San Diego Thursday!

Happy Thursday! I am so very tired! I have pictures but I'm too tired to find my camera and plug it in and copy the pictures and look at them and then try to fit them into here. Maybe later.

Order of business:
Weekend.
Christmas.
San Diego.

Oh gosh, I don't remember the weekend anymore. I guess one of those days.....Friday? I went to Carolyn's house 'cause Steven was having some sort of party with all his tiny friends. They watched Hot Fuzz in the freezing outside, and me and Carolyn watched Acacia, a pretty bad Korean horror movie. And then I went back the next day and watched Hot Fuzz with her. I think that's how it went down. I'm almost entirely positive about this.

Sunday I guess I just played FFXII all day. I'm soooo close to being done, plot-wise (I've had it for a year, after all), but I'm sticking it out to finish all the side quests because the world is so great and vast and I know I won't have the energy to do it all ever again. Also, church that day.

Monday we baked. Michelle made pumpkin cookies, mom I guess did some breads, I made an apple pie and maple cookies. I put waaaay too much flower in the apples this time, and I need to NOT cut them so thin! But the crust turned out rather well, so I'm keeping my new adaptations for that. I also remember looking up trivia for things I am a fan of, and writing a very very strange bit of Kingdom Hearts/Naruto fanfiction.


Christmas!
Got everything wrapped more or less on time, but my sister's awesome present didn't show up. I suppose it's waiting for us back home, unless someone's stolen it off the porch.

I got lots of neat stuff, like the stuff I picked out, like the special editions of Hot Fuzz and Hairspray; but I also got cool surprises like the Batman steering wheel cover I've always wanted, and a TV! So thanks, everybody!

Later my uncle and aunt came over and brought their cute dog and we had a nice lunch of Christmas fashion. And then we had a nice walk around the park, aaand then most of us had a nap. Hooray. And I guess I made them watch Hairspray.

And then the next day we went to San Diego!

Well, first, we went to school and cleaned my apartment and like moved the TV in there and stuff. (It looks like I'm only getting one new roommate, and we've been talking on Facebook and she's totally cool) And Then we went to Taco King and then San Diego.

The terrain right before the incorporated cities start (when I woke up) is like a vast, flat, undeveloped Ventura. That's what I like about California, you can always tell when you're in it. I love me my So Cal scrub brush. And the ocean was right there and there were rivers and bays and all sorts of nice things. And we passed Oceanside and I waved to Megan, who resides thereabouts.

San Diego itself is like the small-town Ventura meets the classy/vast Santa Barbara. It sprawls pretty dang wide, as far as I can tell, but there's these tiny rolling hills all about, and freeways and stuff, but it doesn't feel crowded. And the downtown has these cool tall buildings but there's still a lot of space. Not like San Francisco, where you can't see what the weather's like up there. And not like LA; it seems really clean and nice, and not cheesy like say Hollywood, either. I suppose that's just what the touristy bits look like, though.

We went on this narrated trolley (just like school, eh guys?) that took us around the downtown area. But the first stop was at the harbor, so we got off and wandered around and then got on this Seal Tours which drove us around some more and then into the harbor. Remember the Duck Tour we went on in Boston? It was like that. But a seal. With Captain Mark and Tosh. It was SUPER cold, especially out on the water, but it was really neat. We saw sea lions and also a hover craft. Tosh was all "sorry for geeking out about it," but apparently it's really rare to "see one in action" on the harbor.

And then we went inside to lunch before I froze to death. And then we went back on the trolley and took it to um, what is it.... C...Coronado? Wich is an island and a city right off from San Diego. Giant bridge to it. Could see Mexico from it. And then around the island and back off, and then through a bit of Balboa Park which is where the zoo and a lot of other stuff is, and then back to Old Town, which is where we got off and also it was night now.

Old Town is where the city was before it became a city, and it's got tiny buildings for your touristing pleasure. Bought a tin star light at the TinSmith store, a Thursday poncho (Brown and Red!!) at some other store, and a two-dollar cactus at yet another. Went over to the, uh, Waverly? House. Supposedly haunted. The, what do you call it, curator? This youngish guy was so funny, in a really bored sort of way. It wasn't scary and I didn't see the doll's eyes move or anything. Took some pictures, though. Maybe when I upload them I'll see the ghosts.

Randomly went to Mimi's for desert, and then crashed back here. My sister and I were going to watch Hot Fuzz (she hasn't seen it), but I got to writing (back to my new roommate, on peoples' walls, this) and I think she's more or less asleep now. As am I, for that matter. I don't know where I got the energy to write all this. Hope it was interesting.

Tomorrow I think we're headed for TJ. I brought my passport but I hope they take it because it went through the was a few years ago and totally looks fake. I really don't want to get stuck in Mexico. But I hope I'll find a little sombrero for Riko; I've been looking for one of those for years.

-Steph

Smiling's My Favorite

Happy Thursday! The beautiful thing about Thursdays during break is that I had TWO naps today! I'm just so tired, I dunno why. It must be all the strenuous shopping and wrapping and stuff. Also, making. Been crafting a few presents, as well. In any case, I have my trusty Original Blend UCC coffee with milk, and that seems to be bringing me back to life.

I was going to talk about Facebook...but I thought I was going to enlighten you all about something else first... hmmm. Don't you wish I prepared and thought these out before hand? I bet they'd be a lot more punchy if I tried.

While we wait, here is my neat-o link for this week: http://www.totalleh.com/index.php?id=387

Ah, I think it was this. Around Thanksgivingtime or so, I reached my 100 post count according to Blogger. Now, that counts some of the old ones that my dad was posting here while I was still emailing this out to all y'all (you can tell because there's weird pictures adoring the top of each one). But still, 100 posts? That's over two years of me whining at you week after week. I still can't believe I haven't even missed one, yet. AND I've physically SAID Happy Thursday to someone each of those Thursdays, too. What do you guys have to say about your own commitments?

So this was the segue into Facebook. See, at one point, I had a mailing list, and my family and a lot of kids in the Buena orchestra got an email about Thursday 'cause they all swore they'd miss me saying it to them each week. Yeah, well, I don't think any of those kids remember this. XD But my family still does, and my good friends (well, they at least pretend to), and really that's about it. But, for a while now, they've been imported in Facebook as notes, so that potentially bumps my readership up by like a hundred people, despite the fact that we all know no one ever really reads peoples' notes on Facebook. But I can mention people and then tag them in it, like, say, Aubrey Reynolds, and then they might take a peek to see what I've been saying about them.

So I think that my tone has taken on a wider tone, as if I'm writing for the Facebook audience. Which is WAY different from the blog audience, because it's college kids who, for the most part, know what I'm talking about when I say stuff about West Campus, or trolleys....(but then, it's the home crowd who's hip to stuff like "I wish the AX was at Anaheim again," and it's even a very specific crowd who gets the title of this post.)

In any case, let's talk about Facebook now.

So, I dunno if you guys know, but I live at Facebook. Different people have accosted me with keeping the window open all day and just refreshing it to poke back. This is very true. But when I was thinking about writing this today, I was thinking how I update on my life so much more easily there. So! Here's a walk down memory lane of this week, of all my status updates since last Thursday:

December 13
Stephanie is SO cold.
9:27pm
Stephanie wishes you all a Happy Thursday.
5:25pm
Stephanie needs a new battery!
9:24am
Stephanie almost misses the "is".
12:51am

December 14
Stephanie has finished it all!
5:36pm

December 17
Stephanie is sho shleepy.
9:54pm

December 18
Stephanie got a B+ in producing! How about you guys?
2:14pm
Stephanie is confined to the office until the danger passes...0o.
1:45pm

Yesterday
Stephanie is a bad speller.
11:27am
Stephanie is gallavanting.
11:25am
Stephanie has to go to the dentist ;_;.
12:46am

Today
Stephanie is hair-cutted.
6:06pm
Stephanie wishes you all a Happy Thursday.
3:43pm

Except, yesterday we went to the dentist, but our appointment was for today. It was a sad morning.

So today we went to the dentist for real, and that was alright, not great, you know, it's the dentist. But then I took a nap! And then I got a hair cut. And, wait. First I had lunch at Mama-ya. THEN I got a hair cut. And then I had another nap. And now I'm watching Scrubs, and it's so funny if you haven't been keeping up and you get to see them for the first time. I heart the Janitor.

Okay, peace out, kiddies.

-Steph

Ah, and Merry Christmas!

I Should Be Writing My Script

Happy Thursday! Here's a cute story courtesy of Megan:

"Making fudge in our family is a tradition. My mom used to make the fudge, and then I took over making it, and someday my children will take over and kill your children."

And an epilogue:

"There is no 'our' in sandwich."

Truer words were never spoken.

SO TODAY I TOOK MY LAST/ONLY FINAL. HAPPPy Thursday! It was World Lit, my only normal academic class. So lots of writing. It was.... eh. I tried for all the extra questions. XD It should be okay, but it'll definitely be the lowest grade outta the batch. But hey! A in Sitcom! Shocking. I see an A in art for sure (you should see my snazzy letterhead). Writing? If I get enough of my script done today/tomorrow morning....definitely at least an A-. I totally turned in everything in that class, man. Producing? Hm. That class was awful, and we're still not entirely done with the notebook.....but I guess mid B to low A. But we'll see.

