My Meatloaf Exploded

Well hello there, dear friends and family! It's me, your favorite blogger, back from yet another extremely long absence from the Intarwebs. So I'll bet you're all wondering what kept me this time, right? Well, it's mostly due to the fact that, a little over a year ago, I sold my soul to a very large rodent to pay the bills, and that's taking up most of my time. Other than that, I've been suffering lately from crippling writer's block. I've been attempting to squeeze out bits of creativity for my screenplay and my "children's book," and once I've worked on that for a while I don't have much left for essays and updates. So what now? Well, fortunately for those of you absolutely hankering for something interesting, (or just something, period), to read, there is a solution! Over the past few months I've seen a resurgence in those lame surveys that used to pop up all the time on the MySpace bulletin board. The difference now is that, instead of me simply finding them and filling them out due to boredom, I've gotten them from being tagged in them on Facebook. As it is, they've been sitting in my notes for months, but I always figured I should eventually get around to doing them, seeing as my friends were nice enough to tag me in them. For those of you with an appetite for something more interesting, fear not. I'm going to do my utmost to write something real every once in a while. These surveys will just serve as filler when I've nothing better to say. Feel free to discard them at your discretion. OR, fill them out and send them back to me! I would love to read what you all have to say. So let's get to it!

So, we've reached the end of 2008 at last. (Oh, thank God.) And as we jump headlong into 2009 we can look forward to new beginnings and fresh attempts at righting old wrongs. Basically, with each new year we gain another chance to recreate ourselves.

And so, in the spirit of the occasion, I present my list of resolutions that I probably won't keep.

Ha! Just kidding.

I hope...

( I Resolve... )

Before I start...yes, I realize that Christmas Day has come and gone already, but most of these thoughts were manifested and written down a couple of days before the fact, and so let's just all pretend it's like December 23rd again so this will make more sense.

There's a familiar feeling that fills the air. Down here in my neck of the woods, the infamous Southern California heat has finally, (and I mean finally, with a huge giant sigh to accompany the word), faded and given way to a brisk chill and the occasional rainstorm. Those of us long prepared have dug our cold weather accessories out from hibernation, and those surprised by the drastic temperature change have stripped clean the barely restocked shelves at Target. Everywhere you go, brightly-colored lights charm the eyes, and our ears are oh-so-merrily assailed by holiday tunes like Gene Autry's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," which, incidentally, has to be the most overplayed Christmas song of 2008. That, and Josh Groban's version of "O Holy Night," which would be pretty good if it didn't seem like he forgot the lyrics halfway through the song. People the world over are rushing to the stores to buy last-minute gifts for their loved ones, and in so many homes, families have gathered together to talk and laugh and reminisce over a mug of hot chocolate or cider, bake delicious and festive treats, and bask in the glory of a blazing fire and a full and spectacularly-decorated conifer.

And me? I'm...not feeling a thing.

It's weird for someone like me, who has always been so childlike and giddy around Christmas time, to have gotten to this point, a mere day before Christmas Eve, and still feel like it's just another day. However, it's not entirely difficult for me to understand why.

I write to you, dear friends, from the View Station in Disney's California Adventure, which, if you don't know already, is one of the most boring places on the face of the Earth. Were it not for a fact that I always carry a notebook with me, I would be standing here at this stupid counter twiddling my thumbs for lack of anything better to do. And I, unlike most people, don't have Christmas to look forward to for a well-deserved break. I'll be here again on Christmas Day. Not in the View, of course, (thank God...), but working. And given the fact that the members of my immediate family are up either in Nor-Cal or Seattle, I won't be able to see them this Holiday season. For the first time in nearly twenty-three years, I won't be home for Christmas. And Christmas without my family just doesn't feel like Christmas at all.

It also doesn't help much to compare this Christmas to the last one, when everything seemed just so perfect. Last year's Christmas season was chock full of memories that I will never, (or, at the very least, not anytime soon), be able to recreate, like meeting my beautiful niece, seeing it snow on Christmas for the first time in my entire life, and watching It's a Wonderful Life with a mug of spiked hot chocolate, a roaring fire, and my then-sweetheart cuddled up with me underneath a big, fuzzy blanket. And so here I stand, watching countless guests bypass my counter to get to the funny hats they want to try on, and I just keep on praying for a little bit of Christmas cheer to come my way.

