My Scouting Trip

I will be leaving for Seattle bright and early (6a) tomorrow on Alaska Airlines. A rental car will be waiting for me and a couch at my friend's house is all set up.

I have an interview with AppleOne in Kent at 1:30p that should last about an hour to an hour and a half. I have a tentative interview with AppleOne in Bellevue as well. I need to call them once I get there to set that one up. Disney knows I'm going to be there and I'm hoping they will contact me about setting something up soon.

The rest of trip is about driving around neighborhoods and finding an apartment. I've been poking around online and a lot of places I just need to show up and see them. My friend has been pointing me in the right neighborhoods to check out.

I'm going to keep track of everything I do and if I can get some internet time, I'll post it up. I'll take tons of photos too, but won't be able to upload those until I get back.

I fly back on Wednesday night with just enough time to say goodbye to my roommate who is moving to New York the next day. I'm going to move all my boxes into her room which will give me a better idea of how much space everything is going to take up in the trailer.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Club 33

Ever heard of the infamous Club 33 at Disneyland? No, well, let me tell you about it.

Club 33 is a private club in Disneyland located in the New Orleans area near the Pirates of the Carribean ride. It is the only place in Disneyland were you can get alcohol. Walt Disney worked with a lot of corporate sponsors over the years and noted they liked their VIP Lounges and had one put into the park. I t was originally just for corporate sponsors, but after his death it was opened up to individuals. A membership start at $10, 450 with annual fees of $3, 275 and this doesn't include food or drink or even admission to the park. They are able to make reservations 90 days in advance and have guests make reservations on their membership a few times a year. In the Disney company, one has to be an executive vice president or higher to make a reservation. The minimum for dinner is $66 per person. Not difficult when the entrees start at $30.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I was able to have dinner there last night. A friend and Disney employee managed to convince someone to make him a reservation for 10 of us to celebrate his 33rd birthday. I've always wanted to go and perfect timing as I am about to depart LA.

We got to the park at noon and went on a few rides including the new Toy Story ride/3D game at California Adventure. It was awesome and worth the 45 minute wait in the 103 degree heat. We went on a few other rides and then changed into our nice clothes to meet the dress code a half an hour before our reservation. I wore a black skirt and a new black and white blouse. Try not to die of shock.

At 6p, we were buzzed in and once our table was ready, we were taken upstairs. It is a lovely little resturant. We were seated at a nice round table in the center of the room. Very nice, but I was expecting a bit more in terms of atmosphere. I had heard rumors that the waiters were in tuxes, but not the case.

The menu was a choice of either ordering the Vitner's Menu which was a 5 course meal of the chef's design for that day or picking and choosing items off the right hand side of the menu that had lots of options. The Vitner menu was a flat $75 with the option of a wine pairing for an extra $35. I went with this minus the wine. I'm not a big wine fan and was spending enough as it was. Everyone else ordered off the right hand side of the menu. No one had any food that wasn't amazing, but I contend I had it best with the choices for me. Even though I wasn't a big fan of a lot of what was on their, I figured if I was going to like it, this would be the place to try it.

1st course was a simple salad with grapes, hiccama, almonds and a light dressing that was perfect. 2nd course was a stuffed crab shell that had a breading that tasted like gourmet hush puppies. 3rd course was boneless short rib with a potato and blue cheese puree. 4th course was three different cheeses including a blended blue cheese/brie combo and crackers. 5th course was a dark chocolate mouse with fresh berries.

The meal was perfection. 3 hours, 5 courses and a $100 later I felt perfectly content. Not full. Not hungry. Just right. Worth every penny. I am very grateful for the experience and I am putting blue cheese in my mashed potatoes from now on.

If you have the connections and can spare the money, I highly recommend going there and getting the $75 pre-set menu.

Stress Eating

I have been reverse stress eating. Most people get stressed and eat junk food and/or comfort food. I do that naturally. So, when I'm stressed I eat fruit and salads. I have had a salad for every meal since lunch on Sunday and that is all I am craving still. I had some fried appetizers with dinner last night, but they weren't as good as my salad. Even chocolate tastes funny to me. Something is clearly wrong.

Everyone thinks this is great. It's unnatural and I don't like it.

And on an unrelated note, do not ever eat an altoid when you've been drinking Diet Dr Pepper. It is a ghastly combination.

The Z word and You

I was listening to the Men at Work 80's classic "Who Can It Be Now?" and I have come to realize this song is about zombies. They claim that it's about the taxman, but I find that hard to believe when it works so well for the undead. Don't you agree?



Who can it be knocking at my door?
Go 'way, don't come 'round here no more.
Can't you see that it's late at night?
I'm very tired, and I'm not feeling right.
All I wish is to be alone;
Stay away, don't you invade my home.
Best off if you hang outside,
Don't come in - I'll only run and hide.


Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?


Who can it be knocking at my door?

