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Nada
Wednesday, December 31, 2003 09:06 a.m.

So, I don't really have anything to report or talk about today. Except that I ate a bunch of ground beef last night, so pray that I don't end up being affected by the Mad Cow disease that has now hit the U.S.
Oh, also, have a Happy New Year.

Get A Life
Tuesday, December 30, 2003 07:29 p.m.

I had to go to the grocery store today after work to pick up some spinach and cheese (to make creamed spinach) and while I was there, I noticed a bunch of people (who weren't workers there) just hanging out at the salad bar area.
Wow, how bored do you have to be to hang out at a supermarket? I mean, couldn't you all just go to Starbucks, chip in for a cup of coffee and then sit around the tables, pretending to be cool?

No Mood Today
Tuesday, December 30, 2003 12:51 p.m.

So anyone with an imood link has no emotion today because Imood is down right now.
Which pretty much goes with how I'm feeling today. I'm pretty much in a "meh" kinda mood today. Don't really care about anything.
On a work related note, I am almost done with everything. Yes, I am so caught up, it's scary. But it's a good thing because I'm only working half a day tomorrow and then I'm off the 1st and 2nd. So, I won't be completely overwhelmed when I come back on the 5th. Which is what I want because that's when all the schools will be back in session and all the employer will be back to regular work schedules and I'll be all alone in my department since Cicely's out until Jan 12.

Blah
Tuesday, December 30, 2003 09:30 a.m.

I am so bored here at work. It's not as if I don't have work to do. I do. I have about 10 ads that I need to enter and I have a YOOGE stack of ads from MIT that I need to sort through. Am I doing any of it? Of course not. I'm hanging out on different forums, I'm checking my email, I'm updating my blog, I'm doing anything to keep from actually working. I guess I should actually do something to make it at least look like I was somewhat productive before I go to lunch in an hour.

Rubbing Alcohol And 30 Q-Tips
Monday, December 29, 2003 09:37 a.m.

Last night, I spent about an hour and 30 q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol cleaning off my computer keyboard and mouse. That was some pretty nasty work. I think I'll do that with my work computer too, because it's looking pretty icky as well.

Pictures
Sunday, December 28, 2003 06:53 p.m.

Rite Aid called me about 2 hours ago to tell me that my pictures were done so I went and got them and just spent about 2 hours adding them to my Yahoo photo albums. Go here to see photos of me, my dog, my friends, and my co-workers. I do want to point out that some of these pictures are from April, May and June of 2003 so they don't necessarily reflect how we all look right now.

All About Me....Again.
Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:53 p.m.

I had to run some errands today (buy dog food, drop off some mail that I forgot to drop off on Saturday, etc.), so I figured that I would stop at Rite-Aid while I was out and turn in 2 rolls of film that I had found while cleaning my "dining room" up (it's really an area that's an off shoot of my kitchen). I have no idea what's on those rolls. I went to the post office, dropped my mail in the bin, then drove to Rite Aid. I realized once I got to Rite Aid that I didn't have the film with me, so I drove back home, got the film, and drove back to Rite Aid. I dropped off my film in the 1 Hour developing place and decided to walk around the store. Anybody who knows me knows how dangerous this is for me because I have a tendency to buy all kinds of shit that I just don't need, like fake eyelashes or cute little knickknacks. So, while I was checking out nail polishes (I have 10 different colored nails now by the way), I got a call on my cell phone. It was the 1 Hour photo girl, telling me that the machine had broken and asking if I wanted to come back and get my film and take it to a different Rite Aid to get it developed. I decided that I would just come get the photos tomorrow instead since I wasn't in any real hurry to see what was on them.
But the point of that whole story, besides to illustrate how insane I am, was to explain that while I was cleaning, I found this book that I had bought a few years ago called "All About Me." Actually Susan and I had bought the book for Alyson and then we decided to buy one each for ourselves and fill it out. Well, I never really filled mine out, except for easy stuff like date of birth, astrological sign, name of parents, etc. And I was looking through the stuff, I realized that some of the stuff is too hard to fill out because it could so easily change. Like, in the favorites section, it asks for your favorite movie. Well, back when I bought the book, my favorite movie was a toss up between Grease and Holiday Inn. Now, I've added The Lord Of The Rings trilogy to that. Anyways, I found a section called Top Three, so I decided to include it here. I expect to see these on your blogs later (or in an email to me, if you feel like it).

TOP THREE:(in no particular order but you can order them if you'd like)
1. words or phrases you use often when speaking
So
Dude
Whatever
2. sounds that disturb you
loud music when I'm trying to sleep
dentist's drill
nails on a chalk board
3. lessons that you have learned the hard way
never pay for college with credit cards
never sign up for 80 million credit cards without having a job
never agree to do something that you've been peer pressured into if you have strong doubts
4. things that you would never do
kill someone in cold blood
bungee jump or jump out of a plane or generally do anything that involves me falling from a great height
do any sort of drug that involved me sticking myself with a needle or inhaling through my nose or sucking through a tube (basically do any sort of recreational drug)
5. charities or people that you would or do donate to
American Red Cross
American Heart Society
Salvation Army
6. things for which your are thankful
a roof over my head
a job
friends who are there for me
yeah, it sounds totally clichéd but what else can you say?
7. qualities that your ideal mate should possess
manners
the ability to protect me
good sense of humor
8. people you would want on a deserted island with you
Sean Bean
Sharky (does he count as people?)
Rupert from Survivor: Panama because he has excellent fishing abilities
9. people you would have speak at your funeral
Susan
My parents
Alyson
10. most memorable kisses
Mark Doohan (an Army guy I knew in Huntsville that I was totally in love with and by which all other kisses are measured)
Glen Bunting (my first college boyfriend)
Aaron [I don't remember his last name because I was 9 years old] (my first kiss)
11. biggest fears
heights
the dark
bugs/insects
12. people that have influenced you
Mrs. Johnson (my English teacher my Senior year of high school)
One of my English professors in college (can't remember his name but he taught grammar and he was super nice)
my mom
13. things you would buy if you had an unlimited money supply
a house with a big yard and a swimming pool
a new car
a private island
14. words that describe how others see you
loud
opinionated
friendly
15. words that describe how you see yourself
opinionated
friendly
know-it-all
16. friends you've known the longest
Lisa and Wendy (both since I was in the 8th grade)
Janice and Shane (both since I started college)
Drew (since my Junior year of college)
17. favorite childhood memories
building snow forts when I lived in Germany
swimming all day long during the summer but having to get out of the pool every time it rained when I lived in Panama
attending choir rehearsals for All City choir when I lived in Huntsville
18. favorite possessions (past or present)
electric blanket that no longer works from when I was a baby
my 1988 Chevy Cavalier convertible (which I sadly no longer own)
the Rotato (which is broken unfortunately but I loved that kitchen gadget)
19. favorte foods
before Atkins: orange juice, any kind of bread, pasta
after Atkins: chicken, creamed spinach, cream of salmon soup
20. favorite games (board, computer, or console)
scrabble
trivial pursuit
boggle
21. favoite tv shows
Highlander: The Series
Forever Knight
The X-Files
22. favorite movies
Grease
Holiday Inn
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
23. favorite actors
Sean Bean
Pierce Brosnan
Val Kilmer
24. favorite actresses
Diane Lane
Laura Dern
Michelle Pfeiffer
25. favorite bands or singers
Duran Duran
Metallica
Pseudopod
26. favorite pieces of clothing
my snowflake pj's
my fuzzy black slippers
my Keds
27. favorite authors
Shakespeare
J.R.R. Tolkein
Mark Twain
28. favorite literary works
anything by Shakespeare
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
28. favorite colors
emerald green
burgandy
cardinal and gold
29. things to do on a weekend
sleep
watch tv or movies
play tug of war with Sharky

Movies
Saturday, December 27, 2003 11:56 p.m.

