Monday, December 24, 2007

1 + 1 = 2 Damn Dope

My favorite show plus my favorite old skool rap song coming together for a trailer!!! My dreams have come true. But why oh why did we get rid of HBO?

Still, thanks to Sincere Thoughts for hepping me to the 5th season Wire trailer. Look forward to watching when it comes out on DVD.

Friday, December 14, 2007

As Promised...

... if a few weeks late. Here's the movie that I made for Filly Film Cult's Silent Night Film Festival.

Set-up: We were given 2 minutes worth of black-and-white Super 8 film, 2 minutes worth of music, and we had to do an in-camera edit.

Lessons Learned: Homemade sharpie-and-white-paper title cards while easy are not a good idea. If you want to flip someone off on film properly, you make sure your arm is extended far in front of your body. The word "rolling" can often be lost if you're too busy laughing and talking with your friends.

To my credit: I overcame my on-camera acting phobia to sub in for an actress who couldn't make it at the last minute.

Other credits:

Guy: Davitt Felder
Tall Woman: Kalimba Bennett
Redhead: Tracey Rooney

DP: My Wonderful Husband

Hope you enjoy; let me know what you think!


Tuesday, November 20, 2007

11 Things You May or May Not Want to Know Right Now

Hey Guys! A few things...

1. I'm in the process of moving my blog to a more serious service and engaging a designer. So if you know any good designers, send their names my way.

2. Just joined Facebook. If you're on it, hit me up. And if you're not, turn back from this road of evil. CH finally got me to sign up for it, and I'm already scarily addicted. I've actually been comparing it to a story I had once read, in which this girl's boyfriend convinced her to try heroin, cue the downward spiral.

3. If you visit one site on my blog roll, hit up Stereohyped. It's run by Lauren Williams, the sister of Tia Williams, the woman behind "Shake Your Beauty (also in my blog roll)," and it's beyond smart and fabulous. I love my sister, but if I had a chance to be part of the William's family, Liz might get an introduction to the curb. I would say "just kidding," but I know that my sister never reads by blog, which is yet another reason to maybe jump sibling ships.

4. "Talk To Me" is out on DVD. Please rent it, so that I can keep you on my friend list.

Quote from my August 18, 2007 post:
"TALK TO ME" ... If you haven't seen me since I saw this movie, then you probably don't know that I've decided not be friends with anyone who hasn't seen this film within three months of it coming out on DVD. I (obviously) ADORED it, for too many reasons to properly name. So if it's playing in your city, do our friendship a boon, and go see it.


5. Halfway through my novel rewrite. Hope to clock serious time on it during the holiday season.

6. "American Gangster" is highly recommended. It starts off with Denzel setting a man on fire then shooting him several times, but somehow I walked out of there, convinced of the power of hard work and determined to organize my time better.

7. "Dan in Real Life" is also highly recommended. And now, I'm officially in love with Juliette Binoche. But the desire that I have held since college to hear a white parent say to their off-the-crazy-hook-acting-a-straight-fool white kid, "Hey you are the child, I am the adult. You need to calm this sassing back shit way the fuck down" has yet to be satisfied.


8. No, I'm not out of work with the strike. Radio Writers are in no way affiliated with the WGA, but I do support it. My friend, Clark, is writing about it much better than I could over at clarkblog, so do hit him up. He also has a great post on what you can do to support if you don't have time to walk the picket line -- hint, it's easy -- just don't watch your favorite programs online.

9. The raccoons kept coming back, and now we've got this door that only opens when it senses the little electronic doo-hickey on our cat's neck. I can now sleep easy at night.

10. Super Huge Thanks to all that came out to the Silent Film Festival. Fun was supposedly had by most. And I'll be posting the film that I directed in the coming week.

11. An Arclight just opened up across the street from where I work in Sherman Oaks, further convincing me that life really is beautiful.

That's all.

110% Love,
etc

Friday, October 12, 2007

Not sure if I've mentioned this yet...



But The Silent Night Film Festival is happening SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13. That's either tomorrow night or tonight depending on when you read this. Hopefully, it's not last night or two nights ago. Because that might mean you missed it, and that would be sad.

So come out and drink somes drinks, buy some our spankin new filly t-shirts (they're really cute!), watch some silent films, and have some serious fun.

This is my 100% Good Time Guarantee, so here's the info:

Screening Times: 7:30pm and 9:00pm

Location:
Theatre/Theater
5041 W. Pico Blvd. (in the Pico Redevelopment district.)

Go to http://www.fillyfilmcult.com/ to buy tickets and get more info.

Be THERE or be GOSSIP!




Saturday, October 06, 2007

This Hiatus Stuff Is Not Going So Well...



Awesome People!

This just in. Artshare has a permit situation, so we had to CHANGE THE LOCATION for the Silent Film Festival.

We're now going to do it at Theatre/Theater, which is located at 5041 W. Pico St, in the Pico Redevelopment district.

I've actually written and directed one of the movies, and this event is going to be SOOOO much fun, so do come out. Go to www.fillyfilmcult.com for tickets and more info. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

110% Love,
etc

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Must Break My Self-Imposed Silence

For this public service announcement:

"Boondocks" starts up again October 8th on Adult Swim at 11:30

These new shows rock (in no particular order):

"Dirty Sexy Money"
"Carpoolers"
"Gossip Girl"
"Life"

These old shows are still rockin' (in no particular order)

"House"
"The Game" (can you say "Drama!")
"Friday Night Lights"
"America's Next Top Model" (yes, I'm still standing by it. It's like candy.)
"How I Met Your Mother"

I'm withholding my opinion on the rest for now. But I'm standing by my assertion that "CAVEMEN" sucks. Stay away from that show. I also might be putting out a bad Quantam Leap APB on "Journeyman," but I'm going to give it a few more episodes before I make my final decision.