So I'm trying to write this, but it's really hard because the TV is distracting me so bad. Right now it's Private Practice and it is SO BAD. SO BAD. SO BAD. And that's what's distracting me, because I have to stop every four seconds and complain. Chris Lowell is even in it but STILL I'll never be watching this again.

But speaking of Chris Lowell, Beth got me Veronica Mars season one for Christmas! GAH! So unexpected! (Chris isn't in season one, but that's okay) Man do I love that show. It's way better than this CRUD I'm watching now.

So Megan started really packing today, 'cause she's off to Oxford next semester. Whut! Dunno if we're getting a new roomie, but prolly. BUT I SHALL HAVE THE BOTTOM BUNK. I shall have it. It will be my precious. But it's going to be strange.

But I have fun CBA (rather, TFT?) friends for next semester, like I've got a class with Kelly and Aaron (and maybe Ashley? grrr), and another with I think Yuko and maybe Aaron again? And that second one is with Jack! Who is not a classmate at all, but a darn good sitcomy prof, and I think I'll really enjoy this class. But I'm getting ahead of myself! Up next is Christmas Break!

I'm gonna hang out with Carolyn and probably Steven, and Jennifer, and I think Jacqi! And I'm pretty sure my sister! And I won't go to class! But I'll probably work on my movie because I like it and I hope I finish it!

Gah, I dunno what I'm saying anymore. I just can't wait for Private Practice to be over, 'cause it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. Yeah. Now it's over. Good. Good riddance.

I guess I'll sign off, too. And I will see some of you soon! Merry Christmas!

-Steph

One Year Left

Happy Thursday! Today was actually really great, right off the bat. Sure I woke up at 7 to finish off a paper due later, but after that it was really great. For example, something ridiculously cute happened right in the morning. (If you want to know, you can ask me about it and I might tell ya) And then I only had one more class! You know what that means? Just a few finals and then a year from now I'll be outta college.

@@! AHH!

Instead of class (it was cancelled, ask anybody), me and Megan went out and saw No Country for Old Men. It started off really strong, it was beautiful and I was really digging the one-step-ahead/cat-n-mousing going on....but then it took a turn that I don't think was very cinematically smart. It's based on a book, right? And apparently it follows it word-for-word.....which may be a perfect adaptation, but in my opinion it doesn't make for a perfect movie. But it started out good, and the characters were really solid and motivated and performed brilliantly.

So last Friday it rained. Just woke up and it was raining, and it rained All Day Long. The days before and after were not the least bit rainy, and most of this week has been rather hot. Until today, it started raining again right before ...I guess it was 9, before Grey's. Weird. Crazy winter.

Friday and Saturday was the sitcom taping, of course, but I don't have any more pictures other than what I posted last week from the rehearsal. It went really well! A pretty full house both nights, and the audience was sooo cooperative! Got a lot of laughs (even repeatedly), even at the political jokes, which was really a surprise. But the writing was far from the star of the show--mad props to the cast for putting up with our re-writes Saturday night and really pulling the whole thing off; and hooray for a smashing set and a crew who knew what they were doing. It was a pretty awesome experience. Good job, everyone. I'm gonna miss it and you all.

What else is new? I got my Hot Fuzz poster, and it is living quite merrily over my desk. Bought some pretty brown wrapping paper today. Ummm and. I feel like I should tell you a cute story. Let me think of one. Once upon a time, there was a little bed. Then it died. The end. Hahah, that was by my niece, I think it's the best story ever.

Oh, how did I forget?! We went and saw Enchanted Tuesday, me and Megan and Beth. That was pretty cute and had some LOL moments. Yes, it was ridiculous, but don't let the Dempsey fool you! It's a Disney movie, after all, and once you remember that, then you can fully enjoy it. Speaking of wacky fun, we caught the last half of Ugly Betty today. First time either of us had seen it ever, and we were both really surprised at how bizarrely weird it was. It's hilarious, guys. XD Probably going to keep that up from now on. If only the strike would end (I'm whining now) I want my tv back!!

Oh, I'm going to see if the internet is good enough to watch Chuck now. 'Cause of the strike I didn't even check to see if it was new this week--lucky for me it is!

C'mooooooon Christmas break!!

-Steph

American U

Happy Thursday! I only have a bit of time because I'll explain in a bit. First, the best recipe I ever created today:

The Best I'm-A-Cheap-College-Student-And-I-Live-Out-Of-My-Freezer Between-Classes Lunch: Waffle Tuna Melt

Serves 1-2

You will need:
A can of tuna
2-4 frozen waffles
2-4 prepackaged cheese slices
(you can use whatever type you want/have)
And
Mayo
Pickle relish
Salt & pepper
To taste

Materials you will need:
2 plates (paper ok)
1 fork (plastic ok)

Appliances you will need:
1 Toaster

First, prepare the tuna however you like to make it. I use enough mayo to coat, and then enough pickle relish on top of that until it's not too moist. Then salt and pepper however it happens to come out that time.

Toast the waffles two at a time. Dangle two cheese slices over the toaster while it is on, to start the melt.

When the waffles are done to your preference, lay the cheese over each of them and allow the extra waffle heat to transfer into the cheeses. Then lay in the tuna mix on one of them—you can probably get all the tuna onto one waffle, but I used half and ended up making two sandwiches, and that's what the other two cheeses and waffles are for.


It's very good, I promise you.

So RIGHT NOW I am sitting in a red chair next to an outlet in the hallway outside the theater. Why? Because this weekend is the taping of the American U sitcom we've been writing, and today is the last-minute fixes and dress rehearsal. I've been here since 4! And it's pretty much the coolest thing ever, the way this works.

We're in the theater 'cause that's where a stage is, but other than that it just about approximates a professional sitcom set. That, and the fact there's a bunch of students and three professors. I took some pictures!


This is what the Student Union set looks like from the front row. Cameras! And because you can't see anything.....

Screens!


It's been so fun and funny and intense--I keep feeling like my comedy game is trying to be raised, that everything I say I have to think about first--what do I say next that is really really funny? I like it a lot. I wish you all could be here. One day I hope I get a copy of the finished version to show you all. It's not going to be the best half hour of television you've ever seen, but it will be something special.

Okay, I can hear they're about to get rolling in there, so I'll roll outta here! Hope your Thursdays were as great as mine!!

-Steph

The Culinary Week!

Happy Thursgivingday! That's Happy Thursday + Happy Thanksgiving! I almost forgot to remember to write this, so I'm going to do it now.

Friday Beth and Brianna stole me away from Japanese Kids to go to (of all places) Dai Shogun. So-called Happy Hour, where there's a bunch of really great food for lunch prices. That was fun because I haven't really spent too much time with Brianna this semester, after living with her for two years. Did you know the kid is engaged now? CRAZYness.

Saturday there was this Media Arts Festival, where Chip Fields spoke to us. It was pretty neat. And then after that I dropped in with Beth and Kirstie as they went to Pasadena to Hurry Curry. It was very good, and I had strawberry-flavored tea. I recommend it if you're a curry fan.

So Sunday we went BACK to Pasadena (needed some art supplies from Blick) and had lunch at Kansai, which is literally across the street from Hurry Curry. Love that place. Been there once with my dad and always wanted to go back. I had an onigiri and a half-bowl of udon, and the tea was free like at A'Float. And then I had red bean ice cream, which I haven't had in a loooong time. It's so good. Go there.

Also, Beth has introduced me to Famima!! It's a Japanese mini-mart that they're testing out in LA area. When we were coming back from Hurry Curry, we found the second location in Pasadena, so we checked it out after Kansai. It's way bigger than the first one AND AND they've got a case of steamed buns. !!! So even though we'd just ate, I bought an anman! A bun with my favorite red bean paste inside! I finally had one!! It was unexpectedly fudgey, but not in a bad way. It was fun. Gonna drop by there again on the way back to school.

Monday was all homework, but Tuesday was all hanging out. Sitcom class turned into hanging out time 'cause we didn't actually have to be there. But then there was a run-through of 90% of the show at 6, and that was pretty awesome. I can't wait for the taping. But then I had dinner with Yuko (from Sitcom). We were adventurous and went to Pho 777 across the street. That was really good, too. Definitely going back there. But it was funny because we definitely had to order off of the pictures 'cause we didn't know what anything was. ^^

Wednesday! Beth drove me home to home-town. Traffic wasn't so bad, just there were a few accidents. Gave her an in-depth tour of the house and then an in-the-dark tour of Ventura. Came back and made a pie while watching Colbert and up through Craig Ferguson who is now my favorite person ever. I'm also very sneezy.

So then today was Thursgiving, and there was all the food you can imagine. Just me and my folks and Beth since all the other kids are out of state. All two of them. It was good, and then there was a nice walk downtown (which was eerily empty) and out along the pier and back. It was cool and breezy, but not as cold as it could have been. Then we came home and watched Little Miss Sunshine and saw that exact area where we'd just been, hee hee. But according to the writer, filming in Ventura was a unfortunate accident, because they found out they couldn't shoot in Long Beach halfway through the scene. Oh well.

