what I did on my winter vacation

christmas giving

whew!!

I've had company for the past week and a half, and it has been super fun. I am exhausted. My 3 out-of-town guests and I had a lot of fun nights out, walked all over San Francisco, spent way too much money, and watched the entire 3rd season of LOST. Hoo boy; I can't wait for that to start up again.

Today I decided to face reality- ibym "reality"... "a messy house, a million loads of laundry, and a to-do list about a mile long." I didn't actually get to my laundry today because of a lack of quarters and the bank being closed, but I did manage to buy Christmas cards, go to the drugstore, plan my menu and gather my recipes for Christmas dinner, holidazzle le blog, give myself a mani/pedi, and completely start and finish my Christmas shopping.

That's right folks, with the exception of one or two homemade gifts, I decided to embrace my new hippie surroundings and de-consumerize this year. No shopping. My family is by no means wealthy, but we all have plenty and don't lack for you know... things, and stuff, so I thought that maybe the world could be a better place if I used the money I would normally spend on buying them gifts and donate it to causes that I thought they would appreciate. I did a lot of research, actually, and found some really great charities, so I thought I would link 'em here in case anyone else would be interested in similar giving. It's a perfect gift for the people in your life that have everything- plus an added bonus of good karma.

for Dad and Stepmom: The VVA Fund, which supports Vietnam Veterans. My dad served in the Air Force in Vietnam, and the VVA has a great operating budget- using only around 1-2% of their income (the legal limit is 25% in order to call yourself a not-for-profit organization) for operating expenses. The Vietnam Veterans Assistance Fund (VVAF) supports 69 projects in 25 states, specifically focusing on Disability Assistance for disabled veterans and projects supporting Homeless veterans.

for Mom and Stepdad: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Since they recently purchased land in southwest North Carolina and intend to retire there, they will be utilizing the Park on a regular basis. I signed them up to be "Wildflower Friends," and their gift will help preserve, restore, and enhance the park's natural and cultural resources.

for sister and brother-in-law (on Mom's side): The SPCA of Columbus, Ohio. Their family are big animal lovers and have rescued 3 pets already. Their donation goes toward abandoned pets getting immunizations and adoption into good homes.

for sister and brother-in-law (on Dad's side): The Sierra Club, which is the nation's oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization. They grow lots of their own vegetables, make their own wine, and are really interested in organic farming and sustaining the environment.

Uncle Al and Auntie Sandy: Young Life Northwest Houston. All their clan has been extremely involved in YL for years. Ask anyone in the country who has ever been to a meeting, and they probably know Uncle Al (if by reputation only). Their donation will fund YL programs right in their neighborhood, benefiting the kids they actually work with.

Cousin Julia: Defeat Autism Now! Jule has a big heart and a special affinity for children with special needs. DAN! is dedicated to educating parents and clinicians regarding biomedically-based research, appropriate testing, and safe and effective interventions for autism for those parents and clinicians who do not regard psychotropic drugs as the best or only means of treating autistic patients.

Cousin Justin: was too slow getting back to me regarding a charity he specifically wanted, so I chose for him, and my personal favorite is the Sesame Street Workshop. Sesame Street Workshop funds innovative and engaging educational content for television, radio, books, magazines, interactive media, and outreach for children in over 120 countries.

Step-grandparents: UNICEF, another on of my favorite charities. UNICEF has a great website, including an "inspired gift" page where you can choose EXACTLY what you want your money to fund and send the honorary an e-card telling them what they paid for. The gift I made in their name will fund 100 children two crucial measles vaccinations. Measles kills over 800,000 children a year (and leaves some survivors with lifelong disabilities)-- can you believe $46 can save 100 of them?

So, happy Christmas to all. I love my family; they are all smart and loving and giving, and I know they will all enjoy sacrificing a candle or a DVD to make our world a little cleaner, safer, and/or more educated.

ok folks, back to yule

OK, so, sorry it's been so long since I've said hello. I can't believe I haven't updated since Thanksgiving, but it always happens that when I have something worth blogging about, I'm way too busy with said activity to actually sit down and tell you about it, and when I have the time to spend, then there is nothing going on to tell.

Sooo, since Thanksgiving, I have: come in 3rd place at Power Jack's Monday Night Pop Culture Trivia Challenge (working my way up from dead last), given up forever on butternut squash and made some truly stellar tomato soup, hand-crafted a Star of David out of popsicle sticks for my friend Blake's "I Love Christmas and Jews" Christmas tree-slash-Hannukah bush, booked a ski trip, got a visit from Scotty and KJ:



lost my favorite scarf, been attacked by a rather cheeky squirrel in Golden Gate Park, made a new friend, bought a piece of pizza for a homeless man, joined Bay Area Mensa, walked on the beach, had multiple houseguests, broke my vacuum cleaner, thrown pretty much the best Christmas party I have ever had, and watched possibly the worst movie in the history of the universe.

You have to see it. It's an ABC Family Original called Holiday in Handcuffs, starring Melissa Joan Hart, Mario "A.C. Slater" Lopez, and Markie Post- and I swear, it is the most horrible movie I have ever seen in my whole life- and yes, that does include Just my Luck with Lindsay Lohan.

Seriously, you guys should check it out. There's a kidnapping, a gay brother, a drunk grandmother, a bitchy fiancee, a running Oreo gag, the unfortunate usage of the word "boink," and everyone learning the true meaning of love, communication, and acceptance in under 2 hours.... Now that's what I call Christmas!!!

My first vegetarian Thanksgiving--

Who needs turkey, anyway??

a little about not much

I've been nesting this week. It's cold, foggy, gloomy, and the perfect kitchen weather. Friday I spent all day (and ahem, several hot toddies) making roasted garlic cream of potato soup. I made vegan (!) chocolate-chocolate chip cupcakes for my neighbor's 26th birthday (or, the 10th anniversary of her sweet 16, as her party indicated). I had no idea such heavenly baked goods could be made without dairy or eggs but I am HOOKED. Amazing, and I didn't even have to get out an appliance. Saturday I made oatmeal muffins from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook. Sunday Brian and I made brunch (with some unbelievable rosemary pan-fried potatoes that I will share with you when I get the photos off his camera).

I'm preparing for my first vegetarian Thanksgiving and it's pretty exciting. Other than that- I'm just lying here in bed trying to decide if I have anything remotely decent (and clean) in which I can go do my laundry, or if I'll be pulling a Lorelai and running into people in cutoffs, a tie-die t-shirt, and cowboy boots. Oh, and today is farmer's market day!!

naked

As most of you probably picked up by the context clues of "hey you guys! I have been going out on dates!"- My on-again-off-again-for-the-past-10-months relationship and I broke everything off a couple of weeks ago. I have staved off blogging about it because well, the internet has eyes, as it were. Also, unlike past relationships where I felt screwed over and gladly welcomed ex-bashing, I would never, ever want anyone to anyone to think badly of him or think that he somehow wronged me- we just couldn't make the long-distance thing work. Which, although a perfectly legitimate reason to break up, doesn't make me feel any better, you know?

So, yeah. We broke up. And I am mad and I am hurt. Because that's what happens when people break up: people get mad and hurt and throw their hands up in frustration. Friends or more-than-friends, it is hard to cut someone out of your life that has been important to you for a long time. I am mad and I am hurt and I miss him terribly.