In the last 5 days, I've been to see 3 movies, which is more movies than I've gone to see in the theatre all year.
I just saw Paycheck. It's no Return of the King, but it was a pretty decent movie. Typical John Woo movie: lots of cool action sequences and very fast pacing. The movie didn't feel almost 2 hours long and that's pretty important when you have to go to the bathroom. I had read the short story by Phillip K. Dick so I knew what the story was about going into it and I was prepared for the changes that were bound to have been made. And I wasn't disappointed. TPTB gave the character more "items" to deal with and they also changed the ending, but that's normal. A lot of Dick's short stories tend to be somewhat dark and have not so happy endings and Paycheck is no exception so it figures that it had a more "Hollywood ending."
I kept having all these thoughts while I was waiting for the movie to start so I jotted them down and decided to share them with you.

--Hey. Thanks for bringing your 3 year old with you to see this movie. I'm sure they'll really enjoy it.[/end sarcasm]
--Pat Benetar rocks!
--Brother Bear? No thanks. I'd rather stick with The Bear. Excluding any Pixar movies, I think the last Disney movie I saw was Lilo and Stitch.
--There's a "For Dummies" book out there called The Origins of J.R.R. Tolkein's Middle Earth For Dummies. I'm not sure what to make of that. I mean, I find The Lord of the Rings to be pretty easy to figure out. Now, if it's including The Silmarillion in that, then I'm all for it because damn if that book isn't confusing the fuck out of me!!!!

Ummm..o.k. I think that's it for me for the night.

Weird Dreams
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:45 p.m.

Seriously, no more sci-fi for me before I go to bed.
I had this dream last night that the Earth moved out of its orbit and was on a collision course with a few of the other planets in our solar system. Of course, there's chaos and panic and destruction and then once the planets all collide, they stick together and create a new huge planet but only parts of it are inhabitable because of the location in relation to the sun.
It was a very odd dream.

Catapult Santa
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:30 p.m.

Santa game

Hiccups
Saturday, December 27, 2003 10:45 a.m.

I have had the hiccups now for about 2 minutes. Nothing I've tried to get rid of them is working. I drank water, I held my breathe, nothing works. Sharky's looking at me like I'm crazy.

Dumb Employers
Friday, December 26, 2003 01:43 p.m.

I know I have a work blog but this is more a rant towards employers than it is a complaint about work.

[rant]Hey Employers! How about writing legibly? How exactly do you expect people to contact you if your email or snail mail address is unreadable? Seriously.
Oh, and for those cheapskates who call an administrative job an "intern" just so they can get labor for free, I've got news for you. Internships have to provide a learning experience. Standing in front of a copy machine for 6 hours, photocopying scripts or legal briefs, doesn't teach jackshit, expect how to use a copy machine. The state governments are cracking down on you.[/end rant]

Whew! Sorry. Needed to get that off my chest!

Friday Is The New Monday
Friday, December 26, 2003 01:30 p.m.

Well, it feels like a Monday to me today since it's my first day back to work since last Friday.
My co-worker is listening to some station on Yahoo Launch that consists of a whole bunch of easy listening songs from the 70's (like the Carpenters, etc.). The only good song that I've heard so far is The Rainbow Connection. The rest is making me want to tear my hair out.
By the way, I'd like to mention that out of an office of 60 people, there are 9 of us here. The phone hasn't rang once since I've been here. On the plus side, I caught up on researching companies that the career centers sent over the past week since there haven't been any phone calls or faxes coming in. On the minus side, because I've gotten all caught up, I now have about 30 ads that I have to enter into our system.

Yet I'm Not A Drinker
Thursday, December 25, 2003 09:44 p.m.


Congratulations! You're a Long Island Iced Tea!
Going for the classic choice, none can go wrong with a classy Long Islander!

What Drink Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Rain, Rain, Go Away!
Thursday, December 25, 2003 09:27 p.m.

It finally stopped raining here. Now it's just really windy and cold (and yes, I consider 40 degrees F to be cold. I know that some of you out there are in below 0 temps but I'm from California, so this is cold for me). The forecast for tomorrow (the day that I have to go back to work)? Abundantly sunny. Not just "mainly sunny" or "partly sunny" or even just "sunny." No. ABUNDANTLY. Thanks for rubbing it in that it'll be abundantly sunny outside while I'm inside.

Happy Holidays
Thursday, December 25, 2003 05:23 p.m.

Hey all. Just wanted to say Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kawanza, Merry Chrismukkah, and Happy Festivus to everyone out there.

Christmas Upchucking
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 08:39 p.m.

(you can tell how bored I am at home; I'm adding blog entries like crazy)

I decided to walk Sharky about 20 minutes ago since it finally stopped raining. As we're making our return trek to the apartment, I see a group of guys on the other side of the street and they're laughing and whatnot. Well, as Sharky and I pass, one of the guys stops at a set of bushes and proceeds to empty the contents of his stomach into said bushes (note to self: remember not to let Sharky near those bushes tomorrow). Yeah. Nothing says Christmas Eve like a guy puking in the bushes.

Christmas Dinner
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 06:59 p.m.

Yeah, I know it's not Christmas yet, but I thought I'd do some cooking tonight so that I can be ultra lazy tomorrow. Well, my apartment smells SOOOOO good right now. I've got garlic herb chicken thighs in the oven (made by me, not bought from a store) and I made garlic creamed spinach as well (I love garlic) so my apartment is garlic-y and warm from the oven. Mmmmm.... I might not be able to save any until tomorrow!

It's Raining, It's Pouring, My Darling Dog Is Snoring...
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 04:12 p.m.

Holy cow, is Sharky ever sawing some logs!!! I didn't think he could possibly snore that loud. I'm in the living room and can hear him over the hum of my computer and the rain coming down!!! And thank goodness I walked him before it started raining. I really hate holding the umbrella over him so he'll do his business.

Christmas Eve Goings Ons
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 03:22 p.m.

I just got back from seeing Gothika. Pretty decent movie until the end. Even I saw the ending coming and I'm generally pretty clueless in terms of figuring out whodunit. I really should've waited until it came out on video, but I wanted to see it and as I had nothing better to do today (well, I could've cleaned my apartment, but who wants to do that?), I went and saw it. I definitely shouldn't have gone to see it alone. While it wasn't a really scary movie, being practically alone in a dark theatre (5 people total and everyone else sat behind me) while watching a psychological thriller/horror movie isn't the best of ideas, especially given how prone I am to freaking out afterwards. Right now, I'm fine. It's late afternoon. But come nightfall, when I'm out walking my dog, I'm going to be freaked out by any sort of noise. I'm pretty much a big wuss.
Tomorrow, I think it's going to be a viewing of either Paycheck or Elf. I haven't decided yet which movie I'm in the mood to see. I could see both, I suppose.
Trailers I Saw:
Torque. The stunts look amazing but looks too much like The Fast & The Furious (which I never saw) for my taste.
Man On Fire. Denzel plays a bodyguard to Dakota Fanning (she of Taken, I Am Sam, and General Hospital fame), who then gets kidnapped and he goes to find her. I might have to see it just because Christopher Walken is in it and we all know how I feel about him (and in case you didn't, I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE him. Although, my LOVE for him has been somewhat pushed aside to be in LOVE with Billy Boyd).
Dawn Of The Dead. Hmmm...looks cheesy but scary enough that I'll go see it.
Miracle. Normally, I don't go for sports movies, but I was tearing up during the trailer for this movie about the 1980 USA Hockey team. There's a lot of debate going on at the IMDB boards about how this movie is crap because Americans are arrogant and Canadians are way better hockey players. Blah blah blah. What.Ev.Er. Regardless of whether or not other countries are better hockey players than the U.S., the point of this movie is that underdogs do have a chance if they believe in themselves enough. This rag tag bunch of college kids (because back in the day, the US athletes had to be amateurs with no endorsements--unlike today) who weren't supposed to be good enough to beat anybody, not only rallied to beat the USSR, but then also rallied to beat Finland and win the Gold. At that moment in time, the USA had the best hockey team in the world. And it sparked a hughe sense of national pride, which the US was lacking at the time.
Ok, sorry about that. I didn't mean to go off on a "Go USA" tangent, but I have a huge sense of national pride (I'm proud to be an American, dammit!) and it irks me when people bash on my country.
And on that note, I'm going to get off the computer now and figure out what to eat because I'm starving! Going to the theatre and not eating popcorn seems almost sacriligious, but I stayed away from the carbs. Go me.
Oh wait. Totally forgot to mention that as part of the "commercials" at the movie, they showed a small news item about all the people that participated across the country in AMC's Trilogy Tuesday for The Lord Of The Rings. I am now totally bummed that I didn't know about Trilogy Tuesday in advance. Otherwise, I would've participated in it! Man, I am bummed about that!

