Sam's Blog

Link: http://www.billyjoel.com/intro2005/index.html

So I have been super busy in preparation for tomorrow morning. It's our annual meeting with our clients and it's very very important. All of our Vice Presidents and such are in town for this. Yikes! I don't know why I am nervous, it's not like I am personally doing anything important. It still makes me nervous though.

Even so, I am very excited that UCLA is in the Final Four. Go Bruins!! U-C-L-A fight, fight, fight!!

Link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/ncaa/specials/ncaa_tourney/2006/03/25/ucla.memphis.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

FINAL FOUR!! Go Bruins!!

Link: http://uclabruins.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/ucla-m-baskbl-body.html

Go Bruins!
Elite Eight...Feels Great!

Link: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/rent/site/

The weekend was good. Josh and I went to The Arsenal on Friday night but it was crowded and there were long lines and it was cold. There were a lot of obnoxious drunk guys everywhere and I didn't want to deal with them. I just wanted to chill out and hang with Lisa and the crew. But alas, we waited and waited and then decided to go home because 1.) We never had to wait to get in there, ever 2.) The bouncers were being ridiculous and made us wait for a long time 3.) It was cold outside! 4.) Tons of people were completely wasted and obnoxious. Ah well.

Josh and I went to Ventura on Saturday, just for the day and we hung out with his family. His mom made her ever famous homemade pizza (yum!) and we all went out for ice cream. It was nice to get together with his whole family. Usually his sister is away at school or his brother and sister-in-law are busy, etc. It's always good to see them and spend quality time.

On Sunday, we spent most of the day at Liz's BBQ. There was tons of yummy food like Korean BBQ and cupcakes. Random combination, but oh so good. It was awesome because a lot of people from Josh's Animation Program showed up and we had a really fun time. There was an ice cream eating contest and pin the tail on the donkey. Us kids really know how to have a god time! Pictures from the BBQ are here.

I've been working long hours and have been, well, pretty boring. I did manage to watch two really good films these past few days. I was skeptical of the film version of Rent ever since it came out in theaters. I never did get a chance to watch it in theaters because it was in and out so quickly. There are some differences, but I enjoyed the film a lot. It brought back many good memories of sing-a-longs in our dorm rooms in college. I used to know all of the words. Even on my roadtrip to Missouri, we sang along to the soundtrack until we got tired of it. All good memories. I cried, as usual and though it was a sad story, it was uplifting at the same time. Then last night, Josh and I watched City of God, finally. We have been wanting to watch it for about 2 years. It reminds me of the movie Tsotsi in a lot of ways. Two totally different countries with the same problems - gangs, poverty, corruption, violence etc. It was awesome.

Well will those movies and my regular shows (I am so happy that The Sopranos is back) I haven't been doing much of anything. Sad existence, I know. But it's nice to take a little breather and I have a pretty busy weekend coming up and tomorrow is dinner with M. We had to change our dinner nights to Thursdays because of her classes. I haven't seen her in so long and I can't wait to hear her Spring Break stories.

Can this be true? I would be a happy girl if it was.

Link: http://www.cmgww.com/historic/wilde/index.php

So I was coming home after my workout the other day and I looked up into the sky. It was a crisp, chilly evening but not too biting cold like it has been lately. The sky was clear and I could see stars. I don't remember the last time I was even able to see stars in the sky here. It's pretty rare. Well, not rare but I guess I just never really noticed. It's quite breathtaking.

It's raining a bit today. A bit ominous for St. Patrick's Day, but I think that may prevent some people from going out tonight. That would be awesome so places and streets won't be so crowded tonight. I don't really have any definite plans, but Josh and I already have a few possible places and we have a clan assemblying later so it should be fun. I think this holiday is pointless but it is a good excuse to drink. Someone told me that they heard from a "higher power" from the Catholic church that it was okay to eat meat today. Lent is supposed to be in full effect now but they are making an exception for this day only because of St. Patrick's Day. Maybe they really like corned beef. Who knows. I find it very interesting that exceptions are made, but I guess I really could care less because it doesn't really affect me. Anyhow, on to other things.

Josh and I watched Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, the last in the Vengeance trilogy by Chan-wook Park. It was a lot different from what I expected. There was a lot of violence as usual. The cinematography was great as usual. But the story was not what I had envisioned it to be. Regardless, it was really good and I recommend that you watch it when it comes out on DVD here in America. Watch Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance too. You don't need to watch them in any oreder because none are really related but they are excellent films as well.

I was saddened to hear the news about The Smiths. Though the news is no surprise, I was always hoping for a reunion at some point in the near future. I guess not. I am going to go and sulk. Morissey would want it that way.

