Flying At Night : Poems 1965-1985 (Pitt Poetry Series) by Ted Kooser

H. P. Lovecraft : Tales (Library of America) Edited by Peter Straub

On Wednesday, I returned after spending a week in Omaha with my family. Lucas was on a different flight, so he came back on Tuesday night. Here is a rundown of our trip:

• Vistited my brother's apartment in downtown Omaha, which we hadn't seen. He moved in the first week of January or so, but we hadn't been back before last week. My mom and I had dinner with him at a little restaurant called La Buvette on Wednesday night, where the owner bears a strong resemblance to Albert Einstein.
• Thursday was spent relaxing and shopping for wedding presents.
• Friday, I got to meet my cousin's new baby, Jacob. Friday was also the rehearsal dinner for my friends Laura and Brett. After rehearsal at the church, the dinner was at a restaurant called Mr. C's. I hadn't been there since I was in junior high, so it was fun to go back.
• Saturday morning, Lucas' flight arrived. My mom picked him up while I was with the other bridesmaids getting our hair done. The wedding was beautiful. The reception was held at the University of Nebraska-Omaha's alumni center.
• Sunday, my brother and I took my dad frisbee golfing for father's day. My brother has been doing frisbee golf for several years now, so he was really good. My dad also picked it up pretty quick. As Lucas mentioned in a previous post, I just recently learned how to throw a frisbee. This was duly noted in my score of +40 over par.
• Monday, Lucas and I went to a College World Series game--Oregon State v. Rice. We also went down to my brother's apartment and cooked dinner with him. Dinner was followed by a necessary trip to an Omaha landmark--Ted and Wally's icecream. Jeff lives just 2 blocks away. I recommend the cinnamon icecream, although Jeff says the Cherry Almond is good, too.
• Tuesday, Lucas flew back to Denver. But, before he left we ate dinner at a new restaurant addition in the Omaha area (Kristy, get ready...): Maid Rite! I also visited a friend from gradeschool that just moved into a new home.
• Wednesday, my mom and I went shopping for some plants and a new rock for her garden. Then, after lunch, she took me to the airport.

It was a good trip, and good to see family and friends.

~Kelly

Big Brain Academy

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Chosen Collection (40 Disc DVD Set) (Seasons 1-7)

Happy B-day to my second favorite director/writer/comic book author.

So I got to go on Pirates of the Caribbean tonight after my shift. It was great. I won't spoil anything, but I will say that the new special effects are amazing, the new animatronics look great, the chase scenes ARE back (but in a new way), the new music is cool, and everything that you love about the attraction is pretty much still there (with a digital soundtrack to boot!).

I still don't understand the naysayers who say things like "Walt wouldn't do this, blah blah blah." Walt made more changes, additions, and updates in the 10+ years he ran the park than were made in the entire remaining 40 years. My favorite quote of his goes something like, "As long as there is imagination left in the world, Disneyland will always be changing..." Walt personally added multiple scenes to pet attractions of his such as the Jungle Cruise and the Disneyland Railroad. I didn't hear anyone complaining about the updates to the Jungle Cruise they made this year, and that attraction has been around since the park opened. Not to mention the cool new scenes in The Haunted Mansion that just opened. I seriously think that the bulk of the naysayers will be silenced once they get on the ride.

For those folks out there wanting to ride on Monday when it opens to the public, either get there at the crack of dawn or get ready to wait. The lines will probably be insane for a few days and then they should start calming down. Thankfully Pirates is a true "people eating" attraction so even when it's super busy I think the lines won't be too out of control once the hype dies down a little bit. The best times I've witnessed to ride are usually during Fantasmic and during the Fireworks. Oh, and I would highly discourage any of you Annual Passholders from coming to the park this Saturday. We're hosting the World Premiere of the new movie and the park is closing at 5 PM. The park will be full of angry tourists and autograph hounds. There's your little Disneyland tip of the day. On that note, I'm off to bed!

I just had to tell you guys this thing that happened to my roommate Chris because it's still kind of freaking me out. This morning I got a text from Chris saying his car got broken into. It turned out someone broke into his locked car, stole some checkbooks from the glove compartment and an old clicker for a car Chris doesn't have anymore from the trunk. The car was locked when Chris found it. He only knew stuff was missing because his glove box was open as well as the opening in the back seat to the trunk. Nothing else was missing. Chris got back around noon from school at Fullerton college and was all freaked out. He had gone back to his car, which was locked, at the Fullerton College parking lot and found his checks and the clicker sitting on the front seat! How freaking insane is that??? Let's just review the facts:

1. Chris' car was locked at all times. There was no evidence of a break in.
2. No other cars (including mine, which was parked right next to Chris' car) were broken into.
3. Fullerton college is like 15 miles from our apartments!

The only explanation I have is that someone is messing with Chris. But he has no idea who would be able to pull this off or why they would do it. Our only other explanation is that someone grabbed the checks and stuff planning to use them, noticed all of Chris' army medals and patches and stuff in his car, felt bad later, noticed he had a Fullerton college sticker on his car, went over there, broke in his car again, and put the stuff back. But who in the world would do that? So the whole thing is just bizarre.