Y'know how I love y'all's 12 of 12 posts and try to join in every month? And every month I completely forget about it on the actual 12th and then fail at joining in, so as a result I've only done it once, I think, last June? Yeah, not working. So instead I'll just do it whenever I remember it, and make it __ of __. So there.

juls_chuls: Here begins your Disneyland present.

( 18 of 18 at Disneyland. )

You're not even getting those. Basically, all I've got for you are movie updates and memes. Because I'm exhausted.

2. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - I liked it, but not nearly as much as Meet John Doe. That was just a better movie all around. This is a little too sappy, too self-consciously sweet, too naive. Did an America ever actually exist where this was at all possible? I can't believe people were ever this trusting and simple and singular, even in 1939. It's all too black and white. And I get that Capra never really went for realism and everything to him was one huge allegory and he always had a very idealized view of the world, but I guess this one just didn't work for me. Watch Meet John Doe instead. I know I've said that before, but it bears repeating. That's how good it is.

3. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - Not so much about war, as it is human nature and obsession. And men. Whoo boy, y'know so-called "chick flicks?" This is the exact opposite. There are a grand total of five women in this movie. Two are there solely to gaze longingly at William Holden, one to gaze longingly at the young kid on the mission with him, and the other two just carry the guns. It's good, and I love David Lean more with every movie I see by him, but I don't see myself watching this over and over again. It's all about power plays and stubborn priciples and other things I'm not fond of. And building a bridge. Maybe the end would have meant more to me if I hadn't already seen it hundreds of times in various GREAT FILMS MONTAGES, but oh well.

4. The Last Picture Show (1971) - Wow, there's a lot of sex and nudity in this movie. Not much goes on, so my brain had plenty of time to think that throughout this. Y'know how Hitchcock made "Psycho" in B&W on purpose to undercut the gore and make it not quite so graphic? I really think that's why this was in B&W, too, cause I don't know if they would have gotten away with all this in color back then. It's good, but sloooooooooooooooow. Not much happens, but you get to know the characters well. Goodness knows you're given more than enough time for that. This movie is a total downer. There is no comic relief, there aren't really any sympathetic characters, and it's a dreadfully dismal view of smalltown life. Make sure you've got a comedy to watch after this.

Man, I hope I start liking these movies more. I've got 13 left and only nine days in the month. I really don't think I'm going to make it, but I'll give it the old college try.

( 80s meme from king_duncan: )

( Meme of Four from King_duncan: )

There was an Oscars meme from mondaysabitch but I cut it cause I realized I've only seen one or two movies in each category if that. I'm not even planning on watching them. I'll be at Disneyland. I'm a bad moviegoer this year.

Sorry. It's a thing that we do out here. Pretty much any number of any things someone says ends up in a fountain. You'd be surprised how long this can stay funny.

From mondaysabitch:

Random Joy

1. What are your thoughts on sites like Facebook/Myspace/Friendster etc.? I dig 'em. I'm listed on all three, but haven't been to Friendster in months, and have only stayed on Myspace in the hope that even more random schoolmates from the past find me. I'm pretty active on Facebook though. Very fun.

2. What was the last play you saw? As in stage performance? Avenue Q. But if you consider that a musical instead, you nit-picker you, I think the last straight play I saw was Fat Pig at the Geffen. Excellent, highly recommend it.

3. What's your opinion on the vegan lifestyle? An amazing commitment I could never make. Takes a lot of work to do it properly, which many who attempt to follow it do not do. It's not for me to judge. Also, it means more steak for the rest of us, so it's cool with me.

4. If you were to give your current home a name, what would it be? Hmm. Laverne? If you don't open the blinds deliberately there's no light in there, so I always feel a little like I'm in Laverne & Shirley's basement apartment if I get home and my roomie didn't leave the blinds open.

5. How do you like your eggs? Ugh. NOT AT ALL. I hate eggs.

MEME NUMBER TWO, From stepliana:

Post 10 things that recently made you happy. Then tag 10 people and force them to post this meme on their LJs.

Apparently this is a Texas edition of our regularly scheduled meme. Sorry about that. Deal.
1. Finding out our contact on a show went to UT. Investigated this because his email address involves Earl Campbell. Awesome.

2. Fried chicken wings and a Belgian waffle at the Breakfast Klub in Houston Saturday morning.

3. Running into a friend from high school and college at the nail salon in Sugar Land Saturday afternoon. Some of those people were great.

4. Biggio's last game as an Astro at Minute Maid Park. Every time he came up to bat he got a standing ovation and had to wait a minute before he stepped into the box. After the game he ran around the entire field and high-fived every fan he could reach from the field. The man is made of class.

5. At one point at the reunion I and another unmarried classmate were showing each other pictures of other classmates' babies that we carry around with us. This amused me to no end.

