Meet Anna the Elf

This is Anna the Elf. University of Wyoming cheerleader, former Miss Wyoming and Miss America contestant. She dominates at Dungeons and Dragons while wearing glitter. And she's my friend. (We are friends, Anna the Elf, right? Maybe? Can you nod for me...? How about a shoulder shrug? You gotta at least give me a shoulder shrug...) Now, I know what you're thinking: "She doesn't look like an Elf." And thats exactly what an elf would want you to think. Don't let looks deceive you. She's got special elvin powers... or whatever it is elves do besides bake cookies in trees and make toys for the Bearded One up at the NP. If you have questions, maybe you should take it up with her, she would know. She's an elf.

I decided to carry on the tradition of sharing some of my GREAT conversations with you all. This one is up there among the best. Thanks, Anna. And you're welcome, Internet.

Anna Nelson: Microsoft Word, It's 4:30 in the morning. I've been up all night trying desperately to get stuff done before finals start in five and a half hours. I know that you've been up just as long and are probably just as tired, but STOP UNDERLINING WORDS IN RED WHEN THEY ARE CLEARLY SPELLED CORRECTLY. I'm cranky, I'm exhausted, and I DO NOT have the patience for your games, Word.

Bart Jamal Gadbury mind games. with a computer? I wonder who won that battle...

Anna Nelson Oh I did. My computer quickly remembered that I can viciously smash it to pieces with a hammer at any given moment and went, "You know what? You're right, Anna. I'll quit."

Bart Jamal Gadbury can't you cast spells or summon things with your elf power? I would think that would be much more terrorizing than a hammer...?

Anna Nelson Yeah, but my people are super busy making toys this time of year, and I just didn't have the time to whip up a really intimidating spell. The hammer was much closer, and still made for a pretty effective threat.

Bart Jamal Gadbury they'd better be busy. I put in a pretty big order for the Bearded One...

Anna Nelson Yeah I saw. And I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this Bart, but we're not authorized to give out social lives for Christmas. No matter how many teardrop stains there are on one's Christmas List.

Bart Jamal Gadbury And here I was, planning on leaving a little extra egg nog and cookies out for the Satin Red Mammoth (aka St Nic) to share with the one and only Anna the Elf... looks like that plan is going to have to change.

Anna Nelson It's not MY fault. I didn't write the Elf Rules. If I had, we wouldn't build cookies in flammable trees or have let Orlando Bloom join our club. But as it is I have some limitations, and I'm sorry.

Bart Jamal Gadbury Why you dissin' on your Keebler Kuzins? (See what I did there? double K...) And since you aren't going to help me with my one christmas wish, I'm going to have to resort to Plan B. I'm going to have to apologize ahead of time... I'm sorry, Anna.

Anna Nelson There has been no "dissin'". I'm concerned for their safety. It's incredibly hazardous to operate a boatload of ovens inside of giant wooden structures, no matter how adorable. And I think that you're overreacting. We can still get you the Polly Pocket Dream Set that you ordered, so just calm yourself down.

Bart Jamal Gadbury Am i really overreacting? Polly Pocket was a backup, a last resort, a sub. (A rather excellent last resort, I might add.) But thats beside the point. If I don't have my Social Life neatly wrapped in sparkly wrapping paper sitting under my tree on Christmas morning, I'm afraid it will be the end of your illustrious career at NP. (That's hipster street lingo for the 'North Pole'.)

Anna Nelson Is that a threat, Mr. Gadbury? Because keep it up and I'll cancel your Polly Pocket order. I'll do it right now.

Bart Jamal Gadbury A threat? I don't give out threats. The only thing I give out are warnings... and promises... and promise rings, ring pops, the occasional stick of gum, and hot tips on the latest catwalk fashions... you're treading on very thin ice, Anna the Elf... and i don't care if the NP Weather Bug says you're actually standing on a glacier thats millions of feet thick. (My ice metaphor is figurative, and its very thin.)

Anna Nelson When were you giving out ring pops and gum, and why was I not invited to THAT party? I don't think you wanna starting something with an elf. I'll take you out with my "Sly Flourish." I'm only allowed to use that once apparently, but once will be enough.

Bart Jamal Gadbury Yeah, but how are you going to use it on me when you're banished to the Island of Misfit Toys. That's right Anna. This is what's going to happen. You're gonna break your little Elf Rules (they're little because they pertain to elves, obviously) and get me my Social Life or else I'm going to take that hammer that you should have used on your computer and smash your tiny little elvin hand. Once Magical White Beard (also St. Nic) sees you falling behind in toy production. He's going to exile you to the Island of Misfit Toys, you will be known as "Elvinus Rejectus" (latin term) and your banishment will last through 7 eternities.

Anna Nelson You would really break a little elf's hand and banish it to a faraway island just because she couldn't build you friends? Real mature, Bart. REAL MATURE.

Bart Jamal Gadbury Excuse me, did I say I was done????? Why does Mr. Rosy McFats Hats (yeah, still St Nic) send misfit elves to the Island of MIsfit Toys? The misfit elf then has to work on the misfit toys forever, never able to fix them. The physical exile is bad enough, but the psychological torment of never amounting to anything is a snowflakey hell. (I tried to winterize hell for you to make it less intimidating for you. Snowflakey at least made it cuter.) Aaaaaand.... now I'm done.

Bart Jamal Gadbury Plus you'll have a broken hand.

