Escape

- I made a post the other day about how I got a bonus this quarter and it was a super shitty one, but I deleted the post because it was really petty. I'm going to sit over here and be thankful I have a job right now, since the day I was awarded my shitty bonus? 140 more employees were laid off at one of our job sites. They keep us, the consultants, because we don't cost nearly as much as a permanent employee would.

- Frank did my taxes this weekend. Not only am I getting a refund, I'm getting a very healthy one. Hello, new bedroom furniture! Nice to see you!

- I got an email from asshole engineer guy this weekend that made my blood pressure skyrocket. Thankfully, I was so high on Vicodin that I couldn't coherently form an answering "FUCK YOU" email at the time. Otherwise, I would have probably lost my job.

- We took Ansley to the circus this weekend. Dude, the circus kinda sucks now. It's not nearly as cool or fun as when we were kids. There's nowhere near the animals and they don't have the number of people that perform, either. Plus, I paid ten dollars for a bag of spun sugar. Oh, yeah. You heard me. Ten dollars for cotton candy. When I bought it, it went like this:
Me: Two bags of cotton candy, please.
Guy: That'll be twenty dollars.
Me: What?
Guy: That'll be twenty dollars.
Me: Holy shit!
Him: Yeah, I get called Jesus alot, too.

- I've decided to reward myself. The amount of stress and pain I've managed to make it through in the last week is pretty darn amazing, if I do say so myself. I've been cutting Vicodin in half so that I can still function at work, but cut the pain down until I could get to the dentist. At any rate, I've been lusting over new sunglasses for a while, and my Gucci's are about to bite the dust, so I finally bought them. They should ship tomorrow. The splurge was for a pair of Tom Ford - Whitney glasses. So. Cute.

- I hope my new sunglasses get here soon. Especially since I have to go to Ft. Lauderdale for work on the week of the 23rd. Poor me. You guys should feel so sorry for me. (No, really. That's where asshole engineer is. If I make it a whole week without a body count, we'll be lucky.)

- Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, is my root canal. Followed by work. Followed by drinks / appetizers with the partners, who are in town. Fabulous day for that, huh? Wish me luck!

Julia Larsen Nuttall passed away in Reno Nevada
Tuesday May 27, 2008 following an 18 month battle with
cancer. She was born January 30 1973 in Billings
Montana. Following graduation from Senior High, she
attended BYU on a National Merit Scholarship, and then
taught junior high and high school in Nevada, first in
West Wendover, then in Reno. At the time of her death
she was a teacher at Hug High School in Reno. She
married Brent Nuttall in the Mesa AZ LDS temple on
March 16, 2001. She is survived by her parents, Carl
Larsen of Billings, Joan Whiteford of Renton,
Washington, her sister Anne Marie Garza of Billings,
niece Celestina, as well as many beloved relatives and
friends throughout the world.

Funeral services will be Saturday May 31 10AM PDT in
Reno at the LDS Chapel located at 8080 Lemmon Dr Reno,
NV 89506.

JULIA HAS REQUESTED EVERYONE WEAR THEIR FAVORITE SHOES
TO THE FUNERAL.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the
Hug High School Scholarship fund In Julia’s name.
Please contact Dee Parks 775-327-5607

So, boliver and I have been talking via email about donations in Julia's name. (Shut up! We recognize the irony and have acknowledged that Julia's probably laughing at us both right now.)

Here's the deal on donations, etc. From Boliver's email to me, this is what she posted on TWoP:

Okay, after some off-board discussion with folks who knew Julia, a
preliminary plan has emerged.

It seems like there's the general feeling wanting to do something NOW,
to let Mr. Jaz and their family know we're here and they're in our
thoughts, and another feeling of LATER (days or a couple of weeks), when we
can make a bigger gesture involving a group donation to a cause. Part
of the later is that it would be good to confer with Mr. Jaz, and to
make a group decision here and at other places Julia posted, and that
will take some time.

The idea is this: we have a PayPal account open for donations starting
now, and the first money in will be used for some flowers for the
funeral, with all our names on it. And we're talking all our names, not just
people who want to donate to a cancer fund or whatever we decide to
do. The remainder of the money will go to the fund we choose later (I'm
thinking the next several days or so), in Julia's memory.

So, if you want to donate, or want your name on a card for this
weekend, please email me at findthefunboliver at yahoo dot com with your name
and screenname, and use the same email for a PayPal donation. I'm
thinking real names and not screennnames, but we'll put down whatever you
want us to put on the card, since at least two of us will be attending
the funeral. If you want to donate but don't use a credit card or PayPal,
please email me and we'll figure it out."

Since Annie is local, having a real card and not a tiny flower shop
card sounds doble to me, so we should be able to fit everyone's names on
it, no problem.


