Happy Thursday! I've been saying that all day, and I think I said "Merry Christmas" like maybe three times. I even wore my new Classy Thursday pants, because they were classy and also because they were brown. Still are! In fact. I also got this sweet gray camo shirt. I guess I really like gray camo.
FULLTIME KILLER from Carolyn! Finally! Now we can all enjoy it!!
Along the same lines, SMOKIN' ACES from my folks, although I picked it out of the 7.99 rack at Blockbuster last week. Darn, I just realized I should have bought it on my discount. Silly me.
The entire series of SUPER FRIENDS from my brother. So wacky. Invisible planes? Bars of gold turning into doves?? Apache Chief??? I love it.
Got a cute little Mach 6 and the U.S.S. Reliant from Steven and Jacqi, respectively. They had a race but the Reliant won 'cause it could go in space and all.
Oh yeah, and a PS3.
WHAT! YES. YES I DID.
Here I come, world of Blu-Ray. Didn't actually get anything to play on it, but my and my bro ran over to Blockbuster and rented Lego Batman (for free, of course). It's pretty fun. I get to smash a lot of stuff, and who doesn't love that? Now we gotta get the wireless network up and running again, and I'll be in business. I feel technologically wealthy today.
So my brother and all the little ones that belong to him are here to visit. And my uncle and aunt came over for the day. And I stopped by at Carolyn's house to drop off Jacqi's present (yes), but she wasn't there. It was a good day. I'm sleepy but I think I'll watch another episode of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.
Okay so I've got my free rentals again, yeah? I'm going to watch tv with them. I've started PUSHING DAISIES and BSG, and I've got the first disc of UGLY BETTY. The first I've heard good things about, and a lot of people are sad it's canceled, and I really love DEAD LIKE ME which was created by the same guy. From the first episode, I was like ehhhhh what is this?! But by the third I was totally warmed up to it. It's funny.
BSG and me go way back. Back like two summers, the summer where I watched, on average, five hours of STAR TREK a day (three TNG and two DS9 courtesy of Sci-Fi channel). In the midst of all this, I said to myself, You should really try that BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. And somewhere, somehow, the clouds of TREK parted and what came floating down but an episode of BSG. So I watched it. And decided I hated it more than somewhat.
Dr. P is sorta crazy about it, and since then I've watched two separate episodes in two separate classes. The first, confirmed my opinion. Another was assigned but I didn't have time to watch it (it was this semester) so I Wiki'd it, and something in those pages caught my eye. So then in class we watched another episode, and hmmmmmm I said, maybe this isn't so bad after all.
So last week we rented the miniseries pilot and now I'm on disc two and I'm going to watch another after I'm done with this. Oh, how the times have changed.
UGLY BETTY I've only seen two episodes of ever, but both times I've been pleasantly surprised.
I'm going to start 30 ROCK over, too, fill in the gaps, but Carolyn has those so I don't need to rent it.
So that's what I've been doing. TV, wrapping presents. Hanging out at Carolyn's. Cleaning my room. It's quite clean now. Ripping music onto my new computer because now I have the space for it. What else. Started work again yesterday. Been trying to organize my superhero serial, but I made the most cryptic notes last time I tried to think about it.
I feel like I did something special in particular on one of the days since last Thursday, but you know me, at this time of the night I can't remember anything worthwhile. I need to start writing in a calendar again. My sister got me one with star charts updated monthly (and the phase of the moon daily--full moon on my next birthday!), so I will have to use that. For great justice.
So Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your days were jolly and safe and not as windy as mine.
-Steph
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Late Thursday
Happy Thursday! I cannot for the life of me believe that Christmas is in a week. We don't even have a tree yet. I don't even have any presents in mind for anyone. Bah.
Hey, so, I graduated! I even passed all my classes (C+ in Sr. Sem. but hey, that's passing!)! So that's utterly over with. Last Friday (gosh, it was just last Friday) we tried to export what was done on Ink-Man, but it wouldn't get past 11 minutes. I must have some kind of curse, always having the most bizarre, inexplicable, and unfixable technical problems on my projects. Do you remember when Order Up! wouldn't export out of the special effects program, and we had to export it as THREE THOUSAND JPGS and recompile them in Final Cut? Doesn't happen to anyone else but me.
