Friday

It's Friday and I should be happy. I am glad that it's the day that it is, I guess, but I'm not feeling very good at the moment. I'm tired and drained and feeling very unlike myself. I'm trying to make this day better. I've already poured myself a cup of coffee and it tastes pretty good right now. It's almost 11am and no one has bugged or bitched at me for anything yet. Though I bet before I finish this entry, my boss yells for something.
I've been on the go, it seems, for the entire month of January. Last weekend I went to San Francisco. My dad was working in San Ramon for the week and he invited me to join him in San Francisco for the weekend. I flew from LAX to Oakland on Saturday morning and dad picked me up and we drove all over the city. The weather was what normal San Fran weather is I suppose..kind of cold, dreary and damp. The trip was quick because we both flew back to LA/Houston on Sunday, but I think we spent our time worthwhile. I finally got the pictures from dad and I'm going to upload them onto my flickr page next week because I've reached my upload limit for the month. Not a big deal though, because February is next week and I'll have more space available then. Flickr only allows you so much space per month, unless you pay for a PRO account. So, I've posted a few pics here in the blog for those who care.
My bosses were in Park City this week for the Sundance Film Festival. A couple of our clients had films in Sundance this year. My client, Bobby Johnston (yes he is my cleint-I only have 2 of my own ;) ), had two films at Sundance this year. One of them is a film called Wristcutters: A Love Story, and I got him this film. What I mean is that I pitched him (his music) and he was hired as the composer on the film. The movie is about the afterlife of those who have committed suicide. It sounds dark and unpleasant, but it's a comedy. So, hopefully this will be picked up for distribution and my client will become more well known in the world of film composing and he and I will both prosper. :) I'm just really happy for him right now. He's extremely talented and rare when it comes to film composition. His scores are what you call "organic." Every bit of music is recorded separately and every instrument is played by him. He creates unusual sounds by using things other than the traditional instrument. He deserves every bit of success that comes his way.
So for this weekend's plans I'm going to a birthday party, Season is moving in, I need to make a trip to Target, and I might go with Justin to look at some apartments. His current lease is ending at the end of next month, so it's that time....apartment hunting! I just hope he finds something relatively close. It's been convenient and nice (for me) these last few months with him living so close by. Obviously, this isn't my decision...but I do hope he doesn't move to the other side of town.
Season is moving in with Quinn and I, as I said above. Quinn is going back to Texas in June :( and Season is going to be my roomie again. Instead of her trying to find a short lease and move twice, she's just moving in now. Were all excited about it, too. It will be fun to all live together again and also a nice way to spend Quinn's last 5 months in LA. I'm trying to be supportive about her decision to go, but it's difficult as well because I'm going to miss her terribly!
In other news, I'm going to New York in May. A little vacation, a really long weekend actually. Were going on a Thursday morning and coming back the following Tuesday afternoon. Matt and Abbey, Joey and I went in 2001 and I have not been to the city since. We've been talking about plans for another trip basically ever since we got back. We're finally going back...well 3 of us anyway. Joey is not going. However, Justin IS going :) Quinn was originally going to go as well, but it's so close to her move back to Texas that it doesn't really make sense financially to go on a vacation. Daphne lives there now too, so I will also get to visit family while visiting the city. It's 4 months away...but I'm already excited!
Well I'm going to do some work now and maybe try to leave early today since I feel so awesome!

chic-fil-a

First thing I have to blog is that I am craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaving some Chic-Fil-A right now! Why can't there be more of these fine establishments in my area?

I know I have not been a very good blogger lately. Last year I usually blogged from the office because I had the time to do that at some point during most days. But things have changed a little around here in the new year and I've taken on more responsibility. More work...how exciting.

