1) Monday - Made skillet lasagna for Stephanie and Bert. Before Bert came over Stephanie and I watched the last episode of dollhouse and played more of the king game.
2) Tuesday - Had dinner with paul and stephanie they made pasta thing and we watched the next episode of John Adams where he and his wife traipsed about France & England. (The King is so creepy!)
3) Wednesday - Made dinner for Bert - salmon, rice salad, and sweet potato wedges. Then we watched Shadow of the Vampire (Willem Defoe is creepy) and played more Lego Star Wars.
4) Thursday - Had dinner with Bert at Star of Siam.
5) Friday- had a double date with Tiffany and Seth and Bert. Dinner at Andalous and then we played Settlers of Catan at my place.
6) Did some animating this weekend. Yay!
7) Saturday - Had dinner with Bert at the Melting pot. Mmmm Fondue....
8) Today we had breakfast at Ann Sathers (even though Bert isn't a big fan)
9) Spent the day at Bert's place. We watched Sex in the City and I animated and we went to Target and then got Chinese food for dinner. Yay for a nice day with my boyfriend.
10) We had a new producer start at CMIG this week. Looking forward to seeing how he rounds out the team.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
I am persistantly two weeks behind
1) I got to spend a good part of hte week at work putting together furniture. That is all I have to say about work this week.
2) On Monday I went to Stephanie's place and made her the ridiculous brie thing and sweet potato wedges because she had foot surgery and couldn't make the trek to my place. We played Continuity game and watched Rachel getting Married. It was like watching a trainwreck... in a good way.
3) On Tuesday I went to Paul and Stephanie's and they made a new delicious chicken thing and we watched the next episode of John Adams. France! Crazy fever dream!
4) On Wednesday I went to Bert's and he made chicken piccata, roasted potatoes and I helped make a spinach thing (didn't turn out grat though) We watched Serenity.
5) On Thursday Bert and I canceled our plans for the night because I wasn't feeling great. I left work early and took a big nap and then Bert came and comforted me and we went to Leona's and played Lego Star Wars. He's so good to me.
6) Lego Star Wars is awesome. Of course I played through it back when it first came out, but playing though it again with Bert has been tons of fun.
7) On Friday night Bert and I hosted a game night at his apartment. Paul and Stephanie and Jeremy and Andy came over and we had pizza and played Cranium. Bert and I won! I will always remember him doing "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
8) On Saturday Bert and I drove out to the suburbs and had dinner with Erika and Gregor (and their daughter Kat. I made chocolate banana bread cookies. Erika made tasty chicken cordon bleu. It was a nice evening.
9) Read the new Buffy comics
10) After that busy week it was nice to have a relaxing Sunday where I did laundry, watched Hulu and Angel, did dishes and got groceries.
2) On Monday I went to Stephanie's place and made her the ridiculous brie thing and sweet potato wedges because she had foot surgery and couldn't make the trek to my place. We played Continuity game and watched Rachel getting Married. It was like watching a trainwreck... in a good way.
3) On Tuesday I went to Paul and Stephanie's and they made a new delicious chicken thing and we watched the next episode of John Adams. France! Crazy fever dream!
4) On Wednesday I went to Bert's and he made chicken piccata, roasted potatoes and I helped make a spinach thing (didn't turn out grat though) We watched Serenity.
5) On Thursday Bert and I canceled our plans for the night because I wasn't feeling great. I left work early and took a big nap and then Bert came and comforted me and we went to Leona's and played Lego Star Wars. He's so good to me.
6) Lego Star Wars is awesome. Of course I played through it back when it first came out, but playing though it again with Bert has been tons of fun.
7) On Friday night Bert and I hosted a game night at his apartment. Paul and Stephanie and Jeremy and Andy came over and we had pizza and played Cranium. Bert and I won! I will always remember him doing "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
8) On Saturday Bert and I drove out to the suburbs and had dinner with Erika and Gregor (and their daughter Kat. I made chocolate banana bread cookies. Erika made tasty chicken cordon bleu. It was a nice evening.
9) Read the new Buffy comics
10) After that busy week it was nice to have a relaxing Sunday where I did laundry, watched Hulu and Angel, did dishes and got groceries.
I'm always late
1) I got MLK day off as a University Holiday, which happened the past two years as well, but I had forgotten and it was a nice surprise 3 day weekend. Bert did not get the day off, but I went downtown and met him at his office to go out to lunch. Hyatt Headquarters is very swanky, they've got bamboo in the ground floor lobby, and a very grandiose wood adorned reception area. I should have taken photos. Bert showed me off to his favorite co-workers and then we headed to Roti for lunch. It's kind of like a mediterranean Chipotle. It was tasty, I got babaganoush (and some other things, but I like saying babaganoush). Afterward I went to Blick's and picked up some paper to use as a backdrop for the next animation. And then to Trader Joes for supplies for dinner with Stephanie that night and essentials.
2) On Tuesday night Bert met me down in Hyde Park after work and we went to Chant for dinner, which is one of the fancier restaurants in Hyde Park
(to those of you who never heard of it, it opened in late 2007). Then we went to see the premiere of A Girl Named Clyde. The script was one I had read through and given feedback for back when I did Screenwriter's Circle. I wasn't involved at all in the production so for me it was like the script magically transformed into a movie. This is the first feature length film I've had that experience with. It was interesting to see what parts were dropped/added/ kept/etc. It was pretty good for being a student film. I liked it more than Crime Fiction and it was more polished that Die Zombies Die. But because I reviewed the initial script, I also felt more critical of what I saw as the narrative shortcomings.
3) Thursday night had dinner with Paul and Stephanie. Watched the 2nd episode of John Adams (with has the gayest Constitutional delegate ever - Edward Rutledge) Stephanie and I finished the latest Dr. Who special. So long Tennent and Davies! Hello Smith and Moffat! I did appreciate the scene in the space bar with Jack.
4) I engineered two live ISDN interviews this week. One with with Paul Sereno and one with Janet Rowley. It was exciting to listen to a radio program in real time and know that I was contributing to it in my own small way.
5) Friday afternoon I left work a little early, went home to get my stuff together and then headed off to Indianapolis (or the suburbs at least) to spend the weekend with Karan. Driving to Indy was kind of exciting, (as exciting as driving a flat barren expanse for 3 hours can be) since I haven't driven that far since Stephanie and I took a roadtrip summer before 2nd year. And it's always nice to escape my life for a couple days.
6) It was good to hang out with Karan for a couple days. I hadn't really hung out with him since I visited him in New York last April. And while we were chatting on the internet pretty much daily throughout the summer, our communication was much more sporadic during the fall. He always has great stories to share and we talked more about his music, my animations and other creative stuff.
7) We spent the better part of Saturday composing this new NNN theme song. I had made a short version (heard in the first 10 seconds of Out of Bonds) last year, but that was about the limit of my abilities. Karan has a lot more experience mixing, so I was able to lie on his bed looking up News theme songs on youtube while he worked and giving my feedback and letting him transform my ideas into reality. It was a great collaboration and very easy, much better than paying someone I barely know to do it (which was my original plan).
8) We watched The Invention of Lying on Friday Night, Humpday on Saturday Night, and I got to play through the beginning of Batman: Arkham Asylum. The Invention of Lying started out strong, but then it devolved into a romantic comedy, which I had no interest in watching play out. Humpday was great, one of the best movies I've seen in a while, the dialogue and performances were top-notch. as usual, I agree with the AV Club's assessment of the movies. Batman: Arkham Asylum was really good, although I am not very good at being stealthy, which is one of the major components of the game. It was fun and had very high production values though. Makes me wish I had an XBox 360 or PS3. Not enough to buy one though.