And after that we had my pie, which was all right. The apples seemed a little undercooked. Well. There's always Christmas. XD

Wow, guys, I am way impressed with Steve Carell today. Want to see him do something that is completely dramatic. 'Cause he could do it. He could do it and it would amazing.

Also, the Incredibles is amazing. I really love that movie.

OH AND CHUCK. This week's episode had a lot A LOT of bits in it that I just did not like. Just, the basics of writing and understanding your characters. BUT. What they achieved with their forced setup was rather remarkable, and I love/appreciate it muchly. Super excited for next week's episode.

Beth Voge is amazing.

-Steph

Live from Azusa Pacific, it's Thursday Night!

Happy Thursday! Tonight was Mexican Thanksgiving (it only happens once...or twice!) so I am ridiculously stuffed and slow-moving at the moment. Mexican Thanksgiving is a day where Megan decided to cook a bunch of Mexican food for everyone, and I helped, and it happened to be near Real Thanksgiving. There was enchiladas, barbacoa, tortillas, chips, rice, and beans! And then cookies. Gosh. I'm gonna die.

This week went by too fast for me to remember it.

Over the weekend, I was at home. Went to the zoo with Carolyn and Melissa! Went to class with them, which turned into going to the zoo. Because the class was at the zoo.

And then I hung out with my folks! We had good foods and then shopped some. And then it sorta rained, but all this week it's been 90s hot. So strange.

Also, the lady (?) who drove me home and back just started working at APU, and she's the daughter of my mom's old working buddy, right? But she also went to all the same schools as me and indeed had a class with my brother! So we talked all about the teachers there (we had a lot of the same ones, dude) and stuff. It was neat.

Right now there are some CBAers over, and we're reminiscing about all the horrible classes we had to take and the awful movies we've made. They're so bad. I laugh.

And I can't remember what else happened this week! Saw a play. That was fun. And funny. But what else.....I dunno! Huh. I guess I'll stop, then. ^^

-Steph

Standing up to the Man

In honor of the Writer's Guild of America strike, I'm airing a rerun this week. It's a good one, it's called "Not the Happiest Thursday," and it's from last season.

Before I pop the tape in, though, I'd like to say that I'm going home for the weekend. Yay. And today they performed a bit of the sitcom for us, and it's really coming along. Hooray for on-the-spot corrections!

And, as a writer, I'm on the WGA's side. As a human, I hate that the Union is Striking, as I hate Unions and Strikes. I think both sides are being pretty childish, and I'm upset that economic issues are going to (eventually) effect my canon universes negatively. Boo on you, Hollywood. Boo.

* * *
Not The Happiest Thursday
1/25/07

But still a Happy Thursday. I mean, c'mon, if it was the Happiest Thursday EVAR, what would you do with yourself on the rest of 'em? Knowing that none would ever reach this level of awesomeness? So Happy Thursday!

Sunny, high 70s. Nice. Well. Not sunny anymore, it's night. And, got a little breezy. Actually, I don't know, it was starting to get breezy when I came home from class, but then I took a nap so I really have no idea what the world is like.

I really do like that we can feel the revving of people's engines in the street through the floor of our house.

I just taught Brianna how to say 6:01 (rokuji ippun). Also today we re-learned the days of the week, and I realized that Mokuyoubi (Thursday) is written with the kanji for "tree," and trees are brown. Although, just yesterday I was looking at some trees and realizing that trees actually aren't brown, but more of a mottled gray. Some were white, and those looked really cool. Mokuyoubi was already cool, since the Go Club mascot was the little cow Moku.

My Jesus class professor is totally awesome. I said his name was Tim Robbins in a comment last week or so, but I don't know why 'cause his name is Mike. He was telling us about different forms of studying...the gospels, I guess, the parables, right? We were on Source Criticism, and then suddenly he was telling us about how he's got epilepsy, and then we were learning about how epilepsy felt like, and then it was about his college, and then about this one professor that he loved (who looked like an egg and paced back and forth in front of the class), and then about his roommate Mike who fell asleep in that class....and on and on and it was hilarious and very interesting and had absolutely no relevance to Source Criticism.

Roommmate Alex is going out to teach old people yatzee. Apparently she has to do it every week. Hahahaha, old people.

This week was too full of the Office. I was introduced to a site that has like every episode of everything, and I went there to catch up on those episodes I missed, right? Ended up watching every episode ever made in two sittings. SO. I'm super-obsessed. Like, I only talk about it to people, and re-watch episodes at the drop of a hat, and write about it in homework assignments. It spurred me to write three separate pieces of fanfiction (one in script form) and to buy a sitcom writing book from the internet. It definitely rekindled the "I wanna write for TV!!" feeling that had become a little dormant. It's also great because in the media class I'll be writing a paper on how it messes with reality (or something), and in my Film & Lit class I used Michael Scott as an example for a comedy concept. I want to show off my fanfics, can I?

Mixed Berry
The first I did, just a little short thing on Jim's attraction to Pam. If you've seen even just the first ep, you'll understand it.

One Is the Loneliest Number
K, you can't read this one unless you know how season 2 ends. 'Cause, like, for spoilers and stuff. I think this one is slightly better. It's longer, and way angsty. Jim-centric.

Hooray Jim. It's on tonight, but it's not new. New next week!!!! YAY.

Ok, well, I gotta run to food-area before it closes or my roommate drags me away.

-Steph

* * *

-Steph

Hello November Friends!

Happy Thursday! October went away quite suddenly, did it not? I'm definitely doing one of those distracted-watching-tv blogs today, sorry in advance.

Saturday I went to a CRAZY expensive sushi place in Hollywood. I was duped into it, actually. But it was worth it to see all the loonies in their costumes at their Halloween parties. The best best best best pair was Siegfried and Roy with these stuffed white tigers, and Roy with this nice blood stain all down his neck. Hilarious.

I had to turn in an outline for my movie for Writing class Monday, so now I finally know what's going to happen in it. It's a heist spoof! It's going to be fun.

Other than classes and homework, I've watched a lot of movies! Moulin Rogue I guess on Sunday, Dinosaurs on TV on Sunday. And yesterday, Halloween? We watched Alien and the Exorcist and Shaun of the Dead. The first two I hadn't seen, and neither was especially scary. Exorcist was definitely more creepy/intense, and Alien was just mostly boring and old. Shaun was of course very good as always.

There was a court event right outside our door, "Holla-Ween." Everyone was there, dressed up, doing fun carnival type stuff, the RAs attempt to lure us kids away from the evils of drinking parties or whatev. There was also a bouncehouse with a sign "Adventures with Batman & Robin" taped on the front--it was literally in front of our apartment. I wandered in my werewolf mask for a bit, but we were in the middle of Shaun so I didn't spend my whole night there.

I really need to clean off my desk. That's something that's on my mind.

So I registered for classes, and it was dumb because things didn't work out perfectly, so as it stands I'm taking Story and Character, Comm Theory, Contemporary Art Trends, American Film Musical, and Motion Picture Production I. That's 16 units, which means next year I'm taking Senior Sem, Broadcast Performance, Capstone (?), Motion Picture Production II, Intermediate Screenwriting, and I guess a "directed research" study in screenwriting. And then I'll be done. @@! Yeah. Two more semesters. It's pretty much a done deal. Gosh.

Me and Beth and Megan are taking about living in Hollywood this summer. Or Burbank. Or Van Nuys. If I intern for this program, then I'd have to live there. If I don't intern, I can get a job to actually pay for the apartment. So either way I think that we're close to seriously thinking about it. And if I intern this summer, then I'll have a foot in the door to actually enroll in the program next next summer, and then I suppose I'll be on my way to stardom.

You know, more or less.

Guys, how great was the Office tonight? So great? Yeah, I thought so. Jim, Jim, trodden on for once. Chin up, it'll build character.

-Stephers

No Two People Are Not On Fire. Awww.

Happy Thursday! So we're all on fire! It's mostly very sad, but it makes the sun look really cool, like a neon pink sticker in the sky. It hasn't gotten to us here in A-town, and it seems as though they've started to get a handle on it, for the most part.

Another strangely busy week. Friday my mom came and hung out with me and took me on some driving adventures. Brought some proof from the bountiful garden I left behind. Did the dishes. You know, mom stuff. ^^

I think on the weekend I didn't get dressed. Right. I watched youtube all Saturday without my glasses and got my eye all bloodshot. That was actually rather uncomfortable. Oh, but I also started writing my movie! Which I thought up for fun, and now it looks like it's going to be my big project for Writing. So it's good that I've got at least 10 pages for a start.

Murnday....class got out early.....and then I went to Art....we're doing typography, and I finally started getting creative with my letters. I'll show them to you some day. OH. But that was the day I got back from class late (because I stayed and kept working, silly addictive art class) and tried to finish the ep of Heroes I had loaded, but then I got distracted by my sister so I ended up not sleeping until way late, and I had to wake up at 7 or 8 for to do my homework. So that wasn't very nice. But it turns out that I'd already done it, he just had moved around all the deadlines so I hadn't turned it in yet. Silly Thom.

