Ok - I have a confession to make....

I really like Moulin Rouge.

Now - I know this doesn't sound like a huge deal. I'm a girl. It was made for us girls to like, but I poo poo'ed it pretty bad the first time I saw it. But I everytime it's on and the SO isn't home - I have to watch it. I'm addicted. And I feel really guilty that I lile it. I should hate it, because in the real world - the story is SOO predictable and the acting isn't really that great. But Nicole is beautiful, and she looks like every girl's glamourous Marilyn Monroe / Rachel Welch fanatasy figure. Ewan looks amazing as always, and you forget that John Leguizamo really isn't that short. The colors - the twisted pop songs that I love and hate and want to hear more of....Roxanne to name one. Love is a many splendid thing, etc...

Oh my god and the costumes! I don't even want to start that.

Oh, and Grease! I've loved that movie since I was a child. It is one of the first movies I remember seeing in the theater. I was 5. I have literally seen the damn thing, one hundred times, but I can't ignore it when I see it on the TV schedule. I have to watch it. I sing every song - even though I have a horrible singing voice. I love it. Even before I know what all the dirty stuff really meant.

When we were little, my parents took my brother and I to see Animal House. My baby Buzzard was SOO disapointed there weren't any animals in the movie. He walked out of the theater crying and whining because he had wanted to see animals. Hee Hee ^_^

It's hard to forget that I live in the middle of LA LA land. There are shoots every where every day. I live 2 blocks from the train station in the Italian Job. Hell I work for a entertainment giant myself - but sometimes there are a few movies that make you forget where you are and what you do and make you happy.

Moulin Rouge - Thank you!

Well, I just finished my first week at my new job!! QA Project Manager for a Big studio online team.

They did not throw everything at me the first day, I’m working into my position over the next few weeks – getting a new assignment every day or so. I have to work up to running a daily conference call for the production teams, which is kinda scary.

Orientation was really nice, we got to see the studio lot and have lunch in their commissary. We get all kinds of extra benefits they didn’t tell us about until we go to orientation. I’m most interested in the commuter assistance, my buss passes are discounted 50% and they add a dollar a day for every day you report that you commute to your paycheck. This means, my bus passes are almost free since I commute everyday. I really liked getting to meet people from other departments and locations. I had lunch with some working on a new movie and someone from my own department (the internet group - but he's not on my team). I also met someone who works at the Data Center in Seattle. (The Data Center is where all our web servers get stored and tended.)

I was supposed to only work 9 to 6. BUT....The 9 to 6 work hours were blown the first day in the office. I still get to sleep late but, I actually need to be there at 8:30 everyday to, 1) meet with the QA team before the conference call and 2) prepare for the call. :-P

I got volunteered to help plan a party the week before I started too, which I found out from one of my co-workers during orientation. We’re having a kegger at the end of august and I get to plan the food. Knowing about Blueberry Hill came in handy, they gave me a really good quote because they want the business. We’re playing mini golf and drinking beer as a team building event. Fun, fun, fun!

I have to track my time by project and bill it to the appropriate department. That’s the only really annoying part so far, because I’m really bad at tracking what I do - unless it’s a scheduled meeting.

L will love this….they asked if I was coming back on Monday!! ^_^

NEW JOB!! NEW JOB!! NEW JOB!!

I start on the first of August - I can't wait. No more vitamins for me!

I don't want to say where the new job is, because it's a huge HUGE company that everyone knows and I don't want to get busted before I even start.

I can say:

- I will be a QA Project Manager for a major website
- I will be working in North Hollywood (2 train stops and a 3 block walk from home)
- It's alot more money than I'm making right now
- The job is permanent - no more Volt!!

WOOPEEEE!!!!

I'm so excited!

^_^

Anime Expo

I'm at anime expo having a blast and spending too much money!

:P
^_^

EARTHQUAKE!!!!

I just felt my first earthquake! It was actually pretty cool - like being woosy while moving around in a water bed. The SO actually woke up for an earthquake. I text messaged him to tell him I was ok and actually felt one for a change, and he replied back that he actually woke up for one.

