Recommendations....

Words cannot express my love for the film My Neighbor Totoro. One afternoon out of boredom I raided my eldest sister's movie collection and popped in the VHS. I've loved it ever since. Its really funny and cute and how can't you love the big fluff ball that is Totoro?



Anyways, after a delicious dinner at Sizzler last night, my dad and I decided to find another air conditioned place to hang out and chose the movie theaters. Since we both were kind of curious about the film, we decided to see Ponyo. Neither of us had any idea what the storyline was, but even if we ended up hating it, we still would have indulged in two hours of air conditioning, so it was a win-win.

This movie is absolutely adorable. As per all of Miyazaki's films, it has that magical element that is both enchanting and strange. In Totoro, the strangest element was a bus that was a cat. It was kinda creepy.



In Ponyo, it manifests in Ponyo's father, voiced by Liam Neeson. The character, though, was meant to be weird.

All of the acting was excellent including newbies Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus. The character Ponyo, is the freaking cutest thing ever. I was a little confused as to what exactly she was in the beginning, but she's so adorable that it really doesn't matter. If you haven't seen this film, you must go now. It is the cutest movie I've seen in a long time. Up was excellent as well, but there is a lot less angst in this one so its more just generally feel good. For Christmas I want this.

GO SEE IT!!!

The following dialogue is documented for Kellie's amusement.


(whilst discussing the recent Terminator film)
Rey: Ugh. And that one guy is in it...What's his name?
Miguel: Christian Bale?
Rey: No, that guy...
Me: Sam Worthington?
Rey: Yeah!...that motherfucker...Kellie's a little too interested in that guy.
Me: Ha! (pointing at Rey) Jealous!

Life's on the phone. They said they're coming over to punch you in the face.

I just found out that the reason my grandfather got leukemia was because he and my grandmother were in Europe when the fallout from Chernobyl blew over. This was also the cause of my grandmother's Breast Cancer.

Its weird listening to my mom talk about this because I've been trying to get her to talk to me for a long time and, now that she's explaining all this stuff I was so oblivious to as a teenager, I'm overwhelmed by the reality of it all.





Even with my awareness of the global repercussions of this incident, all I can think is how much I miss my pappaw.

Hey Jew! a.k.a. Yo-semite.

I so needed a vacation. Here's what went down while I was away.

Thursday:

We didn't end up leaving until 8pm which meant a long drive with an excellent view of darkness. I ended up driving the 5 hours it took to get to the park and we got to the campsite (after dropping my cousin off at his) around 1:30. We then spent another 15 minutes trying to fit all the food my aunt needed us to bring into the bear box. Thankfully, Josh had set up the tent for us so we just had to set up are beds and we were out.

Friday:

Since we were sharing a campsite with my aunt, we also shared our meals with them. So after being fed a delicious breakfast we all got dressed and ready for a short hike to Tuolumne Falls. Yeah, I don't hike. Plus, I accidentally twisted my ankle (already!) earlier in the morning so it was slow going for me. Luckily, John Michael had no problem hanging back with me and singing MJ songs while we looked out for deer (which we did see a couple times).

Once at the river we all stripped down to our swim gear and enjoyed the water in varying forms. My cousin, Josh, jumped in with a stick that had fishing line and a hook attached and tried to catch a fish (fail). Em, Mike, and Isabel all jumped in as well. Danielle, Tia Lucy, JM, and I only put our legs in really. The water was really cold. We lounged, ate, and watched the rain clouds in the distance. Once we realized that they were getting closer, we started heading back. While we waited a freaking hour for the shuttle we watched the thunderstorm approach and got a little wet. It was fun! I love thunderstorms. My aunt thought I was insane.

So we headed back to our campsites (Me, Emily, and the kids were about a half mile away from theirs) and changed into dry clothes. Then JM, Em and I drove over to their site so Josh could fix JM's fishing pole. Well, apparently in the 15 minutes we were separated Mike had managed to twist his knee so hard that he couldn't move it. Also, on our drive over (the whole 2 minutes) it began to rain and hail. So poor Mike is sitting on a cooler in front of the bear box with a poncho hastily thrown over him. After the rain died down Josh, Uncle Henry and Uncle John had to carry him to the car so he could go to the hospital in Mammoth. Poor Mike.

After partaking in appetizers we returned to our site for yummy Italian food. I was suuuuuper exhausted so I called it quits early.

Saturday:

Woke up around 9:30 and had another delicious breakfast. Then we putzed around the campsite before my aunt and uncle decided to take a walk to the other side of the river. Em and I decided to play card games with the kids and we ended up playing Kings Cup with soda. We're bad influences I know, but at least these kids will be prepared when they hit 21. At some point we ended up going to the other site and hung out over there where us older cousins played beer pong. Whilst playing Mike, who was on crutches with a knee wrap, twisted his knee again and I guess fixed it cause he is fine now. Beer pong=cure all. After a few more drinks we headed back to our site for dinner. After dinner Em and I went back to the other site for campfire stories and ended up getting lost on the way back. We both super had to pee so we stop at the first bathroom we see and as we are leaving my cousin walks up to us. Apparently we were back where we had started.

Sunday:

We had to wake up early cause my fam is super catholic and brought along a priest who held mass in the meadow across the way. Probably woulda been cooler if I wasn't an atheist. That afternoon some of us went to Tenaya Lake to swim and relax. SO MUCH FUN!!! I want to do that everyday for the rest of my life. The water was perfect temperature (at least close to the shore) and all we did was lounge, listen to music, and drink beer. My uncle also made some excellent Cuban sandwiches and that is where I took the most awesomest picture of me. Overall good times, only slightly hampered by the knowledge that Danielle was leaving that night and we were departing the next day.

Monday:

We were awoken by my uncle informing us that we were to meet them at Tioga Lake. After taking down our site and eating freshly made doughnuts, we said goodbye to my little cousins and aunt and uncle and headed out of the park.

• Tangent: Since we came in so early on Friday morning we didn't have to pay the entrance fee. They do, however, check on your way out so Em and I were bummed that our plan to use Father Mike's pass was foiled by his having to drive Josh to Saddlebag Lake. On our way out, however, the line to get in was so long that they weren't even checking and we totally saved $20.

We met up with them at the lake, only to discover that they hadn't even started fishing yet. So Em and I explored and took pictures while they fished. I eventually ended up fishing for Mike, which was fun. I almost caught something, but the fish got away with a free meal. Jerk.

After lunch at Mono Cone we began our drive home with stops at Peter Schatz's for bread and Shell for gas.

That's pretty much it. I wish I had the pictures to accompany but that's gonna take awhile.