission. San Xavier is unlike any church I have ever seen. The art is so intricate, but it still has a folk-art feel. It reminds me a little of the cathedral in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but there was definitely a more rustic feel to San Xavier.<br /><br />Check out many more pictures of our mission trip on our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/sets/72157604172625451/">Flickr page</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2347194512/" title="Chapel Aisle by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2264/2347194512_c57644ce6c.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Chapel Aisle" /></a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-69795343844946195172008-03-20T20:12:00.003-07:002008-03-20T20:14:36.359-07:00Happy Birthday, Ishmael!Today is Ishmael's birthday!!!!! He's 3-years-old today!!!! Happy birthday, Ishmael!!<br /><br />For his birthday he received extra cat treats and extra playtime.<br />He's super-excited about all the extra attention, but he has not idea why he's getting it.<br /><br />Oh, our little boy is getting so big!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2312040714/" title="Scream, Dracula, Scream! by Thee E. Aldriches, on Flickr"><img style="width: 452px; height: 234px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2312040714_d5691f79db.jpg" alt="Scream, Dracula, Scream!" /></a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-42527054039442832602008-03-12T12:14:00.003-07:002008-03-12T12:18:00.657-07:00Desert Botanical Gardens<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2323544444/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/2323544444_f82195eaa2_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" > <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/2323544444/">Dueling Butterflies</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/erinanderic/">Thee E. Aldriches</a> </span></div>On Sunday, Erin and I went to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. They were pretty crowded, but they're nice. We didn't do the trails because we went to see the butterfly garden. This too was crowded and a bit chaotic. It seemed like whenever you were ready to take a photo of a butterfly or flower, someone would stand right in your light. For that matter, it was fairly difficult to even look at the butterflies. No one was rude or anything, it was just a popular exhibit.<br /><br />In spite of the chaos, it was still fairly enjoyable. Erin was afraid that she wasn't getting any good pictures of the butterflies, but when we got home and loaded them on the computer, we were pleasantly surprised.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/sets/72157604106233265/">Check out the rest of our butterfly pictures here on our Flickr pag</a>e.<br /><br />Actually, we use Flicker a lot. I update the pictures on our Flickr page more readily than the blogs. We still enjoy the blogs because you can write a lot more and do more with formatting, but Flickr is fun and convenient. So, remember that our Flickr address is <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/</a>.<br /><br />Enjoy!Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-80139260343459622452008-03-02T21:35:00.004-07:002008-03-12T12:19:35.761-07:00One Year Ago...<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/427537724/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/427537724_0d82355731_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" > <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br />Tikal</span><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/erinanderic/">Thee E. Aldriches</a> </span></div>It was a year ago last month Erin and I were on our honeymoon in Belize. This picture was actually taken in Tikal, Guatemala. We were a little crazy that day. For one thing, we carried way to much camera gear. Secondly, we hiked up and down stone steps at 70 degree angles wearing flip-flops because our shoes were wet from river tubing in a cave the day before.<br /><br />It does feel pretty odd that it has been a year since that trip. I remember talking to our Canadian friends that we made there (Dennis and Joan) about how we didn't even know where we were going to live in one year. Well, we know now! Arizona!<br /><br />It's been a busy couple of years and it shows no signs of slowing down.<br /><br />I learned that I can post blogs from our Flickr page. I use Flickr a lot; therefore, there will probably be an increase in blog postings now that I can do them from Flickr.<br /><br />We have over 100 pictures of our honeymoon on our Flickr page. <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/sets/72157600010342743/">Check them out here.