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!

Go Green with Netflix Red

We found this cool website that shows you how to make origami from the part of the Netflix envelope that you throw away. Recycle!

http://www.netflixorigami.com/

I've been wondering how many of our friends and/or blog readers have Netflix. They have a friend feature, but we only have one friend! So enjoy the link--and the hours you'll spend folding tiny the red papers into crabs--and if you're a Netflix member, add us as a friend. :)

Eric's Artwork

On our recent trip to New York, I got to see Eric's artwork from his art classes, so I thought I'd share it with all of our loyal blog readers. The War Memorial Statue was a project Eric helped create as an apprentice to his high school art teacher. All of the other photos are from individual projects he created on his own. Enjoy!

Special News Bulletin

In addition to our New York visit, we've been doing quite a bit of backyard sightseeing, as I like to call it. By this I mean we've been enjoying some of the more touristy-type attractions in central Florida. We saw the Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration and Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibits at the Orange County Regional History Center, located in the former courthouse downtown on Central Blvd. Conveniently, we were available on an afternoon on which admission was free in conjunction with Artsfest. (Artsfest is amazing, and I might write a "whole 'nother" post just on this subject.)

We also checked out the Orlando Science Center, the highlight of which was the showing of Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk. This was an awesome experience for us because it was shown in the Cinedome, an eight-story theatre where the planetarium displays are also shown. Also, the film featured the subject of rivers and boating which we obviously love, and it was a very well-made piece created with a great deal of care and respect for nature. We got buy-one-get-one tickets as a result of our affiliation with United Arts, the organization that sponsors--you guessed it--Artsfest.

In other news, I highly recommend The Visitor, a quality film which has been decorated with hunks of Oscar nominations and which I enjoyed immensely. I checked it out from the local library for free.

And of course, we enjoyed free breakfast at Denny's on February 3rd (we watched the Super Bowl commercial with everyone else), completing our quartet of examples proving that--even in this economy--in one's own backyard, one can find activities that are exciting, educational, and easy on the wallet. Next on our agenda is Gatorland, where they're charging Florida residents only $10 for admission until the end of February. Any fellow Floridians wanna join us?!

Brr!

Hey, blogophiles! If you are a serious follower of our blog, you will notice that it has been a few extra days since the last update. I apologize for the delay in the enjoyment you get from our regularly scheduled posts. However, we are currently freezing our Floridian fannies off in central New York visiting Eric's side of the family for the week, and we are far far away from any wireless internet signals I can steal (I mean, "borrow").

Our flight was mostly delightful, until our descent into Albany International Airport was plagued by high winds. I felt as if I were trapped in a snowglobe being shaken by an espresso-fueled tchotchke collector. So far, while here, we have had pizza or pasta for almost every meal and Eric is in hog heaven. My pizza-loving self is not doing so bad either. Last night, all of the Romeos (Eric's mom's side) and Browns from the area gathered for dinner and the Passing of the Wedding Album since many could not travel down for the wedding. (We also had the chance to share all of our remaining wedding favors!) This morning I experienced Catholic mass, and I was mesmerized by the priest's melodic voice and historically stimulating message. Tomorrow we're probably going antiquing and having dinner at the Turning Stone Casino, both of which are popular activities in this area, I'm told. Just trying to fit in!