But it got graded and I got a B in the class. Good enough! Dan said he'd keep working on it, and evidently it's in the running for the year-end premiere night, so hopefully it'll at least be finished by then.
Saturday was graduation, and I had to get up at 7:45. :< I'm so so so glad I graduated in the winter because the ceremony was in the Event Center and was like an hour long. When I got my diploma case, Jon Wallace said "I got this one for you," which appealed immensely to my sense of humor. But I forgot to put my middle name on the name card or the diploma, and that's sad.
I had a mental lapse and didn't ask Carolyn if she'd like to come to graduation (since all my other so-called friends up and left before Saturday), but I did end up asking Friday night and luckily she was able to hitch a ride with my folks the next morning! Lucky! She took all them pictures you might have noticed on Facebook already. And we went to DJs for the best pita plate, and then we cleaned my apartment! And now I can't find anything because I didn't pack it, Carolyn did, and I'm unpacking very slowly. And then I drove us home, and luckily it didn't rain and luckily I didn't do a barrel roll.
Sunday was Steven's birthday and I got invited to his funtime lunchtime thing. City Buffet in Oxnard. It's good! That kid is 18 now. I've known him half his life. Geez.
Monday me and Carolyn...did something. Lemme ask. Oh, right. It rained! And we went to Burger King and got pretty amusing Mario toys: A chain chomp that smashes into things, and a drug-addled Princess Peach who spins and also smashes into things/falls off the table. The Charn Champ came with Wario and Bowser cutouts to knock down, but we put those up for Peach to run into, and I with the Chimp Charmp aimed at her to protect the villagers. RIDICULOUSLY FUN.
Then we went over to Buena, actually got visitors' passes so we wouldn't be arrested as child molesters, and visited Mrs. Lyans. Except class wasn't out yet, so first we went to the library. (This blog started after senior year, but that year we all spent 6th period in the library, and when we go back to visit we try to get them to rope off our table, or at least put up a plaque) But then Mrs. Lyans class came into the library!
But after school was out we went over to her class, which had moved rooms but still managed to look precisely the same, and loitered and wouldn't let her leave. I think I promised to show Ink-Man to her class. We had Film Studies and Creative Writing with her that glorious penultimate year, and they were literally my favorite classes of high school. Big surprise. She's still teaching them, and so now I have some kind of authority in being a guest. I'm cool. Kevin Costner and Zachary Levi went to my high school.
And then we tried to go home, but I had locked us out. So we went to Joann's instead, because they're going out of business. Then we went to L&L and got spam musubi and did a crossword. It was an awfully rainy day, and I really did not want to be locked out. It was sorta fun playing hobo, though.
Then we discovered Jacqi was secretly back in town, and the next day we all went to Carolyn's house and did I-don't-remember what and then played Mario Party. I had to be Waluigi because they haven't unlocked Squiddy yet. Then I left them early to go to a play at church. It was alright.
Then yesterday they both came over to my house and helped me throw stuff away in my room. I'm trying to clean it, but I'm really just making more of a mess. Then we went to Korean food with Dorothy.
Today I really did nothing, but I meant to clean so much. I started laundry, but the most thing I did was set up my Zune on my new computer and subscribe to podcasts. I also walked to the post office (and back), and listened to a CHUCK podcast and then a "Zero Hour with Rod Serling" radio show. The former was better than the latter, although there was a priceless oldtimey line in the radio show: "This woman had a certain girl scout quality about her. Delicate yet determined." Oh, old fashioned times. You're fantastic.
I also updated my Facebook!
OH so. I have a new computer! His name is Keith and he is the envy of the village. My monitor? We watched SPEED RACER on it instead of the TV. And it has a webcam which can watch my room and tell me if anyone uses my computer while I'm gone. I have fake surround sound because I also plugged in my old set of speakers. I can install whatever I want and rip all my music because I have five times as much space as I ever had before. It has Vista, though, and I'm still having some heated arguments with it. Honestly, Microsoft. Windows Media Player 11? Are you trying to make me switch to iTunes? At least I'd already made the switch to Firefox.
Also, "life without walls?" What an awful slogan for a product called windows. Where are you going to put your windows if you don't have any walls? Honestly, Microsoft.
Review time!
