Monday, October 31, 2005

Halloween on Santa Monica Boulevard

Monday, the 31st-Daryl and I decided to go to the parade in West Hollywood so we dressed up in black, Daryl put on a long haired wig, and I put on high heeled shoes (BIG MISTAKE). We parked about 5 blocks away and when we got to the action at around 8p we saw three guys dressed up like hurricanes. Then later on we saw two guys dressed up like two halves of a house holding up signs that said, "Where's FEMA?" and "SOS". Now that was pretty original. We saw a group of people on stilts and in costume, most notably a man dressed up like the devil. Imagine a guy in red body paint, with horns on his head, some sharp teeth and on stilts and it's pretty cool to see. I wish I could have taken pictures but we forgot the camera. I was running around handing out candy to all the kids I could see with bags, because we bought two large bags of Snickers and I wanted to get rid of them. Christian was dressed up like a pirate, complete with missing teeth, a scar, and loads of mascara. Carmelina, his make-up artist girlfriend was dressed up like a snow queen/snow fairy. Seriously cool. But by then it was really crowded, my feet were killing me and I was hungry so we left to go to our car, which took forever because I had to keep stopping to rest my feet. Eventually Daryl just ran ahead and got it and picked me up. Then we went to eat at Swingers where there were quite a few people in costume. We realized we had been walking around for around four and a half hours. Boy, did we get a workout.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Happy B-day Mo!

Saturday, the 29th-Actually Mo's birthday was Thursday, but I was working so we moved our dinner to Saturday. We got a little mixed up about the time, so she actually came to our place and we went to El Coyote on Beverly. It was a great Mexican restaurant that was heavily decorated for Halloween. They had a huge diorama of Halloween figurines, like a haunted house that has a witch flying around the top and a monster carting off blood into house for the vampires. They also had a disco for skeletons. So Much Fun! And in the restaurant there were quite a few people there who were dressed in costume. Two that I remember were a man and woman in military outfits with nametags that read, "Don't Ask" and "Don't Tell". Terrific.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Halloween at Disney






Friday, the 28th-I love Disney. When I got into work, the first thing I saw was a pumpkin on the desk. There was a pumpkin decorating contest for the floor and you had 2 and 1/2 hours to decorate the pumpkin using only the materials in your office and without carving or cutting into the pumpkin. One of the clients got so involved in helping me with my pumpkin that she didn't want to work. I opened up a VHS tape and used the tape to create a mummified pumpkin and used the reels to create Mickey ears. This took about 1/2 hour. Adam, who works there as well, just covered his up with sticky notes so that he could bring home the pumpkin to his girlfriend unscathed. (I took Kyle's pumpkin, the guy I was substituting for.) It was so much fun. I can't believe they're paying me to be here. And, they had a party and brought in food so I also had a free lunch. And it was Mexican, so I could eat it. I was so thrilled. I didn't win, but I got to keep my pumpkin which was awesome.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Audio Mechanics

Wednesday, the 26th-Daryl went up to Audio Mechanics today to learn more about the programs they use. I accompanied him so that I could pick up my check. But the temp agency that I signed up with hadn't gotten my timesheet so I had to pick it up later in the week. Darn. And we could have used the money earlier. But I hung around with Daryl and we ate at PF CHANGS which is a Chinese restuarant that has a gluten free menu. I loved it. (I hadn't eaten Chinese food since I stopped eating gluten last year. It was fantastic.) I also got to see the rooms where Daryl is going to work, which were sleek and comfortable. They had a full working kitchen there and the first thing I thought of was that they could bake cookies there for the holidays. Then, while I was there I got word from the Disney people that they needed help for Thursday and Friday and was I available. Duh, yeah! So, yay, I have more work from the nice place that pays me lots of money. Daryl got so involved with the work that he didn't know that it was 6:30p. I had to remind him that it was now dark out and that I was hungry. But at least he drove.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Mo and the Groundlings

Sunday, the 23rd-Today was Mo's show at the Groundlings. I was very impressed by the quality of the sketches. All of the people in the show were very, very entertaining. For all of you that weren't able to attend, Mo's monologue got the loudest applause of the evening and I can say that it was well deserved. Plus, I'm pretty sure that her monologue had more profanity than any other sketch or monologue of the show. That may have been a factor, but she was terrifically committed and really nailed the character. Is it any wonder that she got the call that she advanced to the next level? I think not. She was a shoe-in. Afterwards we hung out with her and her fellow castmates and chatted about the show. They were all nervous about whether or not they were going to get in, but I think they should have been happy with the show which was a great success. We met Sammi and her boyfriend, who also acts and had acted in some soaps, some of which I had downloaded for Disney the week before. I mention them because when we saw VERONICA MARS we saw Sammi playing a teenager. Fun! Then Mo had dinner with us up in Hollywood (I drove because Daryl insisted.) at one of the cheapest Thai restaurants I've ever been to. It's funny we had to drive back so that Mo could go to a rehearsal for another show. Man, this girl is busy!