I know I will be fine, I know I will get over it, and I know I will move on. I'm not under any sort of delusion that he is the only person on the planet that will ever make me happy. But he is a good person that I felt I connected with and now that he is gone, I am dealing with pretty much this:

Break-ups are hard. They are horrible and they are hard and they are not necessarily indicative of what two people shared.

I need to remember that.

San Francisco

I am really enjoying my new town!! In addition to the beach and the massages last week, I had a fun Halloween with Brian and Sandy on Wednesday. We (ibym: Brian) made fondue and it was wonderful. We spent some time catching up with Sandy and it was really nice. Thursday turned out to be about 75 and gorgeous, so I went to the Park, enjoyed the sunshine, and watched the ducks at Stowe Lake. I went on dates both Thursday and Friday nights- both super-nice guys who are both super-interested in me but I'm not sure what I'm ready for right now (because as you all know, I only fall for emotionally unavailable men, but that's a whole 'nother therapy session). We'll see what happens.


Saturday I spent in the Park as well- I wore my new (ibym: bought in April but have never worn) hiking boots and fed the birds and saw Chomp!- an exhibit of carnivorous plants- at the Conservatory of Flowers. I ended up back at The Little Shamrock which is my new favorite bar ever- great music, cheap drinks, and board games! Thursday night date met me and Brian there and it was a really fun time.


Sunday was beautiful as well, so Suzy and I donned our sandals and met Brian for brunch in the Castro, did a little shopping, and then watched three movies at Harvey's- Mary Poppins, The Dark Crystal, and Death Becomes Her. Possibly my new 2nd favorite bar ever. Monday we went back for trivia night where we came in last place but had a blast- totally my new Monday night activity- and I met up with a guy I went to high school with and probably haven't seen in almost as many years as it's been since I've seen The Dark Crystal. It was really fun to see him and catch up.

Sandy stayed an extra day after her show and we went to the Legion of Honor (where The Thinker lives right now) and it was freezing, so we went- guess where? to The Little Shamrock- where she schooled me in Scrabble and then I kicked some Trivial Pursuit butt. There was a fire in the fireplace there and Irish coffees. I can't believe I have to go to Anaheim tomorrow- I feel like San Francisco and I are at the beginning of a beautiful relationship and I'm going to miss it incredibly while I'm gone.

I don't want to mention the fact that my shuttle is picking me up in just over 12 hours and amidst all the fun, I haven't done anything remotely productive like buy toothpaste, do laundry, test my show, water my plants, take out the trash, clean out the fridge, or pack. Or the fact that I'm completely wired from all the Irish coffees (whyeeee does the "Irish" not cancel out the caffeine?) and there are people asleep in every room of my house except this one, where I can't really do any of those things on my list. Well, I could pack, IF I had done my laundry.

Yes, my friends... tomorrow is going to be a very long day- a long day that ends at the Holiday Inn in Anaheim, which contrary to popular belief, is not really the happiest place on earth.

my week off

Ever since I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind a couple of years ago, I wanted to go to the beach in the snow. Well, it doesn't really snow here, but I managed to get to Ocean Beach on Monday in San Francisco's version of "winter" (which by the way, is my version of winter as well). I did something cheesy and wrote a personal burden- a thing that has been holding me back- on a rock and threw it with all my might into the Pacific. Moving on!!



Brian and I saw a lot of jellyfish, gross! and we walked down into the old Sutra Baths caves. We also saw this giant camera (click to zoom):



Yesterday was Susannah's 30th birthday and we went for traditional Thai massages, pedicures, and lunch. I'm actually a little sore today. That little Kwan has some serious hands.

Sandy is in town and we are going over to Brian's tonight for fondue and movies. I have about a million things on my to-do list and I overslept this morning. It was so weird- I was having a dream that I was at a big party at someone's house, and I had someone else's phone in my pocket, and I kept picking up all these different phones, looking for mine, and then my dream self thought I should ask someone to call my phone, and then my real life phone rang! (All of this before 7am.) It was bizarre.

In less happy news, my iPod got the sad Mac last night. *sniff*

I'll have a double-bitter karma machiato please.

Remember how I love airports? I am almost ready to retract the statement. On the way here from New Orleans a few days ago, my flight got cancelled and I got shuffled to another flight which ended up in Orange County instead of LAX because it was faster, and the American employee who booked me on that flight forgot to cancel my original LAX flight. SO, since I didn't show up for it the system automatically cancelled the entire rest of my ticket. SO, when I went online to check in yesterday, it told me my reservation had been cancelled. Uuuuugh. I called American and they got me all sorted out, but then today when I got to the airport, the self-service kiosk couldn't find my reservation. So I waited in the long line to see a service agent, and he dropped my ID behind his computer under the desk. I got it back, but it involved three men with tools taking apart the entire service center, which took about 20 minutes. Then the guy in front of me at Star*ucks couldn't order his "could I BE any more Frasier?" two-shot half-caff 180-degree espresso macchiato, and that took an extra 10 minutes, and then the guy who made my coffee heard "decaf" when I said "double" so he had to remake my drink. Decaf??? Do I look like I want decaf???? *bangs head on wall* THEN I get to my gate and my flight is delayed. Seriously, how did I piss off the universe this weekend?

Thursday was good- Ashley and I went to Swingers and the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, then I met Nathaniel for Across the Universe and Indian food. I liked the film- I think it was lesser than the sum of its parts and not sure it really worked as a whole but it was visually stunning and I liked a lot of the numbers a LOT. I cried all the way through Let it Be. We didn't get back to Anaheim until close to 2am and had to wake up at 4 hours later for our crazy show- loaded it in, audited, invoiced, collected, and loaded out in16 hours. Insane. By the time we got out of there we were both cross-eyed, but it was nothing a nice dirty martini couldn't take care of. I love working with Ashley so I was in a pretty good mood despite the day.

Brian is coming over tonight and we are making hummus and tyrokafteri and drinking wine and talking about our respective failed love lives. Actually, we probably won't talk about that at all because we'll end up on some tangent that has nothing to do with anything, but we'll have a great time. I have about a week and a half off, which I am really looking forward to. Suzy and I are getting Thai massages for her birthday on Tuesday, and I am going to look for a part-time job for November and December.

Does anyone want to fly to Anaheim for Nov. 10-11?? I will be there for 2 short shows (Wed-Fri and Mon-Wed) and it's too much trouble to go home for 24 hours so I'm just staying there. I have a hotel and a rental car so we could go to DisneyLand and ride the Tower of Terror all day!!!! Let me know if anyone's interested!!

OK, almost boarding time. Goodbye, Los Angeles! Hello, home!!

Hey it's that guy!!

So, I was watching an old episode of Frasier on the airplane yesterday, and it was the one with Daphne's fake baby shower that Niles made up to hide the fact that he had lunch with Maris, and the caterer heard "fraternity theme" instead of "maternity theme" so brought 3 kegs of beer and a 6' hoagie. Bwah! It was also the one where Frasier decided to leave radio to go back into private practice, and his first day was quite frustrating- you know, sitcom kerfuffles abounded. He had 5 patients in 1 day and they all left within moments due to one thing or another. BUT, the crazy thing was who they were. In order, Sarah Silverman, T.R. Knight, Missy Pyle, Penny Gerald Johnson, and Dan Castellaneta!! Are you kidding me??? That was an insane 30 minutes of "Who's Going to be a Fairly Recognizable TV Personality in 15 years?" Go, NBC, go!