SOMEHOW I FORGOT THAT MONDAYS EXIST AND DIDN'T REMEMBER TO WATCH HEROES OR CHUCK UNTIL JACQI TOLD ME TO AT LIKE 12:30 TUESDAY MORNING. But I caught up. (Full screen on this monitor? Sweetness)
HEROES.
Well, we really didn't care about that half of the cast, now did we?
Sylar pulled out all the stops and finally became the villain he was meant to be.
Now what are they gonna do?
CHUCK
Yvonne Strahovski (who I heard interviewed on the podcast today) is a really wonderful actress when it comes to expressing complex emotions with her face. Really. Watch her. She'll take your breath away.
Zachary Levi went to my high school.
What the heck was that Anna/Lester?? WHY did that even happen??
I don't know why those came out as middling reviews. I actually liked both episodes quite a bit. Can't wait for everything to start up again after the winter hiatus!
Next stop: Christmas.
-Steph
Hey, so, I graduated! I even passed all my classes (C+ in Sr. Sem. but hey, that's passing!)! So that's utterly over with. Last Friday (gosh, it was just last Friday) we tried to export what was done on Ink-Man, but it wouldn't get past 11 minutes. I must have some kind of curse, always having the most bizarre, inexplicable, and unfixable technical problems on my projects. Do you remember when Order Up! wouldn't export out of the special effects program, and we had to export it as THREE THOUSAND JPGS and recompile them in Final Cut? Doesn't happen to anyone else but me.
But it got graded and I got a B in the class. Good enough! Dan said he'd keep working on it, and evidently it's in the running for the year-end premiere night, so hopefully it'll at least be finished by then.
Saturday was graduation, and I had to get up at 7:45. :< I'm so so so glad I graduated in the winter because the ceremony was in the Event Center and was like an hour long. When I got my diploma case, Jon Wallace said "I got this one for you," which appealed immensely to my sense of humor. But I forgot to put my middle name on the name card or the diploma, and that's sad.
I had a mental lapse and didn't ask Carolyn if she'd like to come to graduation (since all my other so-called friends up and left before Saturday), but I did end up asking Friday night and luckily she was able to hitch a ride with my folks the next morning! Lucky! She took all them pictures you might have noticed on Facebook already. And we went to DJs for the best pita plate, and then we cleaned my apartment! And now I can't find anything because I didn't pack it, Carolyn did, and I'm unpacking very slowly. And then I drove us home, and luckily it didn't rain and luckily I didn't do a barrel roll.
Sunday was Steven's birthday and I got invited to his funtime lunchtime thing. City Buffet in Oxnard. It's good! That kid is 18 now. I've known him half his life. Geez.
Monday me and Carolyn...did something. Lemme ask. Oh, right. It rained! And we went to Burger King and got pretty amusing Mario toys: A chain chomp that smashes into things, and a drug-addled Princess Peach who spins and also smashes into things/falls off the table. The Charn Champ came with Wario and Bowser cutouts to knock down, but we put those up for Peach to run into, and I with the Chimp Charmp aimed at her to protect the villagers. RIDICULOUSLY FUN.
Then we went over to Buena, actually got visitors' passes so we wouldn't be arrested as child molesters, and visited Mrs. Lyans. Except class wasn't out yet, so first we went to the library. (This blog started after senior year, but that year we all spent 6th period in the library, and when we go back to visit we try to get them to rope off our table, or at least put up a plaque) But then Mrs. Lyans class came into the library!
But after school was out we went over to her class, which had moved rooms but still managed to look precisely the same, and loitered and wouldn't let her leave. I think I promised to show Ink-Man to her class. We had Film Studies and Creative Writing with her that glorious penultimate year, and they were literally my favorite classes of high school. Big surprise. She's still teaching them, and so now I have some kind of authority in being a guest. I'm cool. Kevin Costner and Zachary Levi went to my high school.
And then we tried to go home, but I had locked us out. So we went to Joann's instead, because they're going out of business. Then we went to L&L and got spam musubi and did a crossword. It was an awfully rainy day, and I really did not want to be locked out. It was sorta fun playing hobo, though.
Then we discovered Jacqi was secretly back in town, and the next day we all went to Carolyn's house and did I-don't-remember what and then played Mario Party. I had to be Waluigi because they haven't unlocked Squiddy yet. Then I left them early to go to a play at church. It was alright.