That is all. Back to my hiatus now.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Really Quick

Went to the rehearsal for the Spark Storytelling 6th Anniversary Event yesterday, and I was blown away by the level of storytelling. The other six stories were either as good as or better than mine -- and even I have to admit that my story is pretty damn good.

But even more important than the guaranteed quality of the evening is that the Spark folks will be providing FREE food afterwards courtesy of the Border Grill. So free entrance AND free food. You can't beat that. Here's the info again, in case you can make it tonight:

Spark Storytelling - 6 year anniversary

When: September 20th : 7 p.m.
Price: Free
Where: Santa Monica Public Library
Martin Luther King Auditorium
601 Santa Monica Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Event Phone Number: 310-396-3680 ext 5#

Celebrating six years of storytelling, the Spark holds an evening of yarn-spinning at the Santa Monica Public Library. Originating at the Powerhouse Theatre, seven people are invited to write and perform personal narratives *sparked* by a particular theme. Featuring Grant Albrecht, Joel Alpers, Tamar Brott, Ernessa Carter, Mike Lambert, Cheyenne Rothman, and Ed Spielman.

Seven storytellers. Seven true stories. This one-night only event celebrates SPARK's esteemed series with seven personal stories, culled from the best stories performed over the last six years. The performance will be recorded for SPARK's debut CD, the first in a collection, and is followed by a reception with the cast and producers.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Memed!

By Kyle -- even though I never got around to answering my last Meme. Sorry Zack!

But a week of being seen with 2 onstage performances, a rehearsal, and a silent film shoot means a black girl has got to do her hair. I'm currently under a hard pink dryer with large purple foam curlers in my hair, so as long as I'm stuck here...

Here's the meme, originated by Patrick at The Writing Life x3:

"Make a list of five strengths that you possess as a writer/artist. It's not really bragging, it's an honest assessment (forced upon you by this darn meme). Please resist the urge to enumerate your weaknesses, or even mention them in contrast to each strong point you list. Tag four other writers or artists whom you'd like to see share their strengths."


Here goes:

1. I'm bold. Totally willing to go THERE. If I'm really scared to write about something, if it makes me uncomfortable or nervous. Then I write about it anyway.

2. I'm a hell of a rewriter.

3. My writing has a lot of energy in it. Even when it's not fast-paced, it seems like it is.

4. I respect and embrace pop culture.

5. I have an abject fear of boring people (on paper), and this is why I think my writing is rarely boring.


OMG... 5 whole reasons without a word of self-deprecation. SO hard. As P.E. might say "Harder Than You Think." Had to rewrite several times. But luckily #2.

Nate B, Cybele, Nicole S, and Sincere -- this is me tagging you, suckas!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

I'm SO excited! (Updates and other stuff)


Patti LaBelle's got my back on these two items:

Last April, I performed on stage for the first time since I graduated from undergrad at a Spark! Storytelling Event. And apparently, the producers have a thing for nervous, stuttering black chicks, b/c they've asked me to tell the story again for their 6 Year Anniversary event, NEXT THURSDAY ON SEPT. 20TH at the Santa Monica Public Library, which I hear is a really nice venue. And check this out: It's FREE! So go here for more info about NOT buying tickets. Nice!

Also, if you're a filmmaker in Los Angeles and want to take part in The Filly Film Cult's next event the "Silent Night Film Festival" as a participant, go here to fill out an entry form. For the rest of you who would just like to attend the festival on October 13, 2007, keep your eyes on this blog.

Am also excited about 21 MORE days of rewriting, one year on the jobby-job, The Southern California Writers Conference and the new Fall TV season. Have gone from missing TV during my self-enforced summer hiatus to becoming zen about it to just wanting a decent TV show to watch again. CH and I got rid of HBO and Showtime in a fit TV ennui, and it's been a ridiculously productive -- but lame for any kind of TV watching summer. Though we did finally get though the last season of Soul Food. Yea, B.E.T. Jazz!Link
Most looking forward to: Dirty Sexy Money (well-written and has the fellow Fillie, Sallie Patrick connect!), Carpoolers (saw the pilot and it was funny!), Gossip Girl (catty!), and Reaper (I don't know why!).

Also, have seen the original "Cavemen" pilot. Please see the picture above for my thoughts on that trifling-ass show.

Also, a few of you know that I've been taking "The Finishing School" class at The Writing Pad in Silverlake. This place offer classes for people who are too laid back/far away for UCLA extenstion, but too disciplined to just drift along by themselves. This week is my last class, but I've already signed up for the October session. It's made me realize the fun of writing again, and they serve you food during class -- hello! Plus, I LOVE that it's a mixed-medium class, so you never know if you're going to workshop a novel chapter, a short story, a screenplay, or poems from week-to-week. Go here for more info.

Alright, that's all for now... sorry, the simpsonizer wasn't working.