ADDENDUM PER DECEMBER 25TH: I must say that Christmas Day had its high points. Sure, it was weird whenever someone said "Merry Christmas" to me and I'd go, "What? Oh...yeah, it is Christmas, isn't it?" And it was strange to be working on Christmas Day for the first time ever. But admittedly, watching Song of the South in the characters' break room with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Brer Fox and Brer Bear while hiding from the spastic rain is something that will live on in my memory for years to come. And once I made it out to Pasadena and got to spend a few precious moments with some cousins that I never get to see, things seemed a whole lot brighter. Even congested sinuses and a monster sore throat didn't seem all too bad when I finally got the chance to be around family for the Holidays.

I believe I have officially broken my record for longest hiatus taken from blog-writing, save for those few times in high school and early college when I hadn't anything particularly interesting to say and so I kept dropping old journals, waiting a long time, then starting new ones.

The difference now is that I've been somewhat proud of my blogs in recent years and have no plans to "start afresh" as it were. Plus, this time, I've got an excuse. Several, in fact.

My lack of blogging, or, truthfully, writing in general, stems mainly from a serious lack of time and motivation. Or...well, really, just motivation. Since summer has ended, I'll be honest, I have way too much free time on my hands. (So who wants to hang out?) So it's really kind of a loss of interest in...oh, let's face it...just about everything. Except, of course, TV on DVD.

( And on THAT Note... )

This is long, (as usual), but definitely worth reading all the way through. So do it!

Remarkable, how sometimes the most mundane things can change your life in the most unexpected ways.

Take, for instance, a piano. Just an ordinary baby grand piano in the basement of the music building. Until Thursday, nothing at all to suggest that it was in any way unusual or special.

( It Gets Better...I Promise! )

RANDOM THOUGHT OF THE DAY: If there’s one thing I’ve learned from eating knock-off cheese curls from Albertson’s, it’s that, when you’ve got a hankering for Cheetos, nothing else but real Cheetos is going to do it for you.

Fans of Stephen Sondheim / Broadway musicals / Tim Burton / Johnny Depp / gothic, scary things, rejoice...

The official trailer for Sweeney Todd is finally out!

WARNING: For those of you who are familiar with the story of Sweeney Todd, you'll know why I put this warning here. For those of you unfamiliar with the play, you might want to know before you watch this that it's a bit...dark and creepy. It's not too bad, it's just not something you'd want the young'uns watching. BUT...you do get to hear Johnny Depp sing for a few seconds!




Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name. It is set to be released on December 21st of this year. It is directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen, (yes, that's right, that was Borat you saw in there near the end, in case you were wondering), and Timothy Spall.

RANDOM QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Fries are always community property." - Richard
RANDOM THOUGHT OF THE DAY: People have been saying ever since its release that I needed to see Accepted because it was so good and so funny...but why did no one see fit to mention to me that a good portion of it was filmed on my campus?

I am not a nice person.

Not a pleasant realization, but a true one nonetheless.

( Click HERE to Find Out What the Hell I'm On About )

RANDOM THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Why does every movie set in DC have to have some kind of inspirational “talking to the Lincoln Memorial” scene?

This will be a quick update. I just have a couple of announcements.

The first is that I'm currently working on an entry for you all. It's been in the works for quite some time, and will probably be released in a few separate pieces, as it's so long. Still, I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about you. It's just taking me a while because it's so hefty. Hopefully it should be out within the next couple of days.

Now, onto the main reason for this post:

As some of you may already know, my big sister Sara gave birth at about one o'clock this morning, (September 7th), to a beautiful baby girl. I'm sure that she will be sending out an e-mail soon with pictures and all of the specifics. Regrettably, I was the only member of my immediate family not present when Bella was born, but such are the burdens of being a college student, I guess. Either way, I just wanted to write a congratulatory update for Sara and Bella.

I Love All of You Very Much, and I'll be in touch with another update soon.

WARNING: This entry is chock full of Harry Potter geekdom. There are no spoilers, so those of you planning on reading the book are safe. However, those of you who honestly don't care about Harry Potter whatsoever might feel the need to skip this one, unless of course you love my writing style just that much.

( HARRY FREAKIN' POTTER!!! )

Since you did this for me, Steph...

Here's a fun little game for all of you. If you post a response to this entry, I will:

1.) Tell you why I friended you.
2.) Associate you with something - a song, a color, a photo, etc.
3.) Tell you something I like about you.
4.) Tell you a memory I have of you.
5.) Associate you with a character.
6.) Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
7.) Tell you my favorite user picture of yours.
8.) In return, I ask you to post this in your LJ.

Whee!

Thanks to Iain for this one!

