Brown Sugar

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2011-06-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

My baby girl is ONE years old! It has been a true pleasure hanging with this lady for the past year. She's funny, she's a good dresser, she loves quesadillas, she sings opposed to crying in the morning when she wants out of her crib, and she totally melts my heart in every possible way.
I LOVE YOU OLIVE!

Since Olive and Gabe have birthdays within 2 days of each other it seemed appropriate to throw a double party. It also seemed convenient and genius on the behalf of Olive's mom to partner with Gabe's mom in the planning and execution of a party, since we all know Adrianne is a craft-master and not at all lazy like yours truly. The end result was fantastic, and I have decided that I LOVE throwing parties, but really, I love throwing parties and then delegating lots of work to my family while still receiving all of the credit and praise.

Olive, I will party with you any day!

May first

2011-05-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

If a tree falls in the woods but no one hears it does it make a sound? Likewise if we pass through life's milestones without broadcasting them on the internet for voyeurs and cyberfriends to witness do they even count? What I am trying to say is we have set up a 24 hour webcam to make sure not a single moment of our private lives fade into obscurity. The Brown's are going LIVE!

Until our live webcam stream is available here is a sampling of what the Kardashians have been up to. I mean Brown's.

Easter Sunday.

Day trip to Sedona with the Dangerfields(not pictured)

A quick trip to California sans baby. We really debated whether or not to take her cause we were afraid we would miss her too much. As it turns out that fear was purely hypothetical.

I guess this is growing up

2011-02-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

Olive is a sicky so I have been stuck in the house with her all day giving her breathing treatments and watching Dirty Dancing on TV- watching this film as an adult I can not believe that I was allowed to watch this in my youth, I am equally shocked to find out this film was supposed to be set in the 60's not the 80's. I guess a shirtless P. Swayze transcends all decades and parental censorship.

here is a shirtless Olive reading a book with her dad at the doctor.

Here is a shirtless and screaming Olive getting a breathing treatment at the doctor. Must learn matthew's secret for never being the one holding the traumatized child at the doctor's.

looks like girlfriend partied too hard at da club the night before.

Can you believe this? Is my baby growing at an alarming rate or have I just become another sad cliched adult always jabbering about how kids grow up too fast ?

London's Run

2011-01-30T19:25:00.000-08:00

Do two half marathons (2 years apart) equal a full marathon? Me thinks yes. In that case, my gals and I ran a marathon this weekend! Running is often billed as an individual sport, but how people train and run distances greater than ten miles all by their lonesome is beyond me. This is evident by my unsolicited "coaching" and encouragement of any and all lone runners I passed on the course (believe me this number is small). My training for this half marathon was spotty and I wouldn't have finished had it not been for an excellently crafted playlist--heavy on Kanye--and also the support of these two ladies. Thank you Shanna and Shelly, and allow me to apologize for my complaining and the strange noises I made along the course. oh and Thank you Mr. West for the sweet tunes. And lest I forget the high fives and cheering from the Queen Creek HS football team. You made me feel like the head cheerleader even though I was crying and there was snot on my face. Thank you.

Pre race dinner complete with dessert, a trip to Walmart, more dessert, and skimming the pages of Lucky looking for new hair cuts. Can you tell I am really into the photo collage? especially since it minimizes the not so flattering post race photos of me.

Sedona 1/2 Marathon or what I now refer to as the first leg of the Marathon I ran.

The red rock vistas of the Sedona course were slightly more scenic than the dirt field complete with tractors blowing dust in your face that comprised the Queen Creek course.

The medals were a nice touch also.

...and this, well I just couldn't help myself.

Record keeping buisness

2011-01-23T15:11:00.000-08:00

xmas, new years, mlkj day
earthquake, birds and snakes an aeroplane
it's the end of the world as we know it......

I have spent an embarrassing amount of time making these photo collages below so please feast your eyes on the most basic display of photo editing that has eluded me for over a week now.

Christmas 2010

We figured since Olive babe was only 6mo old this christmas that we could get away with just giving her some books and allowing her to eat some wrapping paper, I love this picture of her because it appears that even at 6mo she is very aware of how lame her parents are.

This was a tough holiday season for Daddy Boy we had a total of 3, yes 3, family pictures scheduled so I took it easy on him and let him drink as much QT as he could handle and hold what appears to be a trani head in our own family pic.

New Year's Day

we hiked Flat Iron on New Year's day. It was possibly the coldest Arizonian day I have ever experienced and my water and M&M's did not last me as long as I anticipated so we may or may not have made it all the way to the summit.

MLKJ Day

We tipped our hats to the brave Arizonians that consented to adopting MLKJ day as a federal holiday in order to host Superbowl XXX by spending the day at the Landbridge in Payson. Could Januaury in Arizona be more pleasant? yes, if arizona was actually california and was showered with beautiful weather and amazing vistas all year long, then yes Arizona in january could be more pleasant. Still, not too bad.

2010 favorites

2010-12-31T07:54:00.000-08:00

as if our family isn't already pretentious enough, olive has really been getting into vinyl lp's this year. so far, she's focusing mostly on entry-level stuff she can reach on the bottom shelf, but she's developing quickly and seems to be showing interest in some of the more experimental stuff on the next shelf up. we're fairly confident that come next december she'll be rattling off her own year end list of jazz reissues or something else equally interesting. but until then, here's the two older brown's undoubtedly uninteresting and pretentious lists of year end musical favorites.
please use the comments as they were intended to be used; a place to share your political views or to advertise sweet deals on prescription medications or designer watches.
thanks,
-- m b, 2010

lindsay

kanye west - my beautiful dark twisted fantasy - (def jam)

mark mcguire - living with yourself - (editions mego)

beach house - teen dream - (sub pop)

lcd soundsystem - this is happening - (dfa)

the morning benders - echo - (rough trade)

vampire weekend - contra (XL)

girl talk - all day - (illegal art)

matthew

14 - dem hunger - caveman snack - (leaving)

13 - sohni chambers - yaw-mah-ha - (goaty)

12 - julian lynch - mare - (olde english spelling bee)

11 - magic lantern - platoon - (not not fun)

10 - roll the dice - roll the dice - (digitalis)

9 - woods - at echo lake - (woodsist)

8 - brother raven - vss-30 - (digitalis)

7 - jefre cantu-ledesma - love is a stream (type)

6 - beach house - teen dream - (sub pop)

5 - sean mccann - chances are staying - (dnt)

4 - mark mcguire - living with yourself - (editions mego) //&\\ tidings / amethyst waves - (weird forest)

3 - emeralds - does it look like i'm here? - (editions mego)

2 - kanye west - my beautiful dark twisted fantasy - (def jam)

1 - sun araw – on patrol - (not not fun) //&\\ off duty ep - (woodsist)

Thank you, thank you

2010-12-07T12:07:00.000-08:00

Is it too late to air my thankfulness a week and a half after Thanksgiving? One of the MANY things I have learned from the words(more like poetry) of my gal Natalie Merchant is that any time of year is a good time to Thank you, thank you. Plus I wasn't the Gratit-Dude(photo's of me dressed as the grati-dude upon request only) at Girls Camp 2 years in a row just because I owned a tie-dyed shirt, I think my attitude of gratitude had something to do with it.

This has been one of the happiest times of my life and thus it is easy for me to think of the many things that I am grateful for. I am madly in love with all of the people in the above photo, my love for Matthew has been on Human Growth Hormones this year and is HUGE(like gorilla juice head huge) and I am thankful that he is my husband. however I am not thankful for his terrible attitude about family pictures. and I mean terrible.