</a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-33315579242599437312008-02-08T10:35:00.000-07:002008-02-08T11:17:12.704-07:00Surrending to the Digital ImageAfter years of shunning Photoshop, I have finally broken down and I'm beginning to learn to use it. We recently updated our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinanderic/">Flickr</a> account to "Pro" which is not really any sort of recognition of professional status, merely an expenditure of $25 for more space. I've been using Flickr a lot more ever since <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22280677@N07/">Sean</a> started posting prolifically. I love seeing his pictures from home and reading the commentary. While looking around on Flickr I have seen some folks doing some great stuff with Photoshop. For instance, sometimes <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahsclarke/">Sarah</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/damiengaudet/">Damien</a> use Photoshop and I always really dig their pictures. I also know the <a href="http://www.encourageothers.com">Kev</a> is a Photoshopper. So I threw my reticence to the wind and I have begun attempting to use Photoshop.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/lighthousephotoshop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/lighthousephotoshop.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Erin took these 2 pictures on Nantucket. I think one reason I've been Photoshopping lately is that it gives me a reason to go back and really look at some of our pictures. I like revisiting all the places we've been.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/nantucketlighthouse.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/nantucketlighthouse.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/photoshoppedbrattleboro.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/photoshoppedbrattleboro.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The picture above was taken in Brattleboro, Vermont. I think the windmill was taken in Oklahoma or Texas. I antiqued the Brattleboro shot and tried to make a faux lomo with the windmill.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/windmill2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/windmill2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/douglashouse2-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/douglashouse2-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I like making fake antique pictures. The one above was in Douglas, MA and the one below is from <a href="http://smalldrich.blogspot.com/2007/12/gold-king-mine-museum-and-ghost-town.html">Jerome, AZ.</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/ghosttown.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/ghosttown.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/volkwagons1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/volkwagons1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This <a href="http://smalldrich.blogspot.com/2007/10/vw-night-at-sonic.html">Volkswagen bug gathering</a> takes place at the Sonic near our house. The following three pictures are from <a href="http://smalldrich.blogspot.com/2007/10/bisbee.html">Bisbee, Arizona.</a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/bisbeemod3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/bisbeemod3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/bisbeemod.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/bisbeemod.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/bisbeemod2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/bisbeemod2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>In other news, Erin got an unexpected raise at work and I joined the <a href="http://www.societyofearlyamericanists.org/">Society of Early Americanists</a> and <a href="http://www.brockdenbrownsociety.ucf.edu/">The Charles Brockden Brown Society</a>. I recently read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_industry">"The Culture Industry"</a> which is an essay in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectic_of_Enlightenment">The Dialectic of Enlightenment </a>by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Horkheimer">Max Horkheimer</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Adorno">Theodor Adorno</a>. Its premise has been largely refuted by postmodernists, but the basic idea is that Capitalist consumerism proliferates bad art, which chokes out real art and redefines the culture in terms of artificial aesthetic needs. The negative effect of the Culture Industry corrupts all the way down to the personal level. The Culture Industry would include for-profit film, music, photography, etc - any art created for a Capitalistically functional purpose. I think I have made this sound much more jargony than it is in my attempt to paraphrase. If you've ever been frustrated by bands that "sell out" or the millions of bad movies out there, reading "The Culture Industry" may be very enlightening (pun intended).Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-67880248400134789552008-02-02T17:08:00.000-07:002008-02-02T17:28:08.456-07:00Mothdrawn to the MonolithI returned to the Superstitions last weekend and camped out on the other side of Weaver's Needle. I love photographing Weaver's Needle. Actually, photography in the Superstitions is super-easy. Every angle has merit and everything you see if beautiful. I took most of my photos here either at sunset, sunrise, or by moonlight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/goodcactus2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 342px; height: 513px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/goodcactus2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/campingspot.