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Archives for: April 2006
Link: http://www.2paclegacy.com/
2pac came on my ipod while I was working out. I haven't heard him in a while. It was a pleasant surprise. I still have to upload so many songs onto the precious ipod. I have 24 more gigs. I've been slacking.
I am realizing that things are changing a lot at work. A couple of people are leaving soon. I'm bummed because I really like them. We got along really well and though I know that they are going on to do bigger and better things, I am a bit saddened. I am extremely happy for them though. But this, along with our move (my network is moving to the other side of the floor) and scrambling around, I feel like my department won't be as cohesive. It's a bummer, but it was bound to happen. I have been evaluating my future a lot this week. I have been talking about it with other coworkers. People are itching to become promoted. I haven't been there too long, about 10 months, but in our industry, after putting in a year or two as an assistant, many usually move up. I don't think I am at that point as of yet, but I know I will be in a few months. It's exciting and scary all at the same time.
My car is about to die. I think I will have to get a new car very soon.
Josh started his new job today. Unfortunately, they moved their office to Marina del Rey. It's not that far, but their old office was two blocks away from my office and it was ideal. Oh well. I guess it's better than Hollywood. Anyhow, I am so happy for Josh!
I had dinner with M last night. She made me a turkey burger and it was yummy! Her roommate Tina is finally back in LA for good. No more traveling for work. I am so glad becase it was really hard on her going back and forth to Kansas and LA. What a tiring schedule. M has her roommate back and I am so happy for both of them. We can all hang out together again and have dinner and such. Fun! I can't believe M is graduating in a few weeks. She's all grown up now! Hehe. The more I talk to her, the more I realize that we had similar childhoods and similar family situations and problems. We bonded again. We do that frequently, but this time it was special. 
One of my old friends is getting married that same weekend. Her and her fiance have been dating for over 10 years. About time, right?! They're so perfect together. It should be a fun little high school reunion. This is the first of many upcoming weddings. I have to get used to the fact that I am getting old and so are my friends. Woohoo!
Current Music: Josh Radin - Winter
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Sam is: fearing change but embracing it as well
S&TC Quote of the day: "I got to thinking about relationships and partial lobotomies: two seemingly different ideas that might just be perfect together—like chocolate and peanut butter." - Carrie (Season 4 - Time and Punishment)
Link: http://www.poisonweb.com/
There was some of my leftover BBQ chicken salad from a while ago in the fridge and Josh opens it and smells it and asks me - "can I toss your salad?" I laugh. We laugh. Sometimes living together has its moments.
My stomach is feeling better, but it's not 100%. It gurgled a lot this morning. It was scary. It was like it was playing a song for me - a little ditty to wake me up. I hope it's just a stomach virus that will go away in a bit. Everyone else in my office is getting really sick - serious flu sick. Not good. I hope I don't get it. I haven't had the flu in so long that it feels like I am due to get it anytime now. Yipee!!
Link: http://www.rollingstones.com/index.php
I went home this weekend to visit my father and family. I have a love-hate relationship with a few of them sometimes. Its not that I don't want to go home, but I think that if I go often, it will probably have an adverse affect on me somehow. I always argue with one of my sisters (we are so close in age and yet we are so different) but other than that, it's not so bad. I sense a lot of negative energy when she is around and its not necessarily anyone's fault, but she has a tendency to argue with anyone around, unless of course, you're not related to her. She treats her friends so different and I think to myself why that is and wonder if I do the same. I know that we can't choose our family, but for the most part, I get along with them just fine. Sure, we have different opinions on things and see the world differently at times, but that doesn't actually bother me. I love my family and I love my friends and I love Josh. But my sister and I always clash, no matter what. I will have to work on it and I know that I annoy her as much as she annoys me, so I hope that we will argue less in the future. Some people just know how to push my buttons a lot better than others. I guess that's just a part of having siblings. Though I hope that things will get better in the future. My father's health isn't doing too great. His arthritis is getting to him and I think that it has made him question his mortality more and more. I had a good conversation with him and my grandma. They are of another generation and though we sometimes see things differently due to our age gaps, at least we can all agree on what's most important in our lives: family.
