Come on Barbie, let's go party.

Day at the lake: A photo Essay.

We are models.

We are mermaids. Merman!

We play chicken.

We play pigs stuck in the mud.

We throw sticks.

And rocks.

I pull off grandma glasses.

I painted my toenails pink.

We play frisbee.

Best of all, Mike and Nial sing Barbie World on the ride home.

So don't knock it, don't knock it.

Today Meagan gifted me with this poster. And I found this hilarious quote from the drummer, Nathan:

"When we signed the deal with RCA, it was just me and Caleb. The label told us they were going to put a band together, but we said, 'We're going to buy our little brother a bass, he's a freshman in high school. Caleb will teach himself the guitar. Our cousin Matthew played guitar when he was 10 and I'll play drums.' The record label agreed".

Note that none of them were currently playing anything at the time.

Also, apparently they kidnapped their cousin, Matthew, in order to get him to join the band. Classic.

Now you can't get enough...given a chance, I wanna be somebody.

In which I read "Harris and Me" again and laugh so hard that I choke on my own spit.

In which I meet Harris and am exposed for the first time to the vagaries of inflation.

In which I become a farmer and meet Vivian.

Wherein Harris introduces me to work and I meet Ernie.

In which war is declared and honor established.

Where I meet Buzzer and learn the value and safety of teamwork.

Wherein I learn some more physics, involving parabolic trajectories, and see the worth of literature.

In which we educate two horses, and I learn that the one blamed is not always the one guilty

In which I discover love only to have my heart broken and in revenge I fry Harris's business.

In which Harris discovers speed...and the value of clothing.

-Harris and me, Gary Paulsen (Of The Hatchet fame. Which is actually quite random seeing as how Harris and Me is hilarious and The Hatchet is the most boring book know to man.)

With a whimper.

I feel like my world is crumbling. Yesterday was my last day at Down East, Melissa is in Washington D.C., and my room is (relatively) clean. And, as if to confirm the crumbling, yesterday I dropped my cup with the dancing cows that say ''Hell-o'' on it. Shattered, or at least broken into multiple pieces.

No matter, crumbling can be good, as in the case of crumble cake. Or stuffing. Stuffing consists of mostly bread crumbs and is absolutely delicious. It is one of the only things I eat on Thanksgiving, turkey aside. And occasionally I enjoy the picturesque. Which is to say that I enjoy crumbling ruins because almost nothing is more picturesque than crumbling ruins.

Besides, my cow cup was not even my favorite cup. Of the three cups (well, two, now that my cow cup is no more) that I use my favorite is my little purple one (it looks blue, but it is really purple). I have had it since I was nine. And before the purple, I had a pink one of the same design. I used it so much that it faded from pink to a sort of white. And so my mother replaced it with my purple cup. Purple, because that was my favorite color of the time. I am as close to loving this cup as one can be to loving an inanimate object. Love people, use things. So I plan to use this little cup until the day that I die.

Remember the raccoon?

That raccoon did damage. It did seem like a rather large raccoon, but as I don't spend a great amount of time in the company of raccoons I really couldn't say for sure.

Tonight's gonna be a good night.

According to an "Instyle" interview with Josh Duhamel, Fergie loves badmitton.

Who knew that Stacy Ann Ferguson and I had so much in common? In other news I have had "I Gotta Feeling" in my head for nearly two weeks. Thank you Matty.

And thank you for this picture. There is no end to the amusement it provides for me.

R is for rambunctious.

Last night Traci, Robbie, Melissa, and I created these "poems" while eating Matty's abandoned "Orange Scream" ice cream.

Rambunctious
Obsequious
Bombastic
Benevolent

Exquisite
Marvelous
Intelligent
Lovely
Youthful

Magnificent
Excellent
Lovable
Intricate
Sensational
Salacious
Apple of my eye

Tenacious
Radiant
Awesome
Competent
Intellectual

They looked loads better on paper because Traci's handwriting is amazing but they are still quite amusing, though not entirely accurate. I mean, salacious? Melissa?

Pickles or Bubblegum?

