Assault with a Deadly Pet

The following article has nothing to do with our lives, besides the fact that I watch Project Runway and I'm a big fan of Season 5 villain Kenley's designs. And also that it made me laugh my jeans off, so I had to share it with whomever is reading. From IMDb:

Project Runway Designer Pleads Guilty To Disorderly Conduct

A former contestant on Heidi Klum's TV designer challenge Project Runway has pleaded guilty to a count of disorderly conduct after allegedly beating her former boyfriend with a laptop computer and throwing her cat at him as he slept.

Kenley Collins was arrested on 17 March and charged with two counts of assault, criminal possession of a weapon and harassment.

The 26 year old was fined $120 and handed a two-year protection order prohibiting her from contacting her ex, Zak Penley.

Our New House

I promised more information about the house we'll be renting for the next year. We signed the lease this morning, so now we have all the details!

The great thing about this house is that it was a bit of a hidden gem. A series of circumstances caused it to be a little under-marketed, which meant that, even though it would be considered very desirable, it went without a tenant for quite a few months. Because of that, we were able to make a much lower offer, which means we get ALL this for not much more than we're paying now:

• 1300+ square feet
• three bedrooms and two bathrooms
• HUGE master closet
• washer, dryer, stove, microwave, and dishwasher
• awesome yard (not too big, not too small)
• two-car garage
• very pretty neighborhood with a tennis court
• garbage pick-up
• free moving truck rental

...and--wait for it--

• our very own pool!

So, needless to say, we were very excited about our find, and the realtor we are dealing with is so nice. The house really is in great shape--it just needed a little TLC, such cleaning, lawncare, etc., which will be taken care of for us before we move in. It's located off of Old Lake Wilson Road in Indian Ridge near the Mystic Dunes Golf Club, and that's all I'll say for internet privacy and safety reasons. (Don't wanna tempt fate--or robbers.) If you are someone we know and love and you'd like to eventually send us some mail, contact us and we will give you our new address! If you are feeling especially strong and charitable on Monday, April 27, come on over and help us move if you want! Beer and pizza await you!

We're Moving!

Hey, everybody!

As we mentioned in our Pointless Update, we have outgrown our beloved 1-bedroom apartment. We were stressing out for a few weeks trying to find a new place to rent that would meet all of our needs, and we found a great place--a house! We haven't signed the lease yet, so stay tuned for more information at the beginning of next week. Yay!

Identity Crisis

Eric Brown

There are 835,733 people in the U.S. with the first name Eric.
Statistically, Eric is the 52nd most popular first name.
99.63 percent of people with the first name Eric are male.

There are 172,963 people in the U.S. with the first name Katie.
Statistically, Katie is the 355th most popular first name.
More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Katie are female.

There are 1,901,063 people in the U.S. with the last name Brown.
Statistically, Brown is the 4th most popular last name.

There are 1,074 people in the U.S. named Katie Brown.
There are 5,190 people in the U.S. named Eric Brown.

Source: HowManyOfMe.com

Katie Brown

Digging a Hole to...the Indian Ocean?

No, I didn't really think that I'd come out in China if I dug a hole in my backyard (if I had a backyard). I know I'd eventually burn up in the earth's fiery core. But if I could be come the opposite of flammable (which is NOT what "inflammable" means, by the way) and had reasonable means to make it all the way through from one side of the planet to the other perfectly diametrically, and I had a backyard, where would I potentially end up?

The answer, according to the Internet (which, as we all know, is always reliable) is here:

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN! Good thing I never tried it!

"Try it" yourself, virtually, by heading to this site, If Earth Were a Sandwich, wich (haha) is actually a very logical way to wrap one's inflammable mind around this concept. Enjoy!

P.S. F.Y.I. T.T.Y.L.

