Coffee Shop Tuesday... with a twist

... and the twist was... (drumroll, please):

Long Island Iced Teas!

Watching Monday night prime time television!

A trip to Best Buy!

Pizza!

No coffee shop!

None of which are regular Coffee Shop Tuesday occurrences, I'll have you know. 

Hey, it wasn't our fault all the Starbucks we tried were packed.

Jenn-ay Day

She turned 24 successfully. Hooray for Jenn-ay!

And then she told us she didn't wish for anything. Oh, Jenn-ay.

I don't think she gets how birthday candles work.

Weekend Goals

'Cuz we're all about the goals around here lately. I feel.

1) Finish Sonia's rockin' bridal shower games.

2) Make Sonia's bridal shower the best party ever.

3) Write 5,000 words. (That's right. I went there.)

4) Organize/purge filing system.

5) Go to Saturday night church.

6) Sleep in Sunday morning.

7) Go to the library Sunday afternoon.

8) Steal Jenna's bike and go riding Sunday evening.

9) Back up CF card. (My 4 gig card if full!)

10) Work on Jenna's birthday pictures. (But no promises, Jenn-ay.)

RIP Keyboard

My keyboard is dying.

(Cue mournful music.)

The last two days, it just hasn't been able to keep up with my 80 wmp expectations. Not like it once did, as a young, spry keyboard of years past. 

Now, I know it's unhealthy to immediately replace pets when they die, but let's face it: I'm gonna need a keyboard that types more than one letter every five seconds. So I've already run out to Office Depot for a new one.

I know what you're thinking. It's not even dead yet. Show some compassion, girl!

(The new one is pretty. And shiny. And new. All of which are factors that equal happiness for Jordan.)

I think the old keyboard knows. I think it can feel the stares of the new, superior keyboard as it sits patiently on the corner of my desk... waiting... calculating.

Poor, old keyboard. I can feel it trying harder, but it just doesn't have the juice anymore. 

Don't worry, faithful keyboard; you'll get a proper and respectful burial.

(These days, Fridays are kind of slow at work. Thank you for bearing with me in the only excitement to happen today. And, of course, joining in the grieving process.)

Of television and coffee shops

My Monday on set went well. Got there early enough to go through the line quickly, had some yummy breakfast, and got quite a bit of reading done before we even started working. Things got interesting when we were lined up in groups of 16 and assigned a "counselor." And then the A.D. just had a blast making as many references to summer camp as he could come up with.

My team was the Bravo squad, in case anyone was wondering. And we were the best team.

So the whole scenario yesterday was that a pilot currently filming in L.A. needed footage of a full stadium, hence our meeting at Petco Park. For about four hours we basically ran from section to section, filling the place up slowly but surely. Somehow the cameras will be able to piece it all together to show a full stadum, which absolutely amazes me, because there were a total of only 150 background used.

It may sound boring (and tiring), but it was actually pretty amusing. The A.D.'s and assistant A.D.'s kept reminding us to mingle with different people, don't sit with the same person from the last shot, etc. They yelled at us to think of it as speed dating, to get out there and make new friends, occasionally shouting, "Hey, this guy's got no friends! Who's going to befriend this guy!"

I met some new people, sat with some kids I remember from the Ex List, ran into a guy named Paul who'd apparently been on set a lot with me, but we'd never run into each other. Then I sat next to this one guy who happened to catch me discreetly trying to get a picture of myself with the rest of the stadium and people behind me (to send to Andy with a "Wish you were here!" sentiment). We struck up a conversation about Rent since it was just here, and we eventually ran out of conversation, and I went back to my book.

I could see he wanted to keep the conversation going, but he wasn't saying anything, so I kept reading.

Then he spoke up.

"Have you ever heard of Spring Awakening?"

Bam! That was my book hitting the concrete and sliding down to the next row. Conversation on! Sadly, we had only a minute and a half to discuss the amazingness that is Spring Awakening, before we were on to our next "speed dates."