So, the point of this game is to choose three of the IMDb keywords for your ten favorite films and see if anyone is able to guess to which films the keywords refer. Keep in mind, most of the keywords that come up on IMDb are complete bunk and often contain very insignificant details of the film, (I think that may be the whole reasoning behind the game), so don't get caught thinking that everything I list is a major plot point. That's where a lot of people get stuck.

1.) Strip Tease / Gay / Fried Chicken
2.) Dental Braces / Poetic Justice / Midget
3.) Underwater / Redemption / Anti Hero
4.) Fantasy Sequence / Lip Synching / Dumb Blonde
5.) Dance Contest / Sacrifice / Flower
6.) Librarian / Cult Favorite / Severed Thumb
7.) Bathtub / Screaming / Concert
8.) Baptism / Film Within a Film / Dentures
9.) Frozen River / Vengeance / Hallucination
10.) Impalement / Male Nudity / Lesbian Kiss

Good luck! I'll probably post the answers in like a week and let you know who guessed what.

I’m not going to lie, I love Shakespeare. I have since I was in high school. My freshman year I got involved with a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Originally, I had no desire to be a part of a Shakespeare play and so didn’t attend auditions, but ended up joining the cast as a random faerie at the request of my three best friends, who were also in the show, playing Theseus, Nick Bottom and Francis Flute. (The latter two made an amazing duo and stole the show during the Pyramus and Thisby tragedy. If I can find the tape, it might be worth it to watch it). I wasn’t overly excited about the production for about a month of rehearsals, but then, a member of the cast had to drop out and I was given the opportunity to play the role of Helena. The play turned out to be one of my favorite theatrical experiences that I’ve had to date. Since then, I’ve been fascinated with Shakespeare. Considering the fact that I have never been much of a poetry aficionado, (don’t get me wrong…poetry can be extremely beautiful, particularly Shakespeare’s. I just happen to be drawn to works of literature that contain a definitive story, being that I’m a writer of stories myself), I developed quite an attachment to Shakespeare’s drama. As you can imagine, I was considered quite the oddball for this reason, but I assumed that most kids my age just weren’t mature enough to appreciate it, and that when I got a bit older, it would be easier to find others who shared my appreciation for the Bard’s craft. I was wrong.

While I’ll admit that people are getting less critical, it’s still difficult to find people interested enough in Shakespeare’s work to actually want to discuss it. Usually it’s something like, “His poetry is pretty” or “I liked that one movie with that guy in it…” In my exploration of the subject, I found that, even after experiences with college Shakespeare courses, many people my age have continued to dislike his work because they “just don’t get it.” I shouldn’t say “his work,” because many of these people are actually quite fond of his sonnets, but have never been able to get into his plays, which, as I mentioned before, have always been of greater interest to me. It is because of this that I was inspired to write this entry.

( Give Me Your Hands If We Be Friends... )

RANDOM QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Mmm, leftover bread pudding from yesterday..." - Me

Do you ever have those times when you feel like all of your responsibilities and all of the problems that the world has to offer are crashing down on you at once? That's how I feel right now.

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to make myself a victim. I know darned well that things could be much worse, and that I've got a lot to be thankful for. That's what this entry is all about. I'm upset, sure, but maybe this is what college is about. A lot of people I know have times like this where they feel like everything is going wrong at once, but they get through it just fine. Instead of letting myself wallow in it, I need to remind myself why I need to keep my chin up right now. So here I am, equipped with what I call the "Jubilation" mix on iTunes, (i.e. music that puts me in a good mood), and the following amusing cat picture:



...and now I'm ready to cheer myself up.

( Cheerfulness Abounds HERE )

PROBLEM: My car got broken into last night. The passenger side window was shattered, my CDs were stolen, and my stereo was ripped out.
SOLUTION: It may sound a little cliché, but it helps to remind myself that there are a billion worse things that could have happened. The CDs I'm not too upset about since all of my music is on my iPod anyway, with the exception of a new CD I bought recently that wasn't in my car anyway since Marissa just happens to be borrowing it. It sucks that my stereo was taken, but whatever. I'll find other things to do to entertain myself on car trips until I can get the money to replace it. Plus, now that the stereo is gone, what is left to steal except the car itself? I mean, God forbid that ever happens but at least for now I do still have the car and it works. I just hope I can get the window repaired fairly quickly. (And also, hopefully the dick-squeezing shitstains who did this will get what is coming to them).

There. I feel better. Coming soon, an insightful look into the works of William Shakespeare. ...No, I'm not kidding.