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/campingspot.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I went with Chris, who is the same dude I went hiking with on my last excursion. We camped under that pine tree in the left side of the photo.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/cave.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/cave.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I went in this cave. Erin did not approve, but it's actually pretty big, well lit, and in an area with lots of foot traffic, so big nasties probably wouldn't call it home.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/desertmoon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/desertmoon.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/peraltabest2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/peraltabest2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The red sky on the left side of the picture is light pollution from Phoenix et al.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/wvbest2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/wvbest2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>When the moon came up I got fantastic light. Enlarge the pictures for the best effect.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/wvbest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/wvbest.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/superstitioncanyonperalta.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/superstitioncanyonperalta.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Chris tells me that the Grand Canyon experience is like this times a million. I can't wait.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/wvsunrise.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/wvsunrise.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I put this picture on Flickr and it got a lot of nice comments. I can honestly say I'm pretty happy with it. I was sleeping and Chris woke me up because the sun looked good and he knew I'd want to take advantage. Totally worth getting up for.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/peraltaverybest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/peraltaverybest.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I like these clouds. I'm sure this is not the last Weaver's Needle blog.<br /><br />In news not relating to hiking, Erin and I have been approved for ASU family housing. That means we get a house with a washer and dryer and cable, internet and water paid for for almost $150 less than we're paying now. The only down side is that the house is in Mesa, so it will be further away from campus. However, I know other people who have taken advantage of the family housing and they really like it. That means that come this summer our sojourn with the dogshit and cockroaches will end. The people downstairs have recently acquired a dog that they neither need nor have room for nor know how to control. It barks all the time. It amazes me how ridiculously stupid people can be in regard to animal ownership. <br /><br />Ishmael had his teeth cleaned Friday. The poor little fellow was so doped up on anesthesia when he came home. He was not happy. He was growling and hissing at the vet's office. He recovered quickly and now his teeth are nice and clean. <br /><br />Erin went back to Claims University in Connecticut this week. She comes home today. I'm jealous that she got to see folks back home, but Ishmael and I have had a real bonding experience this week, even in spite of his run-in with dentistry.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-59596461947400503592008-01-28T22:40:00.001-07:002008-01-28T22:51:13.198-07:00Fountainless HillsThe other day, Erin and I went out to take some pictures. We go hiking a lot and we go on trips, but not exclusively to take pictures. Our travels lead us north of Tempe to Mt. Mcdowell. There wasn't too much to photograph there and it was getting late, so we backtracked to Fountain Hills.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 512px; height: 340px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain010.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Above is picture of Mt. McDowell at twilight.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain017.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Fountain Hills is known for having a gigantic fountain that is many stories high. When we got to the park the fountain was really going. It was huge. It was pretty dark out, so I set the camera on the tripod and adjusted the camera and just as I was going to take the picture, the stupid fountain shut off. We decided to wait to see if it would come back on. We waiting for 45 minutes, in which time we took these pictures.