Mmm...Snacks....
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 03:56 p.m.

So, for Christmas, Cicely went into Trader Joe's for me and bought me low carb chips, an Atkins shake, some yummy low carb salad dressing, and a chocolate bar (which ended up not being low carb, but she thought it was). Cicely totally knows how I feel about Trader Joe's! I can't stand that place. First, the smell makes me ill. It smells all vitamin-y and powdery, sort of like a health food store or GNC (anytime I pass a GNC in the mall or wherever, I have to hold my breath because the smell grosses me out). And then, everything in there is expensive. Which is why I don't shop there. Anytime I need something low carb, like bread or pasta (which is extremely rare), I give Cicely the money and ask her to pick it up for me the next time she goes, which she graciously does.
It felt good to eat chips and salsa again, even if the chips did leave a funky aftertaste in my mouth (but it wasn't anything that I couldn't wash away with water, so it's all good).

The Jerk
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 09:32 a.m.

I was going to answer Dusty's question in my tag board but then realized that I couldn't explain in 200 characters or less. The way my apartment building is situated is like a big L. The small part of the L is my apartment on the ground floor and then The Jerk above me. There's a stairwell that separates our apartments from the rest of the other 4 apartments. So, when The Jerk decided to play his music, no one else can hear it because it's not vibrating anyone else's ceilings or walls. Even when he's not playing it loudly, I can still hear it because he's got the bass pretty heavy and the speakers on the floor. I've complained to the landlord, I've called the cops on him. It's pretty much a lost cause. Especially since it's my word against his. I tried videotaping my ceiling when he plays music just to show how loud it gets when I'm laying in bed at night and it's all quiet everywhere except from his apartment, but the microphone on my video camera is for shit and doesn't capture the true sound. I'm thinking about getting a decibel level meter and using that in the video tape to prove my point, but I figure that's just really not worth it.

Earthquakes, Part 2 & Orange Alert
Monday, December 22, 2003 08:31 p.m.

I happened to catch the tail end of the news and they were interviewing some teenagers about the earthquake (it's a slow news day when you're interviewing kids about how they were playing video games and they felt the house moving and stuff fell on them but they didn't realize it was an earthquake). Apparently, the quake did quite a bit of damage. There were various shots of people hugging each other and crying so I'm guessing homes were destroyed and people were injured/killed. The newscasters were saying that it was a good thing the 6.5 quake hit in a rural area instead of a major city like LA or SF because there would be more deaths and injuries. Well, duh.
Also, why exactly are we at level Orange? Is it because it's closer to the holidays? Is it because we expect retaliation for the whole Saddam thing? This is what I get for not paying attention to the news.

Earthquake
Monday, December 22, 2003 04:32 p.m.

You know, once you've spent 2 days doing pretty much nothing, it's pretty tiring to spend another day doing nothing while everyone's at work.

There was an earthquake today. Technically, there are earthquakes all the time, but this one was a 6.5 on the Richter scale. It was a pretty fair distance from L.A. (over 200 miles) but I definitely felt it while I was sitting in the theatre. At first, I thought it was the bass in the sound from the movie and then I realized that we were swaying, not shaking.

So, onto to my weekend. My weekend pretty much started on Friday. Work was pretty much one big party. I did get some work done but I mainly exchanged gifts, partook in some office gossip, and cube danced to my Duran Duran CD. Friday night, I went to bed early (like 9:30pm), partly because I'm old and partly because I was getting up early the next day to see The Return Of The King with John and Liz. The next morning, I was up bright and early (7am) to walk Sharky, shower and get ready to meet John and Liz at their place. I got to their place around 10am and we all hopped into their car and went to see the movie. After the movie, we stopped at a Carl's Jr. so they could eat and then we went back to their place so I could pick up my car and get back to my apartment. I got home around 5pm, took Sharky for a walk, took a shower, then laid down to take a nap since I had a pretty nasty headache (from trying to not out-and-out sob at the movie and from "falling off the roof"). I got woken up around 8pm by Drew saying that John and Liz were done with there son's church thing so he was going to be at my place in 20 minutes to get me for dinner (I should mention that this dinner was planned Friday night). I got up, got dressed, walked Sharky, and had just put him back in the apartment when Drew pulled up, so it was good timing. We ended up going to Old Town Pasadena and eating at a Japanese restaurant where they cook the food at a grill in front of you (sort of like Benihana's). I gave Drew his gift and he gave John and Liz their gift (they had given him his gift last week at the Hunt). And we all got to hear about Drew's love life, which is infinitely more exciting than mine, in that he has one and I don't. Afterwards, we all went our separate ways and went home. Back home, I walked Sharky and then settled in to watch some tv and then decided I was tired so I went to bed.
I woke up early Sunday morning (but not by choice-The Jerk) and since I was up, walked Sharky, then decided to do dishes as I was cold and wanted to warm up. So I did dishes, then decided I was hungry so I decided to make something but after preparing it, I wasn't hungry (because I had snacked on what I was preparing...bad me) so it got saved until today. I spent most of Sunday, watching tv. Starz is having a The Lord Of The Rings weekend so they showed FotR, then a "behind the scenes" of TTT, then they showed TTT, and then showed a behind the scenes for RotK. I don't know why I sat there and watched all of it. I mean, I have the movies on DVD (well, the extended editions anyways) so it's not as if I haven't seen the behind the scenes stuff they showed and it's not as if I haven't seen the movies. Just further proof that I am insane. I ended up going to bed around midnight, but not falling asleep until about 1am, because The Jerk has taken to singing now. I'm guessing that he's using headphones to listen to music late at night but he sings with it and I can totally hear it.
This morning, I was woken up early (7:30am) by The Jerk, listening to the greatest hits of Seal (does he even have enough songs to have a greatest hits or does my neighbor just have a bunch of Seal songs on a CD?). I got up, walked Sharky, showered, dressed, then futzed around on the computer for a while before deciding that I needed to get out of the house, so I looked up when and where RotK was playing near me and went to see it. I got to the theatre early (naturally) so I walked around the mall for a while. Further proof that I'm old: malls absolutely bore me. There was nothing at all interesting in the mall. I went into Lane Bryant to look around and see what they had to offer in the way of new clothes that I might want to buy (I do need some new jeans as I've gone down 2 pant sizes!!!!!!), but everything was super expensive, so I passed. Finally, the theatre box office opened so I bought my ticket, and settled in to watch the movie. I saw some interesting trailers (The Butterfly Effect; The Chronicles of Riddick, Peter Pan), some not so interesting trailers (Spiderman 2; some movie with Jude Law and Gwenyth Paltrow; some movie with The Rock), and some trailers that should be pulled off the screen immediately (The Mask 2). Interestingly enough, no trailer for the new Harry Potter. I'm bummed about that. The theatre was pretty empty; there were probably about 10 people total. But during Eowyn's scene when she says "I am no man," the 4 girls about 3 rows behind me cheered. And even though I knew it was coming and had seen it already, I still sobbed at the Grey Havens scene.
And that's pretty much been my day until now. Now, I'm going to go eat some salad and watch some tv.

No Work
Monday, December 22, 2003 08:09 a.m.