Then yesterday they both came over to my house and helped me throw stuff away in my room. I'm trying to clean it, but I'm really just making more of a mess. Then we went to Korean food with Dorothy.
Today I really did nothing, but I meant to clean so much. I started laundry, but the most thing I did was set up my Zune on my new computer and subscribe to podcasts. I also walked to the post office (and back), and listened to a CHUCK podcast and then a "Zero Hour with Rod Serling" radio show. The former was better than the latter, although there was a priceless oldtimey line in the radio show: "This woman had a certain girl scout quality about her. Delicate yet determined." Oh, old fashioned times. You're fantastic.
I also updated my Facebook!
OH so. I have a new computer! His name is Keith and he is the envy of the village. My monitor? We watched SPEED RACER on it instead of the TV. And it has a webcam which can watch my room and tell me if anyone uses my computer while I'm gone. I have fake surround sound because I also plugged in my old set of speakers. I can install whatever I want and rip all my music because I have five times as much space as I ever had before. It has Vista, though, and I'm still having some heated arguments with it. Honestly, Microsoft. Windows Media Player 11? Are you trying to make me switch to iTunes? At least I'd already made the switch to Firefox.
Also, "life without walls?" What an awful slogan for a product called windows. Where are you going to put your windows if you don't have any walls? Honestly, Microsoft.
Review time!
SOMEHOW I FORGOT THAT MONDAYS EXIST AND DIDN'T REMEMBER TO WATCH HEROES OR CHUCK UNTIL JACQI TOLD ME TO AT LIKE 12:30 TUESDAY MORNING. But I caught up. (Full screen on this monitor? Sweetness)
HEROES.
Well, we really didn't care about that half of the cast, now did we?
Sylar pulled out all the stops and finally became the villain he was meant to be.
Now what are they gonna do?
CHUCK
Yvonne Strahovski (who I heard interviewed on the podcast today) is a really wonderful actress when it comes to expressing complex emotions with her face. Really. Watch her. She'll take your breath away.
Zachary Levi went to my high school.
What the heck was that Anna/Lester?? WHY did that even happen??
I don't know why those came out as middling reviews. I actually liked both episodes quite a bit. Can't wait for everything to start up again after the winter hiatus!
Next stop: Christmas.
-Steph
Thursday, December 11, 2008
The Last Studentious Thursday
Happy Thursday! I really hope it is, anyway. My last studentious Thursday. That is, the last Thursday in which I am a student. Did you know graduation is the day after tomorrow? Scratch that, that was a sucky movie. Did you know graduation is Saturday?
Well it is!
For some of us.
I spent the last few days probably the busiest and most miserable I've ever been. But I'm fairly confident in the quality of the grades I might receive. Or, have earned. But every point is in, every final behind me. Well, not entirely true, INK-MAN is due tomorrow at five, but I've been over that for a long time now. Not over-over it, just letting it exist outside of the forefront of my mind, as it did for so long. Letting it rise, if you will. I am a baker of movies.
Finished a short screenplay for screenwriting (shocker) and it's alright. Once I get a working version of Final Draft back I'll touch it up. The TFT computers only had the demo mode so after 15 pages I couldn't save anymore. And I had to copy it into Word anyhow 'cause it would save to .pdf with a giant watermark. So I had to fight stupid Word 3000 formatting and somehow it became two pages longer than it was in Final Draft. And it numbered the title page. Life is so hard for me.
Also finished my sr. sem paper, on how technology is impossible to judge. I think it's an interesting point, but not entirely relevant or well-argued. I'm just glad it's over.
Acting is also over! We all did our scenes in a sort of performance this morning, and I invited people like Megan and Sam. I still think Christina and Tyler's scene was outstanding, though. They're why I invited people at all. (no offense to the rest of the class, of course)
Sci-fi final I was half an hour late to because I was finishing my term paper after work the other morning. THAT is the crappiest paper ever written. But all I need is to pass the class, not exceed in it.
And Sound Design. THAT IS OVER NOW KPLZTHNX.
