Food, Friends, and Fun

Well, I am definitely NOT used to having early church! I realized that this is the first time in ages that I have had early morning church! This summer it was at 1, last year it was at 12:45 or 1 (haha it's sad that I can't actually remember, when that was only a few months ago), the year before that was 1:15, the year before that was 12:45... yep, it has been a while. And it drives me nuts because it's in the basement of the JFSB (I thought I was free of having church on campus, but I guess not!) and there is absolutely no reception down there - not even enough just to give me the TIME! I don't ever really use my phone during church, but I do use the clock feature to keep track of what time it is! And there is no clock in the room that we have Sacrament Meeting (last hour). Bah, it was so annoying not be able to know what time it was! Oh well.

After church, Karie, Chalyce (my other roommate) and I had a little 'roommate meeting' since today was the first day all three of us were there at the same time. Just to discuss basic stuff - utilities, parking, internet, etc. Afterwards, I went to Mike's and we went upstairs to his neighbor Ricky's apartment and joined them in barbecuing chicken and steak, as well as making really good tamales and pico de gallo. Oh my gosh I was so full by the end, but it was all so good! They had these sweet corn tamales that I had actually never even heard of, and they were absolutely amazing! Oh man, I want to learn how to make those. Soon after that, there was even more food... dessert this time. Their ward has this dessert night thing every Sunday night. But I was so full from all of the other stuff that I only had maybe half a brownie.

Afterwards, I went to Sparks to say hi to old friends. They had just finished ward prayer and so I chatted with a bunch of people and then went back to apartment 10 (Verdon, Ian, Martin, Jason, McKay, and their new roommate Patrick who wasn't here last year) because I had to get a box of stuff Ian let me store there over the summer. But the old tradition was "Sunday Disney Movie Night" that Tara held for 3 or more years... and we were all in SDMN withdrawal, so we had one anyway at 10 and watched Toy Story. :P And the tradition I started last year (backrub trade-offs) has stayed alive too, and I traded off with both Martin and Verdon. Man, I have missed Sunday nights in Sparks!! haha. Again, glad to be back. :)

Swing, Swing

I got to play volleyball again today! It made me so happy. It had been months since I last played! I got there around 1 and played til 3 or 3:30. I got a few other things done and then at 7 Mike and I went to a wrap party for the film short I worked on back in May. (I'm still not entirely sure why we had a wrap party over 3 months after we finished filming, but eh, whatever works, right?) That finished around 8:30 or so, and shortly after that we went dancing! They have country/swing dances in Provo every Wednesday and Saturday night and since we missed it on Wednesday, we decided to go tonight instead and it was a blast! I think Mike was a little leery about going at first, but by the end of the night he was having a blast. Plus, I don't know why he was so worried about it - he's a really fast learner! And, he can actually do the lifts without dropping me! So that is a definite bonus. He was pretty good at making up moves on the fly as well.

Karie and her friend Chad came too, so it was fun to see her there - and to finally meet the mysterious country dance friend I'd heard about but never actually met. haha. I forgot how much fun country/swing dancing is! Okay, maybe I didn't forget, but I am definitely happy to be back in Provo so I can actually go to these dances again! :)

I forgot to mention what happened to the kittens. We called the animal shelters here who told us that if we took them in, there was a 95% chance that they would die because they were too young to get the attention they needed (we found out that they were still so young that they needed to be bottle-fed every few hours). So we started calling friends who might want kittens and Mike eventually got a hold of his cousin who agreed to take care of them for the time being, and post them on KSL to find homes for them. I SO wish that I could keep one, but that would never work in the place I live. Drat.

(Oh, and last night I had a party to celebrate 'my return' to Provo. Considering how unfortunate the turnout is whenever I plan a party, I was quite pleased that about 15 or 20 people actually came! Zarah and Ashton came, as well as Mike Ulmer (my home teacher from last year), Verdon, Klark, their friend whose name I can't remember, Holly, Nate Hunter, Jameson and his girlfriend, Mike and his roommate/cousin Cameron, friend Trevor, and friend Krystal, Mimi and her boyfriend Mike, and if I forgot anyone, I am terribly sorry! Remember, I am backdating these posts so it has actually been a few weeks! :) But it actually turned out to be a pretty fun little shindig. We had a mean game of Apples to Apples going on too. haha. Gotta love that game... )

Kittens for Sale!

Wow, talk about an eventful day! I spent the first half of the day just working on unpacking and getting situated, and then Mike, Mimi, and her roommate Caitlin invited me to go to Seven Peaks with them. The funny thing? I lived in Provo for five years and never did manage to make it to Seven Peaks, so this was the first time I had ever been! And it was a blast! It reminded me a bit of Wet 'n Wild or Watermania from Florida. They even had a wave pool.

Afterwards, I went home to shower and change and as I was locking my front door to leave, this woman was walking by and said "oh my gosh! There are like 10 kittens in that bush!" So I looked underneath the bush and they were the most adorable things I have ever seen! There were actually only 6 - not 10, but this woman was going to call animal control. So Mike and I got a box and a blanket and rescued them! There was another slightly larger kitten in that bush too, but it was angry and VERY unfriendly, so we left that one. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up some kitten food. Mike had a bigger box at his place, so we transferred them to that one once we got back to his place.

We couldn't get them to eat anything, though. We tried a few different kinds of milk, and put some of the wet kitten food in the box too, but nothing. Mike is keeping them in his apartment for tonight, but neither of our places allow pets, so tomorrow we've got to figure out what to do with them!

Home Sweet Home

Well, I finally made it! I am back in Provo. And by the way, I absolutely LOVE my new place! I'll try to remember to take pictures once I get everything all set up and whatnot. The drive actually wasn't bad at all. I decided to be crazy and planned to leave around 6. I was close - I left at 6:20. But I wanted to leave that early so I could be sure to miss all of the early morning L.A. traffic. Plus, I wanted to make it back in time for the country dance tonight! I did the same thing I did when I drove out to L.A. in June - I listened to movies most of the way there. I "watched" Legally Blonde, Enchanted, and one or two others.

