Yardbarker: CandiceWiggins

Spaniards---They're Just Like US!

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:48:13 -0500

One of the things I've missed most from the states is randomly picking up gossip magazines at the grocery stores and airports. My favorite section of one of the magazines US Weekly is the "Stars--They're Just Like Us!" section. Before I leave Spain for good, I'd thought I'd come up with my own version....

Spaniards, They're Just Like Us.....

Their crowds love their mascots...no matter how silly they look!

Spaniards---They're Just Like US! Part II

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:40:42 -0500

They profess their love for each other on public property...

tweet tweet.

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:39:53 -0500

I know you've all been wondering what's going on with me. I took a brief hiatus, and in during that break I was introduced to twitter. By now I'm sure all of you have heard of this new phenomenon that is like taking over the world. I have to say, its pretty addicting and fun following people. Its interesting how people can be so creative and funny in 140 characters at a time. You get to see people's personalities that you've never met before, like Rebecca Lobo. During the tournament she was hilarious! Its of course the perfect place for me, I love randomness.

happy unbirthday to you! :)

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:45:34 -0500

I happen to be a very big fan of Alice in Wonderland, and an event that transpired last week forced me to wonder: perhaps I fell through a rabbit hole of my own and stepped through the looking glass into a new world. This experience I had was definitely something out of Alice in Wonderland's universe of nonsense:

During the warmup of our game everything was going as usual, and then a curious thing happened. They started playing "Summer Nights", the John Travolta/ Olivia Newton-John duet from the 70s musical Grease. Subsequently "Grease Lightning" and "You're the One That I Want" followed, creating an all out Grease medley. And to my surprise the crowd looved it, they were super enthusiastic, showing their support of this somewhat odd choice of warmup music. It was definitely an incredulous moment for me. I have heard a plethora of various warmup songs during my career, but that medley trumped the head scratcher meter. It did make me think, however. I think it shows how our culture is appreciated and enjoyed all over the world. Most of all, it shows that even after 30 years, and even in an incomprehensible language, NOBODY can resist the catchy hook of "You're the One That I Want" lol

******

I was lucky enough to spend the first part of my 22nd birthday in the Canary Islands, which is a set of Spanish islands set off the Western coast of Africa. Really spectacular and beautiful, reminiscent in my opinion of the Virgin Islands in the US. Being totally unprepared to turn 22 I don't have any special plans, except to follow the Stanford Cal game (which everyone should be watching! It's going to be good) A Stanford victory will be a good enough gift for me...as for the lack of plans, I figure I have the whole year to enjoy 22, what's the rush? :)

With that said,Happy Valentines day! (or, as I affectionately call it, "Single Awareness day" for some of us)

And in true Mad Hatter and March Hare tea party form, happy UNbirthday to all of you! Make sure you celebrate, you only have 364 of them....

xoxo,Candisimo

Planet Valencia

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:53:30 -0500

Greetings earthlings, it's Candice reporting from planet Valencia......

Ok I know its been like an eon since I last posted but that's because I've been adjusting to life in Europe. Its so much to take in and I've literally needed a month to do all that, but anyway here I am now!

A quick summary of my past month in planet Valencia:

On my first day of arriving, I went to a restaurant and it was definitely a Monica Wright in Spain moment as the restaurant I was in was playing the exact same song that was playing in the movie Love and Basketball when she was in Spain! (Does anyone know what that song is called? It's a great Spanish song...) so I thought that was pretty crazy.

Catching up on Gossip Girl and Top Chef (Thank goodness for youtube and the itunes store!) And I couldn't believe what is happening on both of those shows.

Skype.

