first week of school and some shuffle action

okay, i'm going to try to keep up this friday shuffle thing, if for no other reason than to keep stock of exactly what is in my itunes library.

another random sampling:

1. "Dance Away" - Roxy Music
2. "Please Forgive Me" (live) - David Gray
3. "Stakes Is High" - De La Soul
4. "'Til I Whisper U Something" - Sinead O'Connor
5. "Let's Spend The Night Together" - Rolling Stones
6. "Ziggy Stardust" - David Bowie
7. "Pride (In The Name of Love)" - U2
8. "From The Ritz To The Rubble" - Arctic Monkeys
9. "Angel of Harlem" - U2
10. "Talk Show Host" - Radiohead

so i started the fall semester on monday. here is a wrap-up of my week:

monday -
monday is my film production class and it's an all day affair. we have lecture in the morning from 9:00 to 12:00 and then hands-on activities with 16 mm cameras in the afternoon from 1:00 to 4:00. so, i start off the first day of class by arriving late and sweaty. normally i am a very punctual person so this was not a great first impression. after the instructor barked at me for being late he told me that had i been one minute later he would have dropped me from the class. shit! granted, i was running late, but then i got lost in the building. you'd think i was brand new to the campus. but no, i've been there for a year now. then, without going into too much detail, i made a further spectacle of myself by stating that i had seen a certain director's films (which i legitimately have) and proceeded to name a film she did not direct in the least bit. i am an idiot.

tuesday -
tuesday is my criminal justice class, aka "race, crime and justice." nice light subject, eh? i'd thought about minoring in cj because of the potential connection to documentary filmmaking. i decided against it because i would have to be in school for at least another year. anyway, class started out fine. then, the professor announces an "introduction exercise." great. so, all the students (all 60 of us) get up and form a huge circle. the professor then explains that each person (one at a time) will say his/her name, something they like to do while acting it out. wait, it gets worse. the next person in the circle then has to repeat the previous person's name and activity while acting it out. nightmare. the game started with the person to the left of the professor while i was on the professor's immediate right. yep, i was the very last person in the circle. what maniac came up with this activity? what are we, 5? but, the gods must have been smiling down on me because the damn activity took so long that i didn't have to do it. phew.

wednesday -
wednesday is my "science fiction" film class with one of my favorite professors. we watched fritz lang's "metropolis." but, and this is a big but, it was not the standard b&w version. we watched a restored version made in the 80's accompanied by music by pat benatar, freddie mercury, loverboy, bonnie tyler and many other fabulous musical talents from the 80's. not only was the music modernized, but the film was colorized in wacky 80's pastel colors. i have actually never seen the standard b&w version, but figure i'll always have a chance to see that one. this fabulously 80's version is apparently hard to come by. i felt like i was 10 again.

thursday -
thursday is my "film waves and movements" class and while the class will be extremely interesting, the classroom is not made for viewing films as the chairs are mega uncomfortable. i managed to get a seat in the front of the classroom anticipating a film viewing. just my luck, one of the tallest guys in the class decides to sit right in front of me. what? i mean, come on! if you know you're tall, why would you sit in the very front of the class. we watched luchino visconti's "ossessione" and i spent the majority of the film moving from left to right and up and down around this guy's head trying to read the subtitles. fat head! this must have been my karmic destiny as i was able to narrowly avoid the "name game" in my criminal justice class. oh well.

friday -
friday is my film history 1 class. today was pretty uneventful. the only thing worthy of writing about is that my friend and i spied some guy picking his nose in class. he was fully sticking his finger up his nose and then rolling "something" around in his fingers. yuck! i thought we all outgrew that in kindergarten. along with eating paste.

peace out.

self portrait tuesday

cloaked in a field of flowers.