Brianna and Megan already went home, and Beth might leave before graduation. :< Sam, too, I think. I am not looking forward to packing. So much stuff!!! First thing I do when I get home is to get rid of everything I don't want to have. Like, for serious. Second thing is to set up a schedule of watching movies/writing/reading books on screenwriting. Third is stock the trunk of my car with a survival kit.
So I was driving the other day and it hit me like a handful of gravel that I want to keep my car forever. That's the car I want to drive around Hollywood and people who know me will be able to spot what building I'm inside because my car's there in the parking lot. I want my car to run forever. I don't another, not a Mini or even a Chrysler Crossfire Roadster (2005).
Yeahp, so, I don't know what direction this blog will take from now on. I'd like it to become more cinematically-minded, but I might just want to make up a new blog for that. I'll have the time.
Oh gosh, guys. Who knows what will happen next?!
-Stephanie 08
Well it is!
For some of us.
I spent the last few days probably the busiest and most miserable I've ever been. But I'm fairly confident in the quality of the grades I might receive. Or, have earned. But every point is in, every final behind me. Well, not entirely true, INK-MAN is due tomorrow at five, but I've been over that for a long time now. Not over-over it, just letting it exist outside of the forefront of my mind, as it did for so long. Letting it rise, if you will. I am a baker of movies.
Finished a short screenplay for screenwriting (shocker) and it's alright. Once I get a working version of Final Draft back I'll touch it up. The TFT computers only had the demo mode so after 15 pages I couldn't save anymore. And I had to copy it into Word anyhow 'cause it would save to .pdf with a giant watermark. So I had to fight stupid Word 3000 formatting and somehow it became two pages longer than it was in Final Draft. And it numbered the title page. Life is so hard for me.
Also finished my sr. sem paper, on how technology is impossible to judge. I think it's an interesting point, but not entirely relevant or well-argued. I'm just glad it's over.
Acting is also over! We all did our scenes in a sort of performance this morning, and I invited people like Megan and Sam. I still think Christina and Tyler's scene was outstanding, though. They're why I invited people at all. (no offense to the rest of the class, of course)
Sci-fi final I was half an hour late to because I was finishing my term paper after work the other morning. THAT is the crappiest paper ever written. But all I need is to pass the class, not exceed in it.
And Sound Design. THAT IS OVER NOW KPLZTHNX.
Brianna and Megan already went home, and Beth might leave before graduation. :< Sam, too, I think. I am not looking forward to packing. So much stuff!!! First thing I do when I get home is to get rid of everything I don't want to have. Like, for serious. Second thing is to set up a schedule of watching movies/writing/reading books on screenwriting. Third is stock the trunk of my car with a survival kit.
So I was driving the other day and it hit me like a handful of gravel that I want to keep my car forever. That's the car I want to drive around Hollywood and people who know me will be able to spot what building I'm inside because my car's there in the parking lot. I want my car to run forever. I don't another, not a Mini or even a Chrysler Crossfire Roadster (2005).
Yeahp, so, I don't know what direction this blog will take from now on. I'd like it to become more cinematically-minded, but I might just want to make up a new blog for that. I'll have the time.
Oh gosh, guys. Who knows what will happen next?!
-Stephanie 08
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Um. Last Day Of School.
Happy Thursday!!! This is my last full day of classes EVER. Just final periods next week. WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!
Got all my ministry units cleared. That's a fun story, if you ever want to hear it.
Just need to pass some classes, finish some papers. Probably not in that order. The movie is cut, hours away from picture lock and starting sound. Should be done on time. Looks nice. My acting scene is average. My half-way-done Sr. Sem draft came back with good marks, just need to find some more references to fill it out. No idea if my HEROES paper is ever going to make sense. My script is outlined, I just need to sit down and write it. I'll be spending the rest of tonight and next Wednesday finishing all my sound projects.
For some reason wasn't scheduled to work yesterday--but I went in to ask for it off because TFT Senior Banquet was yesterday evening. It was lovely and full of deliciousness and funny.
Working Friday and Saturday for some reason, leaving Sunday open for Mexican Christmas (since Thanksgiving this year was already pretty Mexicoed out). Also have a "Remembering Mexico" meeting Saturday afternoon. Yay.
Saw MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA yesterday or the day before and DUDE was it funny. King Julien. Disgustingly cute baby Alex. Alec Baldwin.
Oh yeah, so I went to Mexico.