I am sooo thankful that I am a mom. I am sooo thankful that I am no longer pregnant. I am thankful that Olive smiles for the camera.

I'm thankful that everything worked out for Uncle Jesse and that "Forever" hit #1 on the Japanese music charts.

bjorning all over the world

2010-11-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

Olive loves her bjorn and we are loving this time in her life when she is incapable of "walking" by herself. We are trying to make the most of this beautiful weather and Olive's lack of free will by strapping her in the bjorn and hitting the road.

we went to the natural bridge in Payson a few weeks ago and believe me a good time was had by all.

me trying to figure out the mechanics of the hold out family photo. we got it.

a tarantula worthy of guest appearance in Home Alone.
"what are you doing Marv?"

For FHE we hiked 'A' mountain. It felt great to get back to my Sun Devil roots and to be a walking buzz kill to all the young lovers atop the mountain who had taken their ladies there to "talk" about life and stuff.

Olive is soooo cute in this picture I am tempted to go get her out of her crib right now and kiss her face off. I wont.

does wind have this effect on all babies? cause this little girl was losing her mind.

Halloween: Spooky Scary Edition

2010-11-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

I always imagined motherhood to be filled with great afternoons making memories with your offspring and not as heavy on spit up, blow outs and bags under the eyes. Funny how one afternoon of good weather and good behavior makes the many other afternoons of being in my sweats until noon with dried poop in my arm hair seem like the exception and not the rule.

Can you believe we rode a bicycle all the way there with two babes and still look this good?

Olive making my heart sing in the pumpkin patch at Mother Nature's Farm.

Holidays are just more fun with babies, especially ones who can't voice an opinion on their halloween costume. Olive as a witch and Matthew and I just trying not to embarass ourselves for once at the family halloween party.

a smattering of hipps and brown cousins at the party.

I could photoshop out Olive's drool line(maybe) but I think she needs to live with the photographic evidence that she spent the first months of her life foaming at the mouth and wasn't embarassed about it in the slightest.

seriously. this babe turned 5 MONTHS OLD today. seriously.

bonus points to Olive for not trying to take her hat off once during the par-tay.

Ladies Only

2010-10-22T10:03:00.001-07:00

The first week in October Ashley, Olive and I accompanied Adrianne and Lucia on a "work " trip to the East Coast. We spent 5 days in DC and did some time in Pennsylvania exploring all the Pennsylvania turnpike had to offer. Here is a picture of all us gals with the Delaware behind us, right Ashley?

Olive and Lucia enjoying crepes both sweet and savory at Eastern Market on Saturday morning. these ladies are learning young that binge eating is a key element to any girls trip.

Are you aware that the season they call "fall" is not a season in name only? True. there is actually a distinct weather change, even the foliage is in on it. Another tid bit for my native Arizonians, there is also a season called Spring.

A completely unstaged photo of me pushing the double stroller on the hill.

Adrianne, Olive and Lucia at the Botanical Gradens,obviously the bench and concrete gave away our location. Trips taken with out Matthew are SERIOUSLY lacking in photographic evidence.

Olive and I at the park enjoying the beautiful weather and the short time window in which it is acceptable for females to wear overalls.

Marianne and Ashley outside of DC Cupcakes.
are you noticing a theme here?

this picture serves as the only evidence that we went to Pittsburgh, it also serves as evidence that my inability to lose my baby weight may not be due to a faulty thyroid like I claim. There is not a single human that I love in this photo, no trace of Katie, Levi, Macy, Atticus, Adeline or even Daisy. Just an enormous half eaten sandwich from Primanti Brothers.

Olive in a food coma/love coma. Her first successful girls trip.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

2010-08-31T13:39:00.000-07:00

When you are on a strict schedule of eating, sleeping, sleeping while you are supposed to be eating, and getting gassy and cranky every night around 8pm you do not have much time for socializing. This might explain why Olive and Ivy appear to be trying to punch each other in the armpit during some recent floor time bonding.

Olive has gotten really smiley and occasionally giggly in the last few weeks and has been kind enough to laugh at some of her Dad's jokes. somebody has to.

Don't let this pic fool you, she hates tummy time and in 3 seconds she is about to spit up and get really mad.

california dreaming

2010-07-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

It's hard to feel patriotic when it's so hot outside you think you are experiencing organ failure each time you walk to your mailbox, so Matthew, the kid and I took a quick trip to the coast for the 4th.

olive's first beach experience will read rather boring since she spent the whole time face planted into Matthew's chest.

There's always money in the banana stand. We spent the 4th on balboa island enjoying the best frozen banana and balboa bar the island had to offer.

despite the puff sleeves and yellow bow everyone thought Olive was a dude. She was disapointed that no one could appreciate her attempt to look Cali-casual.

Here are my two babes enjoying a Santa Monica view while being burped to sleep. I was nervous about taking this act on the road but we had a great time and Olive slept almost the entire time. Riding in the car and stroller acted like baby cat nip for her.

When 2 becomes 3

2010-06-28T18:42:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has had the mind numbing pleasure of watching NBA draft coverage every night knows the many intricacies involved in adding a new recruit to the team and the effect this has on overall team chemistry. We are happy to report that our newest recruit has blended seamlessly with the team. She is a dreamboat to take naps with (see above photo) and finally there is someone willing to hang out with Matthew while he plays video games. All around we think she will take our game to the next level and we are looking forward to an all star year.

Yawn

2010-06-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

Happy One Week Old, Olive!
you are the most chillaxed baby ever.

olive days and olive nights

2010-06-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

just to clear the air, the last two photos on the last post were not our baby. they were the result of a google image search for 'newborn asian baby'. it was a bad joke. but here are some more pictures of our real baby from the hospital and at home.

somehow the tv in the delivery room ended up on c-span while Olive was born. we think this choice in television programming was representative of what a boring and mellow baby she's been so far. not that we're complaining. we love our boring, mellow baby.

since she was an ASU girl in the womb she's been insisting we let her sunbathe in the window a few times a day.

today was our fourth wedding anniversary. i'm sure that next year we'll want to go out and enjoy just each other for a night while someone babysits her, but this year it felt really nice to hang out at home with our new gal and watch the celtics beat the lakers. here's hoping that on anniversary number five the Suns are still playing. know what i mean guys?
also, big thanks to all the friends, family, and strangers that have shown our family their love and support in the past few days.

olive amelia brown

2010-06-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

she was born on June 7th at 11:51pm. 7 lb 14 oz. 20''. she is swollen but pretty sweet. she seems like a good child.

25 on the 25th

2010-05-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Continuing on with her already busy month of May, Lindsay remembered to have a birthday. She does this every year on May 25th. This 25th of May also marks her 25th year at it. From what I think I have read, this can be considered quite a milestone as centuries ago some women in some cultures probably didn't always last very many years (via poor healthcare, witchhunts, etc.). I'm very glad that she has broken the mold. Maybe, just maybe '(her) and I are gonna live forever' (like one of my favorite Oasis songs). But until forever comes I just want to celebrate my ladies' day.
Above are pictures from Lindsay's last night on earth as a twenty-four year old. For pictures of Lindsay's first night on earth as a twenty-five year old click here (or don't!!!).
Happy birthday to Lindsay!