friday shuffle

so, i totally ganked this friday shuffle thing from michelle at weaker vessel. of course this theft is unbeknownst to michelle as she has no idea who i am. but i came across her own version of the shuffle and fell in love with the idea. peering into someone else's, not to mention your own, musical library to see what rears its ugly (or embarrassing or comical) head is just plain fun. here goes my first attempt at exposing a portion of my musical library for all to see:

"Build That Wall" - Aimee Mann
"Live With Me (Live)" - Rolling Stones
"Hands Open" - Snow Patrol
"All Those Expectations (Weak Remix)" - Peter Bjorn & John
"Motion Picture Soundtrack" - Christopher O'Riley
"Pagan Poetry" - Bjork
"Simple Kind of Life" - No Doubt
"Silent" - Bow Wow
"Sucker Punch" - Fujiya & Miyagi
"Nightblindness" - David Gray

i know there is no "editing" for coolness sake and believe me, none of that happened here. but, i do feel like i need to explain a couple of things: 1) i share the itunes library with my husband 2) i also share the library with my 10 and 7 year old stepsons. both of these facts explain the bow wow song as well as the live rolling stones song. don't get me wrong, i dig the rolling stones, but i would not be as well-versed in their rarities and live versions if it weren't for my wonderful husband. bow wow i could live without. 'nuff said.

peace out.

i love my mom

yesterday my mom and i spent the most relaxing, indulgent, pamperific day together. we decided we needed some mother/daughter bonding time. what better way to do that than get massages at a swanky spa in sonoma?

i actually have never been a huge fan of massages. i've had massages maybe a handful of times in my life. if that. massages are supposed to relieve you of stress and tension, right? but each time i got one i found myself tensing up as the masseuse attempted to massage out all of the stress and tension i carry in my neck, shoulders and back. needless to say, i pretty much avoided massages even though they always sounded so fabulous.

this time was no different. i wanted to go to the spa with my mom, but i figured i would get a luxury manicure/pedicure. in the end, i caved and opted for the aromatherapy massage. i figured i would suck it up and take one for the team.

it is a new day my friends! i walked out of the massage room in such a splendiferous haze. my mom insisted she felt like mashed potatoes. what made all the difference was the fact that the spa we visited offers a "bathing ritual" and this ritual is the most relaxing and soothing experience EVER. it completely loosened me up so that i could fully enjoy and reap the benefits of the massage.

the bathing ritual is a six-step process consisting of:

1. showering off and using a wonderfully scented exfoliating scrub
2. immersing yourself in a pool of body-temperature water
3. immersing yourself in a 102 degree spa with jets
4. herbal steam bath
5. sauna
6. cooling off shower

we also had access to the spa's outdoor mineral pools and the water temperature was just right (not too hot not too cold). i could have stayed in that pool all day. floating. i wish i had a mineral pool in my house.

yesterday was the most wonderful and relaxing day i have spent with my mom in a long time. my mom and i are close, but it's rare (especially now that i'm married and have a family) that we get a chance to spend quality time alone together. we vowed to make a point to spend more mom/daughter time together.

as i get older i learn to appreciate my mom more and more. on an adult level. she will always be my mom, but i've begun to understand that she is an individual and not just a mom. i used to think my mom knew everything and if she did or said something wrong it was a huge blow for me. what i've come to realize is that as i was growing up she was figuring stuff out along the way too. she was learning how to be a mom and how to balance that with being an individual. being a parent is hard, but my mom did a great job.

self portrait tuesday

fun with stripes and mirrors...

back-to-school

i have to admit, i did love the whole back-to-school shopping thing when i was young, but somehow i feel like it's become another diabolical way to convince parents they need to shop shop shop and buy buy buy. okay, so consumerism has co-opted christmas, but back-to-school? what's next? and, who came up with this whole back-to-school-shopping gimmick anyway? yes, i fell prey to it way back when, but does the next generation have to as well? my point is that kids these days (oh god, i can't believe i just said that), expect so much out of every single holiday and "event" like back-to-school that we will never be able to live up to the grand illusion. where will it end? in a few years will we be pressured into buying cell phones for our infants? because, come on folks, when babies need to be fed they don't want to have to rely on the old fashioned method of crying. they'll want to to dial her up using "my faves" and get some milk. pronto. no fuss no muss.