Wow, it’s been over a month again. I am slacking with these things. The long wait since the last entry will mean once again that this one will be fairly lengthy. I briefly considered dividing it up and posting it in a series over a couple of days, but then I had a revelation. On occasion, if I feel like I’ve got a lot to say, I will post a long entry like this or the last one, and I will get people coming to me complaining that they didn’t read it because it was too long, and then they will turn right around and ask me when I plan on publishing my first book. I’ve got news for you folks…I don’t mind if you read part of my entry and then come back and read the rest of it later. Sometimes that happens with a substantial piece of literature…it’s why bookmarks were invented. But if you flat-out have to skim it because it’s “too long,” that’s a horse of a different color. If you can’t manage to get through an LJ entry that might amount to ten pages at the most, you aren’t going to be able to make it through a whole novel, so please give up and stop pretending you care.

( For My REAL Friends )

Wow, it's been a month already since my last entry. Usually it's my policy to never keep those of you who actually read these things waiting any longer than a fortnight. Still, numerous things have gotten in the way, which I'll explain in just a moment.

Just a forewarning, for those of you who like to stick to the short entries, you may want to skim this one, or maybe just skip it altogether. Not only have I written nothing for about a month, February has been unusually eventful. While interesting, I don't want to bore you with long entries, and this is a long entry. We're talking Snakes on a Plane review long, or worse. For those of you who do wish to read all of it, but don't have the time or the energy to do it all in one go, I'll cut this one up into sections, so that you can come back to it later and not have to read through it again because you can't remember where you left off. All right, on to the always long-winded update!

( Brace Yourselves... )

First of all, just to get this out of my system:

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS COMES OUT JULY 21ST!!!11one

( IMPORTANT! Please Read Immediately! )

Okay folks, here's the deal...

My friend Robert teaches martial arts. Recently, he has been doing his damnedest to get students for his timeslots...walking all over Orange handing out flyers, calling friends, spending days on end talking to countless people, and yet, for his last couple of classes, no one has shown up. Out of the hundreds, maybe thousands of people he has talked to, not one of them has even bothered to give it a shot.

I know for a fact that Robert didn't do this for the money. The only time the money ever meant anything to him was when we were looking for an apartment and he was trying to help keep me off of the street. He teaches these classes because they have meant a lot to him personally. Martial arts, for him, has meant a huge boost in physical health, emotional health and self-confidence, and a massive drop in stress. His purpose in teaching martial arts is to give those gifts to as many people as possible.

In all the time I've known him, I've never known Robert to think of himself. Everything he does is done to help other people. So please, take some time out of your schedule to stop by and take a class from him. Here is the contact information, along with Robert's timeslots:

Pa-Kua Orange
1746 W. Chapman Ave., Orange, CA, 92868
(714) 940-9900
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
10 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM, 2PM

Pa-Kua Tustin
2411 N. Tustin Ave., Santa Ana, CA, 92705
(714) 835-0232
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
8 PM

So please, for the sake of a truly good guy, stop off at one of the schools during his timeslots and take a class. Who knows? You might love it and get addicted. You'll never know unless you try.

Hey everyone...sorry for the delay between posts. Stress, lack of motivation and too many things to do have since gotten in my way. It gets more and more frustrating because every day I seem to think of new things that need to be put down. Let's see how well I do at condensing everything. As it is, this entry is probably going to turn into a random stream-of-consciousness, putting down whatever comes to mind.

( LOVE ME! )

RANDOM PROMOTION OF THE DAY: Robert and I have started the First Official Holy and Most Sacred Church of Mark Hamill. Those of you who are interested in learning and following the teachings of the most noble Mark Hamill, please let me know. We shall soon be handing out pamphlets. As of now, I remain the only dedicated Hamillist, and also the high priestess.

( Want More? )
- (Regarding Palpatine's transformation) ANTHONY: I don't really understand why his forehead needed to turn into a butt.
PATRICK: It did.
( Of Course You Do )

This will be quick...

I was so damned sure that I had a place to go. Too bad the woman I spoke to was misinformed and the apartment I was supposed to apply for had been rented last week.

I was supposed to go down next weekend with my parents but it looks like I'll probably have to go by myself, then stay with a friend until I can find my own place. Then, when I do get one, my parents will load the rest of my stuff into the truck and bring it down. If any of you would be willing to let me invade for a couple of weeks, (or maybe just a couple of days if I can find more than one willing person and go couch-hopping), please let me know.

But anyway, I'm still upset about Moss Creek, and now I'm panicking. I'm just hoping and praying there's somewhere not too far from school that is within our price range, allows pets for not too much extra, is decent and in a decent neighborhood.