I like to do this weird thing of predicting the exact time I will arrive wherever it is that I'm going. So around 11 this morning I decided to predict that I would get to my new place today at 4:52. With that far in advance of a prediction, I'm usually 10 or so minutes off... but I couldn't believe it when I pulled into my new place and it was precisely 4:52! Heck yeah! Karie helped me unload the essentials, she and I chatted for a while, and then Mike came over around 5:30 or 6 to help me unload the bulk of my car (ie the heavy stuff). The original plan was to go dancing tonight, but I think both of us were too tired to go, so we went back to his place instead and made dinner and watched a movie.

And by the way, I absolutely LOVE that I am rooming with Karie! It for some reason used to be so hard to catch up with one another, and now all we have to do is walk up or down a flight of stairs! I also realized that I don't think I have ever roomed with someone I actually know so this is great! It's going to be a good year...

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Okay... for those of you who knew me last year, you knew how much I hated, nay, abhorred Provo. I talked all the time about how I couldn't wait to get out of there, and practically counted down the days to when I could finally escape from wretched Provo. Then, the day finally came: I got to leave! I was no longer bound by Provo, its rules, or the 'bubble'! I left in a hurry without looking back and vowed I would never again live in Provo. Even if I came back for work for a month here and there, I'd find a place in SLC. Provo was DONE. Fini. Finito.

I moved to L.A. with no hesitation and have loved it out here! I went to the beach 5 times in the span of 8 days last week! I went again today! I learned to surf, saw the sights, hiked the Hollywood sign, went to the YSA conference, worked on film shorts, promos, web series. I went to parties, networked, schmoozed. I made a ton of friends in the 2 main LA wards (LA1st and SM3) as well as my own ward (Westlake 2nd). And... I fell in love with California. Well, most things about it. (other than 10% sales tax, $3.20 gas, cost of living, etc)

So how on earth am I actually excited to go back to the place I once so deeply loathed? I have no idea! But it's true - I'm excited. I have missed all of my friends! Sure, I have made a ton of new ones here, but there are some people in Provo with whom I have been good friends since high school and miss seeing around all the time! And I have most definitely missed weekly swing dancing! I am so stoked for that. Oh how I've missed it. :P I'm going to get to Provo probably around 5pm tomorrow, and then promptly go swing dancing that night. YES! And Dave is going too, so he can teach me HOW to teach others instead of just being a marionette when he teaches! It was so frustrating at the YSA conference when I was trying to teach those guys how to dance and I couldn't remember the moves!!

Well, I guess I'm making the right choice in moving back if I am actually excited to move back. I honestly think that the biggest problem I had with Provo before was BYU housing and how anal everyone is about it. The whole "midnight curfew" thing drove me nuts. And it especially drove me nuts when a by-the-book roommate would come downstairs to kick all the guys out at 11:59 - when there was only 10 minutes left of the movie! Or vice versa, but you get the idea. But guess what! I'm not living in BYU housing so ha! I can do whatever the heck I want! :P

I have a feeling that Provo will be much more fun this time around... :)

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

WOW... talk about a roller coaster of a day! So, I woke up this morning in a relatively good mood. I started off the day right, talked to some friends on the phone, and continued my never-ending system of packing. I find it amusing that I actually have designated suitcases, bags, and boxes for my stuff - that's how often I move. My green suitcase: always for my clothes. Blue suitcase: leftover clothes that didn't fit in the green one, my hats, sweaters, and towels. Big red bag: all my shoes. Big gray bin #1: my shoeboxes that I use to organize everything (and my old-school caboodles, my card collection, and whatever else I can fit). You may not think that I am an organized person based upon initial entry of my room, but open my closet and you will see otherwise. I've also got my laptop case for fragiles, a small suitcase for odds and ends... suffice it to say: I move too much!

I got probably 1/2-3/4 of the way done packing and decided to take a break. I had to get the oil changed on my car anyway. So I went to this place in Calabasas that my friend recommended, and waited for that to be done. However... about 15 minutes later he came back out and said "ooh your tires are in SAD shape." I had told him earlier that I was driving out to Utah, so they did a complimentary safety check on everything, and my tires were really worrying the guy. He brought me out to where my car was and proceeded to point out the wear and tear on my tires, and how each tire is uniquely 'branded' so-to-speak, with the year and week of that year that the tire was made. My tires? Week 26 of 2001. Tires are supposed to be changed roughly every 3-5 years, and mine were 8 years old. He basically told me that he feared for my life if I drove this car to Utah with those tires.

One of my tires - it's bad quality though, because it was taken on my phone.

So of course, this is when my stress level skyrocketed. He calculated it out and told me that the cheapest he could get me would total to about $385. I definitely do not have that much extra cash just laying around... so I told him I was going to go home, try to figure things out, and possibly be back tomorrow. I called my parents up to ask their advice on what I should do, and if I should risk it or what. My mom started to worry at that point, and she said it would probably be a good idea to get new ones. They however, are very tight on money right now, and couldn't lend me the money.

So, I was back to square one: no money and in desperate need of new tires. I had kept it together pretty well up until this point, but I was on the verge of a meltdown. And remember, I don't cry much. Usually, I can't even remember the last time I cried. But I was supposed to be leaving for Utah on Wednesday, and there was no way I was going to come up with nearly $400 in the next two days. It just wasn't possible.

My grandparents (Kelley) live in Utah, so I called them up to tell them what was going on and as soon as my grandma said "what's wrong?" I fell apart. I was kind of mad at myself for falling apart because for some reason I guess I see crying as a 'sign of weakness' so I suck it up and tough it out most of the time. No one ever sees (or hears) me cry. But this whole tire thing just piqued my stress-level over the top. However, my grandparents are absolutely amazing and came to the rescue - they agreed to lend me the necessary money to get new tires for my car.

The Womacks then heard of my plight and gave me the name of their 'tire friend' and where he works and sent me there so I could get a 100% honest diagnosis as well as a good deal on tires if necessary. His name was Carey and he actually graduated from BYU once upon a time! He went and looked at my tires and said "well... you technically have maybe 20% left on those tires... so you could probably get back to Utah okay, but I would change them pretty soon after you get back." He asked how long I was going to be in Utah and I told him that it was up in the air at the moment - somewhere between 4-8 months. He said, "So you'll be there for the winter. These tires won't survive another winter." So long story short, it was decided that it would be best if I went ahead and got new tires now, just to be safe. I really don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere!

