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. )

I thought scheduling the ever-loving life out of the next two weeks would snap me out of this funk. It did well enough for the weekend but today is grey, blue, and various shades of ugh.

Friday-- Dinner at Pitfire and four one-act plays by Noel Coward: Well, dinner was kind of the highlight of the evening. The plays were alright, actually kind of reminded me of Roald Dahl's surprisingly dark short stories. Some humor in the dim bits of life, but mostly lots of unhappiness. Yay? The Unintentionally Hilarious award goes to the waltz sung in the last play. Anybody seen All That Jazz? Remember that awful sexy sex airplane sex musical number with the song "Take off with us/ Take off with us...?" The first two lines of the waltz had exactly that beat, tone, count, everything but the words. It was all I could do to not giggle.

Saturday-- SoCal Games Day! Arrived a bit late, but played lots of fun stuff and stuck to my no fried foods pledge despite the delicious onion rings at Everest. Met up with playmayt for the all-star cast of the year: Eddie Izzard, Tim Curry, Billy Connolly, Emily Mortimer, Jane Leeves, Tracey Ullman, Jim Piddock, and Eric Idle in Idle's new play, "What About Dick?" How did all those names fit in one little paragraph, much less on the same stage? It was a staged reading of Idle's "film for radio," presented as a radio program with actors sitting at the back of the stage when quiet and sharing three microphones to speak their parts. It was funny, it was filthy, and Tim Curry's voice is the single most beautiful sound I have ever heard in my life, but the play itself wasn't that good. It felt very disconnected and patched together and the extended EM Forster/Howard's End/films of Emma Thompson & Anthony Hopkins parody just didn't work for me. The people watching was fun, though. Lots of Brits, movers & shakers and stars and such, and I'm pretty certain I saw Jeff Lynne striding up the aisle wearing sunglasses during intermission (really? 9.30pm inside the theatre and really? O... K...) Billy Connolly was the hit of the night with an incomprehensible Scottish detective, and Eddie Izzard was very cute while dropping things and being silly, and, well, everyone was excellent, but. It's no Spamalot.

Sunday-- Din Tai Fung! More Games! Agricola, which is unbelievably amazing. But I was hitting my MustHaveProtein wall so bailed, only to find that I'd left my lights on and my car was dead. Chris was very kind and as he put it, jumped me outside. Made it home safe, toasted up a little dinner and happily watched Torchwood.

Monday, today-- Awful migraine kept me home this morning and I've felt sick all day, but cannot stay home tonight as I have Spoon tickets. Any other band... any less money spent... and it would be me and my jammies and the Doctor Who S2 disc 6 of special features, fer sure. As it is, I will rally. I must. "Anything You Want" demands it.
( Rest of the schedule for this week and next back here: )

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...

School supplies are expensive. Ridiculously expensive. But the promise inherent in a brand new trapper keeper, fresh boxes of markers, crayons, and colored pencils, and the organization possible in a cool new school year scheduler almost makes it worth it. But man. Those things are expensive. If you ever followed your parents around begging for the cool folders, the expensive markers, the trapper keeper with Transformers or Lisa Frank puppies on the front, CALL THEM NOW. APOLOGIZE. BUY A KID SOME SCHOOL SUPPLIES. And thank all that is holy that you don't have to also buy a lunch box, backpack, new school clothes, a tutor, school sports team fees, or a computer for reports and research. Dude. Kids are expensive.

I know, I know, understatement of the year.

Just received surprise care package from my parents. Among the random goodies:

*Puerto Rico shirt from the recent Serie Del Caribe. Score!
*Burnt orange UT themed personal fan. WHICH LIGHTS UP READING HOOK 'EM HORNS WHEN YOU TURN IT ON. LOL.
*Assortment of candied pecans from Berdoll's.
*Shiner beer company water bottle.
*Brown Paper Chocolates: Espresso, Kahlua, & Cocoa Nibs. These were actually requested after I spotted them on Dallas Daily Candy.
*Two packets of Jimmy Dean Country Gravy Mix. Probably cause she knew they'd make me ROFLMAO.
*Travel pack of pink kleenex with a bunny on them.
*Round Rock Express pressed penny.
*Playbill for Spamalot.
*Recipe for Chocolate Madeleines.
*Cut-out My Cage comic from the Houston Chron.
*Another comic from the Chron: The Flying McCoys.