on another back-to-school note...i can tell the kids are getting anxious about school starting and summer ending by the way they've been pushing to do every fun thing imaginable this weekend. we've already gone back-to-school shopping (yes, i know, hypocrite), frolicked at the beach, swam in our neighbor's pool, explored the candy shop (but not in the fifty-cent sense), hung out with the cousins, and the kids even camped out in their tree fort.

what more could a small being ask for in a last summer weekend before school starts?

i totally remember getting the blues about school starting and feeling like my parents did not, i repeat, did not understand. they always tried to convince me that i would be happy to see all of my friends and i absolutely did not buy this line of bullshit. in actuality it took but a few days to get back in the swing of things and ultimately, i was really glad to see all of my friends at school again. now here i am, a stepmom, giving this very same advice to the kids and i can tell they don't buy a word of it. so, what i've realized is that they need to experience the back-to-school ups and downs just as we all did and that parents can't protect their kids from life (duh). they will be better people for it.

the opposite of summertime blues

this is weird. having an actual summer vacation. no job. no school. no nothin'. i haven't been in this position since junior high. it feels both right and wrong. i find myself wandering aimlessly around the house overwhelmed by this new-found freedom. granted, i did take a summer course back in june/july, which was pretty intense (4 month course packed into 5 weeks/4 days a week), but after that i've been on pure vacay. i know i'm an adult when i actually look forward to going back to school.

there are a million and one things i could do, but somehow i always find a way to avoid doing them: "i don't have enough time" or "i don't have the right (fill in the blank)." maybe the real reason i don't dive in is fear of failure...or sheer laziness.

here is a sampling of the things i could do but have yet to:

1. organize and label abundance of digital photos in photo library
2. put said photos into albums
3. clear the clutter (boy, is there clutter to clear...)
4. stain windows
5. something creative
6. watch the plethora of films i've lined up on netflix and greencine
7. spend time with people i haven't seen in a long while
8. create playlists for tasks 1 through 5

actually, i got my shit together and started #4 -- staining one of the windows in the living/dining room. so proud of myself. however, the day is going by faster than usual and i don't think i like it. to reward myself, i'm having drinks with an old friend this evening. look at that, combining #7 and cocktails! wow, all of a sudden i'm a multitasker.

self portrait tuesday

toe 2 toe.

project day 2 and a half

project day one went off without a hitch. we taped off windows, filled tiny nail holes, sanded like nobody's business and stained...one window. project day two, not so much. it didn't help that mj (aka the hubby) and i were neck deep in an argument that actually dates back several months. i love arguments that have staying power. so, we spent the day apart, he upstairs and i downstairs (i'm so glad we actually have an up and a downstairs for moments like these). however, mj did manage to eke out the staining of one window in our bedroom.

we eventually made up, got burgers from in-n-out and watched flight of the conchords together. all was well by midnight.

having said all of that, i am now in charge of staining the second window in our bedroom.


i've gone to the hardware store and procured all of the necessary supplies (more blue tape, staining cloths, steel wool pads and coffee).


i am ready to go. i am a one-woman-staining-machine. now, i just need to step away from the laptop and get busy.

peace out.

project day

today is project day. as in staining the new windows we got back in april. fun, right? the hubby's in the back sanding his little heart out while i sit and stew waiting to get my first coffee of the day. you'd think it was six in the morning, but no, it's 11:42 in the am. i love sleep.

well, off to get that wonderful (large) cup of goodness.

taking the leap

so, i've decided to dive into this here blog thing. i've been a bit of a lurker these past few months, and have finally mustered up the courage to put myself "out there." i'll be fine tuning my blog over the next couple of weeks before school starts and i hope to become a master of my own domain. he he he.

i'm giving a go of it...