[The Sixth Notebook]

kthxbai

2007-07-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

This has been okay, but it's been like wobbling and weaving on a low brick wall when I could have just been cruising along on the sidewalk. I haven't quite put my finger on it, but The Sixth Notebook is just not working for me. But I love blogging, whatever first drew me to it is very much still there. So, I'll keep trying, until something feels good and really works. Hopefully, it will be THIS.

See you there!

more weird nap dreams

2007-07-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

I was meeting my friend Jeffrey for coffee at a restaurant. Once I got there, I noticed he seemed uncharacteristically harried and quiet, and looked a little windblown, unkempt. You have NO idea how unlike Jeff this is, he is always the picture of grace, sleek, neat, together, open, warm, collected, welcoming.

I had to go to the restroom right away, wishing I hadn't because I wanted to make the most of this rare occasion of seeing him. Couldn't wait though, so off I went, into this convoluted maze of hallways in the middle of this building. I couldn't find the restroom at first, but then stumbled across the door, nearly missing it. It was dark and strange in there, ceilings too high, strange angles and turns. When I emerged, I could not make out which hallway I should use, tried one and ended up going up some stairs that looked like they belonged in a grade school. Back down the stairs, whole other hallway, this one leading to the back stage of a music venue. I ducked back into the halls, took another one, this leading to an abandoned gym. All the equipment was silhouetted in dark blue light, looking creepy and dead, hand towels and pieces of track suits hanging off the handles and seats. Back into the mess of hallways, finally I got the right one back to this café, which feels now like just a small part of this huge old building.

I had become extremely agitated at the waste of time, and Jeff was slurping his coffee irritatedly and scribbling in a folder. He looked worse than before and something was the matter; concerned, I didn't bother him with the tale about my getting lost. Somehow, he had gotten drenched, completely soaked, even though he had not apparently moved from the booth. He said, "Let's go", and took my forearm. We went outside to where the street would be, but there was this treehouse fort thingy and we had to walk up a wooden ramp to get in. There were dogs up there who looked tired and detached, distracted. The roof started leaking. There was one little dog we had to get, a cute thing, Jeff's own dog, I gathered. He put the dog in my arms and we started to return outside, but for some reason we did not have to go down a ramp, but stairs, and not all the way down. The roof started leaking way more, then profusely. I thought, is this how Jeffrey got wet? Out from under the roof, we got sploooshed all of a sudden by a very powerful unexpected wave, as though we were at stormy seas. Things got darker, we rode this wave upward and I was extremely worried about this dog, holding as tightly as I could without hurting it. I could no longer see Jeff, but he was there, I could hear him saying something. What was odd was, his frame of mind did not seem to change at all, he did not become alarmed or any sudden new expression or mood, he just still seemed kind of rushed and irritated. Another couple of progressively higher and stronger waves pushed us upward, we just rode along. I don't remember feeling like swimming or struggling, just holding the dog and riding the waves. I felt badly for the ordinarily sunny Jeff, darkened today.

Then I woke up.

So strange! What does it all mean?

Horrible Dream, Great Philip K. Dick Novella

2007-07-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

I walked by an high-ceilinged school room at a college with lots of big windows. Over on one side was a nook for storage, recessed at the side of the chalkboard. There was a large shelf there with a basketball, a few cardboard boxes with jerseys hanging over the sides, football cleats and helmets, sack of white cheerleader gloves and ... a very old man. I drew in my breath, what is he doing up there? Very concerned, he looked terrified yet resigned - a haunting and horrible expression if you have ever seen it. I followed his eyes downward and there was this student in a basketball jersey looking up at him. His top expression was blank but underneath he was cackling. He was holding a red rope. I zipped away, and dreamed something entirely else and forgot completely about it. 100% out-of-my-brain forgot, *poof*. But then, feeling I was on my way back someplace, I walked through this school, just moseyin' right along, and - *gasp!!* there is the old man, hanging from the red rope, part of the shelf kicked down. Its contents were all over the floor in the nook, spilling forward toward me.

I brought my eyes downward, and there, right in front of me, eyes wide and glaring into mine, was the student, the killer. He was pissed. I thought, hysterically, you did this in front of big windows! Were you just hoping nobody would walk by? I ran like hell. I did not feel followed. I call the police, and 911 has a recorded message. I try again, I try again, I keep trying, running the whole time. I draw a blank from there until getting over this hill in Bellevue, Wa., where I found a very green lawn and sat down, then laid down, then, my phone still in my hand hitting redial, redial, I fell asleep.

Paramedics with swatches of light blue tarp (?) and a detached look and feel woke me up and handed me my phone. One said, "You are okay. You need to get up and go home, you are on a residential lawn." I said, "I've been trying to call 911 for HOURS it seems! No one will answer the phone, someone's committed a murder at the school!" He said, "Listen, get up, here", and he handed me his hand. I got up, he said, "Where do you live, we need to get you out of this private neighborhood." I didn't know how to answer at all, I had no answer. He led me to the ambulance and kinda shoved me up into the back and closed the door. I thought, this kind of detachment and cold behavior is odd for paramedics. I sat on the stretcher. Hearing rustling behind me, I turned my head around, and there was the student in the basketball jersey, grinning.

I woke up sucking my breath in, eyes wide.

Tour Day at Starline

2007-07-11T16:03:00.001-07:00

Hullo. Well, I can't work, so I'm playing a bit. We've got several of the big British Double Decker buses, but many of them are being used for the new Hop on-Hop off tour, and the ones that are used by Miguel and myself for the regular one-hour Hollywood tour are being given maintenance, so. The powers that be are being quite kind to us, finding other stuff for us to do, so my day, today, was spent taking other peoples' tours. I had a blast.

I started off on John the Trolley guy's tour:

Here is John, who does some pretty convincing impressions of the Hollywood stars whose stories he tells, as well as being highly informative and a lot of fun, and his trusty Trolley. On the road with him...

... I got the best look at/photo of the Hollywood Sign I've seen yet,

...and the Bronson Gate. Now, I usually see this several times a day myself when I give my own tour, but today there was this super cool Transformer guy in the archway.

I was then gonna go on wonderful Lisa's tour...

But then I found out I was on John Leigh the Rock Star's tour. Both of these peeps are amazing, intelligent, have awesome personalities and a lot to teach. On John's tour, we got to see people's houses in the Hollywood Hills, which was great for me because I love it there and want to live there. Even if I had a kajillion dollars, enough to have a house in Beverly Hills or Holmby Hills, I would still want to live in the Hollywood Hills. I'm a sucker for this town. We went up to Mulholland Drive, where I saw:

The Los Angeles Skyline (I really want to get this at night), and

The Hollywood Bowl with its acoustic shell and 18,000 seats. This is really the same shot, but I tipped the camera downward to try to focus on the Bowl. Then, we came back to the Chinese Theater Kiosk and I visited with:

Kelly! She rocks the house, yo

Robin, such a sweet and happy guy - if I'm low energy or in a bummed mood, his big smile never fails to cheer me up...

The cool guy with lots of tattoos whose name I can't EVER remember :P I suck

The lovely Mary, always working hard, very kind and welcoming. I did not get to see:

Brian, my boss' brother, who does this cool murder and mayhem Haunted Hollywood tour. I plan on taking that with Carson, Chi, Delane and a few other pals on Halloween this year. He wasn't there today :( But...

Richard was (he still is, it's only 5:25 p.m.). This is my boss whose family I work for. I feel pretty damn lucky to work for such great people. My camera's card was full at this point, or I would have taken one of his dad Fred, Kami who hired me, Gwen who is just a saint, Asher and some of Richard's other brothers, as well as James, Muhammed and some of the other cool characters I see from day to day. I will get them tomorrow or soon. I love Richard's family and all these folks.

Richard in his natural habitat.

So, today was cake. I took notes, I took pictures, I wore my regular clothes. And got paid :) I didn't get to see or snap everybody I wanted to, but I will, and I think now that I have a digital camera (THANKS, JOY!!!) I'll be documenting more of the day to day life I live here while working toward making my big dreams happen.

2007-07-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

WOW:

Ratatouille is a masterwork from the first frame to the last, just amazing. Pixar keeps topping themselves in every conceivable way: graphics, cleverness in storytelling, making things modern and current without datedness, expressions and movement on characters' faces, I could go on and on. WOW.

Also amazing, Carson:

I got to visit with my friend today - I do not get to see him very often, so that was rather fantastic. He is an amazing writer and story teller and is great with lights and camera. He is among the most intelligent people I have ever met, as well as being a deeply good human being. He fucking RULZ yo.

Rice.

Happy Independence Day!

2007-07-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Yee Haw

2007-07-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

This Grammy winner was on my tour, yesterday:

"Joey Miskulin composes music for Disney's Cars

Jul 9, 2006.

Joey's song, "Rust-eze Polka" will be featured among the film's all-star voice talent including Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, and Bonnie Hunt, among many others. For further information visit the 'CARS' official web site.

Miskulin's Grammy Award Winning Albums:

'Monster's Inc--Scream Factory Favorites': Riders In The Sky (2003)
'Woody's Roundup Featuring Riders In The Sky': Riders In The Sky (2001)"

Post Transcription Chat Poetry Slam

2007-07-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

1:09 PM Joy: DONE DONE DONE
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

15 minutes

1:25 PM Joy: R & L are having this long drawn out phone conversation about NOTHING THAT MATTERS

omg

I want to jump off a cliff

but I'm eating my lunch

BLAG

2007-06-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

...is how I nearly always accidentally type the word BLAH on the first try. I have a bunch of words like that.

"Come Back, Little Sheba" was moving, tear-compelling, wonderful. For me, the theater is special among the arts. As other lovers of it have always known, the sacred may be found there, but it must be elicited with excellence in all areas coming together and giving you the magic sensation of it being greater than the sum of its parts. This play did that. I got lazy about writing a proper review, but I figured, that's really all one needs to know. If you would like the rich, fulfilling experience of a truly good stage play that is well executed, might I recommend "Come Back, Little Sheba" starring my pal Alan, and his no less than magnificent co-star, S. Epatha Merkerson. I knew she was a wonderful actor and I have always liked her, but I had never experienced her on the stage before and was shocked and amazed at her giftedness.

The Police show was fucking awesome. I had more fun than I even anticipated I would, very much worth the long days' wait. I fell in love with The Police when I was 11 years old, and never fell out, so this was very important to me. Thank you once again, Jason and Joy, for making this possible. I was expecting to suffer a broken heart for awhile from missing this show, but then I didn't miss it, thanks to you. And my heart sang!

But about the title of this post, it's mainly about the heat, which has been going on a little long without a break now. I need a Marine Layer. The high summer temps are no longer hard to get used to and I like the weather, but my hands get clammy, I wilt and tire too easily and it gets harder than usual to motivate myself to do everyday stuff (besides work, which is a relief). Also, the bright sun and blue sky, medicine for depression that I very much need, after awhile are just so bright and blue I need a break.

It's also about a case of the blues that's been a bit hard to shake in the past week or so. BLAH. Over soon, I'm sure.

Two Reviews On the Way

2007-06-24T22:52:00.001-07:00

One, as promised, of "Come Back, Little Sheba" (read the two posts under this one) and two - THE POLICE AND THE FOO FIGHTERS show at Dodgers Stadium!! I got to go thanks to Jason (and an extra-ticket miracle).

Aprés le jeu d'étape

2007-06-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

I will be writing a review of "Come Back, Little Sheba" tomorrow, in the meantime:

ALAN: "It's good to see you, sweetie! How are you!"

