shabby + geek.

So I started a new job this week! And because I’m a nerd...

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 14:22:48 -0500

So I started a new job this week! And because I’m a nerd who likes to take pictures (albeit blurry ones), I decided to take a picture of my outfit each day. I had to completely rework my new wardrobe (we’re business casual at the new place), so my closet has definitely acquired a few new pieces to help me transition.

I do like dressing fancy, but I’m still VERY thankful we at least have casual Fridays. ;)

I had so much fun today helping my friend K at the elementary...

Wed, 09 May 2012 22:06:31 -0500

I had so much fun today helping my friend K at the elementary school where she teaches. Today’s job was watching 76 talent show audition acts, ranging in grades K - 5, in order to place any of them in one of the coveted Actual Talent Show acts. It was hilariously entertaining, and I don’t even mean that in any degrading way at all. These kids were a hoot. I could’ve watched 76 more acts and would’ve been perfectly content.

I’m never hip to recent-ish music, (especially kid music) so I’ve shared my absolute favorite act’s song via the video above. Two sassy girls hip hopped, sang, and snapped their fingers to the tune of this little gem, and it will forever bring a smile to my face.

Notable quotes of the day include:

A boy swung around nunchucks for two minutes at his actor foe, missing purposefully to display his skill. When it was his actor-partner’s turn to spar, the boy started backing up immediately, saying, “Make sure you don’t hit me. I’m really freaked out.”

A girl sang Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” a capella, then stopped after thirty seconds, saying, “Um. I don’t know the rest.”

A boy randomly beat on a drum repeatedly in the same pattern. After a whole minute of listening to this, he bowed and said, “And that beat…I made up all by MYSELF.”

Seriously. Kids can be so great. However, if I never hear another Adele, Taio Cruz, Taylor Swift or Bruno Mars song ever again, my ears will rejoice.

"Think back to when you were a child. You explored the world, which was new to you and full of..."

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:52:00 -0500

“

Think back to when you were a child. You explored the world, which was new to you and full of wonders, with insatiable curiosity. You learned at a rapid pace. You embraced new ideas, knowledge and people. You asked questions. You loved life with your open, curious beginner’s mind. You were creative, enjoyed wild ideas, and indulged your imagination and fantasy. As a child, you were close to your genius.

Questions: How open, curious, and creative were you as a young child? How open, curious, and creative are you now?

”

- Pulled from Judgement: The enemy of creativity

"…I can always tell when a story is alive for me - because it literally claws its way through..."

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:14:26 -0600

““…I can always tell when a story is alive for me - because it literally claws its way through my guts and brains, consuming all other thoughts until I let it out in one furious burst. Invariably, when I get that feeling, I know I’ve uncovered a story I can tell the hell out of. I Kill Giants was exactly that kind of story.””

- Joe Kelly

Author, I Kill Giants

New York, 2008

This song just makes me want to get up and dance. Hurry up,...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:30:17 -0600

This song just makes me want to get up and dance.

Hurry up, April!

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens..."

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:30:05 -0600

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”

- MLK Jr. (via documentedhere)

my haiti trip: the brain-dump.

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:30:51 -0600

I’ve been sitting on this post for quite some time. I’ve actually been sitting on it since the last time I posted on my tumblr, which is right below.

When I returned home from Haiti, everyone asked me how my trip was. And I gave everyone the same answer before hesitating to dive into explanation: “It was good. But it was hard.”

I went to Haiti for work. It was actually an unplanned trip. One Monday in November, I was helping tie up loose ends on a project where one of our california DPs and my colleague (another DP) would fly out later that week, and the next thing I know, the CA DP has completely dropped out of shooting and has abandoned the project. I remember my boss not offering up many solutions, and I remember stepping in and saying I would go. And 4 days later, I went.

To Haiti.

I was gone for a total of 10 days in Haiti, shooting for 9 of them. It was for TV project, a children’s episodic where each ep would total out anywhere from 20-30 minutes of edited footage. For those of you who don’t know a lick about shooting, that’s a lot of shooting for 9 days. In a foreign country. Where you don’t speak the language. So on a professional level, it was tough.