6. My Dad getting me a Chick-Fil-A fried chicken biscuit Saturday morning before we went out for breakfast, even though he knew this meant I would not eat much of what I ordered.

7. Spending lots of time with Eleanor, the most darling girl who lives inside the loop.

8. Going shopping with my mom Saturday afternoon before we got our toes done.

9. Knowing that I have a wing and a biscuit from The Breakfast Klub in the fridge for dinner tonight.

10. Knowing that I'll be back in Texas for over a week at Thanksgiving!

I don't tag. Tag, you're it!

I spent last weekend effectively out of town at a game convention. Yes, I totally was that geek playing Eurogames for three days with hundreds of other geeks at a hotel near LAX. It was great, except for the whole no sleeping thing. I ran my first game of Werewolf (of course I've played before, first time modding) with a truly excessive 26 participants. If there's a great big HUH on your face right now, I'm just saying, you need to play. This game is much fun.


Daniel vanquishes a foe in the swordfighting pit at Gateway2007

I've spent the last week recovering from the long weekend, which for me means passing out long before midnight every night, no matter how loud the rap/video games/stand-up comedy is blaring next door.

Last night a few friends and I saw The Jungle at the El Capitan! They're just showing it for a month to publicize celebrate the 40th anniversary special edition DVD coming out soon. Richard Sherman wandered out of the theatre before the show and stood around outside for a moment but I was way too shy to go up and introduce myself. Oh well. If the DVD transfer is what we saw last night, it's gorgeous and I can't recommend it highly enough. ( Far more information than anyone wants back here. )

Flying up to SF tonight for my cousin's wedding tomorrow. Giants game with my parents Sunday (YAY!) then back Monday morning just in time for work. Next weekend is the only weekend this month I'm really in town-- and all I've got going is Avenue Q Saturday afternoon, games Saturday night, film festial screenings Sunday afternoon and Pink Martini at the Bowl Sunday night. The weekend after that Kevin's in town! The weekend after that I'm in Houston for my 10 year high school reunion. The weekend after that is October. Good grief. Where has the year gone?

PS-- One more video from The Jungle Book screening (mostly for my parents:) a pencil test of Baloo & Mowgli animated entirely by Frank Thomas according to Don Hahn. Apparently he and Ollie animated over half of the finished film themselves. Wow.

Stolen from honore:

Two Names You Go By:
1. Erin
2. Oona (it's a long story.)

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
1. new dress!
2. white flip-flops (take that Labor Day!)

Two Things You Would Want (or have) in a Relationship:
1. An unshakable bond
2. Humor

Two of Your Favorite Things to do:
1. Read
2. Be with people I love

Two Things You Want Very Badly at the Moment:
1. A job in the archives
2. An organized life

Two pets you had/have:
1. Sandy the WonderDog
2. Many many fish who I don't think had names

Two people who will fill this out:
1. Huh?
2. Screw tagging, it sucks.

Things you did last night:
1. Rewatched the first two episodes of Mad Men (I cannot recommend that show enough, WATCH IT ALREADY.)
2. Went to bed at 10.30pm.

Two things you ate today:
1. Hot tea
2. Salad for lunch

Two people you Last Talked To:
1. Mom
2. Dad (Happy Birthday, Dad!)

Two Things You're doing tomorrow:
1. Either shopping or games
2. Working-- the new season is a'comin' and the pace will pick up here again very soon.

Two longest car/plane rides:
1. Sugar Land, TX to Lincoln, Nebraska - car (TWICE)
2. Concord, CA to Whistler, BC, Canada - car

Two Favorite Holidays:
1. Christmas (far and away my favorite)
2. Thanksgiving (family, family, family)

Two favorite beverages:
1. Tea!
2. Milkshakes... mmm...

I completely suck as a movie fan. So much so that I couldn't think of a dozen quotes to steal stepliana's movie meme. Dude.

Exhausted for no good reason. The beach was extremely mellow yesterday and the marine layer never completely burnt off. It was grey all day and we were in sweaters and lap blankets, bundled up like a couple of auld ladies at the English seaside from noon on. The sun peeked through a couple times around 6pm, but there's no reason I should feel so baked and sun-drained and useless today. Uh. Tired.

But salt-water soaked corn on the cob, boiled potato, pineapple slices, and cheddarwurst make for excellent grilled beach food. And I would have the pictures to prove it if I hadn't been so fuzzyheaded and left my camera at home. See above paragraph.

I've been super-duper smart and overscheduled again. Yay sleepiness!

Tonight: LCG, cannot cancel because I need to deliver games. Must try not to fall asleep on top of someone's new game. Drool on Caylus Magna Carta = HEIGHT OF UNCOOL.