A difficult question, I must say. I mean, it's not a party without pickles. Plus pickles are crunchy and delicious. On the other hand, bubblegum is a delight, as well. I often enjoy chewing multiple pieces of "Super Bubble" bubblegum at a time.(seven pieces of "Super Bubble" to be exact)

Not that any of this has anything to do with anything. Moving right along. My bestie Matty is here for the week and already it has been as fun as pigs running amok in the mud.

(Other bestie, Traci dominates Matty in the leg wrestling insanity)

(Actually Traci dominates mostly everyone as pictured here with third and final bestie, Robb.)

(Traci displays a "winning" look. Quite literally.)

(My blue-eyed babies.)

(Hands up, stands up. Traci dominates...yet again. Robb was rather good, as well, though.)

Later we played we played the "Twilight, the movie" game which Melissa dominated and I played the low-life who had only seen the movie once and therefore was a complete failure. Shame, shame. Oh, and we played some badmitton which I always love, despite the trash talk. Ahem, Matty. Really, though, what sort of person knows Bella's house number? Anyway, I am just happy that Matty is back and that Robb and Traci never left. Thrilled really. So enjoy your pickles and bubblegum.

Inside all of us

I am excited for "Where the Wild Things Are"

I can just tell that this childhood classic is going to be amazing.

(I'll eat you up, I love you so)

Please watch the trailer. It is so beautiful.

On the hunt.

So my Easter weekend was pretty great. I colored eggs, I hunted eggs, I ate cake. Weekend pronounced success.

I also pronounce myself chief egg dyer. I am thinking of doing it professionally.

New York, New York.

New York was a riotous good time. To illustrate the the fact I provide you with some "snapshots" for your viewing pleasure. Please proceed.

Traci, my most beloved travel companion. Or anything that requires companions, at that.

(this was the first picture on my camera and she refused to look at me. For pictures actually displaying her face please continue.)

The airport dance. Created and danced by Jenna.

Our hotel, The Hotel Pennsylvania, was extremely classy. Upon our arrival we were greeted by this. As it turns out our bathroom was actually a (haunted) swamp. We still are unsure as to where the water was coming from.

Marissa. Sometimes I like to call her Mar-Mar. Much to her displeasure.

I tried to take a picture of these kilt-wearing-fiends on the sly but was, unfortunately, caught.

Dinner.

Mar-Mar just looks just thrilled to be at Columbia for journalism conference. I just love these candid shots.

Traci, in the pink, it would seem.

Jenna relates, no doubt, the story of Croft forgetting to get off the subway.

Mar-Mar and Traci with an unknown statue.

Kitty-cat sighting on the way to Chinatown.

Most excellent wall art in Chinatown.

Taxi.

Taking a picture, taking a picture.

Croft, looking pleased, as per usual.

Mar-Mar and her cappuccino, note my use of the rule of thirds.

Apparently smoking is the "in" thing in New York, at any rate I have never seen so many people smoking in my entire life.

We were plagued constantly with wet towels from our haunted, bathroom swamp.

Jenna walking through the Columbia dining area. They actually fed us at Columbia. This was very odd for the fact that we practically starved at the last journalism conference.

Another random Columbia statue.

An interesting bike, Jenna astride it, undoubtedly belonging to a Columbia attendee.

Les filles on the steps of the of the lower library.

The guys standing behind us were all "Work it girls." Anyway, this is a favorite for reasons that are obvious.

Pigeons!

Croft and Jenna. Evidently not talking about the subway incident because Croft is smiling.

Me, in the Columbia subway station.

Chad and his phantom "cousin".

The subway. Such fun, such fun. Unfortunately the boy in the zebra stripes suspenders was not there to entertain us during this particular ride. However, the air guitar playing man filled in quite nicely.

A slightly stunned looking Shanda wearing a hat that makes me green with envy.

The ferry. Nearly as much fun as "the bus".

More on the ferry.

Me, under a bridge in central park, wearing my signature facial expression.

Chad just really liked these sunglasses. Anything to distract himself from "the bus".

The backs of Shanda and Jenna on the ill-fated bus.

Mollie and Jenna upon discovering that our shuttle to the airport was not functioning correctly.

My deformed straw.

The motion censored umbrellas.

So all in all the trip was great fun.

The end.

P.S. Traci and I did it again.