Four hours, 65 pages, and hundreds of steps later, the first A.D. yelled "Wrapped!" Everyone cheered and booked it for the exit. With 150 people working that day, check out could take up to an hour and a half. 

Luckily (and possibly selfishly), I'm okay with speed walking to the front of the group, and New Friend Paul and I made it out of there as number 3 and number 4 to exit. Then we slapped high five and headed to our respective cars. It was a good day.

I didn't realize how exhausted, hungry, and, apparently, dehydrated I was until halfway to Andy and Ryan's apartment. Stopped and got a Subway sandwich and some water, crashed on their couch with more water, and contentedly watched Jeapordy and NCIS for three hours with Andy, while intermittently falling in and out of a nap. What a great afternoon.

After that we went to Andy's going-away-for-a-month party at Chevy's ($3 margaritas at happy hour!), then back to the guys' place to meet Chris for How I Met Your Mother. Then a couple episodes of Lost which they want to hook me on, and I'm finally succumbing to since everyone and their mother watches it.

And now it's Tuesday night and the OSF and I are at the usual Starbucks haunt. I got my 1,000 words done early enough to mess around on facebook and Word Challenge it up. Don't know what he's doing, but I'm sure he's being equally productive. :)

Fun day ahead...

I'm working as background tomorrow, for the first time in 2009. We'll be on location at Petco Park, and I'm excited to see some old faces that I got to know last year on the Ex List. Hopefully the old gang managed to get the call. 

I'm bummed Andy won't be there, but it's non-union only tomorrow, and that guy's been SAG for years. Seriously bummed he won't be around. Who will get me cokes when I'm desperate for a caffeine fix? Who will let me read the sides and let me know what time the A.D. thinks we'll get wrapped? 

I'm gonna miss that kid.

For some fun stories from set last year, check out here, here, here, here, and here.

Fridays at Midnight

So, while at Disneyland last weekend, Ryan came up with a new idea called Friday at Midnight. Basically, each month, we do something fun at midnight. This first weekend was supposed to be bowling, but we didn't have a good sized crowd, and I made the mistake of mentioning it might be more fun to stay and play Halo. Which we did for a couple of hours. But then we wanted to go out and actually do something for our first Friday at Midnight.

Ryan suggested the Studio Diner for food. 

The Studio Diner, for those of who who do not know, is the little restaurant that is half on the Stu Segall lot, and half on the public street. It's open to everyone, but was built with the intent for the crew to have a close place to grab food at all hours of the day or night. The Studio Diner is open 24 hours, and the inside is made to look just like you're filming on set.  And the food is pretty yummy. Ryan and I had breakfast at 2a.m. (with amazing toast, btw), and Chris opted for some kind of burger and fries combo.

The picture of the day is the guys, at the studio diner, playing Texas Hold 'Em with miscellaneous cards in their wallets. Silly boys. 

Definitely a fun first Friday at Midnight, and I'm sure we'll be stopping by the Studio Diner more often.

I vow...

... to completely update the last week and a half on my blog tonight or die (er, fall asleep) trying!

Hot Carrots

My boss' favorite restaurant is Tio Leo's, and he likes it when we're able to schedule him for lunch appointments there. Pretty much all the usual clients know lunch dates will be there, but no one seems to mind; it's pretty excellent Mexican food. He always takes us there for birthday lunches, too, so Heather and I get to go for a good meal every March 12 and August 8. 

Another reason we purposely schedule lunch appointments there is because he almost always brings us back a bucket of Tio Leo's yummy hot carrots. Heather's pretty serious about splitting the bucket evenly, but I just like knowing we've got a delicious snack in the fridge. :) 

He brought this batch back with him today. Yum.

New Hat

I've rediscovered my childhood love for hats.

Perfect timing, too. Because I read once that writers spark creativity when they have something on their heads. I know, sounds sketchy, right? But writers claim it works. One writer said when she was stuck trying to figure out where to take her story, she would balance a beanie baby on her head, and voila! The pages would practically write themselves.