Oh yeah, and playing basketball too :)

Let me know what's going on the other side of the world....

xoxo Candisimo

the big up list of 08

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:35:44 -0500

unfortunately 2008 is drawing to a close, and the year has been soo great to me, so i decided to make a "big up" list, celebrating some of the things that i have to give credit to for the year. these are things that hold a special place in my heart for this wonderful year....PLEASE feel free to give a big up to whatever you want as well! this is an interactive thing....so with that said:

1. big up to BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA II--> ok, who didn't have chills on Nov 4th when he became our 44th president??!! Amazing. and that was my first opportunity to vote....just classic. ?wow

2. big up to the FALL 08 MISS SIXTY COLLECTION--> with the homage to the style of the 70s and countless pieces added to my wardrobe, i have to say i owe a lot of happiness to miss sixty this year, which is my absolute favorite line ever. also special thanks to lorin, who works at the miss sixty store in the stanford mall, i will miss you guys!! :)

3. big up to the STANFORD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM--> my year would have been empty without the best team in the country to support me!! and a special shoutout to my "son" melanie murphy who is having a breakout season starting in 08--big up mel!!?

4. big up to SAN DIEGO, PALO ALTO, and MINNEAPOLIS --> my 3 homes now, these cities are amazing. best cities in the world. and even tho it's bone chilling cold in minny in the winter, its perfect in the summer!! what else can i say about san diego-i mean excuse me, "america's finest city" :)?

5. big up to EMPLOYMENT--> esp in this year :( "enough about recession, that's depressin"....but big up to having a job in 2008!

6. big up to the SNOOP DOGG EGO TRIPPIN ALBUM--> this album was amazingly overlooked, but provided me with music that i listened to this entire summer on my way to games, practices and everything in minnesota. people in minny don't understand west coast music, but its ok. slowly it'll ease its way out there lol

7. big up to e. e. cummings--> for providing the inspiration to my poor grammatical choices. i really hate having to follow the basic rules of communication, (like the?capitalization?of ?proper nouns, capitalizing "i", etc) and this poet was the first to break the rules, so he gave me some inspiration, got to give a big up to that lol

8. big up to YARDBARKER--> this is the first year i've joined and i gotta give the site a big up!! one of only a few places where my randomness is accepted, and in fact encouraged....

9. big up to T PAIN and LIL WAYNE--> enough said. these guys single?handedly?took over the year 2008

10. big up to THE COMEBACK AND LISA KUDROW AS VALERIE CHERISH--> again, this show isn't for everybody, but for me it was it!! post surgery-best thing to ever happen to me. the funniest and wittiest show on television! whyyyy did it get cancelled after only one season??

11. big up to the STANFORD WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TEAM--> for going to the national championship game...again!

12. big up to SHAWTY LO--> for the popularization of the term "big up" lol

13. big up to ALL STANFORD FANS--> you guys have been there from the very beginning of my career to the national championship game, i love you all dearly and am so proud to represent you!

14. ?big up to THE WHITE STRIPES ICKY THUMP ALBUM--> released in 2007, but heard by me in the fall of 2008. provided a new perspective, some pretty intense stuff

15. big up to BEYONCE--> on her new album, making us all ponder what our alter ego name would be, and what they would be like (my alter ego is coming soon......lol)

finally, (for now) i'd like to give a BIG UP TO ALL MY HATERS!!! lol, and all the haters out there.?

ok so who do you guys want to give a big up to?? let's hear it! 2008 was the greatest.....

Today is World AIDS Day!

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:51:45 -0500

Hey everyone, today is World AIDS Day. I think its appropriate to take some time out and recognize all who have been lost to us or are enduring HIV. I've attached a link to The San Francisco AIDS Foundation's outreach on this day, and I'm happy to be involved with a wonderful national HIV/AIDS prevention/education organization, Until There's A Cure. I'm wearing my bracelet today! And everyone who has one should wear theirs! xoxo candice

why i love the stanford band...

