Lay off the Anglo-Saxons, what did they ever do to you?

Today I have the day off work. I considered taking a shower, heading into Target, and wandering around to taunt the various people that have to be there today. But then I realized, I don't want to take a shower. However I am quite bored without Joel here to poke me in the ear, try to pick my nose, make stupid noises, etc. I miss him. I still have seven hours to fill, during which time I will probably take a nap, eat all the food we have, and watch Good Eats. Oh, to have days off work!

Only if you would consider Tom Selleck distinguished.

I'm still partially recovering from Joel and I's adventurous hike in Saguaro National Park. Though I had a large brimmed hat and sunblock with me, I still managed to get a nice burn on my arms and neck. I'm now watching Alton Brown teach me how to make sushi while I mildly wonder if he's as nerdy in person as he is on TV. My guess: probably. I do not want to go to work tomorrow, and I'm ready to go back to Lincoln. That, in short, is how I'm feeling right now.

Perhaps its all the Your Face jokes.

I don't have much to say as of right now, as I finished the last Harry Potter book a few days ago and my mind is still engulfed in HP-related thoughts. Mostly, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the idea that it is in fact done, really done, and that means I'm really not a kid anymore. Perhaps some people think I was no longer a child when I started paying my own rent, but no. The end of the Potter saga truly marks the conclusion of my adolescence. It sort of feels like a distant cousin has died. That might seem a little dramatic, but that is truly how I feel. I miss you already, Harry.

Bro better watch his back, that's all Dino has to say.

THE RAIN! OH THE RAIN! IT DOESN'T STOP! No, it's not actually that bad. But it does torrential downpour every night now that its monsoon season. Pretty cool, especially the lightning. That's really all I have to say right now.

Dinosaurs need a self-esteem boost, too.

I'm going to go make some peanut butter cookies. Not from scratch, mind you. I'm fairly certain I inherited my mother's baking skills. No, I plan on using a handy little packet that should be so simple to make I'd have to be a brain dead mollusk to screw it up. No, I'm kidding myself. I'll probably screw this up, too.

Well, it does.

My new favorite person is Alton Brown, because he gives me helpful kitchen hints in a humorous and easy to absorb manner. Not that I'll ever use them, mind you, because they always require slightly more work than I'm willing to put forth. But I'm sure to someone, somewhere, they are useful.

Dinosaur often has unfortunate trajectory,

Saw Harry Potter today. Frickin' awesome, that's about all I have to say about that. Now I'm super excited for the 7th book to come out. In other news, Joel and I will be driving to Nogales, a town just across the Arizona-Mexico border. Hopefully we can get our hands on some tasty Mexican food and a sombrero or two.

Dinosaur didn't realize penguins lived in the Southern Hemisphere. Silly Dinosaur.

I've had the same song stuck in my head for the last three days. It's the one I learned in elementary school to help me remember Columbus' ships. The Nina and the Pinta and the Santa Maria...sailed across the ocean, tride and true... Setting aside the general assumption that Columbus was totally lame and kind of an asshole who is totally undeserving of a holiday, the song does remind me of my favorite Dave Barry book, in which he lists the ships as the Ninja, the Pina Colada, and the Heidi Ho III. Which is, I must admit, the funniest thing ever.

Capable of eating your face, even in infancy.

Joel's going to make me go hiking in the mountains soon, the mountains that happen to be slap bang in the middle of the Sonoran desert, and I'm scared. I'm scared that a rattlesnake will eat me. I'm scared that I'll die of heat stroke and Joel will be hallucinating so badly from his venomous lizard bite that he won't be able to save me. I'm scared that I'll whine so much about the heat and the walking and the lack of television that Joel will just kill me himself. Other than that, should be fun.

I'm so excited, I'm like a kid in Hondeydukes with a pocketful of Galleons.

Matinee tickets one week in advance: Check. Saturday the 21st requested off at work for ample reading time: Check. Boyfriend given adequate warning not to interrupt and/or make fun of obsession: Check. Hells-to-the-yea, it's HP time.

Dinosaur ponders the theory of everything, ignoring his immediate need for oxygen.

Joel and I went cave spelunking today! Not really, that's an exaggeration. We actually took a guided tour of Colossal Cave in the Catalina Mountains. Apparently, making the cave accessible as a tourist attraction was one of the projects of the Civilian Conservation Corps. 350 men got paid $1 a day to carve steps, install hand rails, and set up a lighting system. The cave itself was pretty cool, but I was most struck by the CCC itself, which was a remarkably wonderful idea. So, kudos to Roosevelt.

Dino skips happily home from his job as a Chartered Accountant

Happy burfday, 'Merica. You're 231, which makes you fifteen in country years. Another 200 and you'll be over your pretentious self-absorbed angsty teenager phase. The rest of the world can't wait.

Dino doesn't mince words on The Factor.

I took my own online quiz. Turns out I'm Queen Elizabeth I. Rock on! I totally rule LITERALLY! Except of course for the whole Syphillis thing.

Don't worry, he won't eat the kitty.

ONLINE QUIZ!
**Which English Monarch are YOU?**

1. Your significant other is unable to produce a viable male heir for your family-owned oscillating fan manufacturing business. You:
a) Spend all your time in the local sanctuary and ignore the pending Norman storm
b) CHOP OFF HER HEAD and take down the Pope while you're at it
c) Defeat the Spanish Armada
d) Oscillating fans Schmoscillating schmans! You run off with your secret male lover, ignoring your temperamental French wife.

2. You ordered your man servant to give you veal and peas for dinner, but he misunderstood you and instead you got Fruit Roll-Ups and Cheerios. You:
a) Sit around wondering what it was your father was "unready" for
b) CHOP OFF HIS HEAD and eat the food anyway, you fat pig.
c) Execute your cousin, who was clearly responsible...damn Catholics.
d) Oh Piers! Run away with me, Piers!

If you answered:
a) You're Edward the Confessor! Now run off and promise the English throne to a Norman bastard, leading to the downfall of Anglo-Saxon civilization as we know it!
b) You're Henry VIII! Nobody cares about you anymore because you were a primogeniture-loving, wife-killing, daughter-shunning, fatty fat fat butthead. Go cry.
c) You're Elizabeth I! The good news, you become one of the most well-loved and respected Monarchs in English history. The bad news: You die a virgin.
d) You're Edward II! You batted for the other team, which totally pissed off your wife, and if you want to know how you died...well, you'll just have to Wikipedia it.