Anna Nelson You really think that SANTA CLAUSE (see me using his real name? Yeah, he'll remember that later) would do something like that to me, his favorite elf? The Island of Misfit Toys is reserved for bad elves who do things like move Frosty into the sun while he's sleeping or accept bribes for switching kids to the Nice List (which is why SANTA CLAUSE has to check it twice, incidentally). I'm in the clear. You'll break my hand, but hands heal. Just take your Polly Pocket and be grateful.

Bart Jamal Gadbury Hands may heal, Anna the Elf, but hearts don't. And you just broke mine.

Anna Nelson Hey man, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you immature. And threatened to obliterate you with my Sly Flourish (which was never really that big of a deal, since I don't know how to use it anyway). If I could build you friends, I totally would. But sometimes things just aren't meant to be, and we need to learn how to be okay with those things and move on with our lives.

Bart Jamal Gadbury by 'moving on with our lives' do you mean 'posting this entire conversation to your blog'... because thats whats happening. Right now.

Is the NBA going to play in 2012?

All Hallow's Eve

A lot of people have mixed feelings about Halloween. I don't. Here's why:

I make my own costumes.

Halloween 2009

The Burger King and his minions. (Yes, Emily, I'm wearing tights.) And yes, we did go to BK.


Día de los Muertos 2010

Hot Rod and his crew: Nacho Libre (one of the greatest costumes of all time) and ol' man Willie.

All Hallow's Eve 2011

And the latest installment: Chuck. If you haven't seen the show, I recommend you do. 

And a clip from one of my favorite shows: 

Happy Halloween!

Calling All Cops and Autobots

Um... if you don't know what this is... just read it... it's 25 random things that came to my head... I then sent it to some people I thought would actually read it. So leave a comment, or don't. But if you leave one, I'll like you more.

1. I was really shy growing up… I still am in certain situations. I just fake that I’m not.

2. I use wittiness as a defense mechanism to thwart all attackers from breaching the outer wall of ME.

3. I wish I was still a kid. School was easy, I dominated at sports, girls liked me, all my meals were homemade, I saved my money to buy baseball cards.

4. My beverages of choice are: Whole milk, Gatorade, and Dr. Pepper.

5. I don’t understand a single thing about Chemistry.

6. I hardly ever remember my dreams. Really, I’m lucky if I can recall one dream per month. My most recent remembrance: I was on the Phoenix Suns playing with Steve Nash against the Dallas Mavericks and I hit the game winner over Dirk. Any surprise there?

7. I hate winter. It might be because I am the size of Nastia Luken, or because I grew up in the tundra-ed wilderness of Wyoming. The real reason? I am a normal minded person. Who in their right mind likes being cold? This hatred has driven me to several months of social hibernation.

8. I’ve been skydiving and recommend it often. I would love to go again… next time I’ll be sure to wear a helmet.

9. I already have 3 names picked out for 3 kids… now I’m just working on the twins’ names…

10. I WILL have a golden retriever, and a chocolate/yellow/black lab.

11. I hate shopping… mostly because I never have enough money to go shopping. (food/clothing/whatever) And when I do have money… I hate the fact that I have to use it to go shopping. Then, when I’m done shopping, I hate that I no longer have that money because I just used it to shop.

12. I’ve never had braces.

13. My favorite place in the world is Mallorca: an island in the Mediterranean just off the coast of Spain. I lived there for 6 months and would love to have a summer house on the coast!

14. The most I have ever weighed is 167 lbs… the least… 1 lbs 15oz…

15. My favorite band of all time is Five Iron Frenzy. They’re a ska band. I hate ska.

16. I have a gnarly scar across my left shoulder blade that extends down to the side of my ribcage. My grandparents took me on an African safari and we got a little too close to the lion cubs… just kidding… really, I was working one summer in Orange County and was learning to surf with some buddies, a shark came out of no where… no, not really… we went up into the Wyoming wilderness for Scouts and we were collecting wood to take home for the fireplace, I scaled a tree with a small hatchet while my older brother worked on a tree nearby… he chopped it down, it swung in my direction and knocked me out of my tree… I fell at least twenty feet and landed on the hatchet… yeah… that’s not true either. Do you want the real story?

17. I once pelted a girl on a bicycle with a water balloon, from at least 50 yards away, with a homemade water balloon launcher. She fell off. (Thank you Jordan) One of the greatest days of my life.

18. I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

19. I went through a roller hockey phase in 6th/7th grade. Two-on-two roller hockey. I hated being goalie. I also went through a WCW wrestling phase that included choke-slamming my little brother on the trampoline and on couches. That’s not safe. Should I mention the Backstreet Boys phase? No? What about Hannah Montana?

20. I hate writing with pencils!! If I do, it HAS to be mechanical. I also HATE the feeling of cotton balls and the little squeaking sound!!! It drives me nuts!

21. I’ve always wanted to learn how to do a backflip. The one time I tried was on the beach in California and I ended up with a face full of sand.

22. I loooooove going to baseball games! Sunflower seeds, peanuts, Big League Chew, Dr. Pepper, Hot Dogs and Nachos! I can’t wait for Spring!

23. I once coached a 5th grade girls basketball team… also a women’s college basketball team… you’d think there’d be a difference in the level of talent… haha jk

24. I went to high school with a bazillion of my cousins… I wish we could hang out all the time!

25. I grew up on a Wyoming ranch!

Young the Giant

How do you know a band is good? And I mean really good. Well, just listen...

You're welcome.

Why I like Facebook...

Some people use Facebook to connect with old friends, to share pics with family, and/or advertise a business or service. Here is an example of why I use Facebook.

Thank you, friends, for being awesome!