Kanye West - Graduation

2010-05-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

Lindsay graduated from ASU this morning! During her time as a Sun Devil she learned all about partying, tanning, and turning a t-shirt into a mini-dress. Impressively, she even saved enough brain space to learn a few useful things about economic development. She is now primed to become a future leader of America, today.
Let me be the first blogger to say congratulations! As someone who technically might not have even graduated from High School, I am truly impressed. Because of her example I now know that 'higher education' is not just hilarious drug slang commonly used in stoner comedies like How High, starring Method Man & Redman.
Early this morning we listened to the Kanye West album Graduation while we got ready. I was dancing pretty hard because the music was moving me, and Lindsay scolded me kind of harshly for wasting time and messing around. I now realize she was right. Today was her Graduation and she was the only one who deserved to dance.
If you want to congratulate her in person, she'll probably be at the Buzz tonight.
- Matthew Brown

A soon to be graduate on the light rail

her name in the bright lights

we both have colds

San Francisco

2010-03-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

Neither of the contributing members of Brown Sugar have the desire to give a full accounting of our recent trip to San Francisco, we are too busy watching 16 and Pregnant/reading Farwell to Arms, so here is an artistic expression of how our trip felt using the medium of photography.

at a bus stop in San Jose. just part of the bay area experience, right? we flew into San Jose because we thought we found cheap plane tickets, but soon afterward we found even cheaper tickets directly into San Francisco. But no big deal because after 2 buses, a light rail, and an hour on the BART we made it to our hotel.

a view from our bedroom. the view from within the bedroom will be shown upon request only.

still wondering what a $21 toasted bagel tastes like.

I can never look at joann's the same.

daydreams of Sean Connery's The Rock and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson while we waited to go to Alcatraz.

Locals only

SFMOMA. I am pretty sure that I was in full blown labor while this photo was being taken although I did not know it at the time. I just thought I was travel cranky and wanted a cupcake and a diet coke, after I got home and read what a braxton hicks contraction was I felt as foolish as that golden monkey.

Tried to see if we could catch Dave Eggers at home, but then we realized he doesn't actually live there

a farmers market breakfast

does anyone else dislike the odorous effect that asparagus has on human urine? it's embarrassing.

a lettuce and fireworks show in Chinatown

dreads to his heels

we would have taken a picture of the best crab we've ever eaten, but our fingers were too slick with butter and garlic. highly recommended.

is there room for two more on that train?

photo journal

2010-03-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

just did some early spring cleaning for my computer at work. some of the pictures i found saved to my desktop seemed interesting, like maybe they tell the story of the past year in the life of an American dreamer.

a carbon footprint machine

a litter of preemies

our stock press release photo

2010-02-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

I am not a big fan of women who use their blogs to gush about their husbands and give them nicknames, like Mr.Brown, and go on about how every little thing they do is sooo adorable, like they are toddlers and not adult males. But I must not dislike it too much because it is exactly what I am about to do about the guy below posing so thoughtfully on the beach.

Maybe because Valentine's Day is just around the corner I am feeling more sentimental OR maybe it is because he spent the entire night helping me make invitations for a bridal shower and then spent an hour+ cleaning the entire kitchen.

Kudos to Kristine for raising a son who understands that wiping down the counters and cabinets is a part of doing the dishes and not its own separate task. I am not just in love with my husband because sometimes he will spend the evening being a sister wife and craft and clean with me.
I also like that he is funny. and that he wears fanny packs when we travel.

and that he wouldn't let me steal this photo from a primary activity days bulletin board from Katie and Levi's church but took a pic instead.

why is that little girl laying face down on the asphalt while another girl pokes her with a stick?

Thanks Mr. Brown for keeping me honest and clean.

Don't Die

2010-01-19T20:17:00.001-08:00

I am obsessed with making baby shoes, if you have a baby and I know you then you will probably be getting a pair from me soon.

These felt shoes that I embroidered per my sister's request make me want to deliver in the next 20 minutes.

I am not talented or creative enough to come up with this on my own, I ripped this off stitch for stitch from this girls blog.

Please forgive my poor photography skills, we can't all be the Langs.

It's Official

2010-01-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

I was not intending for my last post to be any kind of announcement, I will let this series of photos do the announcing.

Matthew got me a sewing machine for Christmas and I have been busy at work.

Making Bobby pillow slip covers, yes these required me to sew in a zipper(on a curve!) which I accomplished WITHOUT the supervision of my mother and am now elevating my status from beginner to intermediate sewer.
sewing the tiniest shoes

enlarging the photos may put my intermediate status on shaky ground due to my questionable craftsmanship, perhaps Beginner with Promise is a more appropriate title.

and this little onesie, for our baby girl who is scheduled to arrive June 4.

internet visions

2010-01-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

I have so many things I need to blog about, like my totally Asian New Years, but that will have to wait until I get over the shock of finding a photo from the future of my unborn child on Al Gore's interweb! seriously, look at that kid.

favorites of the decade (with bonus song links to cyberspace!)

2009-12-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

lindsay’s decade favorites (albums)

(no particular order except top 2/alphabetical order is easier than choosing)

arcade fire funeral 2004

beck guero 2005

girl talk feed the animals 2008

kanye west 808's and heartbreak 2008

lykke li youth novels 2007

mgmt oracular spectacular 2008

pete yorn music for the morning after 2001

phoenix wolfgang amadeus phoenix 2009

the postal service give up 2003

the shins chutes too narrow 2003

the strokes room on fire 2003

vampire weekend vampire weekend 2008

wilco yankee hotel foxtrot 2002

2. feist the reminder 2007

1. yeah yeah yeahs its blitz 2009

matthew’s decade favorites (albums)

honorable mentions: too many

30 feist the reminder 2007

29 jay-z the black album 2003

28 okkervil river blacksheep boy/appendix 2005

27 wilco a ghost is born 2004

26 deerhunter microcastle/weird era cont. 2008

25 spoon ga ga ga ga ga 2007

24 kanye west 808's and heartbreak 2008

23 the strokes room on fire 2003

22 lcd soundsystem sound of silver 2007

21 band of horses everything all the time 2006

20 radiohead kid a 2000

19 kanye west late registration 2005

18 modest mouse the moon and antarctica 2000

17 spoon kill the moonlight 2002

16 beck guero 2005

15 animal collective strawberry jam 2007

14 tv on the radio return to cookie mountain 2006

13 radiohead in rainbows 2007

12 jay-z the blueprint 2001

11 vampire weekend vampire weekend 2008

10 arcade fire neon bible 2007

9 the shins chutes too narrow 2003

8 animal collective merriweather post pavilion 2009

7 kanye west college dropout 2004

6 beck sea change 2002

5 wilco yankee hotel foxtrot 2002

4 wolf parade apologies to the queen mary 2005

3 arcade fire funeral 2004

2 panda bear person pitch 2007

1 the strokes is this it? 2001

**bonus**

matthew’s decade favorites (songs (w/ song links to cyberspace))

artist song album year

21 justin timberlake (feat. t.i. & timbaland) my love futuresex/lovesounds 2006

20 lil wayne upgrade u da drought 3 mixtape 2007

19 plants and animals a new kind of love parc avenue 2008

18 peter bjorn and john objects of my affection writers block 2006

17 outkast hey ya speakerboxxx/the love below 2003

16 spoon believing is art girls can tell 2001

15 mariah carey (feat. jay-z & young jeezy) shake it off (single) 2005

14 r. kelly the zoo double up 2007

13 muscles jerk guns babes lemonade 2007

12 man man van helsing boombox six demon bag 2006

11 the very best dinosaur on the ark esau mwamwaya and radioclit are the very best mixtape 2008

10 young jeezy (feat. jay-z) go crazy Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 2005