So there you go. As many problems as we've had in the past, I think she's a trustworthy person and don't think she'll spend Julia's donation money on a weekend in Cabo. If you're still not comfortable with it, then I'm willing to take money at my own paypal address and get it to a charity when Brent makes the decision as to which one.

BUT! Do email her to have your name put on Julia's card, if nothing else. They're not asking for donations for that.

kcobweb, a friend of Julia's from high school, received an email from Julia's mom this afternoon. She has it posted it here if you'd like to read it.

Julia (allthatjazmyne) died at 5:30 pm yesterday afternoon. According to her husband, she went peacefully.

I've been sitting here staring at the computer, just trying to think of something to say, but I can't.

ETA:
After talking online for 3 years, I met Julia in 2005, when she came out from Reno to visit for a weekend when I was working in San Jose. She, fenwic, thesaucyone and I had a good day. We did brunch and then shopped all day. She loved to shop. We all bought hats at a fabulous little store. The next day, she and I spent sight-seeing by ourselves. We had so much fun.

In 2006, she came out to the mini con I had at my place. Again, we all had fun.

She was one of the most thoughtful and caring people I know. Even though she had recently been diagnosed with her cancer, she took the time to send me a pair of shoes from my Amazon wish list once when I was down about something. She cared a lot about the people around her, and had accepted everything as it came. When she was diagnosed, she took everything in stride. She didn't just lay down and accept the incurable cancer prognosis with 5 months to live, she fought. And she bought herself an extra year past that time.

I think the reason I'm in such shock is that everything had been going okay. I mean, she still had cancer, but recently, specialists in Houston had given her upbeat news. They expected her around for a while. She was coming to Comic Con with us this year. She was planning for the future. Last week sometime, she was bitching about her teaching assignments for next year. It all happened so fast. Too fast.

Julia was a fabulous person. A kind and generous person who thought about others and not herself. She really was one of the best.

( In happy times )

I'll miss you, Julia.

There's also art in the living room, but I'm too damn lazy to go get the camera again... and I forgot to take them the first time.

( Behind the cut, there are new wall colors! )

Bored. Trying to chill before sleep. Book meme from gfrancie

What we have here is the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish. Here's the twist: add (*) beside the ones you liked and would (or did) read again or recommend. Even if you read 'em for school in the first place.

( Books behind the cut. )

Saw Iron Man tonight. I thought it was really good.

I'm not sure how the theater got away with it... There was advertising to see it "first" at 11:59 tonight. Our show time was at 8:00. Uh... okay.


Whatever. Good movie. Not even Gwennie bugged me.

I bought the bags. I ended up with the mod dots and on a whim I bought the chocolate flavor tote.

I had lunch (sushi!) with Keith. Gave him my badge to give to to the client. It'll eat her up, knowing I'm friends with him.

Went to Macy's. They didn't have my perfume. BOO! Went to Saks. They did! YAY! The Chanel counter had samples of Chance Eau Fraiche,which I've been wanting to try. They also included samples for Valentino's Rock 'n Rose, Versace Bright Crystal, Bond No. 9 Chinatown (Which reeks, and is going in the trash.), Bond No. 9 Nuits De Noho (I'm not sure about that one, either.), and Annick Goutal Neroli. I'm thinking those Bond ones will hit the trash. They smell like little old lady perfumes.

(Side note for dreago. The EDT and the EDP didn't smell any different to me. I ended up with EDP, since it tends to last longer on the skin. The Musc? I didn't like at all. It's a little too sweet, IMO.)

Went to Target. Got some potting soil for to finish potting my plants. And a trowel. How I've gone all these years without a trowel is beyond me.

Went to the post office. Oh, wait... that wasn't good or fun.

Keith and I made plans to see Iron Man tomorrow night.

I think Page and I are going to hang out this weekend and be poor together.

Monday, I'm going to have dinner with Tracy (yeah, you heard me) and Sylina. Tracy's birthday is Sunday, so she wants Cheesecake Factory. Which makes me sick as a dog every time. I guess that'll be my present to her. Heh.

The last post with the poll was great... and I love the NY Weekend bag. But I kind of feel like it's too large for my every day use. Mostly because I have to carry a laptop bag with me as well.

The cafe stripes bag I also love, but I think that my last handbag was really similar and I don't want to fall into a rut.

allthatjazmyne pointed out that the green and brown circles clutch is a little too nubby... which I kind of agree with. It looks more like a winter material than a spring one.

And then, akathorne and katesti showed me The Strawberry Shortcake bag, which I like as well... throwing my entire poll into a tailspin. Plus? I also found the Urban Chic bag. Again, something I love.