In the end, I got all four tires for $320 --> $65 less than the other place. Thank you Carey, and thank you Womacks. And thank you Grandma and Grandpa Kelley for lending me the money! I am SO glad I decided to get my oil changed today instead of tomorrow, so I still have time to get everything else taken care of before I leave on Wednesday morning! The only problem now is that I am majorly behind on packing! I better get back to it... but at least I have a car fully ready to make the 675-mile trip back to Provo!

A Nomad I Will Remain For Life...

So... there is a tidbit of news I have been failing to mention to those of you who read my blog. I didn't want to say anything in case something changed and until after all the details and everything were worked out. BUT, it is all set up, worked out, finalized, and ready to go now, so here it goes: I am temporarily moving back to Utah. Crazy, right? Makes no sense? Wrong. I will explain to you how I ended up deciding this and afterward, it will probably make a bit more sense.

Reason #1: I can't afford it. The plain and simple truth. Around April of last year, as May (when I originally planned on moving out here) was fast approaching, I realized that I didn't have enough money to make the move. I had a film lined up in Utah that was supposed to start in August/September, so I decided to postpone the L.A. move until that was done, sometime in October/November (rent in most BYU housing during summer is only $120 a month). BUT, then I felt incredibly strongly that I needed to move out here "NOW" so when 'now' happened, I moved out here pretty much with no money in my pockets. I lucked out and got to live at a former roommate's family's house for very cheap, but I didn't get much luck in finding paid work out here. (though I did make some great contacts this summer)

Reason #2: Housing. This sort of goes along with #1. I was originally planning on getting a place here and bouncing back and forth between here and Utah - depending on where I got work. However, as more and more work started lining up in Utah, I realized that I was going to have multiple full weeks where I was going to be in Utah... with no place. To top it off, each time I tried to go look at a place here, something would happen. Either I would have to reschedule, they would cancel, the place had already been sold, abnormally bad traffic would cause me to miss the appointment, etc. Now I realize, maybe it was because I wasn't supposed to find a place out here just yet.

So I decided to switch that plan around and be temporarily based in Utah instead, since rent there is about 1/3 of the price. Here, I was going to be lucky to find a small shared bedroom in a tiny apartment for about $500/mo (+ gas, electric, parking, etc). In Utah, I found this awesome townhouse with one of my best friends for $340 a month. Private room, private bath, 3 stories, 4 rooms, 3 girls, plenty of parking (free parking!). I had to buy a year contract, but I don't intend on staying there a full year. As of right now, I want to come back here in January - unless I get another film in Utah, and then I'll stay til April-ish. So I'll ultimately sell the rest of my contract.

The place Karie and I will be living. I love it!

Reason #3: Work. I have already made so many connections in Utah and can seem to find work a lot easier there at the moment. In Utah, I do sports broadcast as well, where I operate a camera and/or set up the audio for any and all sports productions. Those pay really well for a 1-2 day gig. I've already got three of those for September, with more around the corner because football season is about to start. Last year, I worked multiple BYU, Weber State, Utah State, and Idaho State games - both football and basketball. Also, HSM4 is supposed to be starting up relatively soon (it was supposed to start in September, so I would have gone back for 1-2 months anyway) and whenever that happens, I will need to be in Utah for roughly 4-6 weeks.

Reason #4: Non-union vs union. When I moved out here, I didn't entirely understand all the ins and outs of how to get into the union and why it is so crucial here to do so. I do now. And the problem I have discovered is that in L.A., there is a Catch-22. In order to make any sort of decent money, you have to join the union. But in order to join the union, you have to have 100 detailed and documented days of paid non-union work amounting in $50 or more per day. The catch? Almost everything out here non-union is VERY low budget and you are lucky to get paid anything - let alone $50. I worked 0 paid days in June, 11 days in July, and 0 in August. Less than 2 weeks per every 3 months... not so good. BUT... the entire state of Utah is a non-union state and everything done/worked there can be counted toward someone trying to get into a CA union. Yes, Utah's non-union work (which is PAID) can and will count towards my 100 required non-union days for L.A's sound union. So I can get most of my non-union days out there and then come back here and join the union almost right away!

Reason #5: I can't remember. I had 5 fabulous reasons all listed out for my friend yesterday when she and I were talking, but stupid facebook chat erases the first half of your conversation by the time you're done, so I don't remember what they all were. I guess just a bonus... I have a TON of friends who seem to all be graduating in either December or April, so this is all their last year at BYU. Meaning, after this year, I won't have many close friends left at BYU so it will be fun to see everyone and spend time together one last time/semester before we all go our separate ways for good.

Anyway, there you have it. I am temporarily moving back to Utah and have thus become a permanent nomad. Apparently I can only manage to stay in the same place for no longer than 3-4 months before moving again. I guess we'll see what happens, but I really feel like this is the best - and wisest - choice for me right now. As always, I will keep you posted.

Post title: partial quote by Isabelle Eberhardt from this website.

Crash Into Me

I love the beach. I forgot how much I loved it until I moved out here. Once upon a time, my family had a time share in Florida and we would go one week each year to Cocoa Beach. I remember those times very well, and have lots of fond memories of our trips there. My favorite was when my mom and I were walking along the beach at night, searching for sea shells. Mom would point and say "ooh there's a good one!" and then being the eager little 6-year-old that I was, I would happily run and retrieve the shell. However, one instance, I ran towards the shell she told me to go and collect and it promptly began running away! It turned out to be a crab. She thought it was hilarious. 6-year-old me...not so much. But it is still a funny memory nonetheless.

Anyway, Mike and I went to the beach today (4th time in one week!) and got all the way in the water. The original plan was to do some body surfing. However, these waves are much stronger (and colder!) than I ever remember any waves at Cocoa Beach! I'm pretty sure one of the waves almost swallowed me whole! There was a big one coming, so Mike told me to hold my breath and dive under the wave. It worked the first time, but the second time... not exactly! I guess I didn't dive deep enough and that wave totally owned me! I wasn't overly panicked or anything, but it still was kind of unnerving when I was running out of breath and couldn't make it to the top! But I am happy to report: I survived. :P

And by the way... I'll have you know that when I lived in Florida, I was relatively tan. I was out in the sun all day! (swim team). But almost the instant I moved to Virginia... yeah that definitely disappeared. And I have come to discover that if you are already tan, more sun will just tan you more (such was the case in Florida). But if you are white as white can be (what I am now), you burn, and you burn bad! Luckily, this time it was just my back that burned - I ran out of sunscreen... who actually runs out of sunscreen??
Anyway, the beach is awesome and I love it. :D

PS, these pictures are of Point Dume - the beach we went to.

