And the break begins....I think

So, I am done for two and a half weeks! YAHOO!

Some of my accomplishments this term include:

• straight A's
• a short script that got chosen for production
• was pushed to the Max and proved to myself just how much I can do

The major downside was having to put my life on hold for the last 15 weeks. So, I was looking forward to spending time with friends and had two lunches, two dinners out and a party planned when we got SNOWED in!!!!! In fact it was like a record breaking snow fall - I mean my dog ran out into the backyard and completely disappeared under the snow and she is not a small dog by any means. So, I had to cancel and reschedule cause tomorrow Will and I fly home for 5 days with my family followed by 5 days with his. It's been a year since we've seen them. Part of us can't wait and part of us is crying silent tears, I mean why do they call it Christmas break if it is all business and chaos and..... umm where can we find the break part of it?

We then come home to seven days of bliss in our cozy X-mas decorated home -- did I tell you we decorated a tree on Saturday??? Then a New Years party plus me rescheduling the party, lunches and dinners I missed-- so maybe I shouldn't say bliss, at least not relaxing bliss, more like crazy but I love it bliss! Make sense?

Nice to have a break. Of course I still have to do work for next term, but I looove to complain about it cause I love the work period. God, it is nice to finally be able to say that I love what I am doing. Couldn't be more simple than that.

Freaky timing

So we just had a really, REALLY bad snow storm. It took me two hours to dig my car out of the driveway. **SIGH** My day was over before it even began.

Last year we had two major snowstorms. Will just happened to be away on business in San Fransisco for the first one and Minneapolis for the second one.

I attributed it to coincidence until...**drum roll**

Will is currently in Boston on business. He left yesterday. So, of course it snowed. It literally started one hour after his plane took off. No joke. Most of the airport closed after that. So I'm left saying WTF???

He called this morning cause he'd seen the reports on the news and was laughing.....

Does he have some sort of deal going with mother nature so that he can avoid the shoveling??? And if so, why pray tell is she on his side? Um, hello....what about me?

Next week he's in San Jose and I bet it will snow again. So, I'm thinking that since I've done all this shoveling, an extra awesome Christmas gift is in store for me this year. :)

evil tools of procrastination

My husband is going to Boston on business next week, then San Jose, so it's time for me to put my coat of jealousy on again. **SIGH**

To make matters worse, he is taking our Wii with him to play in his hotel room. Umm, doesn't he realize he will be denying me my main form of procrastination? Oh, he just said that he does and that he is doing it on purpose.

Damn.

See, I have only 10 days of class left and a million projects due. He is being a very helpful husband.

Maybe I should ask him to take the Internet too and the TV's? Think of how much I'd get done.

Ya, right. Like I could ever go without Internet for 10 days. :) Evil tools of procrastination. Can't live with em, can't live without.

looking for a narrator and other stuff...

So last night I finished editing my documentary. I think I did a good job at telling the story and the shots aren't bad considering:

- it was the first time I have ever held a video camera in my life.
- my teacher doesn't know how to use my editing software so I had to teach myself -- and well anyone who knows me knows that I am so not a techie at all!

The part I hate is my narration. I sound way to much like a news reporter which really does not fit the tone of the piece at all. So now-- I am trying to recruit someone to narrate it so I can cut myself out of the damn thing. Surprisingly, I've had two takers so far. Turns out a lot of people love hearing themselves on tape and the chance to be a voice movie star. LOL.

I think it would be great if I let my dog do it -- in her howly voice -- we might not be able to make it out but it would add so much to the piece. :)

On other news, the director for my short should be contacting me this upcoming week. They start casting soon. Surprisingly I get to be involved in the process the whole way through -- I see lots of rewrites in my future but I prefer that to handing over my script and having no say in the final product.

I'm in production baby

Well I actually have some screenwriting related news and even better it relates to yours truly. One of my short scripts is being produced.

I had a shitty day, came home to an email letting me know my script had been chosen and have basically been bouncing off of my seat ever since!

More on it later as I am in desperate need of sleep.