My day around the sitcom genius was pretty frustrating. My flight in New Orleans was cancelled so I got to hang around the Louis Armstrong "International" Airport all morning on 5 hours of sleep, I made my connection in Dallas by the skin of my teeth- I literally only got on the airplane because they boarded 13 minutes late, when I got to Anaheim I went to pick up my paperwork for my show on Friday and it was a big fat clusterf*** so I ended up working for about 3 hours last night. When I finally toppled into bed at 10pm I had been running on empty for 19 hours.

The good news is that I got 9 hours of sleep (I LOVE waking up before my alarm!) and today is Jamie & Ashley's Day of Fun, take 3!!! We are going to have brunch at my favorite diner in LA, Swingers (PS> do not google Swingers + Los Angeles) and go to the beach for some girl time. Ashley has a bachelorette party to attend tonight and I'm going to be her designated driver- I have to drop her in Valencia around 6 and then I am going to meet Nathaniel for a movie: (finally!) Across the Universe at the Arclight. He and I have been trying to see that movie for over a month. I'll pick up Ashley late and drive us back to Anaheim for a few hours of sleep before our show from hell tomorrow. It moves in, opens, closes, and clears the hall in 1 day, leaving us to get everything input, audited, invoiced, and collected, plus service the exhibitors. With the condition my paperwork was in when I got it, I'm tired just thinking about it. But no matter, it's over in a day, albeit a long one, and Saturday Ashley goes to the wedding and I get to spend another day in LA with Nate before heading back to SF.

Lots going on, I will keep you all posted on my shenanigans and goings-on! My work year is drawing to a screeching halt. OH-MI-GAH, speaking of Screech, I had a dream that my mom saw Mark-Paul Gosselaar in the grocery store and made him come say hello to me. It was mortifying. I was looking at conditioner and he was getting chips for a SbtB party he was going to. I met the Jessie, Kelly, Slater, and the gang at check-out. It was surreal.

Dumbledore's Pink Robes

JK Rowling outs Harry Potter Character

Really, J.K.? Since it didn't seem to play into the plot of a collective 7 books-- an whopping 4,195 pages of emotion-packed story-- who cares?

Viva Laughlin

This show is... bizarre. It's a musical-slash-nighttime soap opera. It's not exactly like a musical though, but the characters do randomly burst into song & dance. But it's like a pop song, and the soundtrack is playing the radio version of the song, and the actors sing along with it. Like, on top of it-- no illusion that it's the character vocalizing the soundtrack, if that makes sense. It's odd, and I kinda dig it.

I'm watching it to throw CBS a bone because they gave me a really good breakfast burrito from craft services on Tuesday. :) Nathaniel has been working on the show as a DIT (digital imaging technician) and I dropped him off at work the other day and got a free breakfast. I also went to pick him up a couple of hours early and got to hang out on set. I know a lot of my industry-savvy friends see set all the time, but it was SUPER cool for me. I basically sat in a tent in the cold and watched Nathaniel watch the monitors and talk through his walkie to the camera men. It was really interesting, despite the fact that they filmed about 20 seconds of show the entire time I was there. He can read the graphs on the monitors like he's in The Matrix or something. It was so COOL!

Also, when I walked in, I said "hey, what's up" to this guy I thought I had met that morning when I dropped him off (normal looking guy in a sweatshirt and a beard) and now as I'm watching it, I realize he was the actor, and I recognized him from Brothers & Sisters as the senator's gay priest brother. What a moron. Oh, also, the wife in the show is played by Sherri from Gilmore Girls- the ghost cast of which is apparently following me around this week (Suki was on Samantha Who? and that psychiatrist who the Gilmores Elder tried to set up with Christopher but ended up counseling Lorelai in her car in the driveway is now on The Office).

Anyway, I have to get to bed because my day tomorrow is starting really early, but I just wanted to say hi from New Orleans, the city in which my hair looks like Monica's that time Friends went to Barbados. Oh, and to tell you that I'm watching the Sex & the City where Carrie farts in bed with Big and it's the most mortifying and hilarious scene I've ever seen. Hysterical. And excruciating. Like, cover-your-eyes and scream-out-loud funny, no matter how many times I've seen it. Then that episode was followed by the "Just tell me I'm the one. You don't have to tell your mother or the whole world; just tell me" one and that's just the painful without the funny. Ouch.

October What?

Seriously, time is flying. I haven't updated in forever. Last week I worked 86 hours in 6 days at one of the worst shows I've ever done- it's still haunting me, over a week later. I want nothing more than to put that show to bed and never think of it again. I have a feeling it's going to come back and bite me in the arse when I ask for a raise next month. Ugh.

I had 3 days off (which I spent cleaning, running errands, and watching my DVR) and then I flew to LA. Nathaniel and I drove down to San Diego on Saturday night for the screening of a short film he shot in March called Shoot my Life. It was about a girl who tricks her roommates into being on a reality show. It was written, directed, and starred in by a girl named Kimberly-Rose Wolter, who also wrote and starred in the feature we saw called Tre. I can't say I enjoyed the movie- it's one of those uncomfortably realistic films that leaves you wishing you had seen a Hollywood ending and not something that might have happened to a girl you probably know- but she was really good in it and a really fun, nice person. We had drinks with her after the movie. I hope she does well in her career. The short film was really funny and cute and it was really cool to see something that Nathaniel shot and hear all about how they made it in Kimberly's kitchen. It stars her roommates, her boyfriend, and her baby as well- all of whom I got to meet at the screening.

Yesterday we went out to brunch and then to The Vista to see Michael Clayton with Texas Thomas. Really excellent film. Loved the theater. The ambiance was perfect and the sound and screen were amazing. We went to get some french food (mussels and frittes... mmm...) for dinner after that and then Nathaniel watched The Illusionist (I went to bed-- dude, that movie was BORING). We were going to go see Across the Universe at The Arclight today but Nathaniel had a 4:30p call time (he is working on Viva Laughlin this week) so I will probably go by myself tomorrow, or else with Ashley when I come back to Los Angeles next week.

Now I am finally sitting down to watch the first 3 eps of Bionic Woman- it doesn't really interest me (other than the fact that Jaime Summers is why my dad decided to name me Jamie) but I want to see Katee Sackhoff kick some bionic @$$. Honestly, could Michelle Ryan BE more plain/boring/indifferent? She's SO BLAND. Putting her opposite the dynamic and stunning Katee Sackhoff just makes it worse.

I leave Wednesday for a week in New Orleans and then come back here for a Jamie & Ashley's Day of Fun, Take 3 and a show that moves in, opens, closes, and moves out in like 18 hours. That should be fun times. *shakes head no*

Also, I'm looking for Christmas plans that will conveniently prevent me from going to home to see the folks-- so if anyone has any fun trips planned or wants to come visit or do something, let me know. *weg*

Fall TV 2007

Premiere Week 1, My Thoughts:

The Big Bang Theory: awful. just... terrible. I don't have any more words for that.