But I was kind of dead the rest of the day, even in Sitcom. But then again, we just looked at the script for no good reason and got nothing done at all. I invented some little wiggly cartoony friends I named WOOBLS. Their names are Plu, Cham, Iz, and the outcast's name is Gree. He's got crazy eyes. But then I had a weird nap....and I've napped all the days since then.

Wednesday I did reading and writings and stuff like that, and then art again where I continued in my arts. Yup. (Yeah, if this is sounding weird today, it's because not sleeping well for a few days makes me weird and feuax-grouchy.) Wednesday's nap was brought about by my watching Chuck. It dropped again, to being just okay, and then my compy overheated so I decided to sleep instead of start it back up. I just finished it just now, and there was a pretty good bit at the end but overall it was a definite Eh.

Also, Wednesday's chapel had a really great speaker, because he was born without arms or legs. He was very charismatic. You can download it here: http://live.apu.edu/watch.php?id=1510&codec=1&live=0

Wednesday night we had a "mandatory meeting" for Sitcom, because suddenly the final version of the script was due today. But we didn't do anything useful on Tuesday.....me and Megan went over and combined scene A and B, and some of the others did things on their own, but then we had to compile it into the new-and-improved script. But we met, and no one of us actually had the program to format it...so we complained amongst ourselves for a bit, said we'd say we did the best we could, and headed out......but then the one of us who did have the program (and was out of town) emailed saying we could email her the corrections and she'd format it and get it to the printers in time for class today. So we had to stick it out. It wasn't so bad, and by then it was just three of us, so we just slammed it out and asked questions later. But it was for sure one of those up-till-one writer's meetings our profs are always telling us about.

Today I had better sleep, and I didn't have to get up at 7. And we watched bits of Jurassic Park. And later talked about Dante's Inferno, which is pretty trippy. And in Sitcom, where we had actually met our deadline against all odds, we looked at the script (draft 19, that's our second official final draft. gosh.) and made notes of the corrections still needed to be made......but basically we're done with that rewrite. We're still "on call" to spot correct, but now we're going to pitch our own ideas and start developing our own sitcom. I don't see that getting very far, considering our group, but at least we don't have to work with dead Weston and his stupid Democratic Women's Rally Debates.

I have academic advising tomorrow morning, but at the moment my schedule is far from cohesive. Classes I need to take, to appease my general studies, major, and minor requirements, amount to ten. Ten different classes. That's 32 units, and I actually need 34 more to graduate. And there's like no more classes to take. There's only four left for my major, and two of those are a I and II class, so that's next year for sure. Another is Fall only, and I said I'd take it with Megan, so that's next year. For my minor, only one class out of the four is being offered, and that's actually okay, because I can put intermediate screenwriting into next year and advanced screenwriting and intro to film in the last semester, to fill up my unit quota both those semesters. The last two classes are those senior-only classes for GE and my major, so.

So right now, my next semester looks like this:
Typography. Intro to Astronomy. Communication Theory. Story and Character.

And I still need another one!!!! ARRG. And even though my art prof said that I should really look into typography, the catalog says ART 130 is a prereq...and I've certainly not taken that. So this is why I'm going to academic advising tomorrow. Because my schedule needs some advice.

So 30 Rock was pretty good. Didn't get to watch The Office OR Scrubs, because Megan decided that it would actually be worthwhile to watch Grey's today. Let me tell you, I think she was wrong. *pouts* Carpoolers this week was very very odd, and Marmaduke and Dougie are still holding a far lead as favorite characters. (Marmaduke for bartering, every kid's dream, and Dougie for asking a question I had actually just asked) I'm scouring the internets for Heroes, because now Kristen Bell is in the show, giving me an incentive to catch up.

Oh, and me and Beth also went on a night drive in which we found amazing lights on a road that does not in fact suddenly drop off, a park in the middle of noplace, and the home of wild firetrucks.

-Steph

Thursday really is the best day, you guys.

Happy Thursday! Today heralds in the weekend, as always, and caps off a wholly satisfying week. Stroll with me.

Last Friday I got around to seeing our school production of Beauty and the Beast. Not to sound overly full of school spirit or anything, but our drama department totally rocks. (Not to mention that the theater department is technically my department since it's now TFT for Theater, Film, and Television, and that I had more than one friend in the show) There's a funny story involving the show and Facebook, but since this is actually imported into Facebook each week, I don't feel like I need to go into it and tag specific people in a creepy and stalkerish way. ^^

OH. Also on Friday*, me and Beth went on a culinary/geographic adventure. Which meant we drove in the general direction of Monrovia for lunch and ended up coming home like four hours later. The original destination was India Sweets N Spices, this Indian restaurant/deli that some of my group project members* had visited the day before. I was feeling brave (and hungry) so I enlisted Beth. It was pretty trippy. The menu was full of words I had no idea of their meaning, and the food was literally unidentifiable. So we got the Combo 1 and hoped for the best. It wasn't all bad, mostly different. And we were totally the only white people there, which is always a unique experience. Oh, and the drinks? They came in the biggest fountain cup you've ever seen, and I kid you not, the soda was flat as the horizon. So at first you're all Holy Shoes I can't drink all that--and then you start drinking it because of the curry, and then you're all GEEZ this is flat--but then you can chug it like water because it doesn't burn. And since you need to chug it, you end up drinking the whole half gallon in a matter of moments. It was rather neat.

Mm. New paragraph. Then we went for a stroll around this park we saw many years ago on a different random drive in the direction of Monrovia. It was really very pretty and we found the tree from which all squirrels come (on kids Jeopardy the day before, the kid had said that all sqirrels come from one tree. We found it. It's in a park in Monrovia). And then we explored by the tennis courts** and the empty swimming pools and the crazy broken cement bleachers for them and then the ghetto playground and then the lawn bowling court. That's a fun park to hang out in, and I will return there someday.

Then, instead of going home, we headed up the canyon! Straight up into the mountains towards the dam. And we parked at the shoulder and looked at the lake and the cigarette butts and the thrown-away beer cases and listened to the silence. It was pretty magical.

And then we went back down into civilization and headed for the cute main street in Glendora, which has this coffee shop that's really popular amongst my peers. I got a "maple spice latte" on the spur of the moment, but it really just tasted like coffee. But it was okay! Because outside there was--NO JOKE--a little jazz quartet from Citrus. So we hung out behind them and partook in the ambience. And then I went back and saw Beauty and the Beast. So all in all it was a magical day.

*It was also a Study Day, the freedom of which I celebrated by rising at 9 AM. No fair! It's a study day! Shouldn't have to get up at all! And whyyyy did I greet the morning? To study. Gosh. It was actually to meet with my group about our presentation on India for World Lit. My job was to edit the movies they'd taken when they interviewed the people working at India Sweets N Spices. I was also given an authentic Indian dress to wear at the presentation. More on this later.

**It's a semi-quest of mine to find a fabled tennis court of my past. When my brother still lived here, me and my sister spent a week of the summer with him. One of these summers, we woke up super early and played tennis. I remember this morning for many reasons, one of which because it was TOO EARLY (but it was Azusa in the summer, so that's what you have to do), because I had just been reading Shade's Children (checked out from the APU library) in the car and had to stop because we'd arrived, and because I at one point it the ball out of the court and we had to go out into the neighborhood street to find it. So I have to check any tennis courts I find to see if they match my memories. Unless, of course, Kevin or Gretchen can just tell me.

Also, Kev, every time I go in the theater I look for the Fiddler on the Roof photo. It's a mid-show shot, not like a cast shot, so I'm not sure if you're in it. You could be the guy behind the other guy. But I look for you all the same. (Also, they turned most of the warehouse into Duke Version 2, and it's very bizarre.)

Um, then Saturday. Not much going on. Played some FFXII. Fought Gilgamesh for like half an hour, because all I could do was heal and reheal and revive my people. So. Gonna level up some more before I revisit that battle. Megan's family came up to see Beauty and the Beast, so I saw them briefly.

Sunday I spent not doing my work. Literally. Because, you see, Monday I didn't have anything due, but by Tuesday I had to have edited that movie, researched the religion of India, wrote notes about it, sent said notes to be added to the powerpoint, type up my assignment for Writing, rewrite the scene for Sitcom that should have had been done last Thursday, finish my sister's birthday presents, and fix up something cool for Carolyn for Boss' Day.

Ya. You guessed it. I did all these things sometime on Tuesday. Well, most of them. Monday I rewrote that scene and made this:

But so Tuesday was chock full of waking up early (that thing for Writing? not even due ><) and throwing notes together and running out the door full of unease. But the presentation went okay, we played a Bollywood video from Youtube (you all can thank my International Channel days for that), and passed out some curry, and played that horrible interview video and sang a Beatles song and did some Yoga. And there was some factual information in there, too. So it wasn't so bad. And then it was over! Yeah!

