shabbygeek

new digs. again.

2010-04-27T22:47:00.000-05:00

Check it: shabbygeek.tumblr.com

the south.

2009-12-14T22:51:00.007-06:00

A few images of the South.

The old milk barn at the grandparents-in-law's.

Outside an old antique shop up the road from the house.

Grandfather-in-law, David Gier. Picked from the garden behind the house.

i'm lonely too.

2009-04-30T23:52:00.005-05:00

Two more days til Hubs gets back. I'm house/dogsitting for friends and this poor little pathetic ball of fur is pretty mopey, too, as his owners are out at the same conference in Atlanta. Here are a couple of shots I got of André following me around the house. I must be the most boring dogsitter in all the land.

I hope I don't look this pathetic when Kyle's out of town.

i only drink coke with chinese food.

2009-04-14T15:20:00.002-05:00

Just one pic from our most recent trip to The Farm. The photo's untouched. It's just one of over 400 of 'em. It was a marvelous weekend. More to come.

man o man.

2009-02-27T20:24:00.002-06:00

I should've called this blog "The Monthly Update." Then, the description would have read: "Check for the month-old commentary on life that's no longer relevant."

This is the part where I say I'm sorry.

I'm coming up with a clever little template, do you see? ;)

February started out with a bang. The house was filled with 20 close friends for a Super Bowl gathering to kick off the month. I think there was a lot of laughter, a lot of passing baby Emerie around, a lot of good food, and the Revenge of the Fallen trailer on TV. Yeah, those are my short, detailed memories of that night.

<"stream of consciousness">

February was a celebration of a lot of lives. Both of our brothers had birthdays this month, dear friends of ours had their first baby, we had baby showers, birthday parties, lots of cake, anniversaries, flowers, and a lot of gatherings. Oh, and there was Valentine's Day. And the start of a huge freelance contract that doesn't show any signs of stopping. (Except it ends in June, actually) My best friend got a job in Little Rock so I can see her once a week for lunch instead of seeing her once for a few hours on a Saturday every other month. My mom is now in Georgia temporarily caring for my nephew while my sister is on TDY so I can call her at the drop of a hat because the time difference is only an hour, not thirteen. I got in a car accident. I got a new computer. I had a mini-breakdown and took a personal day from work. I worked a lot this month. I had a Sunday off from volunteering at church, which was the first time I haven't spent 5 hours up there on a Sunday all year. My vacuum cleaner broke (I'm a neat freak and we still haven't replaced it). I've met some amazing, interesting, and funny new people. We helped some friends move to a new place. I learned a great deal about what real love is. I've had some major perspective changes.

All in all, it's been an amazing month.

And I'm really looking forward to the next one. ;)

<"/stream of consciousness">

i don't like bugs, either.

2009-01-26T22:19:00.003-06:00

Over the weekend I discovered another YouTuber, Natalie. She makes me laugh.

What's interesting about this video is that I am as equally psychotic about her irrational killer spider fear. Except I do that with all bugs. Ants, cockroaches, bees, you name it. I feel like if I squish one of those dreaded bugs, some super-secret bug signal is sent out (think a telepathic version of the Bat signal) and all of Squished Bug's homeboys will conspire to crawl into my nasal cavity in my sleep.

I should stop watching YouTube.

dance part deux.

2009-01-12T23:31:00.001-06:00

He's back. And he still makes me laugh.

happy 2009.

2009-01-10T21:20:00.004-06:00

Man, I can't believe the last post I wrote was over a month ago, and was merely celebrating another holiday. Now, here I am, welcoming in 2009 nearly a week late. I really don't need to keep up this practice.

Of course, I've been busy. And, like always, I'll provide you with a short-handed version of what I've been up to.

The family

It was a big ol' family reunion with my nuclear family for Christmas 2008, and it was 8 days of glorious family time. Mom, dad, and brother flew in from Japan, and sister and nephew came in from Georgia. I don't know about you, but I absolutely love my family. Sure, we're all weird and annoying in our own respect, but we get along just fine and the laughter never stops when we're together. We drove around and looked at Christmas lights, played Guess Who & poker, watched movies, cooked fabulous meals, and shopped.

The gifts

Christmas also brought a barrage of AMAZING gifts. It was a year of huge blessings, with our two gifts of an entire brand new dining room set and a digital SLR. We were speechless, seriously.

The house

With family coming into town, the husband decided he wanted to really get cracking at remodeling the house again. We worked on the house for 3-4 weeks before family came. Painted the bathroom an entirely different color, changed hardware, re-mudded walls, it was like a short, intense version of remodeling the house when we first bought it.

New Year's

New year's was pretty basic. We went to a friend's house and hung out with his girlfriend and family, then went to the in-laws and played games and hung out with their friends, and then came home around 11:30 to ring in 2009, just the two of us. We had fun. =)

The friends/work/birthday

It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster this week, with one dear friend leaving permanently for the west coast, celebrating a birthday and having a slammed week at work. The birthday started off with a wake-up call from Ma, followed by a call from a girlfriend, and work took me out for lunch. I had been craving a turkey sandwich from a local Mom & Pop place, and we had a good work lunch together. I even got a sweet, sweet recording of birthday wishes from a special someone overseas e-mailed to me! =)

Bub surprised me with a birthday dinner at PF Chang's with all of our closest friends, my best friend, and the in-laws. It was a genuine surprise and I grinned from ear to ear the entire night. Then went out shopping, which I hardly ever do, and I got some new shirts & a dress. Yes, even a dress.

This isn't the normal writing style for me, I know, and I'm leaving a lot of information out, but I think I've glazed over the meaty parts of the last month. Today's been pretty slammed as well, and I'm about to pass out on my keyboard.

After I eat an oreo truffle, though. ;)

it's christmastime.

2008-12-09T18:30:00.003-06:00

I don't know about you, but I love Christmas music. I LOVE IT. I have a Christmas playlist on my iPod in the car, I listen at work (when I can) on the computer, I randomly sing it just to annoy my coworkers/husband/random people at Target.

So I thought I'd share some songs that I just so happen to LOVE during Christmastime.

Mariah Carey: "All I Want For Christmas is You"

Britney Spears: "My Only Wish (This Year)

Various: "Baby It's Cold Outside"

Various: "Santa Baby"

Josh Groban & Brian McKnight: "Angels We Have Heard on High"

Also, I found Gap's "Merry Mixed Carols" pretty entertaining this year, as well. Jon Heder dancing makes me laugh.

ice + skating.

2008-12-07T17:11:00.008-06:00

We didn't break any limbs last night. It took about 4 goes around the ice skating rink to feel as if I wouldn't fall flat on my face, though. =)

tweenagers, angst, and vampires, oh my!

2008-11-23T08:51:00.077-06:00

So I went and saw Twilight yesterday.

Okay, no, let me be more specific. I saw Twilight yesterday afternoon at a fairly decent showing time where I wasn't expecting there to be much of a line of crazy screaming teenagers at a moderately awesome theater with three girlfriends of mine who had previously read the first book of Stephenie Meyer's series. Two of us had our "I heart Vampires" shirts on, the other two were bundled up to endure the cold theater.

The line was decent -- we arrived at 12:15 and only had about 20 or so people in front of us also waiting for the 1:00 showing. There was a healthy mix of guys, girls, teenagers, moms, and boyfriends. Of course I had the bright idea to wear my high-heeled boots only to stand in line for 30 minutes. Smart move.

We shuffled in a bit later, and sat through some trailers. One trailer, might I add, almost scared the pee out of me. It was for the 2009 release The Unborn. Who puts a horror movie trailer in front of a movie whose audience consists of grannies and 8-year-olds watching? Sheesh. I almost had a stroke at one of the scenes and had to look away for the rest of it.

Right as the lights started to dim, one of the girlfriends squealed and said, "All right girls, this is the moment we've been waiting for!" and there were comparable squeals throughout the theater, closer to the front. I glanced at my friend on my left and she made a funny face.

Yes, what my friend had said was right, to a certain degree. My previous post revolving around the book-turned-movie claimed that I had my reservations about the film. And now looking back to that entry, I have to correct myself. When I wrote it, I was pretty disappointed that they were making this film. There are so many elements that involve the other senses besides sight and hearing that the novel deals well with. The translation to screen would be an abominable undertaking.

So while I sat in my seat as the movie was about the start, I can honestly say my expectations still remained pretty low. I wasn't concerned that the movie would not live up to the expectations of its overall dedicated and wildly faithful fan base. The fact that Meyer felt good about the movie sealed that thought for me. These people who had poured over every word would be able to follow the movie easily and intensely, feel the chemistry between the two leads, and probably be able to recite the dialogue if it was pulled directly from the novel.

And for the most part, that was true. But this fan of Meyer's Twilight didn't walk away from the theater feeling wholly satisfied.

*spoilers ahead*

I should start from the beginning. If you have no earthly clue what Twilight is about, you've been living under a rock, so this link should help you with an accurate synopsis. I'm not sure what's going to cure the whole "living under a rock," thing though, so I can't help you there.

One of my biggest disappointments with the film has to do with its writing and pacing. The movie felt as though it was cramming way too much information into its 2 hour time slot and trying to please its fan base audience a little too much. In the book, it's internal dialogue, detail, detail, internal dialogue, dazzling Edward, detail, internal dialogue, detail, emo-ness, detail, and angst. (Yes, in that order) In the film, they jammed more of the "we need to get this in there to make people happy" plot points and sacrificed the progression of a natural story arc. An example of this was when I was completely let down with the "I don't want to be stuck here like Mom did!" line that Bella delivered when she was trying to leave Forks. All the internalizing in the book of her mom and dad's relationship history was summarized in one line in the film.

Before seating ourselves in the theater, I asked my girlfriends who I should sit by, because I knew I would be snickering at the really over-the-top ridiculous parts. I probably did this around 10 times throughout the film, which wasn't bad, and didn't get me shot, but here's a partial list of what made me stifle a laugh:

The first third of of the film's score
Okay, so I may not be hip to the game on film scores, but I know that it's not necessary to add lingering guitar riffs to fill awkward character moments. Luckily, they redeemed themselves with the last two thirds of the movie and it didn't make me want to stab knives into my ears.

Edward's facial expressions
I recently watched an interview where Robert Pattinson (who plays Edward) talks about his most difficult scene to shoot. It was the scene where he rescues Bella (in his mini hot rod Volvo, at that) from a group of thugs in the town of Port Angeles. He doesn't point a gun at them, he doesn't physically manhandle any of them, he just...pulls up and...glowers. Yes, he glowers. And in the film, he glowers badly.

When they hop into the car and peel away and he asks Bella to calm him down, he also has a wild expression on his face, which reads naturally in the book. On the screen, he looks like he's refraining from upchucking. That wasn't pretty, either.

The Bad Guy Vampires' entrance
Even as far back as the first trailers, I wasn't a fan of the way the vampires "floated." The execution was laughable, but I can't honestly tell you how I would've liked to pull it off if I were translating the book, either. In any regard, this opinion carried over to having to watch a full thirty seconds of it in the movie.

Charlie's moustache
I'd seen it several times before watching the movie, and don't worry, I laughed then, too.

Kristen Stewart's head-shaking
I really hesitate to say that Stewart actually acted in this film. I know I'm being judgmental, as I've only seen her in the critically acclaimed In the Land of Women, and she did the weird head-shaking then. I've also seen her in several interviews for Twilight, and I'm not quite sure if acting for this film was really natural, so natural that she didn't actually act...? Regardless, I thought she was going to go into a full-on seizure at any moment in the film.

The very non-threatening feline Cullen family pose in the baseball scene
As the Bad Guy vampires made their way onto the field at the end of this scene, I had expected a threatening stance, something scary, wicked, intimidating, from the Cullen side. It ended up the exact opposite -- it was very anti-climactic with not even a puny growl in sound editing. Or at least not big enough to make me notice. Sad.

Like I said, that's only a partial list. I'd be a hypocrite if I said I was secretly judging the "Woo!" girls in the theater, but I certainly had my well-restrained-internal "Woo!" girl moments. There are several moments that the film did just right. Here are all the things I managed to remember without writing any of them down (which is pretty impressive with my feeble brain):

The Kiss
They partially gave it away in the trailer, but it was sheer bliss on screen. It was a one-way ticket to TENSION CITY, folks.

The Meadow Scene
Although I had imagined a brighter, less green and more golden hue, the scene where Edward describes his strength and power in the meadow and flits around like the crazy vampire he is, was spot on.

When Bella Fell on Her Butt
That was just funny. I LOL'd.

The Cullen Family Uber Dramatical Entrance
Floaty, white, vampirical goodness. Even if Jasper looked like a crazy that should be an an asylum for about 99% of the movie.

Any Time Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) or James (Cam Gigandet) was on Screen

Vampire Baseball!!!!!
I know that it's not worth the $8.25 (or so) for a movie ticket, but if I could sell someone on watching this movie, it would be because of VAMPIRE BASEBALL. The music, the camera movements, the speeding up and slowing down in post, and the environmental thunder and crack of lightning made this scene my absolute favorite. I grinned like an idiot throughout and immediately wanted to rewatch it as soon as it was over. But I couldn't, and that also made me sad.

Yes, the movie had some hiccups, and besides the pacing, the other disappointment I had after leaving the theater was that the non-readers won't enjoy this movie. At all, sadly. As a fan of the book, the film did things better than it did worse, for sure. As a fan, I enjoyed it. I'm glad that I did read the book first, though. The sparkles turned out a lot better on paper.

i've been hiding.

2008-11-11T21:49:00.003-06:00

I'll be back soon. I promise. And not in the form of a scarecrow, either.

a visual follow-up.

2008-10-26T18:04:00.020-05:00

Only a week later, but pictures as promised. These are just a few -- the exciting ones I'm trying to hide from a certain someone, because I'm trying to get them framed. ;)

A special visitor.

They had some interesting conversation...
Kyle: Oh really? Battlestar Galactica, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Buffy, Blah Blah Blah?

Jen: Yeah, no kidding! Angel, The Office, Max Payne and Numb3rs!

After Starbucks we went to reserve this at GameStop. Hooray. (Not really)

The brothers at Foghorn's, home of some amazing wings. The older they get, the more alike they look.