I was sitting at my desk at work and heard/felt this loud stomping, and thought "wow who the heck is pounding on the floor?" then I started to move...and was like, "Whoa! cool!"

Welcome to the neighborhood!! Gotta love sunny California!

Scary train!!

Ok, I just had a really strange kinda scary train trip today.

I was kinda nervous during the first leg of my trip but couldn't figure out why. So.....I get the station where I transfer to the second and last leg of my trip, seventh and metro center station. I unrolled my MP3 players head phones and start to listen some music. I'm just staring down the track to watch for the train and I yawn. As I'm turning my head back the other direction to cover my mouth, this asian guy on a bike rides by eyes bulging open staring me right in the eyes. He keeps going, and I think, "weirdo" and keep going through the songs on my music player. I stand there staring straight ahead one leg crossed over the other, leaning against the same railing and the guy comes back by really close to me. I think he's going to miss, but I'm wrong. He rolls right over my toe. Illiciting a "hey what the fuck, you dickhead" from me. The guy keeps right on rolling past as if nothing happened. I think he's gone, and go back to staring down the train tracks. I'm wrong again!

Next thing I know, I'm being plowed into by this guy's bike again. I yell at him again and takes off. Seconds later the train pulls up and I get on heading home. I'm standing there looking around the train to see if the girl I know from my morning train ride is on and notice the asian guy, with his bike, got on the train. He's standing there giving me really dirty looks. So I ignore him and move to stand next to the door that will open up at my stop with my back to the guy. When I get off the train I walked alittle faster than normal. Luckily that day there were fare inspectors at the train station , checking people's tickets. I walked up to the only male fare inspector of the 4 and told him story. I wasn't sure if the guy had followed me off the train, but sure enough he popped up at the top of the stairs just as I finished my story to the fare inspector. Aparently, the inspectors take this stuff seriously and he walked over to talk to the guy as I walked out of the station.

Terri S

Everyone is talking about this case so here's my turn on it:

She' s not coming back, leave her alone. Leave her family alone. Her parents have chosen to go against what her husband says are her wishes. This is a private family matter and her parents have taken it too far because they can't come to grips with the fact that she's really gone.

This part is for my friends and family:

I do not want to live like this. If, God Forbid, I am ever in this situation - please I beg you now - DO NOT KEEP ME ALIVE. LET ME GO. PULL THE PLUG. PLEASE!

I know that's kind of depressing, but this is technically publishing something to the whole world. I don't want anyone to ever say that I'd prefer to be a vegetable.

Well the SO had a job interview yesterday. It went really well, so hopefully here shortly he'll be wrking on digital effects for movies!! YEAH!

This week is my one year anniversary of my starting the job I currently have. I'm so happy, I just wish they'd make me permanent!!

This stuff is heaven:

http://www.jif.com/products/details.asp?prodID=491

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a peanut butter freakazoid. I've been teased at every job I've ever had, because some people think I eat nothing but peanut butter.

Love it!!

Well, The last month has been different. I'm a really nice person, at least I like to think so but here's something that stretches even my patience....

The neighbor across the hall had his phone cut off and came across the hall to ask if he could use ours every once in awhile for a few days. "No Problem," we said - not anticipating the major pain the as it would become. Dan, the neighbor, comes over makes a couple of calls and is gone. Ok, no problem.

He comes back the next day and calls literally everyone he knows and tells them "If you need to reach me, call this number...." And proceeds to give every person he calls our phone number. ACK!! Alarm bells are going off. It's like a bad sci fi movie alarm in my brain, "Warning Warning - BAMP BAMP BAMP BAMP" Oh well, it's okay....not one person calls back.

The next day the SO is awakened by the dog freaking out over the door bell. It's Dan. "Can I use your phone?" Not realizing that this would turn into a long ordeal, the SO says "sure." Two hours later, Dan is still hanging out chit chatting with the SO and watching him play video games, asking stupid questions because he hasn't seen the whole game or series. The SO politely tells Dan that he has to get going and go to the gym and that he needs to leave. Dan asks when the SO will be back. To which the SO replies, "I have no idea. I'm going to the gym and running some errands so a couple of hours at least."

And the calls start coming in.