So, I've decided to do what I hadn't even thought of before. This morning, I purchased the Green Mod Dot bag, because I'm fascinated with it. $450 will go into savings... and the rest? I'm going to purchase the Narciso Rodriguez for Her scent that I'm loving now. I'll drop by Macy's this afternoon.

But?!!! The Strawberry Shortcake bag will be mine eventually. Also? I might get this Chocolate Flavor Shopping Tote. I'm unstoppable.

So now I feel like the poll was a waste of time on one hand, but on the other? It pushed me into decision making mode.

So, since I got my "economic stimulus" check today, I'm going to splurge and buy myself one thing. A handbag. I've wanted several on Etsy for a while, but can't choose.

Poll #1179742 Economic Stimulus for the Win!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which handbag should I choose?

The rest of this is going in the bank for Comic Con.

I curled my hair today. It looks really cute.




I can't remember if I turned the curling iron off. Now I'm going to have to run home. Damn.


ETA: Ran home. No disasters were averted, but I feel better.

I started today with a nice sleeping pill hangover. Worse than I've had in a while. I may need to start cutting them in half.

Bones last night! Man, I'd missed that show. I love Booth and Brennan together. "How'd you figure that out? See my plaque here? Says Special Agent Sealy Booth. Special." Heh.

I got a complement on my new sweater today. The girl told me that it was such a pretty shade of blue and I looked "excellent" in it. That was really sweet of her!


I'm trying desperately to finish my document today, but the lack of motivation is horrible. I'm sure the motivation will increase the closer I get to my deadline. Oh, wait. Passed that! Oops.

So. Thanks to me being full of headache this weekend (period time + weather changes = owie head) I made it through season 7 of Buffy. It's pretty easy to get through 20 episodes if all you do is nap on the couch and watch Buffy in between sleeps. I'm so exciting.

Season 7 may very well be one of my top seasons, if not my favorite. I think it seriously ties with season 5. The only episode that skipped through was Him, and that's just because I find it nauseatingly cutesy. But even that one's a bit relevant, since it gets Spike out of the basement o' crazy. I like how things flow in season 7. The potentials don't bother me a bit, as I find the fact that The First is trying to destroy the slayer line completely scary. Scarier than the mayor and Adam and Angelus... maybe not scarier than I found Buffy dying for her sister... but scary.

I guess I just don't understand the people who think that Buffy was so terrible after season 3. I mean, I've heard the arguments about the acting and the writing and how Joss abandoned the show blah, blah, bitch, bitch. But really? I find that season 4 on is when the actors really hit their stride. I feel like they're more invested somehow. And don't get me wrong. I loved DB and I loved Buffy/Angel, but after he was gone, the show seemed tighter to me.

I still cry like I'm dying for the last 20 minutes of Chosen. I know a lot of people really didn't like the way the show implied the slayer line was started by a form of rape, but I think it was necessary. Because the watchers, IMO, have always been the men who told the little girls what to do. I like that, in the end, Buffy took that power and made it her own. Made it so that she didn't play by the rules and shared her power with every girl. And since I over identify so much with the character, I love that, in the end, she got what she'd always dreamed of. She wasn't alone. She wasn't the only one with power. She wasn't special. She was a normal girl.

Damn. I might cry again.

ETA: I almost forgot! When I was watching Dirty Girls, there was a potential that I kept going, "Who IS that?" about. The one who hits on Xander in his dream? I knew Rachel Bilson was one of them, but the other just looked soooo familiar. And then it hit me. Potential slayer #1 from Xanders dirty dream? Is totally Maya from Heroes. She looks different, sort of. I got her from the voice, though. Screen caps here, at the bottom of the page. Has this been pointed out before, and I missed it?

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In much happier thoughts.

Happy belated birthday to edhed, sp23 and spidey_88. I hope you all had a wonderful day!

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I got an email from my university yesterday, asking me to help out with some of their classes. I guess they have a class where the students have to write qualification and specification documents and they ask alumni to come in and help guide them. Answer questions, etc. I really think it would be a fun thing to do, but I'd have to be available for bigger stuff around finals time, which is when my current project is slated for our massive crunch time. So, I declined. One of my RDU co-workers is also an alum, and she told me that it turned out to be a disaster and much, much more work than they promised, so she would never do it again. I want to sit down with her and figure out why that is... that way, if I ever do get involved, then I know what's coming and don't go into it blind.

We'll see. It would be nice to give back a little.

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My ebay bidder finally paid for her DVDs. Her note to me said, "Sorry it took so long...I was having troubles with my computer...got it fixed today." I'll bet money that she was waiting for payday. She paid me on Friday after using BIN on Monday (when she BOUGHT IT NOW and could have paid right then) and ignoring all emails until then. You know? If people just email me and say, "hey, I really want this but can't pay until Friday." How much easier would that make my life? I wouldn't have to threaten people with death or anything like that. Whatever. I'm going to mail it out today and be done with it.

