The Essential "Butt" Rules of Camping

For over 50 years, my family has gone camping in Northern California for two weeks every summer. The vacations began when my mother was 5 and she went camping with her mother, father, and two brothers. Since then, the number of campers has grown. Every year, we have come together: family and also friends who have become like family. Some years, we have definitely passed the 100 camper mark. Yup, this trip has turned into a multi-generational hootenany and we wouldn't miss it for the world.

Did I mention where we camp? Well, it's this tiny little lake, a real gem. You probably haven't heard of it. Butt Lake? Not Butte. Not Buck. BUTT. It was named after a lovely man with the distinctive name of Horace Butt. For years, I tried to avoid saying the name. I think I even wrote a 3^rd grade paper entitled: “Butterfly Lake.” But, now the gig is up and I kind of even love the name. Eventually, you've just got to be proud of your Butt.

So, straight from the Butt, here are some tips useful tips for camping.

THE RULES OF CAMPING

1. “Rule Number One: Don't shoot me.” 
   
   
   
   
   
   It sounds simple. It is simple. Don't shoot me. These are the words that my father says to anyone who goes target shooting with him, but I think it's just a good rule of thumb. Don't shoot me. 

2. Embrace the beauty of nature. See the colors. Smell the smells. Hear the hears. Feel the feels. Rainbow connection it up.

3. Turn off your goshdarn phone, you moose head! Here is your chance to get away from it all, so don't botch your getaway. Turn off your phone; get rid of your computer; pretend “texting” is just an old fashioned term for leaving notes in peoples lunch boxes.
   
   
   
   
   
   These young teens (Chelsea and Lo) were initially bored...
   
   
   
   But this boredom soon led to the invention of a new brand of literate fly swatter.

4. Stock up on the necessities (donuts, marshmallows, trashy magazines).
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   At the lake, we like the simple things, but we also like to experiment. The day we discovered the nutella-graham cracker correlation...it was a good day. This year, we instituted “Butt Shake Hour.” Essentially this is what you do: get a cup, get a scoop of ice cream, get some milk, mix, enjoy. We just get crazy. Crazy, I tell you! Here are some of our favorite food combos:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   From Top Right Clockwise: Swedish Pancakes, Assorted Cakes, Taco Salad, Selection of Entenmann's Donuts

5. Get your game on. This year we played a lot of Monopoly (I was winning right up to the end...blast you States Avenue) 
   
   
   
   
   Matt (left) is losing, while I am winning!
   
   
   The Venuti Family also introduced us to the wonders of “Paper Telephone.” Here are the rules of Paper Telephone (aka pictionary without the social anxiety). If you don't like reading rules, just jump down to the drawings of marshmallows.

a. Hand every player a stack of papers (index size) equivalent in number to how many people are playing. For example, if you have 8 people playing, each player should have 8 pieces of paper.
b. Number your papers 1-8
c. Put your cards in orders. Start with number 1 on top and have number 8 on the bottom.
d. On card 1, each person should write a term (catchphrase, image, song title, movie title, quotation, truism etc.). This is in writing. We are not drawing...yet.
e. Each person then passes their pile of papers (with #1 on top) to the person to their right or left.
f. The person to the right or left (you pick) will take that term and draw their own unique artistic representation of it.
g. Here is the important step so listen up: Take card #1 and place it at the bottom of the pile. Card #2 (aka the picture) should be on top. This pile is then passed to the next person. They will look at the picture only and write down their title/term for what they are seeing.
h. The game goes on. Switching between drawing and interpretation.
i. At the end, when the piles have navigated the circle, you will all share the journey that your original term took. Believe me there will be some doozies. Marshmallow reunion forever!

 Yes, the Dragonfly is carrying a shank made from a toothbrush in a prison cell.

3 blind mice become 3 cool cats do a well choreographed dance routine

6. Locate your floatation device. Every year, we float down the Feather River. I tell you, there is nothing like taking a group of plastic dragons and inner tubes down a river. But, you've got to be safe. Seriously. You need a lifejacket and proper shoes. Then pretend you're Meryl Streep and you're in the The River Wild. We've all got to get our kicks somehow and being Meryl Streep is a great technique for this.