I watched The Chronicles of Narnia yesterday and I really liked it. I honestly don't remember the book version since I hadn't read it since grade school, so I am not sure how accurate it was or if they left parts out. But I really enjoyed it. It was entertaining and the effects were excellent, not perfect, but very well done. Jon's studio did the the effects on the lion and I was very impressed. I also saw another movie last weekend called Brick. It's not widely released yet, but its a film noir set in present time with high school kids. Sounds campy, right? It did have it's ridiculous parts in the movie, but I think that overall it worked. It had all of the elements of a classic film noir and it was executed very well. It's a bit confusing in the beginning, but as you start piecing things together, it becomes more clear and exhilarating. I hope that you can catch it in the theaters soon or maybe on DVD in a few months.
I've been behind on posting. I have been working really long hours and I don't think it will let up any time soon, so I am apologizing ahead of time. But it's good work and I like it a lot. I am learning so much still and I am not bored, which is always a good sign. I think that I've been there long enough to know the people there pretty well and the assistants are all around my age, so it's nice to be around them all of the time. We have lots of fun together and it's nice to have happy hours and events with them. But 10 hour+ days are starting to make me exhausted. I just barely did my laundry this week - it's bad when I'd rather buy more underwear to prolong washing the older ones by a few days. I haven't really seen too many people, but I am working on it. I think I was fortunate because these past few weeks were really hard on a lot of my friends as well, whether it be finals or work, etc.
Last Sunday was our monthly brunch at Highland Grounds. That place has the best chilaquiles. We welcomed newcomer James (who is Matt's friend and now works in the same building as me in the development department. He's good fun. Geoffrey was there again because he went out with the boys the night before. He was loud and awesome as always. Last time he pretended to be Lindsay Lohan and only ordered a piece of lettuce. He's good fun too. I am glad that we are all able to meet for brunch once a month. Sometimes that's the only time that I can see my lovely friends. We all have busy schedules and such. Ah, the real world is catching up to us. After brunch, I went over to Matt's place and we played Monopoly. The game lasted pretty much the rest of the day, minus the time that we took out to watch Brick. I was the thimble. I had to give up my property in the end because Matt was a greedy land owner. Boo. Ah well. I was impressed that we actually finished the game.
On Friday night, we went to a screening called Firstlook that was put on by the USC Animation Department. Keren (Tripp's friend) was screening her film there. I had already seen it a few months ago, but Josh and I went to see all of the other films as well. Most were great but there were a few that were...interesting. Overall, it was a great show and we had a good time.
I've been having stomach issues all weekend. I hope that it goes away soon. I don't like my stomach hurting at all - it's the worst.
Happy 30th Tripp. (It's a bit late, I was supposed to post sooner, sorry.) You are awesome and I am glad that we still keep in touch since your move.
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Happy quarter century Aussie. Dinner was fabulous tonight. Thanks for having us!
Congrats to Joshua for getting a really cool job. I know you will do fabulously babe.
Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108358/
So a few friends (Ariel, Eva, Nemika) organized a "singles" pub crawl on Saturday night in Venice Beach, Main Street to be exact. Since I am not single, they told me to bring single guy friends. I invited Nate and he, in turn, invited some of his friends. I have hung out with his friends in the past and boy, can they drink. They are always a delight to be around and they amuse me so much when intoxicated. I knew that this pub crawl was going to be memorable. I get a call a few hours before the event and Nate apologizes to me ahead of time. I wasn't sure for what, so I was like, "whatever." They came to pick me up later that evening and as I walked towards the car, I saw them. They were dressed in top hats, mustaches, monocles, and canes. They were 19th century aristocrats. Awesome.
All night, they kept up their theme. Nate was Lord Maximilian Randolph Barnaby. Dave was Duke Ludwig von Applesnatch. Brian was Count Dietrich Wilhelm Mecklensburg of Lichtenstein. They were hilarious and people everywhere were curious to see what the "deal" was. Their response - just a typical Saturday night. They wanted to spice things up a bit and I had a fantastic time. I think they scared off some of my friends, but for the most part, people just laughed. I hope to hang with them again soon. According to Nate, they are planning their next adventure - prospectors during the gold rush. Gotta love the 49ers. Pictures from the pub crawl are here.