110% Love,
etc

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Traffic, Derby, and Medians = Big Shit Poppin'


So much cool shit going on this weekend:

Walking into Traffic, which was written by the tremendously awesome Kyle Wilson, starts this Friday and runs through October 13th. But see it sooner than later, because I hear that it's brilliant AND awesome, and you can't beat that. Go here for tickets.


Plus, L.A. Derby Dolls are up and at it again. The Sirens vs. The Fight Crew. It's on, this Saturday, August 25th. I'm going to be there for the blood and tears and short skirts, shouldn't you? Go here for tickets.




And last, but not least, Jumping the Median, a play by the ridiculously talented, Steve Connell, starring a bunch of other ridiculously talented people is going down FOR ONE WEEKEND ONLY (August 24th - August 26th), so be there, or be that person who didn't see the play that everybody's talking about. Your choice. But go here for tickets.

Don't try to get in touch with me this weekend, because as you can see, I'm going to be really busy. Like I said, BIG shit poppin'.

110% Love,
etc

Monday, August 20, 2007

Trapped in the Junction Pt. 3

And one more, even though it's Monday, and I'm obviously no longer Trapped in the Junction! ...the Junction ... the Junction....

An excerpt from my yet-to-be-written memoir play, Hell to the Naw, etc


A Rather Disturbing Conversation that I Had with
My Husband, CH on Sunday Morning


ME: Was I dreaming last night, or was there a raccoon in the kitchen.
I had fallen asleep in a haze of Sunset Junction heat and worldly beer from the bad restaurant/great bar "good." And I really wanted/needed to believe that my fuzzy memory of CH banging on a pan and repeating in good-natured singsong: "Get out of the kitchen, racoons!" was a dream -- those of you familiar with CH's extremely practical-but-nice personality will be able to imagine him saying this.

CH: No, there wasn't a raccoon...

ME: Good--

CH: There were THREE raccoons. A mother and her two baby raccoons. They got in through the cat door and were eating Gibson's cat food. It took me a while to chase them out. They'll probably try to come back, so we're going to have to start blocking the cat door at night.

ME: (going dead still) Are you serious?

CH: Yes.
More disturbing than the idea of not one but THREE dirty, evil raccoons being in my kitchen. More disturbing than their guaranteed return. More disturbing even than the fact that they DID return on Sunday night to bump their foul noses and scratch their terrible claws against the kicthen cat door like zombies in a truly bone-chilling bid to get in, was what I said next:

ME: That's deeply disturbing. I'm definitely going to have to blog about that.

Trapped in the junction! ... the junction... the junction...

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Trapped in the Junction Pt. 2

So, just in case any other Boondocks and movie popcorn lovers haven't seen this ridiculously BRILLIANT trailer for the much-delayed second season of Boondocks.

Warning: N- and cuss words abound. Then again if you didn't already figure that, then you're probably not a fan...

Here you go:




Still no firm release date, but Wikipedia says October 2007, and as we all know, the facts stated on Wikipedia are almost always right.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Trapped in the Junction Pt. 1


Once again, it's Sunset Junction time, which means that CH and I are trapped in our home, lest we risk not being able to find parking spaces, since our driveway is currently being occupied by a dumpster for all the debris from our upstairs remodel. 

I'm sad that I won't be able to do my Bollywood Dance class. There's something very therapeutic about jumping up and down while shaking your shoulders and wagging your head from side to side, but I'm looking forward to the annual street fair, since alas, I've managed to break my perfect pink sunglasses and am finally in a place where I could see replacing them.

Also it gives me some free time to post a bunch of random stuff. First up movies:

"TALK TO ME" ... If you haven't seen me since I saw this movie, then you probably don't know that I've decided not be friends with anyone who hasn't seen this film within three months of it coming out on DVD. I (obviously) ADORED it, for too many reasons to properly name. So if it's playing in your city, do our friendship a boon, and go see it.

"STARDUST" ... You know warmed-over Princess Bride still tastes pretty good. Totally worth seeing.

"BOURNE ULTIMATUM" ... Okay, I know all the critics are like in love with this movie. But there's this special kind of structure called "fractal structure." Basically, it's a writing structure, in which the same thing happens over and over again, but in bigger and bigger ways. Eugene O'Neill was the king of fractal. And the third Bourne is actually a perfect example of this hard-to-execute structure. But the thing is, I hate, hate, hate fractal structure -- have never seen the point or attraction of it. Hence, I didn't like this movie.

"ROCKET SCIENCE" ... I find it much harder to write about movies I actually like. But this one about a stuttering kid who decides to join the debate team was very good. And I would recommend it, even though I was hit with several memories of my disastrous year in college mock trial, which I had managed to repress up until seeing this film.

"HAIRSPRAY" ... just as much fun as the play. Though Queen Latifah seriously underwhelmed.

"SIMPSONS MOVIE" ... F.U.N. Like a really long episode. A really long fun episode.

Okay, time to walk down to Sunset Junction. More randomness later. 

Friday, August 17, 2007

Smith is SO hot




Dudes, sorry I've been so quiet. On the 21 days of rewriting my novel and flossing tip right now. The rewrite's going well so far, but flossing every night is like seriously hard -- it's like my most undisciplined time of the day.




But I did want to post this link about Smith being named the hottest women's college in the"25 Hottest University" edition of Newsweek: http://smithcollege99.blogspot.com/2007/08/smith-ranks-hottest.html




Represent your hood, mami!