It did rain on Wednesday on the drive out of LA, and that night, which was in fact very muddy. There were lightning storms all over. A couple of potentially catastrophic driving situations. I copiloted, and I had to deal with some of the most entirely useless maps ever created. Left late, got there after dark. The ground is hard. It was cold at night, but nice and hottish during the day. Thursday it drizzled a bit, but after that it was clear.
6:30 AM, wake up! Breakfast at 7 and chapel at..8? We left for our site at about 9. We were supposed to be out there until 6:30, back for dinner at 7 and chapel at 8:30, but we ended up staying for dinner at the orphanage and one night half of our team went to church with the older boys so we didn't get back to camp until like 10. Lights out at 11! Or as soon as possible, in my case.
Our site was Bethesda orphanage in Mexicali. (The camp was in Ejido Cuernavaca, about 25 minutes south-east.) The kids were great! There was Matilda and Jose and Estaban and Itzel and Carlos and Oscar and Mauricio and Jose and Julio and Juanita and Jessica and Rigo and Jose and Samuel and Raul and a few more whose names I didn't learn. That list, though, is approximately youngest to oldest, starting at 4ish and going up to I think 18. I spent most of my time with middle Jose (he drew lovely pictures on my hands) and Rigo (he's pretty good at the DRAGON BALL style of drawing).
We'd planned things to do, story, craft, snack, game, but basically we threw that aside and played with them. They ended up having school from 1-4 (the young ones, 1-7 for the older boys), so we had some down time, too. By down time I mean, time to buy paint and paint the orphanage. We went to the park, we played fútbol, we decorated cookies and shirts, we learned about Noah. One day we went and saw NAVIDAD, S.A. at a movie theater. It was cute.
I also helped make tortillas on the second day, which was great because I didn't have to interact with the kids. XD Not that I hated interacting with the kids, but after the first day, not really being able to talk to them (it seems everyone else had at least taken Spanish in school) but having to be social made me remember my introverted side and I severely needed the time to recoup. So the painting day/hanging out in the kitchen day was nice. And then on Saturday most of the kids had gone to other homes that they have (like aunts' and stuff??) so it was pretty low-key. Watched Julio and Carlos and Jose (and Calvin, one of our own) play marbles. What an intense game. Tried to talk with "the older boys" (they're like 13 and up, so) and didn't suck at it. Thanks to cognates, Spanish is not an outstandingly foreign language. So it's more like I listened to other people's conversations. And then I talked to Rigo a bit about tv, haha.
They really wanted us all to come back. I can't, not on a missions trip because I'm graduating, but it would be pretty cool to roadtrip down there again some day.
Sunday it was up at 6:30, packed up and magically on the road by 8......waited in line at the border for over two hours.....drove at an average of 10 MPH in Thanksgiving weekend traffic through Palm Springs for four, five, six hours? At that point, if we had kept up that pace, it would have taken another five hours to get home. Luckily right about then it cleared up and we were home in like an hour. So we got in at around 6, I think. It was a long day.
I love indoor plumbing.
Okay, I'm going to go learn some stuff. Hopefully. Instead of working on papers last time I was at the computer, I ended up reading Greg Beeman's blog (the HEREOES behind the scenes) instead, and had a very very compelling feeling that that was actually what I was supposed to be doing in that moment. Reading about how it's done. One day I want to read a blog about that, except that it's written by a good friend, or about a show I have a hand in. That's my dream.
Also, HEROES this week. WTF, mate?? I knew it was coming, but COME ON. Not like that, guys. That was Not Cool. All you're doing is validating every complaint I've ever had about you. Every single one.
What a creepy night of tv that was, too. Even most of CHUCK wigged me out. What a creeper you've become, NBC.
-Steph
Got all my ministry units cleared. That's a fun story, if you ever want to hear it.
Just need to pass some classes, finish some papers. Probably not in that order. The movie is cut, hours away from picture lock and starting sound. Should be done on time. Looks nice. My acting scene is average. My half-way-done Sr. Sem draft came back with good marks, just need to find some more references to fill it out. No idea if my HEROES paper is ever going to make sense. My script is outlined, I just need to sit down and write it. I'll be spending the rest of tonight and next Wednesday finishing all my sound projects.
