Christmas Eve Haiku

Christmas Eve Today

Beware of Licorice Fights

Barber Josh and Pete

The Bold/Broad/Grand Gesture

Before I rant here are a few items of business:

• Danielle, I will at some point do the post about being tagged



• Jennifer this is what I was talking about a few days agohttp://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=steroidsExc&num=21



• I'm excited to be heading home this weekend. I have received Christmas Cards from the Stanworths and Walburgers. I told my dad that I would write a Christmas letter. We'll see.



• In heavy rotation is my Christmas Playlist on my iPod is Last Christmas by Wham, Happy X-Mas by John Lennon, Santa Baby by Rev Run and I just bought All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carrey. I guess I forgot how much I love Christmas Music.
• Today is James Warren Marquardson's 27th Birthday. Happy Birthday to my Freshman year roommate, my good friend, and Father to be!

And now on to my thoughts.

If you haven't seen the movie there are spoilers here.

Last night I watched the movie Love Actually for the first time. I had caught a snippet of it when I was home in California over the summer and liked what I saw. Thanks to a Clean Flix copy I got to watch the heart warming Christmas movie. The very brief summary is that it tells an intertwined story about the different types of love. There is platonic love, unrequited love, sorrowful love, new love, familial love, puppy love and probably a few others that I am forgetting to mention. It had an excellent sound track and it was uplifting. But for some reason it got me thinking about the idea of the what I'll call the grand gesture. Love Actually is full of this phenomenon where one party expresses their affection in a huge way.

Chuck Klosterman wrote about how all girls love Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack's Character from Say Anything). He is famous for holding the Boom Box over his head one of the most memorable Grand Gestures. Anyway in the movie one guy learns Portuguese because he falls in love with a woman who does not speak English, so at the drop of a hat on Christmas Eve he decides he will fly to France to see her (She lives there not Portugal) and propose. A man who is in love with his best friend's wife in an effort of full disclosure admits his feelings, and a little boy goes head to head with the British version of the TSA. In these instances they make this amazing gesture to show how much they care. This gesture usually involves two things, extraordinary effort and courage.

So I wonder a few things. Is it expected? Does this really work? Is it necessary? Should I have made the Grand Gesture myself?

So here we have a generation of people who have been embedded with messages that if we just speak up, or we race to the airport and “lay it on the line” that the “one who got away” will become the “one who came back” or the “if they only knew” will become “it was meant to be” and finally “if only you saw me differently” would become “you were right there the whole time”. Surely at some point this must have happened right? But wouldn’t it be the exception to the rule?

If a meaningful relationship is meant to be, then chances are this kind of gesture wouldn't be necessary. One might be willing to do it anyway because relationships are (and rightfully should be) one of the things we are truly passionate about. Yes, I would get on a plane to tell you how I really felt ( I actually sort of did that once it was not so dramatic as a typical movie, and the results were not as positive as one would expect from the movies) if I believed that was what you needed. I think that it helps our own self outwardly manifest how strongly we feel. In other words, "I can not fully tell you what you mean to me and the only way that you can understand just how much that is, is for me to do (INSERT GRAND GESTURE HERE)." Certainly one does not want to be pressured into making a Grand Gesture.

Now in the same essay Chuck Klosterman talks about the song "More Than Words" by Extreme. I read this chapter for the first time like three years ago and I remember it making a big impression on me but not really understanding why. I actually sent a paragraph to someone and she didn't get it. As I was running an errand this morning that essay and it's relationship to my thoughts came back to me in force. Here are the lyrics:

Saying I love you

Is not the words I want to hear from you

Its not that I want you

Not to say, but if you only knew

How easy it would be to show me how you feel

More than words is all you have to do to make it real

Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me

Cos I'd already know

Nuno and Gary (the guys who wrote the song) are making the point that being in love is more than saying I love you , and that showing you love someone is what is really important not saying it. If a relationship is “right” then you shouldn’t have to do these crazy things. Am I right? If it’s “right” you should absolutely be willing to and prepared to make a Grand Gesture but it in most cases wouldn’t be necessary. In reality the people in "Love Actually" in most every case would not need to fly to France, go behind their best friend’s back, or disrupt diplomatic relations with a Super Power. Instead their significant other would “already know” from the little things. And this doesn't even begin to address the issue if one of these Grand Gestures backfires. You risk anything from a bit of embarrassment and humbling to the dreaded label of "creepy" which is pretty which is one of the worst one can be labeled with.

So maybe it shouldn't be necessary but for me I still can't help but feel like words, and opening the door, or being a gentleman, or being thoughtful and all that sort of thing is enough. I do those things because that is the person I am but do I need to do more than that? You can't help but wonder if I did make that extraordinary effort would that be the tipping point? Or if the "right" relationship should take that sort of effort at all because you would hope that it would just happen.

The truth is I have no idea. I am very interested to hear your perspectives on this. Leave a comment or talk to me so we can figure it.*

-Peter

I completely understand if this makes absolutely no sense to you. I found it a bit difficult to formulate coherently.

What Mary Wants...Mary Gets (Monday Haiku)

Niner Victory

No Snow Globe Makes Peter Sad

Boy It's Cold Outside

Loverboy said it Best

Everybody's working for the weekend

Everybody wants a little romance

Everybody's goin' off the deep end

Everybody needs a second chance, oh

You want a piece of my heart

You better start from start

You wanna be in the show

Come on baby lets go

Ever since I did my State of Peter I feel a little bit like I used a lot of my material. Sure I could blog about thanksgiving and I promised Kaylyn I would but I haven't been to motivated to do so. I wanted to mention a few things that have happened or that I've been thinking about.

• Some people wondered why I put a picture of the Million Dollar Man. Monday was the 15th anniversary of Monday Night Raw. It reminded me of five years ago when Jordan, Brett, Matt and I went across the street to watch the 10th anniversary. That night was stupid and boring but Monday's show was pretty funny. Dan was really impressed (more like amused by Ted Dibiase) and we love telling people (especially Kat) that "Everyone has a price.
• Occasionally you will tell a joke with such perfect timing that it is like a comedic Grand Slam. I felt I did that last night when I told the Joe Montana joke at dinner.
• B-Rock, Don, and my dad have all said no thank you for a road trip up to the BYU game. I'm hoping David Dickinson comes through. If any wants to go let me know.
• Speaking of five years ago, I ran into Amanda Haslam at church on Sunday. She was visiting from CA. Amanda remembers me from the old days. We got to chat a bit. I wonder if I am the same as I was five years ago.
• Wally Joyner was in the Mitchell report. I knew he would be. I am proud that Wally was one of the few people who admitted he'd made a mistake and was a man about it. Props to my favorite baseball player of all time. I was glad that Tim Salmon and Vlad Guerrero were not in there.
• Do you ever have those moments where you just can't help yourself. The roommates and I were heading to lunch on Saturday when we saw two people in a Volvo. They were a couple probably in college. They were "being familiar" with one another while waiting for a traffic light. So what do I do. Naturally I honk at them. The driver acknowledged this with his middle finger. It was fantastic. I should probably stop doing stuff like this.
• Danielle tagged me. I will very thoughtfully address this next week.
• Have a tolerance free Friday!