Pointless Update

Hello, everyone! I don't like waiting too long between posts, because I like for there to be something new every time you come by. However, nothing too super exciting has happened lately, but I thought I'd share some recent happenings with you anyway:

• Eric would like to share that he just lost his eBay bid by $1.00 in the last 30 seconds of the auction. (At least he's figured out how to jump in and bid at the last second so I don't have to do it for him anymore!) He was bidding on a mountain bike, so if anyone knows of a good deal, let us know.
• We did go to Alpha Chi Omega open house during Alumni Weekend at Stetson, and that was actually pretty fun. It was great seeing some of my favorite sisters again, and Eric got to see the sorority house and the rest of campus, so that was cool.
• We've been looking around at house, condos, apartments, townhouses, and other various non-cardboard boxes in our area to try to find the perfect place for all of our things to live. We love our apartment and the location; we just need more space for all of our schtuff! If only this apartment came with a garage...
• In order to market myself better as a well-rounded entertainer rather than as just a musical theatre performer, my website is in the process of a slight overhaul. I am now equipped to provide live entertainment for weddings, social functions, and other special events, as well as hotels, restaurants, and other business. If you know anyone who could benefit from my services, send them on over to me! In the meantime, keep checking the site for more updates such as a new logo and new color scheme! Very exciting stuff!

Action-Packed Week

We, the Browns, have been pretty busy lately bounding all over central Florida. Eric's brother Jeff and his girlfriend came to Florida for their spring break, so we enjoyed spending time with them, including heading over to the Hoop-De-Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness. Jeff and Marissa even got to be part of the show!

Coincidentally, on the same day as our dinner at the Hoop, Eric was offered a free pair of tickets to see Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba at Downtown Disney, and who could pass that up? The show was amazing, and I consider myself to be the perfect audience member with my mouth hanging wide open the whole time with unintelligible expressions of surprise and pleasure dutifully escaping from it on cue with each "Ta-Da!"

Also, within the same week, we decided to buy a house, and then we undecided. I think we were bamboozled by talk of "it's a great time to invest" and "it's a buyers' market" and "there's a huge tax credit," when, truthfully, we weren't ready for such a big step. Well, we're emotionally ready--and SO weary of the condo lifestyle--but we definitely need to save more before we take the plunge. As much as we want the economy to improve, perhaps between now and this time in 2010 when our next lease will inevitably expire, home values and prices will not change too drastically and we can still get a great deal. In the meantime, it still might be time for an upgrade. The sounds of Eric's dutiful docility--the dishwasher, pots and pans pounding, the washer and dryer--awake me every morning (I know, what a grateful wife am I), so now we're hoping for a house with a garage so he can make his noises down there tinkering instead. He does love his tinkering so!

Additionally, I recently made a solo trip to Gatorland. A friend gave us free passes that expired too quickly for Eric to get a day off to go. We decided they shouldn't both go to waste, and the photo album linked below is the result of my wonderfully natural and educational day.

Click to go to my Gatorland Photo Album

Starring:

Evil Parrot
(much more effective when viewed at full-size)

Not-Quite-As-Evil-But-Still-Scary Emu

Tortoise with a Future in Modeling

and the Amazing Albino Alligators!

Frankfort's On the Map

Eric's hometown of Frankfort, New York, has been featured in the national news media lately as a result of a very bizarre story, the conclusion of which can be read here. What a crazy tale!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Today would have been beloved children's (okay, people's) author Theodor Geisel's 105th birthday, which is why Google looks like this today:


Courtesy of Mental Floss, here is a fact for each of ten of Dr. Seuss's most popular and well-loved stories. Pick an alias, Theo Leseig!

Honors, Activities, and Awards

No, this is not our family résumé. It's just some recent news.

Honors:

My picture was featured in a cover article for The Eyes and Ears, the Walt Disney World cast member news paper, as a result of my performance at the American Idol Experience.

Activities:

I'm singing with a group of singers from Encore! in Tales of the Heart, a smallscale (well, small in comparison to Encore!) cabaret, to raise funds for this summer's production. The first two shows this weekend were very successful, and three more shows will be presented next weekend at the Winter Garden Theatre.

Awards:

Eric was nominated for Partners in Excellence, a very prestigious award presented to a select few Disney cast members each year. He is actually not eligible to receive the award until he has been with the company for three years, but just being nominated is a huge honor. Go, Eric!