The leaves are starting to turn on Fayetteville's campus. Beautiful.

There were a bunch of beautiful sculptures on campus, as well. This is one of them.

the apple "bean counter" ad.

2008-10-20T21:32:00.005-05:00

Wow. Are there really any words for this?

Well, actually, there are words, and they were said by Michael Arrington, my favorite technology blogger.

Suddenly, Apple looks a little elitist. I mean, they were elitist before, but in a way that made you want to be a part of the club. Now, they just seem a little snobby.

At the time, Arrington was referring to a new Apple ad in the NYT, nearly a month ago, but stated plainly that these ads simply aren't funny anymore.

Erick Schonfeld, also of TechCrunch, made some pretty valid points about the two new ads as well.

I'm still a happy Apple user, but I'm exasperated with the petty picking already. It's time for a new campaign.

3 years weekend: a play-by-play

2008-10-19T20:49:00.008-05:00

I'm not one to post exactly what I did in a day. In most posts, I'd rather waste my time constructing sentences that have to deal with hating Hello Kitty, talking about some bit of technology, work, or the something like that. But this weekend was so spectacularly awesome, I just thought I'd spread the love by sharing every little detail. Okay, I'll hold back...But just a little. ;)

Thursday evening

Kyle and I had already budgeted and planned for dropping some dough on a serious dinner. We decided on 1620 in West Little Rock. Everything was YUM. And yes, I explicitly use "YUM" as an adjective. We started out with the calamari (okay, which was only 50% YUM), I had braised short ribs, and Kyle had a 14 oz. steak. We even held out for a souffle for dessert - oh, so delicious. It was a weekend started off right, for sure.

Friday

Friday started out in a pretty interesting fashion. Kyle & I had planned on meeting Jen Abrams (of The Hydra Cooler Podcast and Fringe Dwellers Podcast), who was making a trip from Texas to Tennessee. We ended up meeting at a Starbucks near our house. For the most part, it was enjoyable conversation. Until they started to talk about sci fi and I completely tuned them out and started taking pictures with the camera. Pictures (with my own personalized captions) to follow in a post, soon. =)

After our chat with Jen, we headed to get both of our cars' oil changed. That meant me driving to the Toyota dealership where we purchased my Camry, and then we headed over to what I've always called the "Bad Karma Wal-Mart."

No joke. Every time I go into this Wal-Mart, I have a terrible experience. Someone has been shot at this Wal-Mart. Enough said, right? Luckily, this experience was painless. We picked up a few snacks for our road trip, and Kyle got his oil changed. Then a friend of ours picked us up and drove us to the GameStop nearby where they reserved their copies of GOW2. (I have pictures of this experience as well)

Then about an hour later, we headed up to Fayetteville.

Part of our anniversary weekend was an agreement between Kyle and I that I would attempt to catch up on the one billion episodes of Heroes that I still haven't watched. I sat content in the passengers' seat during the short 2.5 hour drive and watched a few episodes. Almost to season 3, folks!

Our hotel was modest and right off the interstate. It was the only hotel in the city with a whirlpool tub, or at least it was the only one I could find after 20 minutes of searching on the internet. We dropped off our luggage, and decided to eat simple and familiar - at a P.F. Chang's in Rogers. Calamari, honey chicken, and wok-seared beef. YUM.

We shopped at a few places before watching the glorious and awesome film, Max Payne.

And by "glorious" and "awesome," I mean "sheer and utter poo." I appreciate Mark Wahlberg's acting chops (he's not hard on the eyes either), and I enjoy a video game action-filled flick, but it wasn't enough to carry me through the movie. I wasn't familiar with the game, so I'm curious to see how the film held up with the video game fans.

But, I have to poke fun at this film. I just have to. Every time I saw Mila Kunis, I almost laughed out loud. And Ludacris? And NELLY FURTADO? Okay, okay, I'll stop now.

Saturday

We lazily slept in until late morning, which was nice. It's nice to not have to worry about the 8 million things we normally have to do on any given Saturday. =)

We met up with Kyle's brother for lunch at a Foghorn's, a wing place that he recommended to us. I'm a wing fan, and they had 50 different sauces to choose from. 50! I settled with sweet lime and Jamaican jerk, Kyle had Oriental and Gold (mustard/barbecue). Sweet lime won. =)

Then we had a personal tour of the University of Arkansas campus. This was my first trip to Fayetteville (ever), and I was excited to see the stadium and campus. We parked and walked around for a bit. We took tons of pictures, walked, and took more pictures. The trees were turning, and the campus was absolutely beautiful. I had no perspective of how big the campus was -- I went to a university that sits on a pretty small-to-average-sized campus, but UofA is huge. And a lot more pretty than I thought it'd be.

After our tour of campus, we went to locally-famous Rick's Bakery to buy some petit fours and chocolate covered strawberries. I had a black and white cookie, which, in retrospect, I should have bought a dozen more of. And yes, you guessed it, they were YUM.

After parting with Tyler, we headed out to another mall (I think NWA mall?) and bought a bunch of new clothes for Kyle. It's nice that I can dress him up now and then. I was proud of him -- he very patient with me as I picked stuff out and rejected stuff and couldn't make up my mind about sweaters and shirts, etc etc etc. =)

After our shopping success, we drove around for a little while, then headed back to the hotel for a short nap. Or what we thought would be a short nap. We were supposed to be at a show on Dickson street (Needtobreathe/Gavin DeGraw) at 7:30. We fell asleep around 5 and didn't wake up until 7, so dinner was out of the question.

The concert was probably the worst experience (for both of us) of the weekend. I'm a live music fan, and Kyle is not, unless the venue includes such headliners as Michael Buble or...Michael Buble. We ended up standing and waiting for a total of 3 hours, only to hear 1 hour of music. Needtobreathe was awesome, but I can't say as much for Gavin DeGraw, unfortunately.

Sunday

Today wasn't quite as lively. We had another late night/morning, so we had lunch as soon as we checked out of the hotel under the advice of Tyler once again -- at Slim's Chicken. They had some amazing chicken tenders, with an awesome Slim's mayonaisse-based sauce. Oh yes, and seasoned fries, and sweet tea please.

We got back to Little Rock early evening and took care of some chores around the house -- yard work, steam cleaning the carpet, unpacking, sweeping, you name it. It was a good productive end to a relaxing, but filling weekend.

The entire time, I kept staring at Kyle and thinking how much it meant to me that we were together, married for 3 years. It's still exciting. He still makes my heart flutter. He still makes me smile, and he still makes me laugh until it hurts. It was nice to hold hands and walk and talk together, just the two of us. It wasn't even as though we were just a 2.5 hour drive away. We were in our own little world that we were discovering, and the only people that mattered were us and each other.

Okay, my mush break is over. You know those silly surveys people forward to each other, and you fill them out just to pass the time? I haven't done one in...years, but thought it'd be a nice re-cap of our trip before I call it a night. =)

"3 years anniversary trip to Fayetteville"

Music listened to: Jennifer Hudson, Needtobreathe, Kina Grannis, Gavin DeGraw, Leona Lewis, Robbie Seay Band, Vampire Weekend

Snacks consumed: Me -- Cheetos, dried mangoes; Kyle -- sour patch kids, dried mangoes

Media consumed: Heroes, Fringe, House, Gossip Girl, Life

Favorite Meal: 1620

New Favorite Smell: Black Amethyst bubble bath from Bath & Body

Wish I Could've Spent a Ton of Money at: Any clothing store Kyle would let me enter, and Sephora =)

Favorite anniversary gift: Kyle's personalized shirt he bought for me online -- pictures in my next post =)

Favorite new snack: Cheetos Puffcorn

Biggest waste of time: Me -- Max Payne, Kyle -- Waiting for Needtobreathe/Gavin DeGraw

Favorite picture: Kyle and I sitting on the stairs of Old Main on the UofA campus

Okay, time for sleepy. Can't wait to edit these pictures and get them posted! =)

disturbia.

2008-10-12T16:48:00.002-05:00

When Rihanna's "Disturbia" music video debuted, a friend tried to show it to me but I made her shut it off because it freaked me out.

But Kina Grannis's cover is totally do-able. =)

the thing about freelancers...

2008-10-12T15:51:00.004-05:00

As mentioned in a previous post, we had 4 shoots last week, which wrapped up yesterday afternoon around 5PM. Needless to say, today was definitely a day of rest and relaxation (read: I slept from midnight until 10AM).

On our bigger-budget shoots, we have the luxury of hiring out freelancers in our market, which I always enjoy. On our shoot on Friday I had the pleasure of meeting two new guys. One works frequently with the bigger production companies in town, and the other was fairly new to the field, but still a hard worker. He reminded me of a more scruffier and scared-looking Ryan Eggold from 90210.

And then there were the other two freelancers who we've hired out for every bigger budget shoot -- Bob & Amy, whom I love. It's neat working with a husband and wife team who simply get each other and work together flawlessly. Bob is a quiet, easy-going guy and Amy is his much more energetic counterpart who is great at rounding up crowds, directing, and is constantly on her toes.

The thing I like about freelancers is that they show you a different perspective to your normal flow of things. Last week marked my 2-year anniversary with my current job, and I've gotten very used to the way things work within our company. It's nice to have a different and unexpected perspective on how to set up a shot, how to light a scene, when and why to move schedules around. It's nice, fresh, and it keeps me grounded and constantly learning.

Tidbits from all 4 shoots:

1) One of our testimonials from our shoot yesterday was an 8-year-old named Diamond. For real. I met a girl named Diamond.

2) I noticed one of our new freelancer friends wore grip gloves with everything he did. I don't think he ever took them off.

3) Our talent from our shoot on Wednesday sliced his arm open on a desk he was standing at. Okay, he didn't really slice it open, nor was he bleeding profusely, but it was funny because he had hardly even noticed it.

4) There's no point in slating if you don't slate after every cut. I'm still trying to get my boss to understand this. You can't "half-way" slate your shots.

5) Shotgun Dan's doesn't accept AMEX. Neither does Community Bakery. These two facts proved to be very cumbersome this week.

6) A 2007 Camry's inflated birthday balloon capacity teeters at 13-15 balloons. Just in case you were wondering.

groooaaaan. she has an album.

2008-10-11T23:23:00.004-05:00

This is the first time I've ever posted on this blog about my deep distaste for Hello Kitty, but I was browsing iTunes today and happened upon this monstrosity of an album that was released recently.

There are only a few things that I actually hate on, to be honest. But these are for good reason: roaches (they're gross), boiled cauliflower (also gross), and Maggie Gyllenhaal's smirk of a smile. You know, shallow things of that nature.

However, as far as Hello Kitty goes, she's been on my bad list ever since my elementary school days. Shopping at the Sanrio store in Hawaii was a rare treat, but I remember clearly how my beloved Pochacco was slowly being replaced by his cuddly kitten counterpart.

My middle school years were no better, especially when we moved to Japan. She was everywhere. Her face was plastered on vaccuum cleaners, coffee makers, trains...

And now she's got her own album. Heaven help us. Is no method of marketing safe?

random check-in.

2008-10-09T20:46:00.007-05:00

It's been an interesting past several days. Work has me really crazy busy, among other things. Or maybe just crazy. I think I'm going to write in short blurbs tonight. Ooh, I think I'll throw in some bolded headlines for good measure.

Check Off The Lazy List

Paid Bub's car tax. Hooray! (finally paid it) Boo! (I don't like taxes)

Work, Work, Work

4 big shoots this week. Not one, which is manageable, but 4.

Musings

I've been letting go of the little things lately. The impact of little things can morph into a big ol' waste of time when you let it, I realize.

Bub has been making me laugh more and more lately.

I want to start writing music. This might be a little overkill for me, though. (looks over at untouched ukulele)

New Habits

Bub and I have been on a jalapeno chips kick. Those within a ten foot radius are disapproving.

Purchases

I got a Skype wifi phone. I like it. It even works better than my getting-crappier-by-the-day cell phone. And I bought it used for $15. Score.

I also like to purchase things on clearance from Target. I bought a pair of cute pink sleep shorts with hearts all over for $3.50. Double score.

Wait, triple score for hearts.

real life mario kart.

2008-10-01T21:15:00.009-05:00

Last week, three pairs of hard-working hands put their blood, sweat, and tears into a real life Mario Kart for a derby race.

The following pictures document the fruits of their labor.

The star would have been better, if I hadn't been so high off of spray paint.

It wouldn't be complete without Bob-Ombs, right?

It's also important to note that Kyle and Joey stuck a stereo in the car with the driver and blasted the Super Mario theme song (NES) as the kids rolled out with the kart. Nice.

eagle eye: alternate taglines

2008-09-29T08:38:00.008-05:00

Just so we're clear, Eagle Eye's official taglines are:

Walk. Don't Run. and If you want to live you will obey.

Just thought I'd throw that out there. After watching it at the IMAX last night, I came up with a few new ones. These are spoilerish. Read at your own will.

Eagle Eye: Because no one should EVER wrong a divorced mom.

Eagle Eye: Because one movie with exploding 18 wheelers is never enough for Shia Labeouf.

Eagle Eye: Where you can watch Rosario Dawson play a white woman.

Eagle Eye: Who knew playing a trumpet could be so dangerous?

Eagle Eye: For those curious about what it would be like to ride on a conveyor belt in a packing facility.

Eagle Eye: Where police car chases and continuity don't necessarily need to collide.

Eagle Eye: Where 51% confirmation does NOT make it right.

a blurb about the g1.

2008-09-23T22:05:00.014-05:00

I've been waiting all year for the release of the first Android phone, and today, I was presented with T-Mobile's G1.

I'll keep this to "blurb" minimum, but after watching a few videos on the web, and reading some reviews, I'm pretty satisfied with this first generation model.

Some notes:

1) It certainly looks like a first generation model. Mostly made of plastic, it definitely looks cheap compared to the iPhone. Let's just be honest, the iPhone is pretty darn...pretty.

2) The G1's response time is faster than iPhone's when it's flipped to landscape or portrait mode.

3) Open source. Need I say more?

4) I'm still not a fan of that chunk on the bottom of the handset, but I understand why it's there.

5) Push is blazin' fast.