Heroes: A show I always want to love, but only like. When did Nathan Petrelli turn into Jack Shepard? Step away from the bottle and toward a razor, drama queen. Oh, and helloooooo, David Anders! I've missed you and your fake English accent!!

Journeyman: Liked it. I'm a sucker for time travel anyway, and I applaud the choice of a non-conventionally handsome leading actor. I liked him a lot and will definitely keep watching, for a while anyway.

Chuck: I always like me a good super-nerd, especially one with messy hair and thick eyebrows who wears Chuck Taylors- plus, I think this show might fulfill my Alias void for a bit. Plus it doesn't take itself too seriously, so I'm intrigued enough to keep watching.

Bones: good season opener. This show never makes my jaw drop but it's consistently enjoyable and by the way, va va VOOM on the new haircut, Dr. Hodgins. Tom, will you please invite him to have drinks with us when we are in LA next month???? Then you can get an emergency soap opera phone call and he can you know, fall in love with me.

House: *sigh* Hey writers, you have to give your protagonist at least a couple of redeemable qualities every once in a while. Otherwise he's just a jerk.

Private Practice: I'm sorry, but I liked it. Addison has always been one of my favorite character's on Gray's- she's flawed but strong. Good supporting cast chemistry and I swear if you didn't cry during Amy Brennaman's floor-session with the woman who lost her son, well, you have a small stone where your heart should be. Very small. And is it just me or does Tim Daly get hotter with every passing moment? Yowza. I like Audra McDonald but why did they take the Francinator away from me?

Dirty Sexy Money: I'm going to go ahead and tag it now as my favorite new show. LOVED it. Great cast, just soap-y enough while having a sense of humor about itself- plus it involves Peter Krause, a Baldwin, and a Sutherland- what's not to like?

Grey's Anatomy: *yawn* Cristina and Alex and Bailey and Chief were all pretty awesome- but I am so over the Izzie & George thing, seriously, and just what the world needs is another whiny self-important Gray (honestly Lexi? Throwing the "I'm your sister" thing out in the emergency bay? That couldn't have waited?) and Kathyrn Heigl wins an Emmy and gets a scene with a deer?? Really Shonda?

Big Shots: a show I really wanted to like- I mean, Michael Vartan, Dylan McDermott, Chris Titus and Josh Malina? Too bad they are all playing asshats with horrible personalities and terrible dialogue. It was touted as the male version of Sex & the City and I have to say, if that is how men really are then I am going to be a lesbian. Frankly, I'd rather date Samantha. This show is retarded; I'm out.

Brothers & Sisters: man, I love this show. I'm certain it's emotionally manipulative, but I'm not close with my brothers and sisters, or my parents really, and I've always wanted this huge, crazy family- this show really tugs at my heartstrings because it's something I've never had and never will have so it's like a mirage for me. I love to watch it even though it makes me lonely.

Next on No Day but Today.... Viva Laughlin, Samantha Who?, Pushing Daisies, The Bionic Woman, and Reaper, plus the return of Men in Trees. Geez, I hope they all suck so I don't have so many shows to watch. Thank goodness Eureka and Doctor Who are almost done for the season; I think there's smoke coming out of my DVR.

Vegas, baby, Vegas~

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted- I just had a hell of a week in Las Vegas that included 2 broken laptops and a bunch of bitchy exhibitors. Thank goodness I get to see them all again in 3 weeks at a sister show in New Orleans. Ugh.

I had a blast with my friends, though, when I wasn't working, and got home today exhausted. I had several offers for tonight including the LoveFest parade, the Greek food festival, and the Folsom Street Fair, but I opted for some homemade soup (posted over at my food blog, which let's face it- I should change from Food, Glorious Food to Soup, Glorious Soup) and a whole week of premieres on my DVR. Lame? Possibly. Awesome? Definitely.

I'll be back tomorrow with my opinion on the new TV season.

Mensa Quiz

What is wrong with my calculator???

Stockholm Syndrome

You know how when do something over and over, even if it's not something you picked or even really liked at first, you kind of end up loving it? Like how my friend Ashley learned to embrace Scotch on a bus ride in Scotland where she was forced to take a shot of it at every stop, or how, no matter how terrible they are, you have a special fondness for reruns of Saved by the Bell, not in spite of, but because you've seen every episode at least 37 times?

In the same manner, I love flying. I love it. I love flying over America and staring down at our geographically diverse land- I almost wish there were big, obvious state lines I could see; wouldn't that be rad?- and thinking about all the lives of all the people: families in the suburbs where all the roofs look the same, or the single person doing a crossword puzzle over take-out in a cramped apartment building, or the one solitary farm house in the middle of nowhere.

I like busy airports that are full of excitement and the energy of hundreds of people going on vacation or visiting loved ones or coming home. I love empty airports, too. I love how the conveyer belt in San Francisco seemingly eats my luggage in San Francisco and 8 hours and 2 planes later it pops out on another belt in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I'm consistently amazed that it's someone's job to keep the hundreds of planes on dozens of airlines that are in the air at any given time from crashing into one another and that people still get angry when their flight is like 8 minutes late. I love that everyone in an airport thinks he is the only person there who is in a hurry. I love how people who are in boarding group 6 crowd up at the gate when they call first-class passengers only, like they will lose their assigned seat if they're not first in line. And I love sitting on the ground with my $3 bottle of water next to the only electrical outlet in general vicinity and blogging about my travels. I know it's not for everyone, but I will certainly miss it when I start the next chapter of my life.

Now, without further blathering, in honor of Emmy Sunday and the girls' night I can't have tonight because I'm stuck in a fracking airport, a hilarious and horrifyingly accurate faux tv guide:



Hope everyone is doing well. I just had a fantastic weekend in Iowa for Tonya's wedding. I will post photos and stories soon. Love, me.

San Francisco... finally, an update

So, Nathaniel bet me $5 that I wouldn't be all unpacked by the end of the year. THE YEAR. OK, so that was a viable bet based on the fact that I had 2 unpacked boxes in the corner of my Dallas apartment for 18 months- but, never one to lose a bet (or a triple-dog dare) I showed him and got completely done this week. D-O-N-E. He came and checked it out for himself but neglected to give me my $5. Bastard.

So, without too much ado, a blog o' photos (click on any to enlarge):

The kitchen:



The living room:




Hello Jon Stewart! Why do you come on at 8pm on the west coast??



View 1 of the bedroom:



View 2:



So, the closet in this room is ridiculous. It's a little wider than that door you see, but it's too shallow to push hangers past the door frame!! Wha? In the huh?? Why would someone do that? So, I had to take my television cabinet and make it into a wardrobe. View 3:




I bought those leaded windows at an antique market about two years ago. My crafty stepdad Tom built me the TV cabinet around them. Wicked cool, eh? Alas, it was too tall to go through the living room door so I got a closet rod cut and some brackets at the hardware store and Nathaniel installed them for me. We painted it, antiqued the edges, covered it in polyurethane, got high off the fumes, and voila! More closet space. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.