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain040.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Fountain Hills at night.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain026.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 465px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain026.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>We don't know these people. The dude said, "Take our picture! We're good looking!" So I said, "Ok." I am a man of my word.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain036.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain036.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Messing with the flash and long exposures.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 352px; height: 528px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain028.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain037.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain037.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I bought this hat at a rest stop. It's sweet.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 325px; height: 488px;" src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/smalldrich/fountain023.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Yert! After 45 minutes we figured the fountain wasn't coming back on so we left. When I got home I read that it came on for the first 15 minutes of every hour. We barely missed seeing it come back on. We'll go get a picture of the damn thing soon.<br /><br />Check back soon for more pictures from my second camping trip to Weaver's Needle.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-46157130896153595712008-01-17T22:59:00.000-07:002008-01-17T23:23:24.995-07:00Our First Visitor!We had our first visitor from back home! The winner is....... Kevin! Kev was out here on business. He's a V.I.P. In fact, he's such a V.I.P. that they put him up in a smoking room at the Comfort Inn on 27th Ave in Phoenix (ghetto!). <br /><br />We didn't have long to hang out, but it was really cool seeing him. It was almost surreal to hang out with someone from Massachusetts here in Tempe. It's the first time our worlds have crossed.<br /><br />We went to <a href="http://virtual-showcase.com/llc/casey_moore%27s/casey%27s.html">Casey Moore's</a> and had food. Yum.<br /><br />If you are unfamiliar with Kevin and the missus, Jen, <a href="http://jenni-n-kev.livejournal.com/">check out their blog</a>. Kev and Jen are both talent artists. You can check out Kev's work at <a href="http://www.encourageothers.com">encourageothers.com</a>. He even has a sweet picture of yours truly on there. <br /><br />So the moral of this story is that we like it when people come to visit. Come to visit. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-15625112339178286532008-01-13T19:46:00.000-07:002008-12-09T23:14:50.836-07:00A New Year's Plea<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd-FKrx0F4OsmtREDhL_gaB8CYBrByfppZBSDBgC_wUhMkQoePoXzWF9SZO6vhYZO0sxl55lZJP93r4XMPa5QIJ0b0djM8UhfLqH-b7tNO9HU9MBRFwz9CpLbtBRHZaKgxX2hd-w/s1600-h/billy_oxyclean.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd-FKrx0F4OsmtREDhL_gaB8CYBrByfppZBSDBgC_wUhMkQoePoXzWF9SZO6vhYZO0sxl55lZJP93r4XMPa5QIJ0b0djM8UhfLqH-b7tNO9HU9MBRFwz9CpLbtBRHZaKgxX2hd-w/s400/billy_oxyclean.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5155159229273265058" border="0" /></a><br />Billy Mays, you have made it unbearable for me to watch TV for years. Your "high energy" sales pitches only make me scurry to the remote control to hit the mute button. The clever contraptions that you push are so amazing they can practically just sell themselves. So please, Billy, in this new year do us all a favor: be a nice, gentle, salesman with a great beard. We know you have it in you.<br /><br />On behalf of all TV Watchers in America,<br /><br />Thanks.<br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/E2/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-7.jpg" alt="" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08833674283498138623noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33360157.post-68622443881315802702008-01-11T10:47:00.000-07:002008-01-14T22:30:03.657-07:00Who's that man in a black sedan......with two <a href="http://www.laffstock.com/images/HOOKER%20HAUNTED%20CVR.jpg">cheap hookers</a> and a <a href="http://www.mexicanwerewolf.com/images/chupacabra-mexican-werewolf-2007.jpg">Mexican</a>?<br /><br />It's <a href="http://www.mickeyavalon.com/">Mickey Avalon</a> - Mr. Right!<br /><br />Those are some <a href="http://promper.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/large-photos_cocaine.jpg">lines</a> from the new <a href="http://www.ipm.uiuc.edu/bulletin/photos/corn_earworm_larvae_01.jpg">earworm</a> that <a href="http://www.camping-gavarnie.com/info-veau.jpg">Veau</a> <a href="http://images.medicinenet.com/images/illustrations/PinkEye.jpg">infected</a> me with, "<a href="http://photo.sing365.com/music/picture.nsf/Mickey-Avalon-photo/CD150A27167D6F7A4825721F000CCC43/$file/Mickey+Avalon.jpg">Mr. Right</a>" by <a href="http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/sideshow/files/2007/05/mickeyavalon2.jpg">Mickey Avalon</a>. Don't<a href="http://www.siemens-audiologie.fr/fr/04-produits/09-acuris-life/02-adaptation-ouverte/_resources/images/acurislife_hearingaids_fr.jpg"> listen</a><a href="http://www.siemens-audiologie.fr/fr/04-produits/09-acuris-life/02-adaptation-ouverte/_resources/images/acurislife_hearingaids_fr.jpg"> </a>to it or you'll never <a href="http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2007/10/29/kylie-minogue_279.jpg">get it our of your head</a>.