6) I'm a Google girl. I use the Apps. Yeah, ALL of them. Maps, Gmail, GCal, YT, you name it. So, no signing up for new accounts here. But it's a perk, not a necessity.

7) QWERTY. This is basically my biggest gripe about the iPhone. And a dedicated search button? Yes, please.

8) The OS has every opportunity to morph, update, change, shift, and evolve into what its consumers want it to be, and what its hardware is capable of. I like the sound of that.

Okay, still trying to keep this all to a blurb...But what makes me excited more than anything else about Android phones is that it adds more options to the buffet of a cell phone consumer's diet. Apple caters well to its loyal fanboys, but it's still having some trouble winning over another audience -- which I'm a part of. What's cool about the G1 is that it's just that -- the first generation of an upcoming slew of Android phones from multiple carriers. I'm ready for a real cell phone war to begin, folks.

online friends < real life friends.

2008-09-21T21:33:00.077-05:00

"Relationships" is one of those highly sensitive soapbox issues for me. There are people who can talk for days about global warming, technology trends, politics, and childhood obesity. I'm not one of those people. There are actually only a few topics that I will talk about extensively without pausing for a comedic break. I'm one of those types of people who doesn't like things to get too serious, but there are subjects that certainly lend themselves to require a different tone.

First things first.

I'm not an expert, nor am I self-proclaimed relationships expert. I'm not a psychologist, psychotherapist, counselor, or human behavior specialist. I'm actually a bit of an ordinary Jane, who, believe or not, has had some pretty screwed up relationships in her past. Friends, boyfriends, colleagues, you name it. But, like most human beings, I've learned (some of) the error of my ways. Every relationship that has taken hold in my life has obviously been purposed to do so, and I regret none of them.

You see, even though I don't often admit it, I lean toward being a people person. I like to ask questions. I like to get to know people quickly - their favorites, dislikes, hobbies, and like. I like to find out what makes them tick. This is probably 90% of the reason why when I was in college I was pretty convinced that I wanted to be a reporter. Thank goodness this never came to fruition, because I'd probably be fired after my first day when my producer learned I took 5 hours to finish an interview.

Which is what brings me to the title of this particular post.

It may seem to be a no-brainer that real life friendships trump online friendships. But, truth be told, this might actually have been a no-brainer thought from someone from 1998, not 2008.

With today's social networking sites, it's far easier to friend someone on Facebook and MySpace, and keep up via wall posts, tags, messages, photos, and status updates. It's easier to drop a "hey how's it going?" line to someone you've already established a relationship with, and still claim that as a relationship. Face it (no pun intended), it's just easier. We can manipulate these social networking sites to play as an extension of our real world relationships. Here, the tool is simply doing its job. Use a social networking site with friends you already know, and voila, you stay in the know. Instant "sort-of" relationship.

So there's one type: Previous face-to-face shallow relationships that blossom into look-but-don't-touch relationships that are basically confined to social networking sites.

Secondly, take for example a relationship that was all created via the World Wide Web. Let's say it was birthed from a tweet, a Skype call, or a comment on a blog. Next thing you know, you're having daily chats via IM. And then video convos. You're e-mailing back and forth. Your friend seems to be the coolest person you know. They quote your favorite movies, know your favorite songs, and know that you call your cat "The Devil" when she's thrown up in your shoes. For the seventieth time. So here's your second type: the online "buddy." No explanation needed.

Thirdly, is your real life friend. Sure, the first two types all involve relationships with real, living, breathing beings who walk on two legs (in most cases). But this third relationship involves human contact. It involves hugs. Eye contact. Hearing laughter in real time -- it doesn't involve a delay of streaming over the internet or being bounced from a satellite orbiting the earth and back down to your cell phone.

There are problems with all relationships, of course, because it involves one person on both ends. But when these problems arise in online relationships...I'd believe that problems can only lend themselves to be on the extreme right or left of a given situation. If things get ugly -- that's it. I don't have to call, I don't have to e-mail, I don't have to IM you. Check "block user" under privacy settings right? It's a lot easier to brush someone off and render their friendship useless. The entire give-and-take process of real life friendships have little to hold on to in the online world.

What was once just a comment on a blog, a simple Skype call, or a tweet, has been reduced to just that, yet again. This is where the issues often found in a real life relationships don't play fair with the rules of a broadband connection. If I was friends with Colette and met her for coffee every week, I can't just stop meeting her for coffee. If I discontinue seeing her, she'll know something's up, and not just think I've gotten busy with work or school or kids. She's seen me vulnerable. She knows more about me than my favorite line from my favorite movie. She's seen the good and the bad. It's a bit harder to disguise your personal issues in a conversation when you can't use a backspace to erase what you didn't mean to say.

I've gotten a bit touchy-feely over the years, I know. And I simply can't shake the human, relational part of me that wants to see, hear, and touch everyone I meet online. (I'm really hoping that didn't come out really creepy) Meeting someone via IM is not the same as holding their hand in a firm handshake and trying to hold their gaze at the same time.

This is why real life friends will always trump online friends. Don't get me wrong, social networks have proven to provide a pretty strong web of friendships. I've literally seen what Flickr friendships mean to people, and hear what podcasting friendships can do. It's networking on a different level, but I'm not sure if it holds a candle to a friendship with someone who has no care whether you're a fine photographer or that you watch their favorite TV show. And if an online relationship blossoms into a real life one, even better. It's the human contact that makes all the difference.

It's been said that tone can't always be deciphered in an IM box. And it's totally true. Neither should a friendship be confined to a protocol stack.

oh, for the love of sam cooke.

2008-09-19T10:29:00.002-05:00

I've been binging on Sam Cooke's music lately. I'm about to OD, honestly.

So I thought I'd spread the love. Or crippling obsession, however way you want to spin it.

attack of the screen grabs.

2008-09-06T23:39:00.013-05:00

Baby Phat Barbie--err, Kimora Lee Simmons Gold Label Barbie Doll

(Via SeenON! Style)
Someone really needs to take away Kimora Lee's right to have ideas.

Okay, honestly? If I were a 7-year-old and was given this for my birthday, I would cry after finding out that Kimora Lee Barbie's coat was made out of my pet chinchilla's fur. Oh, Mattell, give me a break.

Inspiron Mini 9

I've been known to compulsively scream, "I want that!" at shiny electronic objects, and this little number made me shriek when I saw it.

(Via Dell)
Specs: 2.28 lbs, 8.9" glossy screen, 1024x600, BT, Wi-Fi, modest SSD, webcam, $350-450. It does simple, sleek, and small quite nicely. It gets the Net job done. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. It comes in white or black - I'll take mine in white, please.

Chuck Taylor X-Hi Canvas

I got my first pair of Chucks for Christmas last year-- the classic black Chuck Taylor All Star. Everyone and their mom (except mine) has them. I've recently become enamored with boxing shoes (don't ask), and these are like the next best thing. This pattern doesn't exactly suit my fancy, but I can always design my own!

Honestly, I'd like to try boxing shoes out as a fashion statement but I'm afraid Bub wouldn't let me out of the house.

That, and I might get laughed at.

my friends make me laugh.

2008-09-03T22:39:00.006-05:00

I've noticed that depending on what social network you belong to, you'll find completely different ways people express themselves. On Facebook, you'll find people are always in the middle of doing something. Watching the DNC. Playing with their dog. Driving to Houston (while they probably shouldn't be texting at the same time). On Twitter, most posts are fairly witty or sarcastic. A quote of the day, a short, one-line movie review, a passive-aggressive smart aleck remark towards their coworker.

But for once, the funny stuff was restricted to my incoming text messages. Here I'll share my two favorite LOL moments of the day. =)

Back story #1: A friend of mine and her husband are expecting a child early next year, and she's found a handful of boys' names that she likes, but is having some difficulty coming up with girls' names. So I thought I'd help her out.

Me: "I'm watching America's Top Model. What do you think of Marjorie for a girl['s name]? Does that make you want to yak?"
Friend #1: "Marjorie does not make us want to yak, but it does make us want to butter our toast. :)"

Back story #2: Friend #2 works for a small agency that produces promotional material for the Air Force Base here.

Friend #2: "Hey, do you know anyone that has [Photoshop] CS3 for PC and Premiere for Mac?"
Me: "Nope. And CS4 is coming out later on this month."
Friend #2: "OMG. I AM STILL TRYING TO LEARN ALL THE FEATURES IN CS3."

The second one may not seem quite as funny, but I couldn't help but visualize my friend's blank stare, and equally interesting loud yell as she would say it. That, and for some reason every time I read the letters "OMG" I can't help but say "Oh emm gee" aloud to myself.

I love text messages. =)

i'm still alive. promise.

2008-09-01T21:40:00.018-05:00

It's pretty lame that there are a few of my posts that begin with: "So, I haven't posted in awhile..." or "Sorry it's taken so long" or "It's been a crazy 12 years, but..."

Aha, but I won't start this post off that way! =)

My mind's thoughts are quite sporadic this evening (it could be the meds), so hopefully numbering my thoughts will be helpful.

1) I had a dream about Catherine Hardwicke, who will be directing the novel-turned-movie Twilight, which debuts in late November. (I'm a fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga) In the dream, an old friend from college and I were in a giant mansion and I was grilling Hardwicke about why she chose to shoot the vampires "running" the way she did. I told her bluntly that I didn't agree with her technique. I then proceeded to tell her that I was a little wary that it would look hokey, but she continued to listen to me ramble on with pursed lips and inquisitive eyes. I felt embarrassed then, but she reassured me that she believes she did the film justice, and I gushed with excitement that it would be coming out in a few months.

I know exactly why I dreamed about Hardwicke. I was passing by Blockbuster yesterday afternoon and I considered stopping to rent Thirteen, a film that Hardwicke directed five years ago. I opted out since I had left my coupon at home, and apparently my mind wasn't going to let that one go easily.

2) I've been playing on the Wii Fit. I first played it a few months ago at a girlfriend's house, and then felt really silly that I hadn't pre-ordered it in the first place. I don't know, dropping $90 on something I wasn't sure if I'd like seemed pretty risky to me. But now that I've snagged one of my own, it's hard to tear it away from me. =)

3) I got a head cold last night and today was a lazy day of nothingness, sprinkled with a bit of sickly whining. My morning of laziness started out with rolling around in bed, being fed ice cream (it's a hard life, ain't it?), and then a sort-of marathon of Heroes season 2. I didn't watch any of last season, and now I'm playing catch up before the season 3 premiere. Then I played around with GarageBand in the office with my newly acquired (read: "stolen") M-Box and mic, watched way too many YouTube videos, cleaned the house a little bit, and watched Gossip Girl's season premiere with Bub. Oh, and before you pass any judgment, I have to say that GG is my guilty pleasure. Oh...so...guilty. =) I'm also looking forward to the series premiere of 90210, which would boost my CW-show-watching count up to a whopping "2".

4) Speaking of TV shows, there are a few shows that I'll be watching this fall, thanks to Hulu and "other avenues of entertainment acquiring." These include, but are not limited to:

Regulars
The Office
House, M.D.
The Big Bang Theory
Scrubs
Heroes
Grey's Anatomy
30 Rock
Chuck
Gossip Girl

Newbies I want to check out
Fringe
Kath and Kim
90210

I'm sure if I had children, I'd be declared an unfit mother.

5) My poor cell phone is on its way out the door, as well. After charging my phone at night, the phone turns itself off. My battery dips down to 2 bars (out of 4) after a 30 minute conversation. Ugh...If you know my taste in cell phones, I like to hold on to my phone until I absolutely MUST get a new one. It takes forever for me to come up with a decision on a make/model, and it was no different with my current LG CU500. I do know for sure that I want my next cell phone to be a smart phone. That could be a Blackberry, Palm, iPhone, or whatever Android-based phone, if any, AT&T decides to roll out. I'm keeping my eyes peeled and ears open and I'm praying my phone doesn't crap out completely in the meantime.

6) Someone close to us has started seeing someone. I won't go much into details, but it's very different, and very new. I was both excited and nervous to meet her this weekend, but now I know why he likes her as much as he does. =)

7) I'm getting more and more excited as Christmas draws near. I can't wait to see my family again.

8) Work has been a handful. We need to hire another editor, ASAP. I don't want to rip my hair out. End of story.

9) I need a new book to read, and I think that book is "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. Since our slew of restaurant shoots, I'm considering this a must-read. I've also learned that professional chefs have quite the interesting personalities. One particular local chef that I have in mind flashed me a dazzling smile one moment, then fired off a bunch of expletives shortly thereafter in the same 30 seconds.

10) A few songs I'm crushing on: "Energy," (Keri Hilson), "Crush" (David Archuleta), a cover of "Umbrella" (YouTuber Brad Doggett), and a cover of "Let Go" (YouTuber Kina Grannis).

11) I also have a few upcoming posts that I've pre-selected topics for, that I promise to kick out sooner or later:

Why I'm Hoping Twilight Won't Completely Suck
Social Networking? Don't You Mean, "Me, Me, Me"?
Confessions of a Chronic Creative

12) Link spam: I've also been watching That Media Show, a video podcast headed up by John Flowers. I love what this show is about, and I've been surprised to find that I am interested in every story in every cut. A little bit of Hollywood fluff, a little bit of compositing news, a little bit of RED details, all in the same show? Score.

Okay, I'm off to the Land of the Unconscious. The rambling had to stop at some point, right?

little green guy.

2008-08-17T20:33:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I ran out to return a few movies, and to my dismay it turned out I had forgotten to put one back in its case. After a lot of grumbling I headed back to the house and hopped up the stairs of my front porch only to by stopped in my tracks by this little guy:

Needless to say, I wasn't grumbling any more after that. =)

so you think you can dance finale.

2008-08-17T16:16:00.016-05:00

(Spoilers below if you're a fan of SYTYCD)

Sigh. I just watched the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance. The finale aired 10 days ago, but I'm just now getting around to watching it. Yes, some events actually got between me and viewing the eye candy that is the fabulous talent and amazing choreography on that show.

So if you didn't know it, Joshua Allen won. I have to admit, if Katee or Josh didn't win, I'd be pretty disappointed. Throughout the entire season, they never hit the bottom three. Never had to dance for their lives. Never left me not squealing with sheer delight after watching any routine they were in.