Josh and I went with Lisa and Wen to watch the LA Kings last night. We had some extra tickets at work, so it was free. Yay! The game was not so good. We were playing against the Dallas Stars and got our butts kicked by 4-1. Ah well. I had never been to a hockey game before, so it was a fun experience. Though i am sure it would have been better if we had won, or at least had been close to winning.

Oh and March Madness is upon us and UCLA is doing great. Go Bruins!!

Link: http://abc.go.com/primetime/greysanatomy/

My mind has been all over the place lately. Here's part of a post that I forgot that I wrote last week:

So I realized why I actually cared about the Oscars this time around. I am in the industry and some of my friends are/were in the industry as well. I guess it makes it a little easier for choosing who you support. Though I think that I am the only person that I know of besides Bridget that thinks that Good Night and Good Luck (I like the French site better) should have won for best picture this time. Maybe it's the history buff in me. It's such an excellent movie and though I really loved Crash, it felt like they were in totally different playing fields. Crash did not surprise me though. I had a feeling in the back of my head that they may win. But I was really bummed out when Shane Acker didn't win for Best Animated Short. He is a friend of Josh's and he was in the UCLA Animation program with him. His film blew me away when I saw it last year. It is awesome and he is currently in the works of getting it made into a feature length film. I suggest you check out his website if you have time. The character design is wonderful and I am excited to see the rest of the story. Coincidentally, he is married to one of Amy's good friend and old colleague from her stage and theater days in LA. They are a very artistic and successful couple!

Anyhow, that was my rant from last week that I forgot to post. I wanted to promote the new David Mamet play, Boston Marriage. It is currently playing at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. I was able to see it as part of the UCLA Alumni Association event for recent graduates (big thanks to Eva for setting it up). It was a very funny and typical play by Mamet. By typical, I mean lots of dialogue, double entendres, one setting, few characters and pretty much little to no action. Sounds boring, but it was hilarious and a great time. I think it will only be showing for a few more weeks so if you are in the area, get tickets!!

Kate was telling me about one of her friends that wanted to create a new word. Instead of using "ballsy" for something courageous, she wanted to use "clitty." I am not too sure how I feel about that. I am not comfortable with saying that out loud. I rarely use the word "titty" because it sounds silly. I do understand that doing something courageous shouldn't necessarily be linked to something masculine, like "ballsy" so I am not sure. There has to be something else. Words thrown out in our exchange of emails were "eggy" or "utery," none of which sound very cool. I am sure we will think of something, but those of you reading this, feel free to give me some input if you can.

Link: http://www.jeffbuckley.com/

I'm exhausted.

A lot of things have been going on. Work was stressful and ridiculously frustrating last week. Luckily, things have been resolved and today is a much better day. I'm kinda saddened today at work because things have changed. Some of my favorite people are gone and it's starting to sink in more. These past few days have been full of goodbyes and farewells. A constant reminder that life goes on and things can change so fast.

First off, Josh and a few of his friends took off last Wednesday to Aspen, Colorado for the annual HBO Comedy Festival. He had a fantastic time and met a lot of people and watched a lot of stand-up comedy and so much more. I missed him and realized that I have grown accustom to his presence on a daily basis and it felt to weird without him. The plus side was that I was able to hog the bed and could be as loud as I wanted in the morning while getting ready. There were other perks, such as a planned chick flick marathon (which ended up being a Grey's Anatomy marathon instead) but I still missed him dearly. He got back late last night and it was nice waking up next to him this morning again.

A few weeks ago, one of my bosses told me that she had resigned. I was very devastated and surprised by this news. She and I had the same taste in music and TV shows and got along really well. She was my lunch partner most days and we had a lot of fun working together, even though she wasn't one of my direct bosses. I would always walk over to her office and talk about the randomest things. She taught me a lot about the industry and we bonded over our love for VH1 Classic. Also, my cubemate (on my left side) told me that she had resigned as well because she was moving to Temecula to be with her fiancé and take a break before the wedding. She and I always talked about life and work and everything else under the sun. She was a great resource and a great friend. Both of them had their last day on Friday and I was really sad. But I think that I am more sad today because they are not here anymore and the reality of that is setting in. I can't look over to my left and ask her questions or chat about our weekends. I can't walk over to my old boss' office today and chat about last night's Sopranos, Family Guy, or Grey's Anatomy. She did text message me last night about Family Guy, so I am glad that we are still keeping that up for our shows. Anyhow, I found it really hard to say goodbye to them. I am used to seeing them everyday and all of the sudden, they will never be here again. It was hard for me to process and now that the cube and office are empty, I am starting to feel it. I am very happy for them though. They are moving on with their lives and are more happy because they do not work here anymore, so for that, I admire them. I personally am very content with my job right now, even though it is stressful at times. I hope that I have enough courage to move on if I am ever unhappy (hopefully that will never happen here, but who knows) like them.

