Hanging out at the coffee house...

Currently listening to: Itunes mix w/ Cruel Intentions soundtrack and much more fun stuff.

I finally discovered the problem I had a few weeks ago connecting to the internet here at Priscilla's Coffee, so now I am free to write about my life and drink some coffee without the constant connection struggle. I'm sure you (who ever you are reading this) are really happy for me. I came by to test out my new wireless internet card at the place I first discovered a problem with the old one and ended up sitting at a table next to Amanda Bynes (actress in lots of Nickelodeon shows and movies) and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. If you don't know who they are then get onto www.imdb.com and look them up. I must say I tried really hard not to, but I couldn't help eaves dropping a little. I mean how can you when you are sitting next to people like that. I did show restrain in not staring at all at them. I am quite proud at how I handled the situation. You would think by now I would be a little less "star-struck" after seeing how many famous people I have (I almost ran into Corey Feldman on Hollywood Blvd. with my car a few years ago. I about walked into David Arquette at work in the kitchen area. I sat behind Quentin Tarantino at a movie screening at the New Beverly theater last year. I saw Tom Selleck (he even sat in my chair apparently from what the woman who borrowed it from me said) at work when he was working on the latest Stone Cold T.V. movie. I've also seen Johnny Lee Miller, Natasha Henstridge, Loretta Devine, and Victor Garber on the set of Eli Stone when Sarah took me on a visit of the set when they were filming a scene with George Michael. I also got to see him there as well. I have also seen, and spoken to, some other lesser known T.V. and movie stars, but I can't remember specific details right now so I'll just leave it at that.), but I think it will take awhile before the awe goes away. I think it will have to take me working on several films or T.V. shows with some more famous people before I get used to seeing them and stop being amazed.

So yesterday Sarah, Shaina, Edam, Charlotte, and I went down to the Fiesta Hermosa (http://www.fiestahermosa.com/) and spent the day. It's pretty much a street fair right next to the beach. There are lots of booths that have art, crafts, and other vendors selling stuff. There's a little carnival and they have cover bands playing all 3 days on 2 different stages. People also just give out free samples of things (I had one energy drink, a cup of Naked juice drink, and a 4-pack of some sparkling juice drink just to name a few things.) and there is even some free chair massages to take advantage of (Shaina and I didn't pass up that oportunity). I found a photo that I really really wanted - when I can find the card I'll write more about it. I didn't buy it because the one that was about 8x10 was $139 and I couldn't justify spending that no matter how much I wanted it. The fiesta was really fun. They have it every Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. The thing that made it more fun than any other fair event was the great cover bands playing. You could hear them while you were looking and it made the walk much more enjoyable.
I went home and hung up my shelves for my surround speakers and then went over to Heather's boyfriend Matt's apt for his birthday and partied it up there for a bit before going home to pass out.
Now I'm here hanging at Priscilla's until meeting up with the gang for the new Indiana Jones movie. I'm sure I'll fill you in on how much I did or did not like it later.
Until then...

ODD FACT:
More Monopoly money is printed in a year, than real money printed throughout the world.

The Japanese Office - What???

I recently got an e-mail from my friend Kim who knows of my (and Sarah's) obsession with The Office (the American version). To those of you who don't know the wonder that is The Office - the Brits did the original version that lasted 2 seasons and a Christmas special. Then American T.V. producers decided to copy it for American T.V. At first it wasn't as good as the original, but after the first season it went on it's own path and is now - in my opinion - much much better than the British version. Back to Kim's e-mail - she sent me a link to an SNL skit of the Office set in Japan.

It is a must see. Really really funny.

Gotta Love Camarillo Outlets!