For Sitcom, we worked quietly on our own things for a while. Oh, here's what happened. A new, finished (if not polished) draft of our re-written script had to be in yesterday so the actors could read it today. So our head writers farmed out the scenes to each of us to re-do, and then they pieced them back together. But this hadn't happened yet.......so there were some fun writing parties in the library Monday and Tuesday nights until the librarians kicked us out because it was 1. The life of a writer. But the almost-mostly-finished script is...eh. Not bad. Got a few big laughs at the read today, which was nice. But now we have to have version 2 done by next Thursday!

Ugh, but after Tuesday was over, everything was anti-stress! Slept in on Wednesday but then jetted right off to Heritage to help finish finish the re-write/compiling. But then there was nothing to do until Art later, so me and Megan went out and saw 3:10 to Yuma. Very, very, very good. Solid story, beautiful, just a piece of cinematic art. Go see it!

And then @ Art, I stayed until there were only me and the guy next to me and the prof! Just doing art. Moving around the letters S J and A in artistic manner. Stayed there for three hours! She really likes me, last we she said if I wasn't a junior she'd try to steal me away into the art program. So I hope I get an A XD Oh, and I think if I don't have enough classes to fill up my next three semesters (which I don't!) I'll look into taking the typography class. I like letters. And art.

And then I got to sleep until 10 because there was no class this morning! I don't know what a Comp Day is, but ain't it great to have 'em? But then I had a midterm for World Lit and I think I probably got a C. Oh well. But then we went to Sitcom and all the actors read the new script like I said before, and that was fun.

And then I came back and made falafel pitas. And the other day I made matzo ball soup, which is so good. I also had a delicious muffin yesterday morning. Mmm, food. NOW I'M WATCHING THE OFFICE AND PAM AND JIM ARE SO CUTE AND I ACTUALLY KINDA FEEL BAD FOR MICHAEL. And 30 Rock was pretty pretty good, too. AND CHUCK. Was A+ this week, I feel really proud for it. Missed Carpoolers. Forgot allll about it. Eh.



And my mum is coming to visit tomorrow! Yayz. So I guess that's all. I'm off to do nothing for four three days straight.

-Steph

Relevant Title

Happy Thursday! I just now remembered that I ABSOLUTELY forgot about last week, how the 4th was in fact a Blackjack Thursday. Because it was the error of my own memory that caused this regrettable ignorance, I am opening up today for proper blackjacky observances. That is, if it doesn't get in the way of your National Coming Out Day celebrations.

Beth: Guess what I did Saturday!
Me: Went to Hollywood and hung out with bikers?

(I forget how the rest of the story goes, but as it turns out, she was in fact in Hollywood that day, too.) That's what I did! Me and Megan, we drove down to the Kodak Theater and helped bikers sign in for this charity ride. Megan gave them their wristbands for food, and I gave them the sticker for parking. In retrospect, neither of these duties were at all necessary. There was some famous people there, like the guy who made/owns the Paul Mitchell hair products/Patron tequila (John Paul DeJoria). And an someone who I think name is Michele Smith, of former Playboy fame. Aaand. Um. Later Robbie Knievel showed up. I'm getting ahead of myself.

After we checked in all the bikers, we drove down to Malibu, which was where the ride was going. And then we passed the place we were trying to get to like three times, because we couldn't find the way to get into it, and that town's darn skinny. And then we parked at the far end of a motorcycle gang because we thought it was our people, but it wasn't. It was a motorcycle gang. And then we hung out with the bikers for a few minutes after they all arrived, because there really wasn't anything else for us to do.

So then we set off again, to find this elusive "Pie Festival!" we saw advertised on some signs we saw while maneuvering earlier. We followed the signs to a big set up of tents on a dirt/grass/straw field, and the girl said she didn't know what the pie festival was, and that it was seven dollars to park. So we parked and strolled over to the tents and luckily enough, there was NO PIE, it was a HIPPY-MAKE-MALIBU-GREEN fair. So we left and then saw the tiny tiny pie festival in the next parking lot. Which was full. So we went home. But then once we followed Sunset back to Hollywood, we couldn't find the freeway, so we actually ended up on the 101 west for a little while. Where's the 134?! The map says we should hit the 134!! I don't see it!! I don't see any signs!!

There was a sign for it, however, on the eastbound side. And we eventually made it home. Where we promptly hit up the Marie Callenders for pie. Three years here and I've never stepped foot in that building. And I still have half a pie left, I like to cut a slice and then eat it like a sandwich.

The only other amazing and outstanding news from my week was how addicted I got to Photoshop. For Computer Graphics class, we had to take a picture of somebody, and then make it grayscale, and then add back three colors, and then make a negative/positive version, and then take either the black or white and add a texture to it and so on and so on. The finished version is a book with the final nine images in it. It was due Wednesday, but honestly I was done with it Sunday night because I couldn't stop. I had to print them all out and bind it all on Monday, though. But I was so obsessed I ended up making another version for the cover--

for the mutilation process, I had to physically mess up the image some how, rescan it, and add one color. So I cut out the background, cut that up into squares, taped them back down haphazardly around her picture, and drew some lines on it (to know the dimensions of how it should be when I rescanned) that made it look designy. I've been kind of hung up on this powder blue/brown dynamic for a while, so I threw a sepia tone on it and filled the background with the blue.....but I was only supposed to add ONE color! So I left out the sepia for the project, and then started in for myself. 'Cause Megan did say that it would look cool like as a wallpaper or something. So I set out to make a wallpaper. Oh, and my model was Beth.

I kept the sepia and splashed the blue into the background, but I also pulled the brown across the full length of the screen (since desktops are wider than tall, yes) and then added some text that spontaneously popped into my mind. And then after I was "done," I went back and made a blueprint pattern underlayed that onto the blue parts and that was that. And then I realized I liked it so much that it should be the cover of my book, so I moved some stuff around to make it 6x9, and then I made up a back cover to match. I don't have pictures of the actual book, since I turned it in yesterday, but I do in fact have the original images (gasp!) so I'll pop them up in here to show off.

And the wallpaper, if anyone wants Beth's face adorning their desktop:

So, I think photoshopping is way fun and I think I have a new hobby. It's just obnoxious to obsess over, because I can't take it with me to class (like I can writing). Oh, and Blogger has a ridiculously inefficient process of uploading pictures, so I hope you appreciate all I've done for you. And I'm running out of time because I started too late and that always makes me edgy.

Oh, also, me and Megan explored out to Bishamon yesterday, that Japanese restaurant that my brother was always trying to take me to and it was always closed in our faces. For the record, Sexy Albacore Rolls are not very tasty. But luckily, my food was. XD

-Steph

Computers are about trying to murder you in a lake

Happy Thursday! My head hurts a little, so this probably won't be crazy long. I've just been holding out for the wonders of Thursday prime time television, and soon I will be having the Office dreams.

TV update!

Forgot about Cavemen (which I hear is really dumb), and while trying to at least catch the end of it, I managed to tune in right on time for Carpool. I think I've heard of it maybe once way back sometime ago, but I really hadn't heard anything about it recently. But man, was that unexpectedly funny. The kind of crazy, unexpected, RANDOM things that you just don't see ever. Not so crazy about the actors, but Dougie was pretty good. Him and the black guy. And that other guy's son, who never wore any pants. When he was trying to think of the word "tie," he held the toast up to his neck and wiggled it around. That's just great. Gonna try to remember to watch that.

I also seem to accidentally be watching ER now. Oops. And this, children, is what we call a lead-in audience. My inability to turn off the tv or change the channel after the Office is what gives ER its great ratings. It's pretty nifty.

Hmm, and Moonlight. I actually turned down a party (what! Me! not go to a party!) to stay and watch this new LA-crime-fighting-vampire show. With Jason Dohring, of Veronica Mars fame (with which I spent my weekend--season two. mmm) as the oldest vampire in LA, Josef. Realized I'd never heard of it because I thought we didn't get channel 2 - CBS. And we almost don't. So between the colorless fuzz and the horrible acting, it's probably the cruddy writing that makes it not worth the while. Jason.....I'll wait for you to move on to something I can watch without wanting to die.

30 Rock premiered today! Many laughs. They certainly know the meaning of consistency. I'm sensing a future between Jack and Lemon, does anybody else? Not much else to say about it, 'cause it was pretty solid, but not outstanding. Wasn't really digging the Seinfeld, but the Seinfeld Vision bit was pretty classy.

Chuck! Chuck is very not living up to my standards. Biggest offense in this week's episode is hands down the portrayal of driving a helicopter. You CANNOT learn how to fly a helicopter from video games, because I don't know of any controllers that come with helicopter pedals in addition to the "stick" and "parking brake." But I suppose I'm just being hypocritical, since the thing is not taking itself seriously and fully intends for you to do the same. But still, the writing....not very smooth. And the acting just barely makes it palatable. Hope hope hope hope it gets better, and soon.

Missed Pushing Up Daisies, 'cause of class. It's been lauded as the best new show, but my prof said he fell asleep during it. And that his roommate fell asleep during it WHILE eating dinner. But I dunno. Maybe I'll make an effort to find it online. Don't really know.