The worse stink ever

OK, so after seeing the two plays I actually have a new appreciation for people who wear perfume. Why you ask??? Let's just say that I discovered something even stinkier than stinky perfume.

Picture this. Friday night, we are crammed into this little theatre downtown and the woman beside us is wearing very strong perfume. We silently bitch about it. Come on, you knew we would. The lights go down, the play is about to start when suddenly...

We are hit with the biggest stench we have ever smelled in our life. What was it, you ask???

A SMELLY FART!

There was this old guy sitting behind us and OMG! As soon as the fart smell started to die down I could smell the perfume again and was like oh thank god. Than he farted again and we had to hold our breathe. Every time I smelled the perfume again I was thanking god, really I was. This went on for the WHOLE show...no joke. I wonder if he had beans for dinner?

OK, I know people fart and sometimes they smell but in close quarters like that...a smell like that just shouldn't be allowed.

I'm thinking next time, I will bring my own bottle of perfume and just sit there spritzing it in the air.

Scents

I'm feeling quite cultured right now. I'm going to a play tonight and another one tomorrow afternoon. I'll try to get some reviews up Sunday.

The only thing I hate about going to a play at the National Arts Center is that people always show up dosed in perfume and dressed like they are going to a fancy ball. It's a play for god sake -- people are watching the stage...they are not watching you. And they most certainly are not SMELLING you!!!

You can probably tell how much I hate scents. Will hates them even more. In fact, he's very allergic and we left a play once because the person beside us had taken a bath in their perfume.

Hollywood North

The strike has now reached Canada's hollywood north. And the rising Cdn dollar plays a factor too:


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i9eeb82f00f69cdfddd1c9924be6636fb

She'll have to stay an only dog

So, yesterday I was asked to review some websites...so of course given my love of animals I picked the humane society website. And, of course, I had take a quick look at the profiles of dogs for adoption. You can't go to the site without looking at the dogie pictures.

And guess what happened? I saw the perfect playmate for HuAnne. He has the same ears as she does and well I'm in love. So last night I tried to convince Will...he had to remind me of a few things:

Our dog HuAnne is a 40 lb Siberian Husky. Once, we looked after our friends dog for a few weeks. He was a male and bigger than Huanne. HuAnne did not like him at all and even though he was bigger by 15 lbs, god damn it, she was going to show her dominance. So she started eating like crazy and gained 6 lbs in only a few days. They fought constantly -- blood was shed. It wasn't pretty.

She's been an only dog for 8 years now and as much as I really really want another, I just don't think it would work out. **SIGH** But I do love my HuAnne.

Writers strike

So it looks like tomorrow Hollywood writers go on strike. The issue: not being able to get a piece of the internet. It's gonna be a long fight and why shouldn't it be? The internet is bringing in big revenues. Why shouldn't writers get a piece of the pie? They have long been considered the bottom of the food chain but there is no basis for it.

Consider this:

1. A good movie can be made from a good script.
2. A bad movie can be made from a good script.
3. A good movie can't be made from a bad script.

The moral: do I really have to spell it out?

So one of my teachers is telling us that this strike is our chance to sell some of our work? Umm, hello is this prof crazy?

1. If you sell something during a strike you'll be lucky if any union will ever let you belong.
2.You'll never be able to put any of the scripts you sold during the strike on your resume. If you do, no on will ever consider you again.
3. You will be blacklisted. Believe me. This has happened to many.
4. The only point would be to make some $$$. And ya we gotta feed the monkey but as writers isn't it all really about the art?

That's all I got for now.

Youth

I got my Wii age down to 35. Yahoo! And Wii sent me a message congratulating me.

So, from my excitement you can that the rest of my day was not to exciting.

C

Ding and Ditch

Is there such a phrase as ' Ding and Ditch'? Just wonderin cause I used it last night and Will looked at me like I have two heads and was like, ummm, sweetie, what does that mean?

It was of course Halloween night and our front steps are closed off because of work we are having done so Will and I stood out on the sidewalk in front of our house to hand out candy to the kids.