Currently listening to: today's podcast of the Kevin & Bean show

Friday's (well pretty much the entire week) work was so crazy and stressful that I stopped at the grocery store and got some beer. I needed some beer and some Battlestar Galactica. Friday night was some much needed chill time.
Saturday Sarah and I made a much needed Costco run. We spent a few hours and a few hundred dollars. We wanted to get there first thing in the morning to avoid the heat (which was bad) and to try and avoid the craziest time of day at Costco. Little did we know that the crazy time at Costco was going to be in the parking lot. Sarah had her blinker on and was waiting for a woman to pull out of a spot. A few people behind her got impatient and went around. This one car was going around us when the woman started backing up, so he stopped right next to Sarah's car (the driver's side). The guy just pulled into the spot as soon as the woman moved enough for him to get into there. Sarah got pissed and wouldn't move until she could at least tell the guy off a little. This 70 year old man got out and Sarah told him that she had been waiting and had her blinker on for the spot. He looked at us, smiled, and said "too bad." He didn't even care or look even a little apologetic. Sarah yelled something like it's not funny and I was getting irritated with this guy who thought he could do what ever he wanted. I yelled out the window "Just because you are old doesn't mean you can get away with stuff like that!" I wouldn't have even thought about saying something like that if he had trouble walking and needed the closer spot, or had looked a little apologetic, but he thought it was really funny. Later Saturday we went to Richard's apt down by Long Beach for an Indiana Jones movie marathon/potluck. Since the 4th movie is coming out we decided to get together and watch them all again to remember how great and fun they were. It was at least 10 degrees cooler there, but Richard's apt. doesn't have air conditioning (although he bought one that pulls air from the outside and cools it that helped a little), so it was still pretty hot. We watched all 3 movies, played a little Rock Band, and ate lots of food and junk food. It was fun, but a long day when you watch that many movies in a row in a warm apt.
Sunday: Sarah, Shaina, and I went shopping at the Camarillo outlets.
Here is a pic of us in case you don't know Sarah & Shaina(Sarah - middle, Shaina - left).
I had never been there before, but once you've been to an outlet mall you have been to them all... We had a great time shopping. We all have the same type of shopping style and we got along great. I stopped by the Sony store and ended up finding a great surround sound system for a cheap price. My speakers on my TV are going out (Which we discovered playing guitar hero a few weeks ago when we could only hear parts of the songs we were playing.) so I really needed a speaker system. I looked around and decided that I would wait until I really needed it so I didn't have to spend about $300. Luckily the Sony outlet store had this unit and it was cheap. Granted the system was refurbished, but it's the Sony brand (which I trust) and I got a 3 year warranty. I was really tired after a whole day of shopping, but I couldn't resist pulling the surround sound system out of the box and hooking it up. I was doing great until I tried to listen to the TV through it and couldn't hear anything. I really worried that either my TV audio out ports were bad or the system itself wasn't working right. I spent several hours trying to figure it out and then gave up. Monday night I got home and took everything apart (VCR, DVD player, everything) and was hoping that it was just how I connected everything and not that something was broken. After putting everything back together I was watching/listening to a DVD thru the system and I hit menu on the surround remote and the TV menu appeared on the screen. A lightbulb went off and I discovered that my TV has a setting that needs selected to output the audio to the surround sound system. So my hours and hours working on this could have been shortened greatly if I had known that to begin with. Watching TV with the new speakers is great! I can't believe I lived this long without them.

ODD FACT: An eagle can kill a young deer and fly away with it.

The Office Thursday!

Currently watching: The Daily Show w/ John Stuart

So it's The Office night and everyone should be arriving soon, but I had a chance to write so I am.
Last weekend was spent hanging out w/ Sarah at Priscilla's Coffee Shop on Sat. I had major wireless internet issues and I'm hoping it was my PC card and not my Laptop. I bought a new one and I think I will try it out this weekend. If it doesn't work then I might be screwed. My laptop is more than 5 years old, so it doesn't have the built in wireless connection. It still works pretty great. I would love to have a mac, but I can't afford a mac book right now. I think my laptop is going to be like my car. I'll use it until it dies... Although, I could talk myself into a new laptop easier than I can talk myself into a newer car. So the rest of the weekend wasn't very eventful. I was very productive, but nothing too exciting. Washed my car and because I know you are asking - yes, it was with my own two hands. I finally took my recycling in after it being in my car trunk for over 2 weeks.

People started showing up, so I didn't get a chance to post this.
By the way The Office was great. I loved that most of what happened wasn't what I was expecting. I had some ideas and a few ended up happening, but most were pleasant surprises. Although, Jim and Pam should have ended up engaged before the end of this season. It just leaves opportunity to break them up.

ODD FACT:
Iceland consumes more Coca-Cola per capita than any other nation

Another week – Another Blog

Ok, so I am just now finding time to write about last weekend. Unfortunately my connection to the Internet in Priscilla’s Café isn’t working, so I can’t really pick this up from where the last one left off. So I will just start w/ Saturday. I was just planning on dropping off some film at Target and running a few errands before meeting Sarah later in the day for a Documentary film. I have been looking for one of those metal business card/id holder since my wallet was stolen and I don’t have that super convenient cardholder anymore. I thought, “hey I should stop by the mall and see if I can find one.” Well, I found some sheets in Bed Bath & Beyond for $20, which I have been looking for. Then I wandered into a few more stores looking for a case and ended up finding a few shirts in the clearance section. I worked tons of overtime and decided to treat myself a little. Plus, I have several shirts that are getting holes in them… I also had a gift card to Old Navy from Myra for Christmas I still hadn’t used. I was saving it for some Jeans or something like that after I had worked out some more, but I was already at the mall and Old Navy has had some great stuff on clearance in the past… So I ended up shopping instead of running errands. I found some cute stuff and all on clearance. Oh, and I found my little metal cardholder. Sarah and I went to this Women in Film International screening and fundraiser for women in Africa. They make beaded dolls and animals to support themselves and their families. The company is called Monkeybiz - here is the website (http://www.monkeybiz.co.za/about.html) check it out. The documentary is about how some women from Norway discovered them and helped them distribute the dolls to make more money. They started a non-profit organization that provides the materials and means to distribute them so the women from this town can get the most of what they are making. The film called "Bigger than Barbie" was great and I bought some earrings that were made by a woman in Africa. I wanted to get one of the bead animals, but they were so expensive and there wasn’t one that I absolutely had to have. We then went and hung out at Sarah’s and played a little guitar hero and discovered something amazing about her cat. I started whistling and he came running and became extremely affectionate. Sarah’s cat is only affectionate to her and for about 3 min when you first walk in the door, so this was extremely odd behavior. The more we whistled the more he would get snuggly and start purring. He even came and sat on my lap. Considering I have been trying to get him to like me and sit on my lap for as long as I have known him (a couple of years now) this was great. I love cats and I find it really odd that after being around him all this time he doesn’t like me more than he does. We were so fascinated we had to see if we could find out why he was acting this way. The general consensus on the internet was that cat’s think you are in danger and they are checking to see if you are ok. They think you sound like a kitten in distress. So, I guess Hey (the cat’s name) likes me enough to make sure I’m ok. I guess that will have to do for now.