I still need to see season one of Heroes, so I can watch season two with Kristen Bell. I also want to own all the seasons of Veronica Mars, for the same reason. Watching season two means I've finally finished the series, after introducing myself to it last year. Season two....met my needs, but it really doesn't stand up to season one. And three, being an entirely different animal, is allowed to be judged on a different scale. But I still wish there was more. Sadday.

Movie-wise, I finally saw Silence of the Lambs over the weekend. Hmmm. Overrated, in my opinion. Sure, Hopkins as Lecter is creepifying and brilliant, but he was grossly overshadowed by the hideous acting of Foster. She won an OSCAR for that $%^^@^$%#. I just didn't believe her character, the way she was all IMMEDIATELY open to Lecter, getting all emotional about her freaking boring past. Utterly unbelievable. Horrible. Bleck.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, was Hot Fuzz. I remember wanting to see it from the trailers (and it's actually pretty rare that a trailer really interests me), and let me tell you it was worth it. I've been asking around at people, if they've seen it, and the majority of them tell me that they "heard it sucked." Which is fairly shocking to me because I absolutely loved it. Every moment. It was so funny, and then had so many cute and then intense bits, and the climactic firefight sequence was just great fun. And don't even get me started on the cinematic/theoretical aspects of it. In my opinion, a definite Must See. I've been told Shaun of the Dead (made by the same people, a few years earlier) is actually better, and so I'll be seeing that soon enough. I want the crazy extended DVD so bad.

Hm. I guess that just about sums up my media intake for this week. Except for that we watched Scrubs in class this morning. AND I finished my paper on time. But that's not related to media. Unless you count the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid as media. Which, in all fairness, you can.

The other exciting schoolish news is our project for art, Computer Graphics, that is. We're photoshopping! I used to be really frustrated any time I wandered into the murky woods that is Photoshop, but now I'm only mildly frustrated on occasion. I'll be putting up the finished works on the internets when it's done. Gonna be a cute book of pictures. It's a lot of fun. I get to go to class, listen to my Zune and mess around on the computer for three hours. Sigh. My life is sooooo hard.

For Sitcom, the rewrites are finally starting to commence smoothly. So far we've just been talking about the new spins to put on the characters, to make them better and more interesting. And also to fix the plot, to make this pilot have something to be about. It was kind of ridiculous, the way it was originally. Tuesday after class, those of us who lingered about moved over to Heritage and hung out for ANOTHER hour and a half and knocked out some more details. That was fun, but it was a little awkward, just the three of us and Gilbert. XD He's a very interesting man. Today we had a table read with the actors, reading the "revised" teaser. Jack (Gilbert) typed it up yesterday based on our discussion, but it didn't end up so perfect. So there's work yet to be done. Hahaha. Sitcom Writing.

Oh, the Office. Was on tonight. Pam and Jim are great, but I'm actually pretty glad that their normal format is half an hour. These hour longs, while beautiful for giving me my fix, are really not this team's forte. Felt pretty bad for Dwight, thought Ryan was being silly, couldn't believe Creed (XD printer ink), and admitted that Michael looked pretty good with that lake-water hair.

Happy Birthday, Sputnik!

Yeah, I really want to sleep now? I'll see you around.

-Steph

Premier Week

Happy Thursday! The week is finally over! Not that I'm sad to be past this set of classes, of course, but if you must know, World Lit is a lot more fun when you're not handing in papers late.

Ok, I feel fully justified in spending this Thursday discussing television. Firstly, because that's what I do all week anyhow. For college credit. Yes. Envy me. And Secondly, because THE OFFICE IS ON TONIGHT. I'm starting this thing ahead of time (it's currently 20:16), so that I can talk about things coherently before the event, and not so coherently afterwards.

Chuck
NBC, Mondays at 8/7c
Premise: "a one-hour, action-comedy series about Chuck Bartowski -- a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital secret agent."
I regrettably have class Monday nights, but I caught the pilot Tuesday morning at NBC.com. There were a number of things that I wasn't expecting. For instance, I had no knowledge that it was not a sitcom--I'd forgotten that hour long shows could be comedies, too. Also, I was not expecting Chuck the character to be as cute/endearing as he is. Both of these, of course, are pleasant surprises. The show as a whole, too, is unexpectedly catered directly to my tastes. Lead character is a sweet nerd who wears Converse and coded video games in college. Then there's the whole CIA secret agent angle, which we all know and love. Also, there was definitely a ninja fight. Dead serious. And a creepy guy who winked.....and then winked again with the other eye. How deliciously terrifying. Happy to see Adam Baldwin in a steady role here, since he is well loved around these parts for playing the part of the Man They Call Jayne from back in the Firefly days. And Zachary Levi as Chuck is just too perfect. He's very sincere in his delivery of emotion. Also, he totally went to my high school. So, I love Chuck. Looking forward to more of this.

Journeyman
NBC, Mondays at 10/9c
Premise: A man suddenly pops around through time for no apparent reason, and mucks about with the timeline. And if you're curious about the network-sanctioned tagline, you'll find mine approximates it quite well.
BORING. I hated it since I heard about it, since I have a very clear idea about how timetravel should work. It's a little long-winded for this post, but I'll be happy to prattle on about it upon request. Suffice it to say, I devoutly believe that even if one were able to travel to the "past," one would not be able to "change the future." Which is, I say again, the premise of this show. But moving on from that, I wasn't sold on any other aspect of it. I wasn't watching very closely, but it was very confusing and disjointed (although I suppose spontaneous, inexorable time travel is prone to have that effect).

I just want to pause and say at this moment, Clark Kent is fighting himself in slow motion, and it's still not very good television.

Where was I. Journeyman. Megan was all YEAH about it, 'cause the actor was apparently amazing in Rome. He's pretty boring in this, though. The one coolish moment was when he had gone back to 1997 or whenever, and met up with his dead (I think she's dead in present time) woman friend, except it turns out that this particular girl is ALSO going through time, and then the actual one that belongs to that timeline busts through the door a moment later. So that was mildly intriguing. Worth watching it? Nah.

Smallville
CW, Thursdays at 8/9c.
Premise: Clark Kent as a teen.
I didn't mean to watch this season premier, I just settled for it because I wasn't expecting The Office to be on at 9. Here's what I had to say to my friend about it so far:
Aya kun Rose: wow, smallville's got way jacked since I last saw it
Aya kun Rose: lex is arrested for killing lana, lois is drowning with an unconscious cloe, clark is fighting Bizarro
Aya kun Rose: fake rocks are shattering
jbev009: LANA WAS KILLED?
jbev009: are you effing kidding me?
jbev009: noooo
Aya kun Rose: probably not
jbev009: haha. yay fake shattering rocks
jbev009: oh good
Aya kun Rose: you can never tell on this show
jbev009: true dat
Aya kun Rose: holy no
jbev009: did we find out who the girl super chick was?
jbev009: what??
jbev009: what?
Aya kun Rose: innocent fisherman? running away from the wall of water coming down from the broken dam? trips on some SAND and knocks himself OUT
jbev009: hahaha
jbev009: HAHAHAHAHA
jbev009: i hate when i do that
Aya kun Rose: I love hating this show
jbev009: hahaha
jbev009: good.
...
Aya kun Rose: oh no! Lex is going to drown!
Aya kun Rose: yeah right
Aya kun Rose: like I'm really worried for him
jbev009: hahahahahahahahaahah
Aya kun Rose: some kind of effing water fairy is here to save him
Aya kun Rose: bizarro set a guy on fire with his eyes
Aya kun Rose: you know, Tom Welling sometimes does that to people
jbev009: thats nice of her
jbev009: hahaha
Aya kun Rose: being a model and all
jbev009: i hear that
Aya kun Rose: now there's a spooky child
Aya kun Rose: I think the green goblin just stole away lionel's drowned body
Aya kun Rose: even though the goblin is spiderman fare
jbev009: ooohhh
Aya kun Rose: hahah, that spooky child might have killed chloe
jbev009: hey, ive gotta go
jbev009: enjoy hating smallville!!
jbev009: see ya
Aya kun Rose: ok!
Aya kun Rose: oh lex
Aya kun Rose: he's fine, if you wanted to know

And it didn't get very much better after that. There was a hilarious bit where Chloe was literally looking back and forth between Clark and Lana's death certificate (don't worry, she seems to be alive and well in China, we just saw), and it was just so overdone I just laughed and laughed. And I just don't know what's wrong with this show. It's like they don't even try. Perfect for mockery. It's a pastime of mine. Oh, and we still don't know who stole away Lionel. Although it was Wonderwoman who saved Lex. Thought it was Supergirl or something until just now, when she put on this bracelet and put her fists on her hips. Then she flew away.

OFFICE TIME

OK not going to lie. The very first shot of The Office made me shriek in laughter.

I'll see you in fifteen minute intervals for the next hour.

Um hey wow. I'm loving it. What I'm also loving is the fact that we can hear other apartments laughing at the jokes. For reals. It's amazing. Like a movie. We all have a lot of Office love.

While it's the commercial...

The Office
NBC, Thursdays at 9/8c (but probably 8 or 8:30 in a few weeks)
Premise: The everyday life in an office of a small branch of a paper company.
Definitely my favorite show. Don't bug me right now.

