In The Year 2000-Nate

To Note About Nothing

2012-01-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

I woke up to accomplishment. The accomplishment of being slightly awake.

I paid some bills and cleaned up the house a little. Nothing much of note to note about nothing.

I got to work and found I had time to finally catch up on all the blog entries I was getting behind on. The first three days of the year, and I hadn't written them down at all. And here I was making resolutions, and all I felt was a revolution for de-evolution. Confusion? I'd say so. (Gotta promise to not make my paragraphs so damn weird).

After work, I met up with Cassie, Amy, and Aaron so we could head out to a food truck rally in front of Aaron's work. It had Grill-Em-All, Me So Hungry, and about 6 or 7 other food trucks. After meeting up with Christine and Cory, I tried out a delicious pulled pork grilled cheese sandwich and some duck fat fried fries. Also, I got some of the best shaved ice I've had in years. Not the store bought rock hard shaved ice that you needed a blow torch to even try. The actual, delicately shaved ice that melts in your mouth. So good!

After that, we watched one episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (we're finally in Season 5 and we just watched the Spike episode and holy crap I'm self-inducing a geek out).

It was a good episode. It had a Snake dude and slow heart break. All the good stuff an episode of Buffy needs. I can't wait till.... naw, I'll let you watch it yourself.

Topics of Conversation: Food trucks, early digitizing, my own worst enemy, Thursday, Fable III, duck fat, Whedon's gonna do it again, 3-step check-out, the right kind of shaved ice, etc.

-Nate

BORFF!!

2012-01-03T07:15:00.000-08:00

Yep!

First boring entry of 2012! I couldn’t go THREE EFFING DAYS without having nothing to really write about. I should try to come up with something, but I’m too busy trying to catch up with this very journal that I’m already late on.
It’s a burden to be this bad at my own tasks I task myself with.

I paid some bills today. BREH!!

I worked at Norwalk. PLAH!!

Watched some Doctor Who. MEHK!!

So bored I’m ending all my sentences with noises. FURH!!

Topics of Conversation: A beard because the people demanded it, Norm McDonald, schedules be damned, Many Mansions, a car hit my head, new ideas for 2012, etc. KORPH!!

-Nathan SCHULZ!!

Re-Teams-Up

2012-01-02T03:06:00.000-08:00

Mom had the day off so she was raring to get errands done. This consisted of recycling (a ton of cans, bottles, and SMELLY ASS milk cartons), Staples (I got some refills for my beloved pens), and Black Angus (we had received a gift card from my uncle and I wanted steak).

I grabbed a sec to read more of Oswalt’s Zombie Spaceship Wasteland (pages 121-138), and stopped off at Best Buy to buy the Black Keys’ latest album El Camino. Sweet googly moogly, this is a great album! Its got this whole 70’s Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and buzzing bass power that just gets your head beeping and bopping all about. I will be listening to this album too damn much.

After we picked up some groceries and brought them home, I left to see Cassie (my girlfriend**). I picked her up from her place, and we went to the Long Beach Town Center. We ate at El Torito, and watched Young Adult, starring Charlize Theron.

This movie re-teams-up director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody (they made Juno together if you don’t know cuz you’re not obsessive like me). The dialogue is less hyper-realized, but is still sharp and funny. And touched with a great rush of disappointment and fatigue, which brings out performances I wasn’t prepared for. And the best performance goes to Charlize Theron, who I can’t help but feel was ACHING to play a character like Mavis Gary.

Mavis is narcissistic, alcohol addicted, and so woefully cut off from all forms of human contact and emotion that you’d think she needed to study ahead of time to know how to smile.

And did I mention Patton Oswalt is in this movie and is amazing, and funny and so very human that I must again vow to kill and eat him to gain all his super-powers?
Its hard to feel bad for Mavis in this film. And that’s mostly because the character quite honestly wants you to hate her. She wants you to feel as miserable and uncomfortable as she feels around anyone that feels okay with what they got out of life. She hates you if you’re in a good mood and she didn’t allow said good mood to exist. But its hard to hate her, because she is so broken and lonely and human that you can’t help but understand her.

Condone her actions? Oh hell no, she’s a crazy bitch, man!

Topics of Conversation: Art School, refills, Ribeye vs. New York, Pi, proud geek, tip percentage, dates and time, googly eyes, zebra stripes, flans abound, wink like a seizure, if only there were no customers, etc.

-Nathan

**I have a girlfriend? What? How? 2011 has a some stories I will try to post some other time…

Oh No, The Subject of Me

2012-01-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I tried to maintain one of these again. A journal. Or diary. Or too-personal blog about me. What a subject. Me. Nathan Schulz. I’m a comic geek with an expanding waistline and a bad habit of not writing enough. This is bad because I fancy myself a writer. A crafter of words. Try and put them together so that others want to read them.

So the point of trying to keep this blog/journal going is for practice. For my memory. And to see if I can make my mundane life JUST interesting enough for people to follow along. Or at least tell me to try better. Either is fine with me.

(Well, as long as you’re nice about me needing to try better).

Into the breach!

Today I had a late start. Understandable, since yesterday was a late, late night consisting of party favors, 2011 memories, vodka soaked gummi bears, and sparkling wine. To try and balance my brain out, I read some more of Patton Oswalt’s book Zombie Spaceship Wasteland (pages 79-120). This is an excellent book, by the way. Oswalt is not only one of the funniest human beings on the planet, but he’s also a really sharp, heartfelt writer.

I, of course, am very jealous, and will have to kill and eat Patton Oswalt to gain his powers. Like Mega Man does to his enemies.

I decided to visit my dad today in the Orange Hills facility that cares for him. This… is not easy for me. Honestly, though the facility is very nice, it has all the aspects of hell that I’ve ever needed. Trapped in your own body, without anyway to clean yourself or try to better your situation. No freedom. And sometimes…. No hope. It takes an act of will on my part to even go to the place.

As I drove to the facility, I stopped off at a restaurant named Taco Mesa. This place makes delicious food, and I could use a few minutes to gather my nerve to go to the facility. As soon as I got my food, my mom called and said she would be heading to the facility as well. I told her to stop on over for some lunch/dinner at Taco Mesa, which she was more than starving enough to agree to. After we ate all our food, I decided on a whim to buy the flan for dessert.

Wow… just WOW.

The flan was quite literally the best flan I’ve ever had. It was amazing. I will have to go there more often just for dessert!

Mom and I then headed over to the facility and talked to dad. He… was in his usual vegetative state. It is damn exhausting to be here. I want out there. I want DAD out of there. I end up just swallowing my despair and read some more.

Topics of Conversation: Too many worries, tacos, Dragon Age, cheese or no cheese, stationary, Flan!, observations, drunk texting, etc.

-Nathan

Easter Eggs in the Fall

2011-09-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

Math happened and then I was sitting idle for a bit before heading to work.

I finished up some character descriptions for "The Shrouded City." I only had two or so descriptions done in time for the first draft, which meant that I needed more. This is mostly due to the fact that I had about five characters showing up. I need to get these descriptions out to my girlfriend Cassie and my friend Zoe who was going to look over the script for me. It would probably help to have some kind of details for the look of the people in the story.

I've been borrowing the Lost Season DVDs from Cassie when I realized that the DVDs probably have hidden Easter Eggs in them! I checked the internet, and found out I was right. I'm going to watch them with her.

Been staying up way too late these past few days. It ain't insomnia. Maybe its arrogance? Insomnagance? Arromnia? You decide!

Topics of Conversation: mutually assured destruction, Drive, don't you worry, Halloween costumes, new bandage, chicken, losing thumbs, gimme some ice, missing a ton, idea machine, noodles made easy, letters made to go, etc.

-Nate

Up and Running

2011-08-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

The first thing I did today was drop off episode 10 ("Procrasterbation") of the Order of the Triad podcast at Bobby's! It was super early but it was the only way it was going to work with our hectic schedules. Bobby uploaded it to the limejuice site, though we talked a little about getting a more official website up and running, because the original site was running out of room for the all the episodes. A nice problem really, considering that I wasn't sure we'd even GET into the double digits with the Triad podcast.

Later on, I moved some furniture for my mom. It was not fun. Not that moving furniture has been known to be fun in the past. It just had an extra dose of annoying. Luckily Uncle Jon was helping out today. So it went by all right, though the main piece we wanted to move into the homestead was too big to fit through the front. So that was disheartening.

The good news was that I was able to watch Attack the Block with Cassie, Justin, and Amy! Damn that was a great movie. Seriously in my Top Ten movies of 2011. I will go into detail at some point, but I will quickly say that the writing, acting, and camera work was phenomenal. WATCH THIS MOVIE!

Topics of Conversation: Slams, too much stuff, Red State, plantains, crazy English accents, hover technology, cool jobs, Dresden Files, Jesuit futures, Greek food, darker than black, etc.

-Nate

I Can't Draw (But I Try To Anyway)

2011-01-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

The second day of school seems to be the polar opposite, at least in tone, of the first day. I started off the day with Computer Art class (PhotoShop and Illustrator). Since he was just getting everything organized and handing out the syllabus we could leave early. But I stuck around to try and get a handle on using the computer and Wacom tablet (which is insanely cool by the way). Here’s a doodle:

After the art class, I then headed to Visual Journalism. Its basically doing the same type of stuff I did last semester, except that I need to take more pictures and video. Plus, I got a new Press Card on the way! I’m looking forward to it.

After school, I headed to Justin’s place to catch up with him and shoot the breeze about the upcoming super hero movies of 2011. After The Green Hornet (which already came out), there’s Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, and X-Men: The First Class. It’s a busy year to be a fan boy.

I then grabbed some dinner with Sarah at Del Taco. After which I went to Barnes & Noble to grab some moleskine notepads. I got back home and called it a night.

Topics of Conversation: Blizzard, 17 cents, what rhymes with macaroni, what to blog about, white knight, mouth full of fries, Bella is still so stupid, keeping it vegan, correspondent nerd, choking, etc.

-Nate

Chibi Nate Goes To School

2011-01-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of something I wanted to avoid. To hide from. To try and dodge at all costs. It was the beginning of what would be more work, headaches, and blood and tears for me. There isn’t enough anti-psychotic medication or booze to make it go away.

My 2011 spring semester started today.

One long sigh of disenchantment later, and I’m up at 7:30 am and then out the door for school. My first class was English Literature, which wasn’t too bad. I foresee a lot of reading. Which is fine, except that I’m not sure when I can afford the books. Crap.

Next up was Intermediate Algebra. It’s the only class I’m petitioning for, and this time, just to add a little more adventure, I’m not even on the Wait List. I don’t have much choice though, so I’m going to have to hold out till I get in the class. Here’s to hoping I can bust on through.

After school, I headed to Comics Unlimited for my much-needed comic run. I just wanted to chat with Lainey and Mark, and pick up Buffy the Vampire Slayer (#40) while I was at it. We caught up, heard some great news, heard some bad news, and I got to do something that literally made me more happy than it should have.

I got to write up my recommended reads for the week on the dry-erase board.

This is sad on a lot of levels, but what the hey, I needed a little boost after the past few days. It was fun to just write down some titles and feel like a cool guy for a little bit. Plus, Lainey drew a Chibi Version of me on the board, so I had a nice high to go to work with.

Norwalk was a little slow, but the cable cast went off without much problems except for a DVD player that was starting to act up. I also had to shoot a little basketball class for kids at a nearby park. Unfortunately, it was very dark, so I don’t know how the footage came out. I then headed home and realized that I had more school to do tomorrow. I didn’t get to sleep till 1:00 am. Too bad I can’t fall asleep on command.

Topics of Conversation: “Slow Justice Is No Justice,” talks that need to happen, out waiting the wait list, order of operations, cat-bear, changing minds, mashed potatoes, squat boxing, politeys, Joshua Tree, dark, my silly banter, etc.

-Nate

Solid 60 Minute Block of "Woe Is Me"

2011-01-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

I woke up and had some breakfast before heading out to run errands. This consisted of paying a bill and dropping off a paycheck. These pretty much cancel each other out. Annoying.

I then headed to Norwalk, which had a City Council Meeting tonight. It was a fairly standard meeting, except that finances and budgets kept popping up so here's to hoping things don't get scary, job security wise.

Speaking of jobs, I had a very slight chance for a very good job that I learned today just didn't pan out. It sucks. It actually sucks quite a lot. I need a better job, but I don't really have any prospects. I guess that's the same for everybody in America right now, so Boo f**king Hoo for Nate, right? Its hard to get angry and depressed at my life when so many people have it harder than me. But I'm living here, so it gets just as hard to think past my trials and tribulations.

So for an hour, I just wallowed. All by my lonesome. I gave myself one good solid 60 minute block of "woe is me." Sat in my little work nook and stared at a wall and did just about every generic, cliche broody guy action in the book. Mostly the emo staring into space thinking about how unfair the universe is to me. It was disgusting, comforting, and cathartic.

I'm not over it quite yet. This melancholy will be with me for a week or so more. I'm talking about getting over the possibility of a better situation in life. Not Lotto bulls**t, but hard working potential that I could truly earn. Whatever. Nobody really needs to hear anymore about this. Especially when I personally know people going through tougher stuff.

I headed home and sat down and realized that school was starting tomorrow. Crap. I am just not in the mood for school. What a wonderful start.

I'm shutting my whiny ass up.

Topics of Conversation: Stroganov, The Dude From Anaheim, don't ask guy friends, finances, talking to my brain, my monthly sad day, bubble water, Matt Damon, how to throw an antenna ball properly, etc.

-Nate

Zankou Mega Evil!

2011-01-17T20:37:00.000-08:00

I hung out with Katie today, which was a blast and half (maybe even a blast and three fourths of a blast). We went to Zankou Chicken for lunch, which she had never been to before. We caught up and talked about her recent trip to Texas and how life was for us. One shared order of half chicken and hummus later, we went to the 2 dollar theater on Brookhurst & Ball and watched a movie I had missed out on: Megamind!

(Yes, I chose the poster that WASN'T in English. Cuz I'm weird like that).