-Peter

Everyone Has a Price

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Just so you know

Some of you will find the following charts extremely funny. Some of you will not get this at all. My friend David has a knack for funny things on the internet and these were three that really made me laugh.

This is information that as a Latter day Saint you might find informative because of our general unfamiliarity with alcohol consumption.

I'd like to thank Clint Salo for helping this chart make sense to me. I believe Emily Cardoza really liked this song too. I sent this to Jordan and he never responded back about it. Jordan is this funny to you?We did a Lip Synch contest my Junior Year of High School. It was awesome. This was huge at the time. According to this chart Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have a lot of problems at least one would think.

Pearl Harbor's Day Eve

Scott, Dallin, Peter, Jim, Dan, Shane

Can you believe that this marks the 8th anniversary since the inception of Pearl Harbor's Day Eve. In all honesty I'm not sure how Jim and I came up with this idea. Likely in between downloading "Bring it All to Me" by Blaque feat. JC Chasez and "Get Along by Rafael Saddiq" off of Napster we recognized that it was the day before Pearl Harbour Day.

Jim and I sprung into action, and started attacking people. Realizing that we had come upon something that was really fun (and looking back now slightly bad taste) we decided to publicize the event. I believe we called everyone in our freshman ward and left a message on their phones directing them to the Website Jim had created about our floor. At the time we though this website was amazing. We had pictures of us attacking people from behind. I have no idea if those pictures till exist. There was a really good picture of Jim hitting me in the head with a Golf Club as a I read the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.

Even the girls in the ward got into the spirit of things and created a skit about Pearl Harbor Day Eve. We were thrilled by it and in honor of that we snuck up on them on their way back to Hinckley Hall and doused them with water.

I think this was a microcosm of how fun my freshman year was. We did a lot of stupid random things that we thought were so funny at the time. We downloaded tons of music from Napster, played football on the baseball field and otherwise dominated the Cannon Center. I think all of the guys in the picture above would agree.

Response to Part I

I was pleased that my first post generated six comments. I was speaking on the phone to my buddy Jeff yesterday and I told him that I know longer write this blog exclusively for myself. So if you want to comment you should because I love comments.

Charles Clifford Hallberg of course that is you and you should feel privileged to be mentioned.

Dan as I mentioned last night my sister Jenn once sat next to Coach Cleveland at a BYU Alumni fireside.

Jordan consider this me giving you that salute that Doug gives to Jackie about 1,000 times during the game.

Jim you better believe I have been thinking about PHDE. Do you still have those pics?

KP and MJ thank you for being such sweeties.

Love 'em

The newest edition-Kitty Kate

Uncledom
First off I know that Uncledom is not a word but my title of Uncle Peter is the one I am most proud of. It was so fun to spend so much time with the little ones this year. Haydan decided that she was no longer afraid to talk on the phone, Bronte continues to be little Miss Social. Savannah reminded me that “Naughty Business” is not allowed, Gavin struggles with his pronunciation of the word truck, and Kate stole all of our hearts with her arrival in March. They absolutely drive me crazy (I was ready to leave them all at Disneyland) but that are absolutely adorable and truly are the apple of my eye. I freely admit that hearing about other's little ones can be annoying at times but I freaking love these kids. I love being the "fun" uncle and take great pride in that.

Probably my favorite photo of 2007. I was really happy this day.

Pete Chat

In the year 2007 I did 89 posts including this one. August was my most prolific month and I started out the year very slowly. As best as I can estimate I think about 20 people regularly check the blog. I am never satisfied with my writing but realize that if I edited it until I was satisfied then nothing would ever get posted. I received the most comments for the post about my mom and was most pleased about post about the trip to the Angels game in Baltimore (Dan and Matt will attest to the awesomeness of that evening) and I really found my “voice” in my Palmyra post. I was livid about lame people who tell me to quiet down. My whole life I have hated that. I do not like being bossed around by my so called “peers”. If I want to use a megaphone at 11:00 pm guess what.?. I’m gonna do it. I used to be pretty good at Monday Haiku but lately I seem to forget to do it. Mary has always been good at reminding me about that. I would like to thank Mandy, Dan, Kaylyn, and Mary McMullen for being the most prolific commenters. Seth Nielsen deserves a special shout out for inspiring me to have a blog and. My sister Jennifer inspired me to write for others as well as myself. My sister Chrissi gets a public reprimand for her inability to blog or upload digital pictures to her computer. I hope you have been inspired to check out the books I read or the music I download and am interested in any suggestions you might have for running columns or additions I can make.

Why this picture? Because I am alone but still hot. Plus as my neighbors will tell you I love to be sans shirt

Dating
One of the reasons I wanted to do this TSOP was to rant about my dating life. It’s frustrating. I think over the last 12 months there have been about 10 girls I had interest in although my office mates/roommates/friends would probably put that number higher. I will give a prize to anyone who can name the 10 I wrote down or surprise me with girls I didn’t think of please email me [email protected]. My blog should be a place where I can just say exactly what I want but so as not to embarrass myself or anyone else I will write in vagaries. I am sick of girls who want to be just friends, I am sick of girls who don’t know what they want, I am sick of not being appreciated, I am sick of caring for those who don’t care about me anymore.

I tell my dad that I think that Washington DC girls aren’t super interested in relationships. That being said I do realize that there are some pretty specific things I look for and if those things aren’t apparent then I am pretty easy to dismiss it. I used to love the “game”, but now it seems pretty old, I’m sick of call screening and countless discussions about “what did that mean?” (actually I kind of like that although I am almost universally wrong in interpreting what gestures mean, I should probably assume that whatever I think was meant does not in fact mean that).