GUYS. If you've seen the episode, you'll know what I mean. The entire A court actually CHEERED just now. 9:30. There's totally guys' voices in these laughs, too. Everyone loves the Office.

Zoh My Gosh. People. Did you see how he was BLUSHING. I can't. I just cannot believe how wonderful this show is. GAAAH.

Speaking of 30 Rock, I'm wondering when that is coming back? I want to watch that so bad. That, and New Amsterdam, which I hear is premiering mid-season. Oh, tv says 30 Rock is next Thursday. Good news.

It's ooooooooooooooooooover now!! Awww man. Hap-py Thursday, people.

Oh, the other thing I wanted to tell you this week was about my new phrase I invented in my sleep. We started watching season one of Lost this week (dude, guys, it's so much better than present-day), and so of course Locke et al made appearances in my dreams. And so Locke made up this phrase, to say that something is or is not your "hat." Like, in the same vein as something being or not being your "cup of tea." Except "hat" means the thing you are interested in, or your area of expertise.

For example, I like to think of writing as my hat. Dancing is up my alley, but it's not quite my hat. Math, however, is certainly not my hat.

I hope you'll take this and spread it to the ends of the English-speaking earth.

-Steph

The Mantis They Call Jayne

Happy Thursday! I'm watching the Office! Season 3 finale! BECAUSE NEXT WEEK IT IS ALL NEWZ! Jim and Pam! GAHH!

Let me tell you about our new pet.

Yesterday when we went to check our mail, we discovered a praying mantis next to Megan's car! So we bravely scooped him into one of the boxes she got from the mail.

And then we went on an adventure! (we dropped the mantis off at home first) And went to Go China! Five bucks for a ginormous lunch. And then we went to Petco. Where the pets go. Bought a terrarium, a fake plant, and a tiny spray bottle.

Transporting the mantis from the box to the gladware to the terrarium was really terrifying. He's all legs and spiny arms and bugeyes. He liked to stick to what he was on and not go into where we wanted him to go.

We named him The Mantis They Call Jayne Jermaine. Jayne from Firefly, being Megan's new addiction thanks to me, and Jermaine because we can't stop quoting that video. So all yesterday I had "The Man They Call Jayne" and "Wear the funky eye patch, Bret" stuck in my head. They would switch off.

Jayne is so cool as a pet, I mean, we got him for free, and we can feed him for free--he eats bugs. Any bugs that are smaller than him. He's eaten pincher bugs and a cricket, but I'm not sure if he ever go the rollypollies. He would grab at them but they would roll up, and I don't think he can grab round as well. He's so intense. When he notices there's another bug in there, his head snaps around--and it already pivots like it might not actually be attached--and then he starts dancing. And then the bug gets too close and SNAP he's suddenly got in his crazy spiny arms and is eating it. It's actually pretty surprising we didn't get nightmares from that.



He likes to hang out upside down. And he's really hard to take a picture of because he's so small and the focus goes all wonky through the plastic.

But that's Jayne. I put the Beware of Dog sign up in the window, and Beth put up "MANTIS" over the "dog." So people been pointing at it all day. I was standing at the door, and these two kids walk by, and the one says something about the sign and then says, "there's a mantis in there!" It was so funny.

Ummmm, what about my real week, eh? Uhhhh, finally saw Stardust the other day. Very fun. I liked the management of all the threads of character travel, and I really liked Claire Danes. Hooray fun adventure stories.

Class hasn't been noteworthy--well, today in Writing he finished his lecture way earlier than he expected, so we ended up watching season 2 finale of the Office. Have I mentioned I love my major?

Oh, and it's been raining! During the night. Last night and the night before. So it's been beautiful and cloudy and cool but also warm and it's been great to walk to class in that. OH and I've had a few really good naps this week, too. One in my beanbag, and one in the middle of homework. Ahhh, naps.

Jayne says goodnight!

-Steph

Don't go--I'LL go.

Happy Thursday! Title brought to you by our current inside joke, where someone is leaving, but you say Don't go--I'LL go. And then you maybe sink behind the counter or even leave the room yourself.

Me and Megan, we've been hanging out a lot. It's a side effect from being roomies. Quick, before I forget, this is all the movies we've seen this week:

Firefly (the series), Serenity, Rope, Shadow of a Doubt, Into the Woods, a disc of Fawlty Towers, Return of the Jedi, (and of course I've seen Hairspray and HSM2 a few more times, as well). AND, for Writing class, we've watched episodes from Freaks & Geeks and Mad Men. Oh, and we watched some Colbert because, I kid you not, it was homework for Sitcom. If you ask me, my summer was well spent. You know how it's really important to read, if you want to study literature and stuff? Well, I think you can figure why I think studying tv/film is really great.

My schedule is also really great. There's only two classes that aren't directly tv-related, and even these aren't horrible (I've never had a semester without a class I abhorred). Computer Graphics looks pretty neat, and not as time-intensive as advertised. I mean, I spend about two hours of that class doing nothing (at least so far) because I'm done with the project and can't go until she passes around the roll sheet. I get some creative writing done in that time.

And I dropped I & II Samuel. Like I said, the prof was just NOT getting any information across and he clearly thought he was. So I said, I can stick it, I'll just read the books real well and that'll be enough--but the books were just as thick as he was. And the first reading assignment? 1-38 in the one book and 1-92 in the other. Those thirty pages, too? Were the first half of the introduction, explaining how they decided on which particular translation of the books, using extremely esoteric terms that I can't just grasp as an amateur. So I threw it out and got my $107 dollars back.

I put in its place World Lit to the 1600s. An English class. It's super intense. Lots of reading, but not scholastic reading; reading ancient literature, which beats standard textbooks anyday. ....I just need to order the book 'cause there's none left. But I think Tuesday/Thursdays are funny because it goes Writing, Reading, Writing. Tuesday/Thursdays are really intense.

My classes with Parham look to be the most intensive. Producing, we're actually going to be producing the student films near the end of the semester. That's terrifying. And Writing, I do believe there is some script writing involved. But also learning by example, I think we're watching an episode or two of particular television every week. What a way to start the day.

Sitcom I'm having mixed feelings about. It's less a class and more a writing team like in the real world. Today the production team (another class) came in and discussed problems they found in the script, location- and cost-wise. And on Tuesday we had a "table read" of the script with the newly-cast actors. It's apparently very close to the real world of producing a television show. Kinda daunting. Oh. We're not writing the script, we're fixing up a stock one some other people wrote. It's not bad, but it's not Friends, either. I'll tell you more about it some other time.

So besides going to class and watching movies, (and hanging out--these people ALL expect me to be social) I've been writing. Still mostly HSM fanfiction, but it's so much fun. Gonna slip a Hairspray fic soon. Also, on Wednesday, Megan was all "LET'S WRITE SOMETHING," and then we spent that day discussing what became our thriller movie. It's about creepy stalkers and psychopathic killers and the like. It's very intense to discuss around other people. Have you ever seen Rope? It's Hitchcock, and it's beautiful. I didn't know I'd seen it, but Megan put it on and I was all OH and then we watched it and it was eerily similar. But also very different. Our main character would find that main character very flawed in his murder. Our main character is crazy.

It's still nice and warm here. Gets pleasantly cool at night. The sprinklers go on for hours in the dark, so we have a giant lake outside our door. Oh, tiny bugs can and do walk right in under the door. We still have to light the stove by switching on the gas at the back and quickly using a lighter on the burner we want. Oh, we also been playing some DDR, and today we finally used the TV as a TV because I finally plugged in the antenna. I've been walking to class and back as much as possible, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it took 23 or so minutes from the top of West Campus to my apartment, when last year it would take 20 minutes just to go from the sidewalk of one campus to the sidewalk of the other.

Thursdays really are quite good.

I'll leave you with a comic story. So yesterday, Megan checked her mail and was blessed with three packages! I asked, do you know what they are, or maybe it is surprises? She says she's got a comic book, a movie, and a hat. Neat, I say.

She opens the first one. A comic book. X-men. Old school.

She opens the second one. Also a comic book. Lies, I say, I bet that last one is like a sock or something.

She opens the third one. I swear to everything good and true that it is in fact NOT a hat, but a small box of rubber bands.

She didn't even order rubber bands.

-Steph

Hotter'n HELLTH In Here! AKA You Can't Stop The Beat

Happy Thursday from A-town! Moved in on Sunday, and it was totally like 108 or so degrees. And then it got hotter and hotter until yesterday. And we didn't have electricity! No lights, no A/C. It was great.

Me and new roomie Megan went and saw Hairspray again and again on Monday and Tuesday. Still really great. So great. Too great. I need to see it again, and then own it.

Which is alright, since for two of my classes, the on-going homework is to watch as much tv and as many movies as possible.

Which I'm doing, since I introduced Megan to Firefly yesterday, and now we have only two episodes left! I'd forgotten how great this show is (not really, not entirely forgotten); at least, it never ceases to amaze. And it reminds me that this was the thing that, near two years ago, made me switch my major so as to maybe write something just as amazing someday. (or at least try.)