Guess who's off work until Dec 26?
Guess who still got woken up at an ungodly hour by The Jerk and his music?
Guess who's going to see ROTK again today by herself?

Gifts
Sunday, December 21, 2003 07:43 a.m.

Gifts I Gave:
Drew got a racing video game that was on his Amazon wishlist.
My Gift Exchange co-worker got a $10 gift certificate to In-n-Out Burger (it's what he wanted) plus an assortment of sweets (rice krispie treat, m&m's, etc.).
Steve also got a $10 gift certificate for In-n-Out.
Cicely got a Vegan cookbook.
Samuel got a $10 gift card to Best Buy.
Paul got a meat and cheese platter (one of the nice wrapped ones from Target; I didn't just go to Ralph's and buy him meat and cheese).
Julie and Joy both got $10 gift certificates for Target.
Ayisha got cute little toe socks (blue and white horizontal striped with candy canes on the toe parts).
John & Liz got.....well, I can't say until they actually get the gift.
Susan is getting a $30 gift certificate for Target, when I see her again (and I'm not worried about saying it here because she NEVER reads my blog).
Dave is getting a $30 Starbuck gift card, which I feel bad about because it's my stand-by gift for him, but Susan told me it's a gift he likes to get so I'm getting it.
I still haven't bought anything for my folks yet. I'm not sure what to get them and I don't want to have to ship anything to Alabama so I'm thinking that next paycheck, I'll just send them some money since they're planning on going to visit Vietnam again this February.

Gifts I Got:
From Steve, I got Duran Duran's Greatest Hits CD (their new one).
From Julie and Joy, I got a $10 gift card for Ralph's.
From John and Liz, I got a USC Football calendar and a 15 Minute Low Carb cookbook. It RAWKS!
From Drew, I'm not sure what I got. I think he bought me something off of my Amazon wishlist.
I don't know what Cicely and Susan&Dave got me yet. I have to wait until New Year's.

The Return Of The King
Saturday, December 20, 2003 08:10 p.m.

Saw it today and let me just say, WOW!!!!!!! Loved it!!!!! Will DEFINITELY see it again!!! Will give more of a review later (with spoilers, so skip it if you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know anything about it).





S

P

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R

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A

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Things I Liked/Loved:
First, I have to say that I am not a big fan of Sean Astin. I think he's a fine actor for the most part (except for Rudy; I seriously hated that movie), but I dislike hearing him talk when he's not playing a role. I don't know why but he just gets on that one nerve and irritates the hell out of me. Having said that, I think that Sean Astin deserves an award for his performance in ROTK. He KICKED all kinds of ass in this movie!!! During the scenes where Frodo wasn't with Sam, I kept thinking, "Dammit Sam! Hurry up and get there!" because that's how anxious I was to see Sean Astin on screen again and act the hell out of his scenes. When Sam's holding Frodo after Frodo's been wrapped up in the webbing by Shelob and he's saying, "Don't go where I can't follow," I practically went through my whole thing of tissue. And when he finally got the courage to go up to Rosie Cotton. And when he married her. And when he was crying at the end at the Grey Havens. I could go on and on.
LOVED Billy Boyd in this. If I wasn't already obsessed with him, the scene when Pippin is in the full Gondor uniform, singing his sad little song to Denethor, would've made me fall in love with him. I think Billy did a wonderful job of portraying both Pippin's childlike nature and the way he grows up super fast during war. Pippin is my favorite of all the hobbits and it helps that a fine actor like Billy portrayed him.
The scene between Faramir and Denethor when they talk about how Denethor wished Faramir had died instead of Boromir. I seriously wanted to reach into the movie and smack Denethor around!
The Paths of the Dead was excellent. I always had a hard time wrapping my head around what the Paths looked like and the WETA crew did a phenomenal job of making it come to life. The dead men were spooky and chilling.
Minas Tirith was unbelievable! In my opinion, that was the best looking city in all of the movies. Rivendale was pretty and it was practically a full set, and I know that a lot of Minas Tirith was CGI and matte paintings, but it was splendid and magnificant.
The little light moments between Gimli and Legolas during the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Gimli saying "That still only counts as one!" when Legolas takes down the Mumankil (or Olyphiant). HA!
The scene at the battle of the Black Gate when Aragorn is standing there and it goes all quiet except for the voice of Sauron saying "Elessar" and then Aragorn turning and saying, "For Frodo" and then it gets all loud again as he goes screaming, followed closely by Merry and Pippin. Gave. Me. Chills.

Things That I Didn't Like So Much:
As much as I love Pippin, I was annoyed to see that Merry didn't get his moments in the sun. He got a cute scene with Eowyn with the blade, but it really just set up Eowyn's comment to Eomer about "Merry" being able to fight for his loved ones (subtext: Eowyn wants to fight). It doesn't show him swearing fealty to Theoden. It doesn't show how very badly injured he gets when he stabs the Witch King and almost dies, along with Eowyn and Faramir. One of my favorite scenes in the book involves Merry being healed and wanting to smoke a pipe but lamenting the loss of his pack with his pipeweed in it and Pippin calling him "My dear ass" because Merry had his pack on him when was injured. I know that for pacing purposes, that all probably got cut out, but I don't think Merry got the screen time he deserved.
Where's the Eowyn/Faramir love? That's one of the great things about the book. It can't all be about Aragorn/Arwen.
The whole "Arwen is dying" thing didn't need to be in there. That was an unnecessary subplot. I mean, Aragorn knew he had to fight and he was fighting for Frodo to destroy the ring. It didn't make him fight doubly hard because of Arwen dying.
The scene where Frodo wakes up in Gondor and the majority of the Fellowship is reunited and it's all slow motion and poignant music is playing. Was I supposed to cry or be happy during that scene? Because I wasn't. I was bored and waiting for them to move on. I guess it was supposed to mirror the scene in FOTR when Frodo wakes up in Rivendale. What would've made the scene better (for me anyways) would've been if it had been both Frodo and Sam that had woken up to find Gandalf and then the rest of the Fellowship came in. I really don't understand why they deviated from the scene in the book. Because it's supposed to be All About Frodo, I guess.


O.k. That concludes my thoughts on the movie. Overall, I enjoyed it immensely. It wasn't my favorite of the 3, but I did like it and I'm sad that the Trilogy is now over.

Pet Peeve
Friday, December 19, 2003 04:17 p.m.

I read a lot of different people's blogs and the one thing that irks me more than anything is when I see blog entries like this:
morning ppl..wah! i woke up damn early today..coz i got to go to work..i hate it..grr!hate to go to work..well yesterday i was sad over my brother controlline me..baby n sis comfort me..thnks dear...haiz..i can't anyting bout tt controlling ting...juz gonna live wif it..haiz..:'(..yesterday was fun..i went to bugis wif baby n his frens..!hmm..was fun..but..fina n mb dun haf..haiz..so sad..hmm..baby keep tickle me all the away.. haiz..yesterday baby was so cute..*cair*..he was making melting all the way...hahakz..n fina was not selected 4 the netball..i pity her..coz she noe tt spot is for hasinah..nvm sis u re still the best 4 me..well baby..i wanna said each sec,mins,day passes i keep on lovin u...my love 4 u is becoming stronger n stronger...I LOVE U BABY~! i misz my frenz at skool..i misz my sis(fina)..she misz her baby(*ehem*)..hahakz..n i misz my BABY too..kkz..i got to go to work...bye..!take care all..I LOVE U BABY~!so much! i misz u so much!! *muackz*!!
Now, I understand if you're writing the blog in English and English isn't your first language, but if you're some 17 year old from Salt Lake City, Utah, for god's sake, could you try to even write like a normal human being?!? I mean, my writing style tends to be very much like the way I talk: extremely run-on and somewhat stream-of-conscious, but I at least take the time and make the effort of spelling correctly and trying to make complete sentences that are [somewhat] grammatically cohesive. Are you really in that much of a hurry to make an entry in your blog that you can't spell out "people" and have to abbreviate it "ppl"? I think not. Cripes! Once I see an entry like that, I just move on. Which is a shame because that person might have had something interesting to say but I wouldn't know it because they can't write normally.