Fortunately for me, I have around 100 of those bean bag animals stored away under my old bed back home. Just in case it comes to that.

But for now I think I'll stick with the hat.

This tip came to me at Coffeeshop Tuesday this past week. I had grabbed Britt's hat on the way out the door (because it just felt like a hat day), and as I sat in Starbucks, I realized the hat really helped me block out everything else going on around me. Since I could only see what was directly in front of me, I wasn't distracted by all the movement around me. The OSF was even able to sneak up on me, although I didn't tell him that. Don't want him to think I'm easy to sneak up on.

So today, when I went to Target to drop off a prescription, and the accessories section beckoned me closer, I decided to stop by the hats. And wouldn't you know, I found a great little hat on clearance for six bucks. It is now my lucky hat, because I've found that the cheaper clothes come, the better they serve my purposes. (For instance, the Best Jeans Ever that I found for $4 on the clearance rack and lasted me for years and years, until a certain roommate, Britt, borrowed and left in Mexico. Errrrrr....)

Amended: It is my lucky writing hat. I shall wear it whenever I'm working on my 1,000 words a day goal. And it will help me achieve that goal. 

I believe in this hat.

New hat, you and I are in for some fun times.

Tuesday Blessings

**Finding a forgotten package of chocolate chip cookies in the fridge at work.

**Getting to talk with good friend Jeremy all the way from Benin via Facebook chat. (With a reassurance that he's safe and sound over there.)

**Friends who like to hang at the coffee shop.

I'm so blessed. :)

Disneyland, woot!

Well, Sunday at Disneyland was supposed to be another photo shoot day, but Ryan's camera was locked up at UPS over the weekend. So I took my new lens to play with and gave Andy my old A70 to convince the film lover how cool digital cameras are. I think we proved it quite well, as he had a lot of fun pulling out the camera he was carrying around in a little camo pouch tied around his waist. :)

Britt and Alicia took off early for work the next morning, but Ryan and Andy and I stayed for fireworks and Fantasmic. As we stood on Main Street watching the fireworks begin, the dad behind us kept wowing at each new spark that went off. And all I could think was, "Dude, wait until the Haunted Mansion shout out fireworks go off." I've seen the fireworks five or six times, and they always amaze me, but it was a little extra special to be right in front of someone who couldn't hide their awe as they watched it for the first time.

I also went on the Tower of Terror this time around, my first ride on it since the first time Brittany and I went to Disneyland with Ryan and Andy, and I let the two of them convince me to go on it with them. In memory of that special day, I went with them again, and you know what? It wasn't as bad as I remembered it. I think I'll even go on it from now on. (But don't hold me to that.) As long as I have Ryan and Andy to hold onto for dear life, I think I'll survive it again soon. :)

No Day But Today

So, I deliberated quite a bit before deciding to go see Rent, but I'm glad I did. Something like that should be experienced at least once in a lifetime. I feel. But really, I mostly went to see Anthony Rapp. And the whole time, I just couldn't disassociate him from Charlie Brown! (Because he was an amazing Charlie Brown.)

Anyway, I was a little more impressed with the actual stage production than the movie (which I did not care for at all). But I'm still a bit hesitant about the whole phenomenon of Rent. What made it so amazing that it revolutionized theater? Why are there so many Rent heads out there? Why does it speak to some people and not others?

(PS: These are all questions I know people ask about Spring Awakening, which is why I'm willing to accept those people who absolutely adore Rent, though I myself am not as appreciative.)

However, my opinions may be changing; I Netflixed the live stage version that was filmed before it closed on Broadway last year, and Ryan and I watched it on Wednesday night. It was much better seeing it up close like that and being able to properly hear the songs. In fact, I'm watching it again right now to hear the songs.

And I'll admit it, Ryan's right: the soundtrack is pretty good. I've had a myriad of those choruses stuck in my head all week.

(But the soundtrack's still not as good as Spring Awakening's.)