Saturday, August 04, 2007

"There's no truth in roller derby!"



One of my biggest regrets of my wedding is that I wasn't able to invite more Derby Dolls. The problem is that Derby Dolls kind of come in a pack. It's kind of impossible to invite just one. And every time I tried to put one of them on the list, it was like, well then I'd also have to invite so-and-so and so-and-so. In the end, we were only able to include two. "Are you sure you used to do the derby, 'Lil Ness?" my father asked upon seeing Emma Geddon (the 6'0 blond) and Kaboom (the 5'8ish redhead) above. "Them girls look a lot bigger than you." He seemed worried for my 5'3 well-being, though it's been a year since I retired. "Dad," I answered with the swagger that only six glasses of champagne and fuzzy over-nostalgicized memory can achieve, "I was known as the little girl that could take all the big girls down." That claim is "truthiness" at best. Still, I plan to tell my grandchildren the same thing.


Learning is not easy, but it's fun. Today I wrote a synopsis, for a screenplay, and I was shocked at how much better it was than every other synopsis that I have ever written, now that I've actually studied writing synopses.

I also went to my Bollywood class, and can I tell you that I've never had so much fun burning calories. I don't really have the body for Bollywood dancing. I pull off the moves, but I'm not delicate enough to make them look graceful. Luckily, one of the many benefits of hitting 30 is that I'm now more concerned with having fun than looking good. So the class is great.

We're about to go see "TALK TO ME," which I've been wanting to see for a while now. So I'll have a review for you, along with the rest of my summer movie reviews since July 1 for you tomorrow.

Talk to you then,
etc

Thursday, August 02, 2007

21 Days of Learning


To-be-weds, if you ever want to encourage many questions about when you plan to have children, all you have to do is go anywhere near a child at your wedding. Luckily my cousin Kim's fraternal 1-year-old twins, Cornell and Mariah. are so adorable that they were worth all the shouts of "You guys look like naturals" and "You should have some of your own." Being such cutie-pies, Cornell and Mariah have become accustomed to getting picked up by all manner of people. And though they were the hit of the wedding, I fear for their safety, because they don't seem to have that "crying when picked up by strangers" gene. And it'd be pretty easy to give into temptation and kidnap these two. Especially since, as you can see from this picture, Mariah is easily mesmerized by jewelery. I'm currently trying to convince my cousin Kim to move out here to L.A., b/c both Cornell and Mariah have had so many pictures taken of them, that they now instinctively go completely still and pose with adorable smiles on their faces whenever they see a camera. I'm not kidding. It's cute in practice, but creepy in theory. So I told Kim that since she's somehow trained her babies to be models at the tender age of 1, she should bring them out here, so that they can at least make a profit off of their deeply disturbing double talent -- and perhaps pay off their college bills ahead of time.


Hey guys, I'm on week 2 of a new 21 days of learning. So I've finally started hitting Yoga classes like everybody else in Los Angeles. Also, I've been scaring myself silly with books like "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" and "The Sell Your Novel ToolKit."

I know that most of good writing is rewriting, and that it's actually better to take a break from a piece before tackling the rewrite, and that my habit of writing a rough draft and then abandoning it, needs to like stop.

And I'm actually quite excited to start the upcoming 21 days of rewrite with all this new knowledge. But I am also incredibly scared that I won't be able to fix the things that are wrong with my novel, much less get it published. And my abject fear of doing this rewrite is really messing my head and actually keeping me awake at night. It feels like my writing demons are building up an impossible-to-beat army while I take this breather.

But in the end, I suppose that being dead terrified of a thing is never a reason not to do it.

In other news, I'm also taking African Dance, for the first time in 10 years. Those who heard the story I told at Spark's "Water" Storytelling Event last April, will realize the significance of that.

I'm taking the class on Wednesdays at the Heartbeat House in Silverlake. It's fun, and taught by Doris, a West Indian dancer with a ridiculously thick French accent and the even more cartoonish habit of saying, "What! Es eeeee-zeeee!" when we students mess up a complicated move on our first try. Anyway it's fun. I'm also taking a Bollywood Dance class at Heartbeat on Saturdays, which is also fun.

And if you're now all awash in curiosity from my above mention of Spark's Storytelling Event, you'll have the chance to see me perform for only the second time in almost ten years, because Spark has asked me to retell my story for a big event that they're throwing on Sept. 20 at The Santa Monica Library. More details coming at the end of August, but save the date.

Talk to you soon,
etc

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Pictures and other stuff


I've never been a fan of having my picture taken, but that's kind of unavoidable at weddings -- seriously I don't know how celebrities do it all the time, because by the end of the day, Christian and I vowed never to have our picture taken again. Anyway, I got an unasked for lesson in modeling that day, because photos like the one above taught me that I should always show teeth when I smile. Otherwise, one of the happiest moments of my life could easily be mistaken for "that time I sucked a lemon." Here's my solemn promise that I will proudly show off my gap, which I actually love, in pictures from now on. Lesson so learned
.



Okay, I kind of thought that my return to blogging in June wasn't all that spectacular, but I've been begged fiercely by multiple (read: 2) people over the last few weeks, so I am posting again by hugely popular demand.