Friday, October 21, 2005

JOBS! and Working at Disney

Friday, the 21st-Now that Daryl is back in town, I am happier. I also got a week-long gig at Disney in their Media Lab, which is sort of a jerry-rigged place for getting stuff onto the web, cds, or internal dvds. The people there were extremely nice and I could totally see working there again. Plus, I was actually getting paid a normal rate. I love getting paid. Disney is now my friend. Daryl insisted that I drive there and back, which is around an hour-long drive. I got lost every day except Thursday and Friday and on Thursday I almost got into an accident because I realized at the last second to turn right instead of going straight. Whoops. And on Friday the traffic was so bad it took me 90 minutes to get home. The traffic jam was caused by the crowds of people going to the Hollywood Bowl to see Gwen Stefani and The Black-Eyed Peas. The only thing that made that ride bearable was the fact that I had Queen's Greatest Hits playing in the background. How can you be angry when Freddie Mercury is singing, I ask you? But I had a seriously terrible shoulder/neck ache from the stress of driving. Oh, and I found out that I could eat the BLATT Lettuce wrap in the deli on the first floor. (Bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato, turkey wrapped in lettuce with ranch dressing. Anything with bacon has got to be good.)

In other news, Daryl finally got word back from Audio Mechanics. He's going to be working there restoring music and sound effects to old movies and getting a regular paycheck for it, with health insurance. Yay! The only con to this is that he's going to be working nights so we can't car pool. But I'm just glad he's working and I hope he gets to work days soon. He's not going to start for a while, so this month is going to be difficult for paying the bills, but I hope that by next month we'll have enough so that I won't have to go through the humiliating practice of asking for money from my parents, who have become increasingly tight-fisted and annoyed with my constant asking. But we haven't got the checks yet so this weekend I must again ask for money.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Carless in LA

Just a quick note, LA is not made for the carless. I walked to and from the grocery store twice in one week and it was a long walk. Good thing Christian's place is right in between. I could go there and take a rest and drink some water.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Sadness

Friday, the 7th-Daryl left for SF. I am alone and without a car. I miss him.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST

Thursday, the 6th-Happy B-Day Mary Anne! Today I was determined to see Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. But I had a terrible allergy attack and was miserable almost all day. I think it started when I cleaned the floors. I was sniffly and my eyes were tearing up. By the time I was done, I had used up a box of tissues and a number of paper towels. We rushed to the screening in Santa Monica at the Aero Theater and I grabbed a bunch of napkins at a nearby coffee shop to use to blow my nose because the full packet of tissues in my purse were completely used up on the ride over. (I threw up in the car from coughing so much. This is how bad it was.) When we got into the movie theater I grabbed another handful of napkins from the concessions stand. Imagine sniffing and getting nowhere with it and then having a runny nose that you just cannot control and that is what I was dealing with for most of the evening. I rummaged through my purse and found a ZYRTEC from a long, long time ago and took it when the movie started. It took an hour before it took effect and by the end of the movie I had used up all of my napkins. I was determined to see this movie. The movie is great. Long lingering shots of people's eyes, terrific action sequences, and some of the funniest lines from Jason Robards ever. And Charles Bronson is terrific doing an "imitation" of Clint Eastwood. He doesn't even have a name. People call him Harmonica because he plays it in the movie. And Henry Fonda plays a villian! How could it not be great? I even made Daryl stay another day so that he could see it with me. I recommend it to all.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

SERENITY

Saturday, the 1st-Daryl and I have not been to the movies in a while so that we could save some money. But we went to see the movie SERENITY because I was such a fan of the TV show. It was great and it got tons of good reviews. But I still think it'll have to take a lot of people before they can do a series of sequels. Plus, one of my favorite characters dies and that just broke my heart. If you like, sci-fi, Joss Whedon shows, and witty writing, then you'll like SERENITY.