game plan.

Just to clarify, my five-year fancy plan is as it sounds. I hope to be a fancy person in five year's time. That is all.
You are most welcome to join me in this effort!

goodness, more good-ness!

Adventurous good days continue! 

Friday evening, due to a mishap with the print for our $2 Film,--guy accidentally took G.I. JOE print when he came for FANTASTIC MR. FOX. Brakewater messenger fail--I ended up spontaneously visiting Royal/T with Cakes, Mustardseed, and IlyAngela for the Hello Kitty Three Apples event! 

(Note: I thought my Friday evening was dead upon confirming the cancellation of our CEC $2 movie. Cheers to a confident social life.)

Halloween all over again. This evening's specific theme was a Masquerade, which translates, of course, to slutty. I wouldn't be surprised if the next variation was Hello Biker or Hooker Kitty. Times are a changin'...We simply dressed "cutesy" as Hello Kitty might. After a two hour line, we finally entered shrine kitty. Imagine if Hello Kitty threw up all over Las Vegas and you have it. Shockingly, I only spent $10 at the exclusive HK store, but it was on something really dumb. 

Ended with a most nomsome McD's run; devoured a Filet-o-fish, happy meal, sundae and apple pie. No regrets. 

Saturday was a delectable day. Rach drove Jeffries, Conor, George and myself to Westfield Topanga for Jeffreezy's participation in a real-life pie contest!! He entered his banana creme pie among 149 others and stood out in a sea of desperate housewives and ladies who'd probably been baking since childhood with their grandmothers. This was great, though, good publicity as the LA Times reporter followed him around. The contest itself was entertaining. There were legitimate judges, such as Chef Mark Peel, deciding within various categories: cream/custard; savory; interpretive; fruit & nut. The best part...sampling afterward! No shame on being aggressive in the pie mosh to get as many samples and as much variety as possible. 

Today, Rach and I discovered a Hollywood gem. Space 15Twenty on Cahuenga. Not only is it a 13,000 square foot Urban Outfitters (the most gorgeous, fanciest one you can imagine), but it's also a collaborative space with other brands, with pop-up space, galleries, performances, a monthly vintage flea market, one street over from the Hollywood Farmer's Market and other unique events. Dont judge me on this next part. 

Today was the last day to "take additional 50% off all Women's SALE items", thus, I went crazy. I couldn't get the deal out of my mind, especially since it was he last day. There was also the Spike Jonze book launch/Q&A/signing event nearby so I ended up going back to Hollywood with Danny. We had a great time at the signing--ran into Dongyi, Priscilla and friends in line. It was held at FAMILY books, a charming hole-in-the-wall, curated book shop that carries unique and limited print, art, music, dvds. Spike was equally charming, a bit absent-minded, but that pays compliment to his creativity and imagination. Continued my shameless day by asking if he'd come speak at UCLA. Promising!

Back to UO at 15Tweny. In total, I spent $209 on 21 pieces. I KNOW, but I believe that's probably one of the best deals on clothes I've ever gotten, especially at UO. Don't worry, I'm letting the clothes sit in the bag as I stew over everything for a few days. I will review my purchases and most likely make returns. To delude myself, I'm considering today's damage as one stipend check, money I never had and simply won't see.  Also, if you laid out all my purchases, it would look like a tea party for elderly ladies and the matching wallpaper in their nursing home. So worth it. I'm building more and more toward my fancy plan.

Director's meeting and Yogurtland/Nijya trip capped off the night. I've promised several people that I'd try to make it to bed before sunrise, and more specifically, before 3 am. I'm cutting rather close, so goodnight!

three day mid-week-end

Exactly as it sounds, I've enjoyed a 3-day weekend this Tuesday-Thursday. Much gratitude to the veterans.

Tuesday was my day for running errands and tying up loose ends. At night we screened THE ROAD, a beautifully made film full of stark but gorgeous cinematography and a stellar performance by Viggo Mortensen, who carried alongside other equally amazing support. I've never read Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name, but having seen it brought to life, I'm all the more anxious. Q&A with producers Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz was actually one of my favorites over the years. The Schwartz's were most charming, insightful and attentive and eager to answer the students' questions--which were also surprisingly thoughtful. They had a great time and returned the compliment; this screening and Q&A was one of their favorites.

After the CEC sneak, we had a full-blown girl's night at Ali's place. Enjoyed some hilariously fun times baking the weirdest mix of funfetti and red velvet cupcakes, regular and mini, then using the leftover blood batter for a curdling, unappetizing in appearance, cake. Vanilla frosting to top it all off plus kettle corn accompanied our own screening of LOVE ACTUALLY just right. I also did a number to my stomach by eating 3 frosted cupcakes and a whole bag of kettle corn. We'll just call it preparation for next-day eats instead of the dumb idea that it actually was.


The holiday.
Rach and I went on an exploratory adventure of the Hollywood and Mid-Wilshire area.
We started off at Susan Feniger's Street

Rach's Chocolate Mint Rooiboos Tea

My beef brisket Reuben. The extra zing was that they used Jarlsberg Cheese! Excellent!

A neglected, underrated color. All the pictures had a pumpkin glow, but the variations on orange were a pleasant surprise.

 

I'd go back for the quirky ambiance and good food, as well as an "extensive tea menu". Our waiter and all the servers were extremely nice. Proves that good service really makes a difference.

We then got lost trying to find the Miracle Mile. Sadly, we realized that we hadn't really explored all of Los Angeles that has been so close to us all these years. Also, all the "cool stuff/sights" that you seem to drive by on the way to somewhere less exciting, is impossible to find when that's what you're looking for.

Finally we ended up on La Brea where a crazy open antique/garage market was sitting out on the corner lot. I love going to these and being surrounded by the most amusing and bizarre mix of furniture and knick knacks.

That was one of the....classier? pieces of furniture among the sea of leopard and zebra print ottomans, couches, armchairs, chaises, you name it. There was also a solid collection available in red velvet fit for King Tacky of Ed Hardy castle.

Did some more wandering. Over 3-4 hours, we covered maybe a block? Pathetic. We couldn't help ourselves from stopping in every store, browsing, creating magical if-we-won-the-lottery wish lists in our heads. I gave in $30 at one place for a fancy candle and matches to match!. By the way, my five-year plan has a name now; I call it The Fancy Plan. My goal is to become a fancy person by the time I'm 25. This doesn't necessarily mean stinking rich, though that would be nice. Mainly, I want to be able to afford weird things according to my naturally strange tastes (like any one of those treasures above), but then be able to appear fancy and put-together in my clothes when I go out to eat at nicer, non fast food places where I'll hopefully meet a fancy beau.

At night we all went out to celebrate Danny's 22nd. Ate well at Urth, then bought desserts to go and devoured them while sitting in a circle on the sidewalk of a local park/rec center. Everyone enjoyed the low-key evening, all in agreement that a smaller, more intimate hang out with good company is a much better time than a loud, crazy party any day. Then again, the lot of us are all old, over-the-hill seniors that have grown out of the fratmosphere or never enjoyed it to begin with.


Thursday was a bum day. Bummed around like a bum. Mind you, I never failed to send a ton of gmails over my 3-day mid-week-end. Aside from that, I woke up, slothed, showered, then found my mission awesome of the day: take advantage of the Coffee Bean 12oz. Winter promotion. Wandered to the Gayley/Weyburn and tried a free Peppermint White Chocolate Latte. Now, I've always hated coffee, the smell, the bitter medicinal taste and am thus ridiculously sensitive to it. But I will say that I barely noticed whatever coffee-esque component (because I'm completely clueless about what the heck goes in these mysterious drinks) was in this latte. Great for me, crap for coffee lovers. I made my way to the CEC office, did some office errands, then met up with Rach and Danny for milk-the-free-stuff-for-all-its-worth part deux. Got myself a Winter Dream Tea Latte--another sugary sweet delight! Kudos, Coffee Bean! Your plan worked and I'll be frequenting your shop for these.

The night was FANTASTIC MR. FOX. Wes Anderson is a cinematic mastermind, as are all the actors who voiced. I won't say much more. Everyone go see it.

a good weekend.

That is was. You can bet that this is a 360 turn in tone from my last post and much needed. Please excuse the length. An epic weekend calls for an epic post.

Saturday...well, I can't quite remember what I did during the day. What's worse is that I'm trying to backtrack on my tweets to remember my activities. But Saturday evening I was able to catch LMFAO on their Party Rock Tour since I missed out during Bruin Bash. The lineup was entertaining and I will describe them to you because what else am I gonna write about on my blog?

Space Cowboy: himself was weird and you could tell he had the low budget backup dancers. I couldn't really figure out what he was...a European Sean Paul to describe it best? Put on a fun set, though.

Paradiso Girls: Spice Girls + Pussycat Dolls. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Good eye candy for the boys as well.

FM (Far East Movement): Like, love, gotta have. They're amazing live and I'm proud that this group of four Asians are dropping hot beats and competing with the best of all the hip hop/EDM/rap music out there.

Shwayze: Wasn't entirely their fault, but I had a bone to pick with Shwayze during their set. Changes took forever and their set was an hour, maybe more, of basically an eclectic Uncle Kracker + Fresh Prince rap duo singing/rapping about everything illegal to tunes that sounded like tracks you'd hear on Kidz Bop. The length and the fact that they were a bit of a buzzkill after FM's far-too-short set and before LMFAO, didn't sit well with me.