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:34:23 -0500

So I was at the Stanford New Mexico game at Stanford the other day and I had the best seat in the house, right in front of the world famous LSJUMB (Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band). Ok so I'm watching the game, and the team is playing great, get out to a pretty good lead and then the score on the screen flashes: Stanford 24 New Mexico 10 So as New Mexico takes the ball out of bounds and goes the other way, the band chants: "2X + 4, Where X is your score! 2X + 4, Where X is your score!" I was on the floor dyyyying! Most creative thing I have heard in a while, and leave it to the Stanford band to come up with something like that. I guess that's where we get the reputation of being "nerdy" but whatever, I don't see us as nerdy. I see us as witty, while at times maybe slightly "academic". But in my many years of playing basketball and hearing heckling, never have I heard a comment quite like that. Wow. Ok speaking of being nerdy or in my case "slightly academic", one thing a lot of people don't know about me is that I can solve the Rubik's cube! I learned how to do it in 10th grade, when I was in geometry class and our teacher, Mr. Ferguson, would teach us a little bit each day after school was over, and to this day I still know how to solve it. It's pretty challenging, so no, I wouldn't be able to just teach you in 5 minutes, which is the question I get a lot. A lot of people would be surprised to know that it's actually an equation and not just randomness to solving it. In my younger days I was way more adept at solving it, but I'm around 3 minutes right now. I'm not by any means making claims to be the fastest Rubik's cube person ever, but maybe the fastest in the WNBA? Any challengers? :)

Where in the World is Candice San Diego? Part 1

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:05:21 -0500

Hey everybody! Well I've just been on a 14 day road trip, starting in LA and ending in San Diego, while taking a slight "detour" in Minneapolis. Ok so for whatever reason when I left for this trip I packed my computer but forgot my computer charger! So..i had no computer, which is why I wasn't able to update you all earlier so...my bad. My travels have been so expansive and quick that my friend Marissa from home calls me "Candice San Diego" now! Anyway, I wanted to let you know what I've been up to lately, and the first stop is in Los Angeles for a Nike photo shoot that I did which was amazing and sooo much fun. I have some clips for a behind the scenes look, and I just want to add that it was about 95 degrees that day and I had on a sweatshirt. Enough said. Anyway, I want to thank all the wonderful people at Nike for making this shoot great! While I was in LA, I was able to see my wonderful family, and I found some old photos of me and my aunt going to Universal Studios when I was about 8 years old. The pictures were soo hilarious, I'm wearing this CRAZY 90s getup that I don't even remember owning. Clearly it was my best outfit, if I wore it to a place like Universal Studios, but basically it was a baby blue striped overall shorts with white shirt look, but the overalls had triangle cut outs! And so did the collar of the shirt! ewwwwww (Michael Kors I am so sorry!) But you live and you learn! maybe one day I'll muster up the strength to show the world this insane outfit....but not today! sorry... Last but not least, a few additonal highlights included finally getting to see my amazing new nephew Richard Wesley Jr!!! He is sooo adorable and being an aunty is the greatest feeling! I've already cherished the few moments we've had together...and there is way more to come! And finally I read the best book with my cousin Juste. It's called Green Eggs and Ham and its his favorite! Have you heard about it? Its by some guy named Dr. Seuss :) I have to admit it got a little......redundant, but I was happy when he finally tried the green eggs and ham at the end, and figured he in fact WOULD eat them on a train and in the rain, or in a house and with a mouse......and so on and so forth. A good lesson of "you never know until you try". And you have to credit Sam I Am for persevering and not giving up until he made the guy try the green eggs and ham....wow. See how much analysis can come with just about anything? Ok so stay tuned for part 2 and 3 (and maybe 4) of Where in the World is Candice San Diego!! Until next time XOXO candice

study break!

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:45:16 -0500

Hey guys! Sorry I've been so MIA, my life has gotten hectic again with travel and now a big midterm coming up! But I took a study break and watched this clip of "Scarlet Takes a Tumble", which is apparently the new phenomenon on youtube, recommended by my friend Franci Girard, and then further encouraged by my teammate and partner in crime, Melanie Murphy. So I can't dwell long for now, but I thought you might enjoy this clip, I'm a huge fan of reaction videos so here's my very first one! XOXO

hydrocodone is my best friend.....