 Ian and his dragon prepare to take the river

What's around the river bend?

7. Soak in local culture. Butt Lake is located about a half hour away from the town of Chester. Someday I shall name my son or daughter Chester and he or she will be President or a really good speller or maybe even both. I really like Chester. It's a small town with a big heart and did I mention that there is a lot of great food?
   
   
   
   Check out this old fashioned soda fountain at Lassen Gift Co. They make the best milk shakes in the world.

Knotbumpers is the place to go for sandwiches and lumberjacks.

Who could not love the Burger Depot? Their burgers and their signs are poetry.

8. Get crafty. This was the year of the friendship bracelet and the tattooed table cloth. To make your own tattooed table cloth all you need is a sharpie, a vinyl cloth, and a sardonic wit.

S'more - 1 = S'less

9. Plan group activities. Most years, we end up caravaning to Susanville (about an hour away). We eat Jack N' the Box and go to the movies. We tend to see the least “serious” film option possible. In fact, we now call any blow-em-up-best-friend-is-a-monkey-inappropriate-comedy-complete-with-model-chipmunks-directed-by-M.-Night-Shayamalan-esque film a “Susanville” Movie, even when we don't see it in Susanville.

Max wants you to go to Jack N' the Box

 Delightful Angela from bigintheminiworld

The cutest couple ever: Matt and Claire. Claire wrote the best post about Butt Lake on her blog. Check it out!

 "Yes, sir, Captain America!"

 My cousin Callen

Aaron has his game face on!

10. Spend time together. It sounds hokey, but I feel really blessed to have this tribe of miscreants that I consider to be family. The fact that we get to spend two weeks out of every year together is just the icing on the cake. I realize now that some of the best moments of my life have been spent around campfires with these yokels. A lot of good has come from the Butt. So, I guess the lesson of this post is to grab some friends, buy some junk food, and set out for the great outdoors. 

Lovely ladies Lynn and Mom hanging out in Humbug Valley

 My awesome cousins Lo, Stephen, and Brian with the wonderful 

Grandpa Warren!

James and Callen looking chic in the back of that pick-up

Goodbye, Butt Lake. Until next year!

Smorgasbord Monday

Is it still Monday? Yes! Well then, the time has come the walrus said for a weekly helping of internet delights!


First off, breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day and apparently also the one with the most slow-mo. This video is totally haunting and will leave you shouting, "3 second rule!" Watch and see.

Ever take a color personality quiz? Hop on over to http://www.colorquiz.com/ 

Apparently, a lot can be learned by the colors you are drawn to. Take this quiz and find out if the results are accurate for you. Turns out, I long to be more spontaneous and impulsive. So, that's why I ate that Worther's Original I found in the bottom of my purse today. Clearly, I was craving spontaneity and the taste of pennies.

(image via imdb)

Speaking of insanity: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Directed in 1963, by none other than Stanley Kramer (director of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Inherit the Wind, and Judgement at Nuremberg). This guy knew how to direct an ensemble and what an ensemble this film has. It is a who's-who cast of comedy legends (Ethel Merman, Buddy Hacket, Spencer Tracey, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar...the list goes on). Basically, when they were shooting the film, actors kept on showing up on set and asking if they could play too (Jack Benny what are you doing here?) 


I was six when I first saw this film. I had just had my tonsils removed and was recuperating on my living room sofa. I watched this next scene and laughed till it literally hurt. My mom came in when she heard the gurgling sounds of painful mirth. I don't regret a moment of it and so what if I'm now an unfortunate mute (just kidding...never make fun of mutes). In this scene, Phil Silvers character has convinced these two gas station attendants that Jonathan Winters is an escaped mental patient. They are trying to capture Winters. Actually, Winters is playing a sweet tempered truck driver pushed to his limits in a cross-country treasure hunt. Your basic, simple plot. Watch. Enjoy. Have a great week and try not to throw anyone through a wall :)

Smorgasbord Monday

Time for Smorgasbord Monday and a buffet of petite web-delights! Let's nosh! 