This afternoon has been pretty hectic and work/life drama filled. This box made me smile. Thanks Mom & Dad! Y'all rock!

1. From MousePlanet this morning:

There have been many rumors surrounding the fate of the Bengal BBQ restaurant in Frontierland, but our latest and most reliable information indicates that the location will close, along with Riverbelle Terrace, on or around August 15. Riverbelle Terrace will reopen in the fall with an expanded kitchen and seating area as well as a new menu, but the Bengal BBQ as we know it will not return. There are plans to move some of the Bengal BBQ's most popular items to other food service locations in the resort. This might be a good time to try the breakfast menu at Café Orleans.

:( We now have a date. And the possibility that the most popular dishes (cough-bacon wrapped asparagus-cough) might move elsewhere. So should we eat as much as possible now while it's still there or spend our time asking whoever needs to be asked very very politely to please make sure bacon wrapped asparagus is available elsewhere? Cause that little veggie I never liked before? Has come to taste like Disneyland.

2. From mondaysabitch: Green

A. Who's your favourite Ninja Turtle? Hmm. Michaelangelo. He's the most excitable and happy, like a little kid.

B. Do you have a green thumb? Unfortunately, no. Both my parents do, but I have not inherited that. My porch is where plants go to die.

C. What's your favourite kind of salad? Taco, where the only thing green is the iceberg lettuce! (and even that's kinda white and yellow.)

D. Do you get seasick? Only at the movies whenever there's too much jumpy handheld BS. Yeah, you heard me second Bourne movie. YOU MADE ME SICK AND I HATED YOU.

E. Are you a fan of the "Shrek" movies? Have you gone to see the third one? The first one was wonderful, but I didn't like the second as much. It felt like they completely lost sight of their original audience (THREE YEAR OLDS, HELLO) and played to the adult/hipster/teen crowd that was getting a kick out of enjoying a kid's movie. I'd rather that small children not go to daycare the next day repeating "I'm sexy!" or "ass" which were both in lines from the most popular and imitated character (among the kids I've seen, that is.) I haven't seen the third one, but probably will.

3. Meme from king_duncan:

A. My username is _____ because ____.
B. My journal is titled ____ because ____.
C. My subtitle is ____ because ____.
D. My friends page is called ____ because ____.
E. My default userpic is ____ because ____.

A. My username is ladypuppy because I like both puppies and the Lady who is a puppy.

B. My journal is titled with that really long quote because I love what Molly Ivins had to say. She fought to stay optimistic about possibility and change in a state that has done its best to beat all such hope out of non-conservatives. She is missed. It used to be called "Open Letters to Daphne" because my laptop is named Daphne (after Jack Lemmon) and I used to only update from that.

C. My subtitle is the rest of the quote because it's really long, yo.

D. My friends page is called "Be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was." because it's another Molly Ivins quote. And I do think this is really fun. Most of the time.

E. My default userpic is often changing, but right now "Little Miss Chatterbox" because HELLO? HAVE WE MET?

Over 100 entries on my flist to read through and catch up on this morning. Wow. Y'all had a busy weekend.

1. I had just decided this morning to skip both Cat Club tonight and the Swedish triplets tomorrow night in Malibu to stay home and work because I really need to both get the finished piece sent off to FD and Act I done by Sunday, but then tickets were won to see The Tennessee Three at Safari Sam's tonight and free Johnny Cash's band I just can't pass up! And since I'll already be out, the Cat is a must. D'oh!

2. Though I will of course not see the triplets in Malibu tomorrow night or the Barbara Stanwyck brouhaha at the Hammer the night after that in Westwood (YET ANOTHER COOL THING HAPPENING SATURDAY NIGHT.) I will stay home and type type type. And not watch Heroes on nbc.com. Or rewatch FNL. Really. I won't.

3. I did manage to stop myself from really really really wanting to do this this weekend, cause I think I already have enough going on. Though it could be fun. Another weekend. Or y'know, LIFE.