Make no sound, tip-toe across the floor.
If he hears, he'll knock all day,
I'll be trapped, and here I'll have to stay.
I've done no harm, I keep to myself;
There's nothing wrong with my state of mental health.
I like it here with my childhood friend;
Here they come, those feelings again!


Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?


Is it the man come to take me away?
Why do they follow me?
It's not the future that I can see,
It's just my fantasy


Oh...Who can it be now?
Oh...Who can it...Who can it...
Yeah yeah yeah

When Geeks Pack...

I reserved my U-Haul trailer this weekend. I paid the $50 deposit to order the hitch. When it's in, I'll bring my car in for them to install it and then pick up the trailer the Thursday before I leave. My car can only tow the medium size trailer so that means I will definitely be selling all my furniture. I'm going to try and keep my mattress and bring my dining room table. My table can be taken apart easily. Putting it back together is a whole different story. It's all going to come down to my mad Tetris skillz as to how much stuff I'm going to be able to take with me. Thankfully, I am a Tetris master.

Speaking of Tetris, I think I am going to hook up my old school Nintendo when I unpack everything. It's been sitting in it's original box for a long, long time now. I used my confirmation money in 8th grade to buy it. It was a $150 in 1990. I miss playing Tetris, Marble Madness and the original Super Mario Brothers. Now as technology improves I can use compressed air instead of blowing on it when the cartridge won't load. Good times.

The sky is falling...

I've not told part of my brain that we're moving to Seattle yet. Been speaking in code around it, but I think it's starting to catch on. It sort of just screamed out "we're not going to work here anymore!" and then fainted. This is only going to get worse as it gets closer. I'm going to keep that part sedated for a while. I'll wait until certain things like a job and an apartment are in place before I wake it up. It tends to be the part that freaks out easily. There was this one time when an apple fell on it's head...good times.

Yesterday, I handed off all my crisis management floor leader duties to my co-worker. It took me a week to gather all my stuff up and note all the things she needed to know about it. She will be a great floor leader and wield the power beneviolently (yes, I spelled it that way on purpose. It's a perfectly cromulent word). It was a little more traumatizing than I thought it would be.

I bequeathed her the walkie talkie, dressed her in the bright orange vest of power and dubbed her with the binder of doom. Much like I was three and half years ago. *sniff*

So here ends four and half years of service on the crisis management team. I wanted to hand it off early in case their were transition issues and in case I need to leave earlier than expected.

*sniff*

Simple Things...

I've been trying to do a little packing or at least something related to the move every day. I have a far amount of boxes packed up so far. I packed up a lot of my DVDs that I know I won't be watching between now and when I leave, my baking sheet and cupcake sheets, all my books (graphic and regular), but it still didn't seem like I was really moving.

That is until I packed up one thing and then suddenly it seemed real and not only to me, but to my roommate as well. The simplest of things. I took all the magnets off my fridge. Seems silly right? I don't know if it's because I see them everyday or that the fridge seems bare without them. No matter how many boxes I trip over or how many vacuum seal bags of clothes I shrink, nothing has seemed more like I'm leaving than that.

I think the next big thing will be getting rid of the entertainment center. No matter what roommate was here that monstrosity has not moved. I think that will freak me out the most as will all my friends that have just become accustomed to it being as much apart of the apartment as the walls.

How to Behave at a Movie Premiere…or not

Due to awesome friends, I scored a ticket to the green carpet premiere of the new “Hulk” movie at Universal. Didn’t have a lot of warning and ended up going in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. This is my fourth movie premiere (“In Dreams,” “War of the Worlds,” “Elizabeth: Golden Age”) and my third time walking the carpet in jeans.

At the premiere, there were tons of celebrities and I was able to see a few of them: Seth Green, Jon Faverau, Kevin Smith, Stan Lee, Lou Ferrigno, Julie Benz (Darla from Buffy) and a bunch of others that I recognized, but no idea what their names are. I saw all of them either walking in or at the food area before the movie. Others were there like Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, etc., but I didn't see them.

My friend Mike and I head into the theater and headed to our seats. As I am walking down the stairs, I spot Edgar Wright and stop dead in my tracks. I am a huge fan of Edgar’s directing since his BBC show “Spaced” and then “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz.” I’ve seen him a few times and never had the chance to say anything. I’ve had my little speech all practiced. I really hate bothering people so I wanted to get in, say something and get out.

The bundle of nerves that I was, managed to introduce myself, say I was a fan of "Spaced" since my bootlegs, he mentioned it’s coming out legally here and I said I can’t wait to buy it, I said I’d seen him a few times at the Arclight and always managed to not say hello. Now here is where in my rehearsed speech I was going to turn to walk away and turn back and say thank you and leave on that note. Instead, my friend was blocking my exit and then thought he’d help me by asking how I was able to watch them. I said Xbox and try to make my escape. Not what I planned, but he thought he was helping.

I was pleased with the fact I managed to get up enough nerve to say something so, of course, minutes later and in front of the entire Universal theater, I managed to spill my entire bucket of popcorn in the aisle. Dead center in the main walk way above the orchestra seats to a ¾ filled theater.

I hope that Edgar at least thinks it’s cute that I was that nervous over him and not avoid the Arclight because I mentioned I’ve seen him there. I had no interest in speaking to anyone else so I managed to not bumble my way through any other introductions or spill anything else.

The movie itself was awesome and a whole lot of fun. I would say that it is on par with “Ironman” and I look forward to seeing it again and this time giving them my money. I won’t say too much more because everyone should see it and I am notorious for revealing too much. It is good and it is okay to raise your expectations.

Here is a picture of the ever adorable Edgar Wright I took at Comicon two years ago:

I felt a great disturbance in the furniture....

As if millions of dust bunnies suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened...

Last weekend, I packed up both my bookcases. I sold one to a friend for the cost of a Starbucks coffee. I figured it was only fair since I paid $5 for it 10 years ago. I pulled it away from the wall and there was a legion of dust bunnies lying in wait. I wiped them out with some orange Pledge and a rag. The dust bunnies were slaughtered, but they had some revenge. Not sure if you know this, but it is very hard to carry a freshly Pledged bookcase. I couldn't get a good hold of it and almost dropped it on my foot.

Because the bookcase is gone, I was able to move my bed and dust underneath it. This is where the army seemed to have set up camp. They even had a few dust rabbits in places. It was so bad in spots that the carpet was grey and you could hold the dust in your hand. I filled a whole canister from the vacuum trying to get them all. In the end, they lost the battle and the war. However, I fear their are other sleeper cells waiting for activation. I must find them before they get me.

Now wasn't that more to read then me just saying "I dusted last weekend"?

"Wait. What?"

In the immortal words of Joss Whedon: "The bag is catless."

On Friday, May 16, 2008 at approximately 9:02a, I told my boss that I was moving to Seattle. I gave my two month notice. Some say it was far too generous, but those people don't know how our human resources department works. Plus I wanted to give myself and my boss enough time to make the transition as easy as possible.

When I took over the desk, it took me an entire year to undo all of the damage that past assistants had done and an entire year to get moving forward. I stand by the work that I have done and I want to make sure that my replacement isn't starting from scratch.

I'm building an extensive owner's manual to the care and feeding of my desk. Hopefully, it will be enough that the person will need weeks not months or years to get moving on it.

I've been having fun telling people. I'll either just blurt it out or slip it into he conversation. My favorite was telling one of my co-workers, Randy. Our friendship only exists during the television season as we discuss Lost and the Office. So we were talking about Lost and I said "Oh and the scene in Lost where I tell Kevin I'm moving to Seattle and gave him two months notice was just awesome." Pause. "Wait. What?"

"Wait. What?" seems to be the most common response followed by "why?" and either "really?" or "seriously?" The people who I told a while ago are coming slowly out of their denial while others are still firmly in it. With being sick so much of last year, I think it might take a while after I'm gone for it to really kick in. I think a lot of people thought I was a lifer both at Disney and in Los Angeles. I thought I was too, but looks like we were wrong.

Now the word is trickling through and I have been making sure the rumor mill gets to everyone, but I will no doubt miss someone. I'm going to miss a lot of people and the work (at times), but I really do need a change.

I know, I know

You're right. You're right. I know you're right.

Apologies, dear readers. It has been an unforgivable amount of time since I posted last. Here is my explanation that I hope you will accept:

I started this blog thinking that I would have all kinds of things to talk about because of the move. And I did...for a while. I blogged all about my reasons for moving out of Los Angeles and to Seattle. Then there was this odd lull between deciding to go and preparing to go. I thought I could fill the time with TED videos and photos and randomness. I think I did okay for a while, but really I wanted this blog to be about the move and my life. So, I took a break and worked on other stuff. Then things started happening that I could actually blog about and I got too busy to blog. The irony. It's like an Alanis Morissette song in here.

My promises of posting regularly are worthless now. I am the girl who cried blog.

However, I think I have learned what my issue is. It all stems from being a columnist for a website a few years ago. I'd send you the link, but the columns were removed when they revamped the site. My columns were two-three pages of information and were more like papers you would write for college classes. They were well researched and some say well written (despite my objections to the contrary). I'd look at my blog and I would see it as homework. And who the hell wants to do homework when the season finale of "Lost" is on? Not me. This shouldn't be work. This should be fun for both me to write and you to read.

I am going to attempt to alter my thinking and be a blogger not a columnist.

Keep it short. Keep it simple. Crap I've written too much already, haven't I? Okay, this may take some time to get the hang of. I promise to stop. I'm still writing aren't I?

You're right. You're right. I know you're right.