I have been shot down in a variety of ways this year some brutal, some subtle, and some where they just didn’t call back and that is BUSH LEAGUE. Sometimes dating in the Colonial pond is frustrating because your reputation is everything. I have tried over the last two years to avoid being “that guy”, you all know the one. He doesn’t get the hint. He calls a little too often and invades what Diana refers to as the “bubble.” It is in the realm of possibility that this has caused me to abandon ship or pull the rip cord or as we have been known to say lately “shut it down” prematurely I feel that it is the necessary step.

I know this is not limited to the East Coast as B-Rock and I discuss this on a fairly regular basis. Sometimes it probably is me. Maybe I am grating or annoying or she just isn’t feeling it but certainly it isn’t always me. I’ve tried the hard sell (see my post about my trip to Utah) and the soft cell (Tainted Love if you got that good for you) which hasn’t seemed to foster results either. Jennifer assures me that it shouldn’t be this difficult and I believe her. I’m not sure if I will actually change my methods but I might. My hopes for this year are that I find the beautiful girl with a great testimony and what I call “first lady potential”.

I guess we’ll see what happens. I am not totally jaded like Kami (j/k)and I know that sometimes it does work the evidence being that virtually all of my non Washington DC friends are married and some couples out here even get engaged (hooray Ryan and Kaylyn and Jeff and Veronica) so I'm still an optimist.

Conclusion
I have really enjoyed this State of Peter post. It was cathartic to get this off my chest. I thought I might add one more thing. I will answer any question you have about my life. So if you wonder anything and I can answer without hurting others feelings too much, post a question and I will answer it. Thanks for being great friends. I thoroughly enjoy doing this blog and am thrilled by your comments.

-The Champ

Part II Coming Soon

The State Of Peter- Part I

One Word Description-Unexpected


Since just before my birthday I have been thinking what I really need to do is have an inventory of my life. An in-depth look at what has gone on with me this year, how I am fairing and then a few rants and other things that I have been thinking about. I also plan on having a few choice pictures and maybe a Haiku.

The Year in a Blur

Wow what a year it’s been. It’s been quite the ride looking back. I picked today to do this post because it marks two years since I made my triumphant return to Washington DC. December 3, 2005 Dan Nelson picked me up at Dulles Airport. I had three bags, a paid internship, nowhere to live and an extremely broken heart. Here it is two years later. It could have been the best year of my life and in a lot of ways it was and yet without a doubt it was my worst and most tragic year. I laughed, I played, I cried, I got shot down, and I was validated. My teams won, and they lost, we added Kate and lost Mom.

My Mom

I went back to look at some of the old blog posts. I will never be called anything but an optimist. Although I don’t remember the exact day I do remember the exact moment that I found out about mom being sick. Chrissi had sent me pictures of her kids. There was one picture of Gavin in particular that made me laugh. Chocolate hand prints on Chrissi’s white couch. I laughed so hard. When she called I was all ready to tell her about how much I like them. Then she dropped the bomb. Mom had had a stroke. At first we thought she was going to get better. I flew out there to see her for myself and was so happy to see that she seemed ok. She was just really tired. As the months went by she would continue to get a little worse and then her condition would plateau. Just writing this is hard. Work sent me home for the month of August. Armed with a lap top and internet connection I was able to work from home and spend every day with her. I will never forget how cute she looked in her blue pajamas. We had so many special moments when it was just her and I at Southland (incidentally as good as the care was and how nice everyone was to her, they were really fantastic, I hate that place. In fact if I never hear those two words together it will be fine with me) We laughed a lot and she told me how excited she was for Thanksgiving. I asked her what kind of girl I should marry and she said “One who doesn’t talk too much” We watched the Judge shows she liked and Angel games. I really thought she was coming home when I left back to DC around Labor day. Do you know what it is like to find out your mother is dying? It’s awful, in fact awful doesn’t even begin to describe how bad it is. Picking out her burial plot, planning her funeral. It is agonizing. I can not begin to express how thankful I am for my Dad, my sisters, my brothers in law, and all of my family and friends who were so supportive during this time. I miss her so much. I miss her every day, especially lately. It hasn’t gotten easier really. But we Dorsch’s are tough so we just go on. I really miss her.

The 27 Swedish Babes I took on the tour of the Capitol

My Job

Before I left for my internship in 2004 I didn’t anticipate that it would change my life. I just thought it would be something fun and interesting to do. And yet here I am. I am not sure how many people go to work every morning and say they love their job. Luckily I can. After surviving another tour season as a Staff Assistant the powers that be saw fit to give me a promotion. The funny thing is I can’t remember exactly when it happened. I do however remember being beyond excited. Finally I had the word Legislative in my title (Legislative Correspondent). This meant news business cards but alas not a new desk despite the fact that I bought an Angels Bobble Head to put on it. All in good time I guess. I used to be the master at having celebrity sightings on the Hill. I have no idea how many letters that I have answered. Probably several thousand. No it isn’t glamorous but I enjoy it. I love my interns and am so proud to send them off to do great things. I enjoy working for a boss who is so dynamic and a legitimately good guy. I have fantastic co workers who are also my friends. It was fantastic taking 8th Graders from Granada (my middle school) on a Capitol Tour.

Got Clubs for Christmas

Me

I once told a girl that I wanted to be complex. I’m not sure why that is. It could be because of the fact that I am so simple. I like my teams, I like conservatism, I like having fun, and I like my family. I think most everything else kind of goes hand in hand with that. But I’m still lithe, I talk too much, I love to make people happy and laughing, think loyalty and keeping it real are of the utmost importance. I still can’t golf very well but I can hit it straighter and farther than went I got my clubs. I love my iPod, Man vs. Wild, and Facebook. I wish I had the number of books that I’ve read this year but I’m sure it is close to twenty. I bought a GMAT book and will at some point start studying for the test. Much to my sister’s chagrin I like my Affliction T-Shirt. I know where I want to be it’s just the journey there that is hard to figure out.

Angel Games

Sports

The thing I miss the most about Provo. No question about it…Intramural Flag Football. I have tried so hard to duplicate it out here and have had no luck. I’ve tried city league and Congressional League and no luck. The thing that comes closest is the pick up games we play on Saturday’s at the park. My teams are having different levels of success. I was pleased that the Angels won the American League West but disappointed by their performance during the playoffs. The Niners are terrible and with high expectations this year have been a real disappointment. And yes Dan we have a Ute Quaterback. And I hate it. He stinks. And then there is the Lake show. I went ahead and bought a Kobe Bryant 24 jersey. He’s awesome, and now he wants to be traded. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Please Dr. Buss do not trade Kobe. Cave in to his demands, give him what he wants. Just don’t trade him. And then there are the BYU Cougars. Back to Back Mountain West Conference Football Champions and back to back last minute wins against the Utes. It’s a good time to be a Cougar. Over the last year I saw the Angels play almost ten times in person and lots of games on TV. I saw the Lakers play in Philly and a couple of Wizards game. I even went and saw Monday Night Raw which was awesome.