First things first, a wedding blog is so daunting, so I've decided to post one wedding pic at the top of each blog with a little anecdote. And if you want to see more pics you can go to our flickr account here. Or if you want to see the professional pics, check out our wedding photographer, Jihan Abdalla's take on the event here -- the password is "ernessa"

Second things second, the honeymoon was FANTASTIC. Christian and I planned to kayak, hike, and take a helicopter ride around the island. And here's what we ended up doing: reading by the pool, hanging out in the hotel room, taking one whole 3-hour hike halfway through, then buying more books, after making a firm decision to spend the rest of our honeymoon reading more books by the pool (lava flows and mai tais very much included) and hanging out in the hotel room. So pretty much it was the best honeymoon ever.

Third things third, a few more updates. I FINALLY finished the rough draft of my novel. SO excited. Yea, 21! Now for 21 days of rewrite. Sigh.

My friend Sebrina just had a BEAUTIFUL baby girl, which she named Madison.

My friend and fellow playwright Kyle is rehearsing a play right now for UnKnown. Can't wait to see it.

And Filly Film Cult has a super-exciting event coming soon, so stay tuned for the details.

Talk to you soon,
etc

Monday, July 02, 2007

Gone Fishin' -- Back Next Week



So this is the last day of my 21, and the first day of my honeymoon. We've just finished eating at one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever stayed in, The Grand Hyatt in Kauai.


We ate for what seemed like the first time in days (I'm told the food and cake at our wedding was very good, but wouldn't really know since I barely had a chance to taste it). Then we sent in the fax number for the hotel to the car appraisal people re: my accident

And now we're back in the room. It's 1pm.  So now we plan to close the curtains on the below view. Throw all the unnecessary pillows (even more than pictured) off the below bed, and sleep our asses off. 

Back next week with more blogs -- including a big wedding one -- so hold tight! 

110% Love,
etc

Sunday, July 01, 2007

As it Turns Out ...


Our wedding day was like an entire season of "24," but with more ups and downs, and a happier season finale. 
Full Wedding Blog Coming Soon...

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Best Friday Ever

I don't have words to describe how great my bachelorette party was. All I can say is my best friend, Monique, and my sister Elizabeth are two of the best people on the face of the earth and accordingly, they threw me the best bachelorette party in the history of bachelorette parties. I had so much fun, and I felt so blessed to have friends from all parts of my life (Los Angeles, undergrad, and Grad School) to celebrate with. Plus, I now know what the inside of a Cadillac stretch limo looks like, so you know, I can like die happy.




And apparently CH had the best bachelor party ever. We got home to find him sitting with his brother-in-law and Monique's husband, Brian. They informed us that they not only had as good of a time as we did, smoking cigars and drinking amazing wine at a local fine eatery. But CH also received a handheld GPS -- of which I'm quite jealous. Then a couple of his friends gave him a frickin' I-Phone!!!! Yes, I screamed when I saw the much-hyped mystical device that I had only ever expected to see pictures of and hear about -- I was that surprised -- I mean it had only been released that morning. Brian told us that a ton of pictures were taken of other guys from the party just posing with the phone, in the way other people might pose with a celebrity.



Still, CH is drastically hungover right now, and I'm feeling great, because I pretty much danced off my massive champagne and wine consumption last night. So I guess I win. On to the Bridal Shower and Rehearsal BBQ tonight.

110% Best,
etc

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Another Long Day

But three things make it worth it:

1. Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles tomorrow. This place is like manna on crack. I can't wait.

2. The fact that I wasn't hurt in the car accident. Thanks to everyone that reached out about that.

3. Me in a green seersucker dress for my bachelorette party tomorrow.

And because I hate to leave you with that much positivity. Here's an article that Ima Gitcha, another black derby chick (though I think she's still skating) posted about a year and a half ago, about Bud Dwyer, who basically committed an American version of seppaku in 1987. Random I know, but for whatever reason this story has really stayed with me for over a year and half. And not in the usual writer way. I haven't come up with any deep connections or metaphors for this one. I'm just kind of vaguely haunted by it. And I think you should be to. So read Ima's blog on Bud Dwyer here.

Okay that's all.

110% Best,
etc

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

To tired to really blog

1. Did a lot of last minute stuff for the wedding.

2. Got into a car accident. Not my fault, but still....

3. Made 150 fan wedding programs using spray-on adhesive glue (which I wasn't even aware existed until tonight), so now my hands look like shit and I feel like shit.

4. Going to bed now.

5. Tomorrow will be better -- it has to...

That's all,
etc

P.S. -- Acetone rocks

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

'Tis Official...

Today I ....

Woke up at 6:30 in the morning...

Fetched my sister from the airport...

Felt bad because she missed her connecting flight from the night before, had to spend the night in the Dallas airport, and then came into Los Angeles to find that her luggage had been lost. Great sister that she is, the only things that she had carried on was her purse and her bridesmaid dress. Yea, Liz!...

Taped my last show with Ryan until I get back from my honeymoon...

Ate one chocolate Sprinkle cupcake -- it was as yummy as hyped!

Talked with Kelly Clarkson, who's guest-hosting our show, for 15 minutes about my upcoming wedding and why it might be better to elope (I'm not kidding), I don't care if you like her music, buy her album. She's awesome people...

Bid adieu to my workmates until I get back from my honeymoon...

Went to the Beverly Center and bought my entire vacation wardrobe from H&M and XXI for about $100, because most of my old summer clothes don't fit me anymore -- damn 15 pounds, I'm starting to regret losing you...

Kept low-grade arguments going with my sister the entire day -- I'm so happy she's here!