The movie was actually pretty fun. It asks the question what someone like Lex Luthor would do if ever actually defeated Superman. (Well, a Lex Luthor that is less psychotic and egotistical, anyway). The action looks really great, and the story is actually very well written. I'd recommend it.

Except for a particular point...

!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the movie, the world believes that Megamind killed Metroman. Even Megamind believes this. But its revealed that Metroman faked his own death so he could stop being a superhero. Eventually, Megamind saves the city Tighten (who Megamind actually created) and the city hails him as a hero. But since everyone believes that Metroman is dead, that means the city is celebrating a murderer. It says a lot about how fickle and forgetful these people are.

!!!!!!!!!!!END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the movie, Katie headed off for home, and I headed out to finish up some errands. I later met up with Carissa to play some Resident Evil 5 and have dinner. While talking, we realized that April was coming up fast, which meant that the Anaheim Comic Con was nigh. We would have to make plans soon to figure out how many of last year's crew we could assemble. Volunteers unite!

Topics of Conversation: Strep Throat's Revenge, life on a ranch, little adventures, the sadness of hunting doves, non-mysteries, titanium, gattling guns, better run, kickback, the magic that is the Slurpee, etc.

-Nate

Editor's Note

2011-01-16T10:00:00.001-08:00

(Editor’s Note: These events are directly related to the January 12th blog “What The F**k Now?”)

(Editor’s Note: There is no Editor).

As I swore to myself on January 12th, Mike, Karmin, and I got our asses in gear and headed to Norwalk to shoot/practice/fail/succeed as we saw fit. We had three ideas, and they were as follows:

1- A poem shot as artsy-fartsy as was necessary.
2- A silly skit starring Mike.
3- A “How To” video of my own devising.

(Editor’s Note: There was actually a fourth idea that wasn‘t written down in time to be remembered).

As the day progressed… we only did one and half of our planned “shot list.” We shot the entire poem, using myriad lights and filters. This took the lion’s share of the work today, and barely left us time to shoot the first half of Mike’s skit. But, all in all, today was a success in my book. And we can get to my “How To” vid at some point, I’m in no rush. I just wanted to shoot something today, and we did.

And not only did we shoot an entire project, we also learned some stuff along the way. Namely, whatever it takes to make something work, whether it be a certain shot or a use of light, then do it.

Afterwards, before she went home, Karmin dropped Mike off near his car. Mike came back to the studio to do some editing, while I remained at Norwalk for a bit longer to catch up on my blogs. I was getting close to being three days behind, and I’ve already been 4 months behind once before.

(Editor’s Note: It might have actually been FIVE months behind).

I then went over to Amy’s place to watch the last three or so episodes of the first season of Angel with Amy and Aaron. It was a pretty good bunch of last episodes for the season, and now we can’t wait to start watching Buffy Season Five and Angel Season Two.

Oh yeah, tomorrow is a Holiday! I completely forgot.

(Editor’s Note: Nathan could not come up with a decent title for this blog entry).

Topics of Conversation: Color bar skat, soggy-salty-greasy, turn off the light, a 25% chance, projects done, headachey, orange juice elixir, no longer sick, tea to coffee, tap dancing, sounds like Ayn Rand, Gatoroid?, etc.

(Editor’s Note: The “Topics of Conversation” are probably Nate’s favorite section of his blogs).

-Nate

(Editor’s Note: We are aware that really is no reason for the “-Nate” at the end of every blog. It’s a waste of time. Sorry).

Our Own Mechanizing

2011-01-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

Today was the day I became 20% manlier. Yes, for you see, I (with A LOT of help from my Uncle Jon) did actual work on my car. We did not take my car to a mechanic! NO! We did our own mechanizing! It was pretty awesome.

I drove to my uncle’s place in Tustin and the first thing we did was replace the drive belt. The old one was still good, but since it had come off once before, we decided to play it safe and install a new one. I’m keeping the old one as a spare in case I ever need it.

The next thing, which took the most amount of time, and was the original reason for working on my car, was replacing the brake pads on my car. The squeaking noise of impending brake death had been nagging me for over a month, so as my Christmas present, my Uncle had offered to buy new brake pads and help me install them. I jumped at the chance.

The process itself isn’t very difficult, its just time consuming to do it properly. First you remove the wheel, then you remove the brake pistons, and then you take out the old brake pads. You put in the new pads, and then reverse the entire process. But you have to be careful because this is the mechanism that stops your car. You don’t want to f**k that up.

After the new brake pads, we noticed a small oil leak, and my Uncle tightened down the bolts for the oil and transmission pan. Hopefully that will fix it, but we won’t know for a little bit.

After my car was returned to fighting condition, I met up with Jamal and Justin to watch The Green Hornet.

I was surprised by how much I liked this movie. Though Seth Rogen doesn’t play Green Hornet so much as he plays Seth Rogen as Green Hornet, he still does a pretty good job with the part. Jay Chou as Kato is amazing, and their friendship comes off really genuine and fun. The visuals are awesome throughout the movie, though it really feels like Michel Gondry is holding back a lot, and too much at times. There are a few scenes where he cuts loose, and they are astounding. “Kato Vision” is insanely fun, and the fight scenes look great. And their car, the Black Beauty? It puts every version of the Batmobile to the test.

Anyways, this movie was the first Buddy Hero flick, and I would recommend watching it just for that. Jamal and Justin also liked the movie, so I am not alone in liking this flick.

But I feel that the three of us might be alone as a trio in liking this movie. We’ll have to wait and see.

Topics of Conversation: Tonsils, resumes, brake pads, Green Hornet, rape is a big problem there, your fatness - no wait it’s a compliment!, movie of my life, fake German, Tiki Dad, etc.

-Nate

A Nerd Like Yours Truly

2011-01-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

I went over to Kristin’s place to play Last Night on Earth, a zombie board game. And no, contrary to what would be the normal belief, I was not the one that purchased said game. It was actually to of the other players that were joining us, her brother Matthew and her cousin Jacob. Our intrepid little gaming party was rounded out by another cousin named Tamar (Jacob‘s sister). After getting to know Jacob and Tamar more, I have come to the conclusion that their family breeds and trains amazing people in a secret mountain compound. Possibly to save the world at some future date.

And so with this team, we set out to survive the zombie invasion.

The game is a mix of Settlers of Catan, Lunch Money, and even Dungeons & Dragons (that is, if you’re a nerd like Yours Truly). Except for the player controlling the zombies, each player gets two random characters to control and each has certain skills and bonuses. As you go throughout the game, you can choose to move, search a room (which gives you Event or Item cards), or fight zombies. Most of the time, you just want to search for cards, cuz nothing else keeps you alive as well.

For my characters, I got “troubled” High School girl “Sally” and “Father Joseph,” the town priest. Sally… well, Sally wasn’t doing much. But Father Joseph really liked to almost get himself killed often. It was annoying. But the game was fun AND we beat the zombies, controlled by Jacob. He needed to be stopped. For the good of the world.

After the game, we sat around and chatted for a bit before Matthew had to go to work and I had to leave to meet up with Aaron and Amy. Jacob, Kristin, and Tamar ran off to do errands of a mysterious nature (possibly more world saving training at the hidden mountain compound).

I got to Amy’s place and we preceded to completely wipe out Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The highlights of the night were the episode “Superstar” and the Cheese Man from the last episode “Restless.” Then Aaron, Amy, and I talked about Harry Dresden for a bit, which is always awesome cuz I don’t have nearly enough people to talk about Dresden with.

(I’m looking at you Sarah. Freaking finish the books already).

The next thing we need to accomplish is to finish Angel Season 1. Hopefully soon!

Topics of Conversation: Thor pajamas, puddy knuckles, Dostoevsky, Adam’s redemption, Death Taco, the ultimate fan fantasy, a spaceship made of guns, think baby, unfair to zombies, what’s with the cheese?, male ego, weapons and weapons, etc.

And a new addition to the blog for 2011! Random Nate Notes about people!:

Kristin: Once worked at a restaurant called “The Spicy Lady.” At least, she TOLD me it was a restaurant…
Matthew: Could play Poker and kick my ass. Note to self, NEVER play Poker with Matthew.
Jacob: Actually owns one of those extendo-baton weapons. And, unlike me, he probably knows what its actually called.
Tamar: So smart that I had to try to impress her with my smarts. But alas, she’s too smart to be impressed with comic book trivia.
Amy: She’s drawing a comic book I wrote! And because she’s drawing it, the comic book literally got 97% better.
Aaron: He used to be nicknamed “Gluttonon.” Those days are gone… or ARE THEY???

-Nate

Doesn't the Zodiac Have Enough Innuendo?

2011-01-13T23:37:00.001-08:00

I started off the morning by rapidly running some much needed errands of the bill paying variety. Ugh. The less said, the better. Afterwards, I headed over to my friend Mike’s place.

We watched an episode of The IT Crowd, which I have to say is funny in such a way that pleases me. It’s a British show about three friends who are each weird in their own way, and the odd world they inhabit. Since I’ve only seen one episode, I can’t tell you much more, except that its pretty clever, and has the hallowed Nate Seal of Approval.

We then played Halo: Reach for a few hours. The game is gamer junkie addictive. I’m lucky I was able to tear myself away before being completely sucked into the vortex of pixels. I pulled myself away in time to meet up with Justin before we watched The Dilemma with our friends Ben and Jon.

Ben had been able to score a free screening a week ago, so though I wouldn’t have normally got around to watching it in the theaters, I had a fairly good reason to catch it now. The movie itself is actually good, with some great laughs, and some actual excellent dramatic moments. My personal favorite scene was of Ronnie (Vince Vaughn) by himself on a bus stop (completely by himself). But he delivers one heck of a performance. And Ron Howard (the Director) throws in some inspired visual flair, and handles the funny and the serious really well.

That being said, the movie suddenly goes by the numbers on certain parts. The dilemma of the characters loses a little bit of its punch, and some out and out stupidity throws me for a loop once or twice. But otherwise, this flick is worth its money. Or at least its matinee price.

After the movie, Ben, Jon, Justin, and myself hung around to talk a little more. In this span of time, my friend Katie made a surprise appearance. She had returned from a family trip to Texas, and she, along with a friend, were going to watch The Green Hornet at midnight. We caught up a little, and promised to meet up at some point.

After this, Ben and Jon headed off for their respective homes, and I dropped off Justin at his place. I came home, fired up the internet… to find that a 13th Zodiac symbol had been added? Say friggity WHAT? Here’s an example of something NOT earning the hallowed Nate Seal of Approval.

And why did they decide this after all this time? What is it with this stuff? First they strip Pluto’s title as a planet away from it (8 planets in our Solar System? NEVER. Its always going to be NINE planets to me, fools!) Then they call Obama a Nazi Socialist. NOW there’s some kind of Opiphian or Opedophelia or whatever sign?

And because of that I get bumped to being an ARIES.

Nothing against Aries’. I love you all, you’re good people. But I enjoyed being a Taurus. It was cool, and I was cool with it. I will remain a Taurus. So suck it, random Astrologists! Oh yeah! And the new symbol is supposed to be a man holding a snake. How much innuendo do we need in the Zodiac? I thought there was enough as is.

On better news, Ricky Gervais killed on his appearance on Conan tonight. The dude is funny, and I’m looking forward to his upcoming project. Apparently he sat down with three comedians and just had a four hour conversation with them. But what’s really interesting is who he talked with: Louis C.K.! Chris Rock! And Jerry Seinfeld!

I’m so down for whatever this becomes. Till next entry!

Topics of Conversation: Its like staring into the sun, fire at a water park, the rubber floor, Star Wars specials in general, words to live by, pretzel, if I was rich, possible thievery, its Lubbock, funny fan fiction, Dale Jr. High, shady goings at cities, snow by the train full, etc.

-Nate

What The F**k Now?

2011-01-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

Woke up and, before I even knew it, I booked nearly my entire weekend. How the hell? It feels like I got to figure out my schedule for the entire month! Maybe I need to cut back on this jet-setting, go-go-go life of mine.

I went to Comics Unlimited for my comic run, at which I bought the latest issue of Secret Six. Mark and Lainey were working today, and we chatted a bit before I had to head to work. At Norwalk, I did the usual, though we had a Planning Commission Meeting. It didn’t go for very long, so were done within an hour.

What took more than an hour was deciding that I wasn’t doing enough.

I sat down and started talking to Mike and Karmin. We talked about a lot of stuff, but the topic that seemed to keep coming back up could be summed up in a very simple theme: “What the f**k now?”

What do I mean? Well, last year (2010), the theme was kind of around the lines of “It’s about f**king time!” The time being that we make some realizations and try to act upon them. The actions being that we try to fix whatever the situation is, or to at least set into motion some form of fixing. Mostly, the theme was about finally being aware.

This time around, I can’t help but feel that “What the f**k now?” is about truly doing something about this new found, and hard-earned, knowledge. I realized last year that I needed to work towards changing my situation in life. So this year I’m going to really endeavor to finish school. I realize last year that I have a lack of actual hard proof of anything written or completed. This year I will write at least three things.

I’m aware that this is basically a New Year’s Resolution, though I like to think of it as a New Year’s Revolution. (Yes, you actually read that right. Yes, I actually wrote that. Yes, I’m aware of how stupid I sound).

Another thing that I want to change is the lack of content I have. Content, that is, of the video variety. Mike also realized that he needed more practice lighting. And Karmin realized that she wanted to make more ideas come to life. So together, we made a vow to work this coming Sunday on shooting whatever comes to mind to shoot. No matter the idea, no matter the silliness, we wanted to complete something of note. Of note to ourselves, if nothing else.

Well this entry turned into a very “FOR FRODO” rally cry for creativity and accomplishment. Here’s to hoping I don’t let myself down.

Topics of Conversation: Sneaky minx, Elvis country, Nerf Herder, a Hypothesis concerning Johnny Cash, Geek LVL UP, catty towards the dead, armchair psychiatrist, 40 minute wait, shame of a nation, a thorough e-mail, tamale, weird horror, stolen pistachios, “SHOW-VA-NIZIM,” people I’d rather not know exist, etc.

