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May 13th, 2008
May 12th, 2008
11:23 pm - soulless job.
So I was at a baby's birthday party last weekend. I know what you're thinking, it's the same thing I was thinking: "I'm friends with a baby?" Three things of note happened at this party:
1) I ate baby food. To be fair, they were "baby cheese puffs" or something. They were in bowls on the banquet tables. They were delicious, and I suffered no consequences, other than all of the parents there laughing at me. Whatever, free cheese puffs. I ate an apple sauce too, but I knew that was for a baby. I ate it anyway, because I like apple sauce. My dad used to eat Gerber Cherry Vanilla pudding. Same same.
2) I was one of four people there who had no babies. I was sitting with one of the non-baby owners, and one of the "mommy" type people asked us if we had any babies. We said no. She turned around and talked to someone else. I was amazed that I was instantly not worth talking to because I hadn't spawned. Then her baby started screaming, and I think it was because he hated what his mom dressed him in for this baby party. It was a sweater vest, it had an airplane on it, and the baby seriously stopped crying when the sweater vest came off. John put it best when he said "if I was wearing that sweater, I'd be crying too."
3) One of our non baby spawning friends (we huddled together like heathens) asked John what we were working on. He told her that I had just finished up Denise Richards: It's Complicated, and he was working on Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. She made some comment about our jobs being soulless.
Of course my job is soulless. So's yours. Unless you're saving the earth or building huts for the homeless in Africa or whatever. Our jobs matter. Your jobs matter. We just do different things.
And, as John pointed out (rather astutely) to the person in question, she was about to go photograph a high-end bar mitzvah. Her defense was that she was "working for someone else," so that wasn't the same thing. He replied that "so are we."
That's right. Newsflash to all: I didn't create any of the crummy shows I work on. And you know what? When I consider how much 51 minds sold to Endemol for, looks like the soulless win again. I'm sure I'll be back on the front lines soon.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/mely/lemonfaces/mellow.gif) calm
Current Music: new death cab!
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May 11th, 2008
06:39 pm - a "blogworthy" day.
This morning, the alarm didn't go off. It didn't go off, because John's phone was set to "weekdays only." So we woke up to the sound of the piano.
Our neighbor decided to take up the piano last year. A few days a week, she practices one song. Started on chopsticks, went up to you are my sunshine, hit a few christmas carols, and auld lang sine, etc etc. The problem is that she starts at like 8am on the weekends, and that sucks. For a few weekends, we took bets as to when she'd start. I think there was a morning that she started earlier than 8. Regardless, one of our more aggressive neighbors (I think probably the guy on the other side of her, who appears to have a full surveillance control room set up in his place) went after her one day, and gave her what for about starting so early. Since then, she rarely starts before 10am, which I think is just on the very bottom edge of acceptable.
But today that was good, because she started at 1020, and we were not yet up. And we had plans to meet friends at 11am downtown. Downtown is a solid half hour away, and we were still in bed. We were only a few minutes late.
We met at the Los Angeles Gun Club. One of our fellow Enforcers mentioned that one of his guilty pleasures is shooting. John suggested that we head to the range this Sunday. Unfortunately, the O. C. Roller Girls had a big "Roll For a Cure" tournament this weekend, and both refs were...reffing. And doing reffy things. So we went with John's friend Ransom Riggs, and his wife Abbi.
Abbi had never been shooting before, and I'm far from an expert marksman. We opted for the standard sort of "human torso outline" targets, because the "terrorist holding a hostage" and "two dudes hiding in a truck" ones were sort of creepy. It was weird to me to shoot at an actual photo of a human. I also don't like meat with bones in it, so whatever. Same same, I guess?
If there was a coffee bar inside the gun range, I could sit and people watch all day. This morning, there's the cop/military type people, like the guy who came in camo pants and a black shirt and had a leg holster for one of his guns that he just rolled around in. He looked like he was some sort of special ops person. He was not to be trifled with. There was an Asian family (we *were* in Little Tokyo, the only two languages the release forms came in were English and Japanese) consisting of an old man and a teenage boy and a middle aged woman...looked like "grampa takes kid to learn guns." There were two friends there that looked like what I imagine John looks like when he goes shooting with more experienced people. Two dudes shooting different guns, talking about their results, and how to get better. Pretty quiet go-getters. We were a moderately social group of various skills. And then the group walked in that made me just about ready to go...were the fratboy douchebags. They rented the shotgun, doye. They sucked at life, and it was about time anyway, so we finished our ammo, and rolled out.