Tomorrow: Apparently they screen cartoons and whatnot at the Archives every Friday at lunchtime. "Patriotic Shorts" on the bill at 12.30. Sounds fun.

Saturday: Dim Sum in the morning with clndestyn & playmayt in Chinatown! Yummy! Then might look at a Prius being sold by a Cast Member in Anaheim in the afternoon. Need to check out early Prius battery lifespans. "Pirates of Penzance" in the evening with playmayt & honore in Long Beach! Haven't seen either in a while, so should be fun.

Sunday: Monthly Din Tai Fung feast in the morning. Tea at the Tudor House with clndestyn in the afternoon. First Hollywood Bowl event of the season in the evening! "The Magic Flute" with ubbercatta. Will begin perfecting my HB picnic, which I hope to have down pat by the third show.

Monday: Games with friends.

Tuesday: Games with SFVG.

Wednesday: 7.30pm- Woody Woodpecker DVD premiere event & screening at Grauman's Chinese. 12 cartoons on the big screen and then panel on Walter Lanz's career and life with Leonard Maltin, June Foray, Billy Martin, Maurice LaMarche, and Phil Roman. I requested two tickets, so if anyone wants to come along to this, let me know.

Thursday: Fat Pig (Neil LaBute! Scott Wolf! Diddy Riese!) at the Geffen in Westwood with Liz.

Friday: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in IMAX 3D. Sometimes it's not so bad living right by a major tourist destination.

Saturday: Grandma's birthday! Also John Williams at the Hollywood Bowl with avarill, picnic attempt #2.

Sunday: Felt Club in the morning, possibly. Anyone who wants to go to that (I'm looking at you, jenn_ness, sinca, and princess_jennx,and anyone else crafty and up for it) give me a shout. Jersey Boys with playmayt at the Ahmanson that evening.

Must not put head on desk and take nap. Eyes need to be open. More caffeine laden tea. That will help.

Lofty goal for June didn't quite work out. I've got a first act I like and the rest of it outlined, but 20,000 words and a complete screenplay? Not so much. So I'm making it a little calmer this month.

I will not buy a single thing in July.

Toiletries, food, and gas only. Usual bill payments as well, of course. No books, no clothes, no DVDs, no CDs, no makeup, no jewelry, no concert or play tickets. If you have a birthday this month, expect a donation to be made in your name.

There's this really cool article that I'm printing and pinning up over my desk, and from the looks of my datebook I've got enough prepaid events and activities to last me most of the month. I've long thought that the Wardrobe Refashion pledge and blog was a really cool idea.

Due to the impending car payment, I need to check out this budgeting and living below your means thing. (How much you wanna bet that this will be the month that Amazon puts Freaks & Geeks on some crazy $20 sale? If that happens, I get to get that and only that. I reserve that single exemption here and now.)

I am allowed to buy lunch at work twice a week, and dinner out as I see fit (I don't expect it to be often.) Also, I don't see many movies in the theatre lately, so I'm still allowed one a week. I'll probably see one all month.

Wish me luck! It may seem little and silly, but it's probably going to be harder for me than you or I think.

EDIT: Just to reassure y'all that I'm not going all warpath responsible, here's a clue as to how I spent Friday night. Other San Francicso pics up as well, family dinner pictures (all featuring Brady the adorable, I believe) to follow tomorrow.

My weekend still hurts. ( I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. )

A mysteriously large package arrived on my desk this afternoon. My parents already got me super cool screenwriting software for my birthday, so I was a bit surprised by this. They sent the yellow rice and tea I asked for (silly SoCal groceries not stocking the good stuff) but also shoes and awesome books and great jewelry made by my Mom and a SF Giants Mr. Potato Head. That last one. I cannot contain the joy. Impossible.

Oh, and I got a call this morning about a gameshow that molly_drew recommended me for! I'll be auditioning for Merv Griffin's Crosswords next Wednesday at 1pm. YAY! I have a really light schedule this week, which is good because then I should be able to get Act I DONE, provided I don't slack too much, but next week looks crazy!

Monday, June 11th-- The Nemo Subs ride opens! Also gypsie_pie's birthday! And "Big Love" starts up again on HBO! YAY ON ALL THREE COUNTS!

Tuesday-- Disneyland for my birthday! YAY!

Wednesday-- Work in the morning, game show audition in the afternoon.

Thursday-- I'm gonna eat some lasagna pizza and see Knocked Up! Apatow and Rogen FTW!

Friday-- Disneyland with my cousins from NorCal. Also Davebo's birthday!

Saturday-- My childhood best friend's birthday! Also writing in the morning with other Script Frenzy participants, road rally in the afternoon, and cake and presents and games in the evening. I've been told this party is not an option and I will need to skip both Strawberry Alarm Clock at the Malibu Inn and Rebel Without a Cause at Cinespia to attend. Alright. If I must.