-Nate

Grandparent Terminology

2011-01-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

So today is 1-11-11. My friend Lainey pointed out it won’t be as cool as November 11 (11-11-11), but I think its still pretty big. As to its particular significance other than being a bunch of ones, well I honestly haven’t thought that far, so hey a BUNCH OF ONES!

I woke up at a better hour, but only in comparison to the horrendous amount of time I’ve been sleeping in for the past few weeks. But I’m working on it, people, I’m working on it. Don’t give up on me yet.

I got some Christmas money from my grandma, whom I call “Nana.” Is this the case with most people? No, not the Christmas money, which is awesome, but having different titles for our grandparents? On my dad’s side, I called my grandparents “Oma” and “Opa.” On my mom’s side, I called my grandparents “Granddad” and “Nana.” I never called them “Grandma” or “Grandpa,” so for a while, when was really little, I honestly didn’t know what other kids were talking about when they mentioned “Grandma” and “Grandpa.”

“Are you talking about your Oma and Opa?” I asked my friend Adrian, one time on the playground. After he had mentioned, yet again, these shadowy “Grandpa” people giving him a bike for Christmas.
“What?” replied Adrian.
“Or Nana?” I continued.
“Who?” he said back.
“Your GRANDDAD?” I said, frustrated.
“Oh, my Grandma and Grandpa? Yeah. What do you call them?” he asked, perplexed.

That’s when I knew that I had been given different code names by which to refer to my grandparents. All the building blocks for individuality and miscommunication rolled up into one. Good times were had in Elementary.

So anyways, my Nana gave me some money for Christmas, which was great because I was super broke (much worse than regular broke). After going to the bank, I headed to Lainey’s to hang out and talk. I paid the toll in Del Taco fries and we caught up on her getting a Roller Derby concussion. She once asked me if I’d like to join the Roller Derby as like a referee or even join the men’s league, but since I don’t have medical insurance (Go Team America!), I would probably die from rink rash or something Roller Derby related. We mostly chatted till I had to head to work.

Before I went to work, I stopped off at Fresh and Easy to grab some supplies for work. This mostly consisted of water, chips, sorbet, and a few instant noodle bowls. Norwalk was fairly chill, and I mostly organized some of the archive of videos and tried to write.

After work, I hung out with Carissa and played Resident Evil 5, which I had only glanced at nearly a year before. The game is pretty good, and quite addictive. But the aiming system sucks, almost as bad as Grand Theft Auto back in the day. But the choice of guns is pretty awesome, and the team work needed just to stay alive helps keep you hopping. I look forward to playing it again!

Topics of Conversation: Black is slimming, side car cat, abstain, squishy steps, 201111111, precious moments eyes, swimming, Steroid Chris, might as well get a monkey, concussions for fun, a sad moment of no sleep, GOWLD!, etc.

-Nate

My Boring Ass Blog

2011-01-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

I had a late start today, but still made it to work on time. Norwalk was quiet, which I mostly spent organizing the schedule of cable casts. And that's all I have to say about the subject of work.

After work, I dropped off My Boring Ass Life (by Kevin Smith) at Justin's place. I borrowed it from him nearly six months ago, and barely finished it today. But the read is an amazing blend interesting, boring, and funny moments in his life. It actually helped to inspire me to catch up with my own blog, which might take as long as it takes to write the regularly scheduled blog. Oi!

We watched two episodes of Louie, a half-hour show written and directed by the comedian Louie C.K. And I have to say... the show is really good. Sometimes it has a full episode story line, and other times its a few vignettes sewn together. But its really good because it goes from funny, to truthful, and then serious, and right back to funny. I'm really impressed.

Topics of Conversation: Dentists, dubbing, silly weapons, salsa dancing looks hard, real life funny, 230 gigs for a steal, mashed potato casserole, etc.

-Nate

Procrastination By Osmosis

2011-01-09T02:57:00.000-08:00

I keep burning CD’s for people, and I keep leaving them at home! Its frustrating. I hate that head rush after seeing a person and the memory of exactly what I meant to bring them hits me. I’d prefer feeling like cool dude with CD ready to go and looking slick. But what I DO get to be is the flustered guy who’s all “Wait, I have cool stuff for you but not with me so I should just forget about it till I see you next which is exactly what I will do and then I will do this entire soliloquy all over again cuz I forgot to bring it again!”

Yeah, so right, what I did today…

Nuthin’.
Nada.
Not a thing.
Nothing at all.
Zilch.
No productivity at all.

I just didn’t want to accomplish anything today. Which is only a little, barely, okay because it was intentional, as opposed to my usual sexy go-getter daredevil self that just suddenly looks around and realizes I procrastinated by osmosis. I’m just a little fern of a man, in a basement of distracted reverie, yearning for the sun.

Wow, I’m using way more than my usual quota of imagery. Must be because I’m writing this at 2:16 am on the 10th of January (not the 9th as the date posted will lead you to believe) wondering what I should really settle down and achieve. Hey, maybe I just achieved it by sitting down and writing something.

I love to sleep, but I seem to rarely do it voluntarily.

Topics of Conversation: Carnies, a book nearly done being read, fake hot dog, Victorville, horses, penguin pajamas, non-harlots, band reunions *and friends, etc.

-Nate

Hipster Ground Zero

2011-01-08T21:54:00.000-08:00

Started off this little adventure of a Saturday by heading over to Jamal’s place to watch Mystery Team. I got the DVD for Christmas from Justin, and have been wanting to watch the movie again for a while.

After the movie, Jon, Ben, and Kevin joined us. We all drove down to Anaheim to grab some food and go to something called “Community Art Show” off of Brookhurst Street. Before that, we grabbed some food at a place called Cortina’s. Amazing food as usual, and loud conversations from all of us to boot. I ordered my favorite: the pesto pasta. This food, and the company, made sure that I was very happy for the rest of the evening.

At the Art Show, which was Hipster Ground Zero that night, we met up with Katy, and two friends from Jamal and the guys days in their ska band Caffeinated Super-Heroes, Dez and Robert. They were in a band called Stalking Roxy, which played with the Super-Heroes a lot back in the day. These two are really cool, and it was great to catch up with them, what with the little talk I had with them in the past.

The Art Show itself wasn’t too bad. Some pieces worked for me more than others, but hey its art, so that’s to be expected. I suppose my favorite piece was a black framed drawing of a punk girl, followed closely by an archway made of wood pallets. Though I had a kick pretending to explain the meaning of a piece to Katy and Kevin.

It consisted of a mannequin torso, with a cow skull for a head, and metal frame in front of it that seemed to look suspiciously a lot like it was targeting below the waist of the torso, which had a display of little flowers and a burnt-out candle. If you can follow my faux logic/critique, then you would be amused by the pretend distracted voice I used to explain it. (BLOGGING: Theater of the Mind!)

After the Art Show, Dez and Robert headed back home, while Jamal, Jon, Katy, Kevin, Ben, and myself headed to a bar… which was an event in of itself.

STRIKE ONE!: Some place nearby called “Bottom’s Up.” The place was so packed, we ended up just leaving. But before that, we ran into someone that had changed a heck of a lot, and not in a good way. (*picture me shaking my head slowly and sadly*)

STRIKE TWO!: Then we went to Linbrook Bowling, but though the karaoke that was going on was intriguing, the place was packed even MORE to the gills. We left slightly dejected.

Nope, we didn’t strike out three times. We went to this little shot glass of a hole in the wall called “Cups.” It was a small place, but much more reasonably patronized. We settled in quickly.

Justin joined us at Cups, and we went on to have a few drinks and a lot of laughs. Katy and I played a game of Foosball with Jamal and Jon, who won fair and square… no, on second thought, I’m sure they cheated. It makes more sense to me, and I’m not being defensive SHUT UP.

Eventually we called it a night and headed home. I dropped off Justin, after chatting for a bit, and then went home and slept the sleep of a guy that should have already been asleep an hour earlier.

Topics of Conversation: Arf arf, what is a One?, Paramount, one week limit, sparkling apple cider, Foosball, a long wait for two songs, the Ben Quotient, man up, lovin’ the 80’s, long shots for the future, thin skin, OC pics, how to be remembered, bars, I am a beacon, etc.

-Nate

Upon the Bounty of Gift Cards

2011-01-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

I woke up much later than I had intended….

Is that becoming my thing? I just wake up later and later? Not much reason for it. I have school coming back into full swing in barely over a week. Get back into the game, Nate!

MOVING ON

I watched the movie 12 Monkeys again for the second time. It had been a long time since I’d seen it (1999?) and I had only seen a little over half of the movie then. So this was the first time I had seen it all the way through. The movie is pretty good. I’ve always been a fan of Terry Gilliam, and he has a heck of a visual style. And the story is nice and mind-f**ky, just as time travel movies should be.

I got a text from Lainey saying she had a Xmas gift for me, so after the movie, and after quenching my gas tank’s thirst upon the bounty of gift cards, I headed to the shop. There I was greeted with a busy Mark, a happy Mon, and, amusingly, a punch-drunk Lainey. Punch-drunk on sleepiness, that is. I highly recommend conversations with a sleep-deprived Lainey. Its very eye-opening.

As for the gift, it was a framed picture of Hemlock, the kitten I helped Lainey get roughly a year ago. Sweet googly moogly, how time just keeps blasting ahead…

Carissa came by the shop, and I headed out to grab some dinner with her (Lainey was busy for the night, so we couldn‘t talk her into coming along). Thanks again to gift cards, the choice for the restaurant was Chili’s. I had a cheeseburger, and she had some cajun pasta. We caught up, chatting about her new job, the New Year’s, Texas, and fixing iPods. It was a nice night.

I headed home, and caught up on two days of blogs. I watched some scattered bits of TV programming, but honestly can’t tell you what was on. It been nice to write this blog again. I really did miss it. Its just so tricky to find time to focus my brain and put the days into words. And as of this entry, I am now a week into 2011. Let’s see what’s in store for this year…

Topics of Conversation: Then we can bake forever, thermals, one craft fair, killing Ewoks, Lainey is SUPER drunk, “That’s all I got, bro, I got a heart condition!” smoke is a bad sign, threats and firings, no Jesus hands, flapping cadet, Knott’s Berry Farm: Tokyo Drift, the bitter cold of the low 60’s, the uniform, decrepit buildings, penny head’s up, etc.

-Nate

Wall St. Manor

2011-01-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

The other day I picked up some work for the City of Lakewood. That day of work being today. So really, I should be talking about today’s work mainly. I’m starting to confuse myself.

ANYWAYS

The shoot was for “Community Digest,” which was a live broadcast for Lakewood News and Events. I was ran audio, which meant manning the sound board, mostly. The shoot itself isn’t too difficult, just tricky because it’s live. So no delay, and no editing. Fortunately, we did a run-through before the live shoot. Once I figured out what I needed to keep an eye on, I was ready to kick the tires and light some fires.

After the shoot, I headed to Signal Hill to hang out with Victor. This was the first time I’d ever been to his place since he moved out from his old place. He was now at a new house, which he shared with six other housemates. Believe me, it works out fairly well, cuz the place is really big. Plus, his roomies seem to be pretty cool.

After we grabbed some food from a place called “Wok ‘n Roll” (I dig the name, and the food sounded good), we went back to the house, which I deem Wall St. Manor. This is mostly due to the fact that the house is the setting for a web series called…. Yep, you guessed it: Wall St. Manor. Its made by some of the roommates, one (or two) of which is a Film major at CSULB. No, I do not know if that is how real life is like at Victor’s place.

Vic and I ended up watching a ton of The Sarah Jane Adventures, specifically the episodes that guest-starred the Doctor (from Doctor Who). (Why hello, yes, I’m Nathan and I’m a giant geek. Pleased to meet you). And another high light was watching the Robot Chicken: Star Wars Special III. All of these brought me great happiness. It was a great night, all said and done.

Topics of Conversation: The new generation of Roller Derby, pale shadows, November, of all questions, audio stuff, oh the 90's, rent of 7, the gig, free spaghetti, scary Tom Baker, French, etc.

-Nate

Hip-Check

2011-01-05T23:05:00.001-08:00

Today was mostly a relaxed day. I didn't want to do much running around. (Especially after staying up till 3 this morning).

I headed to Comics Unlimited to pick up The Walking Dead (#80). Its Part One of the "No Way Out" story arch. Not sure what's going to happen, but it looks very, very interesting so far. I chatted with Lainey and Mark for a bit. Lainey then preceeded to "hip-check" me twice. (Its one of those Roller Derby moves. Mostly, Lainey is a bully and revels in the power she feels).

I got to Norwalk and mostly worked on cleaning up my office/corner and once I was done, I headed home to chill out. I talked to Jamal for a bit on the phone, about his work and the unfortunate choice of character in True Grit that reminded him of me. (It was the dude that made animal noises.... I'm going kill Jamal). But it was funny, god help me.

I killed time on facebook (which its way too good at doing), and wrote this entry. Seriously, not much happened today.

Oh yeah! And the response to the "Nathan!" fake teaser has been pretty awesome. Thanks for all the kind words, peeps!

Topics of Conversation: Magic popcorn, Valhalla, hug training, Music Unlimited Vol. II, the tamales in question, easy Resolutions, Greek for "good-bye," ladder risk, burn more CD's, etc.

-Nate

Fake TV Teaser Trailers For Fake TV Shows

2011-01-04T15:12:00.000-08:00

After the news of needing to work on the commerical we shot, Justin and I talked about what that would entail, and how best to accomplish our goal:

TO MAKE OUR CLIENT/FRIEND PAUL A SATISFIED CLIENT/FRIEND!

...upon further thought, that entire statement, if taken out of context, is kind of weird and makes you think wrong things. Rest assured, we only mean for him to be happy about the video we shot for him. Justin and I talked it out, and came to the conclusion that we have to grow up and act like professionals and get to work as soon as we can. Oh well, tis the real world...

I arrived at work at Norwalk, and found my friend/co-worker Bill in a surprisingly inspired mood. Apparently a facebook entry I had posted on a whimsical whim of fancy and whim caught his attention. This is the entry word for word: "If I had a TV show, what would the opening credits look like?"