Secret Santa
Friday, December 19, 2003 12:01 p.m.

So, the guy who picked my name for the secret gift exchange just gave me my gift, Duran Duran's Greatest. It's a good thing that I have a cubicle now because I'm sitting here singing (probably too loud, but oh well) and semi-80s dancing!!!

TMI
Friday, December 19, 2003 09:12 a.m.

Aunt Flo has fallen off the roof, if you understand my meaning.
And it sucks because it's right before the Holidays.

Burnt Offerings
Friday, December 19, 2003 09:11 a.m.

I burned my tongue last night on my soup. So now anything I eat tastes funky.

Personal Days
Thursday, December 18, 2003 01:03 p.m.

I have 3 Personal Days at work that I have to take before the end of the year or I'll lose them. You'd think the HR department would let us know early so that we could start planning vacations and stuff. I work in a department of 2 people, so one of us has to be there when the other isn't. My co-worker is going home for Christmas so she's off from Dec 26 (well, technically the 24th, but we all have that day off) to Jan 5. Which means that I have to take Friday (19th), Monday (22nd), and Tuesday (23rd) off. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind taking those days off, but if I had known this ahead of time, I would've arranged to have the 17th off so I could've gone to see ROTK and then taken the 22nd and 23rd off. As it is, I took a half day today, then will have 22/23 off (but not tomorrow because our office gift exchange is tomorrow and I really don't want to have to drive to work on my day off) and then will take another half day on the 31st.
One good thing about taking today as a half day is that I got the majority of my Christmas shopping done all before 1pm. I only have 2 more gifts to buy so I'm all set. Woo hoo!

Time's Up!!
Wednesday, December 17, 2003 07:03 a.m.

I am so damn excited! Even though I'm not going to see The Return Of The King until this weekend, I'm still damn excited. My father, who has seen the previous 2 movies with me, will be going alone this year as I'm not going to Huntsville this year for the Holidays. I recommended that he re-rent the previous 2 movies and watch them to catch himself up on the action because he forgets year to year what happens. Case in point, before going to see The Two Towers, we rented The Fellowship Of The Ring. My dad kept asking me questions: "So, who are the evil guys again?" "Who's the kid that's gotta get the ring to Mount Doom?" "Who's the chick with the glowy white dress again?" After we saw The Two Towers in the theatres, I asked my dad what he thought of it. He liked it and then said, "But I liked that guy's first girlfriend better." Huh? I figured out that he was talking about Aragorn and Arwen and Éowyn. Hee. My dad's funny sometimes.

Kissing A Fool
Tuesday, December 16, 2003 09:54 a.m.

Remember a while back I had that song "Kissing a Fool" in my head but I couldn't really remember who sang it and then I remembered it was George Michael? Well, the reason I had the song in my head in the first place was because one of those nightly news magazines (20/20, Nightline, Dateline, whatever) was doing a little fluff piece on Michael Bublé and he was singing the song. And it all comes full circle for me. Lovely. I love closure.

Warm & Cozy Electric Blanket
Tuesday, December 16, 2003 08:57 a.m.

I woke up late again this morning. I think I shouldn't sleep with the electric blanket because I SOOO didn't want to get out of bed this morning since I was all nice and toasty under the covers.

Have you ever written a word out so many times that it starts to look like it's not a real word? I've had to write the word "Drexel" (as in Drexel University in PA) on about 50 sheets of paper and it's really starting to look like an alien word. Even typing it out, it looks wrong.

Weekend Goings Ons
Monday, December 15, 2003 05:50 p.m.

Right...my weekend.
Well, it started normally enough. I came home from work Friday night, walked Sharky, showered, ate dinner, vegged out in front of the tv (watched Joan of Arcadia and bawled my eyes out) before turning in for the evening.
Saturday, I was up fairly early (3 guesses as to who woke me? **coughTheJerkcough**) so I cleaned up a little around the apartment, did a load of laundry, ran some errands, then took a short nap so that I'd be refreshed and ready for the Holiday Hunt. I had to be at Susan and Dave's house by 7pm and the traffic to Orange County was going to be super heavy so I left at 4:45pm just to make sure I would get there on time. I had planned on stopping to get gas but the gas station was packed (I think because gas was only $1.49), so I decided I'd just wait until I got to The O.C. (HAH!) Once I got to O.C., I realized that I didn't know where there were any gas stations around Susan and Dave's house so I ended up just driving around looking for one. The stupid thing was that every time I'd find one, I'd be in the wrong lane and it was too difficult to turn around and come back so I'd just keep going on until I found another one, which would be on the opposite side of the lane I was in. It's like the gas gods were conspiring against me. I finally found a gas station that was on the same side of the street and pulled in to get gas but I had to wait 10 minutes in line. I don't know what the deal is but for some reason, on the weekends we have the Holiday Hunt, there is always mega-amounts of traffic. It's like Traffic waits until that night and amasses all at once. Anyways, I got gas and then hightailed it to Susan and Dave's. Now, I've been to Susan and Dave's house enough times to not get lost and to pretty much be able to get there without thinking (that's what happens when you go there every weekend over the summer to swim), but that night, I went right past their house and was at the end of the block before I realized it. That did not bode well for my eyeing skills needed for the Hunt. Once I made it back to their house, I settled into my favorte chair at their place and waited for the others to show up (I'm generally always early for everything, mainly because I hate to be late, but pretty much because I can never judge how long it will take me to get someplace so I always leave earlier than I need to). The Hunt was supposed to start at 7pm, but as always, traffic holds some people up so we ended up actually starting around 7:30pm. The Hunt itself was a lot of fun and Drew and I didn't win this year but I still had a lot of fun. The best part, for me anyways, was when the route had us go into Condom Revolution to buy a condom and there was a guy from another team in there before I went in. When I went in the other guy was looking around for the condom. Instead of doing that, I just asked the clerk standing next to the huge condom display that I wanted a PowerPlay condom. Well, the guy from the team snatched the condom out of the clerks hand, yelled "don't give her one," and hightailed it out of there. I told the clerk, "I need one" and he handed me one and then said, "Is he going to pay for that?" I sat there for about 2 seconds and then said, "Well, how much are they?" He says, "$1.07" so I threw $3 at him, snatched the condom out of his hand, said "Keep the change" and ran out of there. Later, after the Hunt was over and I was relating this story, someone metioned that it was obvious that I hadn't had sex in a long time if I didn't know the price of a condom. I wasn't sure what to make of that (because it's not entirely untrue but I certainly didn't need to have it pointed out in a roomful of people), but he was slightly inebriated so I'm just chalking it up to the liquor. :-) Anways, the Hunt ended around 10:30pm and some of us stayed at Susan and Dave's to play Uno (Susan and I played Rummy instead). I ended up leaving around 1:30am and got home around 2:45am. I took Sharky for an extra long walk, then showered and debated as to whether or not I should open the gift that John and Liz got me. I wanted to wait until Christmas, since I'll be spending it in LA and not in Huntsville, but I decided that I didn't want to wait so I opened it. I was totally jazzed because it was a book called 15 Minute Low Carb Meals and the way the author explained it, it's 15 minutes prep and cook time combined, provided that you use short cuts, like already minced onions and garlic, pre-cut canned mushrooms, frozen veggies (or canned), etc. Which is totally perfect for me because I'm all about stuff being pre-cut, pre-washed, etc. I hate chopping stuff. I ended up reading the cook book until about 4pm, and then I finally decided to go bed.
I slept until 8am, at which point I was woken up, so I took Sharky for a walk, then came back in and went back to sleep until about 11am. I got out of bed, went to look for breakfast, realized that my cupboards and fridge were pretty bare, so I ate what I had on hand, then decided to go grocery shopping. Before I did, I sat down with the cookbook and made a list of stuff that I would need to cook some of the meals. It was raining when I stepped outside and I seriously thought about not going but then realized that I was going to be hungry later so I got in my car and drove to the grocery store. Where I proceeded to buy $200 worth of groceries. I'd say I'm pretty well stocked in terms of food for a while. After I got home and put all the groceries away, I realized that I wasn't in the mood to cook, so I decided to eat the pre-packaged food I already had (low carb, don't worry!) and wait until Monday for cooking. It had gotten pretty cold so I broke out the electric blanket my folks bought me for Christmas (which I thought I wouldn't ever need but thank goodness my mom didn't listen to me or my dad when we told her not to buy it for me) and was all nice and toasty last night. However, it made me really not want to get out of bed this morning so I was about 15 minutes late for work today. And then the ironic thing was that I was so hot at work because I had dressed warmly and it was super warm in the office. The sinus headache went away when I was driving home with my car window down and getting some cool air on my face and head.
And that was my weekend in a blog entry. Not too too exciting.
Oh, and I sent out another round of Christmas cards, so hopefully, everyone's gotten their cards.