The SO leaves to go to the gym, and gets no less than 5 calls for Dan. Before. He. Gets. To. The. Gym! By the time I get home, there have been no less than 10 calls for Dan and 6 advertisers.

Rinse, wash, repeat, for another few days. Dan says he might not get his phone hooked back up because he's thinking about moving out. Then Dan announces that he has decided to move out and has come to an understanding with the Land Lady. He has to be out by the 5th of March. So he starts asking to use our phone even more and calling people about apartments and jobs, then giving our number as HIS contact number.

Everytime we left, he basically demanded to know our schedule and was over every few hours or so to see if anyone had called for him. The SO finally had to give him the smack down. "We're doing you a favor, we're not your answering service." We told him that prepay cell phones were really cheap and he should look into it.

He told us that the Land Lady gave him a recommendation at his new apartment building, that he had 3 places picked out and applications in on all three in case one fell through. He told us he got a job that started right after he moved out.

Then Dan's power was cut off.

There was no way he was getting a new apartment. There was no way he's getting anything. He ran an extension cord out the door and into a plug in the hall telling everyone that "he'd blown a circuit breaker in his apartment and it hadn't been fixed yet." He taped a little sign to the extension cord asking that it not be unplugged. He asked to bum some Ramen, ask if he could have a coke. I could never say no to Ramen - it's like 12 cents a package. The cokes kind of annoyed me. He had NO MONEY.

The last few days before the 5th, Dan starts to get really edgy and trying to come over constantly, basically trying the stay at our place so he doesn't have to deal with the lack of electricity. The SO finally has had enough and rips into him full out. We don't see Dan for a few days. Then on the 5th he's acting like he's moving out gather stuff and taking it out. But we see no evidence of a truck or anyone helping him or anything.

and he was still there until the 7th or 8th.

Come to find out from our lovely Land Lady, she evicted Dan. He hadn't paid his rent in months, he was selling drugs to other tenants to make what little payment he did make on his rent. She hated Dan and had been trying to get him out for ages. The building owner, who is our Land Lady's boyfriend (doesn't live in the building)., threatened Dan physically for the electricity stunt. It is our opinion that Dan went a little crazy. He was lying about everything. Had he just said "I'm screwed, I need some serious help and here's why..." Not one person in our apartment would have been annoyed. But because he kept bullshitting us and being a jerk, we only helped as much as was convenient. All of us have been in screwed up money situations, we understand.

But he had to tell the truth.

I really feel taken advantage of. It will be awhile before I help someone that close - I'll give change to the homeless, help raise money for charity. But I won't let someone in my house to help.

Oscars = Hollywood Police State

I understand that I live in an area of town that has high traffic and high probability of having a premiere or awards event happening at any moment. The Hollywood and Highland neighbors expect to have trouble with traffic any time an event occurs but the Oscars went overboard.

It was ridiculous! Roads were barricaded for approximately 5 blocks (more barricades along a few streets, fewer on others).

The big event started prepping almost a week ago. Hollywood Blvd. was blocked from Highland to Orange so they could start setting up bleachers and laying down the red carpet. They erected a bridge over the road. A shot from the bridge of the entire red carpet can be seen here. There was a sliver of walkway between the bleachers and the mall to squeak into the train station and stores.

As the week dragged on, more security people started showing up, by the hundreds it seems, to guard the barricades and see that no riff raff touched the view blocking curtains.

As a side note to anyone who works on the big Oscars event - you REALLY should get badges of a higher quality than I could make at Kinko's. I know you have alot of people to make badges for, but a simple hologram sticker on the badge would dissuade anyone who might want to counterfeit them. I took one look at a badge on a security guard and said "All those fonts are native to MS Word and all I would need is a laminating machine - if I felt really devious." *and a note to anyone who might want to get me in trouble for saying that - I DIDN'T do it....I just thought it. Is that a crime? Not unless we really do live in Orwell's world.

Signs went up all over the outside of the Hollywood and Highland mall reading "Oscars" and "Academy Awards." By Friday, the construction/set up people had started laying out the more obtrusive barricades, stacking the metal pieces on street corners around the neighborhood and lining the sidewalks. Saturday night, very late, the actual barricades went into place and traffic around the neighborhood ground to a halt. By Sunday morning, the police had parked buses and trucks at the intersections closest to the theater. At about noon yesterday, 4 helicopters were circling the area, along with a single engine plane towing a sign for ABC (or was it NBC or CBS? whoever has the eye logo.) and the GOODYEAR BLIMP!!