That's it. Nothing more than an idle thought and day dream. I didn't expect much of a response from it, nor did I think anyone would put thought into it. Before I knew it, I had ten replies, with Bill being one of them. He evisioned a ton of snap zooms, which I was more than amused at. But Bill wasn't done there...

We decided to shoot a version of it: (Enjoy).

Nathan!

He edited this version, which is more of a fake TV teaser trailer for a fake TV show. Also, it friggin' awesome. I'm editing one that's more of the opening credits for a show. Personally, I think Bill's is beyond perfect.

After cutting it together, we had to get back to real work and shoot the first City Council Meeting of the year, which was over very quickly. Which was a pleasant surprise. Also, before all this, we all pooled our money for the $330 million dollar lotto. Might as well give it a shot, even if it a very slight chance.

After work, I met up with my friends Victor, Josh, Mai, Justin, and Chris for a night of tacos, endless Doctor Who talk, art galore, and two adorable pugs named Dozer and CK. I hadn't seen Josh and Mai in nearly two years, so it was a real treat for me. Today was a great day!

Topics of Conversation: Lunar azul, Avatar money, True Grit skit, Texas, CEO Pimp, a lot a' lotto, the opening credits to my non-existant TV show, online journal, Daniel Radcliffe as the Doctor, Winston Churchill the pug, time eddy, don't live in not California, "Which one is the people with the cat heads?", the upcoming Nerf War, a ton of Doctor Who geekery, two years between visits, "Gotta get to the gig!", etc.

-Nate

Diversity of Talk

2011-01-03T09:02:00.000-08:00

I drove to Tustin to have lunch with my friend Trick. He was visiting from his job in Japan, and I wanted to make sure to hang out with him at least a little before he had to head back. As usual, our conversations ranged from anything from Japanese girls to creative writing to the state of the economy. Our talks have always had a lot of diversity in them, and always feel natural. Good times.

We ate at Chick-Fil-A, and we talked till I had to leave for Norwalk.

Once at Norwalk, I realized that my 2010 calendar was now done. This would normally not be of any note of interest, either to myself or to you, gentle reader. But it was a free Marvel Comics calendar! Its new-found status as being obsolete paper should at least be noted.

Okay, even I’m bored with that.

When I was done with work, I headed to Amy’s house to watch Buffy and Angel. We ended up watching 6 (SIX!) episodes, and hit the awesome crossover episodes with Faith. Great stuff, if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately, I ended the night with some news that wasn’t so strong. Apparently the client for the commercial I shot with Justin wanted to re-do all his speaking parts. From camera, lighting, and audio. This is roughly 75% of the commercial. Its going to be a lot of work, and I don’t know exactly when I can get access to the camera we used for the shoot. But this is life in the Big City, or so I believe.

Either way, I wasn’t completely happy with what we shot before, so I will just look at this as a chance for improvement.

Topics of Conversation: Lenny Kravitz’s hair, a little Socialism ain’t so bad, way too much wackiness, passionate politics, no implants for me, gypsies, the future, NetFlix made easy, Faith, etc.

-Nate

All-New! All-Adorable! & All-Accidental!

2011-01-02T02:43:00.001-08:00

Woke up to vegan waffles made by the parentals. The waffles… were a step in the right direction. Not perfect, as prototypes go, but I suspect my vegan friends would nod sagely in approval… and violently shake their fists at me for not saving some for them. Be calm, my vegan comrades, I shall learn how to make them for you.

Afterwards, I headed over to Justin’s house in Step One of our maniacal scheme to go to LA to watch True Grit. But first we hung out for a bit, in which I was fed imaginary omelettes by Justin’s nephew Kamayo. That kid is ridiculously cute, and has the kind of comedic timing only children have for the first 4 years of their life. Its all-new, all-adorable, and all-accidental.

Once I was sufficiently stuffed on food that didn’t exist, Justin and I headed to LA… in the worst rain storm possible. That shows us for not leaving earlier. We were to pick Will (a LAFS alumni) and meet up with Sean (also a fellow LAFS alumni) at the theater. Our friend Jeptha was supposed to join up with us, but bailed out for monetary reasons, of which I can’t truly fault him, being in the same boat as well. (I was using tickets I was given for Christmas for this outing).

At the mall/theater, we grabbed some linner (lunch/dinner) and then went to Barnes & Noble to hang out till the 8:10 showing. 7:30 eventually showed up to the party, and we headed to the theater.

True Grit… is an awesome movie. I really liked it. It was slow, but that just meant more time with these three really interesting characters: Maddie Rose, Rooster Cogburn, and LeBeuff. Each one was polar opposites of each other, but they just pulled out the most stuff out of each other. Both annoying and impressing not only each other, but themselves. And the wild west has never felt more authentic than with this movie. The Coen Brothers were able to make danger seem almost like a job in of itself for people like Rooster, but also incredible at the same time. Great movie!

After the movie, Justin, Will, Sean, and myself stuck around to just shoot the s**t and catch up. Promises of WRITING SOMETHING were made, and then we were off for home. And magically, all the way back to Will’s place to drop him off, we all improved a strange scene in which it begins with me trying to discuss my debt to a credit card company, and ends up with propositions of male prostitution and insults not meant. Truly a magical, insane, and R-rated skit. Thanks for the memories, guys!

After I got home, I was still awake enough to watch a movie. I checked out what was on my cable’s “On-Demand” and fired up Killshot, a 2008 “thriller” starring Mickey Rourke, Thomas Jane, Diane Lane, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

It was really bad. Especially after watching True Grit. This movie was barely on speaking terms with logic, and was never actually scary or thrilling. Confounding. Yes, confounding. That is Killshot. A confounding movie with confusing characters. Don’t watch it unless its 1:30 in the morning and you have nothing else to do… like I did.

Topics of Conversation: Gooey vegan, a long skit about debt management, blinking, Samurai baby, Judge John Hodgman, not touching chicken, French fry shake, script NANOWRIMO, the magic that is a briefcase full of money, etc.
-Nate

Don't Open Dead Inside

2011-01-01T22:42:00.000-08:00

On New Year’s Eve, I didn’t get as smashed as I usually do. “Usually” being the past two to three years. I let myself get pretty drunk for the turn of the year, but that didn’t happen this time around mostly because I didn’t want to get dumb-drunk in front of Jamal’s mom, who was kind enough to let us young no-gudnicks celebrate at her house.

So drunk I was not.

I got home and slept in till noon, which is ridiculous, but never stops feeling great. I have to get myself back into school sleep mode again, cuz the 19th is just two weeks away. G’ah! A curse upon skoolin’!

I went to Barnes & Noble to take part in some of the post-holiday sales they were offering, and since I still had over $40 in my gift card, I was hoping I could get something cool. And something cool I did get. I bought John Hodgman’s book More Information Than You Require… for 6 bucks! It’s a steal, and I will never tell Hodgman. I will just pretend I paid full price, if I ever have a chance to get him to sign it. And if it ever comes up in the 49-seconds conversation we would have. And if he was to suspect me. Which he wouldn’t.

Cuz I’m just too charming to be doubted.

After Barnes & Noble, I headed out and caught up with Carissa. We played Halo 3, and actually beat the sucker. Though Carissa ended up doing most of the hard work, as I was killed early and never had a chance to re-spawn to join in on the big boss fights. Argh. I never said I was great at gaming.

We gave each other our Christmas gifts. She gave me a T-shirt of The Walking Dead that said “Don’t Open Dead Inside.” Which made me laugh inside my head, because I thought to myself “Heh. I’m dead inside. Time for some guy-liner to make it official.” I didn’t share that thought with Carissa right then, because that thought could make a very confusing situation out of what I honestly felt was an awesome gift. I left it to the facts: I really dug the shirt! Its pretty cool, and I hope to wear it often and with much pride.

For Carissa, I bought her a copy of Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall. Though she barely had Volume 2 of the Fables TPB’s, the book is mostly prequel stuff that doesn’t give anything away. Also it was drawn real pretty like.

After the Halo-in’, I headed home and realized I really needed to at least start up on my blog again.

I look back on 2010, and realize I only recorded a little over half of it. That is both a personal disappointment, and a personal achievement at the same time. I’ve tried in the past to record my days, and barely made it past a week. But this time, I have nearly seven solid months of the entire year of 2010 written down. That’s not bad. Maybe I can do better for 2011. Or maybe not. We’ll have to wait and see.

So here it is. Read it up, and pass it along!

Topics of Conversation: Miss the parade, resolutions, XL shirts, Sunday in LA, wagging bob, headaches, farms in nowhere, couch crash, sleepy drunk cowboy serenading, red feet, etc.

-Nate

The Annual Starbuxian Xmas Dinner (Vol. 9?)

2010-12-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

You know you are in for an interesting start of the day when you spend the first few hours throwing out old magazines. It was boring. It was tedious. It was necessary. I apologize to the trees that watched their fallen brethern be turned into Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone.

Anyways, what's much more interesting about tonight is that it will be the next Annual Starbuxian Xmas Dinner. Is it the 9th? The 10th? I really don't know, which will make Victor shake his head to no end, I'm sure.

So I got my pretty clothes on and looked all spiffy. Black slacks, black dress coat, and an argyle sweater. Beard? Trimmed. Hair? Slightly less messy. Glasses? Sparkling. Smile? Even MORE sparkling.

I headed to Cerritos to catch up with Victor and Trick at It's A Grind. Trick was visiting from Japan for the holidays, and I missed the guy. So we talked as Victor did the finishing touches on a gift he was making for Nan, a cool lady and friend of ours. As the time got closer to the Xmas Dinner, I headed to Macaroni Grille at the Cerritos Town Center. Cap'n Josh was at the bar, so I chatted with him for a bit, before the rest of the crew showed up.

ROLL CALL!:

Nathan (me), Cap'n Josh, Victor, Trick, Justin, Quincy, Colin, Wes, Patrick M., Tiffany, Stephanie, Rob, Aria, Nan, Myles, Jaelle, Chirag, Justin C., Cianar, Kristian & Kristian's date, DougX, Ken, and Janey.

... am I forgetting anyone? I hope not.

The food at the Macaroni Grille was... not its best. It was pretty blah. After dinner, we gave out Secret Santa gifts (I got the movie Labrynth from Aria!), after which we headed to the Town Center for our "constitutional," which I'm sure is some old man term for shooting the breeze.

It was a great night, and helped to remind me why I love going to these annual events with friends. Especially the friends I haven't seen in a long time. UNTIL NEXT YEAR!

Topics of Conversation: Platonic boob shots, all of music, free art, fire would be nice, party poppers, the reason to like psychology, why we look nice, a wrong condom, fathers on the outs, Koreans that hate Koreans, couples straight from the 30's, new baby, my favorite is the Sophisticated Bear, etc.

-Nate

December 19th

2010-12-19T07:12:00.000-08:00

I did some Christmas shopping, and then had lunch with Carissa. On my way home, I had car problems. DAMN IT. Other than the lunch, not a great day in 2010.

Holy Bat Saturation!

2010-11-17T22:53:00.000-08:00

So math was there.

Afterwords, I met up with Aaron and Mike. We had lunch, and then I went with Aaron to Comics Unlimited. Lainey and Mark were at the shop, and it was cool to catch up, though I didn't talk to Mark as much, which I feel bad about.

Batman Inc. (#01) was out, as was Batman: The Return. Actually, come to think of it, the stands have been really Batman heavy as of late. From Batman & Robin, Batgirl, Batman Beyond, Batman, Red Robin, Birds of Prey, Catwoman, Red Hood, Batwoman......

Damn. That's a lot of Bat. Are they trying to keep up with X-Men?

After the shop, I dropped off Aaron, and then headed to work, which was quiet, except that it was going to ramp up in the next few weeks.

Crap. I have to finish Dracula tonight. I might end up just passing out.

Topics of Conversation: Happy to see you, ugly superhero, black box baby, a lot of Avengers, Pac Rats, ocean blue, use of the bathroom, SB, perspective, Girls Generation, Darth Vader tattoo, nom nom its prey, LA molestation, etc.

-Nate

Heapin' Helpin' of Harried Homeworkin'

2010-11-16T23:55:00.000-08:00

Seems to me that our teacher in Literature Analysis seemed to be in a foul mood and threw four very intense questions at us to answer over the next day or so. Everybody felt a little annoyed and indignant. Oh well, just one more academic headache to throw on top of this heapin' helpin' of harried homeworkin'.

I was originally going to meet up with Sarah for lunch, but her work got flipped around. I figured some cheap Taco Tuesday tacos shouldn't be enjoyed without some cool people, and Carissa ended up joining me. We even talked about a dream she had. I like to analyze dreams as a little hobby on the side. Try and see any hidden meanings or sneaky tidbits to piece together. Its fun!

After lunch, I went and got some recycling done to the profit of around 11 bucks. Not bad, considering I do a happy jig for 4 bucks.

Went over to Norwalk to shoot the City Council Meeting, which was surprisingly short. Not the usual order of business for Council Meetings, but I suppose brevity, and one simple item of discussion, won out. Score one for the good guys, people.

Ugh. I gonna go to sleep extra fast tonight.

Topics of Conversation: Recall, hilarious bathrooms, Club Sexy Vampire, Resolve Face, boob signing, adventures in dreams, taco time, shrimp tempura, recycling, overnight no-no, a guy named Vlad, miners, weekends too busy, etc.

-Nate

Read 'Em And Weep

2010-11-15T22:57:00.000-08:00

(Feeling kinda Noir narration today, so here goes)

Woke up with a pain in my throat, though a hoot and a holler would shout down this morning blues. There wasn't enough water to wash away this bitter taste of Monday out of my mouth. The sun was glancing my way with a sleepy disinterest, and I wondered when exactly the moon abandoned me for somewhere colder.

A wash, a brush, and a throw and I'm heading out with a skip missing from my step. I could feel the weight of equations hanging off my eyelids as the prof said her words. Even the cute girl next to me wasn't enough to bring the numbers to life. And when you're talking about math, life is all by the numbers.