This by far was probably my favorite season finale of all three seasons I've watched of SYTYCD. I'm probably the most emotionally attached to season 2, but there were so many fun elements in this show that this simply beats the rest of 'em. Nigel Lythgoe tap dancing with kids from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, seeing some of my favorite dancers from past seasons dancing on stage, watching Mary in her fire engine red dress do the samba across the stage with Dmitri...droooool. Have I mentioned I like Latin dancing? ;)

The choreography from this season also outshines the other seasons, and I've definitely enjoyed how the show added new genres of dancing.

I really don't know what I'm going to do to fill my dancing-watching void. =)

Below are my top 5 favorite routines from this season. How long is it until next spring? Maaaaan.

#5

#4

#3

#2

#1

a good rma is so hard to come by...

2008-08-12T08:35:00.013-05:00

At least, that's what I always thought. Until just about a week ago.

As the Orderer of Boring Office Supplies and Mildly-Fun Equipment of my company, I'm used to having to scour the internet for deals. It's my job to say "I'd never pay that much for an LCD monitor" or "You should use this website because at least their customer service speaks your native language." It's something I do on a fairly regular basis, and thus far I've had no qualms about it.

Scratch that. I normally don't have qualms about it -- until I screw up.

I had to order a few hundred blank, printable, CD-Rs for a client for a larger-than-usual dub job the other day, and accidentally ordered the wrong type. What I needed were inket printable CD-Rs, not thermal printable CD-Rs. It seemed to be both a simple and careless mistake, but regardless, it put me in a predicament because a) I had a deadline to meet, and 600 CDs to dub, and b) I knew it was going to be a chore trying to find that type of media in-town on a day-to-day basis.

I managed to snag a few hundred from a couple of different retailers, and then realized I still had problem C to deal with: How was I going to return all of those unused CDs? Could I?

The website that I ordered from was a trusted one, Newegg.com. If you haven't heard of Newegg and you're a tech geek, I would like to think you're simply a figment of someone's imagination. From their about us site, Newegg is "an online e-commerce company offering more than 25,000 computer hardware and software, consumer electronics and communications products in stock at competitive prices and ready to ship at lightning-speed."

I've ordered blank media from them before, but never this type, so I was a little wary. As a consumable item, I was 100% sure the 6th cakebox that I'd opened would be nonreturnable. I'd have to obtain an RMA for the 5 others, which can be a lengthy process (I'd done these before). The whole idea was slightly nauseating, since at the time I was dreading running around town, and trying to box up these items to ship them back. I also was aware that Newegg charged 15% for a restocking fee (quite common for online retailers and big box stores).

After reading further into Newegg's return policy, I found out that I could talk with someone online to obtain the RMA. I hesitantly fired up the chatbox, and in a few minutes I was chatting with someone by the handle of "Dicie." I wasn't sure if Dicie was male or female (or robot for that matter), but he/she/it seemed pleasant enough.

But after explaining my screw-up of ordering the wrong type of blank media, Dicie types: "Please kindly note that this item is non-refundable."

My heart dropped a little after that.

Then: "However as they are unopened, we will make an exception to issue the refund."

I bounced a little in my seat out of sheer joy.

Immediately after: "We will also honor the opened one as a one time exception."

After I fired off several exclamations and a flurry of questions, Dicie created an RMA number for me, and within minutes I had a new invoice in my inbox. There would be no restocking fee, Newegg would accept and honor the 6th cakebox with the two ruined CDs, and the only fee we would incur would be shipping.

I understand that everyone needs a break every once in awhile, but I by no means ever expect one. But a little blessing like that definitely went a long way for me. I wanted to review their customer service and give them 5 stars in any way I could. Dicie explained that there was a rating site that Newegg used, so I quickly logged in to the site and gave a concise re-telling of my Experience with the Seemingly Non-Returnable CD-Rs.

Today, I received another e-mail with a new invoice - my shipment had been received and Newegg was refunding our cost of the CD-Rs. And for reviewing their customer service on the ratings site, I also have a free T-shirt coming my way.

I love Newegg. =)

the thing about shooting in restaurants...

2008-08-11T19:28:00.007-05:00

I can't pass up free food. I simply just can't. I'm sure it has something to do with the intricate, delicate way that I'm hardwired -- that immediately turns me into a heifer.

"What? You're telling me that this steak would go to waste? I can't let that happen!"

The past two weeks have brought a few evening shoots of local restaurants into my professional schedule. And while it's never expected, it always happens: a few beautiful platters are left uneaten and dangerously exposed to the ultimate predator of free food -- me.

But I think today was a little bit more than I had bargained for. Steak, calamari, dessert shots, grilled panini, seasoned fries, Chilean sea bass?

My kids are going to be so fat.

just a few weeks on the treadmill...

2008-08-07T18:16:00.002-05:00

And they had to go and invent THIS stupid thing.

Baby steps...baby steps.

random mini-feed.

2008-08-05T23:20:00.008-05:00

Practice makes...better?
For the past 4 1/2 weeks, I've stuck to a new, but pretty basic exercise regimen. That being said, I'm happy announce that it's getting easier to refrain from passing out after 10 minutes on the treadmill. This is pretty exciting.

Hi-ho, hi-ho
Work has been pretty decent, but I've been convinced that one of my clients is out to get me. This particular client (I'll call him/her "Bob") has the same faults that a lot of demanding, impatient people have: every time Bob needs something, it has to be right then. Right now. Five minutes ago! It's a little unnerving, to be honest. For a few months we won't hear from this client, not a peep, but it's like trying to brace yourself for WWIII whenever Bob enters the picture again and things are in full swing.

The heat...oh, this heat.
My poor air conditioner at home has been working overtime. It's a struggle just to walk out to my car during lunchtime, with this wretched, wretched heat. I miss being able to drive to work with my windows down when it's not 83 degrees at 7:45AM. I miss being able to wear sunglasses because I liked to, not because I had to. I miss....not sweating.

Reading machine
And ahhh, yes, finally, I've finished the last book of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. Finishing up this last book left me with a big ol' smile on my face. But no spoilers here. I'll be posting more on that soon.

/mini-feed.

more font fanaticism.

2008-08-03T19:18:00.003-05:00

I've never used the font Trajan in design, and always pondered what I'd use it for...but now I don't want to. Ever.

via goodiebag.tv. I've just discovered Kirby Ferguson. He's pretty funny.

i fell in love with the dj.

2008-07-30T22:58:00.003-05:00

Okay, not really. But I've fallen ridiculously in love with this all-too-catchy, poppy, head-bopping song. Stupid So You Think You Can Dance and your hot and sexy samba dancing. This is all your fault.

everyone needs a vacation.

2008-07-29T19:07:00.013-05:00

It doesn't matter how old or young you are. It doesn't matter if you sell vacation packages for a living. It doesn't matter how happy or miserable your job makes you, but it's always nice to go somewhere new and I firmly believe that everyone needs to go out and get some fresh air.

I had the chance to go with a couple of girlfriends to the partially-sunny city of Gulf Shores this weekend. It was a serene 8-hour drive through 3 states - wait, scratch that, did I say serene? I meant boring. I meant 8 hours of corn fields, soybean farms, plains, and a few small country towns. And then, finally, the beach.

Gulf Shores was a bit larger and more populated with vacationers than I expected. Up until I moved to Arkansas, I'd grown up surrounded by an ocean for 75% of my life. I didn't recognize this kind of beach. Gulf Shores' air didn't smell quite as salty as the Pacific Ocean, but it brought back fond memories of having the beach as my backyard in Hawaii as a teenager or floating on an inner tube as a young girl the Philippines.

We stayed in a rather humble hotel which only had 5 floors. We sat on the beach, I read, I stuck my toes in the sand and waded in the water, I ate shrimp (my favorite type of shellfish), splashed around in the hotel pool, shopped, and walked about. It was a good vacation.

I brought along a video camcorder to document the trip, and only ended up shooting less than 10 minutes. Pretty sad. I brought along a digital SLR and only shot 75 photos, even sadder. I had every intention of capturing as much as I could with hopes that I could make a great photo book, slide show, and video, but I came up pretty short to my high expectations.

But I'm okay with that. I was on vacation.

*Edit*
I actually recorded 30 minutes of video whilst on vacation. But only because I accidentally left the camera on for 20 of those minutes. I have some exclusive documentation of my elbow, a leg, and the side of my book.

t-minus 3 days.

2008-07-23T21:18:00.027-05:00

I'm trying to come up with an adjective that I could use to describe this week's events. "Intense" seems too serious. "Fun" seems too lighthearted. "Challenging" seems imprecise. But, don't worry, I'd rather not pore over thesaurus.com all night. ;)

There are a lot of things I like to do for fun. These include, but are not limited to: eating Popsicles, playing on the Internet, and watching chick flicks. But as far as my day job goes, I'm a producer. This may mean very little to your average Joe, so as far as my career is concerned, I tend to keep details at a minimum. The lines blur in some areas, but are rigid in others. One day I could be invoicing, one day I could be writing, and another day I could be crawling around underneath a symphony stage trying to find a power outlet.

Right now I'm three days deep into a shoot that's proving to be a unique challenge. Mostly exterior shots. Children & animals as extras - this industry's most dreaded bane. It's a lovely high 90's. Nothing feels quite like "Insta-tan" than a shiny board reflecting an angry high-noon sun in your eyes and pushing a 20-degrees hotter wave of heat in your face.

We've been shooting in a town about half an hour away for a client (an agency) that is based in Hawaii. The creative work is awesome: the concept is simple, funny, and aloof. It has an air of "The Office" humor mixed with childlike curiosity. The concept: three different "Explorers" have just discovered this on-location city and find themselves popping up in interesting places and interacting with their environments in unusual ways. Sorry for the lack of detail - I'm bound to this description until the spots air in September.

We've had high points and low points. The low points were few: we had a screaming 5-year-old who was afraid of one of our actors' costumes, and in the middle of one take, we had a principal actor's suit tear a nice long 9-inch rip in the arm and back. The high points are great, and hopefully still ongoing. The diversity of our locations has been pretty fun. We shut down a busy intersection for a sweet dolly shot with tons of extras - that's a pretty cool feeling. We shot in a Hibachi joint, a creek, a bike trail, a performance hall, a lake...Another high point - Our client's client (the city, essentially) is one of the best group of people I've worked with in my short career. Cheery, smiley faces and accommodating attitudes are my favorite. =)

But the lowest point has to be the heat. It's bad enough that it's in the high 90's...What's even worse is that the nice brown tone of my skin loves to soak up the sun just that much more. Oh, and it never helps having black hair, either. I'll be lucky if I don't turn the same shade as my hair by the end of the week.

Speaking of which...

Ah, yes, the title of this post. T-minus 3 days and counting to my awesome, much-deserved vacation to Gulf Shores with some girlfriends. My body has been itchy to relax next to an ocean shore for the past month, and this Saturday afternoon will bring me sweet, sweet relief. Pictures will be taken, videos will be shot, and much fun will be had.

If only I can find time between now and then to get ready for it!

if fonts were people.

2008-07-22T21:48:00.002-05:00

I've been busy as of late, and I have oodles to talk about, but for some reason, the only thing I want to post is a link to this video.

I am such a font nerd.

That, and I've always wondered how to properly use Comic Sans. Answer = personify it in a parody video!

top ten hottest geeks?

2008-07-15T17:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I dugg the story anyway, because I thought that a few of the geeks on Shiny Shiny's list were cute, but come on.

The internet is far more vast than these guys, right???

youtube music & weekend shopping.

2008-07-12T22:10:00.009-05:00

I've found someone else on YouTube whose music has started to grow on me. And, even though I'm always months (sometimes years) behind on music, I figured I'd go ahead and spread the love while I was at it.

Her YouTube name is KokoKaina. (I think of Brendan Frasier in Bedazzled when I read her YouTube name aloud). Her voice reminds me a little of Norah Jones, and her songwriting is sweet and sincere.

I was browsing for a specific search term when I happened upon her, actually. I'll definitely be subscribing soon.

Also, in response to my previous post about the Twilight feature in the latest EW magazine...I opted to read the online version instead of picking up a hard copy like some crazy obsessed 14-year-old. I prefer to play the role of the cool, semi-obsessed twenty-something that I am, thankyouverymuch.

The article was decent, and I learned a few things I didn't already know...
But I wasn't a fan of the photo shoot. It was ultra-glamorized, super shmoozy, Bram-stokery and I suppose I'm being so cynical because come on, these are high school kids. Then again I can err on the side EW as it's their job to Photoshop everything to a pulp nowadays. I can see the art director now -- "He's not pale enough! Make him paler! And his eyes, make them more brooding!"

This weekend has been another big purchase weekend. A new piece of art for my kitchen. Two new bar stools. A new mirror for the bathroom. New vases. The chances of me purchasing anything out of explicit entertainment purposes are growing slim.

Read: I may have to pass my on-line designing of those super-fancy Chucks I've been dreaming up in my head.

Then again, there's always next weekend.

oh, sigh.

2008-07-09T20:58:00.003-05:00

For crying out loud. They're teasing me.

paint me in your sunshine.

2008-07-08T20:47:00.004-05:00

I'm one of those types who, once they find a song they like, play it over, and over...

And over and over again. You would never want me to be your radio DJ. Ever.

I recently came across Marie' Digby on YouTube, and have taken kindly to her music. She's a bit of Vanessa Carlton, a little bit of Ingrid Michaelson. I'm a sucker for sweet and charming music.

Below are the lyrics to Paint Me In Your Sunshine. It's that song I'm playing over, and over, and over again.

Paint Me In Your Sunshine

Paint me in your sunshine
Wake my sleepy eyes
Round me in your comfort
Stay with me for all of time

Reach your hand,
I'll follow
Darken clouds for your rays of hope

So paint me in your sunshine
Walk with me, stay by my side
Fill my head with stories
For love and war and glory

Reach your hand,
I'll follow
Light the path that will lead me home

Oh, oh, Home

One day the world will grow colder
Everything we've come to cherish crumbles
And only then will we turn back and remember your glow

Paint me in your sunshine
Leave the part of you behind
Tell me where I'll find you
And send me off to another day
Till we meet tomorrow

Reach your hand,
I'll follow
Hold me close till the day that I grow old

twilight.