LMFAO: They really do know how to party. I wish I could've seen them during Bruin Bash with thousands of UCLA students, but this Palladium show was a fine consolation. You can't go wrong when you wear metallic pants and drink booze from a bottle covered in rhinestones. So much more epic live as well.

The Palladium: This was my first time seeing a show here and I loved the venue. It had a bit of a lounge-y Vegas feel, circular inside, very open, but still small and intimate enough. It's a good compromise between the detached stadium atmosphere and the hole-in-the-wall alley club.

The crowd: Apparently this was an all ages show. Of course, I despised and looked down upon the kids who looked like they were 10 years old as well as the kids who were actually 10 years old. Seriously, those parents belong on TMZ. To give you another mental picture, I thought that the ground had a sunken floor because there was such an obvious dip in height about halfway back from the stage where our group started. Of course, that height difference was due to the fact that everyone excited and energetic enough to crowd the stage and halfway back was probably between the ages of (give or take) 10 to 17. This also made me feel like a creepy soccer mom, but I reassured myself that I was age appropriate among babies and the elderly, who should not be at the hot pants Party Rock Tour anymore, mid-life crisis or not.

Sunday morning also escapes me. I'm still clicking "more" at the bottom of my twitter homepage in a desperate attempt to fill in the blanks. With every click, a part of me dies, while my social networking life may or may not live on.

Epic music weekend culminated on Sunday night with the UCLA Jay-Z concert. Here goes:

Wale: Insulted that he was first to perform to a half empty Pauley Pavilion. To me and other loyal followers (such as his No.1 fan, Kid Freezy), he's rap/hip-hop's next big thing. I'm baffled at how long it's taken and that it's taking for Wale to really explode, but I'll be so glad when he picks up. Oh and uhm HE RAN UP OUR SECTION AND RAPPED RIGHT IN OUR AISLE...YEAH WE JAMMED WITH HIM, for maybe 20 seconds, but they were magical.

J. Cole: I was biased because of my intense love for everyone else performing that evening. Apparently he performed, but I honestly don't remember J. Cole's stage time at all. Perhaps being sandwiched by Wale and N*E*R*D wasn't the best for him, regardless, I think he did a song or two. I'll download and give him due listening time later.

N*E*R*D: Another jackpot. I'll be changing my name to Mrs. Pharrell Williams down at the courthouse. Also, we got to LINE THE END OF THE STAGE AND JAM RIGHT UP FRONT during their whole set. No big. Amazing. Lupe Fiasco also made a guest appearance.

Up to this point, while having the time of my life, I'd uttered, "OMG", "I'M DYING", "WTF" and general unintelligible noises like "WAHHH" "EEEE" GAHHH" at least 10-15 times. Yes, I'm 21 and not 12, music just gets me going. Then came the man and multiply my noises by 100.

Jay-Z: J-Hova, Hova, H.O.V.A.! Words cannot describe how brilliant his performance was. I know this sounds like a gross exaggeration and you who turn your nose up to "mainstream rap noise" are completely insulted, but there is no doubt that this man put on a SHOW. As dlv noted, Jay-Z brought with him a 10-piece band and truly lived up to his D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune) stance--criticizing it's overuse and abuse as a gimmick and "crutch" for emerging artists. I also couldn't take my eyes off of his amazing soundstage and visual screen setup. That fact that Jay-Z wanted this concert and so exclusively for UCLA students made it all the more unique. Hova, I wouldn't worry about losing a young audience just yet. You're not going anywhere for a while.

The crowd: This concert was one of the best I've ever been to not only because of it's 100% epic ranking, but also because I enjoyed it with ten lovely CEC friends. We danced the hardest and sang the loudest...so much so that there was an obvious buffer of space that formed around our seats. Our flailing arms and bounce definitely needed space, and you know what, to everyone who attended and to those who decide to go to fun shows only to SIT through them, please re-evaluate your idea of fun. That's like standing during a chair-testing conference or something. (That was a horrible analogy, but you get what I mean).

I doubt you enjoyed reading this as much as I loved writing and re-living this one, but hopefully it stirred up appreciation for some fun, dance music and the notion that there is good rap out there, not all of it's crap and "noise" as my dad likes to call it. He obviously comes from a different era and is more particular. When I get to one, I'll post about some butt-kicking indie/alt/folk show, though you'll probably get a post about how much I love Disney music first.

perspective

For the first time, got to see the filmsie noobs staffing solo and they were lovely! Fumbled around a bit, as they are new, but in the least cheesy way possible, their noob-innocence was so thoroughly refreshing. I miss that. It's only a year or two in age and/or experience, but the difference is there. Being a director and dealing with the extra responsibility that comes with it, definitely takes its toll. This is just one of many heavy, thought-provoking topics that has occupied time and space in my senior year and unfortunately leads to the heaviest of topics.

Got a text from my dad during STAR TREK that my Uncle Bob had died of a heart attack that very evening. Of course the fact of his passing hit me, but not as hard as the fact that I hadn't realized how much time had passed since I'd last seen him. Commence family history-flashback...

Uncle Bob and Aunt Hyun lived together in Florida--that's where they've always been since I can remember. Their first house was on Apopka Lane, which I'll never forget because I loved that it sounded like popcorn. I still do. Their slight name discrepancy has reason. Aunt Hyun, my mom's sister, married, did you guess?, Irishman Uncle Bob. Imagine a typical, large, rosy-flushed face, Kris Kringle type, but with a hot-blooded Irish temper--he was the "scary one" in the family, but only when provoked. Together, Hyun and Bob had five beautiful happa children, one of those obnoxiously perfect families. I say that with utmost love and respect, spent a good chunk of my childhood with them all. They're the ones that got me swimming! Sad thing is, I was the least close with Uncle B. Nevertheless, tonight something clicked with my dad's text.

I've been lucky enough thus far not to have suffered any close deaths in the family, but this summer with my mom extending her stay in Korea because of my grandparents deteriorating conditions, and now with Uncle Bob's sudden passing, I'm terrified. Just terrified in general of life and death. I never talk to people about it, but I do ponder it to myself every once in a while just to keep myself in check and appreciative of what I've got. I know I've been fortunate and that people have already suffered losses much earlier and much worse than I have at this point. Right now, I'm still unsure how to cope and what the best way to deal with these very real and substantial situations. The worst part is that both my grandparents in Korea and Uncle Bob are so far from me and that I've been rather detached since childhood.

Mom's flying out Thursday for the funeral service. Uncle Bob is to be cremated--another random weighty topic I examine when engaged in life thoughts and conversations. I wish I could console the family and give them closure in this time of confusion and grief. Bottom line is that he was only in his 60's with a clean bill of health. In this day and age, only is certainly appropriate to say. I can only think of how my mom, who became Christian later on in her life, is questioning things. But we also know that heart attacks are malicious; they can happen to any one at any time, for various reasons, regardless of how healthy one might be. I've just been forced to think about all these things at once now..life, death, God, what I believe.

I know that I'll be dealing with Uncle Bob's passing and the reality of my grandparents' conditions little by little, everyday. I'm not jaded or trying to purposely distract myself, but I can't just break down in the middle of fall quarter...that's already pretty much happened. For my sake, I have to handle it in my own way (whatever that means) but keep it together and finish the quarter. There is plenty to do, I have the greatest of company to keep me sane, and for those things I am forever wealthy and grateful.

On a side note, I realized that my compulsive, comma, usage, ailment, has yet to go away. I'd like to think I make up for that by being a snooty stickler for proper grammar in all other aspects of the system. Please count them and let me know where they are unnecessary, thanks.

don't bring me down

ELO - DON'T BRING ME DOWN

Apologies for a potential double muzak attack. You can turn off my player at the bottom.
ELO is a mom 'n' pop and childhood fav. Love the shift at 1:00. Lynne is actually saying "gross", not "Bruce", but due to so much misinterpretation, he kept the name.

What is useless Jeopardy knowledge for $5.00?

mmm pretty.

Friday = Star Trek baseball cap, black velour sweats, GAP men's sweatshirt.
Oh, tack on a bluetooth earpiece and combat boots. I...am...spart--soccer dad.

This outfit was most favorable on the drive back to LA today. Skipped the morning rush and drove straight through, sans traffic. K-EARTH 101 was playing the coolest medley of songs. Naturally, I sang my heart out to each one, with a quick Tay Tay on KOST interlude, then switched back to The Rascals, Beach Boys and Jackson 5. During the drive, I was in a genuine state of sublimity. Dropped the kids off at the pool, put the groceries in the fridge...

Who's living the dream? This here lady.

I, soccer motherfather, am the antithesis of mod man. For real fashion, please reference ++.

I'll attempt a 360 for tonight's Diplo show. It's all ages, but I'm sure they don't need a creepy 80-year old there.

reasons I don't need drank

5. It doesn't taste delicious. Wine = Dimeatap. Everything else = rubbing alcohol or flaming Dimeatap. Do not want.
4 1/2. Takes up precious stomach space which I'd much rather fill with awesome food.
4. Beer bellies, alchy gut. Not want.
3. Drink stink or drank stank. No want.
2. Naturally forgetful, don't need to black out.
1. Already drunk off life.