9 nelly airforce ones nellyville 2002

8 lcd soundsystem all my friends sound of silver 2007

7 t.i. whatever you like paper trail 2008

6 animal collective leaf house sung tongs 2004

5 t.i. what you know king 2006

4 menomena muscle'n flo friend and foe 2007

3 tv on the radio dreams desperate youth, bloodthirsty babes 2004

2 deerhunter never stops microcastle 2008

1 r. kelly ignition (remix) chocolate factory 2003

favorites of 2009

2009-12-22T14:04:00.000-08:00

lindsay’s 2009 favorites (albums)

t-2 discovery lp

t-2 the xx xx

1 yeah yeah yeahs its blitz!

matthew’s 2009 favorites (albums)

honorable mentions: not enough

25 music go music expressions

24 islands vapors

23 bill callahan sometimes I wish we were an eagle

22 dark was the night (various artists compilation)

21 dinosaur jr. farm

20 discovery lp

19 cymbals eat guitars why there are mountains

18 sunset rubdown dragonslayer

17 lil wayne no ceilings mixtape

16 no age losing feeling ep

15 atlas sound logos

14 animal collective fall be kind ep

13 memory tapes seek magic

12 raekwon only built 4 cuban linx...pt. 2

11 yeah yeah yeahs its blitz!

10 handsome furs face control

9 the antlers hospice

8 grizzly bear veckatimest

7 passion pit manners

6 the xx xx

5 dirty projectors bitte orca

4 washed out life of leisure ep

3 phoenix wolfgang amadeus phoenix

2 neon indian psychic chasms

1 animal collective merriweather post pavilion

Fresh Air and The Fonz

2009-11-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

For anyone who has had the honest pleasure of meeting our neighbor than you will truly appreciate this post, if you have not had this pleasure it is unlikely that you even read our blog but you may still enjoy.

Matthew and I like to call her Henry Winkler, not because she looks like him or because we have a quirky need to give everyone nicknames but out of the necessity to speak in code when in our home. Winkler has supernatural hearing abilities and no inhibitions about eavesdropping or spying on you through cracked windows. I only write about this and publish it on the internet due to some recent conversations that have convinced me that her knowledge of the internet is limited.

Winkler is fond of writing us passive aggressive notes and taping them to our door, our gate or car windshield like the one below. Apparently thinly veiled threats are easier to swallow when accompanied by smiley faces and exclamation marks.

This very lengthy note was purely informative. You can't call yourself a good neighbor if you are not getting the word out about Tongan Floor Shows! WOW is right!

This afternoon I made a discovery that has shed a whole new light on Winkler. After spending close to twenty minutes trying to figure out how to open my bedroom windows I succeeded and spyed with my little eye.....

Henry Winkler's lacey, red unmentionables hanging on the line.

I had no idea she was packing that kind of heat underneath her flowing animal print robes and pastel colored sweat suits. To use an early 90's catchphrase that is no longer relevant(unless you are Annette Smart), You Go Girl!

happy BFF-day

2009-11-17T06:15:00.000-08:00

happy birthday to the brown's best bro, ryan. this year he is turning the same age as matthew did in february, amar'e stoudemire did yesterday, Nov 16, and lindsay will in 3 years! this has happened every year since 1982. we are all bonded in this way. we all understand.

thanks amar'e (and you too T.I. i hope prison's been easy on you. miss you).

they say that with age comes wisdom. from time spent around the lower/middle class elderly, it seems that wisdom is all about reminiscing about things from the past that are of mild to medium importance. so here is our chance to reminisce about the past year of ryan's life as seen through our eyes.

we made a movie about Cannibal Corpse, under his direction. it grossed $0.00 in the box office and it won no awards from hollywood or from robert redford's land, but it was still good.

we started an indiefolk band and broke up the same night. he could really sing back then.

we murdered a mystery together.

he got together with amar'e and they compared their physical prowess. they both have great bodies for what they do.

we watched the x-files. this was a sad episode.

he let matthew ride his dad's bike.

we all hung onto the edge of our sofa cushions during the 2009 modern classic, Fast & Furious.

it was a good year for ryan. here's hoping all of us live to see a million more together. happy birthday ryan. thinking of you.

Our Wildest Dreams

2009-11-05T13:18:00.000-08:00

I would love to be posting about the wild times we have been having, but things have been terribly unwild lately. I am only documenting how lame October has been in an effort to shame Matthew and I in to pumping up the volume for November.

You would think finally receiving our pre-ordered copy of Dave Eggers, The Wild Things, covered in fake fur would be an omen of wild times to come, but it has quietly sat on our bookshelf molting since it arrived.

October was not a total loss, Matthew did buy a trampoline and a book for $1.75(total) at a garage sale.

Other than getting wild and falling in a fire, even the wildest guy we know has been pretty tame lately.

I will try harder to not let you down November, here is to hoping that I get arrested.

Happy Halloween 2k9

2009-10-25T11:04:00.001-07:00

180k

2009-10-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

we've been gearing up for a party to celebrate our car's impending 180,000 mile milestone for some time now, and a lot of wild words have been shared on how exactly we should get down. we've known all along that the car deserved to be invited to the party, and we've known that it would wish for nothing less than to be revved up to 8,000 rpm's with the horn blasting la cucaracha while it farted some kid's bmx tires at the exact moment it reached the 180k summit. so we tried to keep these humble criteria in mind while we party planned. but sometimes the best parties are surprises. so imagine ours when we got into the car and noticed that we were only 171 miles away from our long awaited event. we decided to let the party become the journey. we'd come so far and at that point we couldn't stop if we'd wanted to. we'd pollute our way to our goal and we wouldn't go home even a digit short of 180,000. it was a true coming of age story for the camry.

along the way we took some pictures as if they were through the car's eyes. so forgive us if the photos are streaked with tears.

The toyota may not be a luxury sedan but it loves delicious gourmet pizza and quaint patio dining so we obliged and ate at Cibo.

Don't be played for a fool and order bruschetta without pronouncing the hard k in the middle, okay?

our car happened upon a latin celebration, possibly wedding oriented, in the middle of the dark desert farmlands of Laveen or Avondale or some other southwestern valley town. this party was like the vip room within the vip room at club rockin' rodeo back in 1999. it was exclusive. you really would have to love to party to make it to this thing because it was so remote. we probably hadn't driven by a structure with lights on in at least four miles, and then suddenly like a desert oasis that sprang with chilled horchata, it appeared ten feet off the road in-between an irrigation ditch and a metal scrap yard.

It turns out that 171 miles is actually a lot of city driving. who knew? so we got tired and called it quits at 179,905 with plans of an epic part two of the 180k party. Then two days later we saw that the odometer had betrayed us with a measurement of 180,024 miles. we don't know where we were at 180k, but i imagine it was uneventful. and now we'll probably have to sell our car out of disgust.
it also turns out that al gore and company are filing a class action law suit against us for our crimes against the ecosystem on that fate-less night last weekend. but here's my question, if global warming is real, why did the temperature in phoenix drop twenty degrees the week after our fantastic fossil fuel burn?
by lindsay & matthew

Pittsburgh, Pa

2009-09-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

Our niece Macey had a baptism and birthday in Pittsburgh last month. She was nice enough to invite us. Actually, I don't really recall being invited at all. I think we invited ourselves. So, a big thanks to my sister Katie and her husband Levy for letting us come stay in their house and use all of their oscillating fans while we slept in their guest room for a long weekend. It was a lot of fun for us as we hadn't previously had the chance to meet our 9 month old, very smiley neice named Adeline. Also, my sister Kelsey showed up, too, after a year of partying in Hong Kong. It was good to have her back on American soil. The baptism was very sweet, and Macey was successfully cleansed of her sins. All of the kids were fun and they made sure that Lindsay and I were thoroughly entertained. We can't wait to see the Minharo family again.