2008-07-05T11:10:00.038-05:00

It's been an embarrassingly long time since I've posted, I know. I could go on all day about why: because of work, because of extracurriculars, because of projects at home, because of friends, but I won't. I'll just spare the details for now.

While this post will mostly be dedicated to its title, let me preface to say that this entry (not unlike most of them) will mostly be shaped by my own personal history and bias. Read: this is a personal post. You've been warned: it's going to be a doozy.

First, a little back story into my penchant for reading and writing.

I think it officially started when I was in the 4th grade. I'd enjoyed books up until then -- I was a part of the Book It! program, I volunteered in the library reading to first graders, so on and so forth. But it wasn't until I entered in the Young Author's Contest (I lived in Illinois back then) that I realized that I could actually enjoy writing. Young adult adventures were my favorite. There was excitement, newness, not a lot of internal dialogue, and it stirred my imagination. It reflected my personality at the time; I was easily curious about anything and everything I didn't know about. This included, but was not limited to, trying to find Big Foot tracks, analyzing baby birds, and breaking into vacant houses.

So there's the brief back story. I ended up getting an honorable mention that year for my short story, "The Bad Dream." And while I felt as though my brief, young writing spirit had been crushed, it didn't stop me from writing in the following year's contest. I won that year.

Fast forward several years, and you'd find yourself watching increasingly more and more frames of time spent writing -- my love for the adventure genre had evolved to now include romance, mystery, and sci-fi. I read a lot of the same stuff: X-Files, Dean Koontz, various trashy romance novels, Stephen King, Bruce Coville.

But during my sophomore year of high school, it all came to a halt. I simply wasn't interested any more, or my priorities had changed. I stopped reading, and the only writing I did consisted of poems or brief, inconsistent journaling.

Fast forward again to this week, where I picked up the book, Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. My first recommendation was from my friend, Lauren, who divulges in reading as a hobby. I was curious as to why she brought up this book, I knew she read, but she hardly ever recommended anything to me, so I decided to look into it. I realized later that while the book was new to her, that it was in fact, pretty old -- 3 years old. I also learned that it was going to be displayed later on the silver screen at the end of the year.

Three days ago, I decided it was time to pick up the book. I opted to buy it, instead of checking it out from a local library. I started that night, around 11:30PM, intending on reading it for half an hour until I got sleepy. But I stayed up until 1:30AM.

Then finished it within 24 hours.

I know, it sounds dramatic. To think that a nearly 500-page teen romance fiction novel could hold my attention for that long. For starters, I'm not the target demo. I'm simply not a vampire junkie (although I did enjoy the Buffy film). And I hadn't read a fiction novel in years.

I'll start with the basics, I guess. (There won't be any spoilers) The story revolves around Isabella "Bella" Swan, a new permanent transplant to the town of Forks, Washington, where she spent various summers with her father. Her parents had been divorced for years, and she decided to permanently relocate when her mother remarried and wanted to travel with her new husband. The 17-year-old Bella struggles to fit in at Forks High School, where she happens upon the Cullens, the family that purposely outcasts themselves from the rest of the high school. They're all different, they're beautiful, and they're vampires. She takes specifically to Edward Cullen, and the rest of the story revolves around their affair -- the internal and external pressures of the dangers that surround their relationship.

There are several reasons why I was fascinated with this book. To say "I loved it" simply wouldn't be enough. There are many poignant scenes throughout this book that drew me back to them as soon as my eyes skimmed over the last few words of the epilogue.

I'm a helpless romantic at best. My personality wouldn't allude you to believe it, but the handsome hero in this book made me melt into a puddle of goo. There, I said it. But it wasn't as though Meyer described him as "hot," "rippled," "cut," or "amazing." She used other words..."Beautiful." "Dazzling." We see through the eyes of Bella that he's enchanting, that his scent is breathtaking. And of course, that half smile, the crooked smile. Seriously, who uses words like this? And how is it that they have such an effect that they make me want to absorb each and every description?

I listened to the first episode of Three Chicks and a Mic's podcast after finishing Twilight and they mentioned that one of the things they disliked about Bella's character is that she doesn't stick up for herself, and is pretty much a pushover. While I do agree with them, I felt that every time this weakness was displayed with Edward, it made him all the more attractive and alluring. Today's heroine is strong, smart, beautiful, and unique. Bella is not. She's awkard. She trips over herself and likes to hide behind her hair. She's terrible at sports and hates playing in snow. For me, it made their relationship and connection all the more meaningful -- this dark romance that seemed kindled for all the wrong reasons made perfect sense.

It's not a sappy love story by any means. The back of the book describes this element well, a story of "secret love and hushed affection." But this is not to say that the book did without suspense. It holds romance and suspense in a pretty even and healthy ratio, which also kept me flipping pages. This could be the naivete talking, but the fantasy element of the Cullens abilities as vampires was epic for me. Okay, epic might be too strong of a word, but it certainly helped. It was intriguing, the different powers each of the vampires have, and I'm curious to see how this plays out in the movie.

I haven't read a good share of teen romance novels, but I'd be surprised to find if Twilight handles stereotypes in a similar way to other teen fictions. At Forks High School, there aren't any cliques (save for vampires). There aren't jocks, snobs, or geeks. The others are just...there. The background characters supply subtle color to this book, but nothing bright and overpowering. A lot of the narrative consists of Bella's internal dialoging -- her fearless and inquisitive thoughts aren't annoying or meaningless, and compel the reader to learn about her as even she learns about herself.

I really could drone on for days, and days, but like I prefaced earlier, this is my personal take on Twilight. It's hard for me to articulate the fact that it's awakened me out of my imaginative coma. The book is an easy read -- no pretentious words, no confusing plot lines. And yes, there are predictable moments, not unlike most books in the same genre. Lastly, I'm not particularly excited about the movie, as books always seem to take us deeper into characters and stories than film ever will. I've grown to understand that they're two completely different mediums, oftentimes with differing agendas.

In closing...I do have expectations, mind you. I have high expectations in the physical and personal characters of Bella and Edward. Throughout the novel, Meyer describes Bella as unconsciously brave, unaware of her own frailty. This can be pulled off onscreen. Edward's eyes are smoldering -- I expect to see the glowing topaz and a lot of character expression; the book almost revolves around this entire physical feature. I think if they did away with the rest of his body in the film, fans would still be appeased as long as his eyes were in there somewhere.

Although that might be a little creepy.

render time.

2008-06-06T00:42:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted in a while, so I figured I'd drop a line or two.

I'm currently waiting for this family reunion video I'm working on (for mom-in-law) to render and figured this was as good an excuse as any. ;) I'm feeling mentally tired but my legs are bouncing up and down due to a wonderful pot of coffee Kyle made.

A few things have happened, particularly in the job arena that I won't go into much detail about, but know that there's some moving and shaking going on there. Good moving and shaking.

I keep thinking of funny things that have been said over the past few weeks that I'd like to blog about, but I can't seem to do that without being random. And since I'm tired and it doesn't matter anyway, because I can post random things at 12:47 AM, I think I will.

When we went to go see Indy 4 several days ago, we saw a trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening." Funny comments were made, such as:

"So what's the prequel? 'Finna Happen'?"

and,

"The sequel is going to be 'It Happened.'"

I thought those were really funny. And I bottled it up inside for several days without sharing it with the entire world! =)

Okay, render is over, and I'm out.

memorial day.

2008-05-26T20:44:00.005-05:00

One of the first things I check when I open up my laptop is Digg, particularly the top 10 items on the homepage. The picture isn't there anymore, but one of the top articles was a moving, bittersweet image of a young brother hugging his older brother as the older brother went off to fight in the war in Iraq, and another picture of the same younger brother kissing his brother's coffin when he came home. The sacrifice our soldiers have for our rights and our country blows my mind - I hope that on this Memorial Day, everyone has spent some time to reflect and remember our fallen soldiers.

happy mother's day.

2008-05-11T19:18:00.006-05:00

Normally it's pretty tough for me to celebrate Mother's Day. Since my mom and I are separated by the Pacific Ocean, normally it's celebrated by sending off a sappy card (and it must be sappy, because they're her favorite), mailing her a gift, and of course, a phone call 13 hours before actual Mother's Day. Y'know, since Japan is 13/14 hours ahead.

Mother's Day doesn't seem as significant to me when I miss my mom all the time. I miss everything about her: her laugh, her adorable demeanor, the way she talks, her cooking, her smile, her advice, the list never ends. She was always the first to take in all my friends, and send them all home with leftover food in Tupperwares. (Well, Rubbermaid containers - those Tupperwares were 'spensive!) She was the one who knew when something was wrong. She was overprotective in a lot of arenas, but she was always supportive.

This post is dedicated to my wonderful mom, who I continue to learn more about and love every day. The little subtleties that make her unique are so dear to me. We share the same DNA - from our obsessive cleaning to our flat Filipina noses. But we're also different. For example, Mom will probably never see this post - she's not handy with the computer at all, and it's almost like pulling your hair out to get her to jump on Skype.

If you're familiar with HappySlip's videos, you'll see my mom in them. No, not literally. There are a few videos where Christine Gambito plays characters that represent different stereotypical Filipino family members, and the "Mom" fits my mother to a T.

So, for those of you who've never seen my mom, here you go.

Happy Mother's Day!

a different job.

2008-05-10T08:57:00.011-05:00

I was browsing one of my favorite websites this morning and thought to myself - man, there are so many other things that I'm good at, maybe I should quit my job!

Okay, not really. Besides, a lot of these things that "I'm good at" wouldn't pay me a dime, but it's still fun to think I could make a full-time job out of some of these hobbies.

So, if they handed out college degrees for the following occupations, I'd probably be one happy, lazy, fat college graduate right now.

10 Other Jobs I Wouldn't Mind Having Right Now

1) Professional Web Surfer
Some people only hit up Facebook, MySpace, and Amazon.com. I hit up 10,000 other websites. You should see my bookmarks. It's embarrassing.

2) Professional Eater
I blame all the yummy food in this world.

3) Professional Smack Talker
No explanation necessary.

4) Professional Chapstick Hoarder
Or, if you want to be all PC about it, "Lip Balm Hoarder." I don't discriminate against any type of lip balm.

5) Professional Time Waster
I'd particularly like to employ watching movies, surfing the web and goofing off with Kyle as my favorite professional practices for this career choice.

6) Professional Receipt Collector
I'm really bad about doing this. I really should just be saving the earth and global warming and all that other hippie tree hugger stuff, but I find it more useful to save my redundant receipts from the Sam's gas pump.

7) Professional Over Reactor
No, not a nuclear reactor. They already have jobs. Far more important than a professional over reactor anyway.

8) Professional Target Clearance Aisle Shopper
Oh, don't even lie. You can't pretend you haven't been lured by those red price stickers.

9) Professional Trash Taker-Outer
Every Wednesday, like clockwork, I remove all the trash bags from every corner of the house to put them in the garage. (Kyle is the one who actually drags the giant trash bins to the curb) It's one of the few normal people things that I do, actually.

10) Professional E-Mail Addict
At least 20 times a day (discounting weekends) I check my e-mail. Okay, I'm sure there would be a lot of other people qualified for this job, too. Well, come to think of it, I'm not sure it's a job. I'm pretty sure it's more of a mental disorder and I probably need to seek professional help.

*EDIT*

A friend of mine pointed out that #9 is actually a real job: a janitor. Thanks, Garrett. You apparently need to be pre-screening my posts from now on. ;)

a little blurb from work.

2008-05-07T11:00:00.003-05:00

I can't lie about it, I enjoy it when my boss and producer are on the road and out of town. The office is peaceful, quiet, and the lack of drama puts me at ease, especially on this particular Wednesday.

Not a ton of changes have gone on in the past few weeks, but some are noteworthy:

1) I can now park my car in the garage. Hooray.
2) Ultimate Frisbee has started up again. We're two weeks in, and it's awesome. Good friends & fun times.
3) I got my hair cut. I now look like Sabra Johnson's distant cousin.
4) Kyle has just left for Boston. It's my first time home alone in our big house.
5) I've started watching Social Brew on Revision3. I'm obviously attracted to show's content, but the graphics and music mesmerize me. I also like Irene from the Real World.
6) I'm really really really looking forward to seeing OneRepublic at Riverfest.
7) I want to go on a vacation. Really, I do. Somewhere that's fun and tropical and in the US. With no crazy kids running around. Wish me luck on that one.

There's the monthly update. Embarrassing, huh? I just now realized I've had this blog for over a year and have posted on average, once every millenia. Sad.

fitting, no?

2008-04-23T00:50:00.002-05:00

I bought Kyle a shirt from Threadless while we were in Las Vegas last week. I remember trying to order him the same shirt several months ago, but they sold out. And now, they're sold out again.

I thought it was fitting. (No pun intended)

i quit, too!

2008-04-22T08:44:00.006-05:00

This is how I was greeted by my computer this morning.

Happy Tuesday!

viva las vegas.

2008-04-21T21:54:00.007-05:00

Every time I think of that cheesy jingle, I think of the more annoyingly cheesy "Viva Viagra" commercial.

Anyhoo.

So last week Kyle & I spent a wonderful, busy week together in warm & sunny Las Vegas, along with about 100,000 other people who were there for the same reason: the NAB Show. We were educated through speakers and sessions and amazed by ground-breaking technologies and innovative & creative visionaries. Okay, not visionaries exactly, I was just trying to throw some big words in there.

My favorites were Anthony Zuiker (creator of CSI series), Stu Maschwitz (a VFX guru & filmmaker), and the faces behind JibJab and Ask a Ninja (okay, not literally the ninja, that would have been awesome). Many other panelists and speakers had insightful things to say and got my mind gears turning - I have pages and pages of notes from all of the sessions I attended. I felt as if I were in school again, and it wasn't a bad feeling. I felt actively engaged while listening to speakers from my line of work - both refreshing and humbling.