Split a bottle of wine with CH when we got home from the Beverly Center.

Ignored my sister's request that I not talk about her in future blogs ... hi Elizabeth!

Wrote this blog, before going to sleep around 10:30....

'Tis official... I'm old and getting married in T-minus 5 days!

Woo-hoo!
etc

Monday, June 25, 2007

A week from now...

CH and I will be in Hawaii on our honeymoon. That's what I have to keep telling myself, b/c I feel like a walking robot at this point, I've been working so much to prepare for a week and a half off, that my brain is just fried, as evidenced by the fact that with an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing I cannot come up with a better adjective than the completely cliche "fried" to explain why this is not a very good blog.

Zack, thanks for tagging me. I was beginning to feel like the least popular kid on the playground -- which I actually was growing up, so there was some retro-not-so-good-feeling going on -- though some (bad people) might argue that after not blogging for six months, I did not deserve to be tagged in a timely fashion. Either way, I'm trying to come up with eight random facts that people don't know about me, which is kind of hard, since I talk way too much. But I may have a few fun tidbits tucked away. I'll try to tackle this tomorrow.

Okay, 21 satisfied -- though again, not very well.

Sorry Sorry,
etc

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Powered by 100% Vegetable Oil -- Please help!



So as many of you know, CH is in the midst of trading his sporty convertible for an even more kick-ass 4-door 1982 300SD Turbo Diesel Mercedes, which he's had converted, so that it can now run on vegetable oil.

We're lucky enough to live within walking distance of the one of the few places that actually performs these conversions. I won't try to explain how they're done, b/c it's nearly impossible for me to give a mechanical explanation without using the words "thingamajig" and "magic," but if you want to find out more, you can check out their website at www.lovecraftbiofuels.com.

The coolest thing about this conversion is that his new-to-him car can now run on diesel, which is cheaper than regular gas. But it can also run on vegetable oil or waste vegetable oil (WVO) after the first 600 miles. Now being able to run on WVO is a real deal, b/c this is basically the stuff that all restaurants produce, but usually have to pay a $1 per gallon in disposal fees to get rid of. So it's a win-win sitch for both the driver and the restaurant that doesn't have to pay to dispose of their used cooking oil.

CH has almost hit the 600 mile mark, and he's getting very excited. In fact he bought the below fuel filtration thingamajig to run the WVO through before he puts it into his car.



Only problem is that since we live in Silverlake which is like the #1 home of Lovecraft converted cars, the restaurants around here are pretty much tapped.

So if you have a restaurant, catering or even taco stand connection in Los Angeles, please let me know about it. Because CH would love to help them out by taking their used non-hydragenated cooking oil off their hands. And even more importantly, it'll allow us to tool around town, feeling cool AND envrionmental, so definitely hep us to any place you might know of.

Thanks!
etc

Saturday, June 23, 2007

I don't know what's more shocking...


That she can do this, or that she obviously got her hair done right before this picture was taken in anticipation of lots of people seeing her do this.

Here's the AP Caption: Jalisa 'The Eyepopper' Thompson demonstrates the skill behind her nickname as she arrives for the grand opening of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Odditorium Thursday, June 21, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Thursday, June 21, 2007

More on my Appendicitis

So though, my appendicitis turned out not be appendicitis -- just constipation; apparently, CH's main boss, Jimmy Kimmel, actually did have appendicitis at the exact same time that I thought I had it. And the poor guy even had to have his appendix out as I feared (for about 6 hours) I would have to right before my wedding. You can read more about here.

Spooky. Mayhap I'm not the hypochondriac that bad people (family, non-writer friends, and CH) often accuse me of being. I might just be a vessel harbinger of things to come. Did you ever think of that naysayers?

Oh Cassandra!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

So you know how you sometimes say, "I'll go to so-and-so movie, even though it looks bad." And then you go in with super low expectations only to be pleasantly surprised, because it's totally better than you thought it would be?

Fantastic Four is not that movie.

Turn back from this road of evil.

That's all,
etc

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Having the worse day...

And I think I might have appendicitis. Am headed home to decide whether or not to go to the hospital. But wanted to get a blog in for the day. So here's my blog.

21 satisfied -- though not very well.

etc

Update: Okay, after an informal examination from CH, we determined that I did not have appendicitis, b/c it didn't hurt on my right side. Then we took an incredibly romantic trip to the Rite-Aide and pick up some Ex-Lax. Ah.. that's amore.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Once Upon a Day

Five random Monday thoughts:

1. I finished cooking for the week late last night (I make all of our dinners for the week on Sunday), so this morning I smell like garlic and dish washing soap. I've become a pretty good cook over the last year, but I doubt that I'll ever become a great cook, because a) I almost always measure everything within an inch of its life, and b) I don't taste as I go along -- don't even have the desire to do so. There's just no poetry in it for me. Still, CH thinks I'm a great cook, but I think that's the warm fuzzy talking.

2. I wonder sometimes if my blog isn't quite vain, because I mostly talk about myself. Then again, I don't really blog about politics or anything like that, b/c I don't really think I have many thoughts in that regard that haven't already been blogged or spoken about (better) by others. The best I've been able to come up with is saying "But there's no such thing as global warming, right?" whenever someone from back home in the Midwest says that it's been an unseasonably warm day during the winter. Talking politics used to be so much fun, but nowadays, it feels like nothing less than a deliberate blood pressure spiker. I just get mad, and that's no fun. Anyway, I worry that blogging is just a vain endeavor in general, as I do no particular service. How do other bloggers deal with these feelings?