9) We had lunch and dinner with his parents on Saturday. (Subway for lunch and home-cooked Indian food for dinner mmmm.....) They asked me what I thought of C.B. West and The University of Chicago, because they wanted a different perspective than Karan's. I also got to hear some funny stories about Karan and his brother getting into trouble. It's always interesting to see how people interact with their parents. Karan and his parents seem to have a very playful relationship, they were teasing one another the way only family can tease.
10) On Sunday night when I got back I had dinner with Bert and his friend Jeremy at a pretty good Mexican Place up Broadway (El Mariachi). It was tasty and I had leftovers for lunch the next day. We talked about TV shows and Chicago Gay Men's Book Club, which Jeremy founded, Bert is an original member of, and I am soon to join. And then Bert came over and snuggled for a little bit before heading back to his place. Not a bad way to prepare for the new work week.
Bonus: Elizabeth gilbert's TED talk
2) On Tuesday night Bert met me down in Hyde Park after work and we went to Chant for dinner, which is one of the fancier restaurants in Hyde Park
(to those of you who never heard of it, it opened in late 2007). Then we went to see the premiere of A Girl Named Clyde. The script was one I had read through and given feedback for back when I did Screenwriter's Circle. I wasn't involved at all in the production so for me it was like the script magically transformed into a movie. This is the first feature length film I've had that experience with. It was interesting to see what parts were dropped/added/ kept/etc. It was pretty good for being a student film. I liked it more than Crime Fiction and it was more polished that Die Zombies Die. But because I reviewed the initial script, I also felt more critical of what I saw as the narrative shortcomings.
3) Thursday night had dinner with Paul and Stephanie. Watched the 2nd episode of John Adams (with has the gayest Constitutional delegate ever - Edward Rutledge) Stephanie and I finished the latest Dr. Who special. So long Tennent and Davies! Hello Smith and Moffat! I did appreciate the scene in the space bar with Jack.
4) I engineered two live ISDN interviews this week. One with with Paul Sereno and one with Janet Rowley. It was exciting to listen to a radio program in real time and know that I was contributing to it in my own small way.
5) Friday afternoon I left work a little early, went home to get my stuff together and then headed off to Indianapolis (or the suburbs at least) to spend the weekend with Karan. Driving to Indy was kind of exciting, (as exciting as driving a flat barren expanse for 3 hours can be) since I haven't driven that far since Stephanie and I took a roadtrip summer before 2nd year. And it's always nice to escape my life for a couple days.
6) It was good to hang out with Karan for a couple days. I hadn't really hung out with him since I visited him in New York last April. And while we were chatting on the internet pretty much daily throughout the summer, our communication was much more sporadic during the fall. He always has great stories to share and we talked more about his music, my animations and other creative stuff.
7) We spent the better part of Saturday composing this new NNN theme song. I had made a short version (heard in the first 10 seconds of Out of Bonds) last year, but that was about the limit of my abilities. Karan has a lot more experience mixing, so I was able to lie on his bed looking up News theme songs on youtube while he worked and giving my feedback and letting him transform my ideas into reality. It was a great collaboration and very easy, much better than paying someone I barely know to do it (which was my original plan).
8) We watched The Invention of Lying on Friday Night, Humpday on Saturday Night, and I got to play through the beginning of Batman: Arkham Asylum. The Invention of Lying started out strong, but then it devolved into a romantic comedy, which I had no interest in watching play out. Humpday was great, one of the best movies I've seen in a while, the dialogue and performances were top-notch. as usual, I agree with the AV Club's assessment of the movies. Batman: Arkham Asylum was really good, although I am not very good at being stealthy, which is one of the major components of the game. It was fun and had very high production values though. Makes me wish I had an XBox 360 or PS3. Not enough to buy one though.
9) We had lunch and dinner with his parents on Saturday. (Subway for lunch and home-cooked Indian food for dinner mmmm.....) They asked me what I thought of C.B. West and The University of Chicago, because they wanted a different perspective than Karan's. I also got to hear some funny stories about Karan and his brother getting into trouble. It's always interesting to see how people interact with their parents. Karan and his parents seem to have a very playful relationship, they were teasing one another the way only family can tease.
10) On Sunday night when I got back I had dinner with Bert and his friend Jeremy at a pretty good Mexican Place up Broadway (El Mariachi). It was tasty and I had leftovers for lunch the next day. We talked about TV shows and Chicago Gay Men's Book Club, which Jeremy founded, Bert is an original member of, and I am soon to join. And then Bert came over and snuggled for a little bit before heading back to his place. Not a bad way to prepare for the new work week.
Bonus: Elizabeth gilbert's TED talk
Untitled
When someone dies
We like to tell each other who they were
As if their memory was as stiff as their body
As if they would not still surprise us years later
When someone dies
We act as though we only lost one person
And not a parent and a friend and a sibling and a spouse
As if we were not all many people
Labels:
poetry
Friday, January 15, 2010
This week
1) On Monday Stephanie came over for Peanut Chicken. We watched the movie “Gerry” which was crazy. Barely any dialogue or action, mostly just really long shots of two guys wandering around the desert/other remote landscapes. I don’t think I could ever create something so deliberately vacant. My work tends more towards teeming. It was an interesting change of pace, considering all the action movies I’ve seen lately. I don’t think I’d recommend it though. We also continued playing through the King Game which continues to be awesome.
2) On Tuesday Bert and I went to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus and had Wow Bao for dinner. The Imaginarium has some very obvious seams and plot-holes, which makes sense since one of the main actors died during production, but it is my favorite of the movies I’ve seen in the theaters lately. There are some great performances and some fantastically imaginative scenes (like a bunch of cross-dressed British Police officers singing and dancing about how great violence is). It’s unlike anything else out there right now.
3) On Wednesday we went to Crew with a bunch of his friends for a special on drinks and appetizers followed by the GayCo show “The Audacity of Nope” a couple doors down (also part of the special). The show was good. I could have done with fewer songs (though I keep finding myself humming “Hamballs”) and less political commentary, but what do you expect from a LGBTQ themed sketch show? I think my favorite bit was the boss announcing to his staff that he is about to become a she and then fielding their awkward questions. The punchline “Will you make 1/3 less as a woman?” had just the right amount of punch in my opinion.
4) On Thursday I went to Paul and Stephanie’s for Egg Lemon Soup, peanut noodles and the first episode of the HBO miniseries, John Adams. Paul Giamatti is great, as is Laura Linney. It’s been a lot of fun remembering little bits from history class and lining them up with the references in the show. I have never been so excited about the Constitutional Convention.
Also Stephanie and I watched “The End of Time Part 1” The master is awesome. I’m glad he will be all over the place in the next episode.
5) On Friday night Bert came over and I made him Mesquite Chicken and Pasta Salad. We watched Paranormal Activity which he had rented. I agreed to watch it even though I had no interest in it on the condition that he would have to watch something I wanted to watch and wouldn’t be able to veto. I then made him the first episode of season 5 of Angel, because he keeps mocking it & Buffy. “It wasn’t as bad as I expected” was his assessment. Paranormal Activity on the other hand was just as bad as I expected. It gets a D.
6) I also made these amazing Banana Bread Cookies, which Jess Brock gave me the recipe for.
I produce the recipe here exactly as I received it.
"Banana Bread Cookies. They're super easy and SUPER delicious.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large REAL ACTUAL EGG
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mashed overripe banana (about 1 large)
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch chunks
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted (if desired)
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together both flours, salt & baking soda in a bowl.
2. Put butter and both sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer (with a paddle attachment, if you've got it); mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks, and walnuts.
3. Drop dough onto baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets half way through, until golden brown and just set, 12-15 minutes. Let cool on the sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to the racks alone.
A word of caution: after you make these, you may find yourself thinking any of the following things - "These are fucking delicious!" or "Jess Brock is full of good ideas!" or "I want these to have EVEN MORE banana"
All of those thoughts are good and decent, but every recipe has it's limits, and baking is a delicate balancing act. So if you, like me as a young lass, were inspired to add another half of a banana to the cookies, don't be surprised when it comes out a little fucked up. It's hubris to try to get more banana in these cookies. You, like Icarus, have been warned."