Post title: song title from Dave Matthews Band.

Fresh Sushi!

So when I lived in Florida there was this huuuge billboard with some Asian guy cooking sushi and all it said in big letters was "FRESH SUSHI" and the name of the place in small letters somewhere. But every time I eat sushi, I think of that sign... and thus we have our title.

I did indeed have fresh sushi tonight! It was SO good! For those of you who don't know, about two years ago I developed a severe liking to sushi. I had even had a "sushi friend" in Provo whom I would go eat sushi with whenever the other was craving sushi. So, Mike found out that I like sushi, but that I'd never had "real" sushi (ie fresh). He is apparently a sushi connoisseur and has a "sushi budget" and says that whenever he's home he goes at least once a week. He was even buddies with the main chef at this place! Of course, I realized a bit too late that I should have been taking pictures of all the sushi we were eating... blast. I didn't think of it until our very last rolls, and they looked like the regular rolls. The others SO did not look like the 'regular' rolls, but they were actually quite good.

I'm used to the sushi that's in a roll, wrapped in seaweed and rice, but this sushi was like a slab of fish on top of rice, occasionally with some sort of sauce on top (it looks more like the ones in that first picture). We had 5 or 6 different kinds of this sushi (one piece each). We had tuna, yellow-tailed tuna (never heard of it), albacore, salmon, eel, and possibly one other. I can't remember - we had a lot. And then the chef said "ooh I know what she'd like" and made me this absolutely amazing plate of sushi that he called "Volcano" and it is apparently his own version of volcano, but it was so good! It was on a round plate with half slices of lemon all around the plate, and each cut of the roll face up, with some sort of tuna-ish stuff in an almost mush form on top of each piece, topped with various sauces drizzled all across the plate, and yeah... amazing. I wish I had taken a picture of that one because it looked just about as good as it tasted!

Then Mike has this weird sushi wrap thing. I can't remember what it was called, but it basically looked like an ice cream cone with sushi inside... and the cone was made of seaweed. It was cool looking and I *did* remember to take a picture of that one. After that we had one more, and it was more of a traditional looking roll (the only other one I got a picture of) and it was a dessert roll. I didn't know you could have a "dessert" roll with sushi, but now I know! It was like a sweet roll, but still with the salty stuff. I don't know how to explain it, but it was SO good! Had I not been so full from all the other sushi we had had, I would have eaten more of the dessert roll! Oh my goodness it was all so good though.

Mike and the chef were both surprised that I really did try everything that they put in front of me. But hey, I'll try just about anything once. I don't guarantee I'll like it, but I'll at least try it. (Oh, we had kimchi too, and I didn't like that.) I don't think I have ever been that full from sushi, but it was a good kind of full. I guess I am slowly working my way into liking all types of seafood, because none of it tasted gross to me today!

Chlorine Is My Perfume

I'm convinced that just about everyone in California has a hot tub. Most seem to have pools as well. I have been to some of the most AMAZING houses since I have moved out here. I wish I could have taken pictures of all the insanely massive houses I have been to for various reasons. The party I went to on Saturday night had this humongous built-in slide with their pool, and it was all landscaped around the slide and the pool so it practically blended in with everything else. It also had this massive almost outdoor kitchen area thing with just about every a normal kitchen would have, but more! Their backyard alone was bigger than my family's house.

The house that I went to tonight for FHE was equally as massive, and their pool had fountains shooting from either side of it, and the lights changed colors every 30 seconds!!! They had a 40 or 50 something inch flat screen TV outside in their patio area!!! With a 7.1 surround system installed into the ceiling too! Outside!!! And they had another couple flat screens that size inside the house as well...

I'm trying to go through all the houses I have been to thus far, and I really do think that each of them has had a pool and hot tub. It's insane! The family I am living with has one (and so does almost every single person on their entire block), each house that I have filmed at has had one, Mallory's house has one, any ward member's house I have been to has had one, the house we went to for the ward game night last night also had one, and afterwards, Mike and I went to his place and used the hot tub there! Seriously, everyone has one! It is so weird! Or I guess just different. In VA it was an anomaly if you had either, let alone both. But hey, pools and hot tubs are great! And the slides make it that much more exciting!

Post title: from http://www.quotegarden.com/swimming.html

Happily Ever After

Today was so much fun - I went to Mallory's reception!! Oh my goodness she looked absolutely *beautiful*!!! And I loved that she would still make goofy faces for the camera. I'm so happy for her and Aaron. And if you know me, I usually hate going to receptions. I don't know why, but I am just not a fan of them. I usually go for the minimal "hey congrats", call it good, and leave. But I stayed for almost the entire thing of Mallory's! It was just so much fun!! Definitely the most exciting reception I have ever been to.

David (best man), Emily (maid of honor), a few others, and I had an absolute blast decorating their car... muahaha. (I posted the whole album on facebook so if you want to see the full set of pictures, go there. But I'll include a few in here as well.) David came up with most of the phrases and he and I both messed up a time or two and had to figure out how to fix it with the way we had started writing whatever phrase it was. He started to write "Just Married" but he started to skip the "s" in "just" and started with the first line to the "t" and then gave me the marker to fix it and turn it into an 's'. It was great. And then he wanted to do the "first comes love, then comes marriage" thing, but we are retarded and couldn't remember how it went. He said "first comes... wait what comes first?" and I said "...marriage?" because it's what I was thinking about, since they had just gotten married! So then after David had written it, he looked at it and said "wait, oh shoot! Marisa we did it wrong!" But we found an open spot on the window to write "love" and then just added a lot of "..." instead. haha. And then as we were driving the car to the Gibbons' driveway, David had the bright idea to roll down the window to say something to one of the others who helped decorate the car... and in the process knocked off all of the stuff we'd put on that window. Emily nearly died in laughter when he did that... or at least I think that's why. Maybe it was because David and I were driving in the car that said "Just Married." haha.