The exhibitions were a blur. I have so much content to sort through, it's unreal. The FCPUG SuperMeet was great, although we didn't win anything at its insanely awesome raffle. The RED demo reel showcased by its team was...jaw dropping. I'm really excited about Final Cut Server and the endless workflow possibilities it can bring the company I work for. But, to quote a testimonial from a video I saw last week, "Workflow automation is only as good as the people who follow it to a T."

Here's the thing...workflow automation, efficient productivity, organization - these are my fortes. Of course I'm nowhere near perfect, but I have this weird side of me that loves it when things follow a pattern. I don't like having to use a desktop search program for trying to find stuff when I should know where they are in the first place.

Case in point: whenever I'm away from my computer, and there's an emergency where someone needs to edit a project I'm working on or work from my computer, it's easy for me to walk them through what they need to do because I always set up my projects the same way. Kudos to Cliff, who helped me become an advocate of tidy assets management. =)

Oh, and before I forget, NAB used a sound byte from a short interview that Kyle & I did after we walked out of a session last Tuesday. Click here, then click on Tuesday's Show Highlights in the iNABPlayer. Kyle's sound byte is at about 1:07. Heh. Proof that we were there. =)

And here's an abridged version of the gazillion pictures of Las Vegas eye candy we took.

There are a few more thoughts about Las Vegas in general that I'd like to post about, but for now, I'm going to call it a night. I only got a little bit of sleep last night, and I really don't want to be crazy in the morning. =)

just because...

2008-04-08T20:55:00.002-05:00

Wow, I never seem to get a break long enough to write a semi-interesting post. But I felt the urge to hop onto Blogger and post something. A link. A picture. A tiny bit of humor...

I've got nothing.

hey! i can see my house from here!

2008-03-30T00:45:00.003-05:00

Okay, not from a helicopter or from an airplane, but from Google Maps' Street View. Not sure exactly how long it's been live here in Arkansas, but pretty cool! (And slightly creepy) Go ahead, type in your address 'n give it a whirl.

why?

2008-03-21T19:17:00.001-05:00

Why, oh why, would anyone want to make their own Twinkies?

the new firefox rocks.

2008-03-18T10:58:00.002-05:00

I'm blogging at work during my frequent, yet short, render times. (Though this last one was a doozy, 20 minutes!) I downloaded the latest Firefox, still in beta, but it's currently giving Safari a run for its money on my Mac. For benchmarks, see Ars Technica's take. Granted, I haven't been surfing on any media heavy websites, but it's blazing through all my Google Apps as of right now.

Okay, so what are you still doing reading this post? Go download it! Download it right now!

hoola hoops are fun.

2008-03-18T10:37:00.005-05:00

And 7th grade boys that look like zombies. They're fun, too. ;)

(Special thanks to my friend and model, Lauren - I love this picture)

before i forget..."new" music...

2008-03-15T18:06:00.005-05:00

It normally isn't until I'm forced to sit down and relax (see: "being sick") where I actually let my mind wander and explore websites/iTunes for music I might be interested in. Otherwise, I normally hear about good music from a friend, or at times, via my coworkers (who know some of my musical tastes pretty well).

Well, yesterday while I was bummin' it at home and trying to recoup from the nasties, I happened upon some new-ish music that's currently made a move to my iPod. When I say "new-ish," you've got to keep in mind that I'm mostly 6 months behind on "new" music. Well, at least 6 months is better than a year.

1) Leona Lewis: "Bleeding Love"
Like I told the few people I text-messaged when I found out about this 22-year-old British pop sensation, she could quite possibly be an illegitimate love child of Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston. She's got some pipes. And what's more, my beloved Ryan Tedder wrote/co-wrote the song. Swoon.

2) John Mayer: "Say"
I'm seriously a sucker for ballad-y, music-scoring, sentimental-y type of guitary ooze. Thanks, John. Oh, and I also like Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Two extra points.

3) Carrie Underwood: "All American Girl"
Now, I can't exactly vouch for country music being my favorite genre, as it normally doesn't make its way into my play list very often. (Yes, I do realize I'm still in Arkansas) I'm not even sure I remember how I discovered this song, but I saw the music video first and loved it. It's a simple, sweet, fun song, and as an All American Girl, I totally dig it. It just makes me smile.

4) Juanes: "Gotas de Agua Dulce"
My favorite Colombian. First it was "Camisa Negra," and now this. I've watched the music video a few times, and for the life of me I can't figure out if those camera pans and tilts are in-camera or all post-production. Hmm. Anyways, the song is entirely in Spanish, so if you're a fan of Spanish-speaking people or Colombia, then you'll enjoy "Gotas de Agua Dulce" (translation: Drops of Sweet Water)

5) Backseat Goodbye: "Technicolor Eyes"
It's a sweet, simplistic ballad. Almost as if someone was talking and decided, "Hey! I should play a guitar to what I just said! Sweet!" It reminds me of my junior high days and summertime.

As you can see, my list is rather short. Until I'm sick again...

going down with the sickness.

2008-03-13T20:10:00.006-05:00

It seems like everywhere I turn there's some friend or family member that's coming down with something. I'm no different, I suppose. Currently I'm typing this as I'm propped up in our bed, covered in 3 layers of blankets and a robe, while it's a mere 67 degrees outside.

I don't like being sick.

It wasn't exactly the happy ending I'd been expecting after returning home from a 3-day trip, either. From the moment we left for Mississippi I was gobbling up cough drops. Our shoot-week was wrapped up not as a pretty red bow, but as a fever that developed in my co-worker's Explorer on the way back from Arkadelphia.

Have I mentioned I don't like being sick?

--Fast forward 1.5 days--

I started this post over 24 hours ago, and I'm too lazy to start a new one, and I'm technically still sick, so nyah. I thought I was up to par today, and decided to join my small group's volunteer efforts at our church's carnival this afternoon. A short hour later, I found myself absolutely winded as a human ring toss element (I wasn't being tossed, I was a target!). So I guess I'm not up to par. I retreated home, and now I'm not in bed, but going back and forth between laundry and our big red couch.

I took a few pictures, not as many as I'd like, but probably won't post until I get my model's permission. I have a particular favorite in mind that I'd like to share. Stay tuned. ;)

in sickness and in health...

2008-03-04T21:56:00.004-06:00

Kyle's been down with the flu this week, and he's miserable. For the most part, I've been rotating between keeping to myself and tending to him, all while trying not to catch the nasties since I'm going out of town next week for work.

For example, I'm typing this on my laptop within the guest bedroom. The room I'm in is across the hall and diagonal to our bedroom, where I can see Kyle watching a movie in clear view. Drumline, to be precise.

But what brought me to post tonight was the very fact that even in the midst of his sickness, my Kyle still manages to keep his sense of humor pretty healthy. He was on his laptop watching last weekend's episode of SNL, and said that since I couldn't watch it with him, he'd put it on his thumb drive so I could watch it.

Right before handing me the thumb drive, he offers a smile.

"Make sure you scan this for viruses, since it's coming from me."

Cute.

baby's got some brand new blogs.

2008-02-27T20:35:00.004-06:00

My mind has been swirling around blog topics lately, and I can't seem to focus on just one. Lots has happened since my last post (not counting the previous one), but for now, I'll just share a few new websites I've been frequenting.

First, there's tastespotting. Ever since we bought the house, all of the sudden I'm into this whole meal planning business. Either that or the house was laced with vats of estrogen somehow which causes me to want to cook excessively. Granted, some of the recipes actually do look pretty crazy. For example, I would never eat this. I would never eat anything that wasabi ever shared a room with, for that matter.

Secondly, there's notcot. The website is labeled as "a visual filtration of ideas + aesthetics + amusement." My favorite post since I've been reading notcot featured some interesting decals to liven up my decor-less house. I have some ideas for doing something like this in my guest bathroom. We'll see.

Lastly (I know, short list), there's my guilty pleasure, dedicated to celebrities' disastrous fashion mishaps. Seriously, some of the witty writing has caused me to LOL. And trust you-me, I don't LOL very often. ;)

a new typography term.

2008-02-27T14:02:00.003-06:00

I just had to post it. Just had to. My coworker IM'd this to me a minute ago.

I fully support this new term. Come on, Merriam-Webster!

all-in-one gadgetry. hmm.

2008-02-07T21:37:00.000-06:00

So for the past few months I've been entertaining the thought of getting a new cell phone. My cell phone with AT&T has technically been upgradeable since the last time my contract expired - Kyle & I did an upgrade through Wirefly and apparently my phone/number didn't take. So I can still upgrade. That, and with a business discount on cell phones through AT&T makes it tempting to upgrade at a moment's notice - whether I need to or not.

Right now I'm pretty satisfied with my LG CU500. Granted, other than the fact that my initials lead the model number (neat!), it's a pretty decent phone. Lots o' contacts: check. MP3 player: check. Expanded memory through MicroSD: check. Sound quality is not bad, and after buying a data connection cable and hacking its annoying ascending ringtone - it does its job pretty decently for a cell phone.

And that's exactly it. It's a cell phone.

When Apple debuted its iPhone (or rather, when Apple debuted "iPhone" - geez), it was a little hard to not do a double take. It's a sexy little phone/web browser/mp3 player/calendar/emailing/whatucallit. So are Treos. And so are Blackberry cell phones.

It wasn't until the other day when I received a rather unpleasant e-mail that I had to re-examine my want for an all-in-one gadget. Had I been out for lunch I probably would have been sick to my stomach after getting that e-mail. When my cell phone is out of my purse, I'm constantly looking at it - whether it's for the time or a new text message. If my phone also chimed every time I got an e-mail: forget it. I'd never put the dumb thing down.

Several months ago, I spent about 2 hours one weekend putting different pictures and MP3s on my cell phone. I actually used the MP3 player for probably a week and haven't used it since. That's one thing I don't like about my cell phone - the MicroSD card is behind the battery, so in order to transfer music to my phone (it doesn't play well with my iMac at home via bluetooth) I have to power it down, and that gets annoying.

So I've decided I'm going to put off getting an all-in-one phone. That's one less thing for me to be impulsive about.

Actually, I still wouldn't mind getting one of these...After all, an internet tablet never hurt anyone.

a break between "wows."

2008-02-05T12:32:00.000-06:00

This week at work we're being trained by the very talented Gabe Watkins, who's very well versed in the entire CS3 suite. It's exciting and refreshing to have someone new come in and work with us through the creative process, learning tips and tricks along the way.

It's also a breath of fresh air to find someone else so fascinated with detail in design and animation - the last person I knew to be this way was my visual effects instructor at UCA. Because we're such a small company here, it's easy to skip over the details that make design and animation a challenge (like it was at UCA). You forget that you can add lighting effects, wiggles, masks and movement. You forget that you can add depth to objects with contrast and saturation. Gabe has definitely brought me personally to a new way of analyzing a visual canvas.

And the man is what, 29? He's awesome.

random cuteness.

2008-01-24T22:33:00.000-06:00

I've been at it again, browsing the web, and came across some sweet little bomb-omb toys that I'd love to add as a part of my decor some day.

Prepare for your cuteness meter to explode.

Now that I've turned a quarter-century, I'm wondering when my semi-obsession with finding Mario-related objects on the internet should wear thin. In my defense, it's not like I purchase these objects and have a shrine in my house dedicated to the liking of Yoshi and Toad. But on that same token, I'm 100% most likely to watch a guitar-rendition of the Super Mario Bros. theme in sheer delight. Over and over again.

Oh wait, I just found something else I want.

Guess that answers my question.

whew. it's really been that long, eh?

2008-01-15T22:08:00.000-06:00

With all the updates I could enlighten my 1 or 2 readers with, the first thing that actually made me want to post was my excitement about Picasa coming to the Mac platform.

Sad, huh?

Okay, fine. I'm going to quickly skim over some highlights since my last post, then:

1) We're completely moved into our house, give or take a pair of jeans and some shirts.
2) We celebrated Christmas - it was a great holiday season! Went to Missouri to visit Kyle's extended family, then came back down and had Christmas in Arkansas.
2a) Favorite gifts: Chuck Taylor's (thanks Kyle!), Catch Phrase: Music Edition, (thanks Marquita!) a monogrammed recipe book & embosser (thanks Becky!), and $$$ (thanks Mom and Dad!)
3) We put almost all of the trim up in the main living areas (except for about 3 feet in the kitchen)
4) I got fake bangs cut and finally got my hair trimmed! Hmmm, what, only 1.5 years overdue?
5) We had a New Year's Eve and Cotton Bowl party! (Pictures are here courtesy of Mr. Alderfer, his fancy camera, and his fancy website)
6) I finally got a new text messaging package. I was hit with overages - byebye CV and unlimited medianet, hello txt msging!
7) Did I mention we got a house?
8) Had my birthday. Happy quarter century!
9) I hate paying bills.

Okay, #9 wasn't really an update. Consider it a bonus.

Elaborations on the goings-on in my life to come at a later date.

you're not a true fan, unless you eat...

2007-12-04T10:57:00.000-06:00

need a new mascara option?

2007-11-25T00:27:00.001-06:00

You could always try painting a house. It only takes about 10 gallons of primer, and 6 hours later, voila - new white mascara.

We're almost there. The past three evenings I've been high as a kite from either the smell of primer or the fumes of spray paint, but I'm very aware that we are a week away from moving into our new house. And that's a feasible, doable, realistic thing. That's what blows my mind. We've set silly little timetables for the past several weeks, and now I can actually believe this one.

Tonight was a good, productive night, too. My wonderful friend Marquita came over to help me pack. I didn't anticipate getting as much done as we did, but boy did that feel good!!! Things are feeling emptier here at Kyle's parents' house, and the impending change is exciting.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful event, as it has been the past few years. It's odd just spending it with my in-laws and their friends, but I still do feel at home. Thanksgiving without my family makes me miss them even more...I'm always prompted with questions like, "So what does your family cook for Thanksgiving?" which opens up the floodgates of memories with my folks. The non-traditional Turkey day meal, with a little bit of of Filipino food and a little bit of American tradition: Lumpia and deviled eggs, potato salad and fried rice. Mmmmm.

Even better, was the fact that I did not go shopping on Black Friday. Yupsiree. I stayed in bed, bought a few presents online, ate, and took no part in the madness that is Black Friday. Last year's Black Friday event at Best Buy showed me I do not have the heart to do that ever again.