Sunday was running errands I didn’t get to on Sat. I had 6 rolls of film from my old camera that really needed developing. Some I have had since high school. So, they are way overdue for developing. I finally took them in to get delivered. One of the 3 I took in on Sunday was from the Disney Band trip and High School Graduation. The quality is like old 60’s and 70’s pictures because I waited so long to get them developed. Oh, well they still came out ok. The other 2 were from my first year in California about 5 years ago. Not as exciting as the High School pics, but still great to have. I was supposed to work at noon for a while, but our network went down and was going to take all day to fix, so it was canceled. Unfortunately, I got the call that they would need me at 8 pm. A bunch of us were trying to see Iron Man at 7:15, so I found out that I could make the movie and still get into work. Heather and I got together for coffee before the movie and had some great “chat time.” The movie was great – I highly recommend seeing it. I got to work at around 9:30 and didn’t start doing anything until 11:30, so I am glad I didn’t skip the movie. I worked until 5 am, which sucked, but I will like my paycheck when it comes…

Work has been crazy lately. I am just going to leave it at that. Extremely frustrating, but hopefully it will be getting better. We’ll see…

Didn’t work out at all this week. I’m going to try being better about it next week. I need to at least work out 3 days a week. Working odd hours makes that really hard, but I’m going to try.

Odd Fact: In Minnesota it's illegal to mock skunks.

The Internet is Addicting.

While I'm waiting for my pictures to process I thought I would write a bit about how addicting the web can be. I just opened up my laptop to watch the rest of The Riches pilot and decided I had a little time to write a blog and now because I mentioned adding photos I'm loading Picassa and adding pictures to it as I write this. It's now 1:30 a.m. and instead sleeping I'm playing around on my computer...

Odd Fact: Reindeer enjoy eating bananas.

Time to Relax

Watching: The Riches (season 1)
Listening to: Bitter:Sweet

So after working crazy hours at work over the last week and a half I decided to use some of my hard earned money to relax. I booked a massage at Healing Hands in Larchmont Village on Saturday. My second official massage ever. I have had a few great massages from my aunt Donna who is pretty much a self-made masseuse. She has a table and plays the mood music. Compared to the pros she is great. I wish I could have a massage every few weeks it was wonderful. I did get a little sore a day later, but I had a few tough knots that were hard to work out.
I didn't have any other plans for the weekend. Sarah had a wedding and other plans and I decided after my massage that I was glad I didn't have any big plans. I needed a weekend with nothing planned. To just hang out on the couch catch up on my neglected DVR and see what projects I could catch up on. Turns out the first part was really easy. The second part was more difficult after I got comfortable on the couch. I don't hang out on my couch as much as I used to, but now that I have people to hang out with and a different work schedule that gets me home later - It's harder for me to just hang out on the couch and veg. Don't get me wrong I love that I have lots to do it's just every once and a while you need a few days to just let your body recuperate. That's what this weekend was about. I had a great philly cheese stake from Pilly's Best which opened down the street. I had never had a philly cheese stake before this year. Yes, I know that is hard to believe. I was an extremely picky eater growing up (just as my mother who had to adjust her cooking to my odd taste buds - Thanks MOM!!) and then never felt the need until recently and now I love them to death.
I finally started working out again. After my exhausting weekend in Vegas and my crazy work schedule it was hard to fit in some time to work out. Although, we have been hiking on Sundays pretty regularly and I even got out of bed early the first few days of the week before work got crazy and hiked w/ Sarah. I'm back to my routine and I'm finding myself pretty sore. It's amazing how long it takes you to finally get used to your routine so it doesn't wear you out each time and then a week or two off puts you right back to square 1.

I almost forgot. I was finally uploading my pictures from my camera and organizing them on my laptop yesterday (I have a 2G memory card, so I can get lots of pics on there and I wait forever to upload them. Which is why you haven't seen any up here yet. I'm working on it. One step at a time...) and I realized I forgot to mention one of the most important events two Saturday's ago. The day of Rod's party. Sarah and I went to the location for Dunder Mifflin. For those of you who are living in a cave and have no idea what I am talking about - The Office's exterior location. I guess they also film the interior in the building, but we didn't try to break in and see that too. As some of you know Sarah and I are a bit obsessed w/ The Office. We had to go there before they were done shooting and took down the signs outside. I'll add those pics to my list to upload.
And now for my newly added section of my blogs:

**** Odd Fact: Did you know that Killer Whales capture fish by slapping them.
Ponder that for a minute...