Levy and I grew up together in the same ward and now we are brother-in-laws. We have the kind of long term bond that allows us to eat shaved ice + custard deserts in touristy areas and still look totally raw.

We spent a lot of time around the Universities of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon, which neighbor each other with campuses that seemed a lot more beautiful than Arizona State's.

The city of Pittsburgh loves the Steelers and dinosaurs. One of the dozens of dino monuments all over the city. Levy is lurking in the background wishing it were a real life jurassic beast so he could lay on its side and feel it breathe, and then inspect its droppings to better diagnose why it is so sick.

The Minharo house and 2/3 of its kids.

Just trying to blend in.

Hold onto your butts. Samuel L. Jackson would be so proud of these real T-Rex bones. Pittsburgh loves dinos so much that they would settle for nothing less than real bones and real marrow at their Museum of Natural History.

On Saturday night we got club-weary after a long night of bumpin' and grindin' so we left the spot and walked across the street to a train/trolley that takes you up the side of Mt. Washington for a scenic look at the three rivers and downtown.

Lindsay kicked a tree root raised sidewalk slab on accident while carrying Adeline in the dark on our way to a psychedelic fireworks show for Community Night. It seemed a little too real for me because we were creeping around this old colonial style neighborhood, while tons of rockets were booming and red-glaring right above us, and then one of my soldiers got wounded and started losing too much blood all over the place. It all felt so George Washington.

Earlier in the year we saw a show on food network with a bleached haired host about great eats in Pittsburgh, Pa. It had a place called Primanti's on it, which it turns out was the first place Katie, Levy and my mom took us after picking us up from the airport. It was so nice we had to go twice. Lindsay loves sandwiches.

Macey loves journaling at the bar with the locals.

From the look of terror on Adeline's face, Macey must have been whispering some crazy threats. Adeline already had a black eye from a bathtub brawl with Atticus, and she wanted no more violence.

We hit the Falls Ravine Trail on the last and most humid day of our trip to work up a Richard Simmons worthy sweat and cleanse our pores of all the Primanti's we ate.

Apparently Huey Lewis Was Off By A Shape

2009-08-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Keeping in line with the theme of uncommentable blog posts, and while we get around to loading pictures from our trip onto our super-computer and eventually our super-blog, I'd like to take a precious few minutes of my employers time to do some really important blogging.
Kelsey showed me this article on Saturday night that she found on the online web. It's weird because immediately prior to reading it i was under the impression that i was a mostly really cool human because of my mind and my thoughts and my feelings, but as my eyes bounced back and forth over the lines of this Pulitzer worthy piece of journalistic artistry I had the same kind of epiphany that I imagine all the gorgeous ones have at least four times a morning as they gaze at themselves in the vanity. The realization that my body is truly my coolest asset.

Here's the link to the NYTimes article It's Hip To Be Round.

To summarize, if you want to be cool in these tough economic times, you basically can't afford to be not fat in the stomach. They call this particular species of potbelly, found only on cool youths across the country, the Ralph Kramden, named after the actor.

It says, "Too pronounced to be blamed on the slouchy cut of a T-shirt, too modest in size to be termed a proper beer gut, developed too young to come under the heading of a paunch, the Ralph Kramden is everywhere to be seen lately, or at least (they name a couple of Brooklyn cool guy neighborhoods)... and pretty much any place one is apt to encounter fans of Grizzly Bear (a band that aspiring cool guys listen to)."

Okay, here is where it gets deep. Right at the moment my brain started to process this paragraph I looked down in consternation and saw the silk screening on my shirt stretched tautly around my generous Pepsi gut. Do you even know what that graphic on my t-shirt said? Grizzly Bear. I was wearing a Grizzly Bear shirt. Waves of cool swirled through my hipster belly like dysentery and I've only just now started to recover from the flux. I guess my body has always been just a few inches more ahead of the curve than i realized.
As more time passes i can honestly say that it is even harder to wrap my mind around my stomach now than it is was then (the article blames Obama for this phenomenon so i'm still researching the possibility of some direct correlation between this and his proposed health care bill), but its becoming easier with time. In fact, just this morning as i struggled in embarrassing pain just to reach down around my swelling guts to tie my shoes, i realized for the first time in a long time that i felt really truly good.
Thanks,
matthew b.

A Patriotic Makeover

2009-08-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. Its so edgy to get political. And although the public always seems to really appreciate political rants from society's elite, you know, musicians, actors and amateur Mormon-family bloggers, we generally try to avoid those kinds of poisonous topics on this site. They're bad for ratings. Ideally, we'd like to do all of our political quarreling with family, friends, and people in the grocery store in an intimate face-to-face setting. Its usually more heated that way and you leave feeling a little nastier about yourself, but at the same time its totally worth it because if you've done a good job there's a good to great chance that the other person might leave feeling even nastier than you do. And that is what I've been led to believe that the spirit of political debate and activism is all about. But in light of all the recent hoopla surrounding the Obama Healthcare Plan we've found ourselves in a major quandary. The news is getting heavy on images of irate senior citizens (really poor, really disheveled looking senior citizens. The same kind as that crazy old lady who crashed a John McCain rally last year to accuse Obama of being an "A-rab", only to have the microphone immediately yanked away and then Sen. McCain correct her ignorance. The worst kind.) flooding townhall style events so that they can get some screaming done about health care reform to their local political representatives. The thought of rubbing shoulders with so many nearly dead people, and possibly even immigrants, makes us more than a little reluctant to take our own bodies down to one of these events and voice our opinions (even if we don't have opinions) the way we should, the American way. It just feels a little too bourgeois to us now. So we've amended our blog policy and we've taken to the internet to share a good/funny article that Lindsay read that sums up the health care debate pretty well. It's pasted below, and I've included the article link, too.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111736487&ps=cprs

The Health Care Debate Is Making Me Sick

by Brian Unger

August 10, 2009

The health care debate is toxic, revealing a lot about us as a nation. And it feels embarrassing — like the whole world can see our underpants. Or hear us fighting in the kitchen.

First, most of us can't describe accurately the details of the health care reform now under debate. That makes us look stupid or too busy to care.

Second, most of us can't describe accurately the health care or insurance we currently have, so that makes us look kind of stupid, too, or lazy.

Some of us don't care about people who don't have health insurance, so that makes us seem unsympathetic or super lucky.

Most of us don't understand that we're already paying for people who don't have health care — which makes us too busy to care, in denial or merely rich.

Some of us — a lot of us — already receive health care under some form of government plan, but don't believe in health care under some form of government plan. That makes us hypocritical or selfish. In some camps, I hear that makes us patriotic.

A lot of us are a combination of these things: too busy, lazy, a bit stupid perhaps, lucky, unsympathetic, in-denial, really rich, hypocritical, selfish ... and patriotic.

We're having an identity crisis when it comes to caring about the nation's health, which makes me think what we really need is psychotherapy. But, sadly, that's not covered under most health plans, if you have one at all.

To many, health care reform is scary, like someone's building a halfway house for criminals right at their doorstep. It's a N.I.M.B.Y. ("Not In My Backyard") issue evolved into a N.O.M.B.O. ("Not On My Back, Obama") issue.

People never change. But policy can, so our health care reformers must get more creative and visionary.

How about a Cash for Clunkers Program? Not for cars, but for older, beat-up people whose bodies have wear and tear, and can't go long distances when they're filled with gas?