I don't know why, but it seems that whenever he and I are in the same place, we are somehow put into situations like that. We both play volleyball so once, I invited him to play with me and my friends, and they thought he and I were dating. Or, before I moved to L.A., Mallory, Jewel, and I planned this big dinner thing... but then Martin and I broke up so I didn't have anyone to bring with me - so Mallory called David and told him to come. So it was two engaged couples and...me and David. But, it takes a whole heck of a lot for either of us to feel uncomfortable, so instead we just had fun with it. Same with today, driving in the 'just married' car. haha!

I can't believe Mallory and Aaron are finally married! And Jewel and Mike... and shoot, Jen and Mitch are already expecting a baby in a few months!! (Jen was my roommate Fall of last year, Jewel and Mallory were my roommates Fall and Winter semesters) Crazy!

Surf's Up!

Yes, I went surfing today! And it was awesome!!! I wish we had an underwater camera so I could have gotten pictures (ie proof) to show that I actually did stand up! It wasn’t for very long, but I did successfully stand up the last two times before we left!
I probably never would have just on my own decided “hey I think I’m going to go learn how to surf” because I have absolutely none of the necessary gear… but Mike conveniently had extra surfboards and wetsuits and knew the good 'beginner' places, so it worked out!

I was worried that the water was going to be absolutely freezing (because I have discovered in the last two months that the water here seems to always be cold - no matter what), but with the wetsuits it actually was great! My hands and feet were a bit cold, but the rest of me was nice and toasty. haha. It was almost sad how not educated I was on surfing. I had never even heard of 'surf wax' or surfboard wax or whatever it's called. I always wondered how people didn't fall off of their boards... Now I know. :P

In the beginning, Mike would tell me to start paddling and then would give me an extra push so I could actually catch the wave. We did that for the better portion of the time we were out there (2-3 hours), but the last few times I did it all on my own! I had a hard time balancing, so it took me most of the wave to actually stand up, but the last couple of times I did it, I successfully stood all the way up! It only lasted for about 5 seconds each time, but it was still cool!

We drove down the PCH on the way home and stopped at the Malibu sign because it was a great view, and took some pictures. The one of me I find quite amusing because it shows you how white I *really* am by comparing the color of my arms to the color of my legs. Apparently my legs need to get in the sun more often!

The Interview of all Interviews

You know, dating is like interviewing. The two of you meet up and each of you spends the evening interrogating the other to try and see if you would be the best for their ‘company.’ You are constantly taking mental note of what the other person says and have a subconscious tally system going on in your head. Too many strikes, and you already know there will only be need for just one interview. Any possibility of a 2nd interview has just been expunged. However, if they do well in their first round, round 2 becomes a necessity because you have found potential in said candidate, but are still waiting before you cast that final ballot.

Then, before the 2nd round of interviews, you seek the opinions and/or advice of your co-workers (ie friends) as to whether or not said person is right for the position. And oftentimes, these stated opinions of the person in question will heavily weigh upon you and influence your decision to either require a 3rd series of interviews for further inspection, or to conclude that you have obtained all the information you need, and that said person is not fully qualified for the job.

Every now and then, one may be lucky enough to obtain a ‘trial-position’ (a relationship), but upon further examination, it is concluded that a full-time position (marriage) with this company (your significant other) is not in your future. So on you go again, setting up interviews with new candidates, and continuously interviewing and being interviewed for the most important job of your life.

You however, have picked up a few tips and pointers from your last “trial-run” and have thus learned some definite “dos and don’ts” and try to implement these things upon entering a new set of interviews. Concurrently, you have also learned certain things said person must have in order to qualify for the position as well as things that are to be avoided at all costs. Thus begins a new stage of interviews for both you and the person in question. Both parties start with the basic drilling and then delve deeper as time permits. The cycle repeats itself.

I don’t know about you, but this cycle gets old after a while…
So, I have a new plan; one that will surely speed up the process. At the beginning of the interview procedure give your candidate a questionnaire with all the necessities listed in checklist form, from most important to least important. IE “Loves camping __” or “eats healthy __”, etc. While they are filling out your questionnaire, you are dutifully filling out theirs. Upon completion the two of you exchange, review, and decide. 1, 2, 3, done! Wouldn’t that just cut so much unnecessary interviewing? Instead of playing the delicate dancing game for weeks or months on end, just cut the crap and get to the point. Who’s with me!?

Three Places at Once

I need to be in 3 places at once on Saturday...and I can't figure out what to do. Yesterday I got offered a paid gig for this Saturday and I was so excited for it because it was another PAID gig. But after I'd already agreed to it, we were closing the conversation and the last thing he said was an ambiguous comment that alluded to "Pro Universal Healthcare." Now, whether you are for or against Universal Healthcare, that is your prerogative. I personally am VERY against it and yes, I have done my research on the matter so I am not 'following blindly.'

Later on in the day yesterday I discovered that this gig that I have for Saturday is this huge PSA (public service announcement) thing heavily supporting Universal Healthcare. Now, most political issues I am not avidly for or against, but this happens to be my current #1 issue. So all day I have been debating whether or not to do it, because I *did* technically agree to it, but in all fairness, he didn't tell me what it was for until we were hanging up.

Anyway, so I have been dealing with that and trying to decide what to do and then a friend of mine texts me and tells me that he's going to be in town this Saturday and has VIP tickets to Universal on Saturday and invites me to come with. I am SO game for that! However, less than 5 minutes later, I get a text from a very good friend of mine who is getting married this Saturday asking if I could help her with audio related stuff for her reception. The only catch is that she'd need me there at 2pm... which, even if I was able to get out of the PSA thing, it wouldn't leave much time at Universal. And neither of these two things are 'reschedule-able'... But neither of those will even be a possibility if I'm stuck doing this PSA thing... Bah! Why can't I just be in 3 places at once??!

P.S., I eventually decided to give the health care gig to someone else, the Universal thing fell through, and so I spent most of the afternoon at the Gibbons' house instead! It all worked out. :)

Summertime, and the Livin' is Easy

Okay where do I begin. Today was the start of the big California YSA conference and it has rocked thus far. It's funny to think that I wasn't even going to come until 3 days ago when I finally signed up. Remember how back in November I had that whole "new outlook on life" thing? I was doing fabulously at maintaining that outlook until a few months ago. I have since discovered that in dating someone, I became less social, and once I emerged on the single front again, my 'new outloook' had to somewhat be re-learned.