The past few days seemed to pass me by with barely a smile and a nod. The parade of hours spent out and about left me feeling down and out, but you can't fault me for a day well spent. And I spent these days like a broken gambler with a great hand. All in and over my head.

So I wrote down the words of a man who thinks too much of himself, and needs to man up to put more of himself in his words. But I write these blogs like I play killer hands, kids. Read 'em and weep.

I headed over to my job, and wished for a career. But the money wasn't showing up otherwise, so I put my shoulder to grindstone to carve out a living for another week. Living's hard in a stone cold world of hard-headed lifers, and it ain't any easier for this dreamer.

But I dream big enough for all of us.

Topics of Conversation: Transmetropolitan, stress sigh, some equipment, movies about mistakes, later thoughts, Chumbawamba, home buying, business stuff ain't fun, fans of people, cold and the US, etc.

-Nate

An Exercise in Avoiding Endless Distractions

2010-11-14T12:41:00.000-08:00

Today was mostly devoted to homework, studying, breakfast and lunch with the family, and episode three of The Walking Dead.

All the school related stuff was dealt with at home where I was sufficiently locked away from the world lest I make the poor choice of trying to let myself be distracted. Its amazing how paint suddenly becomes more interesting than anything else in the world, when the only thing you should be doing is focusing on school work. Its all an exercise in avoiding endless distractions. A little piece of mental chess against my own apathy.

After I finally achieved equilibrium with the amount of input of work to the output, I headed to Carissa's place to watch The Walking Dead. Popcorn and Halo was as well. And a quick discussion on people who just remain acquaintances.

This ep of Walking Dead was really good. And the quick reveal of a tidbit of insanely important information was great. I'm avoiding getting spoiler-happy here, so let's just say that it changes my entire impression of two characters. This episode wasn't as zombie heavy, which was fine, because the zombies they did have were fantastic! I can't wait to watch the next episode. Which will push Season One into being halfway over. ONLY SIX EPISODES! Its torture, but I'm thankful that AMC went ahead with a pilot SEASON instead of just a pilot EPISODE.

Season Two will be outstanding at this rate.

Topics of Conversation: Rubicon, Robot Utopia, hunker down and power through, Option 01- Get Out of America, vegging, dream talk, space money, antsy, reasons for not getting to borrow my cell phone, etc.

-Nate

The D-Driver Shuffle

2010-11-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

So I wrote down the wrong time for my work at Lakewood today and ended up being nearly an hour late. ARGH. I hate when this happens. There's no good excuse, and any reason sounds weak. Basically, the shoot was for a class teaching how to make gardens and yards that are good at water conservation. Basically, cutting back on full grass lawns that drink up water like crazy. If I owned a lawn or garden this whole class would actually apply to me.

Later on I caught up with Carissa to grab some lunch and Halo 3. We got pretty far, and were kicking some decent amounts of ass (well, the COMPUTER'S ass anyway).

Afterwards, I headed over to Jamal's mom's place to watch the Pacquio/Margarito fight. It was pretty good! Margarito took a hell of a beating, but made it all the way to Round 12. Though Pacquio pretty much gave him the last round out of the kindness of his heart. Pacquio fights to win, not to humiliate. Classy fighter, though I'm sure there were a lot of people that just wanted to watch him beat Margarito to death. Either way, the fight was really good, even if you knew who was going to win by the 6th round.

After the night was over, I did the D-Driver shuffle for some friends to get them home safe. That is, I was designated driver for a friend, and then needed a ride back to my car. It was a little out of the way, but nothing inconvenient.

Topics of Conversation: Talk to the fist, Black Market audio, cat attack, a hankering for some spankering, flash memory, eyes burn, business for what?, friendship gone rotten, etc.

-Nate

Season Finale Finale

2010-11-12T23:45:00.000-08:00

I woke up a lot later than I expected to today. Just felt extra tired and the blankets felt so nice. I love sleeping in the winter.

I went over to Justin's place to work out the script for a commercial we were going to do for a friend. But before that, we grabbed some lunch at Bandido Burrito, and even ran into Katy, a friend of ours. We shot the breeze for a bit, before we had to go our seperate ways.

After lunch, we not only finished a rough draft of the script, but also hammered out the unsavory part I always hate to talk about.

PAYMENT.

We agreed on the amount we would ask for, and soon had the skeleton for a shot list and what shots we would need to put together. It felt good to be working on the professional side of this whole little dream we keep trying to work on.

We needed to talk about some notes with our friend/client. But he wouldn't be available until later. So Justin and I finished up the First Season of Dollhouse...

And I have to say... it was AMAZING. Yet again, Joss Whedon and company show me how to write amazing characters, dialogue, plots, and twists. The confrontation with Ballard and the Dollhouse, the twist on Whiskey, and the reveal of Alpha... And then the outstanding Season Finale. And then the DVD exclusive Season Finale Finale. (yeah, I know, it sounds weird, but its pretty awesome in its own right).

After Dollhouse, we were going to meet up with some friends for a birthday party, but by the time we got there, there was a $10 cover charge...

I'm not a big fan of cover charges, as a rule. But I'm also low on money AND I have work early tomorrow morning. This just struck me as paying 10 bucks for an hour of awkward loud noise and being disgruntled. So I decided to pass.

Hopefully I didn't piss anyone off.

Topics of Conversation: Ending with no ending, reviled, tights for dancing, beard as a beacon, photoshop the past, remove the ignore, fame just to hang out, a WTF Season Finale, adobo, rough start at the bar, etc.

-Nate

It Does Not Involve Compasses

2010-11-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

School was pretty good today. In Literature Analysis class we discussed Dracula, and the symbolism of vampires. I went the whole psychological path with how they symbolize the darkness in all of us that can come out with just a little help from evil. Others talked about how they balance the social classes, since you don't have to be rich or poor to be used by a vampire.

But the number of girls that would immediately talk about how dark, hot, and sexy vampires are was staggering. I was pretty surprised, but I guess I shouldn't have been. Even with the damage inflicted by Twilight, True Blood and other vampire stuff has brought the brooding bad boy back to the forefront.

Maybe I should brood more and wear more black. Or maybe no.

I came up with a skit while learning how to use compasses in Geology lab. It involves a man working in an office who, after weeks of quiet discomfort, finally tells his friendly co-worker please stop a certain ritual of his.

IT GOES A LITTLE LIKE THIS:

NED: Morning, Alan!
**Ned is obviously peeing in the coffee machine**
ALAN: ....Ned.
NED: Why the gloomy Gus today, buddy?
ALAN: ...
NED: C'mon pal!
**Ned zips up his pants, and pours a cup of coffee/urine**
NED: Here you go.
ALAN: Yep.
**Alan takes the cup of coffee and stares at it**
NED: Rough morning?
ALAN: I just... Can you stop peeing in the coffee? Just- STOP PEEING IN MY COFFEE.
**Ned looks at the coffee and kind of just laughs out of embarrassment**
NED: Oh wow! Man, that's so embarrassing! I must have done it out of habit. I'll stop doing that, pal, no worries.
ALAN: (BEAT)
ALAN: WHY IS THAT YOUR HABIT?!

-FIN-

No, it does not involve compasses at all. I can see how that would be misleading. I have no idea why my short skits are always so strange. I guess I just have a need for the absurd.

For lunch, I met up with Katie. We ate at The Hat, which is a great pastrami place. I highly recommend it, especially the Chili Cheese Fries. WOW.
We caught up and talked about life, The Walking Dead, and different types of animal people and who we accidentally think we are similar to. Street Fighter took a prominent place in the discussion and I pictured a world solved by dramatic video game challenges against other people. She called me a panda, which was nice, even if I wish I was more like a wolf or panther. Not the case, which even I know is not the case. Anyways, the food was good, and the conversation was fun.

After that, I headed over to meet up with Aaron and Amy to watch Spaced. Such a great show! I am constantly reminded of the kind of humor I can only hope to pull off in my wildest dreams. Patrick met up with us a little later, and we bitched about his work a little.

I headed home, and now I look forward to spaghetti. A great day full of productive friendship and schooling.

Topics of Conversation: Moving to Canada, finding the Hat, youth for the young, Harry Potter symbolism, dumb bosses, the lisp only makes things worse, we got some dark thoughts y'all, dinner card vs lunch card, Nato von Dracula, 73.58% cooler, spiders!, another accident, Sloths and Tigers and Pandas Oh My!, etc.

-Nate

Hyperspace Metaphorical

2010-11-10T23:40:00.000-08:00

I really, truly don't want to learn about complex numbers. Not when I have so many other things to worry about. I just seems unnecessary to throw math on top of this big ol' pile of hooplah.

What's complex is life. Thanks a bundle, eternity. I'm supposed to succeed and be self-sufficient. But I'm bad at math, so that cuts my options WAY the eff down to not many. Or I can work four jobs and not be able to afford both health care and rent. What happened to the jobs where I can afford life and work out my suppressed aggression on cheap gourmet food and Left 4 Dead 2?

Nowhere to be found.

And another thing! I don't want to live in LA. Near or around, I'm okay with that. But not IN LA. I would like to live in San Francisco. Or San Diego. But Los Angeles? Naw. Don't see the need. The town just gets on my nerves. Heck, I'd rather just live in Oregon near a forest. Hermit life with wi-fi, people!

So um...

Yeah! Comics Unlimited. I went there today. Met up with Carissa and Justin while chatting with Lainey. Lainey dyed her hair black and was wearing all black, so that was appropriate Lainey wear. I only bought one comic, which was the conclusion to "The Return of Bruce Wayne." Not bad. Grant Morrison got a little out there, hyperspace metaphorical on me, but that's fine. Its part of why I keep buying what he writes.

Cool thing about the convos at the shop today was that it was moving pretty good. A nice little round robin of discussion on comics and status quos being updated and destroyed. Lainey doesn't want to read Batman & Robin, but I will slowly change her mind, hopefully. I never thought I would like Damien as Robin, but he's actually a human being with Morrison's deft skills.

After the run, I went to Norwalk for work. We shot a Planning Commission meeting and they talked about iron fences and shiny roofs. That was about it. We also had to discuss the upcoming Xmas video, but we talked about crappy 80's muscle cars and trail burgers instead.

I wanted to go around and do good deeds for the world, but I decided to write this blog entry about my quiet, little life instead. If anything, I'm keep up with my new blog schedule. And that's a step up.

Topics of Conversation: Blanket cat, ourvaluedcustomers.com, blink and you're confused, over the top, vegan card calling, pizza theft, bruisin', Christmas video means the end of the line, coughing fits, hugs given, just stop and realize they're human, info on the down low, etc.

-Nate

Writing Words to Read

2010-11-09T11:22:00.001-08:00

For school today, I had to do an in-class essay on Frankenstein in comparison to an article on cloning Dolly the sheep. This was made more difficult because I had forgotten to grab my copy of the book from my car. So the first ten minutes of the essay was spent by me walking back to my car and retrieving the book. But it was okay, I was able to throw together an essay that didn’t sound quite like I was a babbling monkey in plaid. I at least sounded like a babbling gorilla…

I went to grab some lunch and talked with Katie. We made plans for lunch on Thursday, and I then headed over to Norwalk. Today was going to be a slow day, which I’ve been needing to have so I can catch up on more of my writing.

One of the cooler tangents I went on today, and this was thanks to my co-worker/buddy Karmin, was viewing our lives as though we were all on a TV show. The show would change sometimes, but we all had story arches, new and old characters, themes, and plot points. I even started to refer to me as a "character," and pretended to speculate with a journalist what was in store for Nathan. Even disagreeing with some of the choices that the writers of the show had made. It was pretty fun!

Topics of Conversation: Genetic awesomeness, life as a TV show, power of a Token, in-class writing blah, lemon juice threat, agreement on zombies, Tasmanian dogs, channel 3, pastrami plans, great outdoors, disagreements make us think harder, feasting on broken hearts, etc.

-Nate

Spit-Ball

2010-11-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

Back to school with Math being a bit more understandable today. Also, just got word from the teacher that I can take an extra credit test. Uh, that would be a HELL YEAH for me.

After grabbing a burrito, I mosey’d on over to Comics Unlimited to pick up the last comic that I had set aside, which was Secret Six. Lainey and Mark were at the shop today and I chatted with them till I had to leave for work.

BUT before I left, I started spit-balling ideas with Lainey about possible T-shirts she could make for Threadless and other shirt sites. As of now, I have roughly six, with more on the horizon. Two of them she really liked, so we’ll have to wait and see what comes of the shirt daydreaming…

Norwalk was quiet, which was good because I had forgot to work on an assignment for English that was due tomorrow. D’oh. But I got it done, and am now ready to drop some Frankenstein film review science on some fools!

NATE NOTE!: Oh yeah, and Conan O’Brien’s new show debuts on TBS tonight!

Topics of Conversation: Boom mike in the middle, extra test, tofu monster, what’s new, people avoided, the similarity between a hot dog and Frankenstein’s monster, earning a birthday, the new thing, etc.

-Nate

Zombie Sunday

2010-11-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

The shoot for Norwalk was a basketball game at the Sports Complex, but judging by the lack of an unlocked door, somebody might have forgotten to tell the Sports Complex staff.

This problem was resolved quickly, but it felt like a while, since I was holding equipment. The b-ball games were pretty good, and weren’t as difficult to shoot thanks to their desire that I stick to shooting high lights, instead of entire games from start to finish.

Carissa had invited me to watch the second episode of The Walking Dead at her place, and not only did I agree to this idea, I also rented Left 4 Dead 2 to sweeten the deal a little more. We played some L4D2, got some pizza, and then watched the second episode. Which was amazing, by the way. I mean, I can’t believe how quickly this show is becoming my favorite show on the tube. We even got Carissa’s brother Christian hooked on the show!

A great night and capper to Sunday.

Topics of Conversation: Dusty Rhodes, Postcards From California, candy, highlights, City Council, AA, zombie watch, flashing lights of annoyance, blunt instruments, a game so fun, apologies mean more when they are meant, etc.

-Nate

Making Resolves

2010-11-06T02:55:00.000-07:00

Urgh.