Movies I Want To And Don't Want To See
Monday, December 15, 2003 12:45 p.m.

Want to see:
Gothika. I like scary movies.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. OBVIOUSLY!!!
Elf. Will Ferrell always makes me laugh.

Don't want to see:
The Last Samurai. The only 2 movies in which I liked Tom Cruise were Legend and Top Gun.
The Cat In The Hat. Mike Myers already has a character that's a New York Jew, so why's he making The Cat Jewish?

Would rather stick flaming toothpicks in my eyeballs than watch:
Honey (or as one of the recappers at TWoP renamed it--Glitter 2: Electric Honeyloo).
Stuck On You. Am I the only person on this Earth who doesn't like the Farrelly Brothers?

How Many More Days Until ROTK?
Monday, December 15, 2003 12:26 p.m.

Foxtrot Sunday
Foxtrot Monday
Foxtrot Tuesday
Foxtrot Wednesday
Foxtrot Thursday
Foxtrot Friday
Foxtrot Saturday

Headache
Monday, December 15, 2003 11:08 a.m.

Man, I've got a nasty sinus headache going on right now. And it's not helping that it's super warm in our office and I'm wearing a sweater. I knew I should've layered this morning. But it was cold and I didn't think I'd be too warm today.

Holiday Hunting
Monday, December 15, 2003 10:10 a.m.

Well, the 6th Annual Holiday Hunt has come and gone and it is a landmark in history folks, because for the 1st time in 5 years, Drew and I didn't win (well tecnically, we don't run it every year, so it's more like 2 years). We actually came in 4th out of 7 teams. What did us in was the huge accident on the 22 freeway (plus not getting some of the questions correct because it was too dark to see). Everyone else got off the freeway and took surface streets to the next clue. Drew and I stayed on the route, which cost us a lot of time. Oh well. At least the winners are people I know so I can influence how the Hunt is handled!
Susan and Dave did an awesome job on the Hunt this year and fun was had by all.

6th Annual Holiday Hunt
Saturday, December 13, 2003 12:32 p.m.

I promise to tell you all about it, but it'll have to wait until it actually happens. I will give you background as to what the Hunt actually is, though.
The Holiday Hunt is part car race, part scavenger hunt (sort of). Think Cannonball Run meets The Amazing Race. Teams of 2 or 3 hop in a vehicle and race around a part of town picked by the host, answering questions about stuff along the route. The team with the shortest run time and the most correct answers are the winners. What do you win? Each team member gets a nice prize (which could be a gift certificate or something else) AND the team gets the honor of hosting the next year’s Holiday Hunt.
I conceived of the Hunt 6 years ago right after Thanksgiving. I had gone with my friend Shane to the Rolls Royce Fox Hunt (he belong to the Rolls Royce Owners Club and they have a Fox Hunt every year around Thanksgiving). The idea behind the Fox Hunt is that everyone jumps into their Rolls or Bentley and follows a planned out route, answering questions along the way about certain things along the route. There are pictures of a fox (one for every car that participates) and the picture is split into 4 pieces and hidden along the route. You have to answer all the questions correctly, have all the pieces of the fox picture, and have the shortest travel time. Well, it was TONS of fun. At the time, I was living in Sherman Oaks with a roommated (Mary) and we were about to have our Christmas party. So, I explained to her what happened on the Fox Hunt (she was invited to go but didn't and was bummed when I told her about it) and suggested that we do something similar for our party. She seemed jazzed about it until I explained that she couldn't participate in the race since she was hosting. But she did get into the spirit eventually and enjoyed the planning of it. We made it different in that we're hunting Santa and the Reindeer because it's right before Christmas and they've gone missing. The idea is that the route is the last known whereabouts of Santa and the Reindeer, so you follow the route, and along the way, answer questions about stuff along the route (like, what color is the door of the house at 123 Main Street?), while picking up "pieces" that Santa left behind. The team that wins the Hunt (shortest travel time, most correct answers, all of the "pieces") hosts it the next year, which makes it possible for the previous host to play and perhaps win. And that actually has happened. Every other year, I (and my partner, which generally has been Drew) always host. And every year that we don't host, Susan and Dave have hosted. We're now into Year 6 of the Hunt but it looks as if Drew and I have competition in the form of John and Liz. We'll see!

Christmas Spirit
Wednesday, December 10, 2003 08:38 a.m.

While I was driving to work this morning in the dark, fog, and rain, I saw a guy at the bus stop in a wheelchair who had wrapped his chair in Christmas lights. My first thought was, "Way to get into the Christmas spirit!" My next thought was, "Way to get yourself electrocuted." But then I realized that he could have the indoor/outdoor lights on him.
The Jerk is also filled with holiday spirit because last night's round of "let me play my music as loud as possible for as long as possible until I go to bed" was all about the Christmas music. It's still annoying, but I'm willing to be less bitchy about it since it is Christmas music.
Did I mention that The Jerk is also taking trumpet lessons? He has a guy come over every day at 4pm (the time I get home every day--how convenient) and they practice for an hour. Drives.Sharky.Nuts!!! I actually have to muzzle him so he'll remain (somewhat) calm during that hour and not bother The Jerk (yes, because god forbid, I have the idea that I should be considerate to my neighbors).
In other Christmas music news, the 3 CDs I bought from Amazon were on my desk at work this morning so I popped them in and am now listening to the soothing sounds of Harry Connick Jr. singing Christmas carols.

Linguistic Questions
Tuesday, December 9, 2003 11:46 a.m.

I found this on a girl's blog who is studying linguistics in college. I guess it's used to determine what words are common to a country and what words are regional. See if your answers are different from mine.

Age: 31
Where Did You Grow Up? All over the place (military kid)

What Do You Call...
A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
Creek (or as my dad pronounces it "crick")
The thing you push around the grocery store.
Shopping cart
A metal container to carry a meal in.
Lunch box
The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
Frying pan
The piece of furniture that seats three people.
Couch
The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
Gutters
The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
Porch
Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
Soda
A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
Pancake
A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
Sub
The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
Swim trunks
Shoes worn for sports.
Sneakers
Putting a room in order.
Straightening up
A flying insect that glows in the dark.
Lightning bug.
The little insect that curls up into a ball.
Roly-poly.
The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
Teeter-totter
When private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
Yard sale
The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
Basement
What's the evening meal?
Dinner
How do you eat your pizza?
Toppings first, then from the point to the crust.

Why Are There No Song Titles With Tuesday In Them?
Tuesday, December 9, 2003 11:24 a.m.

I was up early this morning and I saw a couple of videos on VH-1's Insomniac Video Theater. "White Flag" was one of them. The other is Evanesence's "My Immortal" which is just a kick ass song. But the video version of the song is a bit different. I guess they felt they needed to get a bit of rock in there to not make it an out-and-out ballad.

The majority of my Christmas cards are on their way to everyone who sent me their address. I ran out of stamps and cards so those people will have to wait until after payday on the 15th for me to get new cards and stamps.