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:26:15 -0500

so i had my surgery a little while ago and i'm already making so much progress so i'm really excited about that. i was able to walk on the treadmill for the first day of rehab so hopefully i'll be running and jumping by thurs of this week, and then who knows maybe i'll be able to play full court by this sunday? JOKING of course, obviously the rehab process is pretty extensive and i'm definitely not rushing things, but i've had this injury twice before and the key is taking your time and working extremely hard in rehab. I have videos of my first day back on youtube so feel free to check those out. There's nothing else really that intriguing or riveting about surgery except they give you a plethora of hydrocodone bitartrate and Acetaminophen (or vicodin lol) and i had to stop taking those pills earlier than i was supposed to because i was having the weirdest dreams... However there is one amazing thing about surgery. When you're bed ridden you have the opportunity to watch a wide range of tv shows and movies all day long, and that's exactly what i did. I got in to 2 new tv shows that i highly recommend, Da Ali G Show and The Comeback, both distributed by HBO and sooo funny! Da Ali G Show features British actor Sascha Baron Cohen (the guy who plays Borat) and honestly its probably the wittiest and most entertaining show i have ever seen. And The Comeback stars Lisa Kudrow (from Friends, which is actually a show i never watched) as Valerie Cherish. I don't want to confuse you because it's kind of complicated, but i've attached the trailer of the show. I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up... until next time, xoxo candice wiggins

Rehabilitated

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:08:31 -0500

"They tried to make me go to rehab but i said no, no, no yes i've been black but when i come back you'll know know know......" well not quite. that's not quite how it went for me. i actually gladly am going to rehab, but who can resist the hook of this amy winehouse song. how crazy is it that she can convince us all that going to a rehabilitation center for abusing a seriously harmful narcotic like crack cocaine is not only unnecessary but also absurd?! Crazy...maybe a reflection of our how unusual and twisted our society can be, but i think that's something to explore for a different day. see how random i can be?? this is a preview of whats to come! anyway, moving on....hello everyone! this is my first post for my blog and i am ultra excited! there is so much going on in my life right now, but for the first time in like 4 months i'm actually able to stay (for the most part) in one spot and its hard to believe that i've just completed my rookie season for the minnesota lynx! first and foremost i want to thank ALL of you guys out there that have supported me through my college and now pro career!! with the final four and the quick transition to the WNBA i feel like i've accomplished life long dreams in a matter of a couple of months and i can truly say that this whole experience has been the biggest blessing i could ever imagine. the video that i've attached summarizes the year i've had, and it's been literally a dream come true to accomplish all that i have in such a short time. "i'm sorry america...." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vfmyHV4sFA ok let me just take a brief second to address the infamous "i'm sorry america" line that garnered all this attention. so i'm getting interviewed, and first of all they pulled me right after the horn blew so i don't even think i was realizing that we won the game and were in fact going to tampa bay to compete in the final four until mid interview. and then all of a sudden it hits me and all i want to do is start crying because i am so astonished and overcome with bewilderment that i don't even know what to say! lol, then i start thinking to myself "candice what are you doing? people are at home laughing at you right now because you look like a big baby", which is when i rationalized in my head to apologize to the viewers at home watching this ridiculousness. and of course i address the viewers as "america" that way i cover everyone. now i look back and see that i was thinking way too much, but i'm really glad that people got to see my raw passion for accomplishing a goal that took 4 years to achieve. there's so much more to discuss...i don't even know where to start. i have plenty of topics so please stay tuned!! coming up are intricate discussion about the white stripe's new album, dr. dre and the state of west coast hip hop, the new jay-z song, gossip girl and project runway, and my all time favorite jean-makers Miss Sixty.....until then, xoxo candice wiggins