Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Monday, November 26, 2007

Club Intrepid

When you're squashed like sardines in the back of your brother's Dodge Intrepid and Fall Out Boy is on max volume, you have but one option -- DANCE.

This is how me, David (my bro Ryan's friend) and Gail pass the time during a 7 hour drive back to So Cal.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Homemade Slingshot

Michelle shot her first gun (see earlier post) and this is me shooting my first rock over the Sierras with a homemade nylon string.

Kaplan Word Power

On the way up to Michelle's grandparents' house we decided to kill time by learning vocabulary words from the R (for Rindels) section of the Kaplan Word Power book left over from Michelle's SAT studying days. We practiced by making up sentences about our surroundings.

The repartee in the minivan was spirited though slightly recondite. The recalcitrant boys in the back seat were reticent to participate, but rather exposed themselves as raffish reprobates. In this area, the boys are likely to be ribald recidivists. We got through one section of the redoubtable book before the hunger for Thanksgiving meal routed our concentration and we fell into a state of quiescence.

Michelle and the .22

The SoCal college kids piled into Ryan's white car (along with their dirty laundry) and headed upstate to the Rindel abode and cold weather to do as many NorCal things as possible. One of these things was shooting a gun at a rusty can. This is Michelle's first time shooting a .22 and I must say she did very well. Sit down? Heck no. She snuggled up to the hilt like a true hillbilly. She didn't hit the can--but out of 25 shots, no one else got anything either, so no shame there.

Battle of the Push-ups

Ryan (my brother) challenged Gail to a push-up competition. Now, as I've previously mentioned, Gail has been training for moments like these all semester. So when the heat was on before Thanksgiving dinner, she was successfully able to give Ryan a run for his money. Was it because Ryan did five separate workouts the day before. Psh. That's what he thinks....

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Lizards, Gel and Sexy

After a painfully hilarious conversation, Michelle and I have compiled a short list of our favorite fashion pet peeves. Girls, if you can't bring yourself to confront your brother or boyfriend on their fashion crimes, just send them this way.



1.) Lizard Hunting Sandals
You've probably heard that sandals and socks are uncool. Michelle and I are going to take it a step further and make things bit more specific and simple: just don't wear these kind of sandals, period. We don't know what they're called, so we've dubbed them the "lizard hunting sandals" because they're definitely for nature nerds. Common offenders for this one tend to be very stubborn and/or hopeless.


2.) More hair gel=more sexy

At least that's what this guy seems to think.

Considering the fact that the Mexican population is still increasing in the States, I am seriously considering investing in hair gel as it appears it is (still) quite popular in the Hispanic male population. While I'm looking forward to my guaranteed fortune, there are some drawbacks that only a full force grassroots campaign can correct.
Drawbacks:
1.) It looks greasy and dirty while at the same time making your head look disproportionately large (see left photo). I suppose this could be similar to when male birds fluff out their feathers to appear larger in their mating dances.
2.) The "I heart hair gel" look definitely diminishes chances of someone (anyone) running their fingers through your hair.
3.) You could lose your job. A dude named John Graham got suspended from his job at the London airport for using too much hair gel.

Michelle's interjection: a bit of gel is a very good thing. As seen below, a dab can significantly improve a gentleman's prospects with a lady and simultaneously contribute to his marksmanship.












3.) A beard is worth a thousand words
Beards are basically billboards that can communicate one of two things: a) Yes, I still spend less money on cosmetics than my girlfriend or b) Maybe if I just grow a distinguished beard, nobody will notice that I haven't applied deodorant in 3 days.
A beard done right is a rare thing indeed, although the New York Times seems to think it's the latest and greatest way to assert masculinity against a wave of metro fashions.
Keep in mind, however, that the beard may not be the best policy among the ladies. I'll let this Psychology Today article excerpt speak to that:
Our results reflected the current cultural preference for clean-shaven
faces. Sixty percent of male respondents were cleanshaven, 21 percent had a
mustache only, 19 percent had a beard and mustache. Less than 1 percent had a
beard without a mustache.
Men guessed correctly that women would prefer clean-shaven men. Yet while only 14 percent of women overall named "beard with
mustache" as their first choice, 55 percent of women whose partner had a beard
ranked it first. Once again, women may have brought their judgment in line with
their partner.
Most of the comments about facial hair were about beards, and
the positive ones were about neatly trimmed beards. Women tended to associate poorly groomed or neglected beards with generalized slovenliness. The goatee was singled out for derision.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Surf Report: Pandora


Pandora: A box worth opening
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. On the Web, Pandora is, in my opinion, the first worthwhile music source to go to for easy listening. It's basically a radio station without all the commercials--and you get to choose what you want to listen to.

How it works: Just type in your favorite music artist and Pandora will match it with similar artists according to style and sound. You can personalize your "stations" by giving specific songs a thumbs up or down. I love that it introduces me to artists that are similar to the stuff I already know I like. Pandora is my favorite discovery this semester (closely followed by the alt + tab function epiphany).

And now a quote from our most valued critic. Michelle says, " It's the Merlin of music sites. It knows exactly what I want before I know I want it."

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Mr. Biola 2007


As democratic citizens, Gail and I are firm believers in the visibility of the government. That is precisely why Skippy is sponsoring the first annual Mr. Biola pageant. We encourage our readers to vote in our poll to indicate their favorite senator. If you are not acquainted with the senators, please do not hesitate to vote for superficial reasons.
The candidates, in order of appearance, are:
Senator Haws
Senator Martina
Senator Chacon
Senator Towson (on the right)
Senator Strawsburg
Senator Mitchell
Senator Salcedo





Wipe Out

Apologies for our extended absence on Skippy. This could be attributed to 1) the fact that Gail and I have been on the East Coast as of late, conferencing it up; 2) the fact that my camera direly needs to be replaced and 3) the fact that we've been swamped with work recently and have had few opportunities for blog/video-worthy excursions.

Nevertheless, the polls are open and we thank you, reader, for voting. After jumping off the blocks for an early lead, Gail pulled ahead in the rankings. Apparently, readers believe that Gail has 350% greater chance of owning me in a fight. We're still not exactly sure why readers were so adamant about this, despite the fact that Gail is most assuredly a carnivore and thus has a significant muscle-mass advantage over Michelle. Oh, and the fact that she's in a weight-training class.

Still, Gail turned down my challenge for a real matchup. Sorry guys, maybe next time.