Just Dance

This is my favorite new couple, the best new choreographer (and one of my favorite former dancers), and it was definitely the most well danced routine last night. Jeanine is my favorite female dancer and I’m really hoping people will see through Kayla’s way over-hyped dancing and keep Jeanine in the show. If you watch this clip and don’t want to be a dancer, then this show obviously isn’t for you. I absolutely adore it and every year I say I’m going to start taking dance lessons. I never do, but wouldn’t that be awesome?

Anyway, here’s what I am hoping happens:
Melissa, Jeanine, Janette – Top 3 Girls
Brandon, Ade, Jason – Top 3 Boys
That would be the best Top 6 ever!

Reason #247 why I need a better camera.

Just last week I was telling someone how humpbacks no longer impress me as much as they used to. I mean, it's still exciting to see one, it's just such a common occurrence up here that it is no longer this heart stopping 'Oh-my-God' moment.

Apparently, the humpbacks got wind of this comment and decided to remind me of why they are so frickin' awesome.

My crappy point-and-shoot just isn't cutting it anymore. It's really frustrating when you run into about 20 humpbacks bubblefeeding and some of them even jump completely out of the water and this is all that you can get on film.

They got so close to the boat that I was a bit nervous. Humpbacks are HUGE. HUGE! They can weigh up to 75,000 pounds! Normally, I'm far enough away that I don't grasp just how big they are, but when 20 of them are surfacing 25 yards away from the 1,000 pound little boat you're in - well, that is pretty gosh darn impressive.

Unfortunately, it's going to be awhile before I have enough money to buy a better camera. But it is definitely on my must-have-eventually list now.

I Heart Books

I can’t hate Twilight. I can recognize the argument that Bella is not a good role model for young women, but anything that got me knitting can’t be all bad. Plus, the reason I now get to read advanced copies of library books is because I knew my way around a young adult novel, and that is in part due to Twilight.

However, I do have a problem recommending Twilight to younger girls. There are quite a few things that I absolutely hate about the story. Why, why can’t there be a good teen fantasy with a strong female role model?

Wait! Don’t fret my four readers - I think I found just such a book! I was rooting around in the back of the library and found some books that were a few months older than the rest that hadn’t been reviewed yet. On a whim, I decided to go for those books. And boy am I glad I grabbed them!

Graceling, by Kristin (and she even spells it correctly!) Cashore has received my highest recommendation to date. And I don’t say this lightly but I think this book is a stepping stone to authors like George R. R. Martin and Guy Gavriel Kay. The heroine, Katsa, is strong and self-sufficient and intelligent. And the main male character is completely fine with that! A man that respects and admires a strong woman? Gasp! Graceling should be required reading for any girl that reads Twilight!

Independence from Palin Weekend Extravaganza

With so much to celebrate this weekend, it was hard to know where to begin. The sailing club had a float in the 4th Parade. Here's Fletch helping out with the decorations:
Commodore Lieb mastering the art of the hula hoop, always a good time:

It was a sailing club float, so of course, I am on a boat:

I'm not really sure what hula hoops have to do with sailing, but I really can't imagine life without them.

It was also an amazing weekend to go fishing. We threw out some crab pots and didn't catch anything but this ginormous sea star. (Remember kids: Starfish are NOT fish!! They are SEA STARS.)

Even the whales came out to celebrate our liberation from the Palin administration!

Both humpbacks:

And orca:

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty spectacular weekend.

Don't call them lumberjacks!

Ladies throwing axes. Awwww yeah!

Gold Rush Days is basically a Republican/Union/Pro-Industry extravaganza. Pro-mining rhetoric and death-to-environmentalists literature galore! It kinda sucks that every.single.sign was so political because I don't think it always comes down to blue v. red - but what the hell do I know?

They are loggers, not lumberjacks, FYI. And it is pretty impressive what you can do with a chainsaw.