For some reason wasn't scheduled to work yesterday--but I went in to ask for it off because TFT Senior Banquet was yesterday evening. It was lovely and full of deliciousness and funny.
Working Friday and Saturday for some reason, leaving Sunday open for Mexican Christmas (since Thanksgiving this year was already pretty Mexicoed out). Also have a "Remembering Mexico" meeting Saturday afternoon. Yay.
Saw MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA yesterday or the day before and DUDE was it funny. King Julien. Disgustingly cute baby Alex. Alec Baldwin.
Oh yeah, so I went to Mexico.
It did rain on Wednesday on the drive out of LA, and that night, which was in fact very muddy. There were lightning storms all over. A couple of potentially catastrophic driving situations. I copiloted, and I had to deal with some of the most entirely useless maps ever created. Left late, got there after dark. The ground is hard. It was cold at night, but nice and hottish during the day. Thursday it drizzled a bit, but after that it was clear.
6:30 AM, wake up! Breakfast at 7 and chapel at..8? We left for our site at about 9. We were supposed to be out there until 6:30, back for dinner at 7 and chapel at 8:30, but we ended up staying for dinner at the orphanage and one night half of our team went to church with the older boys so we didn't get back to camp until like 10. Lights out at 11! Or as soon as possible, in my case.
Our site was Bethesda orphanage in Mexicali. (The camp was in Ejido Cuernavaca, about 25 minutes south-east.) The kids were great! There was Matilda and Jose and Estaban and Itzel and Carlos and Oscar and Mauricio and Jose and Julio and Juanita and Jessica and Rigo and Jose and Samuel and Raul and a few more whose names I didn't learn. That list, though, is approximately youngest to oldest, starting at 4ish and going up to I think 18. I spent most of my time with middle Jose (he drew lovely pictures on my hands) and Rigo (he's pretty good at the DRAGON BALL style of drawing).
We'd planned things to do, story, craft, snack, game, but basically we threw that aside and played with them. They ended up having school from 1-4 (the young ones, 1-7 for the older boys), so we had some down time, too. By down time I mean, time to buy paint and paint the orphanage. We went to the park, we played fútbol, we decorated cookies and shirts, we learned about Noah. One day we went and saw NAVIDAD, S.A. at a movie theater. It was cute.
I also helped make tortillas on the second day, which was great because I didn't have to interact with the kids. XD Not that I hated interacting with the kids, but after the first day, not really being able to talk to them (it seems everyone else had at least taken Spanish in school) but having to be social made me remember my introverted side and I severely needed the time to recoup. So the painting day/hanging out in the kitchen day was nice. And then on Saturday most of the kids had gone to other homes that they have (like aunts' and stuff??) so it was pretty low-key. Watched Julio and Carlos and Jose (and Calvin, one of our own) play marbles. What an intense game. Tried to talk with "the older boys" (they're like 13 and up, so) and didn't suck at it. Thanks to cognates, Spanish is not an outstandingly foreign language. So it's more like I listened to other people's conversations. And then I talked to Rigo a bit about tv, haha.
They really wanted us all to come back. I can't, not on a missions trip because I'm graduating, but it would be pretty cool to roadtrip down there again some day.
Sunday it was up at 6:30, packed up and magically on the road by 8......waited in line at the border for over two hours.....drove at an average of 10 MPH in Thanksgiving weekend traffic through Palm Springs for four, five, six hours? At that point, if we had kept up that pace, it would have taken another five hours to get home. Luckily right about then it cleared up and we were home in like an hour. So we got in at around 6, I think. It was a long day.
I love indoor plumbing.
Okay, I'm going to go learn some stuff. Hopefully. Instead of working on papers last time I was at the computer, I ended up reading Greg Beeman's blog (the HEREOES behind the scenes) instead, and had a very very compelling feeling that that was actually what I was supposed to be doing in that moment. Reading about how it's done. One day I want to read a blog about that, except that it's written by a good friend, or about a show I have a hand in. That's my dream.
Also, HEROES this week. WTF, mate?? I knew it was coming, but COME ON. Not like that, guys. That was Not Cool. All you're doing is validating every complaint I've ever had about you. Every single one.
What a creepy night of tv that was, too. Even most of CHUCK wigged me out. What a creeper you've become, NBC.
-Steph
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