We rented a rifle, because I like rifles. Also, I think a .22 is good for people to start out with, because the bullets are so small that there's not much of a recoil. John has his own gun. So we had a .22 rifle and a glock 9mm. Then Randy went and rented a .357 smith and wesson. That gun was far more accurate than I thought it would be. Abbi liked the .357, surprisingly. I think I was the only person who liked the rifle. *shrug* Also, I shot two guns at once, like I was in the movies. It's super hard, and super stupid, and I didn't even hit the target with either gun. I imagine it'd be less accurate if I was like diving through the air and holding the guns sideways and stuff.
After shooting, I suggested Sushi-Go 55 for lunch. Fun fact: the people who own Sushi-Go opened the second sushi bar in the US. I noticed that it currently only has a B, but I just don't care. It's so delicious. The fish is always so fresh and amazing. We got the lunch special, which is assorted nigiri (the hamachi melted in my mouth...shit they ALL melted in my mouth), and a spicy scallop hand roll (yom) and two pieces each of bluefin toro (it might as well have been kobe carpaccio) and an umeboshi shiso roll (which I call a "refresher" roll) to finish. It was...delicious.
Randy originally wasn't sure he could make the gun range because he had previously committed to "rock climbing" with Abbi. Abbi agreed to come to the gun range, and I told John that I felt it was only fair if we went rock climbing. So that's what we did after lunch. We went to a place called "Rockreation."
photo courtesy of LAist
It was not exactly what I had anticipated. I did this once, on a cruise I went on with John. I'm...okay at it. Not awesome. I sucked at like moving sideways, which you were supposed to do like left to right along the bottom for like 50 feet or something. I sucked at it a lot. I think I might have been better at it had we done that second.
When we started climbing vertically, I did a little better. Again, not awesome. Abbi spotted me while Randy spotted John for the first climb. I decided I'd just clamber to the top and say fuck all to going the "5.7 rated yellow path" or whatever. Abbi wasn't feeling that, I don't think. Also when I get outside of my realm of safety, sometimes I panic a little. Sometimes I just need a second to figure it out. Other times that this happened included the first time I ever snorkeled out of sight of land (no land anywhere...at all) in the Keys, and when we stood on top of the place we *would* have hang glided from in Rio...just a little unnerving. So it takes me a little to sort of figure it out and come to grips with it and then I'm fine. But that means that I'm a little slow, and Abbi's a bit more of a "go getter" in this realm (she has a membership to this rock climbing place, and her own shoes and jazz belts and movement clothes, et al. So John and I wisely swapped, as Randy was a bit more laid back about how I went about my climbing. John's a bit more gung-ho like Abbi. Worked out better.
And now I'm home. I'm watching Niko Bellik wait for Packie to get in the truck.
Happy Mother's Day. I called my mom and left a message and my gram/god mother and left a message, and talked to my step-mother and my other grandmother. I draw the line at calling aunts.
Current Mood: calm
Current Music: gtaiv
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April 14th, 2008
11:37 pm - RIP Licorice
The hits just keep on coming. Today, John's family was advised by their longtime vet that it'd be best if they put the family dog down. Licorice lived a long, good life, having been rescued from the pound 16 years ago. She was, and is, loved.
Licorice was a great self petting dog.
She liked treats and pasta.
She was always happy to see you.
She was the best small black dog ever.
She will be missed.
Go read John's website for more about Licorice.
It's been a rough few days.
Current Location: Temecula
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/mely/lemonfaces/annoy.gif) sad
Current Music: none.
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10:39 am - RIP, Joe Solari
People our age aren't supposed to die.
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Joseph D. Solari of N. Attleboro, 31, actor, carpenter
Joseph Daniel Solari of North Attleboro, an actor and carpenter, died Wednesday at his home after a six-year battle with leukemia. He was 31.
Born in Attleboro, Mr. Solari had lived in Norton before moving to North Attleboro two years ago.
He graduated from Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School in Easton in 1995. He had attended American Conservatory Theater’s Summer Training Congress in San Francisco, where he trained to be a performer.
“He was really full of life and a very compassionate person. He brought joy to our family’s lives,” said Mr. Solari’s mother, Maria Solari.