7) Work was fine. Renee was back, so things like hiring more people could move forward.
8) Bert and I had a very busy Saturday. We first went to the LEGO Discovery Center – “The World’s first Indoor Legoland.” Having been to LegoLand California, I was unimpressed, as this is just a watered-down tiny version of that. We were done in half an hour. The best part was the Chicago Miniland. We did get a couple pictures with the big sculptures, though.
Then we went to Ikea where Bert got a shelf/counter for his kitchen and I got a lamp, a frame, a plant and a couple bowls. Ikea is fun
Then we went to the Woodfield mall. I showed Bert what a real Lego store is like (as opposed to the disappointing one they had at the Discovery center) and picked up a few sets I wanted and hadn’t found at the Michigan Avenue store. We walked around the mall a bit more, but I was tired and overwhelmed by the crowds and convinced Bert we should head out. He drove home and I fell asleep in the car almost instantly. He saw my creepy half open sleepy eyes.
After I woke up we put together his Ikea shelf, ordered pizza and watched a couple episodes of Firefly.
9) The next morning we went to Pauline's again for breakfast. This time he got the French toast.
Fall on campus
Winter on my street
Where I wait for the bus some mornings
A ridiculous hairdo
2) On Tuesday Bert and I went to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus and had Wow Bao for dinner. The Imaginarium has some very obvious seams and plot-holes, which makes sense since one of the main actors died during production, but it is my favorite of the movies I’ve seen in the theaters lately. There are some great performances and some fantastically imaginative scenes (like a bunch of cross-dressed British Police officers singing and dancing about how great violence is). It’s unlike anything else out there right now.
3) On Wednesday we went to Crew with a bunch of his friends for a special on drinks and appetizers followed by the GayCo show “The Audacity of Nope” a couple doors down (also part of the special). The show was good. I could have done with fewer songs (though I keep finding myself humming “Hamballs”) and less political commentary, but what do you expect from a LGBTQ themed sketch show? I think my favorite bit was the boss announcing to his staff that he is about to become a she and then fielding their awkward questions. The punchline “Will you make 1/3 less as a woman?” had just the right amount of punch in my opinion.
4) On Thursday I went to Paul and Stephanie’s for Egg Lemon Soup, peanut noodles and the first episode of the HBO miniseries, John Adams. Paul Giamatti is great, as is Laura Linney. It’s been a lot of fun remembering little bits from history class and lining them up with the references in the show. I have never been so excited about the Constitutional Convention.
Also Stephanie and I watched “The End of Time Part 1” The master is awesome. I’m glad he will be all over the place in the next episode.
5) On Friday night Bert came over and I made him Mesquite Chicken and Pasta Salad. We watched Paranormal Activity which he had rented. I agreed to watch it even though I had no interest in it on the condition that he would have to watch something I wanted to watch and wouldn’t be able to veto. I then made him the first episode of season 5 of Angel, because he keeps mocking it & Buffy. “It wasn’t as bad as I expected” was his assessment. Paranormal Activity on the other hand was just as bad as I expected. It gets a D.
6) I also made these amazing Banana Bread Cookies, which Jess Brock gave me the recipe for.
I produce the recipe here exactly as I received it.
"Banana Bread Cookies. They're super easy and SUPER delicious.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large REAL ACTUAL EGG
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mashed overripe banana (about 1 large)
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch chunks
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted (if desired)
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together both flours, salt & baking soda in a bowl.
2. Put butter and both sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer (with a paddle attachment, if you've got it); mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks, and walnuts.
3. Drop dough onto baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets half way through, until golden brown and just set, 12-15 minutes. Let cool on the sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to the racks alone.
A word of caution: after you make these, you may find yourself thinking any of the following things - "These are fucking delicious!" or "Jess Brock is full of good ideas!" or "I want these to have EVEN MORE banana"
All of those thoughts are good and decent, but every recipe has it's limits, and baking is a delicate balancing act. So if you, like me as a young lass, were inspired to add another half of a banana to the cookies, don't be surprised when it comes out a little fucked up. It's hubris to try to get more banana in these cookies. You, like Icarus, have been warned."
7) Work was fine. Renee was back, so things like hiring more people could move forward.
8) Bert and I had a very busy Saturday. We first went to the LEGO Discovery Center – “The World’s first Indoor Legoland.” Having been to LegoLand California, I was unimpressed, as this is just a watered-down tiny version of that. We were done in half an hour. The best part was the Chicago Miniland. We did get a couple pictures with the big sculptures, though.
Then we went to Ikea where Bert got a shelf/counter for his kitchen and I got a lamp, a frame, a plant and a couple bowls. Ikea is fun
Then we went to the Woodfield mall. I showed Bert what a real Lego store is like (as opposed to the disappointing one they had at the Discovery center) and picked up a few sets I wanted and hadn’t found at the Michigan Avenue store. We walked around the mall a bit more, but I was tired and overwhelmed by the crowds and convinced Bert we should head out. He drove home and I fell asleep in the car almost instantly. He saw my creepy half open sleepy eyes.
After I woke up we put together his Ikea shelf, ordered pizza and watched a couple episodes of Firefly.
9) The next morning we went to Pauline's again for breakfast. This time he got the French toast.
10) Sunday afternoon was full of hulu (Dollhouse, 30 Rock, Community) and putting together my lego and ikea stuff. Sunday night Bert and Max ad I had dinner at DMK. Wonderful.
Bonus) Here are some pictures I found on my Iphone:Fall on campus
Winter on my street
Where I wait for the bus some mornings
A ridiculous hairdo
Saturday, January 9, 2010
That week
1) I had an amazing retail experience at the LEGO store on Michigan Avenue on Monday. I’ve been going to that store on a somewhat regular basis for a couple years now and I recognize most of the staff by now, since I usually go in knowing exactly what I want, and am generally a self-guided shopper it’s rare that I talked to any of them though. Since moving up to Lakeview my visits to the store have become more regular, since I’ll often stop there on the way home from work. The store is pretty quiet at these times, and so there are usually as many employees as shoppers and so I have started interacting with the staff more.
In particular, I’ve bonded with this one girl Katy who’s almost always there on weeknights after work. I now get disappointed if she’s not there. She helped me use a function of the store I didn’t even know existed. We’ll always talk about my latest projects and she give me suggestions for what to buy (especially in areas I’m not as familiar with like Bionicle) which have always been helpful. So Monday I went in and I picked up a couple things from the front displays and then ran into her. I pulled out my laptop and showed her what I had finished of the anti-green commercial (everything but the part that says “Green is the worst color ever!”) and I explained that I was stumped as to what exactly I was going to do for that part. “Maybe I’ll have a bunch of really fast vignettes of green monsters/disasters?” She expressed her regret that they didn’t have the Army Soldiers set in stock and then she lit up and said “I think I have something! I’ll be back in a couple minutes.” And then she ran off to the back of the store. I browsed for a little while and then she returned with a veritable bag of delights. She handpicked these awesome green parts from the spare parts they have lying around in the back room. Many of these pieces are rare, everything on the right was new to me. It would have been very expensive to buy these pieces through bricklink or through the sets they come in.
I then got to fill up the rest of bag with the regular Pick-A-Brick pieces and then paid $8 for the whole thing. That’s an amazing deal - best shopping experience of my life. I guess it pays to talk to store employees. And of course, armed with those incredible pieces it became immediately clear what the last bits of the animation would be. Thanks Katy!
2) Jenny and Leo got me this Dark Chocolate Dreams LINK peanut butter for Christmas. I finally got around to tasting it this week. I bought a bag of mini-bagels specifically so I’d have something to spread it on. It’s amazing!! The bag of mini-bagels was gone by the end of the week.