Our government is offering us $4,500 to buy a new car. Can it also offer humans incentives — say, a tax break — to join a gym? To quit smoking? Or to buy produce from local farmers? Reward schools that teach kids how to eat right and exercise? You know, kind of like that class we used to offer kids called "gym."

Let's pay people to stay healthy, instead of only paying for them when they get sick. Then maybe our nation will find its compassion, the one true antidote for its health care identity crisis.

Brian Unger

Brian Unger is a writer, satirist and actor. He helped launch The Daily Show and he is a regular contributor to NPR.

Puzzles and Seth Galifianakis

2009-07-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

If you demanded that I give you a two word summary of my weekend it would be as follows: Puzzles, Galifiankis. If you were feeling generous and alloted me three words: Puzzles, Galifiankis, Hot( weather hot, not R Kelly hot)

As the 2 and 3 word summaries alluded to but were unable to expound upon due to the character restrictions, Matthew and I started a puzzle this weekend. Things really got cooking once our friends showed up and lent their helping hands and now the puzzle is nearly completed.

We watched this interview with Seth Galifiankis an undocumented number of times and Matthew cried from laughing every single viewing. Fugee's and Funions.

Hey Brad, are you done with school yet? My muscles may atrophy due to the loss of my beloved running partner.

Let's hope Matthew's homo tendencies atrophy as well.

Books, Check em out!

2009-07-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

What do you in the summer when it is so hot outside that the 3/4 mile walk from your car to your office may be causing organ failure? Stay inside and get your read-a-thon ON!

We have featured books on our blog before (ie: the four part series on Burt Reynold's autobiography courtesy of Matthew) but we have had to realize that no matter how much you love a book someone you love may not love that same book and as baffling as that is you still have to find a way to keep on loving that person, even though you have begun to seriously question the state of their humanity. So here are some of our favorite summer reads that you may or may not enjoy, but if you don't enjoy them please lie and tell us otherwise.

I am not even going to try and write a summary, they pay people to do that and I am already writing a annotated bibliography for my Research Methods class.

The Hakawati (Lindsay)

The Yiddish Policemen's Union (Matthew)

The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Lindsay and Martha Stewart according to US weekly)

Herzog (Matthew)

If you have any book recommendations we are gladly accepting because it appears that our two bff's and former neighbors are deserting us and heading to Zion (Provo, UT) for higher altitudes and educations. Idiots.

SEATTLE!

2009-07-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I just got back from what turned out to be the best timed vacation EVER!

We went to Seattle and did a lot of this: sight seeing.

Matthew did a lot of this: fanny packing (the northwest has that effect on people)

We did a lot of this: hold out photos...

and self reflection with creatures from the deep.

But mostly I did a lot of this: EAT

if you ever need to eat your feelings may I recommend Russian pastries.

it turns out roses would smell better if called by a different name, MILKSHAKE!

Sad News

2009-06-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

This has been a very sad week for Matthew and I. I went to the ER on Monday morning with a very high fever and vomiting but everything with the baby looked okay. I returned Tuesday in the very early morning and I miscarried the baby in the ER shortly after arriving. I am home now and recovering. Matthew and I are so thankful for all of our family and friends and appreciate all of the love and prayers that we have received. We are eternally gratefully for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the peace and comfort that it has provided us during this time.

Happy Birthday, You're Pregnant

2009-05-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSAY!

This glamor shot was taken somewhere right around the time (maybe even the same day) that Lindsay took the baby mama plunge. If it were up to me, and its usually not, and I somehow found out she was pregnant before she did, which I don't think is possible, I would have waited until today to announce to her in the most tender way Happy Birthday, You're Pregnant!
But she already knows, so now I just want to let her know how wonderful I think she is for being such a stand-up babe:

Eek. Ick. Yack.

2009-05-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

Just a sample of the soundtrack of noises being made by me the last two weeks. I could dedicate this whole post to how nausea has ruined my life but I will save that for Matthew, instead I will share the small list of things that can still make me smile and feel human again

1. Enjoying cold beverages through a straw in my new favorite glasses.

2. Reading trashy celeb magazines and my recent fondness of iNTouch Weekly, it is a $1.00 cheaper than US Weekly and isn't trying to pretend that it is a respected news journal so it gives me more of the stories I wanna read about.

2.1 For example this quote by Katherine Hiegl about not being obsessed with diet and exercise followed by my favorite caption in the magazine, "Revealed: the star with the lumpy butt."

3. My sexy woman body t-shirt that is summer ready! Nothing to report here InTouch.

That concludes my list of Fav things. You can find me on my couch watching either Gossip Girl or Veronica Mars on DVD for the remainder of the summer, because I think it is a stimulating soundtrack for my unborn child.

Revealed: The Blogger with the lumpy Butt!

WE'RE HAVING A BABY

2009-05-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I have both been feeling for a while now that our blog was lacking flair so after some careful negotiations and market research we realized what our blog was missing, a baby.
So we made one, and now we would like to present to you the first of what will be a endless series of classy photo shoots like the one below.

we didn't want to leave our followship hanging so we submitted photos of ourselves to be analyzed by a team of experts who were able to create a 98% accurate depiction of what our future child will look like and this is what they sent us:

This is what happens when you mix two hotties. The real baby won't be completed until December 20, 2009 and when it arrives I am expecting a written apology for how sick it has made me. How do you discipline a 8 1/2 week old fetus?

Lilleth Fair

2009-05-03T13:23:00.001-07:00

I went to Women's Conference this weekend with my Mom and Sisters. It was an incredible time filled with spiritual highs and straight fear of being trampled by 18,000 bossy women with determined mom-frown faces, speed walking around BYU campus. There are two reasons that I was able to survive the speed walking mobs, one I spent time in the People's Republic of China where death by foot is common and second I accidentally went to the movie theater the same night as the premiere of Twilight and on a trip back from the bathroom I almost got trampled by a stampede of women with serious crushes on 17 year old vampires. I am sure that some of those same women who bulldozed passed me at Harkin's Theater tightly clutching their personal copy of twilight that frightful night were in the same crowd of women who stole BYU mint brownies straight out of my hands at the CougarEat this weekend. To borrow a fav saying of my mother's, Oh No She Didn't!

A display of Ashley's parking skills

Misty showing us her "backstage" pass

Ashley and I had a photo shoot on the lawn, we were trying to convey a mood of quiet contemplation. This is Ashley's best attempt.

This is all I could come up with. I do my best thinking like this.

America's Most Self-Marketed Sheriff

2009-04-21T08:21:00.001-07:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Joe Arpaio

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Gay Marriage Commercial

The Game Happens Here

2009-04-17T08:39:00.001-07:00

Our suns dream is over. it was a fun 5 years, but now we are left with nothing but memories and anger. we'll spare you the anger for now, but this seems like an appropriate time to bring out some of those memories. this stuff is from back on valentines weekend, so a lot has obviously changed about us physically since then, but once you get past all those crazy early '09 styles and trends you'll see that its still the same old loveable us.

here is a little video link to some of our work we did in the nba tv broadcast booth (follow the link, click play, and wait 10 seconds or so for amad rashad to do his thing, then you'll see us do our thing). its kind of nerve wracking going on tv and possibly becoming famous, so please forgive us if our body language was terrified.

or you can click here if you already missed it

and here are a few photos of us back in our innocence

False Advertising

2009-03-29T14:45:00.001-07:00

Perhaps "Blonde" was too strong a word, but these be my new summer locks. As far as I am concerned I am a total towhead but Matthew is not so convinced, I think he just feels threatened now that he is no longer the only blonde in the house. Interestingly enough he "injured" his back this week playing basketball and has managed to make our entire house reek of Icy Hot.