You know what makes you want to sleep in till the next journal entry? Staying up all night funk dancing, and not getting home till 4 am.

Urggggh…

Sleeping in did not quite happen, NOR did it not quite NOT happen. I got enough sleep to be a functional and upstanding citizen for the day, until I got a call from my boss. He wanted to see if I could pick up some work tomorrow for Norwalk shooting a basketball game. I said yes, though it must of sounded like a bad impression of vocal chords trying to make the sound of “yes.”

I woke up enough to remember a resolve that I had made. Making resolves are difficult, but necessary. For today’s resolve, I wanted to record something. Anything. As long as it didn’t consist of nothing. Which is mostly what I had. Nothing. Nothing to show for months of slaving away at being a good student, a good worker, and a good dreamer.

So I met up with Justin and we shot four different skits, mostly of the audio variety. They’re easier to come up with, and we had a few that we had been thinking of trying out. First there was an idea that made fun of how SyFy came up with their movie ideas, then there was an audio snippet version of an old journal entry from March about how Katherine Hepburn started sounding like Katherine Hepburn. We ended up the shoot with a made up fight with a possessed Santa Clause decoration. (Even Victor came by for a cameo!).

Yes, this all sounds ridiculous. And yes, I was extremely happy to make them. It had been too long since I had made silly skits and shenanigans. It was cathartic.

We grabbed some lunch at Bandido Burrito (which was delicious), and got an invite to go over to Gina and Bobby’s apartment for a get-together. We headed over, and had a few beers and talked about nothing and everything. I even had a shot of honey whiskey which burns just as much as the original stuff, but with a better aftertaste.

COOL ANNOUNCEMENT!

By the end of the night, Bobby, Justin, and I decided that we should make a podcast! We had done one in May, and kicked around the idea of a more steady endeavor ever since. Well, the whole day felt like an exercise in doing cool stuff, and this felt like no exception. So Bobby will look around for a 4-channel mixer, we’ll all kick in money for it, and the beginnings of a podcast will have been etched into internet stone. I even proposed what the first episode should be about, so after we figure out the schedule stuff, we’ll be off and running.

Another awesome night! I’m liking this weekend.

Topics of Conversation: Waffle recipes, podcasts, cheap china, keeping busy, pretty girl don’t like me, good burritos, Buffy RPG, busting a groove, SModcast, envy of costumes, SyFy, the Game, Italian sushi, etc.

-Nate

Teenage Humility & Humidity

2010-11-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

As far as Fridays go, today was hectic. But in a very good way.

First off, I woke up early for a video shoot for Lakewood. It was at a High School that had a Assembly to retire a jersey for a former football player for the school. His name was Alterraun Verner, and he had made it to the NFL since his days at the school, playing for the Tennessee Titans. What was more interesting was that Verner not only had been a star athlete, but he had a 4.17 GPA. Great googly moogly! And he liked Math, which just made him seem from outer space to me, but good for him!

Now, I don’t watch much sports, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you much more about all that stuff, but what I can tell you about is that I used to ditch a lot of high school Assemblies when I was a lad. And being in one again just reminded me of why I chose to avoid them back in the day. And I was being PAID to attend this Assembly!

It’s the strange mix of fake enthusiasm, real apathy, showboating, rampant false senses of entitlement by the athletes, assorted boredom by the students in the bleachers, tired authority, and heat. Yes, HEAT. I had forgotten how damn hot it could get in a gym when you stuff it to the brim with insecure, oversexed, surly, and hormone drenched teenagers. This is a recipe for an juvenile furnace fueled by school “spirit.” Needless to say, I stepped out as much as I could.

Argh! And it was humid, too!

Anyways, after the shoot, I headed to Comics Unlimited yet again to pick up at least two more issues of list of comics for this week. Talked with Mark for a bit, before I met up with Justin. We had a meeting to talk to Paul, our friend Mona’s boyfriend, about shooting a commercial for his therapy practice. This was to be the first time Justin and I would put our heads together to make an actual, serious commercial. Perhaps it’s the start of a new aspect of our career goals?

The meeting went well, and Justin and I left to meet up with Jamal, Jon, Katy, Ben, and Kevin to go to a bar in Long Beach called Alex’s Bar. (NATE NOTE!: Alex’s Bar is the same bar used to shoot the Fangtasia scenes in True Blood! Wow!). The extra bonus of the night was that Alex’s Bar would be hipster central due to the funk night that it was throwing there. Whatever about the hipsters, the important fact was that funk music was going to be played, alcoholic beverages were to be drinked, and grooving was to be shook.

Also, Katy won a trophy for dancing! She friggin’ earned it, too, cuz she danced for about an hour straight.

The night was an amazing amount of fun, topped off with Denny’s food and a sense of funk infused euphoria. Damn good times.

Topics of Conversation: High School, different kinds of cars, Pabst, steady jobs, guuurlllzzz!, Apple Valley, human powered heat, little brothers, New York, trophies, Italian speed metal bands, sub-letting, the arch-villain returns, spirit, jabbering on, permits be damned, butt wash, etc.

-Nate

Double the WTF

2010-11-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

I woke up feeling as though it would be great if I didn’t have to wake up. Too bad I had Honors English to deal with, plus a Geology lab test, and on top of that, I needed to work on Divergence magazine for Cypress College. More work than I am in the mood to deal with, but such is life.

In Honors English, we watched some of Frankenstein, starring Robert deNiro and Kennth Brannagh. The movie gets a little over the top at times, but still looks stylish as all heck. The Geo lab test was in carbon dating and earthquakes, and I didn’t do too bad, though I was having trouble remembering how to figure out epicenters of quakes.

I went to Comics Unlimited to pick up the latest issue of Invincible (#75). It was a double-sized issue packed with double-paged splash pages and double the action and “WTF?!” factor. Double all that and then double it again. THAT’S how good this issue was. If you haven’t been reading this comic series, its about time you got to getting it.

I headed back to Cypress to work on the Divergence magazine. Some stuff was getting done, but a lot of people had to cut out early, to the point that the magazine just wasn’t going to be finished in time. In stead, we had some pizza and talked about being tired all the time. Our youth and golden years were being used up with abandon. Aw, the wallowing was good and plenty tonight.

Topics of Conversation: Quaking, weed ice cream, fist bump, contests, weekends of endless weakness, pizza ad noseum, the Indiana Jones theme in strange places, Popeye’s chicken is evil, driving too damn far, bullies, standing on one foot, etc.

-Nate

The Internet Makes Everything Worse

2010-11-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

I made a mistake and planned to meet up with friends I didn’t have time to meet up with. Shouldn’t have done it. I was very, very busy, and ended up letting them down.

Argh.

You know, sometimes I’m such a nice guy that I end up being an a-hole. I have to remember that being honest isn’t the same thing as being rude. I just need to realize that I should know my time and activities better.

This was after Math class, which was a numbing experience.

Before dropping off some equipment I checked out from the Newsroom for shooting interviews at the Long Beach Comic Con, I chatted with Mike Lacerna (here’s his blog, he makes really good funny’s). I then ran around to do more stuff.

I headed to work, and talked with Justin, who was having some issues with the internet. Not the internet itself, but the social and psychological aspects of it. That sentence makes Justin sound like a crazy person, which he isn’t. He just had a difference of opinion with someone that went south. It happens, but somehow, the casualness of facebook makes things seem more dramatic. It’s a funny thing…

Work was worktastic, and then I went to hang out with Aaron and Amy to catch up mostly.

Topics of Conversation: I think everybody is sick, PT Loser, Nerd Rage unleashed, boredom can lead to stress, writing when not busy, crappy corporations, Chevrolet as a fake name, bad day off, edits, green screen surfing, bad cover art, too late to stay late, etc.

-Nate

NOVEMBER!

2010-11-02T03:14:00.000-07:00

A pox upon the fates! A curse to ill fortune! I have realized that I am within the clutches of November.

NOVEMBER! Carrier of disease!

NOVEMBER! Harbinger of sickness!

NOVEMBER! Dark Heart of viral infection!

NOVEMBER! Downfall of Nathan!

I should probably explain.

Ha ha! You see, every November since I can remember, I have gotten sick. Now, I’m a young, virile lad who has been blessed with a hearty immune system, and the good sense to not breath deep of other’s coughs. I rarely get sick, and when I do, I usually shake it off with a decent night’s sleep and a bottle of OJ. I laugh at colds, scoff at flus, and have little regard for most diseases, seeing them as lesser people‘s afflictions. Ha ha!

November is when I pay for this mindset.

Man, I’ve gotten sick like a dog who’s slowly turning into a zombie and has diarrhea. It’s a week of hell usually, and I disappear into my home, scorning the sun, and hating the healthy. I make it through, but it does suck.

And I don’t particularly hate November. Sometimes December likes to step up and make me feel terrible. Once on Christmas, too. I just never know when it strikes.

NOVEMBER! Russian Roulette of poor health!

So my day was interesting. Started off worried about my bed. Two of the legs are looking suspiciously like they’re going to give up and make me feel like a fat joke suddenly rolling out of bed. But I have had the bed for years, and it is made of particle wood, which just sounds like material that shouldn’t be anywhere within sitting distance of a large fan boy. So, that’s looming…

Went to my Honors English class, which was cancelled and that was nice, since I wasn’t feeling like attending an Honors English class at 9 am. This gave me some time to finish up some Geology homework, and head out to do my job as a citizen:

That’s right! VOTE.

Went to Walter Elementary near my house (NATE NOTE!: Walter was my first Elementary school! Dang cool, right?), and I voted like nobody has voted before.
Or mostly Democratic, with some Green Party thrown in for the heck of it. There might have been a few people that have voted like that in the past, or even presently. Who knows, right? And judging by the results, it didn’t seem like many people voted like I did, so technically, I’m right about my over-the-top statement.

After voting, I went home and passed out. Literally ate some food and slept. I rarely do that, but since it is NOVEMBER! (Ruin of energy levels!) I needed to grab some sleep.

I got to work at Norwalk, and we shot a City Council Meeting, of which I barely was able to get through. I felt so tired, it was palpable on my face. “Palpable” being my eyes kept closing, and my head was rolled back in a suspicious manner akin to “dozing off.” Anyways, it was a long shoot.

I got home and slept deep. Hopefully I would feel better tomorrow.

Topics of Conversation: Sexy Librarian, Prop 19, LBCC pics, sick & tired, updates too long, DoD, squeaky steering, final call back, Manhattan Beach, the vast wealth of Nathan K. Schulz, etc.

-Nate

Lost Four Months

2010-11-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, well, I’ve been doing really bad on this blog of mine. I’m over 3 months behind (Holy Moley!) and keep letting myself lag more and more.

And there’s no real good reason for this. Just been too busy with life to write about it. I know, that seems real lame sauce of me, but well, this is the first in many sad attempts to even out the scales. Fortunately, I’ve been keeping notes on every day, and though that means I will miss out on most of the visceral connection and thoughts on each day, at least I will be able have some kind of record. And I can at least say that November and December will have a better record of my little existence.

This means I will write November and December as normal, AND retroactively write July through October. For every November entry, I will do TWO old entries. Maybe even more, if time permits. Here’s to hoping I can get my crap together. (Maybe as a cool bonus, I will skip between the Lost Four Months, and write about days out of order). Keep in mind, that the “Retro Entries” (did I coin my own phrase?) will probably quick and uninspired.

Luckily, November 1st was relatively uneventful, just another day of Math class and work. Awesome, right?

Yesterday, I watched The Walking Dead, and that was beyond awesome, which I will write about in detail soon.

….okay, even I don’t trust me. But bare with me, please.

Topics of Conversation: Math woe, the Doctor is out, turkey, notes best not made, more information, waiting to make sense, atonement for faltering in my journalistic duties, etc.

-Nate

homework no no please stop

2010-10-24T03:28:00.000-07:00

Too much damn homework. I don't want to do anymore homework. I want it to stop. But it won't, will it? Ever. It won't ever, ever, never, ever stop and I need to not do homework right now.

....sigh.

Rant over.

Topics of Conversation: Blue agave, red is great too, zombies, Hot Topic venture, invites galore, View Askew, Pepsi burns, etc.

-Nate

Zombie Jackass

2010-10-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

Today I hung out with Katie and her friend Ariel in the morning. We played Left 4 Dead 2 and kicked a ton of ass. Later we had lunch at Knollwood’s and talked about stories.

I later met up with Jamal, Jon, Kevin, and Ben to watch Jackass 3D. This movie was just about what you would expect from the Jackass guys: Disgusting, painful, insane, and funny. How they are still alive is beyond me.

Topics of Conversation: The Favorites, comic guys are for keeps, zombie overload, fun drunks, too domesticated, musicals, story time, etc.

-Nate

Music Shuffle Answers

2010-08-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I don't have a clue what happend today, because retroactively speaking, I lost the notes for this entry. I don't even have my personal favorite section of "Topics of Conversation." It makes me sad. So instead, I put in this entry of Music Shuffle Answer thing. Enjoy:

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, Ect. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press next button for your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THE SONG NAME NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT IS!

If someone says "Are you OK?" you say?

Dance Little Liar - Arctic Monkeys

What do you like in a girl?

Lethal Enforcer - We Are Scientists

How do you feel today?

Should I Stay or Should I Go? - Weezer (covering The Clash)

What's your life's purpose?

Night Of a Thousand Firsts - Beaujolais

What's your life's motto?

Die Another Day - Madonna/Best of Bond

What do your parents think of you?

The World We Love So Much - Rivers Cuomo

What do you think about them?

Late Afternoon - The Coral

What do you think of your best friends?

Badfish - Sublime

Whats is your life story?

We Are Sex Bob-Omb - Sex Bob-Omb

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Highwayman - Johnny Cash

What do you think when you see the person you like?

(This Is For The) Better Days - The Bees

What will you dance to at your wedding?

I'll Be There - The Jackson 5

What will they play at your funeral?

About Your Fame - The Apples In Stereo

What is your passion in life?

Now I'm A Fool - Eagles of Death Metal

What is your biggest fear?