3) This week was the first week our student employees were back in the office since before the move so I got to play tour guide half a dozen times. I quickly honed my spiel and was soon telling the same jokes and gesturing in the same ways each time. It was fun to be the one to show off the swanky new office.
Dana stopped by the office one afternoon so I gave her the tour as well and we sat around and chatted for a while too. It’s a bummer she’s back in LA now, but Bert and I will be seeing her when we’re out there in March so no need to fret.
4) On Tuesday Bert came over for dinner I introduced him to the joys of Potato Flag and 30 Rock. Mmm… Potato Flag.
5) Had a good phone call with my parents in which my mom recounted the crazy trip she took with Jenny to take Isaiah to a pediatric foot doctor in which she was throwing windshield fluid on the windshield using a little plastic water bottle every few minutes. I also need to publish a retraction, in an earlier blog post I said than my mom kept “bringing up Bert’s age like it’s a problem.” I was mistaken. She really had just forgotten, she went on to say how her father was 11 years younger than her mother, so if anything there’s a precedent for that in the family. Also, apparently my Dad’s parents were engaged for 19 years before getting married!? Who knew?
6) Went to Bert’s for dinner on Thursday, he made Shake and Bake Porkchops (and I did indeed help, despite just waking up from a nap on his couch, there’s a terrible photo somewhere to prove it) greenbeans and cornbread muffins. It was all good, but I ate about a dozen of those delicious muffins. Then we watched the Hangover, which was funny than I expected, and only reaffirmed my desire never to go to Vegas. Then I help Bert take out his Christmas tree. And I do mean “take out,” his apartment looked like a murder scene when we were done. There were pine needles all over the floor leading from the dining room to the back door and a Christmas tree shaped impression in the snow below his balcony (the outline was also covered with pine needles). We tried to kick snow to cover the evidence but I’m sure that much like Bart Simpson our crime will be revealed when it melts.
Then I had him help me record Sound Effects fro the Anti-Green commercial. He voiced the kittens, one of the little kids, half the green villains, the Dwarf, the guy getting his face sucked off, half the alien chorus behind Facesuck McGee and the slime bombs (my personal favorite). Just another great thing about him.
7) On Friday we went to Café Baba Reeba, which was new to both of us. It was also incredibly delicious. It’s a Tapas style restaurant so we got 6 different dishes (not counting dessert). The spicy potatoes were my favorite, but everything was delicious. Then we went back to my place and I introduced Bert to The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. I guided him through the first part and he got about a third of the way through the first dungeon. Man that game is awesome. It’s very exciting to watch him discover it for the first time. Hopefully he liked it enough to keep playing.
8) I had to work on Saturday, but it was not too bad thanks to Bert being awesome and lending me his car for the day, the client being awesome and organized and relaxed, the Marriot AV staff being responsive and helpful, the other 3 CMIGers who were helping me out being good independent workers and I got a fancy lunch because I was also participating as an Alumni in the creative arts.
Taking the Next Step is a program for 2nd and 3rd year students where a bunch of successful alumni come and talk about their career path. I had to film the Finance and Consulting panels and was so glad that my current job was nothing like the ones they described. Talking at the lunch table with the students and other creative alums made me realize once again how awesome my job is, even though I worked a 6 day week and stuff like that.
9) Stuff I watched/read this week. A couple cool creative projects by my friends and some other stuff:
I launched this on Saturday morning before heading off to Taking the Next Step. I followed the comments on my iPhone in between sessions, but did not see the viewcounts going through the roof until that night. The video got mentioned on The Brothers Brick, which gave it a huge boost in views and got it noticed on some other blogs. By the end of the weekend it had more views than any of my other NNN videos (even though most of those have been up for months. To give you more perspective here is a chart of views per day on my NNN youtube account for the past two months
A lot was the week after I released On the Street with Steve Deepsea. At the time it was the most views per day I'd ever received on this account.
11) Read Men and Cartoons by Jonathan Lethem. I'd previously read a novel by him, Gun, with Occasional Music, which was one of the big inspirations for The Franky Job. This was a collection of short stories and I think better suited to some of his wacky ideas. Here are a few of my favorite parts.
This is a ridiculous poem from a story about two people who don't know each other, but keep meeting at odd places over the years.
"Oh Vivian Relf! Oh eclipse, oh pale penumbra of my yearning!
Pink slip, eviction notice, deleted icon, oh!
Stalked in alleys of my absent noons, there's nobody knows you better than I!
Translucent voracious Relf-self, I vow here
Never again once to murk you
With pallid tropes of familiarity or recognition
You, pure apparition, onion---
Veil of veils only!"
The part where he calls her onion always gets me. This next bit is an excerpt from a story involving a sheep that induces suicide in other animals.
"The Dystopianist suddenly had a vision of the Plath Sheep wandering its way into the backgroud of one of the Dire One's tales. It would go unremarked at first, a bucolic detail. Unwrapping its bleak gift of global animal suicide only after it had been taken entirely for granted, just as the Dire One's own little nuggets of despair were smuggled innocuously into his utopias. The Plath Sheep was a bullet of pure dystopian intention. The Dystopianist wanted to fire it in the Dire Utopianist's direction."
And this last one is when the author interview a giant crab who was the main character of a sitcoms in the 80s.
"Don't worry, Lehman, we'll still need historians of television comedy, or rather we'll need them again in a few dozen centuries, when crabs develop television. Your work won't be in vain."
In particular, I’ve bonded with this one girl Katy who’s almost always there on weeknights after work. I now get disappointed if she’s not there. She helped me use a function of the store I didn’t even know existed. We’ll always talk about my latest projects and she give me suggestions for what to buy (especially in areas I’m not as familiar with like Bionicle) which have always been helpful. So Monday I went in and I picked up a couple things from the front displays and then ran into her. I pulled out my laptop and showed her what I had finished of the anti-green commercial (everything but the part that says “Green is the worst color ever!”) and I explained that I was stumped as to what exactly I was going to do for that part. “Maybe I’ll have a bunch of really fast vignettes of green monsters/disasters?” She expressed her regret that they didn’t have the Army Soldiers set in stock and then she lit up and said “I think I have something! I’ll be back in a couple minutes.” And then she ran off to the back of the store. I browsed for a little while and then she returned with a veritable bag of delights. She handpicked these awesome green parts from the spare parts they have lying around in the back room. Many of these pieces are rare, everything on the right was new to me. It would have been very expensive to buy these pieces through bricklink or through the sets they come in.
I then got to fill up the rest of bag with the regular Pick-A-Brick pieces and then paid $8 for the whole thing. That’s an amazing deal - best shopping experience of my life. I guess it pays to talk to store employees. And of course, armed with those incredible pieces it became immediately clear what the last bits of the animation would be. Thanks Katy!
2) Jenny and Leo got me this Dark Chocolate Dreams LINK peanut butter for Christmas. I finally got around to tasting it this week. I bought a bag of mini-bagels specifically so I’d have something to spread it on. It’s amazing!! The bag of mini-bagels was gone by the end of the week.
3) This week was the first week our student employees were back in the office since before the move so I got to play tour guide half a dozen times. I quickly honed my spiel and was soon telling the same jokes and gesturing in the same ways each time. It was fun to be the one to show off the swanky new office.
Dana stopped by the office one afternoon so I gave her the tour as well and we sat around and chatted for a while too. It’s a bummer she’s back in LA now, but Bert and I will be seeing her when we’re out there in March so no need to fret.
4) On Tuesday Bert came over for dinner I introduced him to the joys of Potato Flag and 30 Rock. Mmm… Potato Flag.