3. I still miss TV, but I got so much done this weekend, it's kind of scary. I mean I hit ALL of my weekend goals. And I never hit all of my weekend goals. Nobody does. That's the nature of weekend goals. You promise to do all sorts of stuff, and then you watch TV instead. It feels very weird to be in this good of a place on Monday.

4. Yes, Audley Yung is oddly young to be making fire bombs. (For further explanation, see thought # 2 re: my ability to talk about real issues).

5. I miss TV, but I miss Once Upon a Day by Lisa Tucker more.

This book is really hard to logline, but it's basically about a Hollywood couple that has something really bad happen to them, then he kidnaps their two children, and the three become serious isolationists in Arizona. This book is mostly about what happens before and 20 years after the kidnapping. I listened to Once about a month ago, and even thought it was an audiobook, it hit all the cliches about reading hard. It was a page turner, I didn't want to put it down, I didn't want it to end, I could have stayed with these characters forever -- all that good stuff. But I did eventually finish it, and now I'm trying to forget it, so that I can move on to other books without always comparing them to Once. Still, I supposed it's better to have read and lost, than never to have read at all.

I know all the puns and metaphors in this post are pure genius. You don't have to thank me.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Once

Okay, "KNOCKED UP" wasn't showing at the Arclight yesterday, so CH and I decided to see "DAY WATCH" instead. Then we found out that movie is over 2 hours long -- which was a bit of a long haul for what had already been a busy Saturday, so we ended up opting for an indie that's been getting a lot of buzz: "ONCE."



I knew 2 things within 20 minutes of watching "ONCE":

1. This is my favorite movie of the year so far. And
2. I shouldn't have drunk all that water before the movie, because I had to go to the bathroom.

Anyway, even with the pit stop, the movie was AMAZING. It shows what you can do with a little scratch, if you have good writing, good story, and a novel way of telling it. I don't want to say too much about it, b/c there are a ton of lovely discoveries in this film. But I will say that it actually made me nostalgic for my starving artist days, and that I'm so HEARTing The Frames right now.

That's all.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Good News Deserves a Good Movie

CH just got cleared to enter the 600 (aka The Director of Photography) union -- yea! It's a big deal, and I'm exceedingly proud of him. So instead of doing something scintillating like assembling our rehearsal dinner invitations, we're going to dinner and a movie to celebrate. Which reminds me that I haven't done any movie reviews in like a year. Luckily this summer is making it very easy for me.

SPIDERMAN 3: Sucked and was long and was unnecessary. But the last 15 minutes were good.

28 DAYS LATER: Had MASSIVE nightmares that night. So good. So scary. Still think about it from time to time and shiver a little.

SHREK THE THIRD: Both 1 & 2 were better. But I wouldn't mind a fourth. Even just-okay Shrek is better than most animated movies coming out these days.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: If urban sprawl could form itself into a pirate movie, this would be it. But I liked it, just because I turned off my inner-critic after the first 5 minutes and enjoyed the ride.

OCEANS THIRTEEN: Better than Ocean's 12. Not as good as Ocean's 11. Beautiful cinematography. Worth seeing.

Sorry, that's all I've seen so far. The 21 days of "not spending" kind of threw my movie-watching for a loop.

But right now am leaning towards "KNOCKED UP" for tonight. Partly because my boss has a cameo in it, but mainly because I've heard it's like Woody Allen good -- if Woody Allen's movies were a tad bit too long.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

TV

As regular readers of this blog know, I didn't have a TV for like a year and watched everything exclusively on Netflix -- which limited my viewing. But then I met CH and I got re-addicted. His upgrading to HD the first winter after we started dating didn't help matters much. And soon I started watching way too much. I watched at home. Then after I got my office, I started watching any show that was broadcast on the Internet by ABC, NBC, CBS, and CW and when I say any, I mean ANY -- yes, I know how the first and last season of Daybreak ended. But I knew that I had hit rock bottom after the normal television season ended, and I found myself watching ABC's "The Ex-Wives Club" and the CW's "Hidden Palms." Trust me, if you've seen even a minute of these shows, you would not understand how a person could sink so low. I feel filthy just thinking about it.

So for the metaphysical part of my 21 days I decided to give up TV and video all together. I usually try to do something practical and something Lent-y for these 21 days. For example my last 21 was writing my pilot script and not spending any money on anything that wasn't for survival (food for cooking) or for the wedding. I thought not spending any money was very hard, and it was very, very hard.

But I miss TV. I miss it so much, even though I know it's no good for me -- especially in the summer.

Still, not everything about my descent into total TV Junkiedom was bad. Here are some of the great programs I would never have discovered if they hadn't been streamed on the internet:

1. Friday Night Lights: Now, I actually went to school with and genuinely like and respect Gaius Charles, the actor who plays the ridiculously cocky Smash Williams in this outstanding drama, but I swear I barely remember I know him when I'm watching this. I'm so engaged, I really don't understand why this program is having ANY problems with ratings.

