Squirrel Day!!!

Squirrel Day is my favorite time of year besides Christmas.

What is Squirrel Day, you ask? Well, I will tell you.

I hate Easter. I think it's the dumbest holiday in the entire world.

Well, about a million years ago an old friend of mine took my anger at Easter and turned it into (you guessed it!) Squirrel Day.

Squirrel Day rules are as follows:

1. Find a squirrel present. It can be anything. A key chain, a child's toy, a set of sheets. The only requirement is that it has a squirrel somewhere on it.

2. Find a card with a squirrel on it. It can be anything. A Father's Day card, a birthday card, an invitation. The only requirement is that it has a squirrel somewhere on it.

3. You get bonus points for finding wrapping paper with a squirrel on it. It can't be made. It has to be wrapping paper. Or a bag will work. Some kind of traditional wrapping. So far no one has succeeded at this.

It has been a very long time since I have found people who want to participate in Squirrel Day with me. But this year my husband has agreed. I can't wait!

Last year I had some participants who ended up sucking pretty badly and forgetting all about it. I had gotten everything ready and they blew it. But this year, this year is going to be rad.

So, if you'd like to join in on my Squirrel Day or get advice on how to do your own, just let me know!

I think after this year I might give it its own date. It's big time now.

Happy Squirrel Day!

My weekend thoughts

So, this weekend I met my mom and step-dad in Orange County to dine with my fabulous grandparents. I super duper love my grandparents.

Well, while on this weekend excursion I had a bunch of interesting/fun things happen that I thought I would put here.

#1 - My grandma, the circus animal tamer

My grandma doesn't much love animals. She always threatening to kill my cats. We all know, though, that is is a front and that she's actually a super-secret animal lover.

So, she's been complaining about this squirrel who hides nuts in her yard. She calls him Fatso. (He's fat.) For awhile he had a wife she calls Skinny Bitch. (She's skinny.) Let me tell you, it's hilarious to hear my grandmother say this name every single time. And apparently Skinny Bitch is now out of the picture.


(This is not Fatso. I wish it was.)

Let's keep in mind that I have never, ever seen this squirrel. But now Fatso seems to do somersaults on the lawn. This is a new thing for him and he seems to do it quite frequently. I really, really want to see this.

The other animal story from my grandmother is directly out of a Stephen King novel. She says that a bunch of crows landed in her yard and practiced marching. She swears that they even marched into a circular formation and that a leader would tell the other crows what to do. She said throughout the 20 minutes or so that this happened the leader would periodically change.

Please keep in mind that she did not take a picture of this and my grandpa is blind so he cannot back her up.

She does acknowledge that this sounds crazy.

#2 - Andes mints are a lot better when they are free

We went to Olive Garden for lunch. They give you Andes mints. I love Andes from Olive Garden. I have only purchased them once on my own and they just weren't the same. They're better when they are free.

#3 - Everyone's tired of the sequester

My step-dad works for the Marines. He's a retired Marine and now works as a civilian on base. He is going to have to be furloughed because of the sequester cuts. I asked him if he was upset about having an extra day off. He said no, he was pretty happy about it. I asked him if anyone was upset. He said no. No one he had talked to was upset. He said that people were concerned about where they were going to get the money they needed to cover their bills but that no one was upset about and extra day off. He said that mostly people were just tired of the whole thing.

I think that pretty much sums up the government right now - people are just tired of the whole thing.


So there you have it. There are my stories about this weekend.

They're hiding behind the seconds

I love Neil Gaiman. He's one of the most beautiful writers I have ever experienced.



I also love Evelyn, even though I have never met her. She's one of the most entertaining people I have ever experienced.



So, when Evelyn posted this blog about Neil Gaiman's Calendar of Tales, well, I just had to share it for multiple reasons.

Read it.

http://cheekyginger.com/neil-gaimans-calendar-of-tales-with-added-bonus/#comment-81

Because you do not want to miss out of phrases like, "They're hiding behind the seconds, waiting to get in."

The Oscars

So, the Oscars were last night. I don't actually watch the Oscars (and frankly, I don't really care about them) but I am incredibly opinionated so I thought I should post what did win and what I thought should win here for your reading enjoyment.

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

Best Picture:
Did win - Argo
Should have won - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Reason - Argo has been done a million, bazillion times with other names. And it wasn't even that suspenseful. And the suspense there was, from what I can tell, was fake. I think it won out of some misplaced American pride. Give me a break. BOTSW was beautiful and like nothing that's been done before. Robbed. BOTSW gets my highest compliment I can give a movie, which is, "That movie was stupid." Anything dubbed this way by me is done so because it means I could not stop crying. In this case, I cried for days every time I heard the name of the movie. For that, it should have won.

Best Actor:
Did win - Daniel Day Lewis
Should have won - Denzel Washington

Reason - Daniel Day Lewis was fine but Denzel in Flight. Boy howdy. (Yes, I said boy howdy.) That's an unlikeable character at best and he just made me feel raw emotion. Just because someone was a great president doesn't mean the person playing him should automatically get a shiny gold statue.