Other roomie Kelly is nice, too. Haven't seen her much, what with schedules and all. But I think this year/apartment setup deal is gonna be real easy-nice. Also nice is having the whole place with just the three of us, four like last year could be a bit much.

Classes! Had all of them 'cept for Producing, 'cause that's only on Monday. But I'll tell ya about the rest.

Yesterday, Intro to Computer Graphics. Three hours, twice a week. Real late in the day, 7:30. But it's the only thing Wednesdays. We are gonna use graphics programs to make art! Exploring font and all kinds of stuff like that. I think it'll be good or fun, or at least interesting/informative, but it looks like it's going to be all kinds of time intensive. Jeesh.

Writing for TV, Radio, and Film! Way early in the morning. Looks like it's more like learning *how* to write rather than writing all the time. I mean, I bet there's gonna be a lot of writing, but there's also a strong learning ...thing. In it. Looks fun.

I & II Samuel! Is awful. We have this guy who's maybe three years older than us, it's his first sememster here at APU, and he just reads his powerpoints (which are too technical and too seemingly irrelevant) too fast for us to take notes. There's a five page review on one of the books, a ten page research paper on a topic of our choice (sound familiar?), and a comprehensive final. That's it. I'm going to give it another week before deciding to drop it.

Sitcom Writing! Way for sure the best class ever. There's six people, including Megan and myself. We're basically re-writing this someone-else's pilot for the Sitcom Acting class to perform, and the Sitcom Producing class to produce. Just like the real world. So basically, it's not particularly a class, it's a writing project. We all start with A-s, and if we don't do something stupid, we can't end the semester with anything lower than that. So, much funs in this arena.

No school tomorrow! But that's a day for cleaning and homeworks and such. And I guess English Conversation Class again. Yatta.

Maybe I'll take some pictures soon, so yous know what I'm talking about. And I'll send my schedule to those what want it. So.

Gosh, now there's only one episode left. Probably save it for tomorrow. Then, Angel. Then, Lost. Then, Veronica Mars. Then, the Office, when it's new again at the end of the month. Who's excited!

-Steph

What Time is It!

Summertime! (Happy Thursday). I mean, School time. Going back Sunday. Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. !

I'm fairly certain that I didn't inform you of what classes I registered for. So now I guess it's time for me to tell you what classes I am taking imminently.

T/Th: I & II Samuel
T/Th: Sitcom Writing
T/Th: Writing for TV, Radio, & Film
M: Producing & Production Management
M/W: Intro to Computer Graphics

Yeah, lookit all that writing. Hurrah.

Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis week, I went on some adventures. Driving adventures. Alllllllllll the way around my valley with my dad: from Saticoy to Camarillo to Pt. Mugu to Port Hueneme to Oxnard and back to Ventura. I seen so many places I've never seen before! It was real exciting.

And then there was the time I picked up Steven at the library, then we went to L&L, then we went to Gamestop, then we went to his house.....then we went to my house, then we went to Gamestop, and then we went to his house......it almost went on forever. Thrilling.

Uh, what else. Been cleaning and packing. But that's not very interesting.

Um, well. Happy Thursday.

Oh, I remember being proud of my vast technological victories. First I found the secret code to make the DVD player region free. So now I can buy any sort of Japanese DVD I want. If I can find a place to buy them.

Aaaaaaaaaaand then I got 9 BILLION points on Pokemon Pinball. That game lasted over an hour and a half! It was really amazing. I'm just sad I didn't hold out just a little longer to get 10 billion. One day, one day.

There was something else, too, but I utterly forget.

I just saw an ad for the LA County Fair, and it reminds me that I want to go to that. Since it's in session while I actually live in LA County. I deserve to go to that, don't I? I just love fairs. No idea why, I just do. Yaay fairs.

I don't really know what's going on in this post anymore. It's late. Or whatever. More school-talk next week, no doubt.

-Steph

Thursday of the Week

Happy Thursday! I just finished watching High School Musical for the fifth time! I don't care what you think, it fills my heart with happiness.

Not a busy week, which means even if I did go into all the fangorious details, I'd still have to fill up the rest of the thing with, like, interesting stuff. This week I hung out with Carolyn and Jacqi (and Steven) in the real world, and gushed over HSM2 with Jennifer and Beth on the interwebs. I saw movies.

HSM2: SO CUTE. The songs are so much fun, and the dancing is more intense. The acting is decent. Vanessa Hudgens is very, very believable, while Ashley Tisdale needs to be taught how to not-just-read-aloud the script. Kid Efron is adorable, as is Grabeel. There's even a tragic scene at which I mist up every time. Over all, it just fills my heart with happiness. It's worth saying twice. OH. And, the moral is not as heavyhanded or irrelevant as in the first one. It's a lot more like a real movie.

Hairspray: Since I saw it sandwiched between airings of HSM, I get the two confused. Also because they both have singing, dancing, high school, and Zac Efron. But I do remember that it was also a lot of fun to experience. Travolta is a much better woman than you might expect. Or maybe, just as you expect. Newcomer Blonsky, the lead, is pretty good, but seems better suited to Broadway than Hollywood. Pfeiffer was downright disgusting, but it really suited the character. Full of laughs and the message isn't overforced, either.

The Prestige: The most apt description that comes to mind is not at all appropriate for polite company; maybe I'll point you to someone else who says it if you ask very nicely. I don't even know what to say about it. Oh, don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad review. I just don't know how to explain it without ruining it. Let's just say I truly wish I was smart enough or focused enough to write something like that.

Tony Takitani: Very Indie. Very Japanese. That being said, it's very slow and poignant without really being about much of anything at all.

Out of my new batch of signs I learned, my favorite is "lizard." It's an L with the one hand, and then it runs up your other arm. XD Like a lizard would.

Oh, so we've had more battles with the Raccoons. The big one was lurking about a couple days ago. So I kept chasing him away, "run, raccoon! run away!" I want to pet him. Once when I went out to run him off, there was all this commotion as soon as I stepped outside--it was the three baby raccoons fleeing for the safety tree. So then we shone the light up there and laughed at their silly raccoon faces. Here's some pictures.

Yeah. So laughable.

I also got new glasses! I mean, I finally picked them up! And I could immediately tell the difference. The prescription for my left eye had changed, which is why it had been hurting so bad. With the new glasses, I can tell its vision is being altered in a positive way rather than a negative way. There's a bit of funk in between the way the world looks through the glasses and what's bordering that, if that makes any sense at all. I'll get used to it, haha. Funky. Here's what they look like:

Snazzy, eh?

I really really need a haircut.

Happily, Thursdayily yours,

Steph

Lobster Week

Happy Thursday! Lobster week is a lot like Shark Week, but it's a lot tastier. I never told you about my sign language show.

So one morning (really, it was the afternoon), I happened upon a show called Signing Time. Like a kid's show that teaches Spanish and reading, but instead it was for sign language. That day I learned all kinds of fun things, like "boots," and "outside," and "hat," and "silly."

And then it disappeared. I've only caught it maybe once since then. It reviewed for me the letters, and the numbers. AND THEN. I was taught the most wonderful signs: "crab," and "lobster." Crab is hard to explain, but I'll teach you lobster.

Both hands palm up. Then make like the peace sign (or two, or a V), and then snap 'em. Lobster.

And then lobsters have been everywhere. All the time I see lobsters, and then get to sign it compulsively. Lobsters on Good Eats, lobsters on that Wamu commercial, lobsters on that fake laptop in the model house. It's crazy. Megan, my last-year roommate, concocted a good plan for all the lobsters I encounter:

LOBSTERAIDE

- 1 cup finely chopped lobster tails
- 3 tbs. parsley
- 2 cups lemon juice
- 1 cup diced lobster claws
- 3 tsp salt
- 4 cups water

serves 4

Haven't tried it yet, but One Day, I assure you, One Day.

Just been hanging out this last week. In my garden? I have a cucumber vine plant? And this monster cucumber is about ready to be picked. Well. That sounded a lot more interesting before I wrote it. Also, there's a little green pepper which I hope will someday turn red. (like a lobster)

Seen movies. Gray Matters, Alfie, Constantine. Want to see Stardust. Coulda seen it, but I stayed home to watch Feasting on Asphalt 2, The River Run. This is Alton Brown, from Good Eats (you know, my favorite food show which I'm watching in twenty minutes) but he takes like a bike gang and travels America, sampling the native foods. Last summer he went from east coast to west; this season he's going up the Mississippi. It's a fascinating and great journey. Saturdays at nine. Food Network.

In the literary side of life, I just finished One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I filched it out of my sister's room some weeks back, and was reading it bit by bit. But it got intense, you know, at the end, so I finished it. Tragic as all get out. Quite good.

I also had an eye exam and picked out new glasses. They're half frames, so they had to send them out to the shop to put all the special coats on them. I'll show you pictures when I get 'em.

But without 'em, my eyes tend to hurt. I don't know if it's because I'm using glasses that aren't quite the right prescription anymore. We'll see. But for now, I'mma wrap this up, so I don't have to look at it.

-Steph