I also experienced the joy of witnessing the Hogs beat LSU. That was a very, very, nice experience as well.

I have no witty ending for this post, but a few pictures of two newly primed rooms at the new house. Enjoy. =o)

Living Room - Before

Living Room - After

Laundry Room - Before

Laundry Room - After

christmas gift links.

2007-11-20T22:14:00.000-06:00

I haven't anything brilliant to say, but wanted to post something. It's been pretty busy between professional work and working on the house (both containing that miserable word, "work") so rather than fill this blog full of either subject, just thought I'd share some fun interweb links.

Uncrate & Outblush
I don't quite remember how I stumbled across these websites, but the inner shopaholic in me (although I can be quite frugal) goes absolutely insane over every little post. And stupid as some of the items may be, I want to buy all of them, either as gifts or for myself.

Elsewares
Candleholders, vinyl record bowls, and Coca-cola rings? Yes, ma'am.

Thinkgeek
This is just self-explanatory. For reasons such as this. And yes, I do have a wishlist there.

Sephora
If you have ovaries, you should already know about this website.

Etsy
Lots o' cute handmade stuff. Bags, mittens, buttons, stationery...and even Tetris earrings. Support your fellow craftsy folk!

CB2
An off-shoot store from Crate & Barrel that's intended for the not-so-spensive and much-so-thrifty in mind. Stuff for living, eating, decorating - in short - stuff for our new house!

Okay, time to go interweb Christmas shopping. Enjoy. ;)

PS - OneRepublic finally came out with their new (and first) cd. You must buy it. iTunes & Best Buy: $8. So go. Like, right now.

chivalry ain't dead.

2007-11-08T22:56:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of lifestyles and choices people make that seem to be the norm in our society - going to college, getting married, having kids...I've got two of these three life choices nailed down, but by no means am I a die-hard advocate of all three. I don't believe everyone should go to college. (Though I loved my higher education) I don't believe that it's in everyone's future to get married, and I certainly believe that not everyone is meant to have kids.

But I would love to offer my opinion to those women out there who believe that chivalry is dead and that a good man is hard to find...Just date a nerd.

A geek. A dork. Whatever you call him. (For example, "Turd Ferguson" is a nice little made-up synonym from yours truly)

Yeah, I said it, and I'm absolutely fine with it, because I married one. Kyle and I were talking in the car on the way home from dinner about where we would be if we didn't have each other. Okay, "we" weren't really talking, "I" was really going on and on about how I'd probably be stuck with some loser whom I only adored because he gave me 5 minutes of attention on some day I was depressed, and he would probably have 4 baby mommas and shiny gold teeth.

That was an exaggeration. I think I have a little more self-respect than that, but I'd honestly be lost in the dating world nowadays, just like I was back in high school. At any rate, I have many reasons why I suggest dating a nerd - other than the fact that they make great husbands. Some of the following reasons may just be particular to Kyle, but he is the biggest nerd I know. =o)

1) They're sweet.
They're kindhearted, yet manly in a "I'm-not-REALLY-that-sensitive-but-secretly-AM" kinda way. They're sentimental and remember special things, like the day of the month when they first asked you out, or a line from your favorite movie. It's cute.

2) They're good at tech stuff.
This includes setting computers, TVs, DVD players, consoles, microwave ovens, and the like. And if it's got some sort of wiring or electrical parts and they've never attempted to fix/set it up before, they'll learn and master it, or at least die trying. (Okay, another exaggeration)

3) They don't do anything halfway.
It could be a house-project or trying a new recipe...among other things. They give it 100% ;)

4) They're loyal, and let you know it.
Any doubt that you're the only one for him? None here.

5) They're funny. Sometimes in an awkward way.
It may be witty banter about Apple vs. Microsoft or a silly sci-fi character impersonation. But still incredibly cute.

6) They're smart.
At least mine is. And he can do more than just simple math. This guy made me mad in school because I had to study my butt off for tests and he just remembered everything - even if it was from my notes.

Okay, I've only got 6 reasons in this post, but there are plenty others. I think the more I write about it, though, the more I lean toward who Kyle is more than nerds all over the globe. But still. Just wanted women out there to know...Chivalry ain't dead. It just comes in the form of a geek. ;)

what a beautiful day.

2007-11-06T10:03:00.002-06:00

This post recognizes two things:

1) I shouldn't be blogging at work (although I've hit a dead spot as I'm waiting on some revision notes on an edit to come in)

2) I shouldn't be videotaping while driving

But I'm blogging, and I did some shooting (on my cell phone) while I was driving. This morning's drive to work was absolutely gorgeous. I love the fall.

Music: "Home" by Josh Verdes (myspace.com/joshverdes)

feliz lunes

2007-11-05T21:21:00.000-06:00

I have to admit it's been one of the best Mondays I've had in quite some time. Work went well - there was no kicking and screaming (such is the case oftentimes when our boss goes out of town), we all were productive, cracked several jokes and made fun of each other, and no one had to stay late. Aside from an 8-hour wave of nausea, today was good.

This evening we made some more progress on the house, along with my father-in-law's help. I opted for wearing my "cow poo" boots instead of the norm (tennis shoes) and found them to be much more durable when working on the house. Normally when I wear my boots for more than 4 hours my knees and legs automatically give out and I crumple to the floor in a giant blob. This was not the case tonight. Kyle and Brad sanded while I ripped up plastic covering from the floor, cleaned up leftover popcorn ceiling and climbed on the kitchen counters to clean the top of them with the shop-vac. It was pretty gross up there - mixed in with the giant chunks of popcorn ceiling were roach droppings, dead bees, and spiders. Yuk.

I only had a few hiccups tonight: the flood light and the vacuum cleaner did not like sharing the same source of electricity and I blew the breaker twice. Then I kept accidentally running into the chandelier in the formal dining room.

But I was productive, and the things I needed to clean tonight were cleaned. I've had several people ask me when our final move-in date on the house is, and we've changed it a few times. So I'm tempted to just put a giant "TBD" sticker on my forehead. ;) Sometimes I'm optimistic about the house - other days, I feel as though we're never going to move in. I guess I just need to keep in mind how lucky we are to be in a place where we don't "have" to move out right away. Move-in, however, may not be this weekend, or the next...

But it will be before 2008, that I'm sure. If not then, send a search party, we may be buried underneath popcorn ceiling and spackling-dust.

rainbows.

2007-11-04T16:04:00.000-06:00

Aha, an afterthought. I was clearing some pictures off of my cell phone and thought I'd post some pictures of rainbows from several days ago...

where do we draw the line?

2007-11-04T15:08:00.000-06:00

I have a hard time understanding why people do what they do. I'm no different - even I am inescapable underneath my own magnifying glass.

I'd like to think that I have a basic understanding of seeing all aspects of someone's character...but I've had one of those types of weeks where I found myself throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation shouting, "Why?! What is wrong with you?!" Okay, I really didn't do that, and my reaction was actually pretty close to cursing, but that's beyond the point.

This particular week, I was the unfortunate recipient of some _very_ undeserved disrespect. It was stupid and childish and yet, even though I should have left it at that, I remained bothered by it until I received an apology.

I think as adults, we tend to blame a lot of our own little quirks, tendencies, and discrepancies on a multitude of things: upbringing, a neat-freak mother, a control-freak dad, day-to-day stresses, other interpersonal relationships, etc. So of course, with this apology, came what I saw as an "excuse." This excuse covered a broad range of things - residual anger from an argument with another person, personal stresses, and it all sounded like a bunch of nonsense to me.

But where do I draw the line? On my end, where do I draw the line between being bothered and unaffected? On his/her side, where do I draw the line that this "excuse" was valid or a bunch of crap? I may sound forthright, open, and have a lot of nerve at times, but I'm in fact a very sensitive person - anyone who knows me understands this. Sometimes I take things to heart - yes, even the stupidest of things - and this is where I scrutinize why I react the way that I do.

I was very, very, tempted to accept the apology but chew this person out about their unprofessional behavior (I was disrespected in the presence of a client _and_ a coworker), immaturity, general lack of self-control in stressful situations, but that's where I had to draw the line on my end. That's where I have to have grace.

Yeah. I suppose I need a lot more of that.

happy tuesday.

2007-10-30T07:13:00.000-05:00

I normally start my mornings off at work by checking out Woot's website. I've always loved the clever little stories they include with each day's item.

This morning's was no different.

www.woot.com

Enjoy.

removing wallpaper sucks.

2007-10-14T23:07:00.001-05:00

There are few random acts of kindness in this world. One of them should definitely be to NOT wallpaper any room in your house. I'll definitely take note of this, as I'm still picking wallpaper adhesive out from underneath my fingernails.

I've already removed all of the wallpaper from the guest bedroom, but it was the master bath that was a pain. A room not even half of the size of the guest bedroom has currently eaten up 8 hours of my life that I can never get back. And I'm STILL not done. I guess that will make its full renovation that much more glorious in the end.

In other news, I wrapped my ankle after last night's Ultimate game. I'm starting to think I should just sit on the grass and cheer. This is for two main reasons: 1) I always end up hitting the ground awkwardly or tripping or running into someone unnecessarily because I'm a total klutz, and 2) I suck. I think it's better to have an invisible Me (yes, my invisible twin should be capitalized) running around on the field. She'd be better and not be so klutzy. Anyways, even with yesterday's ankle incident, it definitely hasn't helped with me standing all day putting pressure on it whilst removing wallpaper.

Oh, and yay...tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary. We've got a full schedule with anniversary activities: Kyle getting a hair cut, working on house stuff, a movie, and lunch. Not very exciting, but when you look at our gift for our anniversary - a house - everything else seems pretty small. ;)

Oh, and Kyle didn't get to take the day off like I did. Phooey.

I'm happy to celebrate 2 years of marriage with this silly man I call my husband. I'll save the sappy entry for a later date, though. ;)

when i grow up...

2007-10-13T22:46:00.000-05:00

I had a long conversation with an old friend from Japan. What's interesting about this particular friend is that we talk about once a year, and every year we talk we're at a dramatically new place in life. Last time we spoke over the phone, he was about to leave San Antonio for San Francisco to pursue freelance and gallery work. I was starting a new job with Rizon, we had just moved in with Kyle's folks, and we had just bought a new car.

After today's conversation, I've learned he's recently moved again to the East coast to be an illustrator for a clothing company, and he learned that we now own a house (amongst other things).

It's amazing what can happen in a year.

Kyle and I, along with our friend Joey, worked on the house today after a short trip to Lowe's. Our Lowe's trip consisted of three new door lock sets (holy CRAP they are expensive!), some joint compound, and 2 sample hardware pieces for the kitchen.

As I type this, I'm sitting in our office at Kyle's parents house itching to go back to our house. "Our" house. It's 10:50 at night and all I want to do is read through magazines on the bare 27-year-old carpeted floor in our now wallpaper-less guest bedroom.

Work has been a little nuts this week, as well. It was all about putting out fires, time-management decisions and deadlines. But I guess that's just the workplace for you. It's not the industry I'm in - every job will have problems and none of them are immaculate. I've done some major thinking about where I want to be professionally (and personally) in five or so years, and this week has been integral to that. So I should be thankful.

My friend commented that I was now doing "grown up" things. If that constitutes being married, getting a house, and coming up with a rough 5-year-plan....I'm liking being a grown-up.

case of the short & sweet.

2007-10-10T19:00:00.001-05:00

I guess one of the things that's been holding me back from my usual lackluster writing has been the pressure to write at length: I'll wait until I have a soapbox to stand on or if I've had a crummy day to rant about or talk about house plans. Well, no more. I'm thinking about keeping it short and sweet.

For example, I was on YouTube today and saw the trailer for Jumper and about fell out of my chair. (Or off my bed. You get the picture) Not only is my beloved Hayden Christensen in a new film after a long hiatus, but a very interesting non-Star Wars-y film to boot. I never watched Sliders on TV, and never read the book, but you'll definitely catch me at Rave watching this on its premiere weekend.

Here 'tis:
www.jumperthemovie.com

ipod bling & swollen lymph nodes.

2007-09-06T20:47:00.000-05:00

I originally started this post over the Labor Day weekend but I got about two sentences in before I felt an overwhelming urge to fall asleep on my keyboard. Thus, I called it quits and decided to start fresh, 3 days later. Well, fresh besides this particular entry's title.

First, the iPod bling. My loving husband recently bought me an iPod video out of the blue (yes, me, an iPod! And an iPod video at that!). He engraved it with some pet names we call each other, as well as our wedding date. It was very sweet. He also edited every memorable dance routine from this season's So You Think You Can Dance and put all of them on the iPod, which was also an amazing feat. Geez, I'm spoiled.

So my friend and I, along with her mom, decide to go out shopping on Labor Day, and we're milling around the housewares section of a particular store that was having a moving sale...she brings me 3 iPod cases, all marked down to a whopping $1.18. I had my choice of dressing up my new tech toy with a blue, pink, or silver be-dazzled iPod case. The sequins were frightening and funny at the same time. So, I got the silver. Don't be jealous. ;)

And the swollen lymph nodes. Those are no fun. Never had 'em before, and to be quite honest, they freaked me out a bit. My sis recommended Ester-C and Airborne since I'm "in-between" doctors. Airborne, might I say, is the nastiest medicinal ANYTHING I've ever tried in my entire life. Granted, I've never taken any pill larger than my thumbnail, nor have I had to have painful injections anywhere, but let me tell ya....Airborne = gross. It's as though they took every unpleasant-tasting thing in the world (liver, tuna, and green olives), bottled it up, turned it orange, and manufactured it in dissolving tablet form.

Something I've noticed the past several days, and actually on an ongoing basis, is our generation's ability to listen, or lack thereof. Listening has seriously become an ancient art, and I'm the last person who wants to admit that. But perhaps it isn't just my generation, either. I try my darndest to be intuitive to people and my surroundings, and for the most part, I'd say I'm a decent listener. But I find myself getting frustrated with people who, when I have a conversation with them, I have to preface it by saying, "I've got three things to tell you," and BAM, BAM, BAM. I rattle them off, one by one, because I know I've lost their complete attention after 30 seconds.