By 8pm trick or treating seemed over so we shut down for the night. I was watching 'Private Practice' and Will was working on his art when I heard the doorbell. So I went to the door and no one was there.

This happened 4 more times. Invisible Hooligans I tell you. But better than our house getting egged.

Anyway, 'Ding and Ditch.' Anyone else familiar with this term??? Or did I just make it up???

Hard lessons

I am sooooooo pissed off right now. Lets just say I'm gonna have to work on not being as nice a person or as open a person as I have been lately....Yup, I am gonna have to be far more picky about who I can trust...cause in this business, people suck up to you for the pure purpose of burning you.

I just learned the hard way.

Damn!

Obsession is a good thing!

I'm obsessed with the internet, even more so now that I'm back in school. So obsessed that I get on here within 5 minutes of getting up in the morning. No joke. I get up, pee, then sign onto my computer.

So this morning I told myself I had to break the cycle. I'm going to read the paper and eat breakfast and then go to school.

I got to school. School was cancelled. We had been sent an email and if I had actually checked my email like I always do every morning, I would have known this.

The moral here is that the internet is a necessity and the universe doesn't want me to give up even one minute of it. YIPPEE!

So not a barber

Will hates going to the barber. It isn't really anything against the barber and it isn't a money thing. It's more of a last minute thing, i.e. at midnight he suddenly realizes he needs his haircut for the next day but nothing is open...you know, typical guy procrastination. So, he recently bought a razor and gives himself a buzz cut every 6 weeks or so. One time, he was rushed for time and shaved most of it off quickly. I didn't realize he had made a botch of things till we were in the car and he turned his head and well....there were 2 large pieces of hair sticking out...wish I had a picture. I laughed the whole way into town. He then headed straight to the barber for a re-do. Too funny! And so much for it being a time saver!

He is now in California on business. The night before he left he decided to do his hair again and this time asked me to inspect. It didn't look good so he asked me to fix it. I got very nervous. See, I'm not good with scissors and I most certainly am not good at cutting in straight line. In high school, when Dad wouldn't give me money for a haircut, I attempted by own and lets just say, it was so bad that when I walked into my dad's study, he changed his mind and pulled a few bills out of his wallet for a haircut.

So, lets just say that I made Will's hair look worse...but not on purpose, I swear. He eventually fixed it and it looked perfect when he left for the airport the next morning. I told him I wasn't a barber, but he just wouldn't listen. I don't think he'll ask me again.

My first Shoot

Today I just shot about 75% of my first documentary. I interviewed my subject and that went even better than I could have expected. His answers were very honest and thought provoking. I then got some live action scenes which turned out well.

Now I just need to get a few specific shots on my own - theme related - that will add to the overall feel of the piece.

I have A LOT of editing ahead of me but am looking forward to it! Will has offered to compose some music for it which will make it even better.

Today was a GREAT day!

Video game competition

So Will has his Wii age down to 21. I just tried it again last night and my age has actually gone up.....to 77!!!!

In my defense:

Will has been practicing every god damn night while I've been busy writing so has a very unfair advantage.

I was just getting over this tsunami of a virus when I played and had been dragging my arse all day.

Somehow, these things don't make me feel better about my defeat. Maybe I should give up my running and replace it with Wii training. But see, the Wii, while fun doesn't keep me in shape, and more importantly doesn't give me the runners high, so, I think not.

The joys of being sick

So, I have spent the entire long weekend plus the last few days in bed. And no, unfortunately, I don't mean having fun under the covers with hubby. I mean, in bed, sick with a tsunami of a flu/cold.

It has been years since I've had this kind of bug but I'm not suprised. The last 8 years in the working world, I was surrounded by people who actually stayed home when sick. Now, I'm back in school with people who come in sick and you know how that goes, everyone sits in a row packed like sardines, someone coughs on you, another sneezes on you, people don't wash their hands...you get the picture.