Can't Forget Su-Rec 2007

Friends

When I moved back in 2005, I had one friend. Dan (currently my roommate) two weeks ago I invited 33 people I consider good friends to my birthday lunch. I am indeed lucky to have such a good group of friends. I moved to a new place we affectionately called “The Melrose” back in April. As much as I loved the guys in 527 Buchanan I was excited to have my own room and have lots of fun neighbors living close by. It was definitely the right decision. I love inviting people over to watch BYU games or just to hang out. I love it went people just drop by and say hello.

Because I spent so much time in California this year I was glad that I got to see my old friends as well. They are for the most apart all married, having kids or buying houses. If it weren’t for my DC friends and the fact that are for the most part under the same circumstances as I am I probably wouldn’t be quite as up beat about this. It’s nice to have friends you can rely on. When my mom died I was glad that I could call Ryan. He did the dirty work and let all of my friends know what had happened, and the next day he and David Dickinson came and sat with me. It meant so much to me. When I saw Ryan, Josh, and Thomas at the funeral it gave me the boost that I needed. I even gave them a shout out. Sort of random I know.

Kyle, Shane, and Brett all came out to see me which was great. I love it when people come to visit out here. I gave Shane the hard sell on moving here but he opted for Chicago. Kyle is working on coming out.

It’s a little harder to see my college friends because they have managed to spread out pretty well. Thanks to technology and lots of blogging I have a fairly good grasp on what they are up to. So Jeff, Shane, Jim, Dan, Matt Scott, Dallin, Steve, and Chad thanks for keeping me updated on your lives.

Part II: Tomorrow Including: My travels, the Little ones, and a full manifesto on my dating life. Woo-Hoo!

Much is happening

My life sort of Makes Sense

Not too complex yet

Here and There

• It's looking like the much anticipated "State of Peter" will be posted on December third.
• We are going to 2 Amy's tonight for Brian Barker's Birthday
• Props to all of you ( you know who you are) who have listened to my philosophies the last few days. I think this part of the year makes me contemplative
• I'm not going to do Thanksgiving blog. I had a great time and I didn't really take too many pictures but I'll put up a lot of fall pictures on Facebook.
• Congrats to Kenny and Marlyse for the arrival of Hadley Scout. I couldn't be happier.
• Congrats to Jim and Marrisa. It's about time one of the residents of 2206 had a kid.
• Enchanted is a cute little movie. All Uncles should take their nieces or at the very least encourage their moms to take them.
• Just because you have the endorsement of the family doesn't mean much.
• I had a lot of fun making the invite to Brian's B-day.
• I have a couple of rants brewing...we'll see what happens.
• I really like the show Kid Nation. I don't know why really...Deal with it!
• I went from having no cars in Washington DC to having two cars in DC this week. Good for me.
• After three years of dedicated service my iPod Mini finally gave up the ghost. Your service will not be forgotten.
• Jordan and Dan. They enjoy getting a shout out.
• Hi Tia!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well it's over. You might be wondering just what is over. The answer of course is my mid twenties. I am officially 27 years old. I looked on the Internet to try and find great accomplishments by 27 year olds. I found nothing. My birthday celebration started in Utah and lasted for more than a week. I have amazing friends who made my birthday feel like the event it should be. I had three cakes, five versions of Happy Birthday to You, and a grip of thoughtful Birthday Wishes.

The Office got things started off right with a Chocolate Cake and Vitamin D milk. Just about my favorite treat.

Because my birthday was Monday which happened to be the first day of the fall recess and many people would be gone we had cake and ice cream. It was delicious and I ate a ton of it. I probably ate a third of that cake myself.

Now my birthday last year has started out kinda lousy, the girl I was dating at the time was mad at me and my roommates bless their hearts tried to make me breakfast but we had no ingredients and the pancake mix had gone bad. This was all remedied by my amazing trip to Texas. Jordan, Jeff, Matt, their wives, my parents and the Stanworths made up for it in a big way. This year there would be no Texas trip, but there was Miss Mary McMullen.

Mary is the best event planner I know. She gets things done and is no nonsense. Anytime I go to an activity and it isn't running smoothly I think "man if Mary had planned this things would be a lot better" it happens frequently. Mary asked me if I wanted a big party or a little party. When I hedged she asked, "You want both don't you?" The answer was yes of course. So she planned a small dinner party for after church on Sunday, the day before my birthday. Mary asked me what I wanted to eat. I chose taco salad. Mary said go ahead and tell me which close friends do you want to invite. My "close friends" quickly ended up being about 33 people.

I don't know about you but I get a little nervous anytime I plan an event or an event is planned on my behalf. You can't help but wonder if anyone is even going to bother to show up. Well show up they did. I think something like twenty five of my good Washington DC friends were there ( I only qualify them as DC friends because I know my Whittier friends and my college friends would have been there given a more reasonable distance.) The taco salad was excellent. Everyone who knows me knows that I am a narcissist (not sure when it started) so when the group went around the room and mentioned reasons why they liked me I loved it. But even for me it is kind of weird hearing people pay tribute. Apparently people like me for a lot of reasons some of which included, my willingness to make people laugh, my unapologetic fandom of Professional Wrestling, my commitment to BYU athletics, and perhaps most importantly the recognition that I am genuine. It really was touching to hear all of these nice things. Never one to be at a loss for words I took a moment to thank my friends for all they had done over the last six months.

They like me...they really really like me (or they fake it well which is a distinct possibility)

I woke Monday morning. Wow I'm twenty seven, it feels kind of old. That is when I had my little moment of the whole experience. The realization that there would be no card, no phone call, no gifts, and no singing from mom. Gosh, I miss her so much. She always made birthdays such a big deal. She would call and tell me about the day I was born, constantly reassuring me that my dad did take the day off and was there when I arrived (something I am still not totally convinced of : ) ) and how excited my sisters were to have a younger brother. So I sat on my bed for a few minutes feeling sad. It's hard not having your mom...it just is.