As an actor, Mr. Solari was involved with several theater companies. His first role with the New England Repertory Company was in “Power Lunch,” and he had previously worked as a builder and technical crew member on “Our Town.” He was also a production team member at the Mansfield Music and Arts Society, where he acted in several productions. He was also involved in performances by the Buckley Performing Arts Center and Fiddlehead Theatre Company. He played Joey in Dillstar Productions’ “Joey and Maria’s Italian Comedy Wedding.”
“He was very passionate about acting. He would often perform his roles just for the family, entertaining everyone as he prepared for his performance,” his mother said.
Mr. Solari was also a carpenter. He owned and operated J.D.S. Carpentry of Norton.
“Joey loved seeing people enjoy the products of his work,” said his sister, Jennifer Solari.
Mr. Solari was a lifelong Red Sox [team stats] fan. On the day of his death, he was supposed to have been at a game to meet the players, but he died before he could attend. However, his family was sent a remembrance blanket from the team as a token of their admiration for his bravery and resilience.
Mr. Solari is survived by his fiancee, Andrea Michelle O’Sullivan of North Attleboro; his parents, Robert Curtis and Maria Angela (Agresta) of Norton; a sister, Jennifer A. of Douglas; a brother, David C. of Derry, N.H.; an uncle, two aunts and several cousins.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. today at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Mansfield.
Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Mansfield.
Arrangements by Dyer-Lake Funeral Home, North Attleboro.
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Joe was a wonderful man. He was kind, and gentle, and his family was (and is) amazing. It was an honor to have known him and to have spent so much time with him.
Current Location: Hollywood, CA
Current Mood: sad
Current Music: Elliott Smith
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March 10th, 2008
12:26 am - well.
Okay so it got a little better, thanks to some good people in a bad situation. I'm sorry..."opportunity."
blahblah, click to make it better (you know...bigger).
Whatever. If you don't know I'm super overmelodramatic and sorry for myself, stop pretending to be my friend.
Also, being an American in another country still sucks. it extra sucks when you're in Australia and people are still annoyed at you. January 20, 2009 can't come fast enough.
Current Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/mely/lemonfaces/worried.gif) depressed
Current Music: Team America - Fuck Yeah!
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March 9th, 2008
06:28 pm - Well today sucks.
If this isn't the worst birthday ever, it's certainly tied. Being alone in Australia is lame.
(EDIT: Okay, so it's definitely not as bad as my 19th birthday. But let's call it the "second" worst birthday ever.)
Current Mood: depressed
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February 19th, 2008
04:44 am - Uni
Tonight, John and I went to Matsuhisa for dinner. Thanks to a friend, Nara, John and I had some gift certificates to blow through, and a nice dinner was just what we needed to celebrate President's Day. You celebrate President's Day, don't you? I think we were mostly celebrating the fact that we both had President's Day OFF. That never happens. Ever. Freelance is great and all, but it doesn't lead to getting holidays off.
Because we had some gift certificates, we wanted to try mostly new things, with a smattering of old favorites. I mean, scallop sushi is amazing, and the yellowtail jalepeno is one of my collection of "this inspired me to make something delicious at home" recipes. But let's try some new stuff! Let's try abalone! This dungeness crab and spicy sauce thing is probably good, right? Everyone likes waygu tataki, no?
In honor of trying something new, I went back for my second ever round of uni.
I first tried uni (sea urchin) at Yamashiro for my 29th birthday (fun fact: Yamashiro is where we're getting married!). I didn't much care for it, and it sort of made my stomach seize up like I was going to hurl. But it's supposed to be delicious, and people that love uni LOVE uni...so worth another go.
My stomach seized up like I was going to hurl.
This will be my last foray into the world of uni. I'm done. Thanks for playing.
I also blame uni for why I'm up right now. Nobody should be awake at this hour.
Current Location: hollywood, ca
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/mely/lemonfaces/yawn.gif) tired
Current Music: the hum of our failing fridge
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04:40 am - welcome.
it's time to start the transition. For now, this will mostly be public info and wedding-type-stuff. Eventually, I'll probably transition to this account full time.
I guess this is the first step towards embracing a new name. I was going to create "jennysireci," but I'll just have to change it in a year, so why not start now?
Current Location: hollywood, ca
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: the hum of our failing fridge
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jennyvidas's journal