Today's Goals

~Finish up all weekend email

~Return Neil's call about Youth Venture snack shop money

~Upload Disneyland and Rent pictures

~Play Halo with the Youth Venture kids :)

~Go running

~Clean my room (how, oh, how did it get so disastrous over the weekend?... Oh, right, I was barely home except to run upstairs, throw some things around, and run back out.)

~Write 1,000 words

~Blog updates about Disneyland and Rent

~Finish registering at Palomar 

Break Time

Time to take a little break from this busy weekend. 

My sister's over here right now. She took her SAT's this morning, and wanted to come here after "so I could finally see High School Musical 3." Ah, she's a cute kid. I like that she wants to come hang out here after a stressful morning. Makes me feel like I'm doing a good job in the big sis department.

Sidenote: Can't believe my baby sister is 18. 

(She's still 10 in my book.)

So we're chilling here, watching the movie, doing some laundry, and generally enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon. 

Last night we went to the free Rascal Flatt's concert.... Meaning, we went to a park on a hill and listened in. It was fun, but freezing! Can't wait to try that again in the summertime. The sound wasn't all that great, but Chris and Ryan swear it's usually pretty fantastic.

Tonight we're seeing the national tour of Rent. I'm not sold on Rent so far. I watched the movie this week and was not impressed, but of course the movie can't be as good as the stage version. So I have hopes that it can still wow me. If not, I still have Spring Awakening to amaze me again and again.

And tomorrow's another photo shoot at Disneyland. We need to come up with a theme for this one soon. Last time it was Gap Day. Anyone have any fun ideas for this time around?

Another sidenote: Someone told me last night that I was a difficult person to please. Which is shocking, because I've always felt I have a very accommodating personality..... Guess I'll have to work on that.  ; )

Joaquin Sedillo commented on my video!

Alternative title: Things I learned about Andy yesterday

1) Andy is a Lord of the Rings nerd

a)All three extended version DVD's? Check

b)Aragorn action figure? Check

c)Can recite obscure LotR quotes at random? Check

d)Has a replica of the ONE ring? Check

2) Andy's dad is a pediatrician and Andy seems knowledgeable on the process of childbirth.

3) Andy is a middle child.

4) Andy can put away quite a bit of alcohol in a two hour time span.

5) Andy will do a lot for $5

Exhibit A:

6) Andy has a very generous heart; he then used that five bucks to buy us cokes.

That Andy. He sure is a character.

And Joaquin Sedillo made a comment on the facebook version of this video! Woot!

Yearbooks

So right now Jenna's in my room and we're looking through college yearbooks. Lots of good memories in those yearbooks. Good people. I can't help but see some of these old friends/acquaintances/sworn enemies and think, "Man, we shared some crazy experiences."

For example: 

Brian White: He helped me get a mattress off my truck once. 

Or Brent Bowen: We ran into a wild buffalo together. And lived to tell the tale.

How about Tim Askew? That's the Tim from the previous bee story. He's also one of the first people I remember back in freshman year. We suffered through honors English together (quite an experience, let me tell you). 

Sara Dillon: She and her husband ended up living in the same complex as us senior year; they kidnapped me from my graduation party to go back to their house and watch Veronica Mars. And I loved them for it.

Tim Addenbrooke: We were ultimate frisbee captains of rivaling (and sometimes violent) teams together.

And, Nick and Eden Morlet: They got thrown into a car with me, Jenna, and Katie on a trip to Disneyland. And we were all no holds barred best friends within five minutes.

And, of course, my beloved roommate Jenna. We used to make a game of stealing toilet paper from the AGO house. Man, that always riled those boys up. Once, they chased us all the way back to our apartment in El Cajon and we barely made it inside to lock the doors and windows.

Such wonderful college years.

A good verse: Job 23:10

But He knows the way that I take; 

when he has tested me, 

I will come forth as gold.

Reminds me of a camp devotion from summers long ago. 7:40am. All of us at Oak Rock. Blankets and Bibles out. Our director sits on the table before all of us and shares a verse like this. It's very peaceful at 7:40am.

