Movie Recommendation

Hamdy and I went to see "Munich" last night. I highly recommend it. It is really exciting and very powerful. The funny thing is that after the movie, Hamdy went inside the cinema restroom and some guys who had just seen the movie said to him,
"hey, you look like the guy in Munich. Are you Israeli?"
Hamdy just kind of laughed and said, "uhhh...no..." and walked out.

Welcome to Egypt

Well cousins...As you know me and cousin Danara are in the great desert...and fortunatley the camels here are very friendly so it makes it much easier to be away from you all! Where to start...well we almost died and while you may think this is an exaggeration it is not! We we're on a flight from london to cairo sitting in the midst of a hoard of asian tourist and while over the adriatic sea we experienced the worst turbulence ever! The asians we're screaming and whimpering, Danara grabbed my hand and started to pray out loud, An arab flight attendant started yelling at everyone to take their seats, and I prayed quietly for about 2 hours straight...all in all Danara and I high fived when the fasten seat belt sign went off and now refer to ourselves as "prayer warriors" We're just callin it how it is folks! When we finally landed from the longest 4 hours of our lives we applauded and swore we would never get on another plane in our lives...so if you would like to see us make plans to visit the pharoh's hotel...just ask Mohammed when you arrive for us and he will direct you to our room. But on a more serious note I now understand Sarapatra and cousin Danara's love for the place. It is truly an amazing place and everyone should come...maybe we should plan our next CC meeting for Cairo. Oh yeah and the first morning we we're here we are sitting in the hotel eating breakfast and Danara looks up and starts yelling out Mark..Mark..to a kid who just walked in the room. This is what I call Taylor syndrome...Danara can even be across the world and see someone she knows! Unbelivable! Mark is a guy Danara met here when they both were here for school. He is from Michigan but now working and living in Cairo. He was at the Pharoh's hotel(which is apparently the center of the universe) because the asst. director of the program they we're both in here (who is now a teacher at a college in Michigan) had brought a group of college students from Michigan on a tour of Egypt...and they all happened to be staying at the pharoh's hotel! So (thanks god for this) The teacher guy (Ethan) invited us to tag along on their touring...that means free transportation as well as free meals so far when we're with them! We spent yesterday with them and are planning to tag along on their trip to Mt. Sinai this weekend! Well there is much more to tell... but cousin Danara is now staring over my shoulder and has a hankering for some koushrie so being as she is now my sugar mamma I will comply. I'm out..

Favorite Quotes from THE OFFICE (multiple submissions permitted)

Queer! Queeeeer Eye for the Straight Guy. Good show. Important show. (Michael)

3 days and counting

Well Billy and I went to the Union Baptist christmas cin-ta-ta on Sunday. As we we're walking out, there in the back aisle of the church was Jamie laying on the floor embracing a boy in what I can only assume was a full nelson, (or some other grappling move), I think this sight was best summed up by Billy's words "There's Jamie, changing the world for christ one wrestling move at a time." On another note if anyone caught The Office's christmas episode (I know you did, Call it Courage)...My office's chistmas exchange in cleveland was much the same...The first gift opened was a box of frames which we're left over from a student event at the school (on the glass was etched The Cleveland Institute of Art student celebration, also they we're black with glow in the dark stars on them) This is supposed to be a real gift exchange-5 to 10$ limit. The second gift opened was a 25$ B.P. gas card. There we're many bitter comments made about the frames throughout the exchange...and folks this was done yankee swap style! All and all the mulungeons came out on top, and this sanfran got the 25$ giftcard! All in day's work my friend, all in a day's work.

Maybe bad taste in music should be banned??

So have you heard this news that the President of Iran banned all Western music, including...ahem.."Careless Whispers" by George Michael and "Hotel California"?

However, according to CNN, "Hotel California" could still be heard drifting out of cars in Iran this afternoon...


I also heard that terrorists in Aghanistan are being tortured by being forced to listen to M & M rap over and over.

Mulungeon Pride Y'all

I just had a great Idea for Epic Records....so take note if you work there, or know someone that does. I think possibly that there could be a whole new market for mulungeon music. I kinda get the feeling that the mulungeon roots are a bit gansta/bluegrass. And since we are all of Mulungeon heritage It might be a good idea to discuss doing a collaboration of songs over christmas. I think we should start with doing a rendition of the old Danae/Rachel Shaffron classic "You have to pray just to eat today"-it's a lil bit gansta and a lil bit twang. I know one backroads man that would be all about it. 6 days and counting.

Coming to a couch near you

Well, friends, I have been free of school responsibilities for almost a week now and it involves much less Y&R than one might think. I am confined to the graces of anyone offering a free meal and a bed or bed-alternative. Mostly this means Jesse and Rachel's, where I have established my Liz-cave in their basement, complete with the first big girl bed I ever slept in some 20 years ago. So I can't complain about the free accomodations, but I do miss my big comfy bed and my wifi. Using J & R's dial-up makes my butt twitch. So apologies if I can't keep up on the blog as often as I'd like. Speaking of things I should do more often, anyone good at planning weddings?