Thankfully that attitude regarding the importance of Birthdays is something my sisters have inherited. Jenn and Savannah left me a happy birthday message while I was riding on the metro and the whole Whittier gang called me at 10:47. What they lacked in harmony they more than made up for it robustness as Haydan, Bronte, Gavin, Chrissi and Dad all sang their hearts out complete with cha cha chas. I chastised my father for waiting so late to call, which is his favorite thing to do when I call him on important days. He sheepishly admitted to thinking my birthday was the 22nd. (only adding credence to my theory that he wasn't at the hospital but was instead working at the Market the day of my birth)I was also very pleased to hear him say "We'll get you a birthday gift when you come home for Christmas." Hooray!

Molly, Veronica, and Frederick took me out to lunch to my favorite lunch place. It is Vietnamese restaurant. It was a slow day at the office so I headed home to get ready for party number two. Dan and I went to the mall to find me something to wear to my big party. I settled on an Argyle sweater from the Gap and a pair of Skeleton covered Vans I'm sure Jennifer would really like. We met up with Matt Waldrip and Brian and had dinner at the CPK. They even brought out a brownie sundae for me.

Dream Come True...Birthday smooches from the cutest red heads in town Tracy and Stephanie

I was actually late for my own party. I dashed up to my room and changed clothes. I hurried over to my party and was so happy to see my friends there. I was really excited to see my good friend Veronica there. It was her first time at the DC version of a Mormon birthday party (not entirely different from any other Mormon B-Day party). I was favored with a phone call I had been waiting for and I made an admittedly rude exit to take the it. After agreeing to talk later I went to my party and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Miss Beal's class made this card

Melanie rocked my socks with an awesome birthday card made by her second grade class. They asked many important questions and wanted to know my opinions on Baseball, Wrestling as well as a few other. I absolutely loved it. It is placed prominently on my night stand. Matt Waldrip gave me a bottle of Febreeze. Dan, Matt and I thought this was extremely funny, I'm not sure anyone else did but it's an inside joke so I wouldn't expect them to.

I took lots of fun pictures that I will at some point put on facebook and soaked in being the guest of honor.

527 Buchanan Residents...Past and Present

Amber, Kat, Brian, and Mary stayed until 12:01 and the official end of my birthday. It was a fantastic celebration and I was honored to be celebrated.

It feels special to be a part of Mr. Waldrip's "special event" glad I could help and thank you for the Febreeze.

Thank you to everyone who sent me Birthday wishes, I will do my best to mention everyone.

Dad, Chrissi, Jenn, Haydan, Bronte, Gavin, Savannah, Marc, Don, Dan, Jordan, MF Josh Rose, Danielle, Mary, Mandy, B Squared, Joe John, Kenny my Intern, Laura Lamb, David, Scott, John P, John W, Woodpants, Maggie, Jenell, the Besseys, my little bro David Dickinson, Janet, Millie,Katie Magelby (not the dean though), Tracy Joy Marie, Kristi, Michael, Matt, Melanie, Derek,Lincoln,Diana, Jenny, Kami, Leo, Ian, Jenny Corry, Stephanie, Mike Whitting, the twins, Chris, Patrick, Rachel, Natalie, Tia, Kaitlyn, Kristin, Jared, Joni, Lou, Abby, Jen, Loren, Lori, Dave, Amy, Aaron, Jolee, Kat, Amber, Ben, Dan Ricks, Sam, Sven, Holly, Jeanette, Ellen, JF, Clint, Jay and Julie. I think that is everyone. If missed anyone let me know and I will make amends.

Thank you for all you did to make my 27th birthday so special.

JJ you are on notice.

Welcome Cici's

Cici's Pizza Buffet. Not exactly delicious but as I write this I am really hungry and I wish I was there right now. The food is OK but we always seem to have fun when we go. Dan floated out the invite and we were pleased that we were assemble a crew that would surely do some damage at Cici's.

Trent, DC Motoring,Mr. Nelson,The Bri Man, Kitty Kat, Ambuh, The Champ, JC, D-Wreck, and Bavarian Matt Works

One thing that we love about Cici's is the fact that they always welcome you there. If you do not get your aforementioned welcome and you are Dan Nelson you ask for it. This time we were fortunately not put in that position.

The famous Macaroni and Cheese Pizza. I requested it.

Scott Inouye didn't show so Brian Barker took over as the big eater. He had about six plates. Kitty Kat was no slouch herself. She told us before hand that she would impress us with her pizza eating skills. I ate quite a bit and was quite satisfied with my meal. I would have rung the bell but it was nowhere to be found.

Jennifer this picture is for you. Check out my wolves. I can make them move.

We talked about all sorts of random stuff. I went on a rant about people requesting trucks on the list serve. My main point is that if you aren't good enough friends with someone that has a truck then you need to spend the twenty dollars to rent a truck instead of begging strangers on the list serve. I feel pretty strongly about this and got pretty fired up.

Dan gave a touching toast to the fine establishment that is Cici's.

The desserts at Cici's are really good. They have cinnamon rolls and brownies of which I ate many. The thing about Cici's is that it is really a place you only want to go quarterly. Every three months you hit it up. Do some damage and pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Deep Thinking in Progress

I'm heading to the Outer Banks of North Carolina where I experienced much success the last time I went. It's doubtful I'll post while I'm down there but who knows. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I won't be in Whittier so I'll be missing the Turkeybowl again this year so Josh and Jordan will have to hold it down for me.

Coming Soon

I know how annoying it can be to keep checking a blog and see that it hasn't been updated. Rest assured that I have a few things planned including my birthday and the much anticipated "State of Peter". There is also an excellent chance of a post later today.

My Second Home?

Very often you hear the phrase, "my second home". It is one that I use very often. Obviously my home is and always will be Whittier, CA. It's where I grew up, it's where my parents home is, and no matter where I live it is my home. The question I ask is where is my second home? The obvious answer would be Northern Virginia/Washington DC, or Sweden where I spent two of the most important years of my life and of course Utah. Every summer and many winters the fam would go to Utah to visit my relatives and of course I went to college there. The past weekend I went to Utah and had so much fun. I thought I might hit some of the High Lights.

Awkward and I on Campus at BYU. Notice the Y in the Background.