Also, I prefer provoking the plastered (only the right people, of course, who are joyous when inebriated), then being a historian for them and filling in their porous stories and comforting them in their mornings after.

my worst nightmare

Spent this past week in a living nightmare: not eating.
?!, you may wonder to yourself. I'm thinking it was just a stomach flu I'd caught last Sunday, but I basically could not keep anything down and went through the week in a constant state of nausea and the most disturbing diet of so much Hatorade and hate-saltines. Basically, for the first time in my life, I fasted.

On top of that, week five and six are my intense midterm weeks and the past consisted of the most ridiculous series of CEC events that had me up all night, every night.

I will say that whatever happened, it was definitely a reality slap in the stomach for me about said atrocious diet.
Don't fret! I, Reptar, am fairly back to normal eating habits. I have yet to go medium at Carl's, but I've already had an In N Out burger so...same difference--reluctant to use that phrase because it's been one of those mystery phrase pet peeves ever since it's conception.


Halloween was somethin'. Rach, Matt, Robby, Yaz, Danny, Jenny and I all got ready together. We did each other's makeup (gents included), crafted and constructed things, used so much hair spray that my apartment and all of our heads were on the brink of bursting into flames. We had a heck of a time at Jeffreezy's--saw some creatively cool costumes, then the usual un-creative but spirited, slutty ones. The night winded down with a most perfect Friends + tea sesh back at Rach's. Far too many moments that made me laugh 'til I cried: Julia Roberts turning tricks again, stockings down, lollipops, fixing up a most happy Wall-E with handy whore tape, the cheeriest clown, and our fav bay area reppin' with some moves, to name some.

Then I realized my old age can't take the insanity of Halloween anymore. Slept right through Hello Kitty's birthday bash at Royal/T 'til 1pm the next day. Even YLC at 11:30pm that night was an exhausting venture. "All I need in this life of sin"....is a cup of tea, PJs, and some Golden Girls. Fin.

Oh yeah, and it doesn't hurt that Jay-Z's coming up and I'm crossing my fingers for the girlfriend.

Shut down

It finally happened. The body had its last straw. This could very well just be a 24-hour stomach flu that I caught, but I'm taking the current shut down as a cold, hard sign that I need to take care of myself better. The vampire/LMFAO sleep-all-day-play-all-night lifestyle isn't working for me anymore.

The worst part, aside from the constant nausea, is the fact that all I can keep down are saltine crackers and Hatorade. No, I'm not knocked up, but definitely being forced to a diet of one who might be.

Many thanks and much love to my friends who were graciously willing to drop me off at the med center in response to my depressing text this morning. Knowing that there are people out there who wouldn't want to see you die, besides mom and dad, is a huge deal. I say that with any sarcasm removed.

Dad came on-call to visit me today, thus resulting in awkward family story #1834. This time he felt the need to tell the waiter at the Ramen place that "she's having stomach problems so can you make it less greasy and oily?"  Awesome, possum. I already looked and smelled unpleasant, but I know everything they do is out of love.

Oh, and props to Ashe Center for being surprisingly unshady. The doctor who examined me seemed very much together and on top of her game. Gotta love exams. It's like getting asked your very own Inside the Actor's Studio questionnaire, except instead of "What's turns you on" and "What's your favorite curse word" you get stuff about bowel movements and family medical history. I left with a can of Gatorade with a STRAW! Felt like a kid.

This is the worst time to get sick with all the events and midterms coming up. Hopefully I'm good to go for tomorrow night.

This BOONDOCK SAINTS II Sneak and Panel is a big event in terms of complexity to arrange. My gmail thread with the mPRm rep is now at 70 exchanges and counting--T.G.4.GMAIL. Fairly certain I've covered everything: tech checks, studio reps, talent, LA Times & Variety press, and all arriving at different times of course, arranging their parking passes, extra guestlists, limited and still fluctuating seat count, formal panel (which I'm supposed to moderate for a bit..die), print canister lock codes?, arranging delivery/pickup, but it's always down to the actual event and anything can happen. I hope for the best! I would also like to have some Yogurtland afterward. Yeah...that would be nice.

Amusicality

The past two days have been greatly entertaining and musical. Thursday manifested itself as most epic nrb/karaoke night ever, thus far.

Crowning moment was everyone witnessing Ty's first time, during which he stole the show for a good 5-6 song block with magical gems like: "Umbrella", "Roxanne", "Part of Your World". Doesn't remember a thing. Amy and I reached the point of laughter where sounds don't even come out but tears do.

We tried a new place, though Feel has always been good to us, Soop Sok Music Studio offered a steal of a deal. Our group of 17 earned us a majestic and spacious room, perfect dance floor, tambourines that lit up like those sneaks you wore at four years old, rotating ceiling colored disco balls, a stage, large LCD, small screens all around. Most nice Korean NRBs are this equipped, but I'd never been able to take advantage of the larger rooms 'til now.

The party continued on Wilshire Blvd. all the way back as we actually took part in an immature, but so freakin' fun windows down, side-by-side, radio-blasting extravaganza. Of course Rach and I abided by the law at all times, stayed buckled, under limit. Late-night In N Out topped off the night perfectly.

This was only the beginning of epic karaoke. Mo' F'sho'.

Friday evening, I caught up with Mustardseed. Had a deeeeelicious NY Reuben at Urth, then wandered Beverly Blvd. a bit.  The night winded down and back up at Amy's with epic Rock Band, Uncharted the movie/the most engaging "video game" I'd ever witnessed, then a most welcome run to BCD on Wilshire.

It's been a good way to let go after a stressful and busy few weeks with papers and the less pretty side of CEC. Being a director definitely holds its perks but there's always the burden of responsibility. Despite all the obstacles so far, I appreciate the experience. Been dipping into the world of leadership, money management, negotiation, delegation, team dynamics, professionalism on a larger, college-level scale. Movin' up and movin' on from student council and ASB days!

Plus you can't beat the people. Love the people.


Week 5 and 6 might end me before 2012.
Three papers, two midterms, Boondock Saints II screening and panel, CMF judging, CMF finale, two $2 movies, Halloween? (least of my worries). Safe to say that I will be relieving major stress November 7-8. Two amazing shows, can't wait, though part of me would love to spend that weekend at home.

Now, with bruised hands from playing the karaoke tambourine and rock band enthusiastically, here goes...

Now's a good a time as any

Revive blog. Go!

I dabbled around wordpress and tumblr, but realized that I settled in nicely chez blogspot, so I'm stickin' with it. I've grown accustomed to it's face and options and html-ness.

But! I bought a flickrpro account….last week. Surprise, I actually did take pictures while I was studying abroad in London, and with pop's fancy DSLR. The art of photogr—picture taking has always been more is more with me. Can’t help it. Ever since I was a youngin’, I’d always take the arts & craft project one bottle of glitter glue too far, one sticker too many…on the tv. On my ten day East Coast trip in eighth grade I took a whopping 600. So you can only imagine how many I took on my ten-day trip to France in high school.

Bit difficult to explain the reasoning behind such excessive snappage. It lies in a sense of fear and urgency, the what-if worries that “I’ll never come here ever again. Every single thing/moment here needs to be captured”, plus that strange bit of me that finds something worth capturing in the most ordinary, uninteresting things. I'd like to think that over the years I’ve refined and edited my eye and judgment for what’s worth capturing. Still, I took a crapload of photos in London, some in raw the rest still in high pixels so it’s taking forever and a day to upload these. Top and bottom player images are a sneak peek. You’ll just have to wait an indefinite amount of time for the rest.

In regular news, I'm still maintaining the world's fastest-way-to-premature-heart-failure diet, aka the Reptar. It's got a nice ring to it like Atkins or South Beach, except with entirely opposite effects.

I've also kept my insomnia in perfect condition, accomplishing the following in a series of all-nighters and sunrises:
--Weeding out the recyclable pages from my Sunday LA Times
--Cutting and saving coupons from redplum and saver inserts. I'm practicing for when I turn 85 in a few years.
--Hulu-ing the first season of Arrested Development for old time’s sake, then
--Engaging in a Tobias quotes-filled twitterstream with @neochoa
--Updating my iCal
--Going through my monthly “If-I-had-a-buttload-of-money-I’d-go-to-these-20some-concerts-which-I’ve-opened-up-in-my-tabs” thing
--Revamping this thing
--Being the ultimate human gmail
--Living and breathing CEC 24/7
--Living and breathing
--Freaking out after PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and FOURTH KIND and after educating myself too much about 2012. Damn Mayans.

The sun and I should be greeting each other shortly.
'Til the next post, hasta.

well, hello there

I know, I know. Fail at blog. London recaps ARE coming, promise and with visual aids.
I think I'll revamp or get a new blog at some point. The tumblr seems to be a world of magic for everyone now.

In the meantime:

Leicester, is pronounced Lester. Not Lie-ches-ter or Lie-ster or Lei-ces-ter as it's so spelled.
Why the "i"? I dunno. Then again, Lecester is not at all an improvement or easier to pronounce.

Shire is pronounced sure, but with a crisp, short vowel.