In other news, my sister Adrianne and baby Gabe are coming on April 7th!!!!! We can't wait to welcome them back on American Soil. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Toby Kieth's Bar and Grill will be open by the time they get here so we can reintroduce them to real American values.

And in even more news..... I got an internship with Apple that starts this summer and lasts for one year. I get to work from my home doing tech support for Apple products, did I mention I get to do it from home. I am so excited and am currently shopping ebay for a thighmaster and other at home exercise equipment that I can utilize while logging hours at my in home office. If Chuck Norris has taught me anything I think I can safely work my body on a Bowflex and trouble shoot computer problems at the same time.

Blonde Ambition

2009-03-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

And so it is, Katie Holmes has fallen like all of her other celebrity friends who have cute haircuts and then cover them up with extensions. I am without a hair role model and I must battle my hair follicles alone.

This is me before Katie and I had our fall out. Based on the photo of me I think it goes with out saying that I did a lot of soul searching on that scenic balcony and I have decided to return to my blond roots.

A picture of my former blond self. There is a lot of hair and 18 yr. old awesomeness happening in this photo, but I think this picture says exactly what all of you are thinking- Blond's Do Have More Fun!

I am issuing a call to all of my former blondies (shelly, shanna, bethany and all of my J high friends that would spritz hydrogen peroxide in our hair and then go lay out) to join me in going the way of the blonds.

48 hours in the City of Angels

2009-03-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

as tyra would say, matthew's body of work looks too catalog and not high fashion enough to be considered america's next top model.

shelly and lindsay on a morning "boy patrol".

lindsay's number 1 goal for the trip was to eat some pizza (?). and number 2: to get our Getty on, which we did quite successfully.

steve mid textbook wallride (above), and just mere minutes later trying to bless our trip with a dime in the fountain wish for safety (below). what energy.

the gals just taking a stroll through the gardens, remembering their molly shannon and miley cyrus encounters from the day before.

when your favorite motto to live by is "dance as if no one is watching" (borrowed from a tattoo she saw on a really cool girl in school), you are thrilled to the very center when a group of latino breakers invites you to pop and lock with their crew.

losing our minds and breaking the bank at fingerprints in long beach and amoeba in hollywood.

paying respects to the ghosts of past concrete graffitti artists.

getting in touch with the weird, lonely pre-teen girl inside himself, steve tested out the stereo's tweeters with the his new favorite album, the twilight soundtrack, on repeat. matthew had to break his 6 day pepsi sobriety at 2am so that he could just survive the harshness.

girls just being girls at a santa monica ihop. we were all so young back then.

testing out our hearts tolerance for clogged arteries, we ate at roscoe's that same day.

finally, we waved goodbye to greatest spring break we've had so far this year.

Cool Cats and Birthday Cats

2009-03-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

I know that blog posts have been a little sparse the past few months but with good reason. We have been really preoccupied searching the valley to find quality cat art, needless to say this beach towel made our hearts rejoice. Meow!

This is me post half marathon. They say it only takes two weeks of inactivity to get out of shape and they ain't lying.
Matthew turned 27 on the 24th!
To celebrate his birthday Matthew went to Barrio Cafe with a prepubescent 12 year old boy/girl that he is friends with.

This is Matthew enjoying his b-day spoils (records and books)

Do you think that I can print this post out and turn it in tomorrow in lieu of a 3-5 page paper about the profound impact global trade has had on the human trajectory? I sure hope so otherwise Mama in Trouble.

Chariots of Fire

2009-02-08T19:39:00.000-08:00

This weekend Matthew and Brad reconnected in a romantic getaway in Sedona.

They allowed Shanna and I to tag along because we are curious about the supernatural and metaphysical worlds and Sedona is a hotbed for aging hippies and new agers who know a lot about UFO's and auras.

Matthew getting "educated" at the Ye Olde UFO Store.

it was a great trip. Thanks Kesbones.

.......Oh yeah, since we were in town we decided to run a 1/2 marathon. No biggie.

Correction: HUGE BIGGIE. Since our August pledge to run a half marathon Shanna and I have logged quite a few miles jogging/chatting.

We ended our 6 long months of training (way tooo long) by joining our fellow runners in Sedona to run 13.1 miles of the HILLIEST course I could have ever imagined. The scenery was beautiful, The mini snickers were delicious, The Ibuprofen was plentiful, the display of flesh and spandex was mind boggling, and the finish line was one of the sweetest sites I have ever seen.

Matthew showing his support and devotion by touching my armpits after the race, yikes!

Shanna and I getting our post race stretch on at the Giant gas station. If you wanna see my medal, good luck. Either I lost it or Brad has stolen it and is secretly wearing it under his shirt. If you wanna see more pics you can check it here.
If you wanna ask me how I started this sojourn never having run more that 1 consecutive mile in my life to becoming a professional athlete, don't bother I will tell you anyway.

2nd Annual Ryan's b-day w/ the Suns

2009-02-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

in honor of an age old tradition celebrating ryan's birthiest day ever, he took matthew on a date to see the suns play. it ended up being the suns 2nd biggest margin of victory ever (48 points), so that was basically real nice, but on a sadder note it was most likely the last time we'll be able to see this suns squad in action before they trade amare and steve nash.
thanks to carla for the tickets, steve for losing the friendship competition, jason richardson for playing a great game, and most of all ryan, for being the greatest friend for a second consecutive celebration. see you next year.

bff's

about to tip off for a 48 point blow-out

matthew's height advantage almost assuredly garuntees victory over diana turasi

ryan and amare are soaring with the eagles with those wingspans

Better Know A Beatle (part 1 of 4)

2009-01-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Better Know a Beatle - Paul McCartney

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What We Headbanged To In '08

2009-01-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

Lindsay Favorite Albums 2008

Vampire Weekend - vampire weekend
MGMT - oracular spectacular
Lykki Li - youth novels
Cut Copy - in ghost colours
Girl Talk - feed the animals

Matthew Favorite Albums 2008
40 tokyo police club - elephant shell
39 the notwist - the devil, you + me
38 animal collective - water curses - ep
37 the very best - the very best' mixtape
36 t-pain - thr33 ringz
35 lykke li - youth novels
34 land of talk - some are lakes
33 beach house - devotion
32 david byrne & brian eno - everything that happens will happen today
31 albert hammond jr. - como te llama?
30 young jeezy - the recession
29 fleet foxes - sun giant - ep
28 crystal stilts - alight of night
27 stephen malkmus and the jicks - real emotional trash
26 ruby suns - sea lion
25 los campesinos! - we are beautiful, we are doomed
24 m83 - saturdays=youth
23 the hold steady - stay positive
22 girl talk - feed the animals
21 spiritualized - a&e
20 beck - modern guilt
19 no age - nouns
18 mgmt - oracular spectacular
17 okkervil river - the stand ins
16 the dodos - visiter
15 plants and animals - parc avenue
14 t.i. - paper trail
13 bon iver - for emma, forever ago
12 blitzen trapper - furr
11 deerhunter - microcastle/weird era cont.
10 miles benjamin anthony robinson - miles benjamin anthony robinson
9 los campesinos! - hold on now, youngster
8 fleet foxes - fleet foxes
7 tv on the radio - dear science
6 cut copy - in ghost colours
5 wolf parade - at mt. zoomer
4 kanye west - 808's and heartbreak
3 vampire weekend - vampire weekend 2 lil wayne - tha carter III
1 the walkmen - you & me

Don't Shoot!!!