On Friday night, Alexis and I went to a farewell party for Tripp and Rachael. Tripp got a job in Mountain View and they were moving up there on Saturday. It was nice to see them one last time. It still hasn't really hit me that they're up there yet, but I know that it will soon enough. Kurt was at the party and he has a beard now. It was growing in a bit patchy (not much actually) but I called him Keanu all night long. It was fun. I have somehow acquired some of thier friends along the way as well and I hope to hang out with them too. They are solid people and one of them lives and works literally a few blocks away from my apartment. In any case, I am sure I will be going up north sometime soon. I already have tons of tentative trips up there for bridal showers, weddings, housewarming parties and such. It's going to be a very busy year! I'm always sad when people leave LA. I love it here, but I know that Tripp wasn't too fond of this city. I hope that he likes his new city and that he and Rachael are happy there, which I am sure won't be an issue once they get settled down.

Saturday was a very hard goodbye. I attended the funeral of a family friend. He and my father were good friends and our families have been friends with each other ever since I was in junior high. He was a very strong man. He fought cancer for 4 years even though the doctors told him he only had 6 months. He was wonderful and an inspiration to us all. He was a great leader and teacher and he had a wonderful sense of humor. The service was really sad but his kids (who are my age) were able to get a few laughs out of us. The thing was that he was content and ready for it. He was surrounded by his entire family and I think that was all he needed to be happy. I was glad that I knew this fact. It made me feel better at the funeral. It was nice to see everyone again though, given the circumstances. There were some that I hadn't seen since I left for college 7 years ago. We had a good time because we knew that he wanted us to have fun.

This week will be a bit weird because M is in Mexico during her Spring Break and we won't have dinner or even talk to each other all week. Also, Angela is in Hawaii for Spring Break as well. I miss Spring Break so much!! But then again, that would require me to go back to school and I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet. So no real contact with them this week. Eek! I'll survive, I'm sure.

I will miss everyone. (Except for Josh because he's back now, yay!)

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I don't think I ever mentioned The Ricky Gervais Podcast. It's hilarious and I highly recommend it. It used to be free, but there was so much support and downloads from itunes that they are starting to charge for them (not too expensive though). They are about 30 minutes long and they are on their 2nd season. Josh and I have been listening to it from the beginning and it's sooo funny. I love it and please check it out!

Link: http://www.blindmelon.com

Do you have one of those days that just go by and you can't recall doing anything? Yeah, that was my entire weekend. But now that I think about it, I did do things that took up my time in a meaningful way. Josh and I met up with Tripp and Rachael at UCLA to watch a screening of very old and famous animated shorts. I cannot believe that animation has been around for so long. The next night we went over to Tripp's
place and watched The 40 Year Old Virgin. We had never seen it before and it was quite hilarious. Not my favorite or anything, but I think that it had it's moments. Oh, and I love Paul Rudd. He's my favorite. I can't believe Rachael's parents watched that movie with their parents (her grandparents, in case you weren't keeping track). Talk about awkward! Tripp and Rachael will be moving up north this weekend. I'm going to miss them. I hope to visit often because there are tons of people that live up there as well and I've been so bad about visiting.

Last night, we went over to Alexis' place and watched the Oscars. She has a screening room in her apartment complex and it had a huge TV and nice comfy leather screening chairs. It was fabulous. She made cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries and went all out, including giving us a goody bag. Alexis and her sister were great hostesses and we all had a wonderful time. Her sister even taught me how to dance. Ah, good times. The list of Oscar winners are here, in case you missed it. I used to not care about the Oscars. I would watch it sometimes in the past but I was excited this time because the films that were nominated this year are worthy of the award, for once. They were all political in one way or another: Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Munich, Good Night & Good Luck, and Capote. All but one are independent films and all deal with dramatic issues that are all very human. I still haven't seen 2 of the five films, but I am sure that I will find time this weekend to watch a lot of movies.

Josh will be in Aspen this weekend and I think I will have a movie or TV show marathon. Maybe romantic comedies or maybe a little Sex and the City, who knows. I think that we'll figure it out, but I am looking forward to this lazy weekend, especially since I hear it will rain all weekend. It rained off and on today. I don't mind rain too much. I guess I don't like it when it's pouring rain outside because it ruins a lot of plans, etc. but I enjoy it raining off and on and in little spurts. I am in the office a majority of the time anyway so it doesn't really matter. People out here freak out when it rains. Sometimes I forget that I am in Southern California and that it never rains - here so no one knows what to do when it happens.