Other than that, I had a relaxing weekend. Finally got out to the movies and saw Thank You for Smoking and Friends with Money. Both excellent films. Different types of films completely, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. Thank You was SO funny. I was kinda surprised by how funny it was. It's one of my favorite movies this year already. It's genius. Though it does make me dislike Katie Holmes more, but I guess that's not a big loss. I do have a problem with Aaron Eckhart's butt chin. It's distracting sometimes in the movie. Otherwise, the movie was perfect. Friends with Money was funny as well, but it was more of a dark comedy of sorts. All of the characters are flawed and yet they are very effective in bringing out your compassion in many ways. I am not a big fan of Jennifer Aniston but she did okay in the movie. Not superb, but okay. Her character is not very likeable but accessible all at the same time. I do love Catherine Keener and Frances McDormand though. They are fabulous! I also finally watched Kung Fu Hustle last night. Hilarious! I can't believe it took me so long to watch it. The main character/director of the film reminds me of the goofy side of my brother.
Anyhow, three movies in 4 days is a lot for me nowadays. I watched The Sopranos today and I am all caught up. I have a feeling it's going to be a really bloody season. Fun stuff! Well, I'm pooped.
Link: http://www.neworderonline.com/
Random thoughts of the week:
- Why is it that when I drink regular Coke for lunch, I wind up getting thirsty about an hour later. Drinking water doesn't help. I usually crave Pepsi actually and it quenches my thirst. Weird, I know. But since I've been cutting back on soda and most places only serve Coke, it forces me to get water normally, which is a great thing. I decided to test myself again today at California Chicken Cafe - same thing. I am now craving a Pepsi.
*On a side note, I had a great time at lunch. Jenny (Kate's sister) is an intern at my office this semester and we met up with Alexis at California Chicken Cafe. She told us all about her new job and we had a great time! It was a bit windy but gorgeous and sunny outside. Quite beautiful actually.
- We got a new color copy machine/printer this week at work. This thing is humungous! It copies and prints color so fast and it has so many extra features. I LOVE it!! We had "training" for it yesterday and it was an hour and a half long!! There's so much neat stuff. This will make my life at work so much easier. Yay!! I know tha tI am a nerd for getting excited about office gadgets. I am usually worse when I order supplies - ask anyone in my office.
- I hate it when people use the words "your" and "you're" incorrectly. I guess this is true with "there" and "its" and many others, but I find that people often use "your" and "you're" interchangeably and don't even bother to think about it. I mean, it actually not that hard - "you're" is short for "you are" - the apostrophe is replacing the "a". Yes, I am anal about grammar. I was an English minor in college and it shows. But when it comes to speaking, I'm awful. Everyone knows this!!
- I got a new brand of deodorant at Costco because I was completely out of my old stuff. I wasn't sure if I was really that desperate because the deodorant came in a 4-pack and I really had to be sure because if I didn't like it, I'd have tons of extra tubes lying around. I usually am sensible about things, but then I realized that it was only $6.99 for a 4-pack, I had to try it. My old deodorant can be found at most drug stores, but it's not a common brand. It's also $3.99 a pop. So I figured, why not? Might as well try something new and I figured that if I didn't like it, I can always give the unused ones to my sisters and see if they would like it. They had an "original clean" scent and "powder fresh." I hate powder fresh, so it was an easy choice. Original clean actually smelled great, from what I could tell. Anyhow, I tried it out and it's actually working well. I'm quite impressed except for sometimes I can smell my "original clean" scent and I hope that it isn't overpowering. But I am used to using "unscented" so I may be a bit paranoid. All in all, the change was good. Even Alexis liked it, so that's a great indicator of it's success.
- All of my bosses are in Las Vegas for an event. It's been quiet today and I love it. I hope I can leave early today. And by early, I mean the normal time for once. Here's to hoping.
Link: http://www.eurythmics.com/
The game was disappointing. I was sad that we couldn't come back, especially after what happened at the Gonzaga game. But you can't win them all, right? I have hope for next year because our team is very young. We have at least a few more good years in us and the football team doesn't look too bad either. I hope they do well next season! I was bummed that none of our bigger athletic programs did well while I was going to school at UCLA. Seems like I missed out on something. We were good in football, my first year (the last time we beat USC), but it hasn't been looking up until this year. It's going to be exciting next year! Woohoo!!
It was raining HARD today. It started late last night and is continuing on through tomorrow I think. I love all of the So. Cal weathermen and their "Stormwatch 2006." They make it sound so dramatic and it's not even that bad. I like rain but it does allow for some inconveniences - such as traffic and forces me to order in or drive to get lunch. I usually walk to close restaurants for lunch. Ah well!!