2. How I Met Your Mother: In another strange coincidence, one of the writers for this show, Kourtney Kang graduated 2 years before I did from the same writing program, and is one of the first people my class met when we came out from L.A. In another strange coincidence, my sister and I discovered this program seperately, and both LOVE it, especially Barney. The only downside of it is that almost everyone -- including the guest stars -- are more interesting than the main character, which is why I almost resent any storyline that actually revolves around him, because ironically, I've ceased to care how he met his kids' mother.

3. Jericho: I loved watching a town get built from nothing during the first season of Deadwood, and I enjoyed watching a town disintegrate in the first season of this show. Hope they do wrap everything up with a 6-ep stint as is being hinted around.

4. Dancing with the Stars: Laila Ali doing the Mambo. I don't think anything else need be said.

5. 30 Rock. The only thing better than Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin, I've discovered, is Tracy and Alec in a scene together -- especially if Kenny the Page is involved.

Have I mentioned that I really miss TV? This is going to be a long 21 days.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Updates

Okay, I know for those of you who haven't seen or heard from or read about me in a while, that you're probably most interested in updates. Well, here's the quick and dirty lowdown.

I LOVE MY JOB: Being a full-time writer is even better than I ever expected. I actually seem to be writing MORE of my own stuff, and my propensity for going overlong -- that's like gone. However, I can't really talk about most aspects of my job, like by contract I can't talk about it. So suffice it to say, I've learned a lot, and I will NEVER EVER go back to dayjob. Never, never, never. Plus, I have my own office -- which is nice.

THE WEDDING: Is about two weeks away. CH and I are getting married on July 1, and if you weren't invited, it's not because I don't love you, it's because planning a wedding is an insane, expensive bitch of a time, and not everyone would fit. I'll spare you the details of all of the wedding plans, but I will say that it's a little like having a baby. At first you're really excited, but by week 37, you just want the damn thing out, so that you can spend the rest of your life with it already.

MY LIFE: See the first two updates. That's pretty much it -- which is probably why I haven't been blogging so much.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

21 Days Later

I'm baaaackkkk -- at least for 21 Days. I'm hoping if I blog for 21 days, it'll become a habit. Now anyone, who's talked to me since March knows that this is the latest in a long line of 21s. Basically 21 is my new religion, based on that old adage, "It takes 21 days to create a habit." So far, I've exercised for 21, eaten well for 21, worked on my novel for 21, and worked on a pilot script for 21. The result being, I've lost 15 pounds, am seriously almost done with my novel, and have a kick-ass pilot as a calling card. Nice.

Eventually, I hope to write a book about this -- yes, I plan to write at least the rough in 21 days. But I just wanted to establish the 21 thingamigig, so that you won't be confused when I reference it in blogs to come.

Also, I want to say that, 21 days straight is a lot for a blogger as sporadic as me. I cannot guarantee that my blogs will be funny or even good. But, of course, the utmost thing that a blog should strive to be is a blunt instrument of procrastination, and in that regard, I hope I serve you well... at least for the next 21 days -- save Fridays, because that's when I write the post for my work blog, which can be found at here. If you've ever wanted to see me channel my inner Meg Cabot -- and I know ALL of my guy friends do -- then this is the place to go.

Okay, let's do this.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

I admit it... I've been cheating on you with another blog...

But at least I'm getting paid for it.

Some facts that didn't make it into the below story, since we like to keep it positive at AT40.

1. CH and I were really pissed it took Prince so long to come on stage.
2. The tickets were too expensive for a General Admission show. And...
3. Prince must really rock, b/c we really enjoyed ourselves despite 1 & 2.
4. The IM talk is for the kids. Please forgive.

Anyway here's the blog I wrote for AT40.com (i.e. -- the people that pay me and unfortunately keep me from updating my own blog as often as I would like. But I promise I'll be better in the '07)

Purple Betty

So I was recently taken on a birthday trip to see the legendary Prince perform at the 3121 Club in Vegas...

I have absolutely no purple "going out" outfits in my closet - of course I've never really needed a purple going out outfit before the Prince concert came up. But still, it would have been nice. I ended up wearing a magenta sweater over my sparkly "HIP HOP" T-shirt along with my pink and green Converse and my teal glasses. I figured, "Close enough."

OMG, absolutely no one was wearing purple at the club. In fact most of the other women were wearing fabulous black dresses and heels, much like the ones I had passed up in favor of my frumpy-but-sorta-of-purple ensemble in spirit of the occasion.

When Prince finally took the stage (2 and a 1/2 hours after the time printed on our tickets). HE WASN'T WEARING PURPLE. But I had to admit: he did look fabulous in his yellow suit. At one point, Prince shined the spotlight on individual concert-goers who would then dance, while he commented. I was deathly afraid that he would shine the spotlight on me and say, "She thinks that sweater's purple... but it's really magenta."

I stood very still. Like a wood-dove. When a predator is near.

BTW, after his one costume change, Prince came out and sang "PURPLE RAIN" in a red suit!!! I seemed to be the only person in the swaying crowd who found this completely sacrilegious. But maybe that's because everyone else was wearing black.

However, the club floor was concrete. And the wait was 2 and a 1/2 hours. So while a steady stream of well dressed women limped out of the club in their fabu heels throughout the concert, I danced from beginning to end in my Converse. I even jumped and threw rock horns when he closed the show with "LET'S GO CRAZY" aka the BEST Prince song of all time. LOL, so despite being way under-dressed, I had a wonderful time.

And two days later "UGLY BETTY," America Ferrarra won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV comedy. Go figure. TTYL