I call it the 30-Second Attention Span. After about 30 seconds, my listener's eyes glaze over, dart around the room, their head starts to dip to one side, or they completely cut me off and change the subject. It's aggravating. For the most part, I experience this at work - and I'd like to say that when I find my own attention slipping I'm verbal about my own inattentiveness, apologize, and have someone repeat themselves.

But I still can't help myself but find an individual entirely refreshing when you can see them listen. You see their facial expression steady, fixated, and absorbed in who speaks to them. When I meet new people, I find myself criticizing whether they're really listening or not - especially when meeting new people at work. I was at business lunch with a coworker where we met with the owner of an ad agency, and I kept watching his eyes. There's a lot to be said when an individual can't look someone else in the eye. As a shy child I was never able to look someone in the eye. I'd bow my head, hide behind my parents' legs, anything I could to stay out of the attention of someone else. It wasn't until I was about 17 - when I stopped being so introverted, that I broke that habit.

I'm glad this was a short work-week. (our power at work went out on Wednesday so we were basically out the whole day!) I'm looking forward to breezing through tomorrow and enjoying the weekend. Hmm, perhaps I'll do another blog, and up the quote to 2 blogs a month. ;)

"new" pics. from a month ago.

2007-08-19T22:50:00.000-05:00

I use that term loosely. I've posted these photos to Facebook and MySpace, so I figured I'd post 'em here as well. These are some pictures from this year's 48 Hour Film Project - featuring various cast and crew from "Goode & Ledbetter."

finally, rest for the guano-covered weary.

2007-08-16T22:10:00.000-05:00

I've been having quite the busy past few weeks. I haven't exactly been absent from my computer, but it does feel strange to sit in front of this eerie blue glow for more than 15 minutes.

I've also been well-educated in the nature of bats since my last post, as well.

For example, did you know that:

1) Bats eat mosquitoes?
2) They make cute little chirping sounds when they're disturbed...and high-pitched shrieking noises when they're ANGRY?
3) They look like burnt chicken nuggets when you find one dead outside a building in the blistering heat?
4) They poop...A LOT.

Yes, I've had quite the encounter with bats in the past 2 weeks. We've been working with an entertainment company to document a local company that "evicts" animals from the dwelling-places of humans. Y'know, they'll relocate (but won't shoot) that pesky Cotton Mouth in your front yard.

So one of the big jobs that this local company has is to get rid of some bats in a well-known Victorian house in downtown Little Rock. And by "some" bats, I mean thousands. We followed our heroic bat-removers on their scout, through their "prevention" process (installing bat-doors and caulking windows, cracks, anywhere bats can get in from the outside), and their renovation process (cleaning up bat poo, putting in new insulation, repairs).

Our "talent" consisted of the owner of the company, Mike, and a few of his employees - Tommy, Nelson, and Bubba. Yeah, every company in Arkansas has to have a Bubba, right? They were (and still are) awesome. Laid back, funny, down-to-earth fellas who shy as far away from drama as possible. They're heartwarming, hardworking, and incredibly tan - due to days out in the sun chasing after raccoons, repairing damages to roofs caused by squirrels, and rescuing wounded critters.

But the most challenging part of it all was the heat. We reached highs surpassing 100 this week - which meant heat advisory and a stay-indoors-past-1PM policy. Unfortunately, the high of 99 last Friday meant absolutely nothing.

I started out last Friday morning by hopping in a car with our executive producer on our way to Dardanelle at 7:30AM. Our mission: to document the adventures of Tommy and Bubba in a Presbyterian church filled with bats. The guano falling from the ceiling had caused a stench so bad they had to cancel services. AUW to the rescue!

By the time our day was over, I had been physically pressed the most since the beginning of that week. I'd climbed a 40 foot ladder (I'm not quite the fan of heights) to follow Bubba and Tommy onto the roof to shoot them installing bat doors. I videotaped the end result of spray-foam hardening in an opening while bats had tried to get out some time ago: bat skeletons and gross orange stuff.

I had also fit my upper torso into the attic of the church, later that afternoon, for approximately 8-10 minutes. The temperature ranged anywhere from 120 to 150 degrees. Drawing close to the tiny entrance in the ceiling caused whatever body part was nearest it to immediately perspire. I'd say that part was pretty dangerous - at least for me. I had simply perched myself inside to make sure Tommy, Bubba, and Tim would not pass out and fall through the ceiling.

And last, but not least, right before we wrapped, my last shot was in the space beneath the bell tower of the church, a narrow room with a high ceiling. Its flooring was filled with a mixture of 4 inches of guano and insulation. I met this mixture with an unsteady hand as I hoisted myself and my camera into the space. But at this point I had already had guano fall into my hair, stepped in it, accidentally wipe it on my face...yeah, gross.

All that to say...it was still fun. It's not every day I get to be in a small room with bats flying inches from my face, waving a camera around to try to capture their irratic circling and high-pitched squeals on tape. I'm hopeful that we'll get picked up. This ride has been amazing.

And if you've never seen a bat in real life before...just think: flying chicken nuggets. ;)

sweat, bug spray, and sunblock.

2007-08-03T21:25:00.000-05:00

That's how I smelled about an hour ago. Now I'm fresh and sweet smelling as clean laundry and daisies. ;)

This week has been a whirlwind. It was my first shoot ever to work 10-hour days, and on a project that required a lot of attention-to-detail, thinking on your toes, and being ready and available for anything that was needed. 32 tapes of footage. Countless scenes and shots. Multiple cameras. Since Sunday's 6:30AM call time to today's 8:00PM wrap, I've been working as a script supervisor/tape wrangler/PA/driver/shopper/"slater." And that last title was in no reference to Mario Lopez. ;)

I love teamwork, and I hate egos. I love it when people who are passionate about something come together and utilize their skills and talents. Today marked the end of an awesome week. The weather conditions were insane, as well. Today we shot out at a house in Mabelvale (a gorgeous back lawn might I add) in mid 90's temperatures for hours at a time. Crew call was late - 10AM - so you can imagine all of us drenched with sweat only an hour into our shoot.

It was my first time working as a part of a production company FOR a larger, much higher-grossing studio out of California. And for being my first experience, it was cake. Our director, Strath, was amazingly calm and laid back, but definitely commanded attention with his amical demeanor and Australian accent. He was very talented - and amazingly easy to work with. His wife, Marcy, was incredibly sweet, great to talk to, and equally mellow. They were awesome. As were Bob and Amy, our freelance lighting technicians and shooters. Very down to earth, hardworking, and fun to be around.

This week also gave me more insight into the joy of what I do. Every now and then, questions such as "Do I need to stay in this career field forever?" and "Should I do something else?" tend to slip into my mind. But I like what I do. I like it enough to want to do it for a living - not to the point that I'd hate to do it as a hobby, and that's a good thing.

With Ultimate cancelled for this weekend, I'm looking forward to finally settling down and doing things around the house that need to be done. For example, I've got 5 happy loads of laundry just waiting to be done. Woohoo.

I took a look at myself in the mirror a bit ago to see how much I had tanned. I say "tanned," but I really mean "how much blacker did I get?" You see, we Blasians aren't too proud of getting any darker. I don't like looking like a dark African native. I've turned a few shades darker - not too unbearable, but still, something that I won't be proud to show off. ;)

I also went to the 48HFP awards ceremony on Thursday. I was so tired at the end of that day that I almost didn't go, but it was worth it. I felt as though all the awards that were handed out were well-deserved, and Amalgamated (once again) did an awesome job with their film this year. While "Goode & Ledbetter" didn't win any awards, it did make #3 out of the audience awards of the entire 3-day screening process.

It's always nice to know that we'd make some money in the box office. ;)

a month overdue.

2007-07-29T22:02:00.001-05:00

A few things have happened since my last post. I, for one, did not purchase a 40 gig nano for $199. (How unfortunate, I know).

We participated in the 48 Hour Film Project. My iBook died. Kyle got a new job. I played some Frisbee. My nephew left to live in Japan with my parents for a year. Now he may be coming home. We almost made an offer on a house. And, I've slept some.

The most significant (and though I love my dear nephew) of these events has been the film. The last film I participated in making was my own, about 4 years ago. It was horrendous. It was a psychological mystery/drama/thriller about a girl who, through an odd and rare eye disease, started seeing a girl who looked just like herself. Oddly enough, it turns out to be her dead twin sister.

Don't ask.

Needless to say, "Blindsided" will not be seeing the light of day again, but our film for the 48HFP, "Goode & Ledbetter," fared much, much better. To say we made a film in 48 hours is a huge thing, especially for those involved who've never completed a film, script, in such a tight deadline. Or within a deadline at all. This was something for them to be proud of, and I'm proud of my team. To the 20 actors, and the 18 crew members. It was an amazing weekend, with little sleep and big laughs.

Our director pointed out at the Q&A following our screening that the complete lack of drama that went on during those 48 hours was nothing short of a miracle. Sure, there were hiccups and tired cranky words muttered during the writing session that lasted until 5AM, but that was the worst of it. For the other hours, we were having fun, and working as a team.

The film also made me re-examine my current position with my employer. Although there's only so much preparation that can go into a film of such a tight deadline & with specific requirements, I think I had all our ducks in a row, going into this thing. I got excited about my own potential, and felt almost suppressed during the entire week following the event. It was like coming off of a high, and plateauing into the everyday grind of mediocre work that requires much less concentration and skill. It's not like it was my current employer's fault - it was that the sudden transition was nauseating.

I've much more to say but I'll have to leave that to another post. Right now we're on "vacation" (house-sitting for friends), and we only have 3 days to savor a nice big empty house to ourselves.

Which reminds me...I want a house.

I want a house somethin' awful.

a 40 gig nano for $199?

2007-05-25T20:47:00.000-05:00

Uh-oh, and only 1 more day until the sale is up. What a steal.

46 days to go...

2007-05-22T21:15:00.000-05:00

...until Transformers hits theaters.

To say I'm excited would be a ridiculous understatement. I'm ready for the Optimus Prime and Megatron show. With a side of awesome sound effects, explosions, and a giant serving of Autobot and Decepticon action. The only other film I recall wanting to see this badly was Garden State, because it involved my beloved Zach Braff. But this yearning for Transformers could very well pick up Garden State, smack it around a bit, and kick it all the way to Cybertron.

If you haven't seen the exclusive Yahoo trailer, you simply must. Shame on you for not watching like a giddy little school girl.

In small screen news, Kyle and I watched the first half of the Idol season finale. This has been the first year for me to even half-heartedly pay attention. Had it not been for Cingular Video on my cell phone I would never have discovered the awesome Jordin Sparks, through her amazingly awesome (love my shallow vernacular?) rendition of, "I Who Have Nothing." You have my vote, Jordin. Those judges and their commentary need to go, though.

This summer will be interesting...I'm looking forward to a short trip to Delaware to see my baby brother graduate high school, with some prospects of visiting Orlando or Chicago. It's been since October since we've done anything vacation-like, so I'm excited. I'm also looking forward to a canoe trip to the Buffalo River, as well.

Today's workday consisted of building a slew of website GFX templates, involving some rather in-depth research into countries. Lemme tell ya, trying to find 3 free non-copyrighted JPEGs of French Guiana and Guadeloupe is not my cup of tea. Others were much easier, such as Hong Kong, Israel, and the UK. Got a refreshing dose of information on many countries through Wikipedia. Which, by the way, I'm loving more and more. It helps me to research such things as the Spanish Civil War, spider monkeys, and alien robots that are robots in disguise.

Insert witty comment here.

happy maroon 5 week.

2007-05-16T16:08:00.000-05:00

I've heard covers of their songs on American Idol, on the radio, and they're also going to be the musical guest on SNL this Saturday. Yeah, well, I'm much more excited to see Zach Braff hosting the season finale. It's going to be great! Either that, or it's going to make me think I'm having a twentysomething-life crisis, that I should yell in the rain, and then sing a song about poo. I would love love love to see a Scrubs parody this Saturday night.

Kyle and I watched Pan's Labyrinth last night...Absolutely loved it. It captures the very idea of what I think an "adult fairy tale" should look, sound, and feel like. And it also caught me up on some Spanish I've been missing out on. =o)

It's only the middle of the week, and tomorrow feels like Friday. Today was such a beautiful, breezy, fresh-air day, and if it's anything like this on Saturday, we're going to have a blast playing ultimate frisbee. I can't wait.

Our trip to Branson this past weekend was awesome. It's so good to see family, whether Kyle's or mine. We all just get along, and we always have a good time. We are definitely blessed to have in-laws that we can laugh, argue, and joke with.

Here's one of my favorite pictures. Sweet little Callie Ann, with her big blue eyes, and my favorite blue-eyed boy.

no rest for the frizzy-haired.

2007-05-11T15:56:00.000-05:00

Something I've never enjoyed about Arkansas: its humidity. When I was growing up, there was always an outlet: namely the Pacific Ocean. You could smell the salty ocean when you poked your head out of my bedroom window in Hawaii, and you could feel breeze rustle through the trees in the Philippines. Granted, it was still hot, but not quite so muggy. And no matter what hair product I use - cheap or expensive, I have zero relief. It's days like this where I wouldn't mind being completely bald.

call me irresponsible.

2007-05-09T21:27:00.001-05:00

Okay, so not only is that an awesome awesome cover by the wonderful crooner Michael Buble', but it's exactly what I was yesterday, irresponsible. I won't spare very many details, but it sure wasn't pretty. It involved a camera, Gov. Beebe, and a disc that was already half-full. Eeek.

I tried a Kashi meal today. I've passed by their cereal boxes at the grocery store and glanced at their granola bars, but never purchased anything by Kashi until yesterday when Kyle and I decided to buy some microwaveable meals for the rest of the week. Mine was lemon pepper chicken. Not bad. Wasn't sure what to think about the rice pilaf, since I'm not used to that sort of texture, but not bad at all.

Next up: lime cilantro shrimp!

It definitely looks a lot better on the box. =o)

watch out world.

2007-04-27T00:05:00.000-05:00

It's my very first post. That's right. Good-bye, Xanga, MySpace, and countless other failed attempts at creating the "right" Blogger site. I'm back in the game.

And I clearly have nothing else to do at 10PM on a Thursday night.