"Hey You Guys!" These art prints by Jerod Gibson @ 37 posters are blowing my mind. I've got my eyes on this perfect representation of my favorite film The Goonies. WANT.

(via pullpinhold)

I really relate to this next video "David After the Dentist." See, between the ages of 8 and 12, I had 6 baby and 4 adult teeth pulled. That's a lot of teeth and a lot of trips to the oral surgeon. After the last round of extractions, my dad bought me a tetherball set for the backyard. I think he figured he'd save money if I just smacked myself in the mouth with a hard plastic ball. There is nothing sadder than an awkward pre-teen playing tetherball by herself. Nothing. God, I love tetherball and I love this video. 

Funny ladies, represent! If you have not seen Bridesmaids yet, then what the heck is wrong with you? It was hands-down the best film (comedic or otherwise) of the summer and that is largely thanks to the genius of Melissa McCarthy. Her performance as "Megan" was the stuff that legends are made of. I'm talking layered, 3-dimensional, hysterical, fearless character work. Proof (as if we needed it) that women can not only get the joke, but also the laugh to go with it. Read this article from GQ about why Melissa McCarthy is changing the way women are being portrayed in Hollywood.

(via GQ)

So, here's to a Labor Day filled with baby ruths, missing teeth, and funny ladies. Hope you had great one!

Smorgasbord Monday

Hey all! So, it's Smorgasbord Monday and time for me to share some of my favorite finds from this week.


Anyone who has ever worked with children knows that kids say the darndest things.  Preschool gems  proves that little ones make the best stand ups, poets, and philosophers. Essentially, preschool teachers use twitter to share some of their daily highlights. My personal favorites include:

• "I just really need to be Darth Vader right now."
• "My heart feels like black paint
• "They said I was cheating, and I was. But cheating doesn't matter. Life and friends matter."

Continuing with the theme of wise youth, I give you the funniest short essay answer ever. Seriously, I read this online late at night and I shrieked with laughter and had to bite a pillow. Comedic gold.

(via huffingtonpost)

I love covers (songs and blankets). I love them. I ran across this rendition of "Moon River" by the Honey Trees and I've been singing it all week. 

They also do the most delightful version of "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music. It's my favorite song and did you know that it was also the last song that Oscar Hammerstein ever wrote? What a beautiful swan song to sing. 

Beware the VELOCIRAPTOR!

After a delightful train trip, we made it to Boston. My sister Hayley lives there right now in the cutest little apartment. How little is it? Well, I'll put it this way: she can swiffer the entire place from her bed. But seriously, her room is art. Every piece of it. 

 Hayley painted both of these paintings and they are awesome. I think she should open an etsy store. Don't you agree? 

I love Hayley's bulletin board. It's such a glimpse into her mind and what a beautiful mind it is.

Now, when we all get together, we get a little punchy and we had a lot of fun taking pictures in Boston. These pics are from the front stoop of Hayley's building.

Some are lovely:

And some feature our new favorite pose, one that I have titled the "velociraptor." Now, I saw Jurassic Park when I was nine and seriously, not a day goes by that I don't think about, quote, or watch it. It's one of those movies for me. Here are the key lessons of Jurassic Park: nature will find a way, Jeff Goldblum is the man, velociraptors are the most brilliant and terrifying creatures the world has ever known. Velociraptors are the serial killers of the dinosaur world and they can open doors. They can come out of nowhere. They will find a way...to kill you. So, in closing, I give you our version of the "velociraptor."

 "Gee, I hope there are no velociraptors around."

 "I hate velociraptors."

 "Life you are too wonderful."

 "I'm complacent."

"VELOCIRAPTOR!!!!!!!"

 Take a look at this highly informative cartoon by XKCD of how to find out if your home is prepared for a velociraptor attack. This could save lives people!