Don't you hate it when you buy a Christmas gift for someone and after you've bought it, you find a better gift for that person? That totally happened to me, which means that I know have to take back the original gift to return so that I can buy the other gift. I hate standing in those return/exchange lines.

While I was waiting for Battlestar Galactica to come on, I was flipping through the stations and I came upon a little gem of a movie from the late 70's called A Little Romance. I LOVED this movie when I was younger. And while parts of it don't hold the same appeal it did when I was younger, overall, it's still a great movie and it still made me cry (but then again, what doesn't make me cry these days?). Also, it's a chance to see a young Diane Lane (age 14) interact with Laurence Olivier.

Mondegreens
Tuesday, December 9, 2003 06:36 a.m.

You know that new Dido song "White Flag"? Well, the lyrics of the chorus go something like "Well I will go down with this ship/And I won't put my hands up and surrender/There will be no white flag above my door/I'm in love and always will be." My friend Susan swore up and down that Dido is singing "And I will poke my eyes out and surrender." So now, every time I hear that song, that's what I hear the lyrics to be. Damn you Susan.

Monday, Monday, La La La La La
Monday, December 8, 2003 11:34 a.m.

Man, it is hot in our office.

Pitas was down for a while this morning (I'm not sure why), but now that it's up, I can sit here and blog to my heart's content, especially since I'm not at all busy at work, but shhh! Don't tell my boss.

I think I'm catching a cold. And I think it's because I read a bunch of blogs where people said they were sick. Damn you people.

Last night, I sat down to read a book that John and Liz loaned me, but I was so bored with it, I fell asleep while reading it. Which means that I missed Alias and Angels In America (but thankfully had the forethought to tape them). On the upside, I got more sleep, which is always good. And The Jerk didn't make any noise last night, which is unusual, but I'm not complaining.

The Sci-Fi Channel's remake of Battlestar Galactica is on tonight at 9pm EST. I'm interested to see how they've "updated" it (what with making Starbuck and Boomer girls this time around, which honestly, just reeks of blasphemy).

Staying Up 'Til The Crack Of Dawn
Sunday, December 7, 2003 06:45 p.m.

So. My weekend. Wanna hear about it? Well, I'll tell you anyways.
Friday night, nothing. Came home, walked Sharky, talked to Susan a bit, ate some turkey, then settled down to watch the last 3 discs of Highlander: Season 2 series. After 9 hours of getting a Adrian Paul fix, I walked the dog again, and went to bed.
Saturday, woke up, walked Sharky, went to Target to return some stuff that I had bought that I ended up not needing and then bought some Christmas presents. Was going to stop by the post office to buy Christmas stamps but then realized that I didn't have cash on me so I went to the grocery store to buy a chicken and some creamed spinach and completely forgot about getting cash back so that I could then stop by the post office on my way back home. I remembered halfway through watching the USC game so I just decided to wait for Monday to get the stamps. Anyways, once I got home, I walked Sharky really quick so that I wouldn't have to worry about him during the game. Then I settled in to watch the USC vs. Oregon St. game.
Yeah for USC winning 52-28! Yeah for Kansas State upsetting Oklahoma (the #13 team in the nation beat the previously undefeated #1 team in the nation 35-7)! Boo to LSU for winning over Georgia! Now, LSU is going to the Sugar Bowl to play for the National Championship against Oklahoma instead of USC. But, USC is going to the Rose Bowl to play against Michigan. And I'm sorry to all you Michiganders out there, but you know I have to root against the Wolverines.
After the game, I took a shower, walked Sharky, then headed out to John and Liz's place with my extended edition DVDs of The Fellowship Of The Rings and The Two Towers. We had dinner then settled in to watch both movies. I know, we're insane! And I can't believe that I suggested it! But they went along with it, so they're just as insane as me. While I was there, John showed me Liz's Christmas present to him, which was supposed to be a surprise, but he happened to get the UPS package one day while he was home and he opened it (bad John!). He got a full size replica of Narsil. Yes, ladies and gents, he got a sword. It's heavy and it's real (but not super sharp). Boys and their toys!
I left their house around 4am and drove home in the rain. That wouldn't have been so bad had it not been for the fact that the freeway that I have to take to get home from their house is devoid of any sort of buildings and whatnot around it, so it's basically pitch black out and I can't turn on my brights because of the fog. Luckily, there weren't a lot of cars on the freeway with me so I was able to go 50 mph and not bother anyone. I got home around 5am, took the dog on a long walk, and finally went to bed around 6am. I slept until about 2pm. I then remembered that I was supposed to go to a friend's choir concert so I showered, dressed, walked Sharky again, and headed out to Santa Monica to watch Jacob (one of my co-workers) and his sister Celeste (one of my former co-workers) perform in a choir. It was weird to see a holiday concert also perform non-holiday songs, but it was nice. Both Jacob and Celeste did good jobs on their solos, but there were some people who should be told not to sing solos. One woman sang "Let There Be Peace On Earth" like she was in a Broadway show: over enunciated everything and had too much bravura (or is it coloratura?) in every note. After the concert I came home and that is where I'm at now.
I'm actually ready to hit the hay now, but I know that I can't otherwise I'll be awake at 3am so I'm going to go read a book that John and Liz lent me and then I'm going to watch Alias and then sleep.

Random Friday Thoughts
Friday, December 5, 2003 06:37 a.m.

Yesterday, as I was going about 10 mph on the 405 freeway because there was an accident at the 405/101 interchange, I saw a truck that said "Emergency Blood." I really hope no one needed blood badly yesterday because that truck was stuck in traffic.

I found a gray hair this morning while I was brushing my teeth.

Further proof that I'm too obsessed with The Lord Of The Rings: The new office that Trak is in is one of two towers. Our office is in the West Tower. Does that make our building Orthanc and the other tower Bara-Dûr ?

Why is it the only radio stations I can pick up on my radio here in the office are Spanish stations and the one station that plays dance/techno, which I can't pick up outside the office? I'm trying to find the station that's playing all Christmas music during December, but I can't get it. *pouts*


California is where you should live. Unless of course you lied on the quiz which would be stupid. It's crowded as balls there but the weather is perfect, except for the occasional earth quake.

What State Is Perfect For You?
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I've got a headache.

I didn't know that the City of Los Angeles had its own website.

It's All About Me . . . Again
Thursday, December 4, 2003 09:09 a.m.