On a professional level, I have my own standards. I like to schedule based on my surroundings, comfort level. I plan according to traffic and location and budget and time. I plan according to my knowledge of talent. I go on scouts when I can. I plan the mess out of shoots in the US as best as I know how, and I still fall short sometimes. But I can tell you this — I thought I knew what “flying by the seat of my pants” in the US was — but it wasn’t fully realized until I worked in Haiti.

The kids (hosts and otherwise) we worked with were wonderful. There were only one or two who spoke English (we had 4 hosts but probably worked with anywhere from 50-100 kids over the 9 days), but we quickly realized how easy it was to direct, even when you don’t speak each other’s language. Never underestimate the power of an encouraging smile and flailing of your arms.

My colleague, Dero, was fantastic. I couldn’t think of anyone else better to travel overseas and work with other than Hubs (who also works in production.) He knew how to roll with the punches, troubleshoot, refocus, and knew how to be creative and energetic when he was running on only a little sleep. While I was scratching at my 17 mosquito bites (I was messed up externally the whole time), he was working through being sick (he was messed up internally). We were a great balance. It could’ve been bad — I could’ve been stuck with someone who refused to eat certain foods, whined, complained, or was picky about everything, but I wasn’t. If he was tired, he didn’t gripe about it. He just put his head down and did good work. And none of it went unnoticed.

So I’m at the point in the post where I should probably tell you about how this trip affected me personally. When I said Haiti was hard earlier, it was hard on me spiritually, psychologically, emotionally. When I stepped off the plane and we made our way to our car and drove to our lodging I remember looking around and wondering where the millions, billions of dollars that were poured into this country went. I didn’t understand why there was still crumbles of building everywhere. Why there were hundreds of people standing in the street, people sitting on the street corners supposedly not doing anything. Why there weren’t street lights. And why there was trash. Everywhere.

I didn’t understand a lot of things. And in my prior post I mentioned a woman trying to sell her baby. That was the hardest. And I saw some other gruesome things I won’t mention here, but if you know me well enough you can ask me next time we talk. I didn’t understand how I as another human being could consider the most trivial things actual problems in my life. I thought back to the things I complained the most about back home. I thought about what I thought was hard. And when you see half (and fully) naked babies running around in dirty street water with trash around their ankles, you kind of want to punch yourself in the stomach.

When I got home, I felt like I needed to go to therapy. A huge part of me was just angry — at myself, at America, at my job. I felt inadequate and selfish. It made me rethink what had value in my life. I’m a pretty well-rounded person, I didn’t grow up spoiled and was raised to be independent but not without humility. I’ve lived in different places, love all kinds of people and I’m not extravagant or flashy. I was forced to re-examine what I felt my purposes were versus what God’s purpose was for me. And a lot of it I still don’t know. I was actually glad I had the slowest internet speed while I was over there. The few times I logged on to any kind of social networking platform made me want to scream and throw things. For every complaint about a headache. For every moan about some book someone was jealous about. For every person who talked about the Prettiest/Shiniest New Thing and Best Movie and Most Awesome Band in the world. I wanted to throw up my hands and yell at the world, “WHO. CARES. NONE OF THIS EVEN MATTERS.”

I had a long conversation with Dero about this that put a few things into perspective. Sure, while my biggest concerns in Haiti were not catching malaria and cholera (y’all there were signs everywhere for this) a lot of the concerns Haitian folks have are different because, well, it’s what they grew up with. And I had to come to terms with the fact that it’s culturally the same for everyone. For the folks who gripe about traffic jams in California, it’s okay, because that’s what they know. It’s life. You’re concerned with what you know and what you’re used to. The radical difference between both worlds kept slapping me in the face and at the time it was just too difficult for me to grasp without feeling frustration. I had to bite my tongue and try my hardest not to write “Try living in Haiti” for every single (what I deemed) minuscule and worthless problem I saw someone complaining about.