Warwick is Warrick...don't dare pronounce that second dubya.

Edinburgh is Edinburgoodnesstheyarepicky. Ok, for reals: Edinburh/buruh (as softly and subtly as possible).

Oral Exercise. Pronounce:
1. Gloucester
2. Warwickshire

Extra Credit: Loughborough, Leicestershire.

Thank gawd I didn't have to go there.

According to one of Stratford-upon-Avon's Royal Shakespeare Company's actors, a lovely American he once met pronouced it LugaBaruga. And that sounds perfectly perfect to me.

running around...

like chickens with our heads cut off. That's how LA would look if some catastrophe blackout occurred.

What a day!

11am. To LA. Smooth sailing until the 10 past downtown when traffic just slowed down for no reason AT ALL. Hate that.
12pm. Picked up Joanne. Drove her to a few errands.
1pm. Lunch @ Clementine's. Delish. Like Urth Cafe but with a slightly different demographic of fancy yoga mom's in their yoga mom groups (a little annoying, but the food trumps).
2:20pm. CEC office. Key card access + the start of my 102931029 Waiver Pool forms, mass organization of films posters + free crapswag (a new word I am coining) while watching Netflix Instant: Made of Honor on the lovely 20" mac screen.
6:30pm. Walk back, park car, quick breather at the apt.
7pm. Make pickup rounds: Jenny, DLV, Joanne, then off to Sawtelle
7:30pm. Power outages everywhere. Substantial wait, then ate Asahi Ramen in darkness.
8:45pm. Walked to Sawtelle mini-mall, YL closed, power out, sadness. A trying drive back to Westwood among barbarian Los Angelenos. I realized that if a power outage of a larger area would ever occur, the world would end because people are crazy, impatient, and apparently revert to childlike rashness and incompetency (for the most part).
9:30pm. Finally back to apt.
10:30pm. Cool, evening walk to Westwood Yogurtland, then smiles to frowns. Rach and I were grumpy from the get-go. Firstly, the crowd: summer at UCLA is happenin' but rather annoying with 12-year-olds, 12-year-olds in cheer squad groups, belligerent foreignors, etc... Then a mix of these at the tiniest YL with a horrible layout with people who don't know what they're doing. Strange yogurt coming out of the machines, empty topping containers, no yogurt chips, tire-tasting mochi that apparently dissolved on pavement after ten minutes. We reserve the right to be this critical of YL since we are quite the loyal and frequent customers [YLC], t-shirts and all. Most likely boycotting the Westwood location.
11:40pm. Heading home. WTH freeways?! 710s closed, 60E left lanes closed, right lanes closed, left lanes closed, 7th exit closed...

Now. HBO On Demand and Costco fruit bars. Home sweet, sweet home.
Tomorrow will be an errand and O.C. day--my first beach bonfire, ever. I know, how sad.

Note to self

Buy more professional clothes.

I am not one to assume stereotypes and immediately pass judgment, but I will admit that Compton was quite the experience. Here go the series of incidents that composed my jury duty fail today:
Fail 1. Way back when I postponed the date to now, I forgot to transfer it from Compton to my home area, where the most hullaballoo of a case would be a parking ticket by an elderly driver.
Fail 2. Didn't complete the online orientation by the 10-days-prior-to deadline, thus had to leave home at 7 A.M. to report by 7:45.
Fail 3. Parents probably placed the brochure elsewhere, but all I had was my summons in the envelope and wasn't aware of any type of attire requirements. Thus, I wore rubber flip flops and shorts because it was basically high 80's, then heard the announcement that such inappropriate attire = must postpone. I must now report back first week of September.
Fail 4. While waiting for dad to come back to pick me up from the courthouse (bless him, he insisted on driving me there and back for fear of my life and car), I walked a block to McD's, Compton. Bought myself the awesome and disgusting deluxe breakfast platter and dined quickly as there were three crazies shouting loudly to the whole place, as well as some unwanted creepy stares from others.
Win 1. Sitting on a bench while waiting for dad, I rendered this cute house that sat across the street:
The reason it is unfinished is because the scent of a homeless man nearby became quite prominent while I was drawing the gates, so I had to stop and smell the roses elsewere.
Also, I doodled that in the little notepad that came from the LAFF gift bags from the filmmaker reception this year, which brings me back to the film festival and to my postponement on that recap because I am trying to organize my thoughts to avoid an unnecessarily rambling post...and run-on sentences like this one.

Soooo, basically, I need more professional clothing. The lack of information on the summons only carries partial blame. I should've known better to wear something more appropriate for a courthouse. When we got home, dad also informed me that I need to start thinking about my presentation, now that I'm getting older. Flip-flops and sweats don't get one very far up the professional ladder.

When I dress professionally, I tend to veer toward the 75-year-old lady look rather than the 20something Vegas girl. A happy medium would be great, but I have yet to figure out the mystery of fashion. It's okay, though, Rach is my 80-year-old soulmate in clothing; kudos to skirts, sweaters, and florals. In a related note, not only do I enjoy watching The Golden Girls (R.I.P. Bea), but their styles must have also been imprinted in my brain. Win.

LAFF

I'm exhausted. Interning for the LA Film Festival, or any festival for that matter, does a number on the body. It's basically the same throwing out of whack that occurs during finals week in college. The nomZ and zZz's schedule goes to sh*t, to be blunt. These are insignificant cons, though, canceled out by my already ridiculous lifestyle of insomnia and 24/7 eating.

I still don't have a plan. Life is a beautiful and stressful question mark. But I definitely enjoy working in this festival atmosphere 100%. I love greeting and serving our filmmaker "customers". I love meeting volunteers, staff, and festival folk that are just great people. I even think I might've grown a pair tonight at the filmmaker reception and schmoozed a bit. And by schmooze, I mean talking up a "thank youuu" and "can I take 3 of these?" storm with the waiters carrying food while I stuffed my face. So yeah, I'm a gawd awesome schmoozer. I did carry on some entertaining conversations with our filmmaker guests.

Let me tell you something about the schmoozing. There's the kind that sucks: the fake flirting (whatistheflirting?), the networking, the selling yourself, the throw your head back and laugh at anything even if it's not that funny because why? Although, my laughter, being rather obnoxious, probably works against me in this scenario.

The kind I enjoy is just connecting in casual and lighthearted convo without ulterior motives. That being sad, one of the interns and I were having a deep chat (oxymoron?) about networking. Some things he noted made me realize that I am being a bit hypocritical and assumptive about networking. Guilty. I think I talk smack because I have no purpose or need for networking since I have no idea what I'm doing with myself. It hit me that I need a business card, but that card would be sans title. Megan Lee. Company ?. Freelance ?. Phone. Email. Meh. Another thing on the list of to-do personal improvements. By the way, since mentioning this whole business card thing, I will dedicate at least an hour after posting this to desigining a personal card, putting it in an online shopping cart, then leaving it be forever.

The arrow to the heart about working LAFF is not being able to watch all the competing and showcased films. I'd love to view all the international documentaries, narratives, the MVs, shorts, free screenings, and even the high school films. There's just not enough time, not enough screenings. Most of the competing films have uncertain futures, are lucky if they find solid distribution past the festival, and thus, rarely screened again anytime soon.

Oh yes, the economy sucking, sucks as well. The festival has been downscaled significantly from last year (and last year was apparently a downscale from the year before, meaning, I missed even better free swag from TARGET). Yes, I complain because the freestuffs is lacking and not as abundant as last year.

Well, LAFF is halfway through. I'm dying. Almost fell asleep at the desk today..it was a pretty sight. Plenty more updates to come, but we'll see if I can keep the posts regularly. Expect a brief hiatus until festival end, then a giant blog vomit summarizing everything. Excited?

With great power comes great responsibility

or in Stan Lee's original version, "With great power there must also come great responsibility." Either way, 'tis truth.

There are the obvious and obligatory ups and downs that come with stepping into any leadership role. I find myself evaluating the same flaws and problems I've always had since I was a tiny tot. Though, come to think of it, I was much more stubborn and aggressive as a child...seemed to have lost some of that "grr-ness" as over the years. Perhaps it's because I'm actually an elderly woman who enjoys bingo and Astaire-Rogers films and these discontinued coffee-flavored candies that used to be sold at Nijya Market. Anyhoo, back to my loss of grr. I do need to practice the word "no" much more, spoken nicely and with love of course. I also need to stop being overly apologetic. It's like a bad tick that I've developed. Many people call me out on it, and yet, all I can reply back with is, "Sorry [for saying sorry]". Gah.

Mom definitely called me out on it when I went home this past weekend. At this point, it's bad because I come off timid, but just like the boy who cried wolf, overuse and abuse will lead to it meaning nothing, an empty apology. That I do not want. That would be ultimate fail. Also, I very much need to manage my time better. This has been my most crucial issue since whatever age beyond babyhood that required time management skills. My insatiable desire to put stickers on everything has also been a problem, but that won't be too much of an issue with CEC, methinks. Oh, and I still, use, too many, damn, commas,.,

I'm blogging right now to get my writing juices flowing for the 16 pages of awesome B.S. (that's "Brilliant Stuff", mind you) that I need to write by Thursday. Okay, that wasn't quite believable. But blogging is a better method of procrastination than StumbleUpon, right?