Speaking of responsibility, I have just taken on the responsibility of being American Idol Pool Master for this season. If you didn't know, I have participated in the last two American Idol competitions, but not as a contestant. I, along with 20 or so others decided it would be fun to compete against each other for a prize (this is a CASH prize) on determining who the winner would be. The system is very complex...we select who we think will be finalists at the very beginning of the competition and we "vote" on who we think will "go home" each week. Points are awarded to those who choose right. The email bashing of some of the more annoying contestants is probably my favorite part of the pool. If you watched the last two seasons then you know what I'm talking about (constantine...anthony "trach boy" federov!) It's all great because I am able to participate in such a fun game by way of my sofa, my computer, the internet and of course the genius of TIVO! I'll keep everyone posted with updates about the show! I'm sure everybody can't wait for that! Look out for a link soon....this year's pool is going to have it's very own blog. :)

Last weekend I drove up to Mammoth with Quinn, Season, Justin, Aaron and Margaret. It's a 5 hour drive from LA, but it didn't feel like a long drive for some reason. We only went for one night. My boss (JT) has a condo up there. Last week he asked me to drive up there for him to pick up his skiis so that he will have them for his trip to Park City next week. I have wanted to use the condo for a long time now, so it was a definite "YES." We were welcomed by A LOT of snow on our way into Mammoth. The snow was coming down pretty heavy and it was after dark.....we had to pull over, buy chains and have them installed on the car's tires. They are apparently required during times like that. Because I am from the hottest place on earth (ok, so not really..but close) I am not familiar with snowy weather, and I thought it was all very cool! The next day, it stopped snowing and the sun came out. There was about 5 or 6 ft. of snow covering almost everything in site. It was very white and powdery snow...and everything just looked so pretty. The condo had two outdoor hot tubs on the property. It was awesome sitting in 100 degree water surrounded by snow in 16 degree outside temperature! I'll put some pics up on flickr soon. Actually, Justin posted some on his flickr page. I recently added my friend's blogs as a link section on my sidebar. So if you cruise over to his blog, then click on his flickr page, you can see some of his pics from the weekend. If that's too difficult to do...just wait, I'll post them eventually.
This coming weekend I am flying up to San Fran to hang with my pops. He is in a town called San Ramon, just outside San Fran, on business. He invited me to do some touring of the city with him for the weekend. I'm looking forward to it, though it will be a quick trip. Next week, JT and Roxanne are going to be in Park City for Sundance. I wanted to go, then I didn't want to go, then I wanted to go, then I didn't...just couldn't make up my mind. I'm not going and I'm happy with that decision. I'm thinking about going to SXSW this year, which is in March. It's just a possibility right now and not a definite thing. But I would much rather go to SXSW than Sundance. And, hello, it's in Austin..which is a huge bonus for me because I'll be able to see many friends if I go!
Well, it's past lunch time, I have not eaten yet and I'm really hungry...still wishing there was a Chic-Fil-A closer....

Viernes!

It's Friday, people! So, to make it official, I've decided to slack off a little here at the office. I've just finished cruising my favorite music sites, and Tiny Mix Tapes announced it's Top 25 albums of 2005. I was shocked that I had only heard of 10 albums on the list, let alone, listened to maybe only 6 of them. I am waaaaaaaaaaay behind. I need to spend the first part of 2006 catching up on music from 2005, apparently. Jeeeeeeeez. Animal Collective's Feels came in at number one! I just read the review..."winning over music lovers of all stripes with its indelible, transcendent brand of mad science," I really feel the need to purchase some new music today. However, my bank account says otherwise. I'd link some of these unknown artists/bands for you here, if I weren't so lazy. But Google is your friend. So use it.
I'm sort of groovin' on Beck today. I've been listening to mostly B-sides, thanks to a friend! :) Here's one from the UK "Loser" single, and it's called "Corvette Bummer." Yay for Beck!
Ok, so I've just found a link for Animal Collective's song, "Leaf House." Take a listen. Your thoughts? Obviously, I can't rightfully say this because I've only heard this one song, but I can't imagine this should be at the top of anyone's BEST OF list. It's catchy, but it's a little strange and a lot annoying! AND I don't think I would call what's going on vocally in that song, SINGING. At least the video was somewhat entertaining. It's fitting though that they call themselves Animal Collective...at least they didn't try to get creative when they named their band. The music sounds like animal noises.
By the way, while I'm still talking about music, I've decided I don't like Franz Ferdinandandydandy and! I must be the only person in the world (who likes the same kind of music as me) who doesn't want to slap them on my ears at all times or any time! I've tried and I've tried, I just don't like them. Final. AND, if I'm completely honest, I think they suffer from that I really liked the first album and while this one's good and possibly better, I will never like them as much as the first album syndrome. But, I wasn't even hit wit that syndrome, because I didn't like the first album either! FF can be permanently erased for all I care.
I'm not done with all that I had hoped to write about for today's blog, but I am HUNGRY, so I'll stop here and maybe add soe more this afternoon. If I don't make it back, don't be sad...hahaha. Happy Friday!