5) Had a good phone call with my parents in which my mom recounted the crazy trip she took with Jenny to take Isaiah to a pediatric foot doctor in which she was throwing windshield fluid on the windshield using a little plastic water bottle every few minutes. I also need to publish a retraction, in an earlier blog post I said than my mom kept “bringing up Bert’s age like it’s a problem.” I was mistaken. She really had just forgotten, she went on to say how her father was 11 years younger than her mother, so if anything there’s a precedent for that in the family. Also, apparently my Dad’s parents were engaged for 19 years before getting married!? Who knew?
6) Went to Bert’s for dinner on Thursday, he made Shake and Bake Porkchops (and I did indeed help, despite just waking up from a nap on his couch, there’s a terrible photo somewhere to prove it) greenbeans and cornbread muffins. It was all good, but I ate about a dozen of those delicious muffins. Then we watched the Hangover, which was funny than I expected, and only reaffirmed my desire never to go to Vegas. Then I help Bert take out his Christmas tree. And I do mean “take out,” his apartment looked like a murder scene when we were done. There were pine needles all over the floor leading from the dining room to the back door and a Christmas tree shaped impression in the snow below his balcony (the outline was also covered with pine needles). We tried to kick snow to cover the evidence but I’m sure that much like Bart Simpson our crime will be revealed when it melts.
Then I had him help me record Sound Effects fro the Anti-Green commercial. He voiced the kittens, one of the little kids, half the green villains, the Dwarf, the guy getting his face sucked off, half the alien chorus behind Facesuck McGee and the slime bombs (my personal favorite). Just another great thing about him.
7) On Friday we went to Café Baba Reeba, which was new to both of us. It was also incredibly delicious. It’s a Tapas style restaurant so we got 6 different dishes (not counting dessert). The spicy potatoes were my favorite, but everything was delicious. Then we went back to my place and I introduced Bert to The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. I guided him through the first part and he got about a third of the way through the first dungeon. Man that game is awesome. It’s very exciting to watch him discover it for the first time. Hopefully he liked it enough to keep playing.
8) I had to work on Saturday, but it was not too bad thanks to Bert being awesome and lending me his car for the day, the client being awesome and organized and relaxed, the Marriot AV staff being responsive and helpful, the other 3 CMIGers who were helping me out being good independent workers and I got a fancy lunch because I was also participating as an Alumni in the creative arts.
Taking the Next Step is a program for 2nd and 3rd year students where a bunch of successful alumni come and talk about their career path. I had to film the Finance and Consulting panels and was so glad that my current job was nothing like the ones they described. Talking at the lunch table with the students and other creative alums made me realize once again how awesome my job is, even though I worked a 6 day week and stuff like that.
9) Stuff I watched/read this week. A couple cool creative projects by my friends and some other stuff:
- Lindsay B Champion wrote a short story inspired by the Lovesong of J Alfred prufrock (dare I eat a peach?): Song of Spaghettios I quite like the part about the Upple middle class of attractive and desperate tone of the whole thing.
- Jonh Schwartrz stars as Eurydice in this stop-animated gender-swapped tale of Orpheus & Eurydice which was completed in 48 hours
- Tiffany tipped me off to this awesome blog that records the sleep mumblings of an englishman. You should read them all. Some of my favorites are ""Where do you think YOU'RE going, hmmm? I knew it. The cupboard. You and your cupboard." ""So this is what it feels like to be a gummy bear... I can't walk though, I have to rock... I think i'll call myself BerNARD. Not BERnard. BerNARD. And I'll be a golden gummy bear.""
I launched this on Saturday morning before heading off to Taking the Next Step. I followed the comments on my iPhone in between sessions, but did not see the viewcounts going through the roof until that night. The video got mentioned on The Brothers Brick, which gave it a huge boost in views and got it noticed on some other blogs. By the end of the weekend it had more views than any of my other NNN videos (even though most of those have been up for months. To give you more perspective here is a chart of views per day on my NNN youtube account for the past two months
A lot was the week after I released On the Street with Steve Deepsea. At the time it was the most views per day I'd ever received on this account.
11) Read Men and Cartoons by Jonathan Lethem. I'd previously read a novel by him, Gun, with Occasional Music, which was one of the big inspirations for The Franky Job. This was a collection of short stories and I think better suited to some of his wacky ideas. Here are a few of my favorite parts.
This is a ridiculous poem from a story about two people who don't know each other, but keep meeting at odd places over the years.
"Oh Vivian Relf! Oh eclipse, oh pale penumbra of my yearning!
Pink slip, eviction notice, deleted icon, oh!
Stalked in alleys of my absent noons, there's nobody knows you better than I!
Translucent voracious Relf-self, I vow here
Never again once to murk you
With pallid tropes of familiarity or recognition
You, pure apparition, onion---
Veil of veils only!"
The part where he calls her onion always gets me. This next bit is an excerpt from a story involving a sheep that induces suicide in other animals.
"The Dystopianist suddenly had a vision of the Plath Sheep wandering its way into the backgroud of one of the Dire One's tales. It would go unremarked at first, a bucolic detail. Unwrapping its bleak gift of global animal suicide only after it had been taken entirely for granted, just as the Dire One's own little nuggets of despair were smuggled innocuously into his utopias. The Plath Sheep was a bullet of pure dystopian intention. The Dystopianist wanted to fire it in the Dire Utopianist's direction."
And this last one is when the author interview a giant crab who was the main character of a sitcoms in the 80s.
"Don't worry, Lehman, we'll still need historians of television comedy, or rather we'll need them again in a few dozen centuries, when crabs develop television. Your work won't be in vain."
Monday, January 4, 2010
Thus begins 2010
1) I got the new album by Muse, “The Resistance” and have been listening to it on repeat most of the week. Muse is fast becoming one of my favorite bands. This summer when I was riding my bike to work a couple times a week I would listen to “Black Holes and Revelations” without fail on the ride south. It was upbeat and a good length, I would measure how long the ride was taking by where I was on the trail when certain songs came on.
Anyway, “The Resistance” is awesome, here’s the review that convinced me to buy it (along with hearing “Uprising,” my favorite track on the album). It’s dead on. I am lover of excess. In one song the singer goes on a 2:15 minute parenthetical tangent while in the middle of a word. How could I not love it? There are a couple moments in the album where the band seems to be stealing something (a chord, a beat) directly from Queen. Not really a problem, if anything I’d like to hear more bands attempting to emulate one of the greatest bands of all time, we could all use some more bombast.
2) On Tuesday Bert and I went over to Paul and Stephanie’s for dinner with them and Dana, who’s in town for about a week. We had Thai Curry and played this castle building game that’s simple and a lot of fun. Bert won the second time (color me proud). Mostly we just chatted and laughed and had a good time.
3) I guess there was a work week in there? I was doing a lot of unpacking & organizing while listening to Muse on repeat, so it barely even registered.
4) Then Bert and I spent two great days together. On New Year’s Eve he drove down to Hyde Park and picked me up at work. We went to Calypso for lunch (delicious!) then we went to my apartment and took a nap so I would stand a chance of staying awake to midnight. Then we met Bert’s best friend Christopher at DuChamp, a fancy restaurant in Buck Town. We had a four-course meal. The first two were good, I got some lobster mushroom pizza and then steak and a tiny quiche. The third course was a cheese plate that barely registered and the last course was a small array of desserts that ranged from poorly executed to meh. So the food was a bit underwhelming (especially considering the price of the meal), but the company was nice. I don’t think I’d go again.