Do The Panic - Phantom Planet

What is your biggest secret?

Standing Next To Me - The Last Shadow Puppets

What do you want right now?

Plastic Jesus - The Flaming Lips

What should the title of your movie be?

Don't Get Dead - The Like Young

These are some pretty cool selections! I love when this happens.

-Nate

August 19

2010-08-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I had some school today, but after that your guess is as good as mine.

NATE NOTE: The journal notes for August 19 through 24 are missing.

There are at least five days in a row that I have no notes of. That will make retroactively writing about them very, very difficult.

Topics of Conversation: The Supreme Justice of the Supreme Court Extreme, 6th Edition, foolish chipmunk, etc.

-Nate

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2010-08-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

After having a birthday breakfast with Mom, I headed to work. Simple day, but I bought my mom some flowers and a card. Not the most original, but at least I didn’t forget and look like a crappy son.

Topics of Conversation: Real Diet Coke, Vegan Bakery, punching, modern day castles, birthday baked goods, Chinese 101, sex change to please your parents, etc.

-Nate

August 3

2010-08-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

Watched Big Fan, starring Patton Oswalt. He did a pretty good job! I later met up with Vic for lunch, and went to work at Norwalk.

Topics of Conversation: Flammable water, Loserville, early morning tech support, dogs, being silly, the Doctor strips, straws, even or odd, the Law of People Punching, cuteness attempted, The BuROCKracy!, etc.

-Nate

Stuck In a BOGG

2010-08-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

Really, Cypress College? I need to go over this as though you’ve never seen a BOGG fee waiver before? Especially when YOU offered it to ME? Its not cool to say I haven’t paid for my classes when they’re supposed to be paid for by the fee waiver.

So I drive down to Cypress and clarify this issue. And then I find out that there is nothing I can do about the classes I’ve been waitlisted for. Too bad, so sad. Also, to get the maximum amount out of my Pell Grant, I need to be enrolled in 12 units worth of classes. So now I have to sign up for classes I never wanted to sign up for, and they’re classes that most likely won’t help towards getting my GE finished.

After that annoyance, I headed to Jamal’s to hang out and catch up. He had the day off because he returned from a trip to Las Vegas for Jon’s last hoorah one day early. We watched a little bit of a J-Drama called “Edison,” and grabbed some Chinese food for lunch.

I headed to Norwalk finished up work in what felt like no time.

After work, I mostly focused on catching up with my blog. I was now over a month behind. It was a sad state of affairs, but I never stopped taking notes on each day, so I wasn’t so far behind that I couldn’t catch up.

Topics of Conversation: Genius, #75, pronunciation, units required, J.T.!, do’s and don’ts on jobs you don’t care about, get the Grant, mixing up all the people I know, blank DVDs, the suckiness of the werewolves on True Blood, people you should know, etc.

-Nate

Cameras & Sorcerers

2010-08-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

-Helped Justin on his camera work for studio version cameras. Then we watched some Sherlock Holmes.
-Met up with Katie to watch Sorcerer’s Apprentice and eat at Fuddrucker’s.
-Got home and watched 2 episodes of True Blood.

Topics of Conversation: Follow the action, sexy card games, Buffalo and Elk, better brother, bear hugs, where ideas come from, concert ticket weddings, Sherlock Holmes, etc.

-Nate

July 12

2010-07-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

I had my mid-term for summer school. It went okay, I suppose.
Went over to watch two eps of Buffy (Fear Itself and Beer Bad) and one ep of Angel (I Fall to Pieces) with Aaron and Amy. Then I went to Norwalk.

Topics of Conversation: Damn parking, new pants, everyone hates Mario, the ol' sensitive act, motorcycle licenses, just hit him!, traitorous traitor, etc.

-Nate

Hello, Kitty brand Cameras

2010-07-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Watched Shutter Island, which wasn't very bad. I enjoyed it, even if I called most of the movie. The acting was really good, and it was shot beautifully. I recommend it for people who like to have their brains messed with.

Met up with Lainey to help her buy a camera and later watch Lost. We went to Best Buy, and I was quickly sad at all the wonderful toys I could not buy. But Lainey wanted a camera, and by gum, she got one... A "Hello, Kitty" camera.

They saw you coming a mile away, Lainster.

We watched Lost and I found myself getting just the right kind of tired to head home and sleep like a champ.

Topics of Conversation: Leonardo DiCaprio, the drama of the Tomato Family, the bird across the street, donuts, the instruction manual, cute purchases with ugly money for cute reasons, etc.

-Nate

I Doubt The Word is "Nunergized"

2010-07-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

So before I even knew it, this was going to be one of the busiest days I’d been involved with in quite some time.

Today I had a video shoot for someone who wasn’t my usual suspects of Norwalk, Lakewood, or PCTA. Nope, it was for a fellow named Joseph, and it was to shoot what I heard was a wedding. Turned out I was wrong about it being a wedding. It was, in fact, the… huh. What’s the word for making a woman into a nun? “Nunification”? “Nunning”? “Nun First Class”? I have no idea, but it was whatever that word is.

I felt like a cool guy during the set up and the taping of the event, because the process wasn’t much different from my usual shoots. Three to four cameras, ton of random cables, and almost indecipherable directions from the director. As it turned out, Little Saigon TV was also involved in the shoot. And after we were done with the morning shoot, I was invited to work on a shoot at the La Mirada Theater for Little Saigon. Apparently, a Vietnamese concert was going on at the theater, with singers, a choir, and a whole orchestra behind them. The whole nine yards.

I said yes. And it was one of the most exhausting shoots I have ever been on. I really can’t get into it, but we had to do a lot of work hauling cables and more stuff. Ask me in person if you want to know more.

After the shot was done, I heard that my cousin Clinton and his wife and two kids were stopping by to visit. I was so tired, I was practically falling asleep into the tacos they had been so nice to buy for me. I felt like such a jerk, but if I had known that Clint was coming by, I would have just said no to the La Mirada shoot. Oh well. I slept like a baby that night.

Topics of Conversation: Panera, Vietnamese, clowning, fiasco, more busy than ever, tangles, common sense is for the bearded, 5-second heads up, running cables, the rituals of religion, etc.

-Nate

July 9

2010-07-09T16:30:00.001-07:00

I worked on a paper for school. Then hung out with Lainey for a bit, after which I bought an iPod charger for my car. Probably one of the best purchases I’ve made in a while.

Topics of Conversation: Bella Lagosi vs. Boris Karloff, Gypsy sandwich, weird California, family vs. business, no hot sauce, the need for socks, versus questions, etc.

-Nate

Ape Jam Predators

2010-07-08T03:30:00.000-07:00

(Summer School: Day Twelve)

Found out that for extra credit, we could go to a presentation at a Gibbon preserve on the 16th of July. Unfortunately, the preserve was way the heck out in Santa Clarita, which was a good hour and a half away. Darn it. Oh well, I could use the extra credit…

After school, I went on my comic run, which then led into a shoot for PCTA in Fountain Valley for their Summer Concerts series. It was a jam band of some sort, and wasn’t all that great. They’ve had better bands in the past, so hopefully next week’s will be even better.

After work, I watched Predators with Justin and Carissa. The movie was pretty good, and just the right amount mindless violence to cap off the day.

Topics of Conversation: Society as Evolution, Business Predators, 90 minute parking, A-hole poets, the final definition of “Brick,” etc.

-Nate

Tardy In More Than One Way

2010-07-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

(Summer School: Day Eleven)

I haven’t been writing about what happened at school that much because I literally can’t remember much of it. Again, a reminder, I am writing all these entries from July to October in retrospect. I have notes for every day, but its hard to differentiate from day to day all the events that transpired.

I met up with Amy and Aaron to watch some more episodes of Buffy and Angel. We picked up some teriyaki from a place called Genkiyaki, which was delicious. I had so much fun with this that I was late to work! ARGH. I should have paid better attention to the time.

After work, I met up with Patrick for dinner. We mostly caught up on life and creative endeavors.

Topics of Conversation: Apes, sister’s jacket, singing monkeys, Luigi, Iceball, Ninja Tacos, grease paint, going to college, selling magazines, etc.

-Nate

July 6

2010-07-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

(Summer School: Day Ten)

After school, I met up with Victor for lunch. I then went to work at Norwalk. That’s about it.

Topics of Conversation: Casual white boy, moving out, heart attack, forced nap, Restore Funds, steak, taxi tax, lies about celebrities, good focus, volunteer, bad Twilight ideas, etc.

-Nate

Funny Stuff of Different Types

2010-07-05T10:14:00.001-07:00

(Summer School: Day Nine)

I met up with Jamal and Justin and we ate at a Deli, watched “Whatever Works” (starring Larry David), and ended the night with Last Comic Standing. I was at little annoyed because two of the comedians I was rooting for didn’t make it to the next episode. Grrr…

“Whatever Works” was a decent movie that Woody Allen had written a while back, but had never got around to making. Larry David does a really good job with his role, and Evan Rachel Wood is adorable as his cute, optimistic, and unlikely bride. The movie gets a little to wordy at times, but is still pretty good, if a little weird.

Topics of Conversation: Memories of back in the day, McRib, The Dark Ages, good pastrami, unlikable characters, the workings of comedy, Lord Jamal, what’s a knish?, etc.

-Nate

Indy Day

2010-07-04T17:43:00.000-07:00

Had a cool shoot for PCTA that was insanely early. 5:00 am early. See? Insanity.

But the shoot was cool. It was in Huntington Beach, and was a marathon/parade celebration. I mostly cable wrangled and crowd controlled, but the crew was still made up entirely of awesome people, so it was an all-around good time.

After the shoot, I met up with Sarah to grab some food at Native Foods. I think I was conscious for most of the lunch. Sarah then barraged my phone with texts and pics to punish me for my acting tired. A good time was had, none the less.

Went home to shoot off some fireworks, dodge a bottle rocket, and then went to sleep.

Topics of Conversation: War paint, too many damn reminders, lettuce in bad places, Reel Big Break-up song, etc.

-Nate

Fireworks

2010-07-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

Went on a comic run, which wasn’t really necessary. What was necessary was making sure that Lainey had someone with her to buy fireworks and talk about whatever people talk about the day before Independence Day.

Topics of Conversation: True Wood, vampirates, bake addiction, betrayal pic, Sabertooth, rough life, the Wednesday Addams stare, etc.

-Nate

Really, M. Night?

2010-07-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

Argh. I watched “The Last Airbender” today. Argh. God help me, that was a bad idea. M. Night, man, what the hell? Really? You thought that was good enough? Well, it wasn’t. Geez.

Went on a comic run, ate at Portillo’s, and ended the night watching better stuff at Justin’s place.

Topics of Conversation: Ideas to steal, bad student in film class, racist Tehrets, numbers, Invincible, art skills that are rusty, etc.

-Nate

Retro-Writing Begins Here

2010-07-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

(Summer School: Day Eight)

School was cool, and led to a shoot for PCTA, in which we shot a concert. Not a bad night.

Hung out with Justin later, and we watched some Doctor Who. A lot of Doctor Who, but that was okay. It was some good times.

Topics of Conversation: Hurry, fries, Airbender, 90210, the PA Gauntlet, iPod test, earned hugs, starts with “F” ends with “urry,” Frisbee optimism, etc.

Nate Note!: A lot of these entries from here on out are gonna be short and sweet. Thus, the “Half-Assed” Journal Entries will lose their purpose. Just kick back and enjoy the reading, and try not to hold a grudge. I’m only a man, and I never get paid for all this Too-Much-Info posts. Remember, I love you. And you always hurt the ones you love.

….that’s too damn dark. LET’S JUST ROCK AND ROLL!

-Nate

That Left English

2010-06-30T22:47:00.000-07:00

(Summer School: Day Seven)

I want to transfer out of Cypress College, and graduate from a University, before the sun burns out of the sky. Before the cold earth gets cracked open by the freezing grip of the void. Before the rest of the stars fade from all memory. And before the whole solar system collapses into oblivion.

Hopefully before I turn 30, at least.

I have found that this depends a great deal on actually choosing a major. So to do this, I grabbed a whole bunch of papers on transfer majors: English, Business, Sociology, Film, Communication, and Journalism. Business was the early loser as I realized that it would add nearly an entire year to my school time to actually graduate. Film was too impacted. Communication and Journalism were nearly the same thing. And Sociology stayed in the running, even if it looked a tad unappetizing.

That left English.

English had always been my strongest subject. I understood it a lot more, and it really went together very well with the fact that I wanted to write as part of, or all of, my career. I suppose I avoided it because it was the major that got the rep of being somewhat arrogant and sad at the same time.

For all you English majors, I mean you no harm, but really, having a math or science degree would make you a hell of a lot more money in the long run. You know this. I know this. So calm the heck down.

The good news was that CSULB offered an English major with a special option of Creative Writing. An English major is looking better and better every time I look at it…

Also, after work, I watched Doctor Who at home. Great episode!

Topics of Conversation: Tumor story, gas money, Cal States, cats behaving badly, fake water, being Plutoic, honesty and being mean, kabobs, links to cool stuff, special broke, Fridays, etc.

-Nate

And On the Sixth Day There Was Quiz

2010-06-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

(Summer School: Day Six)

Had my first Quiz in Physical Anthropology. Yeah. Look at the words in parentheses above. It says “Summer School: Day Six.” Freakin’ DAY SIX. I’m not sure how I did. I didn’t feel that good about it. Neither did I feel that terrible about it. I’m just not a big fan of quizzes and tests. I never feel like all the facts get organized in my brain. Its just a messy warehouse up here.

Headed to Norwalk, and spent the rest of day trying to make sure I got both my work done and read up on my next essay.

Topics of Conversation: The dreaming of a strange dream, blackmail for friendship, AX is ruining everything, Science Noir, fun with taxes, cat in Arizona, the meaning behind a map, Fullerton is for the cool kids, etc.

-Nate

Half-Assed Journal Entry #08

2010-06-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

(Summer School: Day Five)

Today was completely sacrificed to school and work. Doing an overview for the upcoming Quiz, and updating the public bulletin page for work.