My biggest regret about the trip was not being able to actually enjoy the country as much as I’d liked to. There was no exploring food. There was no exploring shops (although there weren’t many in PAP). I would’ve liked to actually do some work other than what I was hired to do, because the people there are just awesome. (I won’t speak for their politicians and the company they keep.) It’s not the kind of place where you can just go on walks and take tours, but it would’ve been nice to get to the coast. I would’ve liked to just enjoy the people more, but work days were long and I’d come back to our place and have to log and capture and organize footage into the night. Another great thing was the lack of humidity. Sure, it was hot a few days, but it only sprinkled once, which was awesome because it’s not like we had any time for makeup days.

There are still a lot of things on my mind about this trip. A lot of specifics that will continue to worm their way into my brain and heart that may or may not resurface here on the blog some day.

And yet…if the show picks up a second season (I really hope it does), I’ll be the first one volunteering to go back. But I’m definitely going to have to learn more French before I do.

Haiti, November 2011. I was standing in the center of a...

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:02:54 -0600

Haiti, November 2011.

I was standing in the center of a once-beautiful cathedral, looking at only one portion of it, its roof completely gone.

A few moments later, a woman with sad eyes came up to me, holding her naked, sleeping child. And was trying to sell her.

Photo

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:08:39 -0500

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken...."

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:47:36 -0500

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

- C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

"Now you remember this - when I go you can burn me up in the incinerator out the backyard and then..."

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 17:41:30 -0500

““Now you remember this - when I go you can burn me up in the incinerator out the backyard and then bung me ashes in the garbage bin. Green one if yer like, so I get recycled.””

- Reggie, from A Straight Line To My Heart

Friendship isn’t necessarily constrained by the internet....

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:15:00 -0500

Friendship isn’t necessarily constrained by the internet. On the contrary, the internet can be a gateway to special friendships. Happy birthday to one of my most special friends, Ginger.

I traveled to Houston to meet her earlier this ear, and I have a pretty good feeling we’re going to be lifelong friends.

Here’s to you and your big 3-0, Sweets. Keep it YA at heart forever. <3

happy mother's day

Sun, 08 May 2011 16:08:09 -0500

I’m thinking of several people today.

My own mother, who’s currently separated from me by an entire Pacific Ocean
My sister, who’s separated from her son by a Pacific Ocean
Both grandmothers on my dad and mom’s side
Those who have lost and mourn the loss of their mothers
Those who are new mothers
Those whose mothers have abandoned them
Women who play the role of mother figure
Those who are currently pregnant and will be holding their babies very soon
Dads who have to play the role of mom and dad in their children’s lives
Those who eagerly yearn to be mothers and are having trouble conceiving

These are who I’m burdened for and think of specifically today. Because mothers (and mother figures) are so important to all of us. Happy mothers day.

future-pooping.

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:53:00 -0600

Hubs has gotten used to my blogging hobby, but, like most things I enjoy, it comes with a price. A price of getting made fun of.

Several weeks ago, this conversation transpired between me & Hubs…

Me (sitting on the couch and working on my laptop): “I’m working on my blog.”

Hubs: “So you’re blogging?”

Me: “Well, yes. For the future. I’m trying to write a few posts now so I don’t have to do them later. I won’t have time later. Y’know. Like posting for the future. Future-posting.”

Hubs, confused: “Did you say pooping?”

Me: “No. POST.”

Hubs: “It sounded like you said ‘poop.’ So you’re future-pooping?”

Me: *eye-roll*

Just yesterday, a similar conversation…

Hubs comes up the stairs into the living room. He knows I’ve been writing for a few hours. He stops at the top of the stairs and looks at me, wrinkling his face.

Hubs: “Eww. It smells like someone’s been pooping in here.”

Me: *laughter*

He walks closer and sits next to me. He sniffs. “It’s you, isn’t it. You smell like poop.”

Me: Another *eye-roll*

It’s a nice little inside joke we used to have. But I wanted to share it with you, too. =)

thank you, YA blogger friends.

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:27:00 -0600

(This one’s kind of a long one, sorry)

I’ve been meaning to do this for approximately 20 #FFs, but never got around to it. Now that I’ve actually got a few breathing moments to do another personal post, I figured now’s as good a time as any.

Oh, and hey look, it happens to coincide with Christmas Eve. ;)

This year has been an interesting year in the world of blogging. A little history, if I may. I started blogging back in 2004 when I was still in college (if you’re interested, my ramblings on Xanga are still kicking around on the internet). I then moved over to Blogger, thinking I’d post more if I had more flexibility in my blog layout. Heh, I was wrong. Then I landed here, on tumblr.

And then I started my little YA cover design blog, That Cover Girl. And then my blogging world kind of exploded, and in a good way.

I’ve always read blogs, whether they were personal, tech-related, media-related, news-related. I’ll read anything I find interesting on the web, and blog posts draw me in like a moth to a flame, especially if you add in doses of your own personality and humor. But the YA blogging world is an interesting one. Mostly populated by teenagers and women ranging in ages young to “awesomer,” you’ll find a variety of thought processes and opinions all across this spectrum of avid fans of YA writing. It’s a breath of fresh air, this little community.

This post is dedicated to both two different camps of folks in this realm — the newbie bloggers who enrolled unknowingly into this rather-close-knit little Class of 2010, and the veterans who’ve helped me shaped my opinions about YA and blogging along the way. (Links will lead you to their blogs, not their Twitter user page)

@GReadsBooks, also lovingly known as “G.” She was one of those Twitter users who I’d never heard of before until a mutual Twitter friend (@CrookedCarla) blasted out a tweet saying I should head over to G’s new YA blog. So I did. I discovered shortly after that we had a lot of things in common, freakishly so. Our love of sweet things, sisters and Christmas cards and our foray into the YA realm via Twilight bonds us in some sort of weird and unique way.

@CrookedCarla & @annareadsbooks. These are funny girls, y’all. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know a lot of funny girls, so when I find one (nay, TWO) that make me laugh, it’s an instant-connection. These girls don’t even have to read YA. Carla’s profession of wanting to lick covers and Anna’s chapstick/Blistex fight with me on Twitter make them top-notch hilarious girls of the most amusing variety.

@melaniegoodman. I hope you like being called “Mel,” Mel. If not, I’m sure you’ll let me know in the near future. ;) Mel’s definitely a conversationalist, and a lot of my @replies are filled with back-and-forth topics with her that range from food to books to tech to jokes.

@makeshiftjen. I would’ve included Jen in with the “Funny Girls” category with Carla & Anna, but I’m not sure what degree of singing beauty Carla and Anna live up to. If they’re both as awesome as she is, my bad. Because Jen, you have an absolutely beautiful voice. =) Jen is one of those girls who I can talk to about anything under the moon. We keep promising ourselves that our love of sweatpants and chai tea lattes will bring us together some day. And it’ll happen, I promise.

@lindsiking. We both love to bake. I’m not quite sure what to say after this, because this is the driving force behind our twitter and blogger relationship. It’s based on sugar. And that’s pretty sweet.

@brokeandbookish, @hobbitsies, @taramq. I haven’t had a ton of conversation with these girls on Twitter, but I’m subscribed to all of their blogs, and love what they write to boot.

@stephxsu & @thestorysiren. These two are who I call my encyclopedias. They’ve read a lot, and they review a lot, and I care about these opinions. Together they’re like, the YA internet. Whenever I’m looking for a particular book and I can’t remember the name of it, I know I can go to their Goodreads accounts and look at (read: ogle) the covers of the vast amounts of books they’ve read. Which equates to a lot of ogling. But that’s besides the point.

@4everYA. Wow. It’s really hard to put into words how much I love these girls. How do you take a group of girls who post such hilariously legit stuff seriously? Yeah, well, there’s a balance, I suppose, and these girls have it. Everything they write = immediate #fistpump.

@tinamats. Salamat po, Tina, for introducing me to the beautiful tunes of Dave Barnes. I am forever indebted to you for this. I also love all of the thoughtful, introspective reviews that Tina writes. We also both love pancit and lumpia. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with basing friendships off of mutual love of food that’s deliciously bad for you.

@brimeetsbooks & @jordynface. I will continue to stalk each of these two bloggers until they have published books. Just yesterday we discussed the notion of me bragging extravagantly if I ever got one of their (future) ARCs in my grabby hands. I love reading through their writing processes and they’re always up for conversation as well.

Last, but certainly not least, @SnarkyWench. She’s the one I’ve been friends with the longest. She’s the one I was friends with before I knew she even liked YA. She was the one who kept me in the YA world after I’d read Twilight, and suggested some other far more wonderful titles that made me never want to leave YA, ever. She helped encourage me to start That Cover Girl. I will hug your neck one day, Sweets.

Thanks for making this year a spectacular year for YA blogging, friends. <3

twitter thoughts: vol. 2

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 23:46:43 -0600

So Volume 2 came to me a little sooner than I thought it would. Luckily, someone I follow tweeted something recently, giving me an excellent prompt (which just goes to show you how lazy I can be):

Ahem. *cracks knuckles*

Before I lay my thoughts down in response to this question, a little disclaimer. I’m not here to point fingers at this particular Twitter user. None of this is a personal attack against her. And as you read the rest of this post, it’s pretty blatant what my intentions are. The thing is, I have an inkling that she’s not the only person who feels this way. And when I say inkling I mean “Well, it’s true, because I checked her @replies.”

I’m going to get straight to the point: with 145 million registered users on Twitter, it’s obvious that not everyone using it is a bookish type. I, however, am definitely a bookish type, no doubt about that. But like I said in my previous post, I actually do have other interests. I also follow other folks who share some similarities - whether it’s proximity or via interest:

Stu (@5tu) - filmmaker & Creative Director over Magic Bullet’s product line. I seriously freaked out when he @replied me back one time when I tweeted that his avatar was my most favorite. I’ve heard a wealth of information about industry stuff just from his tweets alone. He’s also a pretty funny guy, which is also great.
Audreya (@audcole) - a local Twitter friend I’ve yet to meet IRL who makes me laugh with almost everything she tweets.
Savannah (@SavannahB), Amy (@amybhole), and Kerri (@kerrijack) - three other local Twitter friends who are some of the most interesting people I’ve come to know first online. They tweet about all kinds of things - from work to kids to funnies to life in general.
Keith (@tsudo) - my Twitter guru and one of the nicest people I know. In severe weather, when the power is flickering and the tornado sirens are going off — I find myself refreshing his Twitter profile constantly. He’s RTing weather updates, posting pics of satellite images, and filtering TV station news.
Daisy (@daisywhitney) - I first started following her because I watched her web show, the New Media Minute. She’s bubbly, cheerful, and positive - and loves media, like I do.

I really could go on and on with my list of favorite non-bookish Twitter peeps, but I won’t. And this is nothing against my actual bookish Twitter peeps, because I absolutely love them! The YA blogging community on Twitter is one of the most receptive and warm communities I’ve ever come to know online.

There are multiple perspectives when it comes to how Twitter can be used. Some of us actually follow pastry chefs, retailers, and tech blogs. Some of us are glued to our Twitter feed when Apple has a Shiny New Announcement or to banter back and forth with a movie review blog. Some of us use it in emergency situations, or to crowd-source for opinions and multiple points of view.

Aside from relationship-building, Twitter has also played a special role as news-deliverer. I’ve found out about local restaurant closings, people voted into office, road conditions, musicians going on tour, movie trailers, and important software updates.

One of the greatest things about Twitter is that you can make your sphere as broad or narrow as you want it to be. You can choose how you want to filter information — whether it’s building lists of the hundreds of people you follow, or keeping your sphere smaller within a specific niche.

My point (and “the point”) to what I’m trying to say is that Twitter isn’t restricted to one type of person. It’s defined by its user’s unique experience. And with 145+ million users, that’s a lot of unique experiences.

twitter thoughts: vol. 1

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 11:57:41 -0600

I’ve finally had some time to sit down and write down a few thoughts about my favorite social network, Twitter. And if you’re stopping in for a visit to read this post, it may very well be by way of Twitter. Because it was SO CLEVER for me to tweet out the link, yeah? I know, I’m a genius.

First, a little bit of history between me and Twitter. I’ve been tweeting for a little over 2.5 years. I first joined by way of a colleague of mine from college. And that’s basically it. I joined because I was curious, and like a lot of other folks, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it when I first logged in. I remember staring at a sea of blue background and scratching my head, confused.

Fast forward to 2.5 years later. I no longer use Twitter on the web - I prefer my updates via apps like Tweetie for Mac and Twitter for iPhone. I don’t check to see who un-follows me, nor do I pay attention to my follower count. As for the folks I DO follow, I tend to watch with a pretty careful eye. Which brings me to my first point.

1) Twitter, like Facebook, is a place of relationships.

Yes, I know, this may come as a big ol’ announcement of YAWN but it’s true. But I’d like to expand on the relationship aspect of Twitter. Mostly in regards to my policy of not auto-following those who follow me.

It takes more than a “So-and-So is Now Following You on Twitter!” email to spark my interest. I will look through your timeline history. I will glance at your blog. Perhaps you don’t tweet enough. Or maybe you tweet too much (and mostly things that aren’t interesting to me). Or, almost a nail in the coffin, is that your status is set to private. I understand wanting to lock up your tweets on Twitter. But if I can’t see what kind of person you are up front, why would I even want to follow you back?

I follow all kinds of people on Twitter, too. I follow locals, production experts, media experts, celebrities, book bloggers, and podcasters. These are people I’ve never met in real life, people I go to church with, and people I’d like to work with some day. My Twitter bubble is expansive and holds itself together by using Twitter lists and filters.

And yes, I realize that the folks I follow aren’t perfect. They break down and spill their woes onto Twitter. What’s more, sometimes it’s their support group. (Y’know, the whole “Twitter is a place for relationships” thing) Tweeps sometimes complain about rain-traffic (ALL AT THE SAME TIME). They passive-aggressively tweet about their coworkers. And like me, they can’t seem to shut up about the fact that it’s 70 degrees during Thanksgiving week. But, I do have some deal-breakers.

Deal-breakers (why I stopped following or won’t follow you on Twitter):

Twitter made me do it. A few months/weeks/days/I have-no-idea ago, Twitter made me un-follow several people, and I blame the robots and the internet.
You spread hate. Sorry, but you do. You’re on the rampage, cussing up a storm and wanting everyone and everything to die. I’m not saying I want to read about rainbows and butterflies all the time, but SERIOUSLY, tweeter. Get a grip. Everything will be ok. In the meantime, I don’t want you cluttering up my feed anymore.
You’re a spoiler. You want to mention every plot-altering thing that happens on TV shows that I actually watch. And because I hardly ever watch live TV, this is particularly annoying. Also, you spoil me on books that I want to read. Sadly, this includes Harry Potter. (And there is one particular tweeter that I will definitely be following back once I get through the series!)

For those of you who aren’t locking up your tweets, you have to understand that they’re floating on the internets. They’re permanent, and searchable. And they all represent you. They are little bits of your personality, and yes, many people will define you by these little blurbs of 140 characters.

A few other random Please Stoppits that I’ve thought about:

Please stop announcing your SECRETS and the fact that YOU CAN’T TELL ANYONE BECAUSE IT’S SUPER SECRET. Unless you can tell it soon. Remember the last time someone ran up to you and yelled in your face, “OMG I HAVE A SECRET! But I can’t tell you yet!” then ran away in excitement? Wait, WHAT, this has never happened to you in real life?! Yeah, well then don’t do the same thing on Twitter.
@replying to make an announcement. Here’s an example of how @replies work: Let’s say Ruby wants everyone that follows her to know that her BFF IRL, Wendy, is on Twitter. If Ruby wrote, “@myIRLBFFWendy is now on Twitter! Follow her!” as a tweet, the ONLY people who can actually see this in their timeline are WENDY and everyone who’s already following WENDY. If you want to announce something, put a period in front of it. Put a “Hey” in front of it. A smiley face. SOMETHING. Because no one can see this (unless they go directly to your profile to stalk you).
Please stop yelling all the time. I’m sure people may get tired of my all-caps tweets every now and then, but I do it for humor. I’m trying to be funny, people! (I mean seriously I’ve got not much else to offer) I follow folks who do it for humor, too. But if you’re !!!!!!-ing and CONSTANTLY YELLING!?? and putting way too many exclamations and question marks in every other tweet…sigh. Just…please stop.

So there you have it. Twitter Thoughts: Vol 1. More to come as my brain & time allow. =)

what i want to be when i grow up.

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:08:57 -0500

When I was growing up, I went through phases of what kind of person I wanted to be, what kind of career I wanted to have. I was blessed to have parents who would support me no matter how crazy the idea. Below is a list of jobs I knew, at some point or another, I’d have as a grownup.

Job title: Astronaut

Age: 7

I loved looking at stars, and looking at pictures of our planets. You’d find me constantly checking out and re-checking out Isaac Asimov’s Library of the Universe series books from my school library. (aka how I grew up to be a nerd)

Job title: MacGuyver (yes, MacGuyver)

Age: 9

Dad and I would watch episodes of MacGuyver together. I don’t remember which episode it was, but I recall him using some sort of spring from a pen to fix something in a truck. It was awesome.

Job title: FBI Agent

Age: 10

I don’t know why my parents let me watch the X-Files, but they did. Sometimes Dad would watch with me. I’m not quite sure this was the best show for a 10 y/o to watch, but I was really into Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark at the time, and read a ridiculous amount of books about UFOs. I wanted Mulder and Scully to adopt me at some point or another.

Job title: Virologist

Age: 14

By the time I was finally a teenager, I had written several stories (none of them completed except for one). I had an active imagination. And at this point I knew (like all teenagers), just knew what I wanted to be. I read a ridiculous amount of thriller/suspense/mystery, and this was when I first read Outbreak. Sadly, these dreams of becoming a virologist were shattered when my neurotic aversion to clusters (don’t ask) prevented me from looking into microscopes in science class. And I figured science would be important if I wanted to be a virologist (I was such a smart teenager).

Job title: Music video director

Age: 17.5 (Apparently I stopped caring about what I wanted to be for a brief stint of my adolescence)

As a teenager, I was an MTV junkie. I loved TRL and remembered watching several music video debuts and thinking that I wanted to direct one someday. The best music-video related idea I came up with was eventually doing a Britney Spears lip-dub of a Christmas song during the middle of college as a gift to my then-boyfriend now-husband. He’s such a lucky man.

Job title: News reporter

Age: 19

When I went to college, I declared a degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Television Production. I thought I’d want to be a news reporter, because I enjoyed producing packages for my university news program. Then I found out all I wanted to talk about was character/fluff pieces and technology-nerd news. I knew this wouldn’t fly in the real world, and at some point I’d have to start off reporting about car accidents and folk music festivals that I had absolutely no interest in.

Job title: Commercial/TV Producer (and current job title)

My senior year of college found me working at a local WB affiliate as a commercial producer/camera/editor/writer. I considered it a good stint at TV boot camp for the time being. After I graduated, I moved on to working at the local Fox affiliate as a commercial producer, and finally to the independent production company I now work for.

It’s a career I see myself loving for several years. But I’m always up for something new. What’s the cutoff age for astronaut again?

I was reminded of another Sachar classic when I was browsing...

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:56:46 -0500

I was reminded of another Sachar classic when I was browsing book covers online.

One week. Bring on the rebellion.

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:49:52 -0500

One week. Bring on the rebellion.