Aside from that final monster, summer seems to be playing out smoothly. Subletters are falling into place. Timing, with some minor switcharoo issues, works out for all the current and new apartment-mates. I've found temporary housing for the duration of the LA Film Festival, graciously offered by Mattitude + co. I believe Karaoke, Donkey Kong, and late-night nom-ing are all on the schedule o' fun for June.

Official LAFF interning starts Wednesday. I'll be meeting the new guest services group and have been promoted to "head intern". I hope this relieves me of some of the copy machine/collate/staple duties, not that I hate doing that, but I can't make a living out of it. I look forward to the compensation in free crap (ex. stacks upon stacks of scratch paper), which I'll lovingly bring home and take up more space with. Hopefully I can go home for this weekend, re-group, re-arrange, and refresh before starting full time on Tuesday.

The only thing not quite in place is jury duty. Well, not so much not in place since I must serve and can no longer postpone (crap) or transfer (crapx2), but dad and I were discussing the distant possibility that it could be a serious case that extends all the way to my London trip. I'd then have to haggle with judge sir or lady. I doubt it will be something so severe *knock on wood*, but that is why we brainstormed how to wiggle out of jury selection. Instead of being too obvious with, "My dad's a lawyer I watch every single law show known to man and have strong opinions about lawyers blaw blaw blaw", we thought I could go with being very picky and opinionated about the po-po--"I think cops are the greatest, they are a secure and necessary level of enforcement" / "Cops suck. Bad experiences", depending on which side I'd like to kick me off. We'll see what happens.

That darn rat is persistent. Hopefully not enough to want to eat through duct tape...

I grant you all the power to keep me in check. I should not have another post up until after 12pm on Thursday (likely) or sooner, if I finish early (unlikely). Obviously, I should not have anything new or fun to blog about since I will be writing instead of playing. So....ttfn!

Oh.S.T.

Movie original soundtracks sure are magical. People tend to underestimate the power of the musical score or soundtrack of a film. Not to say that the 500 DAYS OF SUMMER OST is the most brilliantly scored thing ever!, but it just goes to show how a great selection can help move or enhance the storyline and bring out traits from the characters. Plus, it's always feel-good to hear a song that takes you back or has you tapping/humming along.

Webb's "The Playlist" article explaining his song selection for 500 DAYS is an interesting read. It also makes me wonder if there is or that is something to consider in the entertainment industry as an occupation--Executive Song Chooser. Mmm, yeah. Here I go again, maybe this, maybe that...la dee da.

As for the film itself, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER is captivating. It's just cheesy enough, but doesn't go completely overboard. The ending is not exactly what I'd imagined (and I was NOT expecting a cheesy close), but that might've had something to do with the casting choice. I'm more than satisfied with films that are smart not to take the indulgent and corny route for chick flicks. IN GOOD COMPANY is one such example of a great ending. 500 DAYS is a chick flick, but it's also an everyone-flick, a little more realistic than all the Meg Ryan-P.S. I Love You-Serendipity-doo-da films that leave me wanting the quart sized Haagen Daaz instead of pint size. Zooey and Joseph Gordon Levitt are quite the charming duo. JGL, I've been a fan of you since ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD. I listen to The Smiths, too. Pick me. kthnx.

Oh, and a film I shockingly left out in my last blog vomit is none other than THE WICKER MAN. Now, mother and I are loyal, longstanding fans of Nick Cage. He's made a solid amount of good moves--FAST TIMES, RAISING ARIZONA, A&A, THE ROCK, ADAPTATION, etc.--but hooo boy is this film awful. It's one of those awesomely and laughably bad flicks that is priceless to watch with good company. And that is how I recommend you watch it.

Life update #10923192390. There is a rodent (haven't seen long enough to figure out whether rata o ratón) in the apartment. I've been living in paranoia for two days now, preceding my steps out of my room with loud noises, deliberately shaking, hitting, opening and closing things loudly before entering or leaving. If it were Remy from Ratatouille, I'd be perfectly fine...but it's the real-life, mucky, grey kind, so no thank you. University Apartment hotline sent over man with glue traps. Great. Not that I'd prefer actual snap traps, but glue is unpleasant too and Rach further helped that out by sharing horror stories of glue traps. Not to worry, I've located the source and done my best to block up those openings. Fashioned myself up a barrier out of plastic bag+thick shopping bag+soy milk carton+duct tape. I'm puzzled why the critter chose our apartment. There really hasn't been much pungently aromatic eats here for the past couple weeks.

Awkward transition to: Last night, the outgoing/incoming directors and graduating seniors on CEC dined at FOGO DE CHAO. I haven't had Brazilian BBQ for several years, so this was a real treat. Unfortunately, having been recently sick plus with poor stomach health (due to the horrible way I eat and live my life), I wasn't 100% normal in eating habits. Regardless, I managed to stuff myself silly with meat off of swords, and it was glorious. The evening was also bittersweet, as I've grown closer to and will truly miss everyone leaving this year. Cue Vitamin C "Graduation" and tears.

Apologies for the recent, lengthy posts. I suppose it's because of all the bottled up blog energy in my fingers and head after the hiatus, but I won't promise that they'll necessarily be shorter, especially with LAFF and London coming up! Must conquer the finals first---aghh I think I hear real Remy trying to break through my barriers...

What better place than here. What better time than now.

Word. Where better to procrastinate on the Life To-Do List and what better time than during tenth week?
Yes, I'm back after a blog hiatus. Meganomz Bubbletoes, here, reporting from chair at desk in 555 Glenrock.

The condensed happenings thus far:

• I caught the CEC plague. Directly disobeying my parent's phone call/text/gchat orders to avoid crowded places with lots of people, I attended our non-stop series of CEC events where, rest assured, sickly people roam.
  
• This school year is a fail. Silver lining: at least I've been consistent? and I have my senior year to turn it around.
• As of last home visit, I think I may be going to grad school for some field of art?
• Begin life pondering, regretful ranting, etc.:

I wish I'd pursued something in art more seriously in HS. I did studio for a summer after JH, then stopped. I was an ASB kid. Worked my way up from class secretary, to class pres, to ASB pres. I also did yearbook editing and was a student ambassador. Yeah, I was thaaaat kid. My stereotype = enthused dork (and aZn), but that is what I know (and am). I'd like to think I fine-tuned myself into "sophisticated, grown-uppy, but still enthused dork".
So, I'm good at ASB things, eating, always had something...some knack, some ear, an inclination for art/music/lang./ling. things, cleaning, sanitizing, working with children, office stuff, NOT schmoozing/networking, not gonna be a gymnast-ballerina, nor singer-dancer, le sigh. I love grammar and proofreading, but I never did or do anything with it besides edit people's papers--definitely not up to par to make it my profession at a legit publication. I've always been aware and accepting of my flaws and weaknesses, so when it does come to the arts, I'm not a sketcher or cartoonist--these are my dad's forte. But I pick up the slack in color and color composition and using paints (yes, this includes pre-school finger painting!) My mom and I agreed that the physical arts, aka, "making sh*t", above anything in fine arts, has always been more my thang. I also fold a mean origami crane--made one using a foil Dove chocolate wrapper. I can haz sustainable salary? Bah!

At home visit, parents and I backtracked through all of the above. The discussion escalated into the always heated cries over "wth have I been/am I doing in college and with my life?", then simmered back down to the same conclusion as always. All they want is for me to figure out what I'm passionate about and go for it.

• Dilemma: I like everything. Sciences and mathematics, not a hater! I just know that I'm not so inclined. I like (or I think I like) too many things. I'm glad that I'm open-minded, but this can be horribly impractical and is demonstrative of my indecisiveness and my fickleness.
  
• Frustration. I don't know how to focus. I have life ADD.
• What happened to teaching? Still my ultimate plan. It's the "passion" that I'm gonna pursue later on to the scenario point where: my health deteriorates and I become the cranky, old teacher who should retire at age A, but the principle will feel guilty about letting me go because of my __ steadfast years, growing old at the school and thus, lets me stay on against better judgment to ridiculous age B, when I really need to retire due to the fact that I not only cannot hear the children, but also yell at them anyway.

End flashbacks and life ponderations.
Cut to movie news:

• UP! Far too overrated from all the Rotten Tomatoes pre-hype. It is not the best Pixar ever. That being said, it's still perfectly amazing and magical. Dug the dog, Kevin the bird, and Russell are hilarious and to some extent remind me of something about myself...perhaps Dug and Kevin's flighty/do-do ness and Rusell's so very obvious Asianness--for those who thought otherwise, c'monn, his eyes! Plus if that didn't convince you, he is voiced by a little Asian boy.
  
• Terminator 4: pure special Fx entertainment. Christian Bale continues to use that scruffy voice (that made him unintelligible as the Dark Knight). Sam Worthington and Moon Bloodgood = token eye candy. Way better than T3, not even close to matching T1-T2.
• Star Trek. <3
• Night at the Museum 2...my gawd I really want to see this. I loved the first one.
• 500 Days of Summer. Our last CEC event this year! I am expecting a wonderful film about love that is not a love story.
• Public Enemies, Ponyo, Transformers II and many more will be premiering/screened during LA Film Fest.