Topics of Conversation: Out of ink, the wrong color of T-shirt, Fullerton is better, the math of evolution, Inspector Gadget, chili addiction, James Bond = martinis and womanizing, smiling Aang, walking away, etc.

-Nate

The Improbable Essay

2010-06-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Wanna know how you can know you’re completely, utterly, miserably, hopelessly, terribly, awfully, desperately out of practice writing papers for school?

By taking nearly six hours writing a two-page essay for an actually interesting class. It’s a strong indicator.

This sucker just didn’t want to be written. I mean, the subject was about something as small and easy as moths changing colors due to the environment changing around them. That’s it. The essay was double-spaced, too. But for some evil reason, the paper decided to not be written. I had the facts down, the sources cited, and the angle I would approach it from, and yet still the paper dripped out of my brain at a glacial pace.

But I finished the bugger! Yes I did.

After the madness of the essay, I went over to hang out with Jamal. We talked about his work and one of the stranger and more complex issues he was having. It may be more than either of us expected it to be. Hopefully it won’t turn into anything crazy.

Topics of Conversation: Germany needs support, a tall glass of friendship, a great adventure, the worst enemy is the best friend, being Watson, the third lesson, ethics of a corporation, life for later, etc.

-Nate

The Cut of the Jib Assistant

2010-06-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

For this morning, the parents made French Toast, and it was too good to describe in mere blog words.

So I won’t try. Just take my word that they were awesome.

I had a shoot at Lakewood for their annual Block Party. This is the event that the City of Lakewood shuts down an entire block of the street of Clark Avenue, and gets a band to play live music. Its pretty fun.

Or so I’ve heard. I’m too busy working it to know. Whine, whine, bitch, bitch.

After we were done setting up, I found out what I would be doing during the shoot. My job turned out to be pretty simple. I would be jib assistant for Shawn, the jib operator. This mostly consisted of making the sure the jib didn’t clip anyone in the head. That, and to make sure that no one got in the way of the jib.

This, I have to admit, was quite easy.

The band was pretty good, though I totally forgot their name. Huh. Maybe they weren’t that
good if I can’t even remember their name. Sorry, nameless band, but you just play covers, so really, the only band I have to try and remember the name are the bands you’re covering.

Topics of Conversation: Easy driving, the Greatest Dominatrix, USA defeated, panning motors, Nathan the Musical Fairy, stills, shiny silver, parasite twins, crows, Caution Man, jib staring, strut, etc.

-Nate

Yoda Soda

2010-06-25T00:28:00.001-07:00

I promised I would meet with Carissa for breakfast so we could catch up on stuff that had been going on in her life. She wasn’t particularly crazy about the month of June, having had some rough Junes in the past. June Gloom squared. And so I listened to whatever she needed to talk about, as we ate cheap food at Denny’s. It was a nice morning, all said and done.

Afterwards, I headed to Gerdes Park in Norwalk to shoot a party being thrown for a Summer Preschool program for young children. It was pretty fun, and the kids got a lot of attention and activities. And you can’t beat free food.

Today was my friend Bobby’s birthday, and he had an excellent plan for the festivities: Star Wars and alcohol. I’m pretty sure that’s way up there in the good ideas department. I had a great night hanging out at their apartment, and even found out that I missed out on other nights of madness and great stories.

Bobby and his girlfriend Gina concocted a mix drink called “Yoda Soda,” which was sparkling wine and some other mad spirits. It was actually delicious, even though it looked like swamp water from Dagobah. And you’ll get that reference if you’ve ever seen The Empire Strikes Back, which we did that night.

I need to have a Back To The Future and alcohol night myself.

Topics of Conversation: Drunk and belligerent elementary kids, MORE PANCAKES!, how the International trailer has changed minds, chicken nuggets, nights full of regrets, cheesiness, Star Wars food, etc.

-Nate

They Couldn't Hit The High Notes

2010-06-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

(Summer School: Day Four)

I got out of school a little earlier than I thought I would. I studied a little, but I mostly found myself trying to figure out what my Major was going to be. Its been on my mind as of late. I was considering a Business Major, but it doesn’t seem to feel right. And from what I’ve heard, it would nearly double my time in school.

So perhaps a Creative Writing major? Or something film related that isn’t as insanely impacted as the entire Film department.

I headed to a shoot I picked up from Lakewood. It was going to be a concert in the park, which is the cool thing to do this summer season. The good news, for me at least, was that it was a Beatle’s cover band. They called themselves Hard Day’s Night, and as it turned out, they weren’t half bad. Since it was the Beatles, I found myself singing along the entire show.

Unfortunately, nobody on the band could quite hit the high notes. They tried, bless their un-English souls. But it was just not to be. But other than that, they were really good.

Topics of Conversation: Where the hell are the scholarships?, Rolling Stone, free concert, missing keys, bubble weather, twoevils.com, kettle corn, sun bathing, late night gym, avatars, etc.

-Nate

Less Mess

2010-06-23T01:26:00.001-07:00

(Summer School: Day Three)

For the sake of brevity, and the very good chance that it will get old to pretend that anything of real note happened, I will mostly mention that I went to school this morning. We were talking about genetics and Natural Selection, and it was enchanting.

After school, I had time before work, so I headed to Comics Unlimited. Mark was working, and seemed to be running the store solo. Victor and Justin met up with me later. We grabbed some food at a Thai restaurant, which was pretty damn good actually. I had a half chicken meal, and it was awesome, but the skewers that Justin got looked just as delicious, with less mess.

When it comes to food like rotisserie chicken and ribs, I am usually an unrepentant slob. But this comes with the side effect that my hands are enveloped in sauce. And the crappy napkins that seem to follow me everywhere are always ready at hand to fail me.

Doesn’t it cost the same, if not more, for restaurants to supply these napkins? I have to use five of them to feel like I have the kind of cleaning firepower that is equal to one good dinner napkin. These suckers practically shrivel up at the SIGHT of liquid. And they shred to pieces as though I’m grinding razor blades into them, when in fact all I’m doing is dabbing some errant Thousand Island dressing with them.

Freakin’ crappy napkins need to stop being so damn crappy.

After the Thai restaurant, I headed to work for a Planning Commission Meeting that just would not quit. It was only two items, but everyone and their mom, and their mom’s former college roommate, felt like flapping their gums over these two items. And it was stupid stuff. Like how a cell phone tower should look and something that I pretty much don’t even care enough to remember.

I was there late, and then headed home. I wanted to catch the recent two episodes of Doctor Who that I missed… but OnDemand didn’t have Episode #08, and I needed it to watch Episode #09, because they were a two-parter. But they did have Episode #09. Argh. I went to sleep instead of being bothered by it.

Topics of Conversation: Remastered, I’m Top Dog, cute hipster girls, true evil via text, more respect, dreaming about being awake, Canadian trivia, Old Worlde, a mutual annoyance, walking stick bugs, 3 years of waiting for the Red Hulk, etc.

-Nate

The Sweet Embrace of Knowledge

2010-06-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

(Summer School: Day Two)

It was the second day of school and already I wanted to sleep in. These are the moments I know that I’m truly a student again. Ah, the sweet embrace of knowledge!

I find myself starting to slide right back into the swing of Jr. College. The feeling of High School continued. The halls filled with people that just woke up. The professors desperately grabbing for tenure. The scantrons. The cute girls I have nothing in common with and the bitter guys who didn’t get into the universities they wanted. The solitary squeak of a shoe on brand-new, tax-paid-for floor tiles. The endless note-taking. The constant fighting to keep daydreams from taking root.

The only difference is that this time, I’m not killing time or wandering around aimlessly. This time, I plan to put my GenEd in the ground and progress. That’s what seems to be making the entire summer school session more palatable. I fully intend to make some progress with this whole education thing this time around.

I also forgot to mention in the last entry, that I bought a $100 text book. I nearly wept I’m so broke. Curse these text book gods!

After school, I met up with Sarah for some lunch at Del Taco. Her life has been a bit rocky as of late, but she seemed to be taking it all in stride. But I can’t really tell either way with her. She’s hard to read, which just adds to her feminine wiles I suppose. She’s so honest all the time, that its tricky to tell when she’s kidding. But she wanted to eat lunch with me and talk about the random stuff I like to talk about, so hey, no complaints.

After lunch, I headed to work and contemplated a strange cast of characters for a strange idea, while simultaneously organizing all the on-air video content in my office/nook. I got home and considered lasagna for dinner. Lasagna won, and sleep soon followed. School was going to be early yet again, as it would the next day.

The student life was taking hold.

Topics of Conversation: College dude, tortoises, bad violin, brimming with sleep, jobs, foofy, what VISA means in Italian, how not to hide big feet, Roller Derby names, Happy Feet, tongue piercing, suspenders, etc.

-Nate
　

A Scholarly Interview With Myself

2010-06-21T22:04:00.001-07:00

Day One of Summer School

I’ve hinted at it in passing. I’ve let slip a secret or two. But here I shall be clear and straight-forward on the subject. This Q&A shall clear up any questions:

Q: Nathan, are you attending summer school?
A: Yes, I am attending Summer School! In fact today is the first day!
Q: What made you decide to finally attend academia again?
A: Wanting to better my life and gain more knowledge!
Q: Is it true you’ve been going to college off and on, for, like a zillion friggin’ years?
A: Uh, well, I wouldn’t put it like that…
Q: But its been way long, right? Like, STUPID long?
A: Okay, seriously, I don’t like this line of questioning…
Q: Why? Because you’re a whiny little bitch?
A: ….
Q: Oh no, did I make baby cry?
A: …No, shut up!
Q: C’mon, how long, man? Just be honest and I’ll leave you alone!
A: Okay! Since 2002.
Q: …Wow. That’s so sad.
A: Its not that sad…
Q: Naw, its pretty sad. I’m the question thingy and I can’t come up with a question to ask to pinpoint the sadness that is you.
A: How did this all go so wrong?
Q: Oh! Good one!
A: I didn’t mean about my life, dammit!
Q: Wait, I got one!
A: Can we just stop this now?
Q: Did you know that if you had a baby in 2002, that it would be nearly 9-years-old now?
A: I hate you.

Huh. That… that interview went very badly for me…

Anyways, yes, I am attending Summer School. I’m taking Biological Anthropology and have yet to take a Science class in about 2 to 3 years. And I haven’t written an essay since Spring of last year. After all that, I was still able to wake up bright and early and get to the class, eager to soak up some knowledge. The class itself is taught by a woman who does teaching as a side gig, while she’s busy being an actual Anthropologist. That’s pretty cool.

After the class, I hung out with Aaron and Amy for a bit to chill out before I had to head to work. They downloaded “The Passing” for Left 4 Dead 2, and I was in zombie nirvana for a good solid hour. I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of this game. I definitely will never get tired of the company.

Work was work.

Topics of Conversation: An unremarkable passing, learning how to be a human being, celebrations gone wrong, too many Tanks, flat water, monkeys and primates, etc.

-Nate

My Dad and America

2010-06-20T21:19:00.001-07:00

Today was Father’s Day, and I deliberately had nothing else going on except to hang with my ol’ man.

It was a later start, but it was okay because we were playing it by ear. I decided on seeing a movie that he had been interested in called Winter’s Bone. The quick synopsis of this flick is that it’s a noir about a young girl desperately searching for her father, dead or alive, so that she can keep her family from losing their home.

We went to the Irvine campus theater, and soon discovered that a lot of other people wanted to watch this movie at the same time we wanted to. There was an impressive line almost going up the sidewalk. I’m not sure if all of them were getting tickets for Winter’s Bone, but the theater was packed. Luckily, we still found some decent spots and were soon watching the movie with rapt attention.

Winter’s Bone is mentioned as a film noir. And this is quickly apparent by the first scenes. The story is set in Missouri, in poor, poor America. The people that live here don’t have very much money, and even fewer options or opportunities. To live here, you have to be hard, cold, and a little desperate. Many people make a living making and selling drugs. And they barely make a living, at that.

The main character, Ree, is 17-years-old and raising her brother and sister. Not only is she doing that, but at the same time, she’s taking care of their nearly catatonic mother. Her dad is a dubious character that has been in and out of prison for selling drugs. Bad news starts when the Sheriff informs Ree that not only is her father missing, but that he has put up the family house and property to post bail. If he doesn’t show up for his court date, the family loses everything.

The suspects are limitless, the enemies legion, the secrets are dark, and even the best of outcomes are cold comforts. And the story and acting is superb. Watch this movie for Jennifer Lawrence, the actress that plays Ree, and John Hawkes who plays her uncle “Teardrop.” These two know how to boil and rage and agonize without saying a word or moving a muscle. Watch this movie if you like film noir or stories of moral complexity in bleak landscapes.

After this excellent movie, my dad and I headed to The Counter, a burger place in Irvine. This place makes great burgers with a huge selection of sauces and additions, from pesto sauce to garlic aoli and mushrooms to red bell pepper. And a pleasant surprise! Dads get free burgers on Father’s Day! That was pretty cool, especially considering I was buying him lunch.

We got home and watched an episode of Real Time with Bill Maher and talked about politics for a few hours. They’re aren’t many people I can talk about the big scary “P” word with, but my dad is one of the best to talk about that stuff with. Israel, Oliver Stone, embargos, religion, Canada, mixing economic systems, and all this and more. That’s me and my pop.

Happy Father’s Day, dad!

Topics of Conversation: Jeff Beck, cover songs, Israel, America in general, Summer’s Bone, the definition of “Film Noir,” no response to urgency, being bearded for others, etc.

-Nate

Our Coveted Fire Pit

2010-06-19T08:28:00.001-07:00

Its strange when you have too much to do. Case in point, I had been invited to literally FOUR different parties. Pretty much every one of them were going on at the same time. In four different cities. Los Angeles, Huntington Beach, Fullerton, and Los Alamitos. I decided on going to the Huntington Beach party, because it was the Ninth(?) Annual Starbuxian Summer Solstice Beach Party. I promised to go to it nearly 6 months earlier.

That doesn’t necessarily mean I got to it at the time that I had meