Category Archives: project 365 2010

August 5, 2010 · 6:00 pm

Project 365 8-4-2010 Business Lunch Shows Me Art

You know what I got to eat today for lunch?

A lobster Cobb salad.

You know why I had a lobster Cobb salad?

Because my meeting was in Bel Air and in Bel Air you are either the Fresh Prince or you eat a Cobb salad with a sea spider in it. 

It is one of the benefits of my job that I get to do things like this.  Sure it’s frustrating, it’s nearly impossible to get anything financed and occasionally you run into some of the most UN-scrupulous people the world can offer, but a nice lunch with like minded individuals can make it all worth it.  Two of the finance guys that I met with today got their start as physicists – I had a meeting with rocket scientists who ended up in finance.  Apparently it’s not uncommon since it is easy for rocket scientists to do complicated math in their heads.  It was facinating.  We had an enlightening conversation about distribution and some new ideas about where to get financing for my projects (which was nice) and as we sat there I was in the correct seat to see this piece of art:

That fluffy thing is a dog and, yes, they are sharing a noodle.  Very Lady and the Tramp in a species co-mingling kind of way.  I saw this painting and first thought, “this has probably happened in this restaurant.”  My second thought was, “we are only a million dollars away from Rene and Frankie doing the same thing.”

Maybe not even a million dollars, might just be ten bucks.

Or a saw buck.

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under business, Frankie, musings, project 365 2010, rene

August 4, 2010 · 6:00 pm

Project 365 8-3-2010 My Dad Got an iPad

My dad got an iPad today.  My first reaction was that this made my dad more “cutting edge” than I am until we realized that his computer is too old for iTunes to work on so they needed my help to activate it and use it.

He has already started buying apps and he cannot wait to go out and get a bitchin’ cover/case for it.

He had the excited look on his face that is usually reserved for 6 year-olds on Christmas morning.  That was a pretty neat thing to see.  Growing up I have seen lots of people my age and younger really excited about gifts that really touch them.  Things like that stick with you.  I remember when I had ear surgery when I was a kid and I was stuck in-doors for about six weeks (I think); my mom bought me a metric ass-ton of G.I. Joe figures so I would have cool toys to play with as I healed.  I’ve never forgotten that first moment when I looked in the grocery bag and saw blister card upon blister card upon blister card of Joes all ready to battle Cobra.  But my parents always seemed to get their satisfaction out of seeing my sister and I happy, this was the first time that I saw him get something that 1) he had no idea he was getting and 2) it was something he REALLY wanted.  It made me excited for him!

Dad’s going to get a lot of use out of it pretty fast, he has business trips coming up over the rest of the year.  We’re figuring out how to get books and movies from iTunes and other online retailers and, really, he just likes tapping on it.  I was really impressed with the interface, I can see why these things are so popular.

Naturally the iPad is today’s picture:

Sorry it’s blurry, I wanted to get the screen and when it had the flash on it didn’t come out.

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under musings, parents, project 365 2010, technology

August 3, 2010 · 6:00 pm

Project 365 8-2-2010 Delays, Excuses, Etc.

There was a four day delay on the blog posts, sorry about that.  This is turning into a bad habit.  This time there was a better reason than usual, Rene is going through an ISP switch and so we didn’t have internet all weekend except via phone.

Honestly I’m also really starting to feel the crunch time wise. Looking for funding, planning a wedding, teaching and trying to get the acting career moving again all take time and there are only twenty-four hours each day.  I was up at 5:30 this morning and very active and still couldn’t accomplish as much as I wanted.

I am, however, really liking my new “To Do List for the week” thing that I’m doing!  It’s keeping me on task and gives me a good idea for how things are shaping up.  I just wish it wouldn’t fill up so quickly!

Here’s today’s pic:

This is the skin of a dog toy that was mauled and gutted.  I think it might make a fine pair of slippers.

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under acting, business, project 365 2010, rant, the wedding

· 3:50 pm

Project 365 8-1-2010 New Phone!

Today was a little bit of crazy and I don’t want to jinx it so I’m just going to tackle one topic – I got a new phone!  And so did my mom, in fact it’s the reason I got my new phone.  See, she left her phone – which was my old phone from about five years back – in Indiana where she was visiting family.  When she came home she told me she wanted a new phone that had a real keypad so that she could text.

Yes, my mother is now a texter.

The nice thing is that I keep my phones forever sh she was already due for an upgrade and it turns out I was too!

My mom ended up getting an LG with a slide keypad that has a name I forgot and she was as happy as a fourteen year old girl at a Twilight screening.

I got the new Blackberry Bold!  I’ve been patiently waiting for this phone.  It’s sleek, smaller than my old Blackberry, has better software and the user interface, while technically the same, is easier for me to navigate.  Also it has the new optical track pad instead of the often troublesome track ball.

Oh, and I entered the 21st century and have a camera on this phone!  Rene, Dean and anyone else who ever noticed that my phone didn’t have a camera have been mildly hassling me to get one and now I do!  This is the first picture I took:

Isn’t he cute?!?!?!?!?!?!?

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under musings, project 365 2010

· 3:39 pm

Project 365 7-31-2010 The Hosting Again!

Different kind of hosting today.  I had to run the introductory seminar for the school I work at today because the owner was out of town.  It’s about 30-45 minutes of trying to explain the entertainment industry to a bunch of people who, for the most part, don’t really know much about it and then auditioning kids.

It’s enough to sap your strength.

The people are fine, and in some cases we see some GREAT, talented kids, but seeing that many people in a row is exhausting.  I can’t even imagine how the American Idol pre-screeening panel does it.

Here’s me doing the presentation:

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under project 365 2010, teaching

· 3:21 pm

Project 365 7-30-2010 The Hosting

I hosted a corporate event today at The Grove Theater in Anaheim.  Hosting is one of the many things that I do that I really enjoy doing.  It doesn’t take up a whole day, the people are usually in a good mood and my job is usually just to make the day more fun!  Who wouldn’t want to do that?

I’m having a really hard time coming up with anything else to write right now.  There are so many things that I really should be doing that I’m going to jump right to the picture:

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under business, project 365 2010

July 30, 2010 · 6:00 pm

Project 365 7-29-2010 Es. Pee. Eff.

So you guys saw the post I made several days ago about getting to go to the pool with my sister and her kids, right?  How I was only there for an hour?  Well I got a sunburn!  Seriously, look:

Those are my shoulders and I was wearing 50 SPF sunblock.

IT WAS 50 SPF!!!!!!

Do I need to just paint my body to keep from getting burned?!

I can deal with being pasty white, it isn’t a problem for me.  I understand that my body does not tan – never has.  In the best circumstances I turn a darker shade of pale and in the vainer years of my twenties I even used self-tanner to get that all-over candy corn glow, but the point is I know that my skin hates direct, long term sun exposure and so I take precautions.   I’ve done it since I was a small child and watched as the SPF numbers have grown, but 50 is about as high as you can get without applying opaque paste and even that couldn’t stop my shoulders from doing their best lobster impression!

I’m just thankful that it doesn’t hurt.  My shoulders are a little itchy and I have to be gentle with them in the shower, but no actual pain.

Crap, I hate to think of what they’d be like if I hadn’t been wearing anything at all.

So, all you pasty people out there like me – BE CAREFUL!!!  The sun has increased its offensive capabilities and is out to burn us, one pale bastard at a time.

Ooooh!  My mom said that Bullfrog makes a 90 SPF.  Maybe it’s time to get some of that!

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under pale, project 365 2010, rant, summer

July 29, 2010 · 7:28 pm

Project 365 7-28-2010 House Sitting Dogs

I’ve been house sitting for my parents.  I haven’t mentioned it until now, with the small exception a couple days ago, because I, and I freely admit to this, sometimes bend the truth online about where I am so I don’t end up coming home to a robbed house that the robbers knew was empty due to my Twitter feed or blog post.  That’s one of the drawbacks to a know-everything-all-the-time world, people tend to know everything that you care to tell them all the time!

Back on point, my parents have two dogs that require watching when they are away: Abby the 5000 pound bulldog and Pete the 7 oz. ferocious chihuahua.

OK, Abby doesn’t weigh 5000 pounds, but she’s a big girl.  Probably fatter than she should be, and Pete actually weighs somewhere closer to 7 pounds, but he does have Napoleon syndrome and barks viciously at anyone or thing that gets close – until I walk up to him with a stern look where he then cowers and lays down.  Even with these physical/personality traits the dogs are pretty easy to watch.

  • 2 walks daily, morning and night.
  • Fed twice, morning and night.
  • Play with them (optional, they tend to sleep most of the day even if I actively try to play)

My favorite part is the walking!  My dad likes to walk them separately, but I prefer walking them together.  Abby is a lazy bitch (Get it? Cuz she’s a female dog!) and will usually only stand if you try to walk her by herself – but when Pete is around these two zoom through the neighborhood like Barry Allen and Wally West!  Well, at least until Pete decides to pee on something:

Yep, that just happened.

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under pets, project 365 2010

July 28, 2010 · 6:00 pm

Project 365 7-27-2010 Holy Crap! July is almost over!

Where the hell did the summer go?  I know that in the past I’ve been inclined to talk about how fast time seems to pass, but this summer has truly gone by in a relative flash and it’s blowing my mind!  The last two days have not had enough hours on the day to do what I’ve wanted to do.  My to do list for the week just keeps getting longer and in spite of my best efforts it’s not shrinking fast enough.  It doesn’t help that I have four different bureaucracies on the list that I’m hesitant to call just because I know that each with take about an hour and the conversation will be amazingly dull.

Ah!  I just discovered that two of the four can be taken care of with forms.  Forms I can do!  Forms come with instructions and can be done after business hours!  After business hours is good for me.

I really want to write more but I’m exhausted.  I’ll finish with today’s picture:

That’s nephew Dylan in the pool.  I was able to go to the pool for an hour today with my sister and her kids and when we got there I realized that this was the first summer water activity that I had actually had all summer!  Crazy!

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under business, family, project 365 2010

July 27, 2010 · 6:00 pm

Project 365 7-26-2010 Where productivity meets stagnation?

Today was a very productive day.  We figured out details for the wedding venue, I was able to construct the “to do” list for this week, Rene and I were pointed to a way to save $695 on our wedding, I was able to find some new funding options for CMD!, I did laundry and I was even able to squeeze in a workout!  Sounds like a good day, right?  Yet I’m sitting here looking at the “to do” list and it is remarkably not checked!  I went from feeling accomplished to feeling like I didn’t do enough!

That’s the funny thing about me and lists.  When I make them it is usually to remind me to do things or buy things and when I do it’s because I know I have a limited time to finish it.  It also usually means that there are other things that are getting done taking the place of what is on the list.  I think I was a victim of “working off list” today. 

Oh, totally forgot, I also went grocery shopping:

Don’t mind the wine.  I’m house sitting for my parents.  These things may have been off list, but they were definitely important and the fact that I’ll have underwear tomorrow is all the proof I need that the day wasn’t wasted.

See you tomorrow! 

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Filed under day in the life, musings, project 365 2010