ME: "Alan!"

[Hug with smooch on cheek; I return smooch]

ME: "That was beautiful. You did beautifully."

ALAN [earnestly]: "Thank you."

ME [clearly still a bit verklempt]: "I cried buckets."

ALAN [smiling]: "Good!"

~Intermission~

ME [handing ALAN a slip of paper]: "I really miss seeing you guys down there. I have wanted to send you a couple of emails - I have sent you them...one around Christmas, and another one ... I'm keeping in touch with Jeff!"

ALAN: "Ahh, he's in New York, now."

ME: "He is, he's in New York now."

ME: "Will you send me an email?"

ALAN: [gesturing paper toward ME] "Yes, I will."

ME: [indicating and smiling at others present] "Thank you for your extra time, I know you're busy."

ALAN [waving them off]: "Oh, please!"

ME: "It's been good to see you."

ALAN: "Good to see you, too, sweetie! Take care."

[ALAN wraps arms around ME, now even more warmly with renewed familiarity and in sympathy that I miss him]

ME: "You did so well, you all did. Bye!"

ALAN: "Bye!"

It's P-R-E-S-I-D-E-N-T

2007-06-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

We are fortunate here at The Sixth Notebook to be going to see "Come Back, Little Sheba" at the Kirk Douglas Theater this evening. We will be seeing our highly esteemed friend, actor Alan Rosenberg, do his job, and showing our happy and undying support.

Alan with S. Epatha Merkerson in "Come Back, Little Sheba"

From left, Alan, his lovely wife Marg Helgenberger and their son Hugh at the premiere of "Mr. Brooks"

Alan is the president of the Screen Actors Guild (or "prexy", as Variety magazine insists on calling him. We treasure Variety's content but have always been nearly horrified by their style book, completely unable to apprehend how these abominable abbreviations might be truly helpful or practical. They can't be saving that many lines; meanwhile, language peeps such as myself are pained to get through an article, wincing in anticipation of the next botchery). Anyhoo, I'm very much looking forward to the performance, and I will review it here, tomorrow.

Haircut

2007-06-17T20:44:00.001-07:00

oh hai, lolcat can has code?

2007-06-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

*Hands LOLCAT a tissue*, bless you.

If you get that joke, bless you, too.

In brainfuck, a Turing Complete minimus language for data direction:

The characters:

">", "<"

mean the commands:

Increment the pointer (to point to the next cell to the right), and Decrement the pointer (to point to the next cell to the left), respectively.

The characters:

"+", "-"

mean the commands:

Increment (increase by one) the byte at the pointer. and Decrement (decrease by one) the byte at the pointer, respectively.

Thanks to Arachnid, who intended to prove that LOLCODE is Turing Complete, we have the following:

IM IN YR LOOP
I HAS A THING
LOL THING R IPTR IN MAH INSTRUCTIONS

BTW Move tape head right
IZ THING LIEK ">"?
LOL LPTR IN MAH LTAPE R CELL
UPZ LPTR!!
IZ RPTR LIEK 0?
LOL CELL R 0
NOWAI
NERFZ RPTR!!
LOL CELL R RPTR IN MAH RTAPE
KTHX
KTHX

BTW Move tape head left
IZ THING LIEK "<"?
LOL RPTR IN MAH RTAPE R CELL
UPZ RPTR!!
IZ LPTR LIEK 0?
LOL CELL R 0
NOWAI
NERFZ LPTR!!
LOL CELL R LPTR IN MAH LTAPE
KTHX
KTHX

BTW Increment
IZ THING LIEK "+"?
UPZ CELL!!
KTHX

BTW Decrement
IZ THING LIEK "-"?
NERFZ CELL!!
KTHX

_______________________

HAI
BTW This is a BrainFuck interpreter
written in LOLCode  BTW It accepts as
input a BF program,followed by a "!",
followed  by any input to the BF program.
BTW Since BrainFuck is turing-complete,
this proves that LOLCode is too

Arachnid, speaking only as linguistic person, I'm nearly sure this is not a proof of Turing Completeness. It definitely means you are a crackerjack translator, and I am interested to know whether LOLCODE is Turing Complete (From Wikipedia:if it has a computational power equivalent to (i.e., capable of emulating) a simplified model of a programmable computer known as the universal Turing machine). I'm sure I'll never understand computer science well enough to know, but I'm gonna check back with the site admin at LOLCODE.

By George

2007-06-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

Yay, now I will be back to blogging regularly since I now have the Internet on my very own home computer. So hopefully I'll also tweak and update the sidebar sometime soon, too. For starters, the other day I was at work and a few peeps showed up to smoosh their paws into wet cement. I wish I'd gotten a better angle of George Clooney for my camera, but did get a congenial smile at my actual face.

Yo

2007-06-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ho Ho

Yo Ho Ho!

2007-06-01T22:52:00.001-07:00

Here I Am, Still Alive...

2007-05-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

...Still busy and tired, working hard. But around here, somewhere.

Refreshed:

Not so much:

Aaauuuggghhhh, TOO BUSY

2007-05-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

I will write again and post more pix sometime soon, I have a lot of work and other shit to do as well as a problem (getting resolved) with these stupid landline peeps whom I am firing. FIRING!!!

Also, I am (as well as an editor and an extra) a nifty tour guide!!! And I get TIPS, so take that, Julie.

More Phone Pix

2007-04-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

I took these too late in the day, but I couldn't bring myself to delete them . Sometime I'll get Joy to show me how I can crop and combine these to make a panorama:

A little virtual tour of 20th CF:

First of all:

Corporate HQ:

New York Street, overlit, sorry:

Inside NY Street:

Murals:

This one too is over-sunlit, unfortunately, and I didn't have time to find its placard. I'll fix both next time I go.

Phone Pix, Checking Out My Town

2007-04-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

Snapping Hollywood, Part the First:
Painting Stuff in an Amusing Manner

It seems I have at least slightly underestimated the quality of my phone's camera. I have been dismissing it as close to useless, a Cracker Jack prize included for show on my new phone. I can barely see the images on its tiny screen, where they look terribly pixilated, and when I click to enlarge them at my service provider's website, they look grainy and smeary. But check out what happens to them when, after clicking to enlarge, I download them to the disk:

Not great, but not so bad, either. These are snaps of the amusing art found on some of the mailboxes around my town.

Here is an open birthday card to MLK, still there since it was splashed on a the side of a building a couple months ago.

And here is another mural, painted on one of the sound stages at 20th Century Fox, facing the Pico entrance. I had been working there on Shark a couple months ago when I took this, but gave up on snapping any more of the murals on future visits due to how they looked on my phone. I missed a few great opportunites. Well, I'll be working there (on Shark once more, as it happens), again tomorrow, so I'll get the other paintings then.

Also,I will be taking some more little eyeballings around the only other town I (yet) call home (Seattle being the other and my native city, the future one being Manhattan). And now that I know it may be worth the effort, I'll upload a few of the ones that have been living uselessly on my phone but may in fact be just as good as these.

"GoneGoneGone...

2007-03-23T17:43:00.001-07:00

...she been gone so long, gonegonegone so long..."

But I'll be posting soon, just popping in to wave hi while I have a sec. See you probably next week.

Mystery Caller!

2007-03-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

At just after 4p this afternoon, I checked the little cell phone to make sure someone at the office hadn't tried again in vain to reach me. He hadn't and all is well, but there on the screen was this little note:

"U don't talk to me any more cutie"

Now then: I've managed to spend almost the WHOLE time from then till now (an hour and a half or so) without it occurring to me that I might have been a wrong number, reveling in the lovely mysteries of the Secret Pal: Whoooo could it BE!? Who am I not thinking of? How awful should I feel for not being able to recognize him (him, certainly?) right away? Are we at all close? Were we? Hmmm!!

After a while I thought to try a reverse look up: I could only find out that it's a prefix for Mt. Pleasant, TX. Who do I know there, I mused. Anyone? Or who do I know from somewhere else, but who has family, work, other connection to Texas? Alas, I couldn't think of a single soul, but not long after came the moment it occurred to me that the sweet, lonely words were probably meant for another girl...

*Sigh*.

But not knowing anything for sure, I do still get to keep the mystery. I love little mysteries here and there in life. They spice things up a little.

MySpace Survey

2007-03-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

House of Joy

2007-03-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

Bon aprés-midi, Messieurs et Mademoiselles. I'm writing to you on a day I would ordinarily be hard at work, slaving away over various and assorted field reports. Instead I'm at Joy's house, eating Easy Mac, drinking lemonade, fucking around on the internet and listening to iTunes. I mined all the stuff that I'm sure I like from her vast library (I've spent hours on just this) into a playlist I can listen to when I'm here. I also wrote down stuff I'm not sure of, to listen through later.

I will go into work tomorrow to help our poor abandoned Luis, he of the killer sentence composition (if you read Joy's blog you know what I mean). He is unaccustomed to days on his own in there, and may have better things to do than sit around and answer the damn phone.

From there, I will be attempting to get some more background stuff. If I don't manage to get any for Wednesday (it's really a day by day thing, getting background work), I'll be coming back up here to North Hollywood, paying a visit to the call-in service peeps and finally getting signed up with them. It makes the life of someone who does this for a (meantime) living much, much easier.

Joy is in Portland, visiting her awesome bro Brian Backlash for the week. I hope she is having nine tons of fun, that the time is going nice and slow and that she comes back feeling like she got to spend a whole month away.

I'll be spending more time here while she's gone, watering all her plants and feeding any number of her pets, but I think I'll be going home for tonight in a while. My T.V. gets better reception, and Prison Break and 24 are on tonight, so. You know. I've always had my priorities straight. It is just after four now, I should be doing a vlog post in a bit.

P.S. looks like Blogger has not updated their clock for DST

In The House

2007-03-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

I love working on a set. I love the long days, I love the actors, I love being enveloped in this other world, I love being excited about the day and my life, I love seeing and experiencing stuff that is completely unique. I love the gruff and too-cool-for-school crew, I love the happy crew, crew rules. They are so fucking great at their jobs it is insane, and you realize the Oscars and Emmys exist so that these people can get close to properly thanked. All that glitz, you realize on the set, is really the least that could be done.

I always have fun stuff I could be writing to you about these experiences... I'll be getting internet service at home again very soon and will have more time for stuff like that. (That should also mean way more frequent posts, I really do love blogging and am always wishing I could be talking to you every day. I will be doing a vlog from Joy's this weekend, so that should be fun times).

Happy Birthday, George Eads!Or, Hooray, Pussy! (the original title), whichever you prefer

2007-03-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

I'm dedicating today's post to my current favorite actor, as I'm sure he adores pussy, and today is his birthday.

If you feel one of those lovely urges to immerse yourself in sexual discourse, but no one (or circumstance) seems to be available, click HERE. Just watch it if you're at work.

I snagged this from Blogography commentor Yello Jkt's original link.

Official Stuff of Today:

2007-02-23T16:50:00.000-08:00

Amphibian of the Day:

The Pacific Chorus Frog

Word of the Day:

Chiaroscuro

Beverage of the Day:

Bréve

Person of the day:

Joy

Blogger of the Day:

Dave

Have a magnificent weekend !!

Chiming in with Dave

2007-02-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

Suck the general public's dick, rude cell phone user. Especially when the general public has a wee kid. Perhaps their parents would rather have him or her wait until early grade school before learning advanced F*bomb usage.

Dave's current entry (Feb 20: "Etiquette") reminded me of my own thoughts on the subject.

From LSHQ,

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

OOOOOOooooo!

Please get off your damn cellular telephone. Are you in a quiet cafe? Are you in the symphony lobby? Are people around you working, resting, waiting quietly? Even snoozing? Maybe they just got their little one to nod off. Maybe they are trying to hear something else. Something that is at far lower decibels than your chirpy-ass larynx, like what the person standing right by their side is trying to say to them, for example. Hey, nobody wants to seem uncaring or anything, but NOONE GIVES A SHIT WHAT RODNEY IN ACCOUNTING IS DOING FOR DINNER.
Thankyou.

posted by Catherine at 2:40 PM

Happy St. Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

LoveLoveLove,

Catherine
:)

P.S.: Here is a lovely thought from Whiskey River. It struck me as a good way one might show oneself a little love:

"Practice mental silence: Instead of trying to activate cosmic powers within, we should remain silent in order to see them already at work. Make it your task for today not to try to achieve anything, but to quietly watch yourself being moved about by inner forces."

- Vernon Howard

Happy Friday

2007-02-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

I'm still alive. I've been busy at work lately doing video for this big case. I'm done with a particular segment of it, with one more to go, so I'm taking a breather at the moment.

I'm happy that The Colts won the Big Game. According to a surprising amount of people, they were a shoo-in, which I did not realize. Next year, I hope smart sports people will be saying that about the Seahawks. :D

Nothing else at the moment, no news, and I can't think of either of the topics I was gonna mention here...I'll have to start writing them down in a notebook again. Also, less to talk about because I haven't worked on a set for weeks now. Joy has needed the help lately, and Luis has been here at the office, so I can't use the phone to get work. I was thinking about going outside and using my own phone, but I think I'm gonna wait till things are all the way back to normal after this huge case anyway. I'll finish this video and get set back into the usual routine - one more week. Next Friday, one week from today, I'll call to start getting work on set again.

Football Fun, Other Stuff

2007-02-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

Yay, it's almost Superbowl Sunday!!! There will be either one of two things: A fabulous party at The Hole, consisting of me and the television, or: Me, going to a sports bar other likely spot to cheer on the Colts with other losers who have only a The Hole of their own and no healthy peeps to hang out with. I say healthy, because if poor Joy were not in a heap on the floor with strep throat, I'd go hang out with her and Jason and their peeps. But she is, poor baby. Please think healing, comfortable happy thoughts for her.

I'm here at work today without her, and with her boss, Rick (Okay, it's our boss, but I really just consider myself Joy's person here. I'm not wrapped up in the company, just here to make her life easier and earn a few bucks while I scramble - if you can imagine tedious scrambling - to get my real work off the ground). Right now making a few video files on the computer of footage taken in the field, then I put those onto CD. That is not my main function here, but I do it. I usually take written field reports and whip them into appropriate shape for this company's clients. I don't have any of that to do today, unfortunately. We are working on a big huge high profile case that the client is asking for by a completely unreasonable due date, so I'll be coming in tomorrow to help out. I'm not too sure how handy I'm coming in, but I think I'm making Rick feel better just being here.

My guess is I'll be back with at least one more entry today. :P

Listening To Myself Talk

2007-01-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

This is an entry from my personal journal. I very rarely go back and read old stuff, with this one exception. I need to hear it every few weeks or so. I wish I were better at following my own advice:

Apples to Zen

I thought last night: when you really improve your life, it won't be out of anger or disgust with yourself, and it won't be due to a moment, no matter how remarkable, of inspiration. It won't emerge like a phoenix from a really deep black mood nor be propelled any more than a few feet out of a happy one. It won't even come of being on the right career path or making peace with your past. It will come of making everyday decisions that are in your best interest from the time you wake up until you go to bed at night. Right Action. Since it's tricky to remember what to do and why, since the big picture is not displayed for you when you wake up in the morning and your motivations are so easily lost in the moments of the day, design a way keep them at the forefront of your consciousness. Keep bringing what's important back to your attention. Get something up on the wall here at home, figure out a portable version to take with you. But don't be pissed, don't bother. Really. Get it out of your system. Zen out. Don't just hope for a happy morning, expect it or get it that way. Attitude is everything. Find the motherlode for your sense of humor so you don't lose it when your down like this. And tomorrow? buy a giant sack of apples.

movies/SPORTS

2007-01-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

I saw Pan's Labyrinth on Saturday, and some thoughts on that are forthcoming. I have to bring some stuff from my own computer to here at work, including that, writing stuff and a few other entries from my personal journal.

What else? Ah, football. Well, first of all, congratulations to 2007 AFC Champs The Indianapolis Colts and 2007 NFC Champs The Chicago Bears.

I know I'm supposed to be going for my own league, but I have to say my heart is with the Colts this year. I was stung kinda hard by that last loss, maybe harder than usual. First of all, The Hawks hadn't really been doing well, but there was a little energy there toward the end so I got my hopes up for a full-on rally monkey. No monkey. Second of all, Joe Montagne kinda killed my buzz. I was watching the news, and they were filming outside Taste Chicago - my all time favorite pizza place so far in life, FANTASTIC rich, tasty pie. And there was it's proprietor, Joe Montagne, like him, he's cool, so I'm checking out the festivity and hoping he talks about his joint, his hometown and his team. And of course I expected a bit of the usual sort of trash talking on the Seahawks. Well he definitely did that last part, but then he had to go on to also dis SEATTLE. The city itself, my beloved, spectacular hometown. Hmph, I thought, I'd never rag on Chicago THE CITY (As it happens, I don't even boo opposing teams,only cheer my own, but that's just me. I do get it. I mean, there it is, all part of the game). So I felt pretty sore about that, which has bled into my feeling pretty sore about his team. Which of course is not right, so I am in the process of getting over myself. In the meantime, two words, baby:

GO COLTS!!!

Eating Crow

2007-01-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

I was crushed, man. But we put up a good fight, forcing overtime and only letting the Bears win by a field goal. Heads up high, guys. You are a great team, and this was a kick-ass season. Looking forward to next year!!

What Will Happen This Weekend:

2007-01-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

Interesting Eye

2007-01-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

I was hunting around Quattro's blog to see if I could find an image of him, so I could either tell him I think he's really handsome, or lie and tell him I think he's really handsome. A bit of advice: All good men, all gentlemen, all husbands charming and not, everyone's brother, son and dad, all favorite uncles and male cousins, co-workers and fellow bloggers are handsome. No matter what.

This is a slight variation on (and extended remix of) the male half of some advice I got at about age eight:
"All wives are lovely; all husbands are charming."
"But....!", I began to protest.
"Shhh - no matter what!"
"Oh", I said.

The truth is, if Kevin is any taller than me (not hard for most men as I am 63 inches tall), has either most of his hair or none at all, has friendly peepers and a warm smile, I will almost certainly genuinely think he is handsome. The question arises in the first place from the comments under this blog post.

Anyway, in clicking around, I found his online portfolio Optic Chaos. He is a car guy! Here are my favorite images from that:

MMMmmmMenMenMen (this top one is my very fave, the rest are in no particular order):

I wonder what kind of plant this is?:

Q has a keen sense for architecture, this shot had the coolest color:

Très Moderne:

So SoCal:

Cutest girl in the world:

...Panda Hippo Gnu Deer

2007-01-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

I dug my New Year's wish from last year, so I thought I'd dust it off and hang it up again:

I wish you the very best that 2007 could possibly have to offer you!

May you have peace, health, happiness, dreams dreamt and come true (or begun to), good sleep, good eats, fun times & safe home.

May all of you drive carefully and be surrounded by polite, friendly drivers.

May you all have plenty of money and all the stuff you want and need.

May your loved ones have what you wish for them and more.

May your non-fake plants stay alive in your care.

May your pets frolic and love you to pieces.

May the world, your friends, the cosmos and your favorite person/sweetie love you to smithereens and be wonderfully good to you.

May you take joy in old friends, deepening your bonds, and may you make marvellous and fantastic new friends.

May you see magnificent movies and talk about them for hours after.

May you drink excellent coffee and have at least a few really fabulous meals with people you enjoy deeply.

May you have love, sweetness and light, all the way through 2007 and far beyond.

With all my love to all of you,

Happy New Year!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, know your blogger better in 2007:

Some things I live for:

The anchoring presence of family (Hi, Tony!) and friends, giving love and being loved

Affection and affinity, being touched physically, bonding non-physically

Being nourished, moved and surprised in experiencing real life

Being nourished, moved and surprised in experiencing the arts

My great big hopes and dreams

All that is natural

Including that which is contrived (contrivance is natural to humans)

Contributing

Creating

Movement and excersize

Enjoyable, fulfilling challenges

Work, action, change, learning

Talking

Thinking

Sunshine

Coffee, chocolate and other favorite foods and drinks

good sleep and other comforts

My favorite people, living and dead, acquainted with me and not

My favorite ideas and topics

My favorite other stuff

You

Most of Day Two.

2007-01-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

I'll put things in a nutshell - 'tis the New Year, time to move on!

On the 23rd, I rented a car, which would be a miracle except that I am WAY smart, yo. First, I went to a rental car agency and the guy said, in Down Town Seattle right before Christmas?? You will NEVER find a car; you MIGHT if you go to the airport. So what did I do? I slid right into the lobby of the Westin, sidled up to the concierge and and asked if she could please hook me up with a car. I heart concierges. She not only did, but the nice lady from Advantage Rent-a-Car came to pick me up from this swank hotel at which I was not staying. Which the concierge knew. Neato, huh? If you ever need stuff, just ask your friendly neighborhood concierge.

So then I went up to Broadway and tried to shop for a bit, coming up empty handed but having a good time anyway. I should have gone to The Market and spent that time getting souvenir stuff for the folks in L.A.; hindsight is 20/20 :P. I called Padraic as scheduled (Buying a house anywhere in the West? Call Padraic Joseph Jordan; he is an even better real estate guy than he is a Handsome Irish Bartender - and he is a DAMN GOOD Handsome Irish fucking Bartender. Just ask me for his contact info), and we had a magnificent little lunch date at a Pho joint in Seattle's Chinatown, known there as The International District. He gave me a bottle of his gorgeous homemade Irish Cream, hugs, kisses and good wishes for the New Year. Then Mary Pat called back (I had talked with her dad earlier), and she asked if I'd go have dinner with her usual bunch at Claire's Pantry after Mass. I always love seeing her and her family and the few family friends that get together every weekend at Claire's for dinner. Mr. Henwood treated me, and I knew there'd be no use arguing.

Then I got on I-5 and went up to Mom's. Hi, Mom!

More later.

Christmas in Seattle, Day One

2006-12-29T11:44:00.000-08:00

I think we may be leaving work early today, so that's cool. However, Joy's not feeling all that well though, so that's like not cool. I hope she feels all better, very soon. Sniffles and sinus problems SUCK.

Christmas in Seattle was a blast. I keep promising myself that it will not be a whole year between visits; this year I fully intend on making good on that. What I'd really like, since Joy wants to visit her brother Brian in Oregon sometime soon, is get it so we can all go to his house, then all three of us drive to Seattle. That, my friend, would be good times. Both Brian and Joy are amazing. My cousin said he'd like me to be there for the Fourth of July. I'd love that.

When I entered Seattle at nighttime on the 22nd, I got the full-on glittering skyline from the south. I knew I'd love that, but I actually found myself getting a little choked up. Down here, I don't exactly feel homesick, but I do miss and very much love my hometown. Anyway, I was amped and needed something to go do before settling in. Near where I was staying was one of my favorite haunts - maybe my number one fave - a fantastic little pub called Fadó. I just love it in there, everyone's friendly and unassuming, it feels fun and comforting. There was a band playing cover tunes, and when I went to go in, the bouncer goes "That'll be a five dollar cover, Miss", and I said "Aw, I'm just going in for a drink and a snack, wow you are so handsome", so the bouncer said, "You just go right ahead, spend your fiver on your drink, sweetie", and I thought, yes, I am home at last. I went in and the sweet waitstaffperson described to me her favorite appetizer when I ordered my beer. It sounded like heaven on Earth, so I ordered it, and it was. Here it is, and I highly recommend you get a Hefeweisen with it when you go:

Chicken Boxty Quesadillas

Our signature boxty potato pancake is richly layered with grilled chicken, melted pepper jack cheese and drizzled with a red chili aioli. Tomato pico, sour cream and salsa on the side.

I listened to the band, watched people, talked to the fun girls at the neighboring table and flirted with my cute, friendly waitress. I savored my food and soaked in the festive comfort of feeling like I belonged (I considered that, that I don't really have a hang-out here in L.A., and I should probably find one) and was really home, safe and warm and cozy in the cold weather. I drained my beer, tipped my waitress with a little extra Christmas cheer, and went to bed down for a long winter's nap.

Tomorrow or Sunday, Day Two.

Christmas Rocked

2006-12-27T16:43:00.000-08:00

OMG, I had SUCH a great time! I of course only wished it could have lasted longer.

It's closing in on time to go home (I should have started earlier, :P) but tomorrow I'll tell you the whole story. I just wanted to check in, let you know I got back in one piece, and had a great time with the family.

The Seahawks, on the other hand ... *long, painful sigh.* I'll get to that topic too, and others.

See you tomorrow!

Kevin Quattro!

2006-12-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

I read through this guy's blog, and I just really like him. He is a special effects supervisor who is clearly very good at his job - go check out his demo reel. I've linked him on the sidebar.

Check it out, I Vlogged

2006-12-19T22:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday

2006-12-18T12:37:00.000-08:00

I think I might be able to go home after all, I hope so. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I'm a pretty terrible budgeter, but when something's important, I can often pull it off anyway.

I'm really need to get a good headshot so I can audition for real work and start making some more money! I dream of the day I can both fix my financial quagmire and be really excited about going to work (not that I don't adore working with Joy every day - I couldn't ask for better company. But you know what I mean).

I also want to be able to plan a visit with Tony as soon as possible. I also need a bunch of other important stuff, including way better digs and a car, ASAP.

Speaking of listing stuff I want, here is the official Christmas list I sent to Mom:

1) An iPod Shuffle
2) Or, better yet, this phone
3) Phone cards for talking with Tony in Mexico
4-?) Gift cards to various and assorted retail establishments

In other news, the Hawks have hit a slump. They were upset by the 49ers on Thursday, blowing a second chance to clinch their spot. Please think energetic, winning thoughts for them as they take on the Chargers on Christmas Eve. The Redskins won their game Sunday against the Saints (speaking of upsets)!!! Jeff is probably pretty psyched. It's been a rough season for those guys, and they deserve a break. His ticket was a bust, so he's still ahead by only $0.40 . Meh.

How Do I Top THAT?

2006-12-13T15:51:00.000-08:00

I was trying to decide how to follow that most recent post, a result of the most spectacularly great news in my whole life, and thought Jeez, what? The Seahawks? Well that is a happy enough topic, I suppose. Nothing will hold a candle to getting back in touch with Tony, so. I might as well start somewhere.

The Hawks play a must-win tomorrow against the 49ers. I have some natural West Coast love for San Francisco, and I otherwise always cheer them on, but NOT TOMORROW damnit.

Aaaauuggghhh! So tense!

I'd love to see us be on top of our division again and be in contention for the SuperBowl. I'd love my hometown to make a habit of it, actually. Last year was SO exciting, and I felt so proud along with the rest of my tribe, especially Mom, Scott and Noah (an excellent athlete in his own right, thank you very much). There were some seriously questionable (and some outright bad) calls last year, and I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch with the Steelers, but whoever. Unfortunately, they missed an opportunity to clinch the NFC West last Sunday against Arizona, which would have been such a relief, but that's okay. They'll do great tomorrow, and of course we'll love 'em no matter what.

Jeff's Redskins lost their game Sunday. The update on that whole situation is that with the ticket he owed me for the previous week, we won $10. So I'm catching up:

(Jeff $ 14.20)
(Cath $.13.80)

Let's hope (fervently, please!) that he ends up owing me a ticket on Friday morning :)

Hi, Tony!

2006-12-12T14:33:00.000-08:00

"If you open your mind for me, you won't rely on open eyes to see."

Those lyrics, from Queensryche's Silent Lucidity are a good example of the kinds of things that Tony and I have in common. In talking with him, I've been rediscovering how connected we are, and that so many of the basic and subtle things that make us who we are, are the very same or remarkably similar.

We are drawn to and fascinated by the same kinds of things, develop similar ways of perceiving them and prioritizing what is truly important about them. We are both philosophical creatures, drawn to grow our minds and look deep into the larger contexts of humanity: its growth and evolution, its passions like spirituality/religions (especially those of the ancients) its hierarchy (government, law, and to some extent, politics), its environment, its history, its mind. He loves the bigger picture, just like his mom.

He loves stargazing - his favorite constellation is Orion, the Hunter. I've always loved that one, but my favorite has always been Casseopoeia. We love the sea (I have always identified as a nautical person) - I can't remember where the conversation went when I asked him whether he likes maps, but he does love geography, and I have a feeling he does. Like maps. :P I think we like to be oriented. In as many ways and at as deep a level as possible. Some people just need to know, like a soul urge, where they are, and where their fellow humans are. It's integral, in the minds of people like us, to who we are, have been and are becoming.

Jeez, and these things are just the tip of the iceberg ... I am so excited and happy to be discovering and rediscovering my neat kid. There are already so many things to talk about here that I'm spilling over with them, and I had a hard time deciding which stuff to talk about first.

I wish I had a picture of him to post here, hopefully that won't be too long in coming ...

Yesterday's conversation with him was the first in twelve years. It was wonderful and happy. I couldn't get to sleep because I was still excited, thinking about him and everything we had said and begun to say, and thinking about stuff for the next conversation, and the future with him. I realized I had my little kid back, just big now, and that I get to talk with him - and hopefully soon, hang out with him (!!!) - for the rest of our lives. We like eachother and love eachother, we are like minded and easy going - I am looking forward to my relationship with him! This is something I am free to do now, things I am free to know for sure and plan for. I can share thoughts and music and ideas with him. I get to know and have everything he'd like to share with me. We can ask eachother anything, and not wonder anymore.

I can tell my kid that I love him, and listen to him tell me he loves me. I can hear him laugh. Welcome home, Tony Baloney Balloon. I LOVE YOU.

A Very Buried Christmas Special

2006-12-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

So when you are done reading this post, scroll down and check out the cleverly recast 'trailer' for Mary Poppins. So cool!

I saw this very old Christmas special called Santa Claus is Coming to Town, narrated by the always entertaining Fred Astaire, a few of nights ago. At its beginning, I wondered, have I ever seen this? I don't think so, hmmm. I dropped the thought, setting up to enjoy something unfamiliar and trying to pick out when it was produced. I also like to study these things sort of anthropologically, take the temp of some of society's notions and tendencies back in the day. But somewhere about three quarters of the way through, there was a reference to Rudolph - and I recognized it. So then things started coming back to me .... shyte, it's time to go home and I am not finished!!! I will finish this over the weekend, I promise.

Ugh, should have started earlier. :P

*December 12, 2006 - I'll come back to Christmas Specials in the coming days. If you scroll up, you'll discover I have some really exciting news. I'll probably be psyched to talk about that first for a while. :D*

Editorial Genius:

2006-12-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

Lazy Blogger, Jeez

2006-12-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

I've almost never blogged on a daily basis, maybe for small stretches here and there, but I should definitely post more frequently than I have been lately. I'll try to step it up. It would definitely help and motivate me if you guys LEFT ME LITTLE NOTES IN THE COMMENTS BOXES!!! I love reading and responding to those, and I'll sometimes get ideas from them for future posts.

Today, please go do this: Light To Unite

I'm not an cause-pusher type of person, but this is effortless, quick, and could do some real good. One of my closest friends has AIDS, so this is close to home for me.

I'm gonna put together another post, one more like my usual little musey essays, before I go home today.

Howdy.

2006-12-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

I thought of a whole bunch of things to talk about over the weekend, and now I am drawing a BLANK. Well, while I'm thinking here, I can fall back on yesterday's awesome SEAHAWKS win. I wish I could say it was because they played really well, but they'll pick up next Sunday. The season will be getting exciting pretty soon.

Here is a Seahawks blog I found, looks good so far. If it's great, I'll link it at the sidebar. I know it's just you (4-7, depending :P) guys, but you never know when a fellow Seahawks person will Google for other fans. Maybe they'll find me and find my links usefu l ...?

The Redskins lost what looked for the first two quarters to be a really promising game for them, so disappointing. Jeff wrote this morning to let me know he'd be getting a ticket for me soon. I sent a far too chatty reply, as I realized the microsecond after I hit 'send'. *Sigh*.

What else, what else? Ah, here's something: I just read this fascinating book called Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, which Joy kindly checked out for me at her school library. It's something you would be fascinated by if you are curious or interested in how we read the world, especially faces. He focusses on rapid cognition, or "thin slicing", and explains that we pick up on and put together (and draw conclusions about) pieces of our reality without knowing or realizing that we are doing so, or how. He slows the process down, explains it and gives examples, and it's some cool shit. Some of his material is stuff we are generally aware of, but go on without giving too much thought to; this book reminds us. It isn't perfect, there are a couple not-too-lengthy chunks I found tedious and/or would have approached or exemplified differently (maybe would have been more careful and specific with some of the composition), but it usually sang very well and right on key. So until I can remember and write down some of the stuff I hand on hand to talk about, I'll recommend Blink.

Whining :P

2006-11-28T15:57:00.000-08:00

Bummer Alert.

Although I'm happy about a great Seahawks win, I'm attempting to dodge various symptoms of depression today, not too successfully. Ignoring it and focussing on happy shit only goes so far. It's still there.

The big fat trigger lately is going home to no one. I absolutely love and need privacy, but the pain of being by myself has gotten beyond ridiculous. The other stuff that sucks feels like it would all be less overwhelming-feeling and maybe even manageable if I were not alone.

I feel like banging my head against a wall.

My mouse is not cooperating, I feel blurry, and I really miss the Redskins guy. I also think I would love to have the computer Jason made for me, but I really don't until I have a better home than the godforsaken little hole I have at the moment. Also ... stockings will of course happen, but I'm not so sure I'll make it home. That worry is also a big factor in my bummed frame of mind and physiology.

Not Dead

2006-11-25T18:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been like 379 years since my last post, and I can't spend any real time right now, but I thought I'd check in and let you know all is well.

*I haven't contacted Tony yet, although I do have a phone card and will talk with my mom about ways to approach this, shortly

*Bernie arrived briefly in L.A. but had to return home almost immediately, basically because airlines are hyperbureaucratic assholes from the seventh circle of hell

*I went to the fashion district to try to find good cheap stuff - verdict: yes to some extent on the 'cheap', not so much on the 'good'. I did come away with a few fun stocking stuffers, however.