Best Actress:
Did win - Jennifer Lawrence
Should have won - Jennifer Lawrence

Reason - I am not a huge JenLaw fan by any means, but come on. She did a great job playing a fairly unbelieveable character. Good job, Academy.

Best Director:
Did win - Ang Lee for Life of Pi
Should have won - Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Reason - Both actors directed fake animals so really, it's easy to compare the two. But Lee had to direct, like, three total people. Zeitlin had no budget and had to direct a bunch of people who had never acted before. Shouldn't that count for extra points? Does Lee get more points because he "directed" something that mostly didn't exist? How is that directing? Nope. Zeitlin should have won hands down.

That's all I'm going to weigh in on because that's all I really care about. I hope you enjoyed my expert review of the 2013 Academy Awards.

I love meat

But I'm a vegetarian. Why, you ask, am I a vegetarian since I love meat so much?

Because I love animals more.

My choice. Deal with it. It's been 13 years so I'm pretty sure nothing you're thinking about saying is going to change my mind.

But I get asked the question ALL of the time, what do I eat.

I also get asked all of the time what brands of fake meat I like since I love meat so much.

So here we go. A handy-dandy guide to Shasta's favorite fake meat so I never, ever have to type this all again.


Chicken:
Anything chicken related, go for Quorn.
http://www.quorn.us/


Beef:
Quorn as well for meatballs.

Best meatball subs ever.

Morningstar Farms makes a good back up option but they just aren't as meat-like.
https://www.morningstarfarms.com/


Morningstar does make the best crumbles, though.


For hamburgers, though, go with Boca.
http://www.bocaburger.com/

All American Flame Grilled are my favorite.


Pork:
Morningstar all the way here. I eat so much Morningstar they should thank me for keeping them in business. (Quorn, too.)

Bacon, sausage, and anything hot dog. I'm not going to post all of the pictures here. But they discontinued the hot dogs for a few years and I was seriously devastated. I also eat BLT's with their bacon about a million times a week.



Deli slices:
This has been the hardest thing for me but I have finally found some good options.

Yves Salami is delicious.
http://www.yvesveggie.com/

They also have a fantastic pepperoni.

And of course, Tofurky. One of the originals and still one of the best. I personally like the peppered.
http://www.tofurky.com/



Etc.:
I have recently tried this new brand, Gardein.
http://www.gardein.com/index.php

I've only had the burger but it was very good.



So that's it. That's what I live on. If I find more or think of more I will keep you updated. Enjoy. And let the little critters live while being healthier at the same time!

To Prius or not to Prius? That is the question.

So, on Tuesday I got in my first car accident. It sucked. I won't get into it here because I've told the story eight million times and I don't want to anymore. But here is my car:

You can't really see it but the whole framework is smashed against my tires. (Sorry folks. I had to crop out the rest so you couldn't see my license plate number and stalk me. Come on. You know you would.)

This was not my fault. Some idiot kid hit me. Ruined my car and gave me whiplash. Awesome.

So I'm waiting to see if my car will be considered totaled or if they are going to fix it. I am trying to prepare for anything.

And I've wanted a Prius forever. There's one problem, though. I HATE Prius drivers. They are some of the worst, most reckless, rude drivers out there. (And before you think, "Well, I drive a Prius and I don't suck," just shut the comment off in your head. I know there are exceptions to every rule.)

So I talked myself into getting a Hyundai Sonata hybrid. Then the whole thing with Hyundai lying about their gas mileage came out. Check that off my list.

I thought about an electric car. Then I thought of all the ways I could get myself in trouble with that. Check that off my list.

Then I get into an accident and it's decided - if I have to get a car I'm getting a Prius.

Then Casey and her boyfriend Brandon come over last night because they want to take care of me and they're awesome. I tell them I'm getting a Prius.

I get a look. And comments about how all Prius drivers suck.

AHHHH!!! I'm back to square one. 

Do I want to be a sucky Prius driver? I'm pretty convinced that I am good driver as I've lived over half my life without an accident and the one I did have was someone else's fault. I don't think suddenly driving a Prius will make me a bad driver.

But Brandon came up with a good point - people buy a Prius because of the status.

Well, here are my reasons:
- I like the Earth and I want to keep it.
- I live VERY far away from work and gas is expensive.
- I live in LA and would be very happy if I could use the carpool lane.

None of those have to do with status. But do I want to be clumped in with a bunch of status-obsessed awful drivers?

Oy. What's a girl to do? 

And who knows if I even have to make this decision!

Accidents are too much stress. 

UPDATE: My car is getting fixed. The question can be shelved indefinitely.

What's with the asteroids??

So, today there was a huge asteroid that flew past the Indian Ocean.

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16966984-it-aint-over-yet-watch-asteroid-2012-da14-fade-out-via-streaming-video?lite

And even earlier today a meteor came through the atmosphere in Russia.

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16969092-nuclear-like-in-its-intensity-russia-meteor-blast-is-largest-since-1908?lite

Could you imagine seeing something like this? It's crazy!

I wonder if this is going to get the doomsday prophesies started again!