I didn't leave the house except to go to the Korean grocery/convenience tore a block away and walk the doggies. We even made the delivery driver at our favorite local Chinese place (not my absolute favorite, but the best that's in delivery range) brave the traffic for our lunch/dinner.

One of my neighbors was telling me that last year the streets were blocked even further out theater and you had to prove residency to pass the barricades. Yikes!

These are the days that I'm happy to not have a car in LA.

This morning there were still 3 helicopters, but the train station was open again.

One of the things I love about LA is having a sense of smell.

Back in Austin my allergies were so bad that most of the time, my nose was so stuffed up that I couldn't smell anything. Here in LA, my allergies are so negligible that my nose is seldom stuffed up and I can smell everything. Now - I'm sure you're saying "LA is so polluted - how can you possibly smell anything but car exhaust?" But it's true!!! I was born in Houston, a place about as smoggy as LA, so I'm accustomed to the smoke and car exhaust.

I get off the train in the morning in Long Beach. It's close, but not really, to the ocean. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can smell the sea air, salty and clean and sharp.

About 3 blocks from my office is an Arco oil refinery. Most of the time it's not too stinky when it's polluting the air. But sometimes, it spews out that particular oil refinery funk that reminds me of southeast Texas. I think of all the times we visited my grandparents in Baytown, traveling from Houston through Pasadena. Pasadena, Texas can be identified solely by smell. It is home to so many oil refineries that funk is all you can smell when you get within several miles of the town. It also reminds me of heritage. My great grandfather was a wildcat for Humble Oil way back in the old days. I have history with that scent.

Over Christmas and New Year's it rained cats and dogs in LA. The skies poured for almost 3 weeks straight. When the rain finally broke, flowers and trees started to bloom everywhere. It was beautiful. I was so happy; I was silly and giddy. I didn't really realize what was making me so stupidly happy until I got off the train at home in Hollywood. All I could smell was a wonderful mix of blossoms and green growing things. The air had the same perfume it did the first week I moved here. I stood outside the train station grinning like an idiot and taking huge, deep breaths just to get the lovely smell inside my lungs.

It hit me once again, I'm home....this is Hollywood and I live here....and I love it.

Baby Nephew was BORN EARLY!!!!

Aiden Wayne, 6lbs. 14 ozs., 20 1/2 inches long born Sunday January 23, 2005.

I am officially an AUNTIE!!

And here is an example of why I am always broke:

Boots (Wearing these as I type)

Girlie Shoes (Wore these to work yesterday)

The SO bought these for me this week. Gack!! They are EXPENSIVE, But I love them!!! All my girlie friends at work were drooling yesterday. I've had lots of "Hot Momma" comments today.

Well, Christmas and New Years were very nice this year.

My Friend from Oz (MFFO) was here for almost the whole week. It was really nice to get to see him again after all these years. We met AGES ago online, through a costume mailing list and sort of hit it off and have been chatting IM ever since then. He stayed with me back in Austin for a few days on one of his yearly world/US tours. I really enjoyed getting to show off some of the odder and cooler places we've found like, Nova Express Cafe and Canters Deli.

Oh and MFFO rented a car for us for the weekend so that we could drive up to Big Bear with him to see snow on christmas. It was amazing. It was warm enough to go without a jacket, but there was snow on the ground. What fun!! The view alone was worth the trip, but I was white knuckled in the back seat for much of the trip up and down the mountain. I'm such a chicken!!!

New Years was nothing spectacular, we hung around the house during the day. The Roomie started drinking too early.....and passed out before we got to the good stuff, A midnight trip to beach. If you have never been to the Pacific ocean in the middle of the night when it's stormy - you HAVE TO GO! It is completely bewitching and overpowering. You feel like the world just ends a few feet beyond the breakers. There are alien creatures flitting around as tiny specs in the distance. "Wow," is all I have to say.