The nice thing about this was Will **SIGH** he made me a wonderful immune boosting soup from scratch and fruit smoothies - even brought me a few bottle of fiji water every hour. He was the ideal personal slave. I realy should consider getting him some slave like attire....hmmm.

The bad part was the fever that made my skin crawl, for a moment there I thought I was in drug detox, then I remebered that I don't do drugs. **SIGH OF RELIEF**But I can't imagine why Lindsay and all those other party stars that recently visited rehab would take up a habit that would make their poor bodies have to go through something like that.

What I'm missing right now:

Eating any kind of food other than soup
Being able to talk ( I have lost my voice)
Knowing what day of the week it is
Leaving the house
Being able to sleep

What I'm loving right now:

Watching trash TV and lovin it!


Ok, I'm done:)

Down with the fly

So I gave a presentation today and through the whole presentation, there was this guy snickering at me. And it was really weird because my presentation was not funny, it was very very serious. He was rude! But then I started thinking, OMG, is my fly down? I just had this feeling about it. I really don't know why. But I couldn't check it, cause that would just be obvious. So I finished the presentation, took all the questions they threw at me and left and then the minute I left the room I checked.

Sure enough, my fly was down. Embarassed much? Yup, I was. And I only have two things to say:

1) He was rude!
2) Why didn't one of my so called friends let me know?

Oh and a third:

3) Was it really that funny? I mean I'm a girl so its not like there was anything hanging out there. Sheesh!

Prison Break - The Morning After

ok, I always have to do my Tuesday Prison Break rant:

What I liked:

Sucre came back! YAY! cause he's my fav.

T-bag did the right thing for once, although I'm not sure you get any points if you only do it to save your own hide.

Loved T-bag's whole conflicting loyalties speil...very cool!

What I didn't like:

Is it beleivable that the leader of the prison would trust T-bag over his own men? I doubt that kind of stupidity would have kept him in power this long.

Lincoln, I've said it before and I'll say it again - not too smart!

Life is Beautiful

While I doubt I'll be working behind a camera cause I am a far better writer than I am a techie...I am really liking this film course as I find it's helping me look at the world differently.

I notice things I didn't notice before and am always saying, oh, I should get that on video.

Last night Will and I went out and filmed the sunset. Very beautiful.

Thank god it was rat meat

So last week when Whistler gave Bellick (sp?) meat and said "It's not chicken" I made the incorrect and disgusting assumption that he was talking about canibalism. I let out a huge sigh of relief last night when it was revealed that it was rat meat. Still gross but I bet he got a lot more to eat that way than some of the others.

As for the rest of the episode:

I am also really really glad that Bellick got some clothes!!!

Umm, did you notice Whistler could barely walk but at the end after a glass of water when he asks Michael, "How do we get out of here?" he looks like a soccer player ready for a game? Hmm, must be some miracle water.

Also I'm glad Linc couldn't trade places with his brother, cause lets face it, he doesn't have half of Michael's brains.

ok, my rant is done.

My first Camera!

I'm so excited! Today I went shopping for my first video camera. I will be using it to shoot my first ever documentary next week!!! Notice my triple exclamation.

I have it picked out and plan to buy it tomorrow...it's High Definition and has all sorts of cool functionality!

And I'm gonna be really camera happy so if you know me and are reading this you may want to stay clear of me for a while or else you may end up on candid camera...don't say I didn't warn you!

Desperate Housewives comes to life

Sunday morning I tried to sleep in, and as I faded in and out of conciousness I kept thinking I heard a man screaming.

Finally at around 9am I heard a man yell "I'm going to die. I'm going to die." I jumped out of bed. I was sure I'd heard it and it wasn't a dream.

I ran downstairs and told Will about it and although he didn't say anything he gave me a look of disbeleif. But being the wonderful man that he is, he put on his rain coat(we were having a downpour) and walked up the street.

Well, turns out there was a crazy man in the children's park on our street that had gone totally crazy. Many of our neighbours were out on the street. The police came and took him a way. It felt like an episode of desperate housewives, really.