4. So I found and printed out Alan Richman's list of "The 20 Burgers You Must Eat Before You Die." I've already had #15. A couple times! And I look forward to ticking the others off the list. (beatnikside, if you end up coming down next weekend, would you mind bringing along a #17 for me? Please? Or a Coconut Bunny or MoFro from Cupcake Royale? Sometimes reading food blogs is pure torture. :)

5. Yes, my parents sent the weekend guide section of the Houston Chron that had a Rhett Miller puff piece in it (calling 'Satellite Rides' the Old 97s' best record. WHAT CRACK ARE YOU SMOKING PEOPLE AT THE CHRON?) and I taped the cover with a big ole picture of all four boys up over my desk. It's kinda perfect. Rhett's all pouty and Murry's peering out like the people on the other side of the glass are crazy.

6. I finally got my voicemail at work reset and retrieved all the messages, changed the greetings, and memorized my password, so now when you call me it'll be me, not the dude who retired nine months ago and took off for Seattle. Go me in my slackerdom! Now, if I can just get his dust-covered papers and piles of crap off every available surface, it might look like I live here.

7. It really can't be good for me to be this excited about everything all the time. I told a friend of mine the other day, and it occurs to me again, that I feel like that old joke about a golden retriever: "Yay, dinner, my favorite! Yay, a walk, my favorite! Yay, outside, my favorite!" Though I do have my calm moments. And really, I'm much calmer in person than I am online.

I am, too.

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?

My birthday present from my folks arrived today! I'm really excited cause it wasn't supposed to get here til the middle of next month and that would have been too late. It's all tied up with June's big goal, so I won't say too much more now, but I can't wait to get home so I can play with my shiny new toy and I can't wait for June 1st!

That's not a quarter til "Grey's Anatomy!" That's half past "The Office."



My Dad said he thought of me as soon as he saw it. Does that mean I have a problem?

When my alarm goes off I hit the snooze button. Again and again. Lately it's been getting worse, and I hit the snooze seven or eight times or so, spend an extra hour in bed, then rush about getting ready for work and still end up late.

Also, I don't feel so great afterwards. It feels like I get groggier and sluggier every time I steal nine more minutes from myself. I don't like it at all.

So I'm not doing it anymore.

In May 2007:

I will wake up every work day morning at 7am when my alarm goes off. I may lie in bed for a minute and listen to the song playing if it's one I particularly like, but I will under no circumstances hit the snooze button or close my eyes again.

I will work out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning for about half an hour. I'm going to have almost an hour of extra time every morning. Got to do something with it!

I will post at either my Disney blog or Fun With Dead Trees on Tuesday and Thursday, just so that they don't feel like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are getting all the fun. My Dad's been giving me hell about neglecting my duties, asking me if we're ever going to get out of Adventureland. Yeah, Dad, you made your point. And I love to read and must conquer typepad. The interface is different and a little confusing, but it's not like I knew everything about livejournal when I started writing here. I can't let a few questions of form stop me from talking about books when Kapgar was kind enough to add me to the site.

That's it. In May it's all about the day to day working week.

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

( Alphabet Soup: )

Fruit meme from Mom. Don't spoil it (ba-dum-bum)... just do it. Pick a fruit and check out the meanings behind the cut. Which fruit will you pick if you were offered one of these?

1. Orange
2. Apple
3. Banana
4. Coconut
5. Pineapple
6. Papaya
7. Mango
8. Cherry
9. Black Grapes
10. Peach
11. Custard Apple
12. Pear

( What is your pick? )

More later on Iggy Pop when I can collect my thoughts. My mind is still blown from the concert last night. The man is amazing. It was the nearest thing to heaven.

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. )

Back from vacation. Back at work. Back doing my best at life. It's not so thrilling to sleep in your own bed for the first time in eight days and realize it's the most uncomfortable bed you've been in over the last week. Mattress pad, stat.

I've decided to upload the 116 vacation photos to flickr in 6-count batches. Like little mini-stories. First group is up.



Ain't she cute?

( Vacation rundown back here. )

I had a great week. Thanks to everyone who made it so wonderful! Y'all rock!