I, however, am proud to say that I have successfully regained that outlook and totally rocked it today. Each activity or 'workshop' I sat next to someone different. I ventured to various tables during lunch. I randomly started teaching people how to swing dance. I learned to salsa and tango with someone I met this afternoon.
I played badminton with complete strangers. I learned how to play bocce ball and how to sew a quilt. I scared my group by using my knife as scissors to cut the yarn. (hehe) I even participated in the pathetic form of 'speed dating' they had planned... although, I thought it was ridiculous and left after about 10 minutes. Oops! :P And I got a ride home with someone I met earlier that day! haha. But, this is the Mormon world we are talking about and it is a bit safer - especially when you are in the same ward and have a great deal of mutual friends already.

Yes, the 'social butterfly' has returned. During one of the workshops I sat in between these two guys named Rick and Russell. Rick and I are in the same ward and have been friends for about a month. Russell I met last night at the BBQ kickoff thing. By seeing my interactions with Rick, he thought that the two of us had known each other a really long time. He was quite surprised to discover that I'd only known Rick for about a month. He then said to me, "wow, you make friends really fast." But then later on, I was swing dancing with this guy named Paul and he asked me if Russell and I were dating! haha! I have absolutely no idea why he thought that, but I thought it was hilarious.

I ended up teaching 4 guys to swing dance by the end of the night. First was Paul, whom I technically met at Paulina's going away party (the one in Beverly Hills my second or third week here). He was a little slow to catch on, and eventually he gave up. Next was Russell and he had spaghetti arms and nearly dropped me a time or two. Then was my friend Russ (we were in the same ward in the Colony years ago) and we just had fun dancing to one of the few swing songs they actually played. Last was this guy Mike (the one who gave me a ride home). He actually was really good at picking up on the moves I was teaching him! I gained a bit more confidence in him than in the others, so I even successfully taught him a few lifts too! We did the can opener and he didn't drop me! haha. I discovered that I need Dave to help me remember most of the lifts that I know. I'm fabulous at following, but when it comes to teaching... let's just say that Dave was usually the one doing the teaching. :P

But yes, the conference rocked. I finally feel like I have returned. The old 'new me' is back!!!

Spontaneous...Conversation

So... apparently I am good at quickly making friends! Today was the 'kickoff' to this huge California YSA conference that they have been plugging hard core since before I moved here. We had this humongous BBQ/movie thing in the park behind the LA1st ward building and everyone in the entire L.A. Temple 'district' was invited. Needless to say, there were a LOT of people there! But, since I was already in L.A. for various reasons, I didn't carpool with anyone but instead just drove myself. Because of this, I knew that if I wanted anyone to talk with, I would have to just start talking with random people. So, that's exactly what I did.
I found a group standing around talking, so I just went up to them and started talking with them. Soon after, they started the food lines and after I got food, I looked around at everyone sitting on the grass until I spotted a group that I thought "hey, they look like fun" and went and sat next to them. Shortly thereafter, I discovered that these two guys (both named Matt) whom I was talking with are both huge fans of the show "Psych." I wasn't that into it until a few months ago but now I love it, and tonight just so happened to be the premiere for the new season. Long story short, I found out that they were having a Psych premiere party after the BBQ portion and they invited me to come watch it. Sweet! Throughout the night I met a bunch of random - but fun - people and had a blast just going up to a group of people I don't know and start talking with them. haha. I suppose that's why I'm relatively good at networking - I have no qualms about going up to strangers and striking up a conversation with them. I find myself in conversations with random people in lines all the time! I guess I'm just good at the spontaneous conversation!

Hell in a Hand Basket

Do you want to know the worst EVER production I have ever been a part of? I'm pretty sure today is the winner. Last night around 7:30pm I got a phone call asking if I could boom for them tomorrow - at 7am. Of course, tomorrow happened to be the one day of the week I had planned all of my errands. But... work is work, and you take what you can get, when you can get it. So I rearranged my entire schedule. I was already bummed about that, because I was supposed to look at all these different apartments in addition to going to lunch with a friend before she leaves for New York for 2 weeks. But hey, you never know what great connections you might make, right?

So, I went in with a good attitude excited for another day of work and another crew to network with. However, my first sign should have been the fact that NO ONE showed up until a half hour after call. I was raised that 'on time' was late and 'early' was on time, so I got there about 5 minutes to 7. Forty-five minutes after call, we finally caravan to the location. One of the first things I ask is "who is the mixer?" The girl supposedly in charge replies with, "Oh we don't have a mixer - we're plugging straight into camera." Great. I'm sorry, but plugging 'straight into camera' never sounds good. You have absolutely no control over anything!! Oh and by the way, thanks for mentioning the 'no mixer' tidbit last night. (note the sarcasm)

"It's only one day" I keep telling myself. So I suck it up and say "oh, alright - where's the boom pole?" She says, "oh I'll go get it" and proceeds to pull this pathetic excuse for a pole out of her car and hands it to me. ... are you kidding me? It was half of a STUDIO mic stand made for inside use only, within a recording studio! It folded in half, but bent in two if it wasn't held in just the right position.

While I'm inspecting this crap of a pole I notice that there's not even a place for a mic. So naturally, my next question is "Um... where am I supposed to put the mic?" I couldn't believe what happened next. This girl proceeds to get this HUGE strip of tape, place the mic at one end of this midget mic stand and TAPE the mic TO the stand. I'm sorry, but there is a REASON boom poles have a shock mount attached to the end of them! They are not there just for decoration or aesthetic pleasure. I am getting more and more frustrated by the minute and as I'm watching her tape this stupid mic to the "pole" I realize that no matter what the situation on set is, there is going to be absolutely NO way to adjust the mic. Why? Because it's TAPED.

Take away the 3 legs at the bottom and extend the other two pieces and you have my "boom pole" for the day. Ridiculous.

This is your typical most basic of boom kits, usually with a bigger boom pole than this one.
I didn't even have a windjammer today... and we were outside all day!!

She finishes her tape job and hands me back the 'pole.' Want to guess how long it was? 5 feet... MAYBE. To those of you who don't know an average boom pole size, absolute shortest is about 8 feet - and those are really hard to work with. So here I am, with a 5' makeshift "pole" and a mic taped to the end. Things couldn't get worse, right? WRONG. This girl then hands me the XLR cable... I kid you not, it was only 10' long. ...Right. A 10' XLR and I am tethered to camera. (absolute minimum is about 25').

