Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist

Prince never mattered to me growing up, when he was at his prime. My only memories of him are hearing a song on the radio that my brother and I thought went, "Baby I'm black, come on back." Turns out it was Little Red Corvette. And I remember seeing a commercial on TV at my grandparents' house for a movie called Purple Rain. Based on the music in the commercial, I thought the only lyrics in the song were "purple rain, purple rain" over and over again.

In the summer of 1989, I was super in to Batman merchandise. This was, of course, the year the eponymous Tim Burton film came out. A friend of mine told me there was a song on the radio called Batdance. He heard it on his walkman, but by the time he got my attention and handed me the headphones, it had ended. So, later I went to the local Target and bought the Batman cassette (on sale for $6.99). That summer, I listened to it incessantly. From there, it was game on. Now I literally have hundreds to Prince CDs. I can't get enough.

Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most “fudged” up things with

Lizzie!



I wouldn't say I do a lot of "fudged up" things, but Liz and I have certainly painted the town red a few times.

We've worked together for a long time, but we didn't start hanging out until we started being concert buddies. We go to shows all the time.

In the picture above, we're eating at Pink's in Hollywood. We were there for Band of Horses at the Greek Theater. Good times!

Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item

My most treasured item, assume one can call it an "item", is my house.



Growing up, I assumed that one day I would own a house (plus get married and have 2.5 kids). As I got older and started working, I discovered that buying a house is a big deal and not at all a given. Then there was the housing price boom, where housing prices in San Diego (which are already very high) doubled on average. Just a few years ago, it definitely seemed like buying a house wasn't in the cards for me.

Then, housing prices came down, my income went up a little and I found a perfect, little craftsman bungalow in my neighbearhood. It isn't perfect, but it's mine and I love it.

April 30th will be my two year anniversary of homeownership. Yay!

Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh



It's just so freakin' RANDOM.

lolololol

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory

I don't know. Favorite memory? Well, without overthinking it, I came up with a moment that I treasure and that I conveniently have a picture of.

Several years ago, Mark and I went to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. I've been to Disneyland in Anaheim countless times, but I had never been to Disneyworld before.

The day we got there, we just visited Downtown Disney, the shopping district there, and the next morning we went to Epcot Center, which is very awesome. But that afternoon, we went to the Magic Kingdom, which is Disneyworld's version of Disneyland. I stood there on Main Street in awe. I was so happy. I had wanted to be at that exact spot since I was a little kid, and there I was living a dream.

Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show

Years ago, my friend Becky started talking about some new shows she loved. One of them was Gilmoure Girls, which I eventually came to love, and the other was Buffy the Vampire Slayer.



At the time, we made fun of her for watching both shows, especially Buffy. The movie was awful, and the show looked like a typical WB (the just-starting tv network it was on at first) show.

At one point, I saw promotions for the season 6 premiere, where she was dead and was going to come back to life. I thought, "I kinda want to see how they do that." Over the course of a few episodes, it was revealed that the gang had brought Buffy back from what they thought was hell. Turns out she was in heaven when she was resurrected, and she wished she could have stayed. When I saw that story play out, I thought, "This is some good shit".

What a fantastic, well-written show! At the time, it was on re-reuns, twice a day, so I plowed through the entire series over a few months.

Joss Whedon is such a genius. It's unfortunate that none of his other projects, including Dollhouse (LOVE) and Firefly, never really took off.

Some guys are doing this, and I love memes. So, I'm in!

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show
Day 04 - A picture of your night
Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory
Day 06 - A picture of a person you’d love to trade places with for a day
Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most “fudged” up things with
Day 11 - A picture of something you hate
Day 12 - A picture of something you love
Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist
Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die
Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you
Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life in the past year
Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity
Day 19 - A picture and a letter (either a letter of the alphabet, but you must explain; or a real letter)
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you’d love to travel
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at
Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book
Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change
Day 25 - A picture of your day
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you
Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member
Day 28 - A picture of something you’re afraid of
Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile
Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss



1 I'm a first generation American. My parents are both from The Netherlands.
2 I went to college to become a journalist, then switched focus to advertising, then switched to computer science.
3 My favorite movie is It's a Wonderful Life.
4 I have four cats.
5 My first concert was Guns n Roses with Soundgarden as the opening act.
6 I own three Microsoft Zunes. Long story.
7 I greatly dislike the Foo Fighters.
8 I really like kissing. I know it sounds silly (or gross, depending on who you are), but I do.
9 I love listening to musicals. Right now, I'm addicted to In the Heights.
10 I have read all 4 1/2 of the Twilight books and I loved them.