WHAT TYPE OF HOUSE/APARTMENT DO YOU LIVE IN?
I live in a one bedroom apartment.
WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
I’m trying to get through The Silmarillion by Tolkein, but it’s like reading the Bible, only worse.
WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
At work, it’s the Monster mascot, Trumpasaurus. At home, it’s an old Jobtrak mousepad.
FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
Scrabble, followed closely by Trivial Pursuit.
FAVORITE MAGAZINE?
Anything entertainment related, but really, TV Guide (does that count?)
FAVORITE SMELLS?
Pumpkin pie, Polo by Ralph Lauren, sheets just out of the dryer.
FAVORITE SOUNDS?
Choirs, the sound that an orchestra makes when it’s tuning up, the roar of crowds at sporting events.
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
“I have to pee”
FAVORITE COLOR?
Purple, cardinal and gold.
HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER YOUR PHONE?
At least 2. I think I have OCD in that regard because I refuse to pick up a phone unless it’s rung 2 times.
NAME OF FUTURE CHILDREN?
I’m not having children ever but if I had to name a child, it would be Kali Marie for a girl and Garret Oliver for a boy.
MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE?
At least one friend you can count on through thick and thin.
CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
I’m boring…Vanilla all the way.
DO YOU DRIVE TOO FAST?
Always.
DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
Does Sharky count? Otherwise, no. I have 80 million pillows.
STORMS COOL OR SCARY?
Scary.
WHAT TYPE OF CAR WAS YOUR FIRST?
That I bought with my own money: 1988 Chevy Cavalier convertible. That my parents bought and I drove all through high school: 1988 Chevy Sprint.
WHAT'S YOUR IDEAL GETAWAY?
Someplace where I could sleep as much as I wanted and not have to do any sort of work.
IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON, DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD IT BE?
Shakespeare.
FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK?
Can’t drink alcohol (allergic) but I do like margaritas.
WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN?
Gemini
DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI?
I try not to eat broccoli if I can help it.
IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Editor of a major publishing company.
IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?
Empty
DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS?
Yes.
WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED?
Dust bunnies.
FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?
College football.
FAVORITE SPORT TO PLAY?
Pool and/or bowling.
WHERE WOULD YOU GO ON YOUR DREAM VACATION?
Ireland or Scotland.
WHAT'S ON YOUR SCREEN SAVER?
At work, the marquee one that says Happy Holidays. At home, a blank one.
NUMBER OF CANDLES THAT APPEARED ON YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY CAKE?
31
WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY?
May 23
PETS?
When I was growing up: an antisocial huskie/collie mix named Blackie. Now: one extremely hyper, but loveable and completely spoiled pit bull named Sharky.
HEIGHT?
5’4” (I'm amazed that I made it to that height considering that my mom's only 4'9" but my dad's 6'3")
PIERCINGS?
Both ears pierced twice but starting to close since I never wear earrings.
TATTOO?
Never. I hate needles. It took me forever to get my ears pierced.
DO YOU LOVE YOUR JOB OR JOBS?
No but it puts food on the table and pays the rent.
BIRTHPLACE?
Fort Ord, CA.
CURRENT RESIDENCE?
North Hollywood, CA.
BEEN TO AFRICA?
No.
BEEN TOILET PAPERING?
Ever? Yes. Lately? No.
BEEN IN A CAR CRASH?
No (knock on wood).
CROUTONS OR BACONS BITS?
Bacon Bits.
2 DOOR OR 4 DOOR?
Which do I prefer or which do I have? I have a 2 door and put I’d prefer a 4 door.
COFFEE OR COFFEE ICE CREAM?
Neither.
COLOR OF SOCKS?
That I have on today? White. But I have a pair of socks to match every colored shirt I have.
FAVORITE NUMBER?
23
FAVORITE MOVIE?
Grease, Grease 2, Holiday Inn
FAVORITE HANG OUT?
Don’t really have one.
FAVORITE HOLIDAY?
Christmas… well, not just Christmas, but the entire Christmas season, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.
FAVORITE FOOD?
My mom’s cooking.
FAVORITE BOOK?
The Lord Of The Rings, The Handmaid’s Tale, anything by Shakespeare
FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK?
Thursday. I know it seems weird, but the logic is that it’s one day closer to the weekend. Friday might seem the more logical choice, but all day Friday is spent trying to get everything done at work so that you don’t have to worry about it over the weekend and you’re focused on it being almost quitting time. With Thursday, you’re still relaxed and the anticipation of the weekend is there but it's not as in-your-face as Friday is.
FAVORITE TV SHOWS?
Too many to list.
TOOTHPASTE?
Crest.
MOST RECENTLY READ BOOK?
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick.
FLOWER?
Calla Lillies.
EVER BEEN IN THE HOSPITAL?
When I was in high school, I was having bad pains on my side so the doctors thought I had appendicitis, but when they did tests, it wasn’t anything so they put me in the hospital to do all kinds of tests on me to figure out what the heck was wrong (just so you know, my appendix is twisted, but that’s not what caused all the problems).
FAVORITE DRINK?
Orange juice and iced tea. But now that I’m on Atkins, it’s only been water for me.
HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU FAIL YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST?
Once because I bumped the curb on my 3 point turn.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS?
I can’t think that far ahead but hopefully not working at Trak and in a house of my own.
WHAT DO YOU DO MOST OFTEN WHEN YOU ARE BORED?
Watch tv or surf on the Internet.
BEDTIME?
Weekdays: 10:30pm at the latest. Weekends: whenever the hell I feel like it.

Pointless But Cool
Thursday, December 4, 2003 08:04 a.m.

Balls
Rings
Helix

Songs Rattling Around In My Brain
Wednesday, December 3, 2003 05:41 p.m.

Ever have one of those days where you have the melody of a song stuck in your head and you cannot for the life of you remember the lyrics, song title, or singer? ALL DAY today was like that for me. All the way through my Christmas music day. When I got home, I had to go through all my tapes and CDs to see if something would jog my memory. Finally, I found it. "Kissing A Fool" by George Michael off his Faith album.
And last night, I spent about 20 minutes thinking about stick shift cars in countries that have the steering wheels on the right. Where's the clutch? Do you press it with the left leg still? The gear shift is still in the middle, so you have to shift with your left hand now instead of the right, but are the formations still the same? Seriously, I wondered about this for 20 minutes late last night. Fortunately, I "know" (and the word is in quotes because I've never met this person but I read her blog and I hang out on a forum that she's the grand poo-bah of. I don't even think I know her real name.) a person who lives in Glasgow and she answered the question for me. And thank goodness because that was going to drive me insane! Is that the sort of thing you can look up on Google?

Poker & Music
Wednesday, December 3, 2003 10:14 a.m.

Did anyone watch the Celebrity Poker Challenge on Bravo last night? Don Cheadle, Ben Affleck, David Schwimmer, Emily Proctor and Willie Garson were last night's player. Totally fun to watch. Except I never know what hand beats what so I was confused trying to figure out who was going to win or who needed what to win (even with the running commentary going on).

In other news, I bought the Evanesence CD "Fallen." I like it. The girl (Amy, I believe her name is) has a really great, strong voice and a nice vocal range. The only gripe I have is that some of the songs tend to sound alike. If I'm not paying close attention, one song tends to bleed right into the next one. I don't get how people think they're Christian Rock, except they have one song that lends itself to that (lyrics like "my god, my tourniquet, return to me salvation" stray into that Christian Rock arena), but that's only one song on the whole album.

Christmas Time Is Here
Wednesday, December 3, 2003 10:13 a.m.

Last night, ABC showed A Charlie Brown Christmas. I LOVE that little movie. I own it on video and I have the soundtrack on CD. All morning long, I've been dancing around like the little kids in the cartoon.

Commercials That Make Me . . .
Wednesday, December 3, 2003 07:14 a.m.

. . . Cry:
#1 - The AT&T Commerical where the mom is on the bus, watching her son, who is at the front of the bus, playing the piano. And it turns out that she's just listening to him on the phone because he's really at his recital. Damn, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
#2 - The AT&T commercial where the business guy is travelling and you see him going from hotel to meeting to airport over and over again and he looks exhausted and then he's sitting in an airport seat right next to his daughter and she's telling him about her day. *sniffle*
. . . Pissed Off:
The Microsoft commercial where the announcer is talking about how they don't just see kids, they see [insert profession of choice here] and you see the drawings around the kids as they interact in a classroom. Now, that's all great and dandy, but all the kids that they "see" as becoming great things are all BOYS. Not one girl gets a drawing around her. There are girls in the commercial, sure, but not one girl gets a profession. Damn MS for being sexist.

I Love Quizilla
Tuesday, December 2, 2003 08:00 a.m.


You are Orange. You are outgoing and optomistic. You always try to find the bright spot in everything. You are energetic and people are naturally attracted to you. However, you are not always sure of what your purpose or goals are. Most Compatible With: Fresh Mint

Which Tic-Tac Flavor Are You?
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You're mostly evil.
You're evil most of the time, but ever once in a while you're good...for the right person. ;)

*How evil are you?*
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You have: Happy eyes! You are cheerfull, bright and always want to try something new. You are inquisitive and quite lovable. You have many friends and will succeed in life.

What type of eyes do you have?
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Because I'm Not Obsessed Enough With The Lord Of The Rings
Monday, December 1, 2003 09:38 a.m.


Rohirrim

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
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Woo Hoo For December
Monday, December 1, 2003 06:57 a.m.

New month, new sparkly clean blog!

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