But I felt sad for the rest of the day wondering what had happened, what sent him over the edge. Did someone he love recently die? Did he find out he's sick? Did he loose his job and declare bankruptcy?Everyone was talking about the "Crazy man" as if he was so far removed from them, but I think any of us could one day could be him.

Safety in numbers?

The whole "Safety in numbers" thing is supposed to apply to physical safety. So why exactly is it that our mind sometimes expands it to include things that just aren't logical? You know, like applying it to a problem you have in common with a "number" of people, isn't logical, cause it doesn't mean you are any less screwed...really, it doesn't.

Last week a classmate said that she felt like she had like missed a month of classes, didn't know whether she was coming or going. And when she said it I fsuddenly felt releived cause I thought I was the only one feeling that way.

But then when I was walking to my car at the end of the day I thought why does the fact that a second person is lost make me feel better? Is it like single people who don't feel bad about it as long as at least one of their good friends is also single because they can reassure themselves that they can be spinsters together???

Why does finding out someone else is suffering make it any better?

All I can say is thank god that was last week. This week I'm on top of things.

My first gig!

So I got my first non broadcast writing gig today. I'm writing a Public Service Announcement for a non profit agency as well as a promotional video.

YAY for me!

I should probably add that I'm not getting paid for it, but that doesn't diminish one iota of excitement for me as it will look good on the resume. This is how I plan to make my living next year while I work on my scripts.

What a beautiful day!

Had my first playwriting course today and absoluetly loved it! We spent the whole afternoon acting. Looks like that is what most of the course will be this term because if we can't understand how the actor interacts with the audience, we can't very well write for it.

So, I got to sleep in and then have fun all afternoon....

Love it!

I admit I was wrong

so enjoy it while it lasts cause it will never happen again.

So...scratch that last post...this documentary thing is fun!!!

When do we get to write?

I am working on a documentary - well just the script for it and the clips that will be used and it is taking forever. **GROAN**

So ya, if it looks like I'm complaining, that is because I am. It's just that I'm in a writing program and so far we haven't done any writing, well this documentary script is technically writing, but by writing I mean the fun stuff, which I usually work on at least 20 hours a week.

The fun stuff is coming, I have been assured and have already had to hand in an outline of my projects for the year, which I must warn you are pretty cool.

But until the time comes for the fun stuff...I think I might have to disable my internet...I am getting distracted by some crazy stuff. One of my profs introduced us to all these cool series on youtube and man I wish he hadn't done that :)

delay

They were supposed to announce the results of the competition tomorrow but they just sent us all an email saying that there were soooo many scripts this year that they need more time. GAAAAH!

How structured should something be?

I really have mixed views on the book, "Save the cat" in other words I have a love/hate relationship with it.

On the love side is the advice as stated in the title which that the protagansit must always save the cat or partake in some form of similar good deed. That way even if he's a bad guy but he does something good, ie. marlon brando doesn't do business with druggies in "The Godfather", we as the audience see the good in him and are able to root for him.

What I don't like about the book is how structured he suggests the beats should be. I know it works for some but for others is too mechanical and as a result the heart of the story can be lost.

I agree a sp must be structured in three acts, seperated by turning points and that the B story should contain these same turning points. All good screenplays follow this formula but whether the first turning point occurs on page 25 or 27, hmm not important, really. Now if
it doesn't occur till page 50, chances are you'll lose your audience to the popcorn machine.

Just an opinion.

Saturday Magic

I forgot to post about our anniversary Saturday night.

We went out for all our favourite foods. Sushi, then Thai and then green door for dessert. If you're thinking wow what pigs right now, you would be about right. I had to do a major workout Sunday to make up for it, but it was soooo worth it!

And then we went to a movie, for a drive and then Will challenged me to a game on the Wii, which turned into three games, all of which I lost. I told him that since it was our anniversary he should let me win. Sadly he didn't agree.:)

But the coolest part was the magician that came up to our table at the Thai restaurant. He did some awesome tricks that looked legit, he even burned a hole in a pack of cards that stopped right at the card I had picked.

Student Life

I survived day one. It went really well. Met some pretty cool people.