Summer and beyond...

• I'm interning for LAFF guest services again. I'll try to watch and post about as many of the festival films as I can, including the aforementioned.
• Jury duty. Eff word. I'd postponed it months back to after LAFF, but forgot to transfer it too, so.......Megan Lee reports to Compton on June 29.
  
• Round-trip ticket to London and back, purchased! Finally found someone I know who is going. Coincidentally, we became friends during LAFF last summer!
• We'll be regular video bloggers throughout the trip. That's right, it's like we'll be having a mini-occasional web-tv show in England! So you get to see me fumbling about, live, in London. I also think we get to use a mini HD for it, so that will be super cool.
• Also volunteered to be a super-blogger for the travel study program, meaning 4-5 posts/week.
• Contemplating flying from London to SD for Street Scene. Maybe, just maybe!
• CEC! Nothin' but love, sometimes stressful, but love all the way. It has been and will probably continue to be my priority. The addition of a meager stipend next year for my efforts as incoming Films Director is a lovely plus! Exploring new waters is frightening, especially having to follow in K-Cut's and Kid Freezy's footsteps, but I'm up and excited for the challenge.
  
• Oh, yes. Being a grown-up sucks. I have a "real" apartment now and have to find a subletter and pay monthly rent + utilities. UCLA university apartments spoiled me rotten. Might as well try here, too. If you/anyone you know needs a place in LA for the summer, do tell me!

No more apartment plugs, I promise. Three papers away from freedom. Here I come...

all's well that ends well

although my life is not remotely comprised of Bertram, Helena or an Italian war.

But a very busy week has been coming to a lovely close and this weekend promises to be 3 more days of wonderful and sunshine. That was almost too disgustingly cheesy, but ohhh well.

I've finally managed to narrow down a pile of 64 applicants to a select 7 (merci beaucoup Jeffries!), adding the enthused noobs to our CEC Films staff family.

ttfn!

worth fighting for

I haven't been too immensely emotionally involved in much ever since I came to college--which is strange and a shame, I realize, because I thought this is where I'd be fighting for causes much more often. However, I've gotta say that it feels damn good to be on the winning team of UCLA's USAC elections. Feels good because these candidates are deserving, honest, hard-working and Qualified! Yes, politics can weave an impossible web, but I'm glad that I did get involved, regardless. We fought the good fight, fought it CLEAN, with INTEGRITY, won, and for the next year, we can chillax.

That said, I am so very le tired. I've officially got a thing against birds unless David Attenborough is narrating about them on the tube or PIXAR makes a short about them. Mockingbirds + Drunk people = Mockingdrunkpeople or Drunkbirds, which both equally suck.

The sun has risen. Time for me to climb into bed and hope to the higher powers that I wake up for discussion.

I Want to Believe...

that the next time I see David Duchovny chillin' by the Kerckhoff bathroom, I'll grow a pair and give him a holler because I HEART HIM.

The rundown: I was in the CEC office, met up with Susan, decided to go down to get some Carl's, reached the bottom few steps, noticed an uncharacteristically taller, older, famous-looking man in a black button down and jeans (reading the directory of Kerckhoff office numbers?).

Click. ZOMFG It's DAVID DUCHOVNY. Susan = who? Me = (

My train of thought/dialogue/actions for the next 10 minutes: OmgIcanhazpicture?Omg. Text everyone I know including long time D.D. fan, mom. Omg. I'll have a number 15 medium fries, medium coke. Omgmaybei'lljustgohughimomg.

We returned back to the scene but he'd gone outside to film. Got Hannah from the office, ran into friend, Nick. Outside, were the set and crew of CALIFORNICATION, comprised of: DAVID; extra guys; extra galss--who could definitely use the additional 10 lbs. of camera weight; various people sitting at the tables. We spent a good 15 minutes trying to figure out which were extras, if there were any, making decisions based on well-dressed-ness, age and various other factors. I contemplated taking a seat and whipping out shiny macbook to blend in, because that seemed the trend for the seated folk. Also considered acting out as most stereotypical, token asian girl if it meant I could be in the scene. Scene began with co-star's leg in between David's kicking him there. David falls to ground. [I run over to help him.] [He says thanks and we become instant besties.]

I had to run back and forth for meetings and such, but i "visited" set about 3 times. Fairly certain the crew could recognize creeper Asian girl by then, especially when I was wearing my lime green sneakers.

Le sigh.

-----
I found this news to be most blog-worthy and dedicate it to a true Fox Mulder/D.D. fan, Miss Cutruzzula.
What's cookin' good lookin'?

pfffft

SighhhhBlahhh. Life is sort of sucking right now. A more cheery version of myself will be back to update soon, hopefully.

As for aesthetics and such, I did decide to fiddle a liddle with the html because that poopy brown background was bringing me down a bit. Of course, I've chosen one of my favorite colors in the whole wide world. Lime green. The color of my L.L. Bean backpack and what I had the ASB room painted in high school. Happy, happy, joy, joy. By now you may have noticed that I added some music--apologies for it starting automatically and causing a scene at your place of work/learning/silence. Feel free to scroll down and shut it off and/or question the randomness of song choice.

'Til next time, à bientôt!

where'd you go? i miss you so

Haven't quite been in the blog-y mood lately. When I do get back in the swing of things, expect and beware an explosion of a whole lotta somethings and nothings. For now, let me enjoy this chicken teriyaki bowl from Costco...

i may not have reached the end, but i'm getting darn close

There is absolutely nothing on tv. My interweb StumbleUpon has 281 favorite-d sites.

This is a sign that I should probably be, oh I don't know, SLEEPING! or at the very least, reading, drawing, doodling...some activity which doesn't involve me hunched over, incessantly clicking the trackpad or remote with my jaw dropped like some catatonic zombie. Maybe this is the peak of life for some people, but I sure hope I have more to accomplish. I shouldn't be too hard on myself given that it's spring break and next quarter will be challenging and busy.

Off to bed, lest I sleep through my haircut appointment! Snippety chop.

a personal "project"

It's nothing substantial, just something I should've created a while ago given my borderline creepy passion for music and song. I have decided to create top 10 lists by genre, of the __'s, etc... Porque/Pourquoi? Why not?! Besides, I'm just beginning to get better from my flu-thingymabob and I need to get this break started. Traveling, psh. It's list-making time.

As for the good ol' tube, since the list of what I watch goes on for miles, I can tell you that I'm not watching:
-The Nora Roberts 2009 collection [but I'm all for any new gossip about LeAnn Rimes' supposed caught-on-tape affair with her steamy co-star. Poor hubby]
-Toddlers and Tiaras [and I will not be watching WE's new Little Miss Perfect either, for that matter]
-trash reality tv [temporarily during break, I think my parents would cry]
-LOST. I gave up on remembering or attempting to figure out every reference, symbol, clue, polar bear, dharma station, let alone trying to remember what happens over the course of a single episode and all its flash____s.
-In the infomercial department, I've finally grown sick of Sham Wow--once you bought it, the excitement of seeing and must-having it over the tv fades away. I would like the Egg Genie, though.

Had I not caught the plague, I'd be camping with good company in Malibu, but I did so I am not. I am trying to cut down on the bad/stupid decision making. Though they have immediate rewards, I tend to regret such decisions (like if I'd left for camping today when I am finally getting better) as the foolishness and suckiness of those choices eventually reveal themselves. In other words, I want less FMLs and more HMLs (hail my life?) or AMLs (applaud my life?), you get the picture.

I also watched episode 2 of KINGS last night. YES. Not quite as mind-blowingly suspenseful to me as DAMAGES, but it's getting gooood. To no point whatsoever, here is a completely gratuitous picture of Egan.
Your welcome and good day.

the good that comes from being sick

Television. As regularly as I live like an immobile blob, this time I really haven't seen sunlight in four days.

I have no idea what I caught but this is one of the worst cases of the "sickies" I've had for a while. Actually, I would willingly wear those attractive medical masks (unintentional alliteration, how fun!) because I don't want my parents to catch what I have. Never before have I consumed such a large quantity of "over-the-counters" in such a short time span. Pill count: 16 Motrin, 10 Tylenol Sinus, 4 Sudafed, Completed 5/5 days of Azithromycin. I promise I'm not a fiend...

Now, a brain vomit about all the tv I've been watching this whole time...

Item 1. PRIMETIME ON DEMAND.  Not only is there HBO, but also CBS, FX, USA and NBC: Chuck, Heroes, ER, FNL, 30 Rock, Office. Ahhhh

Item 2. Good genes. I believe I have figured out a most miraculous combination.
If Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Mark Valley magically had a baby...


You would get

Chris Egan! My new weekly dose of Aussie eye candy, compliments of
Item 2.5. NBC's new drama series, KINGS. Apparently, the premier received rather low ratings, but I assume it will quickly pick up a loyal cult fan base, myself included. The plot alone grabbed my attention because of it's premise as a Biblical allusion. I don't necessarily live my life by the book as a faith but I've always been intrigued by the Bible as a literary and historical text and am thus obsessed with the parallels they've already made. Egan's wholesome face and Ian McShane, whose face alone could tell a story,  have good chemistry. Almost forgot! Sebastian Stan (Gossip Girl's Carter Baizen) is also on the show. This is important because I love Gossip Girl, perhaps also because he looks to be a promising villain. One last thing, Macaulay Culkin is supposed to be in the series at some point. I know, right?