All in all, I love this space. It's a little run down, but you can't beat the size and location. The Inner Sunset is the place to be; I haven't been in a neighborhood yet that I like more. I am less than 5 blocks from a post office, a drug store, a Bank of America, a hardware store, a farmer's market, a yoga studio, and restaurants restaurants restaurants: thai, indian, sushi, italian, bagels, coffee, mediterranean, vietnamese, raw, healthy, tacos, burgers- you name it, we have it. There's an awesome bakery co-op down the street that makes everything fresh every morning, and they have a different homemade pizza each day for $2/slice. Today's is artichoke hearts, spinach, lemon, & thyme. Guess what's for lunch?

Two buses stop on my corner (the 6 and the 43) and the train (N-Judah) is three blocks down. Oh, and when I start school? It's a block away. ONE BLOCK. I can sit on my stoop and watch all the scrubs walk by and sigh: One day that will be me! (Also, the school's a hospital so I guess if I ever have an emergency I just need to wander up the hill and into the ER.)

I haven't quite got used to the time difference yet - I've been falling asleep around 10-11pm and waking up at 7am but that's OK- I have to start work on Sunday anyway. I also can't get used to the weather- egads! Mark Twain said the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco, and honestly. Everyone keeps talking about how unseasonably warm it is this year and I'm running around shivering in my scarf and jacket and socks.



I'll be better about posting now that I'm all settled in and the wi-fi works. Off for my pizza!

view from my corner

home (empty) home

photos of the new apartment

&dues&

O-M-G I am moving to California today!!!!!11!!1

zzzzzzz....

It has been a crazy few weeks. Crazy. I am so tired I can't sleep. I had a blast in DC with Brittny and Ashley but it went by in a blur and my vacation in Phoenix was picture-perfect (thank you, Krysten and Chanelle for such a lovely birthday!!). Then Krys flew back with me to Dallas to help me pack and it's just been non-stop packing and birthday-ing and seeing people before I move and my phone is ringing off the hook and brunches and lunches and dinners and musicals and laundry and cleaning and geez, I'm about to die. The last box was just taped shut and I'm about to pass out on the couch. After I watch the last 2 shows on my DVR and drink soy milk out of the carton because I packed all my glasses. Tomorrow (actually, in just a few hours) the movers come, the cable guy comes to take away my cable box and modem (*sob!*) and then I have to work work work at the Dallas Convention Center and dogsit for Sebastian until next Monday, when I fly to SF and hit the ground running over there.

More to come soon, including photos of my new tattoo and the tale of the how I escaped a villain on a Segway, but for now, another plug for independent filmmakers I know- you can view the trailer and donate to the film at A Face in the Rock.

August 13

Today is the anniversary of the births of Alfred Hitchcock, Annie Oakley, Dan Fogelberg, Don Ho, Bert Lahr, Fidel Castro, and me.

iTravel

Yesterday morning, I woke up at 4am EST and worked for 8 hours, and took an hour-long, un-air conditioned taxi ride to Dulles airport, where I was shuffled onto a people mover with a broken door, and then my flight was delayed 2 hours. After I finally got on an airplane, I promptly fell asleep, and woke up 45 minutes later to find out we were still sitting at the gate. Apparently everyone had been grounded for so long that there was a 45-plane line to get onto the runway. We finally took off around 11pm. Uuuuugh.

I finally got home at 2am CST, an entire 23 hours after I woke up that morning. I took a quick shower and toppled into bed, to wake up 5 hours later, throw my dirty clothes into a smaller suitcase and dash off to another airport.

NOW, finally, I am on vacation. Hello, Phoenix! Brad just made me a cocktail and is now making flat bread and falafel while Krysten is mixing up some cucumber salad and Bryce is showing me how his toy airplane turns into a rocket ship. "It's not breaking it, Miss Jamie; it's just taking it apart."

This is where I come to vacation. I love to travel but I always jam-pack my days full of fun things, and then I need a vacation to get over my vacation. I love seeing my family but I have to be all social and on my best behavior. Here at Krysten's, I have my own wing- really, a room and bathroom above the garage- my own door, my own key, my own air conditioner and coffee pot and cable and internet... the pool is just at the bottom of the stairs- I can go to bed when I want and get up when I want and be quiet when I want and have someone to talk to when I want. Krysten and Brad are both very generous with their home and also very laid-back about my being here. They're always willing to make me a cocktail or let me have free reign in the kitchen.

With my crazy work week (80 hours in 7 days) and the 3-hour time difference, I forced myself to stay up until 11. I honestly can't believe I woke up at 7:30!! I feel great though, and now I think I'll go downstairs and make some coffee, then possibly take a morning swim. Birthday festivities tonight!! Pictures to follow.

~whew!!~

We got an apartment!!!!

don't stop believin'

Thanks to my friend Bill in the sign shop, check out my desk here in Washington, DC:

It all started last week when Ashley and I saw a 30-minute TimeLife infomercial hosted by Air Supply (the best part) about classic soft rock. It was hysterical, we loved it, and the very next day I saw that air band epsiode of Scrubs, and it was hysterical, we loved it, so I made her a "yacht rock" playlist:

Isn't it awesome? We've been air banding all week. My only regret is that I had no Christopher Cross to contribute. In case you can't read the playlist, it's as follows:

1. Dance with Me, Orleans
2. Sister Golden Hair, America
3. Take On Me, a-Ha
4. More Than Words, Extreme
5. Your Kiss is on my List, Hall & Oates
6. It Never Rains in Southern California, Albert Hammond
7. Making Love Out of Nothing at All, Air Supply
8. Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Tears for Fears
9. Died in Your Arms, Cutting Crew
10. I Don't Want to Live Without Your Love, Chicago
11. Come Sail Away, Styx
12. Alone Again (Naturally), Gilbert O'Sullivan
13. The Wind, Cat Stevens
14. Rosanna, Toto
15. More Than a Feeling, Boston
16. Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler
17. Don't Stop Believin', Journey

Anyway, not a lot to report- busy, stressed, it's hot, it's humid, whatever.

I heart coffee.

I always say to Tom that the first sip of coffee in the morning is my favorite time of the day. It's just like... a drug. And he laughs and says, yes, Jamie, caffeine IS a drug, but I don't mean the caffeine. I mean coffee. I'll never understand people that don't like the taste of coffee. I mean, I love onions- but I can see why some people wouldn't. Ditto with fish. But coffee??? Not liking coffee is just... inconceivable to me.

Anyway, I was cleaning up around here, packing boxes, and I found an old script from a play I was in in college. It was written, directed, and produced by a student named Jake, a friend of mine, and it was called The Deadbeat Club. I don't remember a lot about it except that it took place in a bar, my character had to have an orgasm onstage (and naive little 19-year old Jamie really had no idea how to do that, lol), and someone died, I don't even remember which character. I have an old VHS taping of it somewhere, which I fear would be torture to watch, BUT-- it had this great monologue in it about coffee, spoken by the group druggie:

Marah:
I tell you now, my friends, that there is no drug more ... what's the word? PUISSANT, than coffee. You say "But coffee is not a drug; you're thinking of caffeine." No, I've done caffeine by itself, and its effect is nowhere near as profound as the entire coffee experience. The color, the warmth, the smell... but I jump ahead. Let me set a scene for you:

A thick, plain white mug, chipped- the pot, stained, dull pseudo-glass- the gurgling flow of the potion into the mug-- steam fairies across the surface of the black brew; aroma, the shameless bean, bitter, sharp- the mug, snug in your palm, but ouch! too hot!! the various condiments- granulated sugar, pure sugar, saccharine, aspartame, milk, non-dairy creamer, edible oil product- rapture! to the lips! the elixir, the temperature without punishment to the palate, the perfect taste; a wash down the gullet and into the welcoming stomach, thence to the bloodstream; from the blood to the senses: Awakening... Potency... Oneness... COFFEE!!