*I actually have untouched money left not only in my bank, but (a few bucks just to see how long I can go without touching it) in my savings account. There is a thread (though it remains a very thin one), of me making it home for Christmas this year. Toast me, bitches.

*In the words of the great and admirable David Schmader, Nothing happened today. Laundry, cleaning and possibly a trip back downtown are on the list for tomorrow. I'll talk to you again on Monday from work.

Kotzebue, Alaska Connection!

2006-11-20T16:35:00.001-08:00

My father, Robert Taylor Thach, Jr., was born to Robert Taylor Thach, Sr. and Angeline Davidovics in Kotzebue, AK. in 1945. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 1979, before I ever got a chance to meet him, so unfortunately. He knew of me and wanted me to stick around, though, arguing to keep me from being given up for adoption in 1968. He lost that arguement but also wanted to be supportive of my mom, Mary. I've seen pictures of him and met most of the rest of my family, but I had never seen so much as seen a picture of his mother, Angeline.

I don't have much time left in my work day, so I'll write more about how this happened tomorrow or Wednesday, but for now, here finally is a picture from the 1930s featuring Angeline (she is on your far right):

From what I understand, Angeline's mom was or Inupiaq and her dad was part or Inupiaq. My own heritage as far as I know (and I'm working on finding out more about my father):

Inupiaq and French on my father's side
Norwegian and German on my mother's side

I don't yet know how the other people in the photo are related to Angeline, but the guy second from left reminds Joy and I of Marty Feldman, and think he would have made a great cartoon character. :)

A few days ago on a lark, I went to the City of Kotzebue website and signed the guestbook, telling about my father and his mother. Yesterday, I got an email from this VERY nice man by the name of Dean Westlake in Kotzebue, who's mom knew Angeline. We ended up having quite a cool and lively exchange, including his sending me the above photo and putting me in touch with my cousin Teddy and his family. We talked about visiting sometime; my mom loved Alaska when she and my brother, and sisters and dad went to live there (my dad was working on the pipeline) and would love to go back. I'd just love to go in the first place, and take Tony there, too.

When I was growing up, I loved learning about Washington State history and felt connected with the Coast Salish - and still do. I love their arts, spirit and history and have always felt proud of it - proud to be from Seattle whose heritage this is. I felt, it's my heritage too. I identified in some key ways with Native American spirituality. It did not surprise me in the least - in fact, certain things seemed to click right into place - when I learned I am Native Alaskan.

I am so happy to have (cyber) met Dean Westlake, who is ushering me into this part of my family! My father's surviving siblings will help a bit too, I'm sure, although it's understandably more old hat to them. I'm not sure how much or how little they know anyway, and I'm not too sure they know Dean - I think that's my own connection!

Pretty cool huh? I'll be writing to my cousin Teddy's family sometime over the Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm sure I'll have a bit more to report later.

Take Off Your Coat and Stay Awhile

2006-11-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

Look over at the sidebar and scroll down. If you are bored, you can play Tetris. I'm also trying to find a Post-it note thingy and who knows, maybe some other stuff.

Who, Me?

2006-11-16T16:43:00.000-08:00


Favorite Stuff (as of today, anyway):

food:	Usually savory pie
meal of the day:	Lunch
type of pasta:	Bow Tie
desert:	Chocolate
type of meat:	Turkey
vegetable:	Yukon Gold Potatoes
fruit:	Blackberries
kind of salad:	Waldorf
kind of cookie:	Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
kind of pie:	a tie: Pumpkin/blackberry
pizza topping:	Fresh Basil, Mmmmmm, also love artichoke hearts, mushrooms, sausage
flavor:	Amaretto
ice cream flavor:	Haagan Dazs' Mexican Chocolate (can't remember actual name)
snack:	Varies too much
flavor potato chip:	Sour Cream and Onion
drink:	Triple short Americano with cream and sugar
alcoholic drink:	Vodka drinks, I heart Cosmos
condiment (ketchup, mustard, etc.):	Mayo, esp. the herbed kind at Cafe Septieme in Seattle
nationality of food (chinese, italian, etc.):	Varies. Try Ethiopian sometime, Mmmmm!
restaurant:	Here in L.A., so far it's still Canter's. There's a reason it's so popular and has been around so long.
breakfast food:	Cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit
dinner food:	Today? Meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes, salad and beer
salad dressing:	Honey Mustard
way to eat a potato:	As long as it's a Yukon Gold, any way is dandy
meal to cook:	I like dealing with fish.
flavor coffee:	If I'm getting a latte, almond. I also heart Mocha Valencias.
flavor tea:	Chai
candy bar:	Meh. I'll eat it if it's dark chocolate.
candy:	Chocolate
snack at the movies:	Popcorn, rootbeer, and if I'm at the Arclight, possibly an apple chicken sausage dog.
way to eat popcorn:	Still a fool for butter and salt
ice cream topping:	Dark Chocolate hot fudge, whipped cream and pecans or walnuts
carnival/fair treat:	Puyallup fair scones with fresh butter and blackberry jam, Mmmmmmm!!!!!
soft drink:	Henry Weinhard's, any flavor
koolaid flavor:	Orange
thanksgiving food:	Stuffing! Turkey, Jeez, everything. That's my fave meal of the whole year.
spice (salt, sugar, cinnamon, etc.):	Cinnamon
Everyday stuff
time to get up:	7:30 a.m.
place to shop:	Target, usually. Downtown's good for cheap stuff.
time of day:	Twilight
day of week:	Friday
month:	September, December
holiday:	Merry Christmas!
brand of toothpaste:	Crest Vivid White
brand of shampoo:	Clairol
type of makeup:	Lip stuff
place to be:	Safe, comfortable home
subject in school:	Was Drama, Languages (English, French)
class:	...
teacher:	Several, loved Mr. Pittis
foreign language:	French
historical event:	I'm fascinated by the 1930's and '40's, USA and Erurope
city:	I'll take Manhattan
article of clothing:	T-shirts
item you own:	Cozy sweater
pet:	was Muffin the adorable doggie
animal:	Dogs, but I love all animals
color:	Blue
season:	Still Autumn
type of weather:	Mild
career:	Actor
extra curricular activity (dance, gymnastrics, etc.):	...
sport:	To do? Sail
party game:	...
Dating & love
physical feature in the opposite sex:	Friendliness
personality trait of the opposite sex:	Warmth
place to go on a date:	Dinner and a movie is still a big fave for me, but I love to talk at a cafe (or wherever) for hours, too
thing to do on a date:	Talk, if it's a new person
gift to get from your date:	His presence
flower:	Gerbera Jamesonii, AKA the Gerber Daisy
kind of kiss:	Deep, long and sweet
place to be kissed:	Mouth
place to kiss your date:	Mouth
topic of conversation with your date:	Whatever arises naturally
way to show affection:	Big cozy sweet hugs
way for them to dress:	However he'd like
way to communicate with them (phone, email, etc.):	In person
Music, Movies, etc.
genre of music:	Today? Industrial
band:	So many, Jeez
singer:	Right now, K.T. Tunstall
radio station:	Jack FM
concert you've been to:	Dave Matthews Band
party music:	Rock
romantic music:	Sade
way to listen to music (CD, radio, etc.):	iPod
music to listen to when you're sad:	Soul II Soul
music to listen to when you're angry:	Megadeth, other hard edged music
song:	I miss Jesus Christ Pose
lyrics:	"If you open your mind to see, you won't rely on open eyes to see" - Queensryche
album:	Today? So - Peter Gabriel
song that relates to your life:	"The Rest Is Still Unwritten" - Natasha Bedingfield
quote:	"Only Connect" - usually attributed to E.M. Forster
joke:	Sly in-jokes
actor:	George Eads
actress:	Scarlett Johanssen
comedian:	Jon Stewart
TV show overall:	CSI:
reality show:	...
game show:	Jeopardy
drama:	House, Bones, more
sitcom:	Today? Till Death
TV channel:	CBS
movie:	Today? Shawshank Redemption
genre of movie:	Action/Thriller
place to go to the movies:	The Arclight, or Grauman's Chinese #9, the original big theater
people to see a movie with:	I like going on my own, actually
type of movie to see in a theater:	Big, expensive, popular special effects monsters like King Kong, Star Wars, etc.
All About You
physical feature:	Eyes
personality trait:	Friendliness
way to wear your hair:	Back and up
way to wear your makeup:	Not much
pair of shoes:	The Docs
outfit:	Jeans and T-shirt
thing that makes you smile:	Tony, emails from The Prof
person:	Joy
family member:	Noah
friend:	Joy again
room in your house:	Kitchen
place to be alone:	Anywhere's fine
place to be with your friends:	Their house, wherever they'd like to be
The Internet
website:	The Sixth Notebook
email host:	Gmail
IM service:	Gmail's
emoticon:	:P
online friend:	The Reverend Dr. Neurogeist
blog site:	Joy's
online game:	Tetris
IM/chat phrase:	...
search engine:	Google
font:	Varies by purpose
Travel & the world
type of car:	Mercedes SLK 350
form of transportation:	Trains are therapeutic
state in the US:	Washington State, California, New York
place to vacation:	Hawaii
ocean:	Pacific, although the Atlantic kicks some ass, too
country:	The United States of America
place to travel:	so far, Europe
type of climate (arctic, desert, beach, etc.):	Mild, agreeable
type of surroundings (city, country, etc.):	To live in? the City; to visit? Anywhere but suburbs or boring plains
State Park:	The Olympic National Rain Forest
natural wonder:	Let me get back to you on that ...
body of water:	Today? Lakes
Childhood
childhood toy:	Books
childhood memory:	Reading
childhood friend:	James was pretty cool
elementary school activity:	Dismissal
place to play:	My room
game to play:	Ninny and Esses (ask and I'll teach you)
birthday party (yours or a friend's):	My fifth was cool
food as a kid:	Ravioli, chocolate
way to annoy your parents:	Tried not to, failed miserably
way to get what you wanted:	Got it myself
Take this survey \| Find more surveys Bzoink - The Original Survey Site

Tony Marcus Cassani

2006-11-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Kiddo,

if you have Googled your own name, you have probably found this blog entry. Hi! This is your Mom. A Very happy belated 18th birthday to you, Tony Baloney Balloon. I miss you very much.

Mimi called me with the great news that she had managed to find a phone number for you in Mexico, and then called you and talked with you for most of an hour. I was so happy. I want to call you myself, and talk with you for as long as the card holds out ... I'm going to give that a shot next week on Wednesday, just before Thanksgiving.

I've been fantasizing about meeting you for the first time in 12 years, musing on what that could be like. Talking with you was always fun, and it will be again. I loved hanging out with you, such a neat kid. I loved you to pieces when you were little, have every day since, and will love you to pieces your whole life and beyond. I just can't wait to see you and get to know you all over again, this time with all kinds of new stuff.

I know Mimi gave you my email, here it is again: cath68@gmail.com
She also gave you my phone number; call her or email me if you need that again.
If you remember Bernie (I have a little hope that you at least vaguely remember him), he would LOVE to hear from you; once I talk to you, I'll give you his email and phone number.

Be good, baby. One way or another, I will talk to you soon.

Love,

Mama

Jeff/Cath NFL Update

2006-11-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Happy for me, but quite painful for Jeffrey. He owes me a ticket; I'll let you know the results as soon as he lets me know.

Currently, team standings:

Redskins: 3 & 6, PCT .333; Home 2-2, Road 2-4; AFC 2-2, NFC 2-4; DIV 1-3 - last in the NFC East

Seahawks: 6 & 3, PCT .667; Home 4-1, Road 2-2; AFC 1-1, NFC 5-2; DIV 3-0 - first in NFC West

Jeff/Cath standings:
(the most recent update for us was over a month ago - let's hope we get a winner, today!)

As of Oct. 6: "[Your Redskins Scratcher] won $15! You get $9 to add to your $1.20
(Jeff$10.20) , I get $6. to add to my $1.80
(Cath$7.80); you are ahead by $2.40."

I'll have a meatier entry a bit later today. :)

*later, 4:50 p.m.* - Or not, I've ended up preoccupied with stuff today, happily in one incredible case. I will talk about that tomorrow. I haven't heard from Jeff yet today though; I won't pester him about it unless it gets much later in the week with no word. The guy probably doesn't really want to think about football at the moment.

Trading Places

2006-11-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

I have a new Seattleite pal on MySpace:

His name is Bill. I think he's using the site mainly for dating, and he seems like a pretty cool guy. He lives in an area of my sweet hometown that I know very well, Ballard. I used to work at the Olympic Athletic Club there, and see bands live in its great little clubs. One of my favorite singers, Chris Cornell, went to school at St. Alphonsus in Ballard.

Bill is from Los Angeles, born and raised within a couple miles of where I currently live, a 90+ year old apartment building from which you could throw a rock and hit The Arclight, A.K.A The Cinerama Dome. He told me just this morning that he and his buds used to sneak in there all the time growing up, and that he went to nearby Hollywood High.

I think it's cool that this guy who lives in a neighborhood I love (and very near where I'm from) found me, a girl who lives very near where he's from.

Wow.

2006-11-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

Sometimes hitting "Next Blog" pays off:

I think the author took this photo. Amazing!! Click the image to visit that blog.

Sackalicious

2006-11-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

The Hawks did us proud last night, sacking the living daylights out of the Raiders. They smashed 'em into a messy pulp in this low scoring but seriously fun game.

NFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	DIV	Streak
Seattle	5	3	0	.625	165	177	2-0	Won 1
St. Louis	4	4	0	.500	180	197	1-2	Lost 3
San Francisco	3	5	0	.375	143	238	1-1	Won 1
Arizona	1	7	0	.125	134	196	1-2	Lost 7

Update

2006-11-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

The Redskins won a "crazy game" (quoting Jeff) yesterday against the Cowboys. Lottery tickets shall ensue only if the Seahawks do not win their game against the Raiders tonight, which THEY HAD DAMN WELL BETTER (aren't I a sweetheart, though).

I rather dislike the Raiders.

What else? Speaking of crazy, you must have a look at this:

CockClucker

...and of course catch yourself up on the rest of Joy's blog while you're at it. She has some great Halloween party pics up there.

That's all at the moment, although I could probably use to come back later. Perhaps I shall add stuff here and see you then.

Rolls Eyeballs Dramatically

2006-11-03T11:37:00.000-08:00

I forgot about the letter "V",

A.K.A., the number FIVE.

This morning while riding to work with the lovely and grape-flavored Joy (her soul is purple), I was car-watching and fantasizing about personalizing the license plates of my future Mercedes SLK 350 (hey, it's MY brain, I can do what I want in there :P), Audi TT, Audi A4 and Jeep [I Haven't Decided Which Model, But Definitely A Jeep]. Some of the less intriguing, but more pertinent ideas:

Cath I, Cath II, Cath III and Cath IV

Thatch I, Thatch II, ThatchIII and Thatch IV

CTT I, CTT II, CTT III and CTT IV

Then I saw a cool car on the freeway, and thought, ooo, I want that one too, so that one would be license plate number Cath VI or Thatch VI or ... HEY, WAIT A MINUTE, THAT WOULD MAKE MY MASERATI 'CATH VII', WHICH IS SEVEN. WHAT HAPPENED?

So, *smacks forehead*, I realized that I had forgotten about the Roman glyph for numeral five: the lonesome letter V. It goes naked for five between IV (4) and VI (6).

But for online notebooks titled in Latin, that just doesn't look good, so what am I gonna do. Americans understandably first (and sometimes only) read "V" as the capital letter V and not the Roman numeral five; people would just think I've named the thing after a (misspelled) brand of feminine hygeine products and a random letter of the alphabet and figure, well, she's off her rocker, let's click "Next Blog" rather immediately.

So I'm just gonna smear the truth around and re-subtitle the blog 'the sixth notebook'. Think of it as a 13th floor (still often labelled 14th floors, which I think is kinda cool actually).

Something Happier...

2006-11-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

...to cleanse your palate from the previous post: an enormous pic of my old pal DC with his new(er) band, Pigmy Love Circus. It just occured to me I might find something of him on the PLC MySpace. He is third from left, and below laughing hysterically. Click the band's pic to go see their site.

The Blue Drum God:

Bleah.

2006-11-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

When I write out in public, it's usually happy-ish or neutral, it's definitely selected and polished a little. It's rarely been raw me, perhaps it should be more often, I don't know. But I know that the raw me can be both boring and a real bummer, so I'm self conscious. Who wants to bore people and bum them out? I wrote the following, figuring as I did so that I'd just erase it and replace it with something about football or acting or whatever, but I'm not replacing it. I'm lost, I've been pretty lost for a while, and here's me talking about it:

I really wonder how much longer I'll live. I know my kick-the-can life has drastically shortened my life expectancy. Very few important things are going right or well, and although I mostly have a sense of humor about it, today I don't. I get pretty fucking tired. You can't just keep going like this indefinitely. Every so often I've gotten some drastic jolt to happen, hoping for a jumpstart. Well, that method's effectiveness has tapered off a lot with each try, and now it's utterly run its course. I can't do that anymore, and I have no idea what else I can do. A bunch of money all at once would definitely help, I could work with that :P. Where else do I get real hope? It's in this frame of mind where I say, I could use some good news. From outside my own self, that I do not have to manufacture myself. I have too hard a time lately accessing my own (hope and good news), the survival kind I come up with for myself, and even if it weren't such a drag to do, the result's hollower than ever these days. It's like go-through-the-motions hope, not substantive, I-could-be-excited-about-this hope. It isn't real. I can see through it too easily. I am too alone, for too long, my small life is too big of a disaster, and I'm tired.

The Feast of All Saints

2006-11-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

This particular phrase has special meaning in New Orleans, especially lately, and most especially after these past few games. Boo-ya for them! They didn't win this most recent Sunday against Baltimore, but they've been doing very well overall. I'm all for raising spirits in that neck of the woods.

What it usually means is the holiday, of course. I love it the best because there are wonderfully creepy, spooky stories in its history that connect disparate cultures and eras. I was brought up in a (very) Catholic household, and I always did appreciate having this sort of thing to cull from that and keep.

A statue and image of Sexy St. Catherine of Sienna, after whom I was named:

A Spirited All Hallows Eve To You

2006-10-31T12:26:00.000-08:00

The Feast of All Saints is tomorrow. Spooky mysticism is one of my favorite things to come of my Catholic upbringing, and I love this time of year. The Nightmare Before Christmas is playing at the El Capitan in 3-D, and I'm gonna try to see that soon. Hooray Danny Elfman/Tim Burton :)

Monday, Monday

2006-10-30T15:10:00.000-08:00

Everybody's using lyrics for their blog entry posts, so I thought I'd temporarily hop on the bandwagon.

I've tweaked my sidebar a little, most notably better categorizing stuff and adding to Music. I want to add more to Music, and add a Films section. It's not so much a practical thing, as much as enjoying expressing who my favorites are and letting you know me that way. The arts, and especially these arts, are crucial to my life experience.

The Seahawks lost yesterday, ugh. Bad calls were involved, and this is a wee bit embittering, especially if you're familiar with last year's Superbowl. We won that fucking game. Even Roethlisberger copped to miscalls when he was on David Letterman. But the Hawks are good men, and they take it in stride and hang in there. They are currently missing key players that would be helping not only with the quality of their game, but morale and confidence. Phoo.

What else? Joy and Jason and I will be going out for Pho for dinner tonight. They have the best coffee on the planet, and I'm looking forward to it. If we cut into after 8p, I'll just ask Jason to TiVo Prison Break for me. Maybe I can watch that at his house Friday, and finally see the Gary Sinise thing I had him TiVo.

I have been a lazy bum at work today, completing the text of only one report. Bleah. But to end on a positive, I'm in a pretty good mood and Joy complimented how I look :) I have on some frighteningly too-roomy yoga pants on, and they are very flattering. I'm gonna have to tweak them so they stay up better. Also, I have new face scrub I just test-drove this morning, as well as nice clean hair and a fairly cute top.

Numb (Contents of) Skull

2006-10-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

I''ve been having a hard time, and I tend to withdraw when that happens - even from myself. I have a private blog that only I see (also a 'Codex', the fourth notebook), and I can guage the state of things by looking at how long it's been since I've made an entry into that. Sometimes I just have a little dry spell or feel lazy for awhile, and that's one thing. But if it's been over a couple weeks, something's wrong. If it were something new wrong, I'd probably let whatever it is happen and settle, then write about it. But if it's the same old damn thing, I'll just turn away from myself, fed up and disgusted. I go kind of numb, and that's where I am lately. Tired, in the big tired-of-life kind of way.

I need some good news. Anything will do, actually. Got any good news? Gno gnus is gnot gnecessarily good gnus.

The latest on my other job: Gilmore Girls on Tuesday, recalled for tomorrow. This is not usually the pleasantest or tightest set, but they did a pretty good job the other day. I love going to Warner Bros. because it is so easy to get to and from.

Sigh

2006-10-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

I'll post something better tomorrow, I'm just waving hello right now.

The Redskins lost their game Sunday, as did the Seahawks. Bleah. However, I believe that my hunch was right (see entry just below this one). The 'Skins were feisty and played well for stretches of that difficult game, especially the 1st and 2nd quarters. Antwaan El made a spectacular 87-yard touchdown, for a beautiful close to the first half. It was the coolest thing to happen to that team so far this year.

JPB remains ahead by a few bucks, no one buys anybody scratch tickets when everybody loses.

For Some Reason...

2006-10-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

I think the Redskins are gonna fight like the world is accustomed to seeing them fight, this weekend. I just have a feeling they'll be coming back to themselves. I think it's something about them playing the Colts ... something'll click.

I get a bit psychic about all the Seattle teams - not for every game, but now and then - when I'm keeping track of them. I'm dead on (or pretty close) surprisingly often. Well, apparently it works not only with Seattle, but any team I'm paying attention to. My hunch was right for the Redskins/Jaguars (W 36-30), and for the Seahawks' loss to the Bears (I dreaded this game, L 27-6); we'll see if I end up three for three. Check back here late Sunday or early next week.

Work Was a Day at the Beach

2006-10-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hanging out in the general vicinity of Jeff Goldblum, who is just a marvellous person:

Jeez, what a perfectly lovely guy. I've seen a few interviews with him and know that he can be quite eccentric, so I was kind of expecting a picky, sensitive actor. No way, he was very easy, warm and kind. We were at Venice Beach filming a few scenes for mid-season replacement "Raines". Read the comments there, very intriguing. It sounds like yet another winner for the small screen, which is loaded with them these days.

Adorable Paradox

2006-10-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

I bought a long-coveted pair of Dr. Marten's Two-Strap Mary Janes, yesterday:

Cute! And sooooooo comfy, a pitch-perfect fit. Docs devotees have always said, "once you get 'em, don't be freaked when they hurt; you'll have to spend awhile breaking them in ", so I braced myself yesterday for an afternoon of pain, blisters and not straying too far from home. This would be the excruciating Part One of what I figured would be maybe a month-long process. But...

These shoes do not hurt me, at all.

That is the least I could say: they were actually a relief from my Adidas, which are a little old now and have never been exactly right for me. I walked outta the store with them on, like an excited little kid, thinking 'hey these feel so good and do such good things for my stride, I have to wonder whether my Docs Devotee friends have been buying the wrong size for themselves.'

Or maybe the Doc is making them differently now than he did back in the day? Anyway, speaking of then, I've really wanted these particular shoes for a very long time, years actually. When I'd see them, in black, in my size, of course I'd be broke; when I had the money, I wouldn't see them or think of them. Or, they'd be all over creation but in the wrong size, wrong color (gotta have black first) or they'd have that freakish punk-geek style sole that I just can't stand.

Yesterday, I still couldn't really afford them, but here's the thing: I did have the money, there they were in black, size seven, classic sole and on sale for $69.99 (they are a $100.00 pair of shoes, $89.00 online). But here's what made the decision: they were the LAST pair of the Two-Straps in the store. Of any size, color, etc. They were the display pair. I thought, The Cosmos Hath Spoken. Today's the day.

In other news, the Seahawks won an exciting, great game against the Rams yesterday. On the other hand, the Redskins LOST to the fucking Titans. Jeeeeez. Poor Jeff. I think the pain-relief lottery ticket is pretty freezing comfort, but it did win $5 and he is still ahead of me by a few bucks.

Winning a Day of Work

2006-10-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

I think I'm gonna get a call-in service. I heart Central Casting, but boy is it time-consuming to get through to them. Joy pointed out that it sounds like I'm trying to win a contest at a radio station - that is exactly what it's like. I'm trying as we speak to get booked on The Loop for Monday. Wish me luck.

Jeff/Cath update:

Cath:

Good news for the Redskins - This is who you guys play Sunday:

Jeff:

big money.

Cath:

You sound thrilled :P

Jeff:

nervous, must win that game. must.

Cath:

I know man. I really do. I'll cross my fingers for ya. Just this once, if [the Redskins] lose, I'll buy a couple tickets, because that would just be TOO BAD. Enough of that though, back to optimism: the Skins will torch those "Titans" geeks.

Jeffrey B.
To: me
October 13, 2006 1 hour ago

Seahawks got a tough one against the Rams. I'm gonna watch that, should be good..

Monk Business

2006-10-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

Do I just look like a cashier?:

Yesterday I had fun on the set of Monk, with Tony Shaloub.

For whatever reason, they asked me to be a cashier in the shop where Monk and his friend, played by Andy Richter, are buying San Jose Sharks souvenir hard hats. It feels nice to be picked out, especially when you were just sitting around talking to this sweet kid from Dallas and not expecting anything. Anyway, setting up for the first take, Tony Shaloub came into the team store and smiled at me, gave me a warm look. I nodded and smiled. I just love that, love finding out the actors you have fun watching on TV are really nice to meet, pleasant. I watched him talk on his phone a lot, smiling and pacing around. He seemed pretty kicked back, warm. At the end of the day when Andy was wrapped, Tony applauded him and hugged him. None of his communication with anyone (including me) struck me as anything other than easy and genuine. He is not a big-voiced, announce-y actor. He's not 'on', I don't think even between "Roll sound" and "Cut". He's just being himself, then being Monk, and having a nice quiet sort of time about it. Very pleasant, classy, kind. He's a good guy and that was a pleasant set to work on.

Jeff/Cath Update - He's Ahead

2006-10-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

His team is looking a lot better:

Jeffrey B.
To: me
October 5 (1 day ago)

NOW you finally have to buy [me] a scratcher! I thought the day would never come. Scratch it, my fingers are crossed!! Who does Seattle play this weekend?

Catherine T.
To: Jeffrey
October 6 (22 min ago)

I had the girl at the store pick one out for me, got a "Jumbo Bucks" which won $15! You get $9 to add to your $1.20 (Jeff$10.20) , I get $6. to add to my $1.80 (Cath$7.80); you are ahead by $2.40.

They play again on Sunday the 15th @ St. Louis. I think you guys play on the 8th.

________________________________________________________

Watch This (click on the pic)! Looks great, I cannot wait:

Coco and David Arquette

2006-10-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

I don't get to see kids to often, so it was cool yesterday to watch Coco Arquette hanging out with her dad on the set of "In Case of Emergency".

Mom and Dad, David and Courteney Arquette:

Both are cool people. Courteney was friendly with background (including myself) on the set of "Dirt" a few months ago. Yesterday, David was not only fun to watch do his job, but friendly and 'normal'. He did not exclude himself from the people around him during down time, as well-known actors often (understandably) feel more comfortable doing. He brought his kid in for a snack where I was hanging out.

When you first meet or see a well-known actor in 3-D, like I often did in the store and usually do on whatever set, here's what happens:

1) You have to re-recognize them. It is completely different for your brain to 'see' a whole human moving in front of you in real space-time, rather than just an image or image set seen in 2-D. It needs a moment to cast a whole new file for this person, which can now have a live, whole-being heading on it just like everyone else you've ever met and remember. It has happened (as in the cases of Sean Astin and Ruth Buzzy, the latter of whom I've been familiar with literally my whole life) that I fail to recognize them for a few minutes. I'll know I know them, like on the tip of my brain, but draw a strange-feeling blank in trying to make the ID.

2) In stepping into your realm of actuality, they do this thing that feels to me like becoming unremarkable, maybe de-lustering. They don't, they are still remarkable, but you now learn the magic of the person the same way you do everyone else's: aspect by aspect, from the inside out. And it will be markedly different than the 'aura' you've learned (you now automatically un-learn that) from the remote ways in which you had previously become familiar with them. It will feel like others' magic or aura feels; David Arquette is now special in much the same way as my brother Noah is special. It feels more real, more whole, a little more crumpled and charming, substantial, chewy. A lovely result of this is that the well-known person now seems innocent of something, like he's put a cumbersome thing down and has had a seat in the kitchen, sipping a drink.

3) You stop taking for granted the singular, utterly unique experience of a human being's eyeballs looking at your own eyeballs. Even a lucid imagination of this from a favorite well-known person, or a photograph of them looking into the lens, does not come close to this actual, living act. Maybe look at a friend's eyes during conversation and give it a shot during that, also take a moment to appreciate your connection with the friend.

Hawks got MAULED :(

2006-10-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

From: Jeffrey B. Oct 02, 2006 (22 hours ago)

NOW you finally have to buy a scratcher! Thought the day would never come!

_________________________________________________________

From: Catherine T. Oct 03, 2006 ( One hour ago)

We got killed. You guys, on the other hand, rocked the house. I think I may have been right about them waking up and rallying.

CONGRATS !!

I could scratch the ticket, or stick it in the mail...? Would be nicer hand it to you and see you for coffee or something, and I wonder if there's anything wrong with like Starbucks on a Saturday.

-----------------------------

I'm waiting to hear back, hoping to get to spend some time with my friend. I almost never get to see him anymore. When I do, it's too brief and rushed because we're at the building so he's on his way somewhere or has to get back upstairs. I'm glad we have this game because it's something to do with him even though I don't get to see him.

Go Snap

2006-10-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

As well as being lyrics in one of my favorite songs at the moment, the title of this post is also a good description of what my brain does when I'm sitting down at the keyboard, suddenly faced with decisions about what to say to you people. I realize how much stuff there is running through my mind (go) and I wonder where to begin. Faced with limited time, I often break off (snap) and come back later. Which at the moment, is now.

Here is some of the stuff:

*Various experiences on set, always interesting and fun

*A very cool "time machine", being transported to the gorgeous expanse of sea and sky at Whidbey Island, circa 1980, by the scent of freshly overturned earth on Sunset Blvd.

*My favorite music currently, including the new Ludacris 'Girls Gone Wild' - awesome

*What I'm doing tomorrow

*John and his blog. he's so damn good at being an adult, and a good writer, and whatever techie thing it is he does for a living. Also, he has a brand new Scion, my within-reason dream car. Read his enticing description of the God of Fire Robusto cigar that he thoroughly savored in honor of his birthday.

There's more... Hawks are playing the Bears as we speak, as are Jeff's Skins v. Jaguars. Never heard of 'em.

Okay, I'm working all day tomorrow then vigilantly keeping track of Prison Break, so I'll probably talk to you Tuesday or Wednesday.

This post would be longer, but...

2006-09-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

... the connection here at this cafe is SO slooowww, OMG. I'll write a real post later today, this eve probably. Can't waste any more time here. I just didn't want you to think I was run over by a truck or something.

Finally, Jeez.

2006-09-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

I'm actually kind of happy and relieved for Jeff, who's team has otherwise bit hard this season. He does owe me a ticket for the Hawks win over the Giants yesterday, but I finally owe him a ticket, too. I'll keep you posted.

REDSKINS:

9/24

@ Texans

1pm ET

FOX

W 31 - 15

Jason Awarded MVP

2006-09-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

I was SO not happy, because yesterday I didn't get home until 10.p.m. Meaning, I missed the premieres of My Name Is Earl, The Office and - and here's what fucking slayed me - CSI: Flagship. I had been looking forward to these premieres since the end of last season, for God's sake, and I was BLUE, blue.

But then! A miracle happened.

Joy was IMing her former boyfriend Jason today while I was lamenting this awfulness, and she relayed it to him. He said, and I'm paraphrasing here just so you know, "I TAPED THOSE SHOWS, she should come over and watch them here tonight."

As early on in the season as it is, it has already been determined that Jason gets the MVP award.

Thanks, dude, you rule.

Welp, still ahead

2006-09-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey B. September 21 More options 20 mins ago
To me: cath68@gmail.com
Just scratched a "Winner Take All" and GOT NOTHING! Sorry. GO REDSKINS!!!!!!!!

I'm still ahead $1.80, but I have a feeling I may owe him a ticket after his team plays this Sunday.

Screwing Off At Work

2006-09-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

I'm supposed to be working on a report, so naturally I'm actively groping for things to do on the internet. I'm being a lazy bum, but I'm also just preopccupied with various and assorted shit.

One thing that is taken care of: I am booked for work at Universal for Monday on Ghost Whisperer as a 'Restaurant Patron'. Interestingly, I'm dead certain that I would have been cast as 'Village Atmosphere', a less featured catagory of background they need for Monday, if I hadn't just re-registered and updated my photo. How your photo looks makes an enormous difference in how much work you get and how you get cast; in the new photo, I'm wearing a dressy black jacket, hip necklace, my hair is down and glossy. I'm not smiling, although I suppose I look content, my regular repose. I look good.

The last one was fine, but I had a smile, which in still shots can make me appear goofy or as if I'm hamming it up a bit, and I was not dressed very up (not very down, either), but the slightest things can make a huge difference in how you're perceived. The rule that clothes make the person is true in spades here, where their whole idea of 'you' is this one photo they see over and over and over. If you're in a dressy black jacket and your expression is neutral, you're seen as an "upscale person". This not only means they can cast you for way more stuff, but that they perceive you as versatile and someone who can be relied on to show up looking neat and prepared regardless of character type. I will definitely get more work this year, and it will definitely be easier. Knock on wood.

Central realizes the problem I'm describing (they always have and do try to keep themselves in check), so they now offer the option of putting more photos of you in your file, for $10 per extra shot. I'm gonna do this in the coming couple weeks, so there's one in there with me wearing an actual color and with my hair tied back (how I nearly always look in real life), which has me looking almost completely different.

What else...? Jeez, there was something else. I'll come back and add later if I think of it.

One of Those MySpace Thingies

2006-09-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

The Right Reverend Neurogeist posted this series of hard-hitting interview questions; here they are with my replies ("Ditto NG" means I seconded his own answer, sometimes because it's what I would have answered, but just as often because I dug it or thought it was funny):

1. What's your opinion on sex without emotional commitment?
Awesome, when it's mutual and just the thing that will hit the spot for both.

2. I hated this stupid question, so I'm erasing it, but here's my answer:
So you're joking, right?

3. Are you a jealous person?
I'm not, thank God. Sounds like a painful way to live

4. What are you allergic to?
idiots - Ditto NG

5. What books, if any, have made you cry?
First one was The Velveteen Rabbit. In high school, Of Mice and Men. There've been plenty others, including a story in Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars, which I finished just yesterday.

6. Does it get annoying when somebody says they'll call you, but doesn't?
I guess it would, if I were really expecting them to or counting on them.

7. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Dark Chocolate Orange

8. If someone you had no interest in dating expressed interest what would you say to them?
Depends on which person, I'm afraid.

9. What would you rather be doing right now?
Working on set, at a studio or on location. But I have a special fondness for the studio.

10. What song lyrics, if any, are stuck in your head at the moment?
No lyrics, but the [Ragtime theme to] The Sting has been rolling around in there.

12. What did you dress up as for your first Halloween?
Holly Hobby

13. What's your favorite TV show, now or in the past?
TONS right now, Jeez, we really are entering the new golden age of Television. Neato huh? House is way up there, along with CSI: Flagship and CSI: NY, NCIS (I heart Pauley)

14. Do you get along better with the same or opposite sex?
Equally well, but have a special fondness for men.

15. Can others make you cry easily?
Nope

17. Are you picky about spelling and grammar?
Yes I am, style too, and correcting that of others' is what I currently do for a living.
(NG - you did not spell atrocious wrong!)

18. Do you pay attention to calories on the back of packages?
Yup.

19. If you could be any type of fruit what would you be?
Loops - Ditto NG

20. Were you a "planned" child?
Nope, I was Bob and Mary's love child :)

21. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
Including flip flops? I think nine or ten

22. What was the last thing to scare you?
Jeez, not sure... I'm a bit hard to scare.

26. Have you ever been attracted to someone physically unattractive?
yup - Ditto NG

27. What personality trait is a must-have in the opposite sex?
laid-backness - Ditto NG. We have so much in common!

28. Do you enjoy traveling via airplanes?
Love the flying part, hate the airport part.

29. Would you ever date someone covered in tattoos?
Do I dig him? Does he dig me back? Sure. Sounds like he'd have some interesting stuff to talk about already.

30. Have you ever dated someone out of your race?
Just once; I still heart him and we're still great friends.

31. Do you believe that the guy should pay on the first date?
It's always nice, but a non-issue

32. Are you currently wanting any piercing or tattoos?
Yes, both.

33. Which do you make: wishes or plans?
I plan my wishes. - yet again, Ditto NG

34. Can you speak any languages other than English?
A smattering of a few, none fluently

35. What is your favorite salad dressing?
Currently: Honey mustard

36. Have you ever fooled around with someone and not remembered?
Uh... not to my knowledge :)

37. Have you ever dated one of your best friends?
Yup

38. Has anyone told you a secret this week?
Everyone at Postsecret

39. When was the last time someone hit on you?
a couple days ago.

40. Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?
depends - Ditto NG

41. Do you wear slippers even when its not cold outside?
No slippers, only flip flops

42. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
George Eads

43. How many siblings do you have, and where are you in the rank?
Five, I'm the oldest

44. What's the sweetest thing you've ever done for someone?
I gave an aspiring actor a love note yesterday.

45. When was your last road trip?
it's been awhile - Ditto NG

46. Name 3 schools you went to?
St. Catherine's, Holy Names Academy, Edmonds High - all Seattle or Seattle area schools

47. Name 5 things in your Purse/pockets/wallet:
keys, cigarettes/lighter, ID, MC, notebook/pen

48. Three names you go by?
Catherine, Cath, Ms. Thatch if you're nasty.

49. Who is in the house with you?
Ms. Squarepants (Joy)

50. What are you thinking about right now?
George Eads.

Gallery Girl

2006-09-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day back on a set since the beginning of summer. Not a lot of excitement today, but I felt at home and right with the world in a way. I go back tomorrow, attending court for "Justice". I'll let you know what else I get myself up to. I plan on being able to go to auditions before too terribly long.

Football Stuff

2006-09-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Jeff is a Redskins fan and I of course am a Seahawks fan. Back when I still worked down at his building, he told me about this thing he has going with a friend of his: each time the Skins win, the friend owes Jeff; each time his friend's team wins, Jeff owes him. He said, "You and I oughtta do that". I said, "Yes, yes we certainly oughtta." As well as being pretty confident that I would kick his ass all over the place this year, I was glad to have something to do with him. I dig him, he's a good guy who reminds me somewhat of the guys in family. We have been keeping in contact since I left (on my end, I am waaay too good at this. As a chatty person, there is folly, FOLLY I tell you!, in perceiving email as a substitute for talking in person. I think I make this mistake with a few people. It doesn't work, and you're left gapingly unsatisfied. Like a drug addict, you try to fix this by - you guessed it - sending more, longer emails. :P Your busy recipient is often less than thrilled, and you are kind of embarrassed).

Anyway, what we are betting is Lottery tickets. The Hawks won the other day, so he bought me a Scratch Ticket. It won $3. I thought it was cool that we got a winner right off the bat. We split the winnings, 60/40 in favor of the ticket holder, so $1.80 of that is mine. We're keeping track, and payout happens at Season's end. I'm pretty sure I'll come out ahead, but I suggested the Lottery thing to level the playing field in a way: conceivably, the Skins could only win once and Jeff still has a chance to come out ahead, if the ticket I buy him is a lucky strike. So far:

Cath: $1.80
Jeff: $1.20

...and as of yesterday, he owes me another ticket. And I continue to owe him NADA, brothers and sisters, nada. Boy, does his team suck ass so far this year. Maybe something will dawn on them, and they'll rally. Meanwhile, mine is cautiously optimistic.

I Heart Payday

2006-09-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hooray, money!

Tomorrow I'm gonna go back to doing background acting after a summer of missing it terribly. I missed my two-year mark at Central, so I have to pay to update my photo and re-register, but no complaints. So that's tomorrow morning, and then I have the rest of the day off to do laundry and all that sort of shit. I'm also going to take myself out for coffee with a nice fresh notebook and assess/sketch out my life and what I'm going for, how I'm gonna do it. I need some fresh energy and motivation; maybe have a gameplan laid out in front of me will help.

More Actors We Adore To Little Bitty Pieces:

2006-09-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Pauley Perrette, NCIS

Gary Sinise, CSI: NY

Jason Schwartzman: Imdb

Jason Lee, My Name is Earl

...As well as the aforementioned

of whom I found this magnificent, gorgeous, priceless beautiful photo. Enjoy!

Back To Life

2006-09-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

Go listen to the clips at the Soundbank at Soul 2 Soul's website. I love this band, and two of my favorite songs in this genre are by them: Back to Life and Keep on Movin'.

Back to Life is a song I use. It's a song I need. The lyrics are from the person singing to a lover, I'm sure, but it works for me as a note I can leave for myself at times in my life when I have to shift back into Drive. Now is definitely one of those times.

I have a long-standing tendency to abandon myself. I break up with me now and then because I'm tired and I just don't know what to do with me. "Well, you're a complete disaster," I say, "what the Hell am I doing with you! Go away." So I slink into some or other sort of lull, get pretty seriously blue, and lose sight of what is important. I numb myself, because it's effortless. The thing is, it is cheating. It is the worst possible cheat, a real sin. It's a turning away from the truth of myself. Winston Churchill said, "If you're going through Hell, keep going..." When I've been away from where my heart is for long enough and life feels like Hell, this little phrase pops in to my head. It did at the end of this struggle of a Summer, just recently. At this point, I become willing to begin remembering stuff, to thaw out, to light a little fire by which I can see my way back to myself. I will listen to that song, Back To Life, as a sort of quiet little celebration by that fire. I can admit to wanting to return, and I can and will, as always, inevitably, return.

Why? Because We Like You!

2006-09-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

Joy got me a Mickey Mouse watch for my birthday, as well as a very pretty dragonfly birthday card. I had a good day: Jason and Joy took me out to dinner, Jason sent me an e-card, and I posted new stuff on my new blog. I was in a good mood, checked out two Oliver Sacks books from Joy's library and had a BATH here at Joy's house.

Now I have the theme from the Mickey Mouse Club stuck in my head.

What I Did Over Summer Vacation

2006-09-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

...among other things, was fall madly in love with(out :P)

George Eads. I have the best taste in men. It's a gift :) I have always liked the entire cast of CSI: Flagship, including Eads, but it wasn't until recently that I really noticed him. I thought during a particular episode that he was doing a terrific job, and found myself starting to think about him more. He seems like he'd be a sweet, easy actor to work with, a good guy, fun, intelligent.

Anyone else notice that TV is getting great these days? I thought we were doomed for awhile there, but no way. There's all kinds of stuff to look forward to.

Go Seahawks!!!

2006-09-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Congrats on your wins so far (even though this past one was ALL FIELD GOALS, reminding me of nothing so much as pouring a bowl of Crunch Berry cereal and getting no pink ones). We're right behind you guys. I'm proud to be representin' here in sunny Southern California.

Happy Birthday, Primus Guy!

2006-09-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

You, incredible and most fun bassist Larry Laronde, have the same birthday, same year, as yours truly. Which is neato, because I LOVE Primus, and I LOVE your stuff in Primus. You rule.

Inaugural Post

2006-09-12T00:44:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking that by the time I finish writing this, it will be September the 12th, 2006. Below is some of last post at LSHQ, just to tie things together.

For anyone who has just stumbled across our humble launch here at Codex VI, it is a blog that picks up where my old blog, LaughingSky, left off at the beginning of this summer. I had needed a break from it, and a few weeks in I realized I needed a whole new slate. So here we are.

The Fifth Notebook

I have found myself getting eyesore and kind of brainsore of LaughingSky as it is, here. I love the little story behind its name and I think I dig the blog overall. It's not going anywhere, here it will always be, but it's time for a fresh slate.

I'd really like to make audioblogging more of what I do. I'd like to give you some of the little thoughts in between posts that I never really ended up sharing. I want the posts generally to be shorter and sexier, I'd like whole thing to have a little more punch.

Codex is the original (Roman) word for notebook, what they called a bound sheaf of uniformly cut papyrus. This was how civilization improved (vastly) upon the scroll. I have always written to myself in physical paper notebooks, and of course typing onto a computer screen is not really much different. I like the throwback term, akin to Windows' use of an old-school hourglass to indicate that it's taking time to think. I have kept four journals using a computer so far: LaughingSky, two incarnations of a private online [blog] just for me, and its offline counterpart simply called Codex. So Codex VI is Notebook Number Five.

On this coming Tuesday, September 12th, I'll come back and say hi to you guys at the new joint. I've missed blogging and I'm looking forward to it.

Back to right now: Now it is that particular day, the day after 9.11, a day people think about healing up and letting their spirits rest, looking around to see what is truly important. A good day for beginnings, I think, for kicking off new blogs, for example, or what a person can hope will be a good year in her life.

I've really missed blogging and I'll see you soon, probably later today!