Item 3. Token chick flick, THE HOLIDAY. Think what you will, but I found it positively charming and refreshing as a chick-flick/rom-com. Everything just worked. All the protagonists were troubled and complex enough that it wasn't overly cheesy. I was pleasantly surprised to see the great, now 93-year-old Eli Wallach, a true method actor who's been around since classic Hollywood (BABY DOLL; MAGNIFICENT SEVEN; THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY). I've never been a huge fan of Jude Law, but he is surprisingly likeable in this film as all the protagonists are.

Item 4. The usual. Watching everything else that's on at any given time.

so good that it's no good

Home sweet home. Far too indulgent a place where the kitchen, bed, HBO On Demand and veg-out couch are all within a 20 foot vicinity of each other, not to mention my parents roaming about asking if I'm hungry again. You can probably deduce that I don't get much work done here but I ain't complainin', a full and happy camper I am, I am!

[The cute 'n' fuzzy version of me!]

At some point in the day you'll find mother, father, and daughter sitting in the family room, each with a mac lappy watching youtube videos. Dad's subscribed to the itunes podcasts of "The Best of Youtube" so that's definitely been a major source of time suck since I came home.

This was an academically dismal quarter, but I realized that we, on the West coast, do have something to be grateful for--we will never really understand the phrase (and variations of) "a cold, lonely winter." Mom and I were discussing this since she'd attended Hamilton in upstate NY and much of my family, including dad, has experienced the East coast for extended periods of time. I really can't imagine going through a true winter, one that's painfully cold, dark and gloomy, lonely...the suicide rate in Seattle made more sense to me now. Over here in sunny Cali, the winter is never that bleak and the relaxed L.A. atmosphere makes it more difficult to just sink into a depression. Given all this, I still want to experience life on the other end. I've only visited a few times, but I think I need to live and breathe the dynamic, four seasons of NY at some point in my life to 1. have a change of scenery and 2. out of fear that I have/will become too complacent and cozy with myself here.

Anywho, I am one Wednesday 11:30-2:30pm final away from freedom. I have one full day left to be a responsible student and study for it, so I'm gonna. I did find some brain food to chew on after I am free:

"Kurt Vonnegut's 8 Basics of Creative Writing

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

The greatest American short story writer of my generation was Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964). She broke practically every one of my rules but the first. Great writers tend to do that."

I'd encountered and been taught most of these in some form at some point, but Vonnegut lays it out conveniently in eight simple tips. I don't know exactly what I'll do with these pearls of wisdom, but hopefully I'll do something.

untitled

blogblogbloggityblogblahblogblahbleeblablog

This is true. I wake up knowing the day will unfold in an epic manner, either fail or win.
Another enlightening update soon after I sleep and eat away two days of intense dancing.

FML: the extended version

Sick. Woke up with a day plan and a massive migraine, but knew that the plan was so not gonna happen and went back to sleep. Woke up next at 4:15 P.M. Been holed up in apt. like hermit ever since. Made another in smart decisions series to visit a "kickback" down the hall (at least close?). Waded it out there til' 2 A.M., at which point I realized that D.S.T. kicked in. Made the mood-crashing announcement that it was now 3 A.M. Back in my room wiiide awake. Nothing on t.v. except infomercials because regular people don't have a death wish and are sleeping peacefully. At the point in the early morning where I ask myself how I'm not dead from insomnia + disgusting food intake (probably because I haven't completed this sublime college lifestyle with drink and smoke). "Romancing the 70s" infomercial is on with Tony Orlando who sports a molestache and reminds me of a film professor I once had. That's not even the saddest part: It's that I happen to know every cheesy love ballad that has come on and have been subconsciously mouthing the lyrics. (Don't shake your head, I will not buy 10-disc collection. With my parents' cds and mine combined, I probably have most of them anyway. Sure, I'd love to send them all to you to add to your itunes library!) New infomercial. I want
Have sudden urge to do what monster 1200 can do. Will watch the sun rise in a couple, then supposed to go hike at 10:30 A.M. and take a practice GRE in the afternoon (not). It's dead week, I am behind on everything as usual and still sick. Just took a ten minute moment to cook frozen grilled chicken strips and mixed vegetables along with some tomato soup. How great that I choose to consume a healthy, balanced meal at 4:45 A.M. Just remembered that I also have a ginormous tub of Nestle cookie dough in the fridge, thus, a 99.9% chance I will bake after finishing this post and eat cookies 'til sunrise. Finally, the usual: grandma still asks about non-existent bf, still poor, jobless, future?, homesick, yadda yadda yadda. FML

[ ] I agree your life is eff-ed. [ ] you deserved that one. [ ] You're cool! be my friend?



p.s. oh hey, grandma...BAM

rather insulting

It's 2009. Could they not pronounce Jai Ho correctly? Better yet, why not just play the original song. Ugh.

no Friday night plans? blog party's right here!

For some reason Friday night movies come in threes. Since I am such a cool cat, I've just spent my evening reading then channel surfing across stellar flicks: NACHO LIBRE, STEP UP, and HONEY. Quality x 3. I kept reminding myself that these constitute less of a hit to my IQ than trash, reality tv, right? But all great things come to an end and a new, exciting batch of three began immediately after: NATIONAL SECURITY, BRING IT ON, TRADING PLACES--I have to defend TP as a classic for Akroyd and Murphy (wow, trailers back then @_@). I think I've seen the movie about 15 times on TBS, a mommy and me favorite along with other oldie but goodies like OVERBOARD, CITY SLICKERS and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. I'm also a fan of Steve Zahn and think it's about time he carries a comedy. Now, TEAM AMERICA, always a pleasure.

I hope to be far more productive tomor--oop, make that later this morning: help out with CEC marketing videos, do my darn laundry (clean supply runs dangerously low), Ralph's/Trader Joe's, reply to Craigslist internship postings (blah), hopefully catch one of the evening screenings of THE WATCHMEN--though I'd much rather just wait to buy the DVD and watch all however many hours of the uncut version plus bonus features.

In other news, Kogi has definitely taken off. I wasn't aware how huge this little Korean taco truck had actually gotten until I read my Newsweek:


Good thing I didn't leave Twitter for dead. If I'm ever at a point where I feel an entrepreneurial urge, I can launch my brand with a tweet tweet, here and a tweet, tweet there. Can I just say that I'm suddenly, extremely unsettled by how powerful the interweb has become? We're basically immersed in it all day long while it acts as the center of our world. I don't think it's too far-reaching to say that death of the internet would not only mean death of an internet salesman, but worse, apocalypse now, the beginning of the end! We'd be left running around like so in a world reminiscent of WALL-E or IDIOCRACY. Oh man, what would I eat in such a setting?

Hm, could this Circus signify the end of the world?

No, of course not. Britney is always good news and she's a far cry from nude in her dresses up there. Maybe she had her kids take out their goth sticker books and decorate her before showtime. I've been hearing mixed reviews about her tour thus far, which makes me feel a little less distraught about not buying tickets for LA. Don't get me wrong, though, because if she ever tours again (crosses fingers), I will be all up on those tickets in a blink. Plus, by then, she should be in even better shape and much more practiced.

Lastly, I've incorporated a new activity to my daily routine. By "routine" I mean classes, surfing the web, facestalking, reading, teeveeing, eating/munching, and sleeping. I lead a rich life that is unfortunately indulgent in junk habits rather than good ones. But! Every day I will complete the one word challenge. I find the exercise to be fun and a good quick break and/or stimulus for the brain. No matter how little I churn out, at least I'm still using the ol' noggin and writing something, anything.

It does a body good

Harvey Milk may recruit me anytime. I cried at the end (duh, what's new). Once the first tear rolls out, you cannot stop the flood and trying not to cry makes it worse. Seeing the real Milk & Co. with the credits was so endearing, as were all the performances from Penn, Hirsche, Franco (oggle), Brolin--good acting, sir! Really. Hell to the no, I hatechoo for what you did in the film but I still love you and Diane Lane in real life.

Oh, so remember that men's website I posted about a while ago? Yes, that one where I didn't realize it was catered to men despite the many obvious clues? Well, I'm still subscribed to the newsletter. Had I subscribed to some woman's digest, I'd be receiving "10 ways to use organic food in your kitchen to make healthy makeup!" "5 minute bun exercises to fit in those True Religion's you always wanted!" Exsqueeze me, screw that. With the Thrillist (for men!), I get tips on the best burger joints, cool humor tees, and urban home decor instead. Win.

It's past 5 A.M. and I've consumed pizza rolls and Boston Market mac & cheese. To be honest, I'm a bit puzzled at how I haven't im- or exploded. I should be cautious...more of my friends are threatening to just point and laugh at me the day my metabs decides it won't stand the abuse anymore. My foolproof plan is to have the hubby before this point so he'll already be committed to me and the marriage--the vows gotta mean something, right?

Megan's familial tidbit du jour: My dad sent a text today reminding me to google chat my mom this weekend. Cool. I think I'll introduce them to skype, perhaps some video chat in due time.