Then we took a cab (it was really cold) to Clark/Division/thereabouts for the New Year’s Eve cocktail party we’d been invited to by Ben who I know from the LGBT Alumni Committee. It was pretty cramped (about 40 people in a studio apartment) and we almost left at 11:30 because I was feeling sleepy, but we met a couple new people and generally had a good time. And I was glad we decided to stick around when we all went up to the rooftop to ring in 2010. It was super cold and windy, but it was a great view of the skyline and hopefully the pictures will show that. It was a fun 10 minutes. It was nice to have someone to celebrate with. Here we all all dressed up:
5) We slept in on New Year’s (which is the whole point of the holiday IMO. Then we went to see Sherlock Holmes, which was entertaining, if not exactly what I wanted. It’s definitely an action film with a Sherlock Holmes veneer, I was hoping the trailer was misleading and had packed all the action in to those 3 minutes ala V for Vendetta. Alas this is not the case. Still, RDJ is in top form and the few moments where he is really Sherlocking it up are superb. We gave it a B-
Then we went to Target because Bert has a car and can just decide to go to Target on a whim like that (something I’m still not used to). Among other things we both got new toothbrushes so we don’t have to lug them back and forth all the time. Then we got Thai food for dinner near his place, had our first argument (which ironically was about me not being optimistic), and then talked through it. Back at his place we watched Drop Dead Gorgeous (cute an funny, Loretta is my favorite) and then I started playing through God of War on his PS2. There’s nothing quite like lying around with your boyfriend while playing through a new videogame. :)
6) January 2nd – We went and got breakfast at a place near him, “Pauline's” I think. The orange juice and French toast I got were amazing. The potatoes were okay. Then he drove me home and thus ended our amazing 2 days together. We didn’t get on each other’s nerves so I think that bodes well.
7) JJ came over that afternoon and we watched “Adventures in Babysitting” for the first time. It was gloriously campy. I think the moment the movie really came together for me is when the babysitter and her charges are on the run from a couple of generic mobsters and stumble into a Blues club and end up singing about their adventure thus far. Though the scene with Thor the auto mechanic was great too. Also when Brenda is berated by the man who lives in the telephone booth.
8) Throughout the day I watched the last disc of Angel season 4 (the last episode got me really excited for season 5) and worked on building an animation puppet for a music video I am working on in my sparest time. I copied the style from David Pagano’s Playback video. You can see a drawn version of the character in this video. The song I’m working on is Go Kartin’ from the album 93.
I spent most of the time on the head and I think my work really paid off.
9) Once I had exhausted Angel I started watching through the top ten animations of 2009 from the Animation Blog. Which is a misleading, since there are many more than 10 and they were produced in a variety of years, but just reviewed by that blog in 2009. Anyway of those, here were the ones I liked the best.
Stay in my Memory – I don’t like the song, but I love the pop-up book effect.
The Terrible Thing of Alpha 9 - Monsters are awesome.
The Year of the Dear – I’d already seen several pieces by Georges Schwizgebel, my favorite of which is still The Man without a Shadow, I think his work is best when grounded in a narrative, but I find all his stuff mesmerizing.
Lovesick – A cute little stop animated piece.
Jam Session – The clay work in this is fantastic.
Bolero (Part 1/Part 2) – An awesome video in the vein of Fantasia that’s vaguely about evolution.
Watching these filled me with all sorts of ideas for future projects (as if I didn’t have enough of those already) I did this last year too. It’s my favorite New Year’s tradition.
10) I spent a good amount of Sunday cleaning the apartment. I did the dishes, vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom (even the shower/tub) and also organized some things like my cds/dvds and lego instructions. Feels good to start off the year clean. Then I did a little animating, the end result of which you will see very soon.
FYI, I was listening to “The Resistance” the entire time I composed this post (which I now do during my commute).
Anyway, “The Resistance” is awesome, here’s the review that convinced me to buy it (along with hearing “Uprising,” my favorite track on the album). It’s dead on. I am lover of excess. In one song the singer goes on a 2:15 minute parenthetical tangent while in the middle of a word. How could I not love it? There are a couple moments in the album where the band seems to be stealing something (a chord, a beat) directly from Queen. Not really a problem, if anything I’d like to hear more bands attempting to emulate one of the greatest bands of all time, we could all use some more bombast.
2) On Tuesday Bert and I went over to Paul and Stephanie’s for dinner with them and Dana, who’s in town for about a week. We had Thai Curry and played this castle building game that’s simple and a lot of fun. Bert won the second time (color me proud). Mostly we just chatted and laughed and had a good time.
3) I guess there was a work week in there? I was doing a lot of unpacking & organizing while listening to Muse on repeat, so it barely even registered.
4) Then Bert and I spent two great days together. On New Year’s Eve he drove down to Hyde Park and picked me up at work. We went to Calypso for lunch (delicious!) then we went to my apartment and took a nap so I would stand a chance of staying awake to midnight. Then we met Bert’s best friend Christopher at DuChamp, a fancy restaurant in Buck Town. We had a four-course meal. The first two were good, I got some lobster mushroom pizza and then steak and a tiny quiche. The third course was a cheese plate that barely registered and the last course was a small array of desserts that ranged from poorly executed to meh. So the food was a bit underwhelming (especially considering the price of the meal), but the company was nice. I don’t think I’d go again.
Then we took a cab (it was really cold) to Clark/Division/thereabouts for the New Year’s Eve cocktail party we’d been invited to by Ben who I know from the LGBT Alumni Committee. It was pretty cramped (about 40 people in a studio apartment) and we almost left at 11:30 because I was feeling sleepy, but we met a couple new people and generally had a good time. And I was glad we decided to stick around when we all went up to the rooftop to ring in 2010. It was super cold and windy, but it was a great view of the skyline and hopefully the pictures will show that. It was a fun 10 minutes. It was nice to have someone to celebrate with. Here we all all dressed up:
5) We slept in on New Year’s (which is the whole point of the holiday IMO. Then we went to see Sherlock Holmes, which was entertaining, if not exactly what I wanted. It’s definitely an action film with a Sherlock Holmes veneer, I was hoping the trailer was misleading and had packed all the action in to those 3 minutes ala V for Vendetta. Alas this is not the case. Still, RDJ is in top form and the few moments where he is really Sherlocking it up are superb. We gave it a B-
Then we went to Target because Bert has a car and can just decide to go to Target on a whim like that (something I’m still not used to). Among other things we both got new toothbrushes so we don’t have to lug them back and forth all the time. Then we got Thai food for dinner near his place, had our first argument (which ironically was about me not being optimistic), and then talked through it. Back at his place we watched Drop Dead Gorgeous (cute an funny, Loretta is my favorite) and then I started playing through God of War on his PS2. There’s nothing quite like lying around with your boyfriend while playing through a new videogame. :)
6) January 2nd – We went and got breakfast at a place near him, “Pauline's” I think. The orange juice and French toast I got were amazing. The potatoes were okay. Then he drove me home and thus ended our amazing 2 days together. We didn’t get on each other’s nerves so I think that bodes well.
7) JJ came over that afternoon and we watched “Adventures in Babysitting” for the first time. It was gloriously campy. I think the moment the movie really came together for me is when the babysitter and her charges are on the run from a couple of generic mobsters and stumble into a Blues club and end up singing about their adventure thus far. Though the scene with Thor the auto mechanic was great too. Also when Brenda is berated by the man who lives in the telephone booth.
8) Throughout the day I watched the last disc of Angel season 4 (the last episode got me really excited for season 5) and worked on building an animation puppet for a music video I am working on in my sparest time. I copied the style from David Pagano’s Playback video. You can see a drawn version of the character in this video. The song I’m working on is Go Kartin’ from the album 93.
I spent most of the time on the head and I think my work really paid off.
9) Once I had exhausted Angel I started watching through the top ten animations of 2009 from the Animation Blog. Which is a misleading, since there are many more than 10 and they were produced in a variety of years, but just reviewed by that blog in 2009. Anyway of those, here were the ones I liked the best.
Stay in my Memory – I don’t like the song, but I love the pop-up book effect.
The Terrible Thing of Alpha 9 - Monsters are awesome.
The Year of the Dear – I’d already seen several pieces by Georges Schwizgebel, my favorite of which is still The Man without a Shadow, I think his work is best when grounded in a narrative, but I find all his stuff mesmerizing.
Lovesick – A cute little stop animated piece.
Jam Session – The clay work in this is fantastic.