I'm headed out to DC here in a little bit. I'm pretty grouchy and am not looking forward to my week, but after that I go to Phoenix for my birthday and then back here to pack up. Please send all prayers, luck, juju, good wishes, and whatever else you can for Susannah and me to find an apartment soon. I'm starting to really stress about it. I can't really do anything else (forward my mail, change over my renter's insurance, book movers) until I have an address, and come Sept 1 we will both be homeless. *whimper*

iPack

I've been a bit absent from blogging for a while, and I'd like to express that while I may be a lazy blogger, I have certainly not been being lazy. I would list out all the many tasks I've accomplished this week to make you all proud (and tired on my behalf) but I imagine there's a possibility that people are not all that interested in my to-do list. Suffice it to say that I have been uber-productive this week and I'm summarily exhausted. I've also been trying to spend time with people before I go and therefore have had lunch and/or dinner plans every single day. I kind of love people this week.

I leave tomorrow for DC and then go straight to Phoenix for my birthday extravaganza, and then come back for 4 days of super-packing with Krysten before I load the truck.

Oh, and when I'm not packing or seeing people, I'm cramming for the GRE. *yawn*

update from the OC

This week has been crazy fun and there are so many stories I've been wanting to blog, but I've been busy with work and Ashley and Harry Potter (no spoilers please!- I'm still only 1/3 way through!) that I haven't been spending much time on ye olde blog. Thus, this post will be a little random.

First, this story reinforces my belief that cats are agents of the devil.

Second, Krysten's powers over Photoshop color me astounded, though not as much as the now-cemented knowledge that clearly, David Tennant and I belong together:

Third, Ashley and I have been having a blast here, man, I love that girl, and working with a friend makes work a whole different experience~ but the best evening was last night when we went to the OC County Fair to see Toad the Wet Sprocket and Guster. Both bands were awesome and we were on the 4th row in the pit! Also, Glen Phillips looked directly at me and smiled. For real. Ashley saw it too. His wedding ring made me cry a little bit. I was always a big fan of Toad back in the day- I have all 7 of their albums, and Guster is from Boston so Ashley's been seeing them in seedy bars for years. It was perfect show for us. Uncle Al, you might say it was our "life concert."

Our drive there involved my favorite line of the week. So, we're in our rental car in Southern California, and we're sitting at an intersection where the entry to I-5 ("the 5") South is to our left, and and the entry to the 5 North is to our right. There's not a cloud in the sky and we're staring directly into the setting sun. Ashley was driving and I was navigating us onto a street that runs parallel to the 5. I told her we needed to go "this way" on Harbor. "No," she said. "We need to go south!" I was like, well, the Convention Center is behind us, and Harbor dead-ends into it, so we have to be going the right way. She insists we're not going the right way. I turn the map around and around and stare at it, and finally say, "let's just take the 5 because I can't figure out which way is south." She stares into the setting sun, and looks left onto the 5 south, and says "I'm pretty sure south is left. Who's in &*%-ing Mensa now???" I laughed all the way to the fair.

We came home after the show and turned Ashley's bathroom sink into a bar/chemistry lab, where we concocted the perfect drink, which is a marriage of my favorite drink: vodka-grapefruit and Ashley's favorite drink: vodka-soda-splash of cranberry. We're calling it "the full circle" (inside joke) and it's vodka-soda-cranberry-grapefruit. It's pretty awesome. It's our life drink!

So, I got my September-October schedule and it's frightening. Basically, I fly to Dallas tomorrow, have to drive to Nacogdoches on Saturday, back to Dallas on Sunday, then have Monday-Thursday to start packing my apartment, then to DC, Phoenix for my birthday with Krysten and Chanelle, back to Dallas for 5 more days of packing (thank you, Krysten!), and then I have a show in town. The day after that show, the movers are showing up to collect my apartment and take it 1700 miles northwest.

On the 28th or 29th of August, I'll fly out myself, and have about a week to unpack and settle myself in before I start work again (Chanelle, wanna come?). September and October bring me 6 shows, each with exactly 3 days between them. The lucky part is that in my new home town I get to work at home more often. I'll be hitting San Francisco (home!), Iowa for T's wedding, Santa Clara, Las Vegas, San Francisco (home!), Orlando, and Garden Grove, CA. Eeee!

OK, reading that paragraph just made me tired. I should sign off- this post has taken me about 3 hours to write because I have lots of needy (and stupid) exhibitors bothering me.

Two more things. A) I will never understand people who talk on their cell phones in the stall of a public restroom (or private bathroom either, but that's a whole 'nother therapy session) and B) Apple giftcards make great birthday presents for girls who need new iPods.

Oh, and C) sorry about the length of this post.

a lunch option at the Anaheim CC

And this place is across the street from Disneyland!!

perchance to dream

Remember when I had that dream about my carpet being like grass? We saw this rug when we were furniture shopping on Saturday and Uncle Al pointed it out to me. Awesome!



Last night I dreamed that my hair was falling out. Well, not really falling out as much as everytime I ran my hands through it, big handfuls came out in my hand. Creepy. According to the internet it means I'm experiencing an insidious loss of energy and/or am feeling out of control about a situation. Which is funny, because before I moved to New York in 2003, I had a recurring dream about being on an escalator that was going too fast, and not being able to get off without hurting myself.

In other news, I sold my car (yay!) and I can't believe how fast it happened or I would have waited. I posted it on Craigslist at midnight on Monday and had sold it by Tuesday evening. The whole thing took less than 24 hours. A huge load off my shoulders.

Moving is stressing me out. I've been making index card lists for each day of the week, so I can cross things off of it at the end of the day and actually feel like I accomplished something. That way I feel stressed in the morning (like right now) because there's 10 things on my list and I haven't even showered yet, but by the time I sit down at night at least 8 of them are crossed off and I don't feel bad about rolling the additional 2 over to tomorrow. Buuut, I can't do that tonight because I'm leaving at 5:45am tomorrow for Anaheim. And when I get back I have to drive to Nacogdoches to see my dad before I leave. And then 5 days after that I leave for DC, then straight to Phoenix. Ack!

No rest for the weary. Although there are, apparently, dreams.

doot-doo-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo

My surgery went OK on Friday. I got three moles removed: one on my forehead (goodbye, blue freckle!), one on my sternum, and one on my upper thigh. I got to watch the one on my thigh and it was pretty gross. She used a little tool that looked like an tiny apple corer, and pulled a plug of my body out. I could see it, but I couldn't feel it, and it was really, really weird.