I've forgotten how magical it is to shuffle through an entire itunes library. Coro's "Fallen Angel" just came on. If you haven't a clue who or what, don't feel bad. Nobody should have Coro. I just do because I'm super cool and insist upon collecting music from one-three hit wonders who appeared on occasional episodes of Miami Vice. That could quite possibly be an answer to a Jeopardy question, should you ever be a contestant (no need to thank me, I do what I can).

You really get to see my random train of thought with this post, but is it just me, or is Bruce Springsteen sounding more and more like Bob Dylan? Slightly mumbling (I give him five or so more years to become as unintelligible as Dylan was), much more folk-y in music and lyric--have you ever seen a one-legged dog makin' its way down the street? By golly, I haven't! Not that I have a problem with his progression; just some food for thought if there happens to be an empty moment in your day. "The Wrestler" is a lovely song for the film.

Look, they could even have been brothers!
I know, sorry, but I found it absolutely enlightening.

What lies ahead: Acquiring my California teaching credentials, at least looking into the basic tests: CBEST etc. The question mark of a future is increasingly unsettling and I would really like to live in something sturdier than a brown box. I also have yet to take the free practice LSAT and GRE. Maybe things are looking better. Under Obama, over the course of his term, teacher salary is sure to go up as well as demand, while the journalism market dwindles away. Way to squash my hopes, interweb.

I'll leave you with the miserable, the miraculous, and the merry.

a blonde joke

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle and I can't figure out how to get started!"

Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"
The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, a rooster."

Her boyfriend decides to go over and help her. She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table. He studies the pieces for a moment, looks at the box, then turns to her and says, "First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into a rooster."

He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea and then" he said with a deep sigh,


"...let's put all the Corn Flakes back in the box."
[cue rim shot, hah! thanks Aunt A. for that :]

Galactic Greetings Space Ranger

a thousand words...
That's my focused face. Apparently when I shoot galactic guns, I look like I'm eating. Ryan's disgust seems to come from the fact that I won! Trust me, I still can't tell whether or not the laser is coming from my gun. I just wave it around and shoot. (In all my years of experiment and experience with these types of games, I've come to the conclusion that my "just push all/the button(s) as quickly as you can" method works. This is just as applicable to games like Wii boxing, where you "just wave your arms around as fast and in as many directions as you can".)

Took us about an hour and forty to get there, traversed the long and winding road from the 405S, 10E, through the downtown, Grand Ave cluster of joy, then the final 23 mile stretch on the 5S which is STILL under construction. Our mission: four hours to soak up as much happy magic as possible. Ryan turned on the speed walk with power arm pumps while I switched gears to super crane speed. Lines were beautifully short--for Thursday at 4pm in February, they'd better have been! Most of the crowd consisted of baby-toddlers (cute!), the tween-teen group, then me and Ryan, the probably-too-old-to-be-enjoying-Disneyland-this-happily-but-whatevs group. Ryan's birthday pin not only prompted a "Happy Birthday, Ryan!" from every worker, but also got us into the fastpass line at Space Mountain. This magic pin is the equivalent of being a hot girl and getting into the club fo' free.

I admit that the toddlers became decreasingly cute by the end of our four-hour marathon. Hadn't slept a wink the night before, driven, then basically exercised around Disneyland. We were dying of exhaustion and hunger on the tram, having held out on eating inside the park to avoid wasting precious ride time. Hi-five to us for conquering seven rides! We found a perfectly sketchy Red Robin located off the 5 inside a Holiday Inn, bathrooms being those of the hotel lobby. Actually, it was one of the nicer Red Robins I have come across. We tried and failed and had many leftovers--just too exhausted to enjoy all the food.

Discovery of the night award goes to B.E.P.'s new single. Ryan and I were kind of freaking out in the car because of how amazing it is--grew on us halfway through and we had the lyrics down. Download here, now because you will realize how much you love it when they drop the beat at 1:55 after Fergie's Aretha soul moment, yessss. I anxiously await their new album, filled with enough vocoder/auto-tuning to put a smile on your face and a groove in your shoes. Even if you can't stand mainstream club "noise", be be patient and don't hate 'cause they "3008", simply ahead of their time.

dear diary

Steph brought up something that I haven't really thought about in a while, keeping a journal--an actual, physical journal. "Psh", you say, "what's this here blog then?" I brushed off her IM with a nonchalant, "Oh well I blog now and I don't have too many incredibly personal things I need to keep hidden on paper." She replied, "Sure there are." Then I realized how lame and ignorant my response was. Of course there are! There are things I never really put out here for all to see and I do think it would be nice to return to and turn to (in times of need) a diary.

The conversation triggered some good ol' nostalgia, got me thinking back to when I was obsessed with diaries as a little girl because they made such darn cute ones--Sanrio, Suzy's Zoo, generic flowery ones from Hallmark--gotta catch 'em all! and I did. I collected diaries like I collected pogs and Pokemon cards. Though, there were two points during my childhood that I sat down and seriously kept a single (okay, maybe two) diary of my deepest and darkest secrets, Ooo ominous. You're probably thinking, "how deep and dark are a middle-junior high schooler's emotions?" But I can remember that the writing was, in fact, cathartic for my pre-teen soul, as were those delicious Chicken Soup series! I drank them up! If I correctly recall, there were recurring entries lashing out at father about how he kept "forcing" me to practice piano--my eight year old emotions tended to exaggerate, but I did go through some miserable times with discipline on lessons and practice. Now that I'm older, I can understand why he was so adamant about me sticking with piano for the ten trying years. His explanations are clear now and I'm sure further life experiences will continue to elucidate his reasoning. I also realize now that some of my reasons for understanding are a bit more personal and probably more relevant on the pages of a diary. Perhaps someday soon, when I'm more comfortable sharing those juicy stories, I shall, but I gotta keep something in the suspense box out of fear of losing you, my avid reading audience of three, or four, or maybe more?! I iz basically famous!
_________
In less dense and weighty news, I believe I have officially crossed over from Daisy Fail Scout to Junior Fail Scout after sleeping 20 hours from 6 P.M. Tuesday until 2 P.M. Wednesday (yup, straight through my classes). At first, most of you may be happy that I finally slept, but the cause of this mega-slumber was a weekend of insomnia. So, fail it is!

I spent the rest of the day glued to TED Talks and fortunately, they're more guilt-free than watching trash tv. I like to think that my IQ goes up a few with each clip. Wishful thinking? Oh well, eat, pray, love. Gilbert also has a wonderfully soothing voice much like Karen Sharp. Gawd, that voice! She can make anything sound like a spa tape. I'm always tempted to call in with a dedication just to hear her say it. "___, Megs is stuck out there cursing up a storm in L.A. traffic, but she wishes you the best Vday ever. She hopes you stickittodaman at your new job and wants to dedicate 'B*tch' by Meredith Brooks to you. Sleep tight." So soooothing.

all night long

I'm not sure what brought about the insane munchies, but my Monday all-nighter from dinner 'til dawn was steadily comprised of:
rice, salmon, steak, seaweed, salad, tomato basil wheat thins, teriyaki beef jerky, fruit leather, goldfish (pepperidge farm, not live), ghiradeli, a bowl of apple jacks, a bowl of healthier cereal (boxless and anonymous), maple brown sugar oatmeal, a slice of toast with TJ whipped cream cheese and smoked salmon (as close as I could get to lox on a bagel), all washed down with water, O.J. and diet lipton green tea (diet, only 'cause that's what the coupon at Costco was for).

I posted this solely for your sake. Hopefully you feel a bit better about yourself.
_______
dineLA Ocean Avenue: 3 stars mainly for the dessert and 'cause it's pretty and located right on Ocean Ave by the beach.

Appetizers::
Raw oysters: Nothing amazing, decent oysters but they gave us the dinky leftover ones. I understand that it's the tasting menu but the whole point is to make a good impression for us tasters to want to come back.

Clam Chowder: Pretty good, not over-salted, thank goodness. That's always the downfall of a clam chowder. The floaties--what I like to call the chunky ingredients in soups--were fresh.

Entrees::
Seafood linguine: Bummer. Strange texture to the linguine, unlike any I've ever tried. Bland sauce, skimped on the seafood, tiniest mussels I've ever seen! The scallop was cooked well, but that was about it.

Salmon: Again, nothing spectacular. It was cooked nicely, but the dark meat was a bit tough and didn't cut easily. Mashed potatoes were mashed potatoes. Highlight was the Pinot Noir dried cherry sauce, delish!

Dessert::
Chocolate bread pudding w/vanilla sauce: Warm, rich, creamy, win.

Key lime & coconut tart w/strawberry sauce: Another win! Tangy and refreshing with crispy fried coconut shavings.

Oh, the bread n butter was excellent. I LOVE bread n butter...
All in all, they probably have some specialty foods that are amazing, but none of what we tried yesterday. I spotted numerous other dineLA restaurants across, down, the street and ones over includng BOA Steakhouse and I Cugini. Probably just try them out on their own some other time.

On another note, the roomie brought up the question of what in the world I might be like when I am with child and with cravings. What else could I possibly eat? I'm frightened for myself in the future and for my child who will probably be the fattest baby ever. Eesh, scary.
________
Going out to Roscoe's in about 20 minutes. All night...