Our first shot rolls around and I keep constantly getting told "move in closer." I... can't. I am tethered to the camera, with only 10' of 'wiggle room' and a 5' 'pole' that bends in half, remember? Did I mention that this is OUTSIDE next to a busy road, with airplanes overhead and lawnmowers running? And of course, don't forget the 4 barking dogs residing in the houses adjacent to the alley we are filming in... or the DP's big dog whom he brought with him to set.

At that point, I was seriously considering just walking off set. I have never in my life even considered doing that because you just don't do that. But when you aren't even given the supplies needed to do your job, what's the point? They could have pulled someone from the street to do my job with the crap of a set up they had! I was practically fuming inside and ready to rupture any second, so I stopped talking to anyone and everyone, and didn't make eye contact with a single person, because I didn't want to explode.

I started to get thirsty because we were, after all, outside. Even the lowest of low budget productions provide sufficient WATER. Apparently I was wrong. I have NEVER before been on a set that doesn't at least provide an ample supply of water! Oh and there was no craft service whatsoever. I'm sorry, but if you are giving of your time freely, for the cause of your production, the least you can do is provide water and a decent option of snacks.

Eventually they brought a big thing of coffee for everyone to share. Oh great. Just what I need - something I don't drink... Plus, at that point it was 10 or 11 and we'd been in the hot sun for a few hours. I'm not a coffee drinker so maybe I don't get it, but who would want a boiling hot drink outside in the heat in the middle of the day? And what drove me nuts was that I ALWAYS come to set with at least one full water bottle in my bag. But of course, today was the one day that I didn't because hey, even if they have nothing else, they will at least have water bottles... right?

The same girl who did an oh-so-lovely job of taping my boom mic finally came out with water... but they didn't even have the decency to buy us water bottles. It was in a 2-gallon container and we had to use the coffee cups for the water. ...and there were only about 8 coffee cups... and roughly 15 people. By the way... need a restroom? Drive to the Rite-Aid a mile up the street...

And then, just to top it off... you know that kid who is the epitome of annoying and has a constant chain of questions to ask you, and wants to get his hands on absolutely everything? Meet Hunter. This kid would not shut up the entire day. I mean, a question here and there is fine. I like it when people are interested in sound - it's fun. But not this.

This kid (who, might I add, was only 10 years old) would just NOT leave it alone! "Wow that's really cool - is it yours?" / "so can you hear like, everything?" / "how loud is it in your headphones?" / "can I listen on your headphones again?" / "can I hold the pole?" / "can I try?" / "how does it work?" / *shouts* "did you hear that?" /"why do you have to have that wire connected?" / "where did you get those headphones?" / ... you get the idea. I was at the pique of my impending explosion and was just trying to keep from erupting, and then this kid decides to take it upon himself to turn my living nightmare into a full-blown living hell.

I have never in my life had a day of work go by so slowly. And I have never felt so angry, frustrated, and under appreciated on a set, either. Oh, I forgot to mention... the director and I had a little chat about 2 hours into the day and I told him that I had never had to work in these conditions before and basically, that this was absolutely ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that I wasn't going to be able to get ANY clean sound.

Then, in an attempt to assuage me, he decided to tell me "I'm going to dub it all in post anyway." ...so... I'm standing here wasting my entire day why exactly?? In saying that, he basically implied that he had absolutely no use for me at all today. I was so ready to just pack up and walk off. I honestly don't know why I stayed. I guess just because I'm not the type of person who could hang someone out to dry like that. It's just not in me to do it. The person would probably have to be going against my beliefs or something in order for me to actually walk off.

Anyway, the day is over and I learned my lesson: ask questions before you agree to any gig. I didn't think I needed to because booming is pretty self-explanatory. But apparently not. So now I know to make sure that they have a mixer, a proper boom pole, and everything else necessary to make sound at least adequate. Hopefully, better gigs are around the corner...

Post title: early 20th century expression meaning "deteriorating rapidly or utterly."

Run For Your Life

Do you realize how lucky we are? That we are free to choose whom we marry, and that kidnappings are not common practice? I just watched this half hour special on BBC World News (I have a cool new widget that lets me stream it live) on the women in Chechnya and how they are kidnapped all the time and forced into marriages with the kidnapper. It also doesn't seem like much is ever done to stop it, either. And many of these kidnapped women don't even survive. Their bodies are later found dumped alongside a road or river, with a bullet to the head. Many of the surviving ones never even see their families again. And it's not like they are kidnapped in a dark alley late at night - most of the kidnappings occur in broad daylight with tons of witnesses... yet no one says anything-->not even the police!
How would you like to live in a country that does such awful things - with law enforcement who lets it happen! And if anyone tries to question it... this is what happens. Don't take for granted the blessings that you have. Be grateful for your freedoms. Life could be a whole lot worse.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

Why is it that hardly anyone can write (or speak, for that matter) proper grammar these days? Is it really that difficult? I was bored earlier today so I started taking one of those dumb quizzes on facebook. I had to stop after reading just the first question and its choices because it pained me at how grammatically incorrect it was!
The biggest culprit is "your" versus "you're." And it is probably the one that bothers me the most. How on earth could you mix the two up? They're not even the same word! "You're" is a contraction of "you" and "are". "Your" is possessive. Just as one would say "that is MY house", you would say "that is YOUR house." It drives me nuts when I get an email, text, etc., saying "YOUR welcome"!! A 'welcome' isn't something to be possessed... You wouldn't say 'MY welcome,' would you?

Number 2 biggest culprit: their, they're, and there. Again, 'their' is possessive. "That is their house." "They're" means they are. "They are house"? No, it doesn't work. "They're going to the house" would be a proper usage of the contraction. "There" is a location. "The house is over THERE." Is it really that difficult to differentiate amongst the three?

Number 3: THEN VS THAN. "Then" is in relation to a sequence of events, an "if/then" clause, or in comparison to present versus past. "First I studied, then I took the test" or "If I study, then I will do well on the test." "Than" is used in comparisons and contrasts. "I would so much rather eat THAN starve." If you write "I would so much rather eat then starve" you are no longer saying that you want one over the other, but are now implying that you want both - you want to eat, and afterwards, you want to starve.