Also, j$, r-van, and I were brainstorming over a bottle of wine this evening and decided that maybe we need to find a way to integrate our regular regalia with a new holiday: melungeon heritage day. Comments and ideas are appreciated.

brought a smile

Happy tippy tappy toes

Goodbye fat pig, dear friend

Well, as some of you know we had a very large...extremely fat goldfish. And after 2 years he has finally given up on his life! He was a good friend loved by all. I will miss tapping on the glass and watching you beg for food...I will miss guests observing how fat you are. Goodbye Crazy Bone.
On another note, Billy and I are very excited about our C.C. exchange gift. We think you all will be very pleased...It is definatley the gift that just keeps on giving.

a "blog cheer"

I'm done with finals! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!

just kidding, Queen Sarapatra receives only respectful looks from her teachers.

Those crazy Egyptians and the myths of dental hygiene

First things first. Why were not all members of the Cousin Council informed of this website??? I am deeply disappointed with the disorganization and complete lack of respect for all members of this sacred council. I move to dismiss our current secretary and elect a new one. All in favor?
by the way, who is our secretary?

I debated the nickname, but was worried that "Big Brother" might be spying on me if I went with Yasser Sarafat...I decided royalty would give me some power in this council, so I present myself to you as "Queen Sarapatra" I guess it is good that Jesse is not going by Caesar. That would be a little awkward, if you know what I mean...

So, Hamdy and I randomly chose a new dentist from our insurance company and when we went last week, he happened to be Egyptian! I can't say that I was crazy about having an Egyptian dentist (dentists are pretty scary in Egypt!) but he graduated from U of Mich and was great! However, I almost burst out laughing when I asked him if he did teeth whitening. (Danara may be the only one that can appreciate the humor of this...)

Me: "Do you sell teeth whitening treatments?"

Dr. : "yas, I have speecial kaynd. Make teeth veery white!

Me: how much is it?

Dr. I geeve you speecial price! Only $40.00

Me. hmmm....

Dr. Okaay, okaay, $30.00!

Even Egyptian dentists in America try to barter with you...good grief!!

The incredible part of the dentist story is that this was the first time Hamdy had been to a dentist in 25 years and he only had one small cavity! Not to mention that he used to be a smoker and still drinks a lot of sugary tea and coffee! I couldn't believe it! So much for dental hygiene education..its all in the genes!

Tan't tait to tee tou tall tat thristmas!

NAME CLEARED

Please read the comment under Wannabee scandel post, I am a tried and true member and am offended that one might think I would turn on the "family"! Anywho, on a side note Clementines are the most amazing fruit and I am glad it is clementine season again!

The root of the problem

What!!?!???!??This is public...you mean anyone on the internet can read about the cousin council......What have we done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The secret is out! We must all now delete our s.s. card #'s, and credit information from our post's! -(off to hide all very important,very private,very very non-public cousin council documents....I hope the ground is not frozen! I suggest you all do the same!)................(where is that reeses tin)

They can't hide...but they think they can.

Just found (actually San Fran found first) the rogue's blog. They want to be a part of this so bad that they set up their own competing blog: www.cousincouncilminutes.blogspot.com.

I have a few guesses. Apparently, they have an interest in soft rock. hey, who doesn't though?

Agenda Item

Sanfranfresca's reminder on the cousin council constitution is, I think, aptly timed. You must all know that I hope to bring to the floor a motion to accept candidate blocksma as a full member. I am a bit unclear, however, as to whether the candidate needs to be present at the meeting for consideration. As is, he will be in Ohio briefly on the morning of the 24th and again on the evening of the 27th. However, he will miss our standard meeting times. Also, I am unclear as to the rules of pre-marriage membership. I would like to submit this proposal as soon as possible; however, I can understand if the item needs to be docked until December of 2006. Can someone advise me on appropriate protocol in this instance? I feel candidate blocksma has much to contribute to the council and to our e-minutes. Despite his unusual last name and non-melungeon heritage, he is an experienced blogger and can serve as our rocky mountain region representative, thus furthering our influence westward.