Bolero (Part 1/Part 2) – An awesome video in the vein of Fantasia that’s vaguely about evolution.
Watching these filled me with all sorts of ideas for future projects (as if I didn’t have enough of those already) I did this last year too. It’s my favorite New Year’s tradition.
10) I spent a good amount of Sunday cleaning the apartment. I did the dishes, vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom (even the shower/tub) and also organized some things like my cds/dvds and lego instructions. Feels good to start off the year clean. Then I did a little animating, the end result of which you will see very soon.
FYI, I was listening to “The Resistance” the entire time I composed this post (which I now do during my commute).
Thursday, December 24, 2009
My Norman Rockwellian Christmas
1) I had a short week at work, much of which was spent unpacking. Here are some photos I took of our new office space. Here's the entrance to our suite which has our big shiny acronym on the wall.
This it the hallway where most of the offices are. It has some chairs for sitting.
This is my desk. Look at the fancy track lighting.
I had more pictures, but they were all pretty barren/depressing. Once we're more fully moved in maybe I'll post some more.
2) OMGMYBFFJILL!!! “The Attic” (latest episode of Dollhouse) was so awesome. Echo and Dominic chase a killer through the minds of Victor and Sierra (and others) who are trapped in repeating nightmares. Secrets are revealed, and our heroes rally for the coming fight against Rossum. Only 3 more episodes to go I’m sure they will be action-packed.
3) On Tuesday Bert made me dinner again (salmon and couscous) and drove me home so I could finish packing before work the next day. He's so good to me :)
4) Got home with no major delays, despite the weather being bad in Chicago and tons of flights being cancelled. Somehow mine got through with only a short delay at the terminal and since I was on the plance already I slept through it so it was basically non-existent. Alright, now I’m going to recount the details of my trip home. Rather than have this list burgeon to 30 things I will list them as subpoints. I think I have things on the right days, it all blurs together a little. (A wonderful blur, of course.)
5) Christmas Eve
• Waking up after 10
• Sledding and playing in the snow with Jenny, Leo, Isaiah and Mom. I only have this video, but I'm sure Jenny and Mom have pictures they will share soon (hint hint). My favorite parts were racing down the hill vs. Leo and Jenny&Isaiah and when Mom went down and almost crashed into her trees.
• Good food - Asparagus soup (even if Stephanie hates it) - Brisket – Christmas Cookies
• Being together with the family
• The one gift I opened was Fluxx from Jenny and Leo. I previously played this with Robert, but the edition I got is slightly newer. It was still pretty crazy. Playing with 6 people, the rules could change entirely and back again in between your turns so we all learned not to try to keep track of them until it was our turn. It was a lot of fun.
• Then we watched a couple episodes of “How I Met your Mother” Season 1, which I had gotten for Jenny and Leo. Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious.
6) Christmas
• Got lots of awesome presents – 1st Season of 30 Rock, Wii Fit Plus, A Boy and His Blob (next game for Stephanie and I), Boom Blox Bash Party, a whole bunch of legos, battery powered speakers, the obligatory socks, a photo book of our trips to the shore, and this cool veggie peeler that comes from a whole line of kitchen utensils that look like people.
• Cinnamon rolls for breakfast
• Beat New Super Mario Brothers Wii with JP
• Had a delicious dinner with Turkey, Mashed Potato Casserole, Zucchini thing, Jenny and Leo’s cranberry sauce, sweet potato fries etc.
• After Isaiah was in bed we had pie and watched a couple episodes of Dollhouse.
• After the rest of my family was asleep, I headed down to the basement to my satellite studio and animating the first scene for the upcoming Anti-Orange commercial.
7) Boxing Day
• Got to see Talya for a couple hours in the afternoon.
• We had salmon and spinach rice for dinner – twas delicious.
• Put together one of the models of the Family House set that Jenny and Leo got me. I then fell asleep on the floor. It’s been ages since I’ve fallen asleep on the floor by accident. I was roused from my nap when I heard my mom talking to someone about how I had fallen asleep on the floor at which point I moved to the couch and completed my nap.
• Then Veronica came over and we caught up a little and then watched the final 2 episodes of Dollhouse Season 1 with my family. Epitaph 1 is still incredible, even the third time through.
• After my family went to sleep Veronica and I sat around talking for several hours. We talked about Joss Wheedon and his many shows. Then I was telling her about some of my long term plans for NNN and said “surely you also have big elaborate plans in your head for a sweeping epic story.” And of course she does, and then I convinced her to walk me through the main arcs for the first 4 seasons or so. It was awesome. Now I just have to bug her to make something with it.
8) Sunday the 27th
• Adam came over after lunch and we spent the rest of the day together. It had been more than a year since we last saw each other and with him living in Sweden, the opportunities to see one another are few are far between. So that in itself was nice, but then we proceeded to awesome things.
• We put together the LEGO submarine my parents got for me . Then we promptly took it apart and built some alternative models. We each worked on a monster or two on our own and then we tried combining them and ended up trading parts and refining each other’s work until we ended up with these three creatures.
• Then Adam and I worked together to animate a scene for the Anti-Green commercial. It’s been a long time since I animated with anyone. It was nice to have someone to run ideas past and to have another set of hands that could focus on a character in a multi-character scene. (The scene has 3 cheerful children, 4 sneaky snakes, and 1 giggling goblicaun)
• Adam joined my family for dinner – we had leftovers galore.
• Then I introduced Adam to Super Mario Brothers Wii. I took him through levels from a few worlds to show off some of the various powers Then we played through world 7 which my brother and I warped past. We had a lot of fun helping and thwarting each other. Then we went back and found some missing star coins to unlock parts of world 9. Lots of fun.
• Then we called up Jeremy and went over to his dad’s house to hang out. We played a round of Fluxx and Grave Robbers from Outer Space and then we sat around talking for a couple hours. It was good to catch up; I hadn’t seen or spoken to Jeremy for two years. Nice to know he’s still doing well. His girlfriend is also 33 years old - so I was able to tell that to mom, since she keeps bringing up Bert’s age like it’s a problem. ;)
9) I flew back to Chicago Monday afternoon. Getting through check-in and security took as long as you’d expect, so I had barely sat down at the terminal when it was time to board the plane. It was nice getting home early in the evening. It gave me time to unpack and unwind and prepare for the week. I watched the penultimate disk of Angel Season 4 while eating dinner, unpacking, and building the main model of the Family House that Jenny and Leo got me. A nice relaxing evening.
10) I know what you’re thinking, “That’s strange, Dave did a whole update about going home and being with his family and he barely mentioned his nephew.” But I’ve saved the best for last. :) I already mentioned that we went sledding on Christmas Eve Day, and of course there was an obligatory session of Baby Baby Baby Sliiiiide, but there were also a whole new host of games we played. In between all the other things I listed I spent a good amount of my time with Isaiah:
• Running around the first floor with Isaiah while saying “Beep beep”
• Playing with the Little People “Main Street” set. In addition to rolling cars down the ramp and taking them through the “car wash,” we also took the babies (Baby with a hat and Baby with no hat) to get ice cream and to go grocery shopping. I could not convince him that the bank or the post office were worth visiting, maybe next time.
• After I had built the Family Home alternate model, I had had a bunch of pieces left over. Isaiah asked if he could help with the house. We built a red bathtub and then he decided it would be fun to drive his red car through the big pile of legos. So he would drive the car through (each time proclaiming “Red Car - Splaaaash!” and “That was the biggest splash ever!” and then we would put the pile back together and do it again. And then after the biggest splash of them all we worked together to find all the pieces and put them back in the box.
• Isaiah got two Bob the Builder DUPLO sets, which he was very excited about. So there were some good times playing with them.
• There were also several games of hide and seek, although Isaiah did not always get that the place you hide is supposed to be secret, instead proclaiming loudly where he wanted to hide next.