<br /><br />(This is the <a href="http://wildlifepark.gov.ns.ca/walking/lynx.html">links</a> <a href="http://www.rockguiden.se/Bilder/kornissu.jpg">issue</a> of the<a href="http://www.tremenda.blogspot.com/"> blog</a>. <a href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/38853-shine-on">Have fun</a>.)<br /><br />We <a href="http://www.tee-line.co.uk/images/tired-cat.jpg">spent </a>last <a href="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/berniewwek.jpg">weekend</a> with <a href="http://www.worldwidefoodservice.com/graphic/veal.jpg">Veau</a> and <a href="http://emily.unprettyful.org/top.jpg">Emily</a> in<a href="http://www.idcide.com/i/mc2/ca/anaheim.gif"> Anaheim, California</a>. Of <a href="http://www.discgolfassoc.com/images/course_lamirada485x416.gif">course</a>, we <a href="http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/j/Gallows.jpg">hung</a> out with<a href="http://www.illinoisnature.com/wp-content/photos/katydid1.jpg"> Katie</a> too. It was a <a href="http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/romney3.jpg">much less</a> eventful <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4475189992806824275">trip</a> than our prior <a href="http://www.backglass.org/duncan/excursion.jpg">excursion</a> and I <a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1244/1345835256_556d5b713e.jpg">mean</a> that in a very <a href="http://mytwocents.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/mother-theresa.jpg">good</a> way. The <a href="http://dc-mrg.english.ucsb.edu/WarnerTeach/E192/Images/MATRIX.jpg">Matrix</a> held up there and <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b0/BabyGotBack.jpg/200px-BabyGotBack.jpg">back</a>. Except for one little bit of <a href="http://www.oldies.com/i/boxart/large/34/014381348521.jpg">highway</a> <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/%7Ejianbo/Xanga/confusion.jpg">confusion</a> around <a href="http://www.cnn.com/US/9905/10/miller.rally/california.riverside.lg.jpg">Riverside</a>, the ride was <a href="http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/01/22/23272201.jpg">smooth</a> both ways. I even bought a <a href="http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/files/2007/02/istockphoto_1778141_dunce_cap1.jpg">sweet hat</a> at a <a href="http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l26/halfwildhalfchild/RestStop.jpg">rest stop</a>!<br /><br />We didn't really take any <a href="http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/loldog-funny-pictures-innocent-dog.jpg">pictures</a> this time around. We just <a href="http://www.depts.ttu.edu/communications/news/stories/images/bat-large.jpg">hung</a> out and <a href="http://www.2tastyladies.com/pics/milton%20and%20toilet.JPG">enjoyed ourselves</a>. <a href="http://www.cpiecotentin.com/rnmathon/07_gestion/Veau%20mignon.jpg">Veau</a> and <a href="http://poetryfoundation.org/harriet/emily-dickinson.gif">Emily</a> took some <a href="http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/lolcats-funny-pictures-chicken-sandwich.jpg">pictures</a> at the <a href="http://jencc.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/duranduran1.jpg">Rio</a>, so those are forthcoming.<br /><br /><br />Did you <a href="http://frankthetank.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/george-w-bush-pictures-turkey.jpg">think</a> we would go to <a href="http://earth911.org/wp-content/themes/newearth/images/state/seal/california.png">California</a> without going to the Rio? <a href="http://www.ivory-bill-woodpecker.com/huckabee.jpg">Of course not!</a><br /><br />Our trips to <a href="http://stylemens.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/27/arnold_1_2.jpg">California</a> do contain several <a href="http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00461/images/uranium.jpg">similar</a> <a href="http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Samples/094.x1/s7s.JPG">elements</a>:<br /><br />1. We go to the <a href="http://orangecounty.citysearch.com/review/652415">Rio</a>. The Rio is a <a href="http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/graphics/karaoke.jpg">karaoke</a> bar in <a href="http://www.vintagehomes.net/Vintage-Homes-Neighborhoods/images/anaheim-vintage-image.jpg">Anaheim</a>. It might be the <a href="http://jeffmilner.com/2007/05/the-mormons.jpg">best people</a> watching location in the <a href="http://sevencolors.org/images/photo/original/globe_east.jpg">world</a>. Not <a href="http://www.gambling911.com/Mitt-Romney-10.jpg">least</a> of the <a href="http://www.barryfishband.com/images/Star_Search_88.jpg">spectacular</a> <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/singapore/img/specimens.jpg">specimens</a> is the <a href="http://www.djjazzyjeff.com/">DJ</a>, Smitty, who you may <a href="http://texasholdemblogger.