2006!

Happy New Year to all my bloggy blog readers! It's Tuesday, January 3rd and I'm back in the office, starting work all over again. Yippeee! Well at least it's a new year and my vacation time starts over....I have two weeks ready to use up for vacation! Well I'm trying to be optimistic!
New Years Eve occured a few days ago, and it was fun. Quinn and Justin and I went to a party in West Hollywood, invited by Margaret, hosted at one of her friend's places. It was a small gathering, but it was fun. Justin didn't really want to go anywhere and I thought he was going to have a terrible time because Quinn and I drug him out, but he ended up having the most fun, I'd say. :) He, of course, was not having the most fun the following day. I posted some pictures from the party on my flickr page for those who care to see. Speaking of pictures, I also posted most of my Christmas photos there as well. Go check 'em out.
Seems I've somewhat taken a break from a lot of things I hoped to get accomplished before the New Year began. One being the scrapbook for Riley (Molly's little girl). Guess I'll just have to add that to the list of things I hope to accomplish before next year. Although, I don't really have a list. There are a few things hanging around in the back of my mind, that surface every so often, but no defined complete "to do" list or anything. I'm not organized enough for that. I'm also not sure about seeing it on paper. Who knows? One or two things might happen. I could see them and actually do the things on the list, or I might look at the list and slip into a deep depression knowing that I have not accomplished anything! ;) So, I'm cool with it all staying right here in my head.
I got a new computer for Christmas. Can't remember if I posted about it already or not, so if I did...well don't worry I'm keeping it short. I got a new mac ibook G4. I'm extremly excited about getting familiar with it. So far I've been preoccupied with only checking emails and using the internet for the most part. I'm really anxious to use some of the ilife programs though!
I went to the gym this morning and I thought it would have been crowded, thinking so many would be in there for resolutions, etc. But it wasn't crowded at all. Maybe people have other resolutions or maybe people just don't care anymore. My workout was tough. I've basically been eating everything in sight and not exercising for the last two months, so getting back to it was rough. Every "step" felt like five and every minute that passed felt like five, as well. I'm hoping this "getting back into it" stuff only lasts for a few more days. Quinn and I go together, and Justin is pretty strict about his working out, too, so it's good for me to have these kinds of influences around, when I really just want to spend another month of holiday eating and relaxing.
There are some CDs to look forward to in the coming months of this year, and I believe I can get advances on some of them, but I'm not sure just yet. Here's what's coming our way in 2006: in-flight safety, mogwai, the sounds, the strokes, belle and sebastian, jenny lewis!, cat power, snow patrol and some others I'm just not thinking of right now. I was pretty displeased with Snow Patrol's live performance, but their studio work, in particular, 2003's "Final Straw" was flawless. The vocals on that album sounded amazing, and to me that was what seemed to be lacking during the live performances. I am, however, still looking forward to hearing what they've been working on.
I only saw one movie during my holiday break from work and it was "The Producers." I didn't hate it, but I probably wouldn't see it again. In fact I was really interested in seeing it as a stage show, if ever given the opportunity to go, but now, I don't think I want to see it. Justin and I tried to see The Chronicles of Narnia a few nights ago, but it was sold out. I suppose we'll try again, maybe this weekend?
Well, I'm about to get out of here for the day and so this is all the time I have for my first post of 2006. Hope everyone's year is off to a good start!