Families aren't really supposed to have favorites but I will go out on a limb and say that I am my Uncle Danny's favorite nephew. He's always been my "fun" Uncle. When I was a kid he would take me to the Arcade, drive me around in one of his cool cars, watch action movies and all sorts of fun stuff, and of course our many trips to Disneyland. Uncle Danny (I think my family are the only people that still call him Danny to everyone else he is Dan) called me early last week and asked me if I wanted to come out for a weekend visit. Seeing as it was a long weekend and I had no other plans, I thought that would be great. We made the reservations and I was on my way.

Amber Pack deserves major props for driving me out to Dulles on her day off. I had a layover in New York but I had stayed up so late the night before watching the BYU game that I was happy to take a nap and listen to some NPR in The JFK Airport. It wasn't a terribly busy travel weekend because on every flight I took I never had anyone sitting next to me.

Danielle and Camille picked me up at the Airport and we on our way to P-Town. I had a number of things that I wanted to do while I was in Utah. (In no particular order)

1. Eat at Cafe Rio
2. Visit the BYU Book Store
3. Find a wife
4. See my interns Kenny and Michael and their cute wives
5. Watch the latest "Mormon Movies"
6. See Julie (Note #3)
7. See Dan, Matt, Brett, and Brent
8. Get my haircut
9. Go Shopping
10. Make care package for Elder K-Koz

My family took me out to a Birthday dinner at Macaroni Grill. They had a guy there who sings opera and so he asked if I wanted him to sing anything for him. I requested "Time To Say Goodbye" but he didn't know it. I was not pleased. I settled for some other song and Happy Birthday in Italian. I took my cousins on a drive around Provo showing them all of the old places I lived and doing an impression of my Grandpa that I think only Danielle "got". I managed to find the house of a boy that my cousin Jacqueline...well I'm not really sure I think they went to a formal dance together or something. We pulled up to his house and I threatened to go to his front door and introduce myself. Needless to say Jacqueline wasn't so keen on that idea. In fact she freaked out and nearly had a panic attack. The rest of us thought it was very funny.

I'm sort of a sucker for those "Mormon Movies" most of you have probably seen God's Army and the Singles Ward so for some strange reason I was excited to see what Utah had to offer as far as cinematic gems. We rented two. Beauty and the Beast: A Latter Day Tale, and Anxiously Engaged. They were both terrible and by that I mean amazing. B and the B was especially cheesy. I also must share a quick aside. My cousin Camille just turned 14 in fact we were together in CA last month to celebrate her birthday. We call her with the utmost love "Awkward" and we can use the word Camille interchangeably with awkward. She is very beautiful and we are just teasing her a little. Her awkward moments include, telling jokes that aren't funny, assuring us that she has Fall Out Boy Bassist Pete Wentz's phone number, and allegedly a genuine love of side pony tails. As the movie ended Danielle says to me,

"That movie was so awkward it was like Camille and her friends wrote it."

Nom Nom Nom Cafe Rio

Danielle and I wearing Sun Glasses in the Porsche. I remember Uncle Danny wearing those exact glasses without the slightest bit of irony during the 80's

We spent Saturday running errands and doing all the enjoying all the things that
I love about Provo. I got my haircut by Nicole who was able to share my "vision" of what my hair should look like. Something that is surprisingly difficult to find here in DC.

Throughout Friday evening and Saturday my old pal Julie and I worked on figuring out how to meet up. She is in Salt Lake and I was very excited to see her. She told me that her twin sister Emily as well as our friend Marlena from our Freshman ward was there. I had been joking with Julie for about a week that I would take her out in the Porsche. I wasn't sure Uncle Danny would let me take it. Not only did he let me take it, he also gave me a coupon to get it washed.

Since second grade I have had a poster off a Porsche 911 in my room. It is and will always be my favorite car. Driving it was an absolute pleasure. I totally understood why middle aged men buy these things.

Partying like it is 1999-2000 Peter, Marlena, Julie, and Emily

I drove up to Salt Lake (and even though it was terribly tempting without really speeding) and picked up the girls. We went to dinner at Pei Wei which I think is delicious and reminisced about the old days and what is happening in our lives now. Emily and Marlena expressed some interest in moving to Washington and of course I encouraged them. After dinner we drove around Salt Lake up as high as we could. We took some fun pictures of the city and the car. It was a lot of fun. At least for me. I'm not so sure about the girls in the back seat. I think a sign of friendship is that you can not see some one for a long time and then when you do see them it's like they were never gone. I experienced that a lot during my trip.

Two Hotties, the Porsche 911 and Miss Emily Dougall

I won't say too much more about the evening other than these few semi cryptic things. Life doesn't always happen the way it does in movies and, Slider's comment to Maverick about "Crash and Burn" was a fairly accurate way of describing how my heart to heart went. But I have gotten major props by most everyone for being brave enough to say anything. On the way home I called B-Rock and made a quick stop in Lehi. Alas I did not see Bryce Gardner while I was there.

My protege and forever my intern Kenny Keeton

The highlight of Sunday was seeing Kenny and Marlyse. Kenny was an intern in the office at this time last year. We got along so well because we both love football, video games and procrastinating. He is forever indebted to me for getting him a picture with Randy from American Idol and I am forever indebted to him for letting me score a touch down against Dr. Tim. Marlyse is nine months pregnant. She is so cute and Kenny is so excited. They have completed the nursery and Kenny even pressed the curtains. We talked about law school, politics, real estate and all the other other stuff we are interested in. Marlyse and Kenny are among the best and encouraging me to move back to Utah. I want to get married so we can be couple friends. We had a great time chatting.
Cousins picture at the Energy Solutions Arena

Wanting to maximize my time on Monday I took Camille to school with Dooney and Uncle Danny. Uncle Danny and Aunt Lisa had something to do on Monday so Uncle Danny gave me the keys to the Porsche and wished me the best. I went back to BYU to see Matt for a few minutes and then picked up Kenny to go eat lunch one more time at Cafe Rio.

For awhile I had heard about Gabrielle's teacher Miss Rust. Danielle wanted me to see for myself. I had seen a picture so we went to pick up Gabrielle from school. The sixth graders seemed pretty excited to have me there. I recognized Gabby's friend Kimba and some other kids I had seen at Cafe Rio. I met Gabby's teacher and she assured me that Gabby was not a trouble maker but that it can be difficult being around sixth graders all day and not start sounding like them.

We had just enough time to meet up with intern extraordinaire Michael and his wife Jody for some ice cream at the BYU creamery.

Although I no longer consider the Jazz my favorite team (and yes I realize I am a traitor and I am a terrible sports bigamist) since Karl came to the Lakers it was still fun to go up to Salt Lake to see the Jazz beat the Kings.