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/the-alamo.jpg">remember</a> from our <a href="http://smalldrich.blogspot.com/2007/09/california-ber-alles.html">previous California blog entry</a>.<br /><br />2. We get <a href="http://panther1.last.fm/coverart/300x300/1910.jpg">lost</a><a href="http://panther1.last.fm/coverart/300x300/1910.jpg"> </a>and <a href="http://www.g-8.de/Content/EN/StatischeSeiten/G8/Lebensl_C3_A4ufe/Bilder/george-w-bush,property=poster.jpg">confused</a> by the <a href="http://www.birdsasart.com/todd%20wildebeast.jpg">multitudinous</a> <a href="http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Freeway_DVD/freeway_dvd_reese_witherspoon__large_.jpg">freeways</a> and <a href="http://www.aetn.org/election2002/assets/images/mhuckabee1.jpg">confusing</a> <a href="http://www.space.com/images/signs_movie_03.jpg">signs</a> and make <a href="http://www.myriadballroom.com/">myriad</a> <a href="http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/comparison.gif">comparisons</a> between <a href="http://www.seismo-watch.com/EQNEWS/Newspaper/NewspaperGraphics/SalSeismo.jpg">California</a>'s <a href="http://www.nypress.com/19/52/news&columns/52Follow-the-Leader.jpg">lack</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slut">easy </a><a href="http://www.sofacinema.co.uk/guardian/images/products/9/14219-large.jpg">navigation</a> and how <a href="http://www.eeweems.com/capra/_imagery/_wonderful_life/poster_wonderful_470_ix.jpg">wonderful</a> it is to get around <a href="http://pelotonjim.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/phoenix_rising.jpg">Phoenix</a> and the <a href="http://www.idcide.com/i/mc2/az/tempe.gif">Valley</a>.<br /><br />3. We go to <a href="http://www.thelab.com/">the Lab</a> a.k.a. the Anti-Mall and go <a href="http://img.hexus.net/v2/gaming/screenshots/german.jpg">clothes</a> <a href="http://uk.gizmodo.com/Shopping%20Bag%20Bra.jpg">shopping</a>. It's <a href="http://www.defendamerica.mil/images/maps/iraq032403a1.jpg">overpriced</a> and <a href="http://www.ljkliterary.com/images/bookCovers/Width250/Hipster.gif">trendy</a>, yet we <a href="http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/wyoming/images/s/wyoming-old-faithful.jpg">invariably</a> get someone to take us there. This <a href="http://luisma.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/070112_doomsdayclock_hmed_5pwidec.jpg">time</a> we <a href="http://pre1900prints.com/DomesticAnimals/DroveTexasCattle.jpg">drove</a>, but <a href="http://fohn.net/giraffe-pictures-facts/giraffe.jpg">Katie</a> <a href="http://www.sofacinema.co.uk/guardian/images/products/9/14219-large.jpg">navigated</a>. She <a href="http://www.crnano.org/Missed%20target.gif">missed</a> our <a href="http://store.theexitstore.com/merchant2/graphics/00000001/edge-lit-exit-sign-lg.jpg">exit</a> because she was <a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/509210914_a061db00a4.jpg">busy</a> <a href="http://www.codexmagica.com/images/miss_cleo.jpg">telling</a> us about an <a href="http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/images/John%20McCain.jpg">old man</a> who went to an <a href="http://conservatard.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/emergency-room.jpg">emergency room</a> with a <a href="http://www.angrybanana.freeservers.com/images/angry_banana.jpg">banana </a><a href="http://ipadventures.com/images/stuck.jpg">stuck</a> up his <a href="http://www.motorcycle-journal.com/forum/attachments/off-topic/4237-yamaha-fz6-vs-suzuki-sv650-vs-suzuki-gs500-56k-big-ass1.jpg">butt.</a> It was <a href="http://home.in.tum.de/%7Epaula/pic/movie_posters/buffalo_66.jpg">worth missing</a> the exit to hear about that. I did end up finding a <a href="http://www.dandyrogue.com/index.html">Rogues Gallery</a> T-Shirt, which is my <a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1402/931829849_b232a87412.jpg">favorite brand of shirt</a>.<br /><br />So we <a href="http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/%7Elurid/images/dog-sniff.gif">thoroughly enjoyed ourselves</a> and <a href="http://www.summersdale.com/images/Does-Anything-Eat-Shit-300.jpg">ate</a> at some <a href="http://www.amateurgourmet.com/desktop_1024x768.jpg">good restaurants</a> - <a href="http://www.sidneyscafe.com/">Sidney's</a> in <a href="http://www.idcide.com/i/mc2/ca/fullerton.gif">Fullerton</a> and <a href="http://www.rutabegorz.com/">Rutabegorz</a> in <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cheet">Orange</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.saynotocrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/cat-saying-hooray.jpg">Hooray</a> for <a href="http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/Zelda%202%20Title%20-%20Resized.jpg">links</a>!<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13529938685381736513noreply@blogger.com8