• Of course he proclaimed a lot of things through out the holiday. Such as “Merry Christmas Uncle Dave!” “Christmas Cookies!” (to which my brother would respond “Christmas Monkey?”) “Hello in there!” (to the pits of his olives) and “A-men!” (after hearing Dad say it at dinner.
• He was definitely into opening presents this year. Here’s a video of him helping Jenny open one and another one of him finding a very special present from his grandparents.
This it the hallway where most of the offices are. It has some chairs for sitting.
This is my desk. Look at the fancy track lighting.
I had more pictures, but they were all pretty barren/depressing. Once we're more fully moved in maybe I'll post some more.
2) OMGMYBFFJILL!!! “The Attic” (latest episode of Dollhouse) was so awesome. Echo and Dominic chase a killer through the minds of Victor and Sierra (and others) who are trapped in repeating nightmares. Secrets are revealed, and our heroes rally for the coming fight against Rossum. Only 3 more episodes to go I’m sure they will be action-packed.
3) On Tuesday Bert made me dinner again (salmon and couscous) and drove me home so I could finish packing before work the next day. He's so good to me :)
4) Got home with no major delays, despite the weather being bad in Chicago and tons of flights being cancelled. Somehow mine got through with only a short delay at the terminal and since I was on the plance already I slept through it so it was basically non-existent. Alright, now I’m going to recount the details of my trip home. Rather than have this list burgeon to 30 things I will list them as subpoints. I think I have things on the right days, it all blurs together a little. (A wonderful blur, of course.)
5) Christmas Eve
• Waking up after 10
• Sledding and playing in the snow with Jenny, Leo, Isaiah and Mom. I only have this video, but I'm sure Jenny and Mom have pictures they will share soon (hint hint). My favorite parts were racing down the hill vs. Leo and Jenny&Isaiah and when Mom went down and almost crashed into her trees.
• Good food - Asparagus soup (even if Stephanie hates it) - Brisket – Christmas Cookies
• Being together with the family
• The one gift I opened was Fluxx from Jenny and Leo. I previously played this with Robert, but the edition I got is slightly newer. It was still pretty crazy. Playing with 6 people, the rules could change entirely and back again in between your turns so we all learned not to try to keep track of them until it was our turn. It was a lot of fun.
• Then we watched a couple episodes of “How I Met your Mother” Season 1, which I had gotten for Jenny and Leo. Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious.
6) Christmas
• Got lots of awesome presents – 1st Season of 30 Rock, Wii Fit Plus, A Boy and His Blob (next game for Stephanie and I), Boom Blox Bash Party, a whole bunch of legos, battery powered speakers, the obligatory socks, a photo book of our trips to the shore, and this cool veggie peeler that comes from a whole line of kitchen utensils that look like people.
• Cinnamon rolls for breakfast
• Beat New Super Mario Brothers Wii with JP
• Had a delicious dinner with Turkey, Mashed Potato Casserole, Zucchini thing, Jenny and Leo’s cranberry sauce, sweet potato fries etc.
• After Isaiah was in bed we had pie and watched a couple episodes of Dollhouse.
• After the rest of my family was asleep, I headed down to the basement to my satellite studio and animating the first scene for the upcoming Anti-Orange commercial.
7) Boxing Day
• Got to see Talya for a couple hours in the afternoon.
• We had salmon and spinach rice for dinner – twas delicious.
• Put together one of the models of the Family House set that Jenny and Leo got me. I then fell asleep on the floor. It’s been ages since I’ve fallen asleep on the floor by accident. I was roused from my nap when I heard my mom talking to someone about how I had fallen asleep on the floor at which point I moved to the couch and completed my nap.
• Then Veronica came over and we caught up a little and then watched the final 2 episodes of Dollhouse Season 1 with my family. Epitaph 1 is still incredible, even the third time through.
• After my family went to sleep Veronica and I sat around talking for several hours. We talked about Joss Wheedon and his many shows. Then I was telling her about some of my long term plans for NNN and said “surely you also have big elaborate plans in your head for a sweeping epic story.” And of course she does, and then I convinced her to walk me through the main arcs for the first 4 seasons or so. It was awesome. Now I just have to bug her to make something with it.
8) Sunday the 27th
• Adam came over after lunch and we spent the rest of the day together. It had been more than a year since we last saw each other and with him living in Sweden, the opportunities to see one another are few are far between. So that in itself was nice, but then we proceeded to awesome things.
• We put together the LEGO submarine my parents got for me . Then we promptly took it apart and built some alternative models. We each worked on a monster or two on our own and then we tried combining them and ended up trading parts and refining each other’s work until we ended up with these three creatures.
• Then Adam and I worked together to animate a scene for the Anti-Green commercial. It’s been a long time since I animated with anyone. It was nice to have someone to run ideas past and to have another set of hands that could focus on a character in a multi-character scene. (The scene has 3 cheerful children, 4 sneaky snakes, and 1 giggling goblicaun)
• Adam joined my family for dinner – we had leftovers galore.
• Then I introduced Adam to Super Mario Brothers Wii. I took him through levels from a few worlds to show off some of the various powers Then we played through world 7 which my brother and I warped past. We had a lot of fun helping and thwarting each other. Then we went back and found some missing star coins to unlock parts of world 9. Lots of fun.
• Then we called up Jeremy and went over to his dad’s house to hang out. We played a round of Fluxx and Grave Robbers from Outer Space and then we sat around talking for a couple hours. It was good to catch up; I hadn’t seen or spoken to Jeremy for two years. Nice to know he’s still doing well. His girlfriend is also 33 years old - so I was able to tell that to mom, since she keeps bringing up Bert’s age like it’s a problem. ;)
9) I flew back to Chicago Monday afternoon. Getting through check-in and security took as long as you’d expect, so I had barely sat down at the terminal when it was time to board the plane. It was nice getting home early in the evening. It gave me time to unpack and unwind and prepare for the week. I watched the penultimate disk of Angel Season 4 while eating dinner, unpacking, and building the main model of the Family House that Jenny and Leo got me. A nice relaxing evening.
10) I know what you’re thinking, “That’s strange, Dave did a whole update about going home and being with his family and he barely mentioned his nephew.” But I’ve saved the best for last. :) I already mentioned that we went sledding on Christmas Eve Day, and of course there was an obligatory session of Baby Baby Baby Sliiiiide, but there were also a whole new host of games we played. In between all the other things I listed I spent a good amount of my time with Isaiah:
• Running around the first floor with Isaiah while saying “Beep beep”
• Playing with the Little People “Main Street” set. In addition to rolling cars down the ramp and taking them through the “car wash,” we also took the babies (Baby with a hat and Baby with no hat) to get ice cream and to go grocery shopping. I could not convince him that the bank or the post office were worth visiting, maybe next time.
• After I had built the Family Home alternate model, I had had a bunch of pieces left over. Isaiah asked if he could help with the house. We built a red bathtub and then he decided it would be fun to drive his red car through the big pile of legos. So he would drive the car through (each time proclaiming “Red Car - Splaaaash!” and “That was the biggest splash ever!” and then we would put the pile back together and do it again. And then after the biggest splash of them all we worked together to find all the pieces and put them back in the box.
• Isaiah got two Bob the Builder DUPLO sets, which he was very excited about. So there were some good times playing with them.
• There were also several games of hide and seek, although Isaiah did not always get that the place you hide is supposed to be secret, instead proclaiming loudly where he wanted to hide next.
• Of course he proclaimed a lot of things through out the holiday. Such as “Merry Christmas Uncle Dave!” “Christmas Cookies!” (to which my brother would respond “Christmas Monkey?”) “Hello in there!” (to the pits of his olives) and “A-men!” (after hearing Dad say it at dinner.
• He was definitely into opening presents this year. Here’s a video of him helping Jenny open one and another one of him finding a very special present from his grandparents.
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