I miss camp devotions.

Mystery Solved (With a Bonus Confession)

So I had to change my Saturday Goals to Weekend Goals, but I was able to get everything done (minus the 1,000 words) and even had time to do the following:

* Go on a photo outing to Coronado with Britt, Ryan, and Boy Jordan. Took around 50 pictures. Not bad for me, really. Considering last week there were 170 freakin' pictures to go through...

* Have pie date night with Andy and Ryan, complete with watching a movie in the dark. It was sooooooo romantic!

* Played Halo with Andy until 1:30 in the morning. He beat me, but only because we're playing Halo 3. He'll get his when I get my hands on Halo 2 again.

* Went to Kearny Mesa to try on my dress for Sonia's wedding. It's super cute, in case anyone was wondering. That roommate of mine has good taste.

* Sunbathed by the pool for the first time this year.

* Caught up with Jenna on the various things we did this weekend. She was very impressed with my overall productivity.

Now, for the mystery and confession.

The confession is that I am deathly afraid of bees. Most of you who have spent any time with me know this is a truth fact. I've never been stung, but I have been half stung on three different occasions. How do you get "half stung", you ask? When the stinger doesn't quite make it from the bee to embedded in your skin. For example:

1) When I was nine I sat down in the grassy area at school and jumped back up when I felt a prick on my leg. I'd sat on a bee, and he'd tried to get me but failed to execute all the way. Nice try, Bee #1.

2) When I was a junior in college, a bee somehow found it's way into my car when I was coming home from class. (That, by the way, is my biggest worry concerning bees- that they'll come into my car to get me, and they have done so twice now.) I didn't know it was there until I felt the prick on my sleeve covered arm and Bee #2 started buzzing to make his presence known. Stinger was either stuck on my sleeve or the bee managed to keep it; I never did find out.

3) During a game of barefoot ultimate frisbee I stepped on Bee #3. Bee #3 was successful in embedding his stinger in my foot. However, I happened to step on him just right so that (and this might be gross to some of you, so be prepared) the stinger somehow only threaded my skin instead of puncturing it, so the poison never actually got under my skin. 

As you can see, the bees are clearly out to get me.

And here's where the mystery comes in. 

A year after the incident with Bee #2, a second bee had the audacity to fly in my car window and land on my knee while I was driving. I was stuck at a red light and trying not to hyperventilate when two things happened: the light turned green and the bee dropped to my feet. I made my turn and pulled over on the side of the road, jumped out, and immediately started flipping through names on my phone to see which one of my friends might be close enough to save me from the bee in my car.

Luckily, I'd only made it a block away from school and my good buddy Tim was not only in the library at that moment, but willing to jog down to be my knight in shining armor. With only minimal mocking, I might add. 

So Tim searched my car, even stuck his hands under the seats and did a sweep to try to scare the bee out, but he couldn't find anything. And we couldn't hear the buzzing anymore, so Tim concluded it must have flown out while he was on his way.

Uh-uh. I'd been watching for that precise thing. That bee was still in my car. Waiting. Biding its time until, a week later, it would fly from its hiding spot and sting my ankles. Both of them. Don't ask me how it would sting me twice,  it was the bee's plan. And he was a very tricky bee.

The bee never made it's attack, and I slowly got over my panic every time I got in the car. About a year later, my friend Neil detailed my car for me, and I told him to be on the lookout for that bee, dead or alive (but probably dead, cuz, you know, it had been a year). He never found anything. And I thought, this bee is very well hidden.

About a year after that, which just so happens to be today wouldn't you know, I was cleaning out my car really good. I was throwing things away and wiping down the dashboard and vacuuming and using this amazing cleaner to get rid of some carpet stains... and I found that darn bee.

Dead, of course. But he'd totally been hiding under the driver's seat the whole time, because, if you'll remember, his plan was to spring out and get me in the ankles.

I knew it all along.