For some reason, I'm having a lot of pain in the incision on my sternum. I'm not sure if that spot has more nerve endings, or something is wrong with it, but it's really hurting. I can't sleep on my side or my stomach because of where the incision is, and I hate sleeping on my back, so I slept fitfully last night. Hopefully I'm so tired now that I'll get a few hours in tonight.

Bill took me to the doctor and then we went to see Harry Potter. It was a little jumbled but I loved it.

I rode with my cousin Julia to Austin today to have lunch with her parents (Uncle Al, the kiddies' pal, and my Auntie Sandy) and her brother Justin. We had brunch and went furniture shopping (for the J-Man's birthday) and then had some ice cream before we drove back. It was a quick trip but I'm glad I got to see them all before I left town. They're my favorite; I'm still convinced I was born to the wrong Barclay.



This is going to be a crazy week- I have a lot going on with the move before I leave for Southern California on Friday. I'll hopefully have a firm move date and some boxes in my hands before I leave.

be sure and wear flowers in your hair

Sooooo, here goes: I'm moving to San Francisco to pursue my Nursing degree at UCSF. There were many, many factors that went into my decision-making process, and the hardest part- nay, the ONLY hard part, was knowing I will have to leave friends behind, but I know I won't lose them.

Most likely I will be moving August 28th. If this changes I will let you know ASAP.

The program is a Masters program for people who have non-nursing bachelors. I'll be in school for the same amount of time but come out with a better degree. Nurses in California are the highest paid in the country, so it will be a great place to start work, and I'll have my RN after only 1 year. The biggest positive with this program is that I'm already done with my prerequisites, so I can keep my job up until the second I start school. If I had gone with the Texas program I would have to quit my job to take a few more classes (American government to be an RN? Thank you, Texas public university!) before I even applied, and then potentially be out of work if for some reason I didn't make it into the program. Last time I was without a job it took me almost a year to find one, so I need to protect my employment as a back-up.

The reason I'm moving so quickly is that my best friend from high school, Brad, who currently lives there, has a "west coast Jamie" named Susie who recently took a post with my company. She is looking for a roommate come September 1st. She will be an ideal roommate for me as we will more than likely have overlapping travel schedules so I will have all the benefits of a roommate splitting the bills while still getting plenty of time to myself. With the competitive and expensive housing situation in San Francisco, it is more beneficial for me to move now and have a roommate and an apartment lined up than wait a few months and have neither. Plus, this gives me an opportunity to establish residency in California so I don't have to pay out-of-state tuition.

I'm home the rest of this week and next. July 20-27 I will be in Anaheim, CA, home from the 27th to August 3. August 3-10 I will be in DC, and 10-14 in Phoenix. I'll be here in Dallas the rest of the August, but will be working downtown 20-28th. I will more than likely be throwing a little going-away party Friday August 25th, so please mark that date down. I want to see you all before I go!

This might come as a shock to some of you, but rest assured I have been thinking about it, praying about it, and weighing my pros/cons for at least a month. This seems to be a really great step for me personally and professionally. I hope you will all come visit me on the West Coast!!

child's play

This photograph makes me ill:


It's from the MSNBC Week in Pictures and the tag line says: A 4-year old Iraqi cries as older boys stage a mock execution in Baghdad on Monday, July 2. Children's games are heavily influenced by ongoing violence in the country, and one of the more popular activities is staging clashes between militias and police.

I know this post is kind of a downer, but I honestly can't believe we live in a world where children see this so often it becomes part of their make-believe. I often turn a blind eye to the news; it was a jolt to me to remember how lucky I am.

Happy Birthday, America!!

It's been a crazy week. Lots of things are going on and possible big news coming soon- sounds cryptic I know. More to come.

Things that have gone on: Madison's birthday, 4th of July, school-related stress, 2nd dates, work scheduling, bridesmaids dresses, the great apartment clean-out of 2007- including the successful (though time-consuming) transferring of approximately 120 cds to hard drive. Things to come: Adam's surgery, the Big Yard Sale of 2007, my little skin cancer procedure, Harry Potter (!), Phoenix.

So, sorry this is dashed off but there will be a more thorough update soon. Kisses!!

my big book of grievances, part 37

You know what's really annoying? Coming home to a freezer full of empty ice trays. Especially? When you live alone.

I've been catching up on my TV:

• I know there's a lot of debate on the Sopranos finale, but I liked it. I didn't particularly enjoy the 10 or so seconds that I thought my DVR was malfunctioning (would it kill you to use a fade-to-black, David Chase?) but I liked the ending.
  
• I also caught up on 4 episodes of Studio 60 (which I know, I know, is high-brow crap, but I liked it) and
  
• the season finale of House, which I am starting to not care about.
  
• Oh, and Standoff? Did that get renewed? Am I the only person in America that watches it? Because I really, really like it.

I haven't got to Big Love or John from Cincinnati yet. Oh! or The 4400. Man, I love year-round programming.

the hippie is strong with me today.

That's what Erin always says to me when I come over smelling like rosewood or lavender. She thinks all my oils smell like patchouli, even though I hate patchouli and don't have a single scent containing it. :)

Nathaniel bought me a terrapass. The company calculates your ecological footprint and then counteracts it with an clean-emission energy source. Basically they reduce the 40,000 lbs of CO2 that my own personal air travel adds to the ozone each year. So I am now a certified carbon-balanced traveler, and have a luggage tag that says so. I'm sure a lot of you will think that is a crazy gift, but I thought it was really sweet.

Tomorrow night is date night with Superman & Wonderwoman (and we've recently added a 4th to our little Justice League... enter Pixieboots). The rules for date night are pretty stringent: you have to wear a superhero shirt (or the next nerdiest shirt in your suitcase-- mine on this trip will be a Doctor Who shirt; I forgot my Batgirl tee). Wonderwoman & Batgirl have to wear their hair in pigtails because it makes Superman happy. Batgirl is in charge of picking the restaurant and the bar, so Superman & Wonderwoman don't have to make any decisions. There is no photographic evidence of date night. There's usually an end-of-the-night group hug that leads Batgirl into declaring that she is going back to her room alone and prissing "you all have dirty minds!!" Who knows what we'll think of next but I'm sure it will be sketchy at best.

In other fun news, I booked my flight to see Krysten and Chanelle! Wheeee!

the worst case of the Sunday night blues EVER... on Monday.

I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow. Because it turns out? I am really, really good at not working. Truly, I excel at it. I have had one of the best weeks ever, and I couldn't be more bummed out about having to set my alarm tomorrow, and wear make-up, and put on SOCKS. *slump*

OK, so.... Maui. Thanks, Shels, for pointing me toward the Makai Inn. It couldn't have been cuter. No maid service, no TV, no telephone even, but the kitchiest little rooms with mismatched beach towels and funky seashell lamps, and just a wonderful homey and eccentric place. I loved it.

And I loooooooved Maui! Honolulu-where? C'MON![/Gob] Maui is gorgeous, and not like the way you think of Hawai'i with white sand beaches and palm trees. It's full of mountains and rainforests and black sand beaches and sugar plantations and cattle ranches. It's pretty much about the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Oh, it's just wonderful. No cities, so the stars are brilliant, and the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets I've ever seen. Plus it's always raining in the mountains and sunny on the coast, so there's literally rainbows everywhere you look. I could really get used to the island life. I never even took my hair dryer out of my suitcase. No make-up, no watch, just flipflops and tank tops over my bathing suit all day every day. Heaven!!