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Dreams are still making me crazy. Friday night, there was one involving Sarah Michelle Gellar that was waaaaay more TMI than the CK dream last week. If that's even possible. It woke me up, it was so realistic. I think I was watching too much Buffy. Last night, the entire cast made an appearance trying to get me to save... something. I don't remember. Some of my friends were there as well. It was so strange.

lunatunes is doing fave songs from your fave albums this week... I have many. Thought I'd share with you guys as well!

( Allison Krauss, Ben Gibbard, Death Cab for Cutie, Depeche Mode, Matthew Good, The Servant and more... )

Enjoy!

Dude. Flanvention II was cancelled with less than 24 hours of notice. That's insane. Booster Events wiped their web page and forums yesterday, leaving only this message: Booster Entertainment apologizes for the great inconvenience, but due to unforeseen circumstances, Flanvention is cancelled. An official notice will be posted within 10 days.

What a load of shit this has turned out to be. I'm so glad I've never given these people any of my money. Really, really glad.

At any rate, considering it was supposed to happen today and most of the browncoats attending are already in California for the event, this has come as quite a blow for many.

The Northern and Southern California Browncoats have begun to swoop in and come to the rescue.  They have officially announced a Backup Bash on their website. Since BE has run off with all funding, the NoCal and SoCal Browncoats are taking donations through this site to help fund a good weekend for the people stuck in Burbank with no convention to attend.  This will pay hotel fees for rooms leased, etc for the bash.  Any money not used is going to be refunded. 

ANY help you guys can give to these people will be appreciated, I'm sure.

In BDH news, Adam Baldwin (classy guy that he is), showed at the Burbank Hilton yesterday anyway.  He's working to get  Nathan and Jonathan Woodward to show and sign autographs today... as well as working with the California Coats to make the trip a bit more fun for the people who got screwed.

That's my good deed for today. I just feel so bad for these folks... and I know that I'd appreciate it if someone did something like this for me.

This whole situation is just... wow.

Last night went swimmingly. We had about 85 people show up for the film. (I'm pretty sure I didn't see that many people in the theater total the 6 times I saw it when it came out. Yes, 6. Shut up.) The raffle brought in a great deal of money as well. Looks like we've raised somewhere between $850 and $900 for Equality Now, which is pretty awesome for a group that didn't even exist two and a half months ago.

After the film, John, blugreendreams and myself went for a post viewing celebratory drink. It was a great way to end it all.

Now I feel like I have nothing to do. (KIDDING!)

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One issue that's bothering me a bit is that a person from the group that doesn't know me from Adam apparently doesn't like me because I'm too "pushy". Please. All I did was ask people to help. What in the hell is wrong with that? Apparently, I'm also elitist.

I have two things to say to that. 1) If you can't bother to show up at events, don't fucking act like you know me. 2) What the fuck ever. If you post to the board or show up somewhere, then I talk to you or reply. At no point in any of this have I treated anyone differently or snubbed others. Also? YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOW ME! That person didn't even bother to say hello on the way in the door last night. I'm elitist? Whatthefuckever.

You know, if I'd gotten more than 5 hours of sleep last night, I probably wouldn't be as bothered by this.

---

Still no calls from my family. It's disappointing, really.

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Tomorrow, caltrask55 and truecrystal are coming for the Duran Duran concert! I'm so freaking excited about this, it isn't even funny. (And a little birdie told me that teleri025 may show up sometime. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)

This isn't asking a favor, it's letting you guys know about our raffle! ;^)

Okay guys. Here are the details.

We're going to do a second raffle at the screening next week, but we've also decided to open it up online. Raffle tickets will be $3.

There will be 3 chances to win. Here are the prize packs:

1)Complete Firefly Trading Card Set / Serenity Starter Set / Serenity Shirt + Stuff (stickers and notepads - fan merch)
2) Complete Firefly Trading Card Set / Serenity Starter Set / Serenity Widescreen edition
3) Firefly complete series box set / Mal action figure / Serenity Zippo

Raffle tickets can be purchased via my Paypal, which is twopescape@yahoo.com.

All you need to do is paypal me the money ($3 per raffle ticket) with the your name and # of tickets as the email subject and an email where we can reach you in the "Note" section.

We'll ship prizes to whomever and we'll post the winners on the Greenville Browncoats site after the drawing at the November 7th screening of Serenity.

All proceeds are going to Equality Now

As everyone knows, we're having a screening here in Greenville, SC. This coming weekend, on October 28th, we're going to start pre-selling tickets for the screening from our table at the Greenville Comic Con.

If you can't come to the Comic Con, we are also selling tickets online, via paypal. Email me or the group moderator for details.

Tickets are $5. Cash only if paying at the door, please.

Thanks!