A motion has been called

Hey can everyone please go to the comments under the post CCM christmas exchange. A motion has been called

Always a wannabe..NEVER a cousin council member

Well, I somehow just jacked up my most recent post and accidentally deleted it or somthing...so I will attempt to recreate it. First off we all are aware of the many sidlers through out the history of the cousin council that have wanted to be a part....and of course it is only natural that with a public forum such as this that the number of those sidlers would grow. What one must understand(this is for the sidlers now) is that to be a part of the elite, the process is by far one of the most difficult to overcome...I will now sight some of the Cousin council Constitution concerning this matter.
1. To be a true sworn in member of the cousin council one must be a blood born son or daughter of the Squire's offspring or be married to one of the stated above members.
2. For all new membership including blood-born relatives and their mates, one must undergo a series of testing and psychological probing and then must have a 100% approval rating by all founding members of the council that are within good-standing at the time of the voting.
I could go on but I thought I would just get a few of our credentials out there for all who read! Anywho I would like to thank rachel van for bringing up our next meeting and for her and j$dollar$blogger who always do a wonderful job organzing the C.C. exchange! I to am much looking forward to it, and was wandering when the Michigan clan will be making their way to ohio for christmas? Yesterday I heard the best christmas sermon title I've heard in a long time "How'd those Iranians get in my manger scene?"

a holiday haiku

thick rotten eggnog
rachel’s stank feet by the tree
cut my nose off, please

Grandma Hillmanism of the Day...

While we're on the subject of funny quotes, I got a letter from Grandma Hillman today. It opens:

"Sorry, you didn't make it back over here [at Thanksgiving]. And also that you didn't get sick."

I think she meant she's glad I didn't get sick, but who knows? That Fern is a shifty one. Maybe she has it in for me. I did notice she didn't set the green stuff out at Thanksgiving until after I had already got my food...

I must say, though, there are many things I definitely WON'T miss about being a young single grad student once I get outta here, but I will miss those monthly letters from grandma with the news from Richwood and a ten dollar bill. Quite possibly one of the brightest points of the month.

Shake it don't break it honey

Well tonight our small group went christmas caroling at a nursing home/rehabilitation center. The highlight of the night was in the alzheimer unit. There was this little african american lady probably about 90 all wrapped up in a blanket whom we asked if we could sing to. She said "sure If ya'll can shake that thing...come on shake it!" So we sang her a few carols then another guy rolled over in his wheelchair and the lady yelled out if you run over my toes I'm gonna kick your ass! We didn't really know what to say at this point..so we handed her a christmas card and said merry christmas! Her response...."Shake it don't break it baby!" Now there's a lady who's keepin it real.

Liz is never just Liz

Well, let me suggest a few.....Let's see.....How about Dauncey, Dauncey or Kaleidascope or how about Lucky Joker (as in Lucky Joker Poker) , Aunt Jenny, From this donut, Nate Filinger, Call it courage, The princess bride
Out of those my favorites for you are either Aunt Jenny or Call it Courage(given you are one of his favorites) , or even The princess bride

Liz? Just Liz?

On the note of screen names: I must confess, my cousins, I'm a little concerned that I don't have a catchy screen name. I've been sorting through nicknames of the past 23 years of my life and, after tossing out all the derisive ones that Jesse and Andrew have called me over the years, I've got nothing. Any suggestions?

Kudos

Kudos to Liz! You have earned an extra cuzin' cowcil gift. FYI: "cuzin' cowcil" is the historic Hillman spelling of our group. It goes back to K-Y-ucky.

Yes, The Office is the finest show on the tube. Have you seen the UK version? One of my favorite quotes: “He’s thrown a kettle over a pub. What have you done?”

By the way, you should all listen to Steven Colbert's interview on NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4583007

Required.

You don't know what this has done to me

I forgot to give a shout out to cousin council Liz for the creation of what I think is possibly one of the best collaboration of genius minds from Thanksgiving 05! Read your comments...and where the hey-ya is J-dollar? Watch out cousins you have unleashed my inner blogger.

"Happy Birthday, Jesus. Sorry your party was so lame."

So I am not much of a prime time tv watcher. In fact, I've been pretty absent from the tv watching world, mostly due to lack of cable, mass amounts of homework, and pent up shame at having actually watched the first few seasons of The Bachelor and other bad reality tv shows way back when. BUT, hear me when I say that The Office is a fantastic tv show and you should all be watching it.

So the moral of the story is that what with finals week upon me, I seem to be taking up all kinds of hobbies (e.g. tv watching and blogging) to keep myself from just finishing this silly paper that haunts me day and night. But the good news is that once this is finished, I can stop being smart for 4 weeks. I'm glad this thing is up and running. I look forward to seeing pictures and reading stories of our exploits across the country. Anyone have Andrew's, Sarita's, or Billy's (SanFran, I'm pointing to you) email addresses so I am add them to the group? Also, what is the policy on fiance bloggers? Hypothetically speaking, of course...
.

Very exciting stuff

Well as some of you know I am sort of a closet blog reader....and now I make my very first blog post! I have some very interesting photos I am going to try to post soon, let's just say "is it a drag queen, or is it aunt Diana?" Anywho, Just talked to D-nara on the phone but she wasn't paying attention because her "stories" we're on. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at Christmas! Now I go to see if I can get those picts posted.