The class is 8 women and 20 men so that is interesting. I get along better with men anyway so am pretty happy about it!

The majority are like 22 years old, but there are a few people my age and maybe one person in their 40's

Someone thought I was 24 and was shocked to find out I was 30. I'm not surpised, I still get carded at bars. :) There was a time when I hated that but with each passing year I like it more and more.

My one school complaint is over the fact that we get marked for attendance which reminds me of grade school. I mean if we are paying for the program I think we should get to decide if we show up or not. But, since I don't plan on missing class I am not going to worry to much about that.

And I didn't have to get up till 10 am this morning so who really is complaining?

Happy Anniversary

Will and I have been married 8 years today! Those 8 years have been the best years of my life!

So, Will, if you are reading this, "Happy Anniversary," and I can't wait to find out what you have planned!!!!:)

Where are the fall clothes?

Yesterday, I went to the mall, prepared to shop till I dropped. I was really looking forward to getting back to school clothes for the first time in 10 years and ecstatic over the fact I won't have to wear work clothes for the next 8 months!!!

I was super organized...even had shopping money saved up. And guess what? All the stores still had only summer clothes.

So weird, since last year in August I couldn't even find summer clothes, only racks filled with one sweater after another. Where oh where have the warm clothes gone?

Figures. Whenever you are actually serious about buying something, it's never there. And the reverse is true too.

I didn't come away empty handed though, there were three cute summer tops I couldn't resist. So now I'm praying it continues to stay warm and even for an Indian summer this October. :)

Canadian Myths

I just found this great webpage that outlines all of the myths people have about Canada. Here is the link:

http://www.thecanadapage.org/Canadian_Myths.htm

One of my favs is:

Canadians do not speak "Canadian". The two official languages are English and French. Many Canadians can speak both and other languages. However aside from a few pronunciations (ie: Americans say "Z" as "zee" and Canadians say it as "Zed"), and spelling (Americans "color", Canadians "colour") the English between the two countries are identical.

This one is pretty good too:

Canadians enjoy modern technology in their lives. We have TV's, radios, refrigerators, computers etc. (You would be surprised to find out how many people who didn't know we had those things.) We don't live in igloos (Snow houses) and the VAST MAJORITY of us do not use dog sleds - in fact most Canadians have not used a dog sled.

Canadian produced U.S. programming

Those of you who read my whole post totled 'The Best Years' about a Canadian production made for the U.S. might be interested in this book:



Canadian Television Programming Made For The United States Market: A History With Production And Broadcast Data



From the Publisher
This volume traces the history of Canadian involvement in America's television production industry and looks at the genres, time slots and viewing areas of the first Canadian television productions to appear on U.S. airwaves as well as the challenges that producers had to overcome to take their programming into American prime time. The book also discusses the reasons Canadian television producers have turned to a foreign market over their domestic one. The main focus is the factors which led to an independent television production sector in Toronto, Ontario, and the Ontario?based companies that have successfully competed in the U.S. marketplace. Alliance Atlantis Communications is given particular attention as one of Ontario's most successful production companies. Appendices provide a chronology of Canadian television production from 1926 to 2004 and a list of Canadian?produced programs sold to the U.S. market. A list of acronyms and abbreviations and an index are also included.



This info was cut and paste straight from the chapters website.

Scammed!

I joined the Columbia House DVD club 2 months ago which was a very foolish thing to do. Everyone warned me against it too, but did I listen? If I had, there would be no need for me to write this post.

They send you something in the mail telling you what this months directors choice is. If you don't want it, you check off the no box and mail it back to them. If they don't hear from you, they send you the movie and charge you for it. It's a pain but straight foward right? WRONG!

Well 3 weeks ago they emailed me and said I could start responding by email. I did. I responded 'No'

Apparently responding 'No' by email is not the same as responding 'No' through the regular mail. Today a movie I said No to was in my mailbox. Now it's the movie 300 and Will and I did miss it when it was in the theatre but they charged me $37.21. Give me a break. I could buy it for half that price at best buy.