The first day there we drove the Road to Hana. 52 miles, 3 rental cars (3!!), 71 one-way bridges, and over 300 hairpin curves. It was a crazy, breathtaking drive that I made at about 10 mph, while Bree hung over the edge of whatever car we happened to be in at the time and took over 300 pictures. The majority of the road is through a rainforest, and to the west there are sheer cliffs plunging down to lava rocks or black sand beaches, and to the east are green mountains that trail up into the clouds. The shallow coral reefs turn the ocean all sorts of brilliant shades of blue and green-- our pictures don't even begin to do it justice. Here you can kind of see the road cut into the side of the mountain:



The second day we got on a bus at 2am and drove up to the top of Haleakala. That's the extinct-though-some-scientists-say-it's-just-dormant volcano that created the island of Maui. You could fit the island of Manhattan in the crater (7 miles across), and the rim's elevation is at about 10,000 ft. (That's about twice as high as Denver, for relativity.) We watched the sun rise around 5:20am, way up above the cloud cover. It's like you're walking around on Mars up there:



Bree took the bus back down but I took a bicycle. It was one of the most stunning things I've ever done. The trail is in the Guiness Book of World Records because it goes from 10,000 ft. to sea level in less than 40 miles. I biked it, yo, although I never once turned the pedals. It was kind of like snow-skiing, but on asphalt, and with the vague sensation that if you fell down it would probably hurt a lot more. We stayed between 15-25mph, and the first half was way above the clouds, through the 3rd largest cattle ranch in the United States, randomly, and the 2nd half was through a lot of protea fields and more residential areas, that smelled of fir and rosemary and lavender. I don't have enough adjectives to describe it.

The following day we toured a lavender garden and a winery. The lavender garden was really interesting - it's at about 4,000 ft, and apparently the lava rock creates a natural irrigation system for the fields because it's so pourous-- when it rains up at the top it all filters down to the fields. It was beautiful. The winery was really pretty, too, and yes, I brought back some pineapple wine.

The last day we went snorkeling and I haven't developed my underwater pictures yet, but we went out on a biodiesel boat to the Molokini crater (obviously, not my photo) and it was really awesome. I saw a ton of fish and an eel, and a big sea turtle. Bree and I also took lots of pictures of the windmills; for some reason I'm completely obsessed with them. It was really cloudy up that high so I couldn't get a good shot, but still, they're just so sci-fi and creepy (click to enlarge).




That night we also went to a traditional Hawaiian luau. It was fun but really touristy, and not something I really ever have to do again.

The flight home was eventful and we almost didn't make it, but 3 airplanes and 12 hours later I landed in San Diego, and I spent the weekend with Sloane & Rob. We saw a Neil Diamond cover band and went kayaking in the Pacific and ate sushi and watched Arrested Development, and I got to hang with three of my favorite pooches in the world. I almost cried when I had to check into my hotel tonight.

So there you have it. My Hawaiian vacation. Back to work tomorrow, with a peeling nose and probably a piss-poor attitude. Did anyone miss me??

here today, gone to Maui

Sorry I haven't updated until now. The show sucked and I feel like all I did was work and sleep for the past 10 days (and eat... they are not healthy people, these islanders) but we finally finished yesterday and went to the beach:



It was breathtaking, and those whitecaps you see down there were pretty serious. You know how in the cartoons, when the water makes a fist and just pummels you in the face? Yeah, it was like that. That ocean kicked ass and took names. Ill-named, the Pacific. It knocked me right off my feet, more than once, and I'm pretty sure I never have to eat salt again based on the amount of the sea I ingested this afternoon alone. I also, despite my liberal and frequent applications of SPF 55 (55!), got burnt to a crisp, and at the moment trying to decide if it will be more painful for me to wear a bra and sleeves, or wear a halter top that hits me in all the right un-burned places, but listen to everyone say something to the effect of "Wow, you really got some SUN!" ... as if I wasn't painfully, painfully aware.



I am packing to hop a 35-minute flight to Maui. I am really looking forward to getting off Oahu- about 75% of Hawai'i's 1.2 million people live here in the city and truthfully, I am not impressed with Honolulu in general. I won't have internet access for the next few days, but I'll be back stateside next weekend and will hopefully have lots of pictures and stories for you.

Aloha!

a plug for independent film...

I promise to update about Hawai'i soon (I'm working my ass off but once I'm out of work the world is just a little bit more beautiful here than it is at home) but for now I need to plug a film made by a friend of my Uncle Al's. Dave is an Austin filmmaker and although it has won numerous awards, his film doesn't have the advertising budget of a big summer blockbuster. Please go see it, and tell your friends about it, too.

CHALK is a comedy about new teachers, made by former teachers, and shot in the style of NBC’s ‘The Office.’ 50% of teachers quit within the first three years. This film is dedicated to those who don’t.

Watch the trailer!

Read reviews!!

Do that myspace thang!!!

CHALK is currently playing in...

SAN DIEGO -- Landmark Ken Cinema

ST. LOUIS -- Landmark Tivoli Theatre

AUSTIN -- Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar

AUSTIN -- Regal Arbor

CHICAGO -- Landmark Century Center Cinemas

DALLAS -- Landmark Magnolia

CHALK is coming soon to New York, NY -- June 8 and Atlanta, GA -- June 15.

da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da

That's what my cell phone ring sounds like these days. I changed it to the Hawaii 5-0 theme and do a little air-surfing whenever it rings. The new banner is my attempt to say "No Day but Today" in Hawaiian, and I'm fairly certain I botched it. Maybe I'll learn something more when I get there.

Remember when the Brady Bunch went to Hawai'i? Bobby found that Tabu necklace in the ancient burial ground, and Peter woke up with a tarantula on his chest, and Greg almost drowned during his surfing competition, and then all 3 boys got kidnapped and kept in the Tiki caves, and the girls didn't do much except worry what to tell their parents when they boys weren't back for dinner. Ahhh, the 70's. Guest-starring Don Ho and Vincent Price. Classic.

So, I leave tomorrow for a couple of days in LA with Ashley, and then straight on to Honolulu on Thursday, where Lena, Rori, Breanna and I plan on lying on the beach (in ascending order of skin tone, so I don't have to look SO white, lol). We might work a little, as well (OK, we unfortunately will be working our a$$es off, but I haven't quite faced that fact just yet).

On June 10, Breanna and I are headed to Maui, where we have big fun planned:

• The Road to Hana
  
• sunrise bike trip on Haleakala
• a lavender garden
• a traditional luau
• surfing lessons
• snorkeling and dolphin-watching

For starters. How we intend to cram all that fun into 4 days of vacation, you might ask? Well, very carefully, is the answer. I promise to post pictures and anecdotes.

After Maui I will be spending a weekend in San Diego with my friends Sloane and Rob, and then I have another week there working with my friends Superman and Wonderwoman. I will be home the 24th of June.

Please call me while I'm gone. I love hearing from you guys, and now have the added bonus of the ringtone.