I had a wonderful trip and I am so thankful for my Aunt and Uncle having me for a visit. I didn't get to see Dan and Ashley, Brett and Beth or Brent and Stephanie but I had a great time. And despite the fact that one of my big hopes for the trip took a nose dive....I still got to drive the Porsche.

A few thoughts

I am anxious to blog about my Utah Trip but am waiting for a few more pictures. But a few mostly unrelated items.

• Don Brenier is a financial genius.
• Bro. Alford knows a lot about the church.
• After initially hating it I sorta like Britney Spears' song "Gimme More"
• I like Rolling Stone Magazine despite the fact that it is super liberal.
• Finding a movie quote to describe your life in a nutshell is a fun thing to do.
• Soda tastes better when it is cold.
• I commend Dan Nelson for giving "This American Life" a solid chance.
• I haven't posted very much in November. I hope to remedy that.

Tuesday Haiku

Back Home From Utah
Cafe Rio and Porsche
Crash and Burn Mav? Yep.

A Vision Fufilled

I have found that for the posts that I really want to do well, it takes me a few days to put the narrative together. I now feel that time has come.

I'm not sure when I first thought of the idea of being the Cobra Kai. In fact for a long time I thought my roommates and I should dress like the Channel 4 news team from the movie Anchorman. However none of the roommates who are capable of growing moustaches (I am not one of them) did so. Dan and I had procured Cobra Kai T-Shirts last summer and the Karate Kid is one of the favorite movies of 3076. So that being said our journey began.

In typical Peter fashion we did not start putting our costume together until about three days before we needed it. So you might be asking yourself, "Where exactly does one find a costume for a movie that came out 23 years ago?" The answer...you don't. But I thought surely we can find a skeleton costume that can pass for the Cobra Kai. And so the intrepid Dan Nelson, the adventurous Brian Barker, and the possessed Peter Brent Dorsch set out to find the aforementioned costumes.

We had heard that there was a costume shop in an area called Seven Corners but didn't know much beyond that. Of course it was raining cats and dogs and that made it even more difficult to find the shop. After several near surrenders and under an extreme time crunch to get home before a planned viewing of the Karate Kid (http://http://mandyjensen.blogspot.com/2007/10/karate-kid-and-men-of-3076.html) that we were hosting we found the costume shop. The place was packed with people and all sorts of Halloween paraphernalia. We searched gallantly for a Skeleton Costume but the one we found was no good. It was cheaply made and had no "bones" on the back. We did not leave empty handed as we were able to find the correct face paint for our costume.

The Cobra Kai Make Up. A crucial component of the costume.

The following day was Thursday. One day before the big barn dance. It was now or never for our costumes to come together. Dale had told me that there was another costume shop on Four Mile Run so we decided to check that one out but this time we had a secret weapon...Mandy Jensen. And as high as our hopes were they were quickly dashed as we discovered that they too were without skeleton costumes. Facing mutiny from some of the fellow Cobra Kai members even my own faith in my vision for the most dominant group Halloween costume was shaken. Dan mentioned that he had seen on the Target website that they had skeleton costumes. So sensing that Target was our last chance we entered the red bulls eye. Heading back to the costume department we noticed quickly that they only had children's costumes. Needless to say I was disappointed. It appeared that all of our journeying, planning, and plotting would be for naught. Then fate stepped in ( I am thoroughly enjoying using as many cliches and as much hyperbole as possible) and we headed to men's clothing and I happened upon the black athletic tights. I though this might just work. I found the sizes I thought might fit and tried them on. It was tight...literally and figuratively. I think most people would be a little bit shy about walking around Target in this particular ensemble but I wasn't. I went and found Brian and Dan and told them they must put it on. Like good soldiers they did just that. We found Mandy and she laughed quite hard when she saw us. It was just the reaction I was looking for.

The bones courtesy of a little athletic Tape.

Now that we had the outfits the next big question was "What are we going to do for bones?" I thought perhaps we could paint that on but almost immediately I thought that would be just to hard. All we need to do is approximate bones. Athletic tape was the answer. And because Target has most everything you need we found the tape we needed. We picked up an extra costume for Matt and were on our way. We made a quick stop at the Shoe Rack where Dan and Brian bought Converse Allstars, the official shoe of the Cobra Kai and Mandy bought an adorable pair of Rocket Dog slip ons. We had snatched victory from the jaws of a near Halloween defeat. We then made a quick stop at Walmart for white gloves and do rags. We were unable to find white do rags but the black ones worked out just fine.The Whole Gang

The whole day at work I was so excited about the party. I knew our group was likely to be the funniest and certainly the most creative. Granted the Karate Kid isn't exactly "modern" but it definitely classic plus as I told Mary and surely something Derek would agree with "Our costumes are not for the proletariat, we are not appealing to the masses." Friday was especially fun because my dear friend Tia was visiting from Charlottesville. She used to work in the office across the hall and I miss her terribly. We had wanted to go to dinner at 2 Amy's but when we got there the wait was really long. We did however have a lovely Mexican dinner and our usual great conversation. Meanwhile Dutch calls me and tells me that Bobby and Tommy are once again on the verge of Mutiny. I'll tell you one thing, Sensei Krease would have been none too pleased with their attitudes. Face paint and tight pants are nothing to worry about.

Once I got home I rallied the troops and we all got into costume, since I was running late I had a lot of help putting the bones on and Mary was so awesome about painting our faces. Burke came as Daniel-San to complete our group dynamic. Our lovely, sweet, and hot neighbors Kami, Diana, and Jenny came as Luigi, Mario, and the tooth fairy respectively. Mandy was a beautiful rodeo queen, Mary and Joe John were LOL KATZ, Jenell was the Morton's salt girl, and Miss Beal (As voted by both Dan and I ) was a Scottish Bar Wench (and a lovely one at that).

Actual smiles make it extra creepy

As soon as we walked into the dance we did what we do best...DOMINATE. Some people "got" our costumes right away, others had no idea it was me, but everyone loved them. Certainly the highlight of the dance was when we recreated the scene from the movie. We chased Burke through the dance and with an assist from Mary we went crashing to the floor. A lot of people were wondering what was going on. The dance was pretty fun, the music was okay, and the company was excellent.