2008-12-23T12:53:00.000-08:00

To all who may be struggling with a last minute gift idea for the elderly or disabled in your life, get ready to send me a thank you note because I am going to throw you a bone. I came across this story while listening to NPR and it made me feel foolish that last Christmas I gave my aging Grandmother a hot water bag in a faux fur liner and not THIS.

Her very own, elderly and senile friendly HAND GUN!!! The clear choice for the disabled, easily startled and alarmed loved ones in your life. When thinking of my own Grandmother, a Tom Clancy super fan, I thought "I can not think of a single downside to this gift." The 2nd amendment loving manufacturers of the first ergonomically correct hand gun are marketing the Palm Pistol as a defense mechanism for the elderly against home intruders and ungrateful Grand Children. Despite being denied by the FDA to classify the Palm Pistol as a medical device and therefore make it available by prescription through medicare, I would wager a bet that they are still going to be successful. They are after all targeting one of the more paranoid demographics of our great nation.

A Family of Winners (not wieners)

2008-12-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

There are two things that the Brown's do well, look good and win. And that is exactly what we were doing Sunday night. Matthew kicked things off by winning the betting pool we started at the beginning of the Amazing Race (and he wants his five dollars: Jimmy, Allison, Mindy and Ashley).

And I finished the night by embarrassing all of the people at this table with my insane Scrabble Skills.

The embarrassed loser's in question.

The Scrabble board that carried me to victory. If you notice in the lower left hand corner you will see the seven letter, 149 point word that slayed my competitors.

How do you score a 149 point word? Just call up the scrabble master (my new handle) and I will let you in on how I get all my pretty little tiles lined up in a row.

Operation Humble Kanye

2008-12-05T16:56:00.000-08:00

Nobody ever has, but if they ever did, both of us would undoubtedly answer the question "who are some of your favorite humans in this world that you can think of off the top of your head right now?" with a list containing some of the following:

stephen colbert
kanye west

and the list usually stops there. so lately we've been pumped up because theres been a lot of those two to go around. in addition to his nightly tv show, Colbert has a Christmas special out on DVD, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All and a soundtrack to accompany it (featuring musical performances by other favorite humans of ours: Leslie Feist and Toby Keith). And Kanye has a really really good album 808s and Heartbreak that just came out.
But apparently the world can only handle so much awesomeness at one time before a major beef breaks out -- think Biggie vs. Tupac, Jay-Z vs. Nas, Shaq vs. Kobe, or 50 Cent vs. anyone. So the inevitable has happened and now Kanye and Colbert are beefing.

To catch you up, this is how it all started on Dec. 1st:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Operation Humble Kanye

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Then the next night, Dec. 2nd, Kanye hardly kept his Love Lockeddown when he responded on some nerd website called Twitter (?) with a rated 'R' message that is just a lot too much for this blog to handle, but Colbert gives you the 411 in the next clip from Dec. 4th:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Operation Humble Kanye - Stephen Beats Kanye

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

This kind of stuff really revs my engine. I hope it never ever ends.

-- matthew

Its begining to look a lot like Christmas

2008-11-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

If you love Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Hall & Oats, Elton John, Amy Grant or George Micheal than I am sure that you are familiar with Delilah, the nationally syndicated radio personalty coming at you live from 6-11pm every night on your local soft rock station( 99.9 for my friends in the valley.) I have known Delilah since my youth when she hosted Pillow Talk but I came to know her best during the Christmas season when she plays non stop Christmas carols, and only the classics like: Do They Know it's Christmas Time At All? (thank you Live Aid) Last Christmas I Gave you My Heart (George Micheal) and Wonderful Christmas Time (Paul McCartney.)

Christmas 2004

Delilah is the radio equivalent of America's Funniest Home Video's, not intentionally of course. She has been given the incredibly difficult task of counseling her callers purely through the healing powers of soft rock love ballads. They confide their darkest secrets in her and in turn she picks out the perfect song to mend their broken minds. Tricky as that may be, I am amazed every year when she is restricted to Christmas songs alone. The best part about Delilah's show, besides what callers willingly tell thousands of listeners, is between 9:30-10:00 when she lets her hair down and starts to flirt with that G/PG line.

It may be a little early for some to begin listening to Christmas music, but I am eager to get my Christmas Carol/Delilah fix on and I suggest you do the same.

Christmas in our first apartment

Matthew scaring Atticus, Christmas 2006

Last Christmas

In doing a little research for this post I had the fine pleasure of reading the lyrics to, Do They Know it's Christmas time at all?, I was so moved that I have already submitted this to church headquarters in consideration that they add it to the Hymnal.

(Paul Young)
It's Christmas time
There's no need to be afraid
At Christmas time
We let in light and we banish shade
(Boy George)
And in our world of plenty
We can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world
At Christmas time

(George Michael)
But say a prayer
Pray for the other ones
At Christmas time it's hard
(Simon LeBon)
But when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window
(Sting) And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is
(Bono joins in)
The bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that are ringing
Are clanging chimes of doom
(Bono only) Well, tonight thank God it's them instead of you.

(Everyone)
And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time.
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
Where nothing ever grows
No rain or rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmas time
Feed the world
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

(Paul Young)
Here's to you
raise a glass for everyone
Here's to them
underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

Chorus (Everyone)
Feed the world
Feed the world
Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmas time again

Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmas time again
Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmas time again

Obama, McCain, Palin, Joe the Plumber, and Steve Nash

2008-11-05T05:48:00.001-08:00

first, let me explain to the 3 people who voted in our poll what the poll was all about. Lindsay stole it off of comedian Mo Rocca's website, and she initially intended to do a post about how funny or weird, or likeable, or folksy, or great, or terrible Sarah Palin was. but then she didn't feel like blogging so she kept avoiding it until it conveniently became irrelevant because now the election is over and we will forget about Palin until she inevitably decides to run in 2012 against Joe the Plumber in the republican primaries. at that point we might try to finally do that lost post where Sarah Palin is...
(choose at least 1 but no more than 3)
likeable (Rep)
folksy (Rep)
great (Rep)
terrible (Dem)
weird (Dem)
attractive like Tina Fey (bipartisan)

but for now, i have decided to post these awesome Steve Nash commercials that he self made for vitamin water because
(a) he is awesome
(b) let us not forget that the suns won last night too
(c) he is white, so that should comfort some of McCain's core fanbase (not me though, i consider myself a minority. yes i'm mostly white, but i've got some mexican in me, and i've got a lot of love for the black people)

-- matthew

Puzzles and Pouches

2008-10-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I have been busy lately getting our puzzle on. It turns out that Puzzles(and cottage cheese) remain on the short list of things and activities that you recall fondly from your youth that are still worth the hype when revisited in adulthood. Unlike Rodney Dangerfield in the film LadyBugs, not funny. conquering the City of Vail puzzle.

Puzzles are not the only things that I have been revisiting from my youth, I am also trying to persuade Matthew into getting a dog(a basset hound.) I am trying to broker a deal where if I do all of my chores and get good grades than I can get a dog for Christmas.

this is not the first time that I have tried to convince Matthew that we should get a dog, however this is the first time that my wanting of a dog has lasted longer than 24 hours. Which is why I had no option but to purchase this amazing shirt from Wal Mart with a basset hound silk screened on it.

I think I have proved my point, that I really do want a dog and I would take care of it and clean up after it and play with it and love it. (plus we all know that once you get bored of pets you can just return them, unlike baby's.)