People are in a foul mood when it rains. Well, most people here. I just don't understand it though. I get an impulse to run outside while it's raining and run around like little kids and get all wet. Too bad I always get the impulse at work and showing back up at the office drenched in rain probably isn't the best thing to do. It would be really uncomfortable trying to dry off. In any case, this "huge storm" is going to last for at least another day. Fun! A part of me appreciates the rain since it doesn't visit too often. But lately, it's been visiting frequently and the natives are getting restless. Everybody wants Spring to start already and I don't blame them! I love the sunshine and the warmth that it brings.
Anyhow, I feel better today. I organized things at work. It makes a big difference and I have way more space on my desk, which will probably increase my efficiency. I told that to my boss and he smirked and said, "whatever works!" He's cool like that. I like my coworkers, even with their little quirks. If they're patient to put up with my quirks, then I should do the same! We watch "Tuesday Two Play" on VH1 Classic (on Tuesdays, obviously) and it shows two videos by the same artist, back to back (I'm sure you could've guessed that by the name). When we hear the first song, we all yell out what song they are going to play next. Whoever guesses it gets nothing. A reward would be nice, but since it's an all day affair, there would be no prizes left each week. For the most part, we get them wrong because VH1 is sneaky and they have tons and tons of old videos - songs you totally forget about until the video plays. But I do love the older videos. New Edition, Debbie Gibson, Depeche Mode, Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston (before breakdown), New Kids on the Block, etc. Brings me back to my childhood when I actually listened to music and enjoyed it. I guess we all need something to get us through the day. On Tuesdays, you know what channel I'm watching.
I went to a yummy Italian Restaurant in Santa Monica for lunch today. It's called Fritto Misto and it was lovely. Large portions and fast service and not so pricey either. Delicious! I am definitely going back there for dinner soon!
Link: http://www.pinkfloyd.com/home/3.html
It was a really busy and exciting week. Work was crazy busy with our big push and it was really successful. I am slowly getting organized and since it's the beginning of another broadcast quarter, I have to reorganize things. It's fun but it's been hard to do since I've been busy doing more pressing things. Work has taken up most of my time and I am so happy that I wasn't too busy this weekend. I was able to relax and also let loose on the dancefloor. I've been also keeping up with basketball and I am so excited that UCLA is going to the championship game. Go Bruins!! I'll be watching the game tomorrow and I'll be showing off my school pride. I was talking about the excitement to a friend and I realized that both the football and basketball teams were not so hot when I went there. It was like there was a dry spell. Well I guess my freshman year football team were good, but other than that, nothing. I can't imagine how it would be if all of this excitement was going on while going to school there. Either way, I am super happy that we've made it this far. Only one more to go!!
I went out on Friday and Saturday nights. I haven't been going out much recently, so this took a lot of effort. Ramona was in town with her new boyfriend, Justin, and we just chilled at the Liquid Kitty. We went to their hotel room afterwards and drank and played cards. It was good fun!!
Yesterday was a blast! I started off with lunch with the fabulous Alexis who just got a new job. I am very happy for her and she had just gotten back from New York and she was able to hang out with Kate and Sarah (who was visiting from Boston). I'm so jealous because I miss those guys. I haven't been out to the east coast in a while. My east coast tour got postponed and I think that I won't be able to go out there until October. Anyhow, Alexis and I went to get some yummy fried chicken from Honey's Kettle. It was delicious.
Later that evening, I met up with Angela and we headed to the Echo Park area. We were going to meet up with Nadja and her friends from the graduate Classics program at USC. They were cool kids and we all walked over to the club, The Echo for Bootie night. They played tons of mashups and they had a huge dance floor. Some songs were a bit interesting, like their mashup of Death Cab and Madonna and then there was one with The Beastie Boys and Depeche Mode. They weren't awful, but they were interesting to hear. They at least were fun to dance to and that was all that mattered anyway. It was fun to dance and get sweaty and stupid with friends, especially since Mike and Matt were there. They're always a good time. So we all danced the night away and it was fabulous. Pictures are here.
The time change today is not sitting well with me. I don't like it already. I hate losing an hour. It's going to take some getting used to, especially when I have to wake up for work tomorrow. Whee!! I guess I shouldn't complain because everybody is having to deal with it as well. I guess I better go and get ready for work tomorrow.