We ended the evening with a trip to Denny's which was quite gross. B-Rock I was thinking of you when I was in the restroom at Denny's washing off my face paint. This dude comes up to me and asks me why I am doing that. I briefly explain that the paint is uncomfortable all the while wondering to myself, "Why is this guy talking to me?" Not talking to strangers in arestroom is as fundamental as washing your hands with soap. We made it home by 4:00 am and were so tired we missed football the next day (which we regretted for the rest of the weekend.)

Everyone gave me massive props and I know it will be difficult to top next year, but c'mon...it's Papa Burgundy!

Live or Die Cobra Kai!

Strike First Strike Hard No Mercy

I'll do the complete story tommorrow.

Halloween Costumes

Times were tough in the depression
Josh, Myself, Ryan at the Barber's roaring 20's Halloween Party 2006
My first Halloween home with the kids.

I thought I might take a moment to list the Halloween Costumes I remember being over the years.

• Leopard
• Zorro
• Ninja
• Rambo (Didn't get to go Trick or Treating I was sick)
• Jason (Mom was in Idaho so it was up to Dad and I to put a costume together)
• Pirate
• Clown
• Tom Sawyer
• Pirate
• Cowboy
• Construction Worker
• Soldier
• German Tourist
• Shane's Twin
• Han Solo
• Hip Hopper
• An American in Sweden
• Sheriff
• John Cena
• Dust Bowl Farmer
• Not so Authentic Viking
• And you'll have to wait until later this week when I blog about this year's awesome costume.

I was talking with some friends (possibly Diana*) about how when I was a kid after my Birthday and Christmas Halloween was like the best day of the year. I loved trick or treating, and when i was a little older I remember decorating my house and making a "man to sit by my front door. My friend Robin assumed the same pose next to the door and we would scare the trick or treaters. I think that was tenth grade. Last year I spent my first Halloween in Whittier since High School. It was fantastic to go trunk or treating with the kids. I love the idea that you go door to door getting candy. That makes so much sense to me. Last year we ran out of Candy and I was forced to give away quarters as it was my responsibility to answer the door. Tonight should be fun, my roommates and I have awesome costumes and are the realization of a vision I have had for my Halloween costume for quite some time.

Happy Halloween!

* It's quite possible it wasn't Diana but I told her I would mention her in my blog today.

Monday Haiku

Barn Dance Dominate
Can Not Stop The Cobra Kai
Avoid Late Denny's

Best Day Ever

I know all of you have heard me say that among all the titles I hold (son,brother,Legislative Correspondent, etc.) that I am most proud to be Uncle Peter. This was never more true than October 13, 2007, when I had the honor of Baptizing my niece Haydan Olivia Brenier. After what had started as the hardest week of my life, I was so happy to celebrate this momentous occasion.Haydan and I wearing our jumpsuits. I love the empire waist.

Haydan and I were both a little nervous but for different reasons. My experience baptizing has been in Swedish, I wanted to make sure that I did it just right in English. Haydan was nervous about the whole thing. Before the service I went over to her house. I told her exactly what we would do and what to expect. Haydan, Bronte and I were very excited so we left a little bit early for the service. When we got there we were happy to see that the font was filling and the water was warm. There were some missionaries there who let me borrow their Missionary Handbook so I knew just what to say.

I have a weird size. I have found that they don't really make clothes for people who are as tall as I am but also as skinny. It was no exception for the Baptism. I found the jumpsuit that was size large. I had enough room but the legs were a little short.

I love this picture. The legs worked for Haydan, not quite for me.

Don and Chrissi were so proud of Haydan. It's hard to believe she is eight years old.

Here we are. Despite the circumstances of the week we were so happy to be together.

We had a lot of friends from church there and it was awesome to have B-Rock up from Costa Mesa. Sister Vivanco gave a talk about the Holy Ghost and she directed her remarks to the kids that had just been baptized. I thought it was really nice.

Everything went well. I didn't drowned Haydan, and managed on the second try to get it right in English. I gave Haydan a big hug and I told her that we were so proud of her and that I knew that Grandma was especially proud of her. It is an adjustment not having Mom there (possibly the understatement of the century) but I know in a way she was.

Homecoming at LSHS

For the first time since I was on the stage giving the home coming queen her flowers as Jordan crowned her in 1998, I went to my High School Homecoming. It was a chance to dust off the Letterman's jacket, see my Alma mater play football and run into people I haven't seen in years.

I doubt that many people who read my blog know that I was voted "Most Spirited" by the senior class (as well as most likely to be President of the United States so the politics thing goes way back) and homecoming was a huge part of that. It is a huge deal at La Serna as each of the classes builds a float based on a predetermined theme.

Freshman year the theme was books we did Robin Hood, I was Prince John.

Sophomore year Holidays we did Halloween, I was a farm boy with a stake through my face

Junior Year was Movies we did Wizard of Oz and I was an awesome Tin Man.

Senior Year I was on ASB and on the dais to give the Queen, my good friend Jenny Hill her flowers.

I was excited to go back and see what this years Lancers had to offer.

My one time prized possession. I loved this jacket and would wear it often my senior year. It still fits and I still look awesome in it. Varsity athlete ladies...look out.

I saw a lot of things that reminded me of the old days. Mostly kids running around being stupid, acting like punks, cutting in line, and not paying attention to the game. Exactly like I used to do. The only difference is that now boys wear really tight pants. We probably would have been flogged for wearing pants that tight in my day.

The La Serna Lancers won the game 28-21 over the Whittier Cardinals the alma mater of my mom, Don, and Richard Milhouse Nixon. La Serna is 6-1 this year. Better than they ever were when I went there.

This years homecoming theme was "Board Games". It might as well have been "Bored Games" because it was kind of a lame theme. But the classes did the best they could with what they had.

Candyland, Monopoly, Jumaji, Battleship, and Operation were among the floats.

Seniors do Candyland. My as well have done "Sorry" because that's what it was.

My dad and I had a great time at the game. We used to go to the games virtually every week when I was in High School.

Cheerleaders on the LACFD truck. A La Serna Home Coming Tradition. LA County tax money hard at work.

Every year there is a Grand Marshal for the Parade. Usually a member of the faculty. This year it was Mr. Glen Sneddon. He was of one of my ASB advisers. A good man who worked as an extra on such shows as "Mommas Family" in the 80's. Local car dealerships loan convertibles for the Princesses and the Grand Marshal. Mr Sneddon was is an Orange Corvette.

I think the girl in the red won. The girl in the pink went to my elementary school about ten years after I did.

I often joked that I "peaked" in High School. I don't really believe that but It was a lot of fun to remember the old days as a La Serna Lancer.