Sunday-- Brunch at the Scientology Centre with sinca, playmayt, and sweetcynic23 if we're still doing it and someone wants to get reservations. Girls? After that, possibly Disneyland.

AFTER THAT, I DIE. Seriously, folks. Anybody got a body I can borrow to tide me over through all this awesomeness? Cause really, I'm looking forward to it all, but why did I forget to schedule time to sleep?

The best dog who ever lived, Sandy, used to wait at the window for Dad to come home every night. She looked something like Lady over there. And me, right now, waiting for one o' clock. We're supposed to get out early today. And then there will be Birthday Cake Explosion. And then there will be Nathan Fillion and Jeremy Sisto at 1.25. But right now there's just waiting.

I mean it. Really. To celebrate that and the arrival of the newest family baby this weekend, bringing the number of pregnant ladies I know to six (down from nine only a few short weeks ago) I share this:



Hi Brady! Hi Jane! Hi Liliana! May you eat many puppies and make everyone you ever meet barf rainbows at your very cuteness.

I am convinced that there must be a no baby policy at CuteOverload because if there wasn't this would be the cutest overloadedest picture ever.

Stolen from Kapgar. If you don't know him, you should pop on over and meet him. Totally worth it.

( Alphabet Soup: )

My aunt, who hates spiders (which is why my parents get her spider-themed gifts every chance they get.)

The Crack Spider He popped a cap in the caffeine spider.

I can't believe this was all one day. I'm still tired. But then, that might be because I've been up since 3am.

Mom and I got up early and headed out on a one day SF Bay Area odyssey, itinerary as follows:

7.30am- We meet Aunt Cindy & Cousin Sadie at Starbucks for road fuel.

9am-10.30am- We meet Grandpa Miller for breakfast in Vacaville. There was a low heavy fog over the hills as we headed out of Cowtown, through Fairfield, past Benicia.



Noon-2.30pm- We meet The Committee for lunch in Bollinger Canyon. These are Mom's friends of over 25 years, including the mother of my oldest friend, a very cool woman in her own right.


Jill at lunch / Mom's old house

2.30pm-5pm- Mom and I go out to Chapel of the Chimes in Niles to see Grandma Gerton, check out the house where Mom grew up and Great-Grandma's old property on Crescent in Castro Valley (Hayward?) where there is now a Senior Center and a Theatre, then get ready for BJ's surprise party at Annie Debbie's house.

5pm-8.30pm- We party down with Dad's family.



Also:



8.30pm-11pm- We drive back up to Auburn.

11pm-Midnight? 1am-ish?- We dye Easter eggs. And the dog.

- If all goes well, I will hug my Mom at 5.15pm today.

- Grandma is making fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and biscuits for dinner tonight.

- I will hang out with my cousins tonight, who are increasingly cool and who I miss terribly.

- I'll see my oldest friend (known her since we were 2) tomorrow, and hopefully her kids if she brings them to lunch.

- I'll get to see most of Dad's family tomorrow night at my aunt's birthday party, for which I have a supercute new dress I can't wait to wear all summer.

- Easter egg hunt with my cousins Sunday morning, alcoholic drinks of choice firmly in hand.

- Easter dinner. 'Nuff said.

- I am in love with Passover. This is my new favorite time of year. There is no one on the road and my drives to work in the morning have been gloriously short all week. Seriously. In love with Passover.

- I got my warehouse wildcard package from Fred Flare today and I love them! Little heart earrings with arrows hanging from the fasteners, a measuring tape (random much?,) a deck of heart shaped cards, two pretty flowery blank cards to send, an interesting iron-on transfer, a butterfly pink camo patch I might give to my little cousin, a cute felt musical notes patch, and a long sleeved supersoft tunic/dress that I really hope fits. And a coupon for free shipping on my next order! These guys rock.

- I just had a cream filled donut for lunch.

K. It's 2pm and we're finally free. Off to the airport. Have a great weekend, y'all.

My schedule just totally exploded.

Tonight: Games at friend's house.

Tomorrow: 12 Angry Men at the Ahmanson w/friend. (Also Charlotte's 1st bday, so will be calling family and keeping my chin up.)

Friday: Squirrels (Insert NEW MAMET HAPPINESS! here) in Santa Monica w/playmayt!

Saturday: Games during the day, Easter Vigil Mass and dinner w/playmayt at night. (EDIT: Apparently this happens the day before Easter Sunday, not the week before. I dunno. I thought maybe it commemorated the day Jesus rode into town or something.)

Sunday: Din Tai Fung w/playmayt and hopefully ubbercatta, then playing in the garden with ubbercatta.

( The rest is behind a cut because it got insanely long. )