Number 4: ITS versus IT'S. This one drives me nuts as well - and it's so simple! "Its" is possessive. "The dog is in its cage." It is his cage. "The dog is in it is cage" doesn't even make sense. "It's" is another contraction. It is a combination of "it" and "is". If you intended on writing "It is crazy", you would then use "It's crazy." If you leave out the apostrophe, you then imply an entirely different meaning.

Also, contrary to popular belief, it is not always correct to use the word "I" when combining it with another person. "John and I went to the store" is correct, yes. But "Do you want to come to the store with John and I?" is NOT correct. Take out 'John' and read it. Now it reads, "Do you want to come to the store with I?" Newsflash: no one says that. If you are ever unsure about this one, take the other people in question out of the sentence and include only yourself. Would you say "me" or "I"? It's really that simple.

And more than one CD or DVD does NOT include an apostrophe!! "CDs" and "DVDs" - no apostrophe needed!!! Including an apostrophe turns it into a possessive form rather than a basic plural form.
I could go on, but I am quite sure that you get the idea. What saddens me the most, though, is that usually the lack of knowledge on such simple grammatical rules is a result of poor teaching. I had an amazing English teacher in 8th grade whom I absolutely loathed at the time, but am incredibly grateful for and forever indebted to now. Her nickname amongst us was "The Grammar Nazi" because nearly every assignment we had somehow tied into grammar - we even had a separate text book entirely devoted to grammar, with separate grammar homework assignments almost every night, and a grammar test every Friday. What surprised me though, was that she was the only English teacher I ever had who taught proper grammar. I never had another teacher teach - or even review - even the most basic of rules. If teachers aren't teaching it, how will any of the future generations learn it??

Post title: punctuation/grammar book by Lynne Truss.

We Salute You

I just finished talking with a friend from high school who is now happily married and has a baby girl.  The catch?  Her husband is a Marine and currently deployed.  He has never even met his daughter.  And this is not my only friend in this situation.  An old friend's older brother didn't get to meet his own child until she was 8 months old.  I have friends in literally every branch of military.  Some are currently deployed, some are still in school, and others are somewhere in between.

One thing that bothers me to no end is the negativity of the media.  The only thing that seems to matter to them is the body count.  But what about the ones there right now, fighting to preserve OUR freedom?  What about all the good that they're doing?  And the reason they're there!  Why do we never hear about that?  We only hear when things get worse.  And for that, I hate the media.

Two years ago, a good friend of mine joined the Marines.  I grew to appreciate all branches of military much more because of this.  I found this website called Soldier's Angels where you can "adopt a soldier" and/or become part of the "LWT" (Letter Writing Team) for those currently deployed.  Not everyone has loved ones over here waiting and praying for them.  This program was designed to help give hope and encouragement to those who may not get it from their own family.  That whole summer (2007) I wrote 2-3 letters a week to different soldiers whom I had never met (and probably never will).  I let them know that though it may not seem like it, everyone back home appreciates what they are doing and to keep up the good work, etc.  If you have any extra time on your hands, I highly recommend becoming a part of this program.  It is great.

To all of you Marines and those in the Navy, Army, and Air Force; whether deployed or in the states, I salute you.  Your service and your work IS appreciated and we are all grateful for your decision to serve this beautiful country.  It is because of you that this country has been able to withstand all that has been brought before it.  Please, keep doing what you are doing, because you do make a difference... all of you.  God bless you, and God bless America.

Name That Tune!

Not that this was any sort of secret, but I am a film score nerd to the max. Not only could I list off numerous films for each of the 10 or 15 most popular composers, but I have quite frequently sat in a movie, heard a few measures of the score and thought, "That sounds just like Thomas Newman!" or whoever the composer may be. Or sometimes I'll think, "that sounds just like [insert film title here]!" Who does that!? Oh wait... I do.

I did that again today. My roommate started watching Finding Nemo, so I joined her. About halfway through the movie, a few measures of the score stuck out to me. I thought "that sounded exactly like the Meet Joe Black" soundtrack! Who did that one... Thomas Newman. Wait, he does Finding Nemo too!" I looked it up just to be sure and yep, he did indeed do both of them. Anyone who has seen Pirates of the Caribbean and Gladiator can most definitely do this comparison as well, because that one is the most blatantly obvious similarity I have ever heard. --because it's not just similar... it's identical. Most everyone seems to know the general Pirates of the Caribbean theme, so if you have a Gladiator soundtrack, go to the track "The Battle" and cue it to about 5:50. Voila, we have Pirates. The only difference is the very last note - it goes up whereas in Pirates, it goes down. Of course, those are both by Hans Zimmer.

It's pretty easy to tell if it's a John Williams score, too. Yes, he is a musical genius when it comes to film scores, but he reuses pieces of themes all over the place and after hearing enough of his scores, you are able to recognize other ones. Same goes for John Powell. Most people don't know who he is, but he does a lot of action movies such as the Bourne movies, Italian Job, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, etc. (but has also done ones like Shrek, Ice Age, and Happy Feet). At least with the action movies, it has become pretty easy to tell if it's John Powell-ish or not.

There are also quite frequently composers and directors who work together on almost every movie. For example, M. Night Shyamalan and James Newton Howard. Howard has scored every single one of Shyamalan's movies. Or Danny Elfman (composer) with Tim Burton (director). Or the infamous Steven Spielberg and John Williams. Or Randy (and sometimes Thomas) Newman with any Pixar movie. Or since I just found this list of pretty much all the ones who work together, here you go.

There is one anomaly, however, that I cannot explain. And I didn't exactly take note to which movies and where in the movies they occurred, but in three Sandra Bullock movies now (if not 4), I have heard the same 8-bar (ish) 'theme' somewhere within the movie. The first time I heard it was in Two Weeks Notice. I love that soundtrack, so I became familiar enough with the music to recognize it elsewhere. That is the only one I know the actual track name for. "George's Speech" at about 1:55. I also heard it in The Proposal (I think it was that one), and the other movie(s) I can't remember...I want to say one of them was in Miss Congeniality 2 and the other might be The Lakehouse... but I could be wrong. In any event, I found it odd that that 4-8 bar theme randomly pops into a lot of Sandra Bullock's movies! And they're not even composed by the same people. Weird, huh? Then again, I am probably the only person in the world who has even noticed this. Oh well - I can't help it! Like I said... I am a film score nerd. Need I say more?