I should have listened. But I wanted movies.

I'm sending it back and next time when friends tell me something is a bad idea I swear I will listen.

Wee succeess on my Wii

My Wii age is now 47!!!! I'm improving!

Orientation

Just got back from orientation. It was very interesting!

For one thing an internship was added to term 2 so we will get to work for a local production house. YIPEE!!!

Secondly, there is a lot of scriptwriting work in this city that would easily allow someone to bring in 6 figures. I was really suprised by this. I am still interested in heading to the U.S. but this will give me another option.

Thirdly - this is going to be a lot of work. A lot of people will be using work already comnpleted and will just workshop it in class. I will be starting from scratch, as I don't want to use my existing screenplays, so I have a lot of work cut out for me.

Required projects include:

Spec TV show
original TV pilot
short treatment
full length treatment
full length screenplay 1st and 2nd drafts
3 Act play
Radio program
New Media broadcast
Training Video

This is in addition to weekly assignments, reveiwing peoples scripts, exams and time spent pitching to industry professionals.

Fourth - we will be picthing to some really cool compaines in T.O.

It's gonna be a very busy 8 months!

suzy homemaker

The last few weeks Will has been back at work and I've been off relaxing, awaiting the start of school next Tuesday.

We've always been a two income household and not working, while wonderful, feels very strange.

Will loves it. We used to eat really late by the time we came home from work and worked out etc. Now, he comes home to find dinner ready at 5:30 and sometimes dessert too. The laundry is done, the yard looks meticulous. Need I say that I've turned into a little miss suzy homemaker. And it really isn't my style at all. It's isolating and I don't like cooking, I don't like cleaning so when I'm back to work next year I plan to hire someone to do it all. :) In my dreams, anyway.

Plus, I should be writing. Today I did a whole 6 hours of it but sometimes I get distracted, it isn't my fault really, the TV keeps calling my name, so do blogs and websites. :)

Next week I'm giving him the apron and will be offically on strike from domestic duties for the next 8 months. Now that will be bliss.

Sweet Devotion

Will plays everyquest 2 obsessively and for those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's one of those games that you play live online with others from all over the world.

So, some of the players from the midwest are expecting a tornado. They told Will they were playing the game from their bunkers this afternoon, saying that the first thing they brought down there was their laptop so they wouldn't miss an online raid.

Yup, the tornado can take their home and other posessions so long as it doesn't mess with their everquest 2. Now, that is devotion.

Wii Fitness Age

I promised Will a Wii for his birthday a few months ago, but everywhere I went was sold out. We finally picked one up on Saturday.

It has this fitness program on it, well as much as a video game can be considered fitness and you can take a test to detremine your Wii fitness age.

Will's was 80
mine was 64

I run 25 miles a week so all I can say is 64?! Guess I'm gonna have to get back on the Wii and practice practice. And oh ya, please don't tell anyone

:)

Pretty in pink

Ok here is the picture as promised. Hideous. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, it goes with the previous post.

The pink luggage

So apparently there is a rule that checked luggage cannot weigh over 50 lbs and well we bought some things when we were in California...mine weighed in at 56 lbs and hubbys at 62 lbs.

The airline staffs suggestion? Throw out your shampoo. Umm, hello, I am pretty sure shampoo doesn't weigh 12 lbs.

Second suggestion was to buy another suitcase for the overflow.

So, and bear in mind here we were holding up the line, I ran to the gift shop to find they only had one type of suitcase for sale. It was bright pink with flowers and looked like something Barbie would travel with. So I bought it, what other alternative was there???

You should have seen hubby's face when he saw me coming back with it.

When we arrived at our destination, we are standing at baggae claim when hubby sees it on the carousel and is so embarassed he looks to the couple waiting next to us and says " This isn't ours. Well it is but only because they made us buy it."

I was LMAO, so were they. Too funny! And I made him carry it to the car. :)

The Best Years - What were they thinking?

A few months ago I was channel surfing when I cam across a show called the Best Years. I guessed immediatley that it was Canadian. For one thing it just had that feel to it, then there was the fact that I recognized a Toronto location, add to that the lighting and the fact that an actress from Degrassis (another Canadian show) made an appearance and presto, Canadian.

I thought I'd give it a shot as I got hooked on Falcon Beach, another not too bad Canadian show last year.

So you can imagine my shock when a character was introduced as a foreign student from Canada!!!

Turns out the show is a Canadian production but is supposed to be an American show, set in Boston. There is one character who is supposed to be Canadian and of course the other characters are constantly dropping jokes about Canadians, you know - living in igloos, always saying we are sorry for everything and of course not undersatnding the real world....hello we are on the same continent, n'est pas?

Anyway, I really find myself wondering why a Canadian company would produce an American show, film it in Canada and then perpetuate a very incorrect and not to pretty stereotype of one of its own???

And even all of the above aside, my reaction to the show is : YUCK!

Rant

Remember when I said I might rant?????

The car broke down. We got a boost.

It seemed to work until we stopped it again.

Long story short, it is in the shop again.

The mechanic was rude.

We had to take a taxi home.

I may have to buy a new car.

Boo Hoo.

Meet a few of my friends

Two of these were taken at the museuam of man in San Diego, one of the few museums that still allow you to take pictures.

The Gnome we bought at Colums 1 and took home with us. He's a real cutie and is now sitting in our backyard enjoying staring contests with my dog whenever she goes out there:

Rusty nail meets his maker on the bus from La Jolla

Ok, now I know exactly why I don't take the bus at home...

Picture this. We spend a nice afternoon at La Jolla beach and are headed back to our B & B on the bus when this man gets on. He is sweaty, loud, repulsive, carrying lots of boxes and sits at the front of the bus with a handful of huffs and puffs, on one of these seats that is reserved for the elderly, pregnant and children. He starts to talk to no one in particular and my hubby pinches me because he sounds exactly like 'rusty nail' from the movie Joy Ride.

Next stop, this crazy guy gets on. He sits across from rusty nail and starts talking to himself. Then he looks around at the same time my husband happens to be looking in his direction - wrong place to look at the wrong time, eyes lock and the guy zeros in on hubby. He starts to swear and scream at my hubby, his eyes a blaze and all I can think is "wholly shit".

Then rusty nail miraculously saves the day when he jumps in and bellows back "excuse me, what did you say?" The two start yelling, rusty nail wants to be the tough guy, how dare someone try to steal his thunder. They start this weird war full of facial gymnastics that believe it or not include a blowfish face. Then one karate chops the air, the other flips him off a few times. I swear we were in the twilight zone.

After the fight, the man starts glaring and swearing at hubby again. So what did we do? We got off the bus 5 stops earlier and walked the rest of the way of course. Did you think we had a death wish?

NYC midnight madness

So, my last day of work was July 13th! After a few happy dances and dinner and drinks with some friends from work, I decided to kick off my freedom at midnight by entering the New York City Midnight Madness Screenwriting Competition, after all, trying to make it as a screenwriter is why I left, so I figured why even wait a day?

The competition was a lot of fun. They divided participants into heats and then at midnight each heat was assigned a genre and topic. We then had seven days to write a 15 pages short on that topic and genre and were encouraged to be as creative as possible.

Some of the genre/topics were really cool, like: a monster movie about smoking, a mockumentary about wealth, a fairy tale about a pageant.

I was assigned a drama about obesity and was pretty happy with it as I usually write drama or comedy so it wasn't something I haven't done before. The only realy challenge was not letting it turn into a comedy as it would be disqualified if it didn't stay on genre. I didn't want to write something morose and I definelty didn't but my first attempt on day one turned into an outright comedy so I went back to the drawing board and finally came up with a drama which had a few laughs and a good twist.

After sending in my script, hubby and I took off for the airport, destination California, where we are right now. Man this is going to be a great year!

In September they announce the first round finalists, then those finalists will all be assigned the same topic and genre that they must write in just 24 hours. I will keep you posted.