render time.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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!

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

Happy Tuesday!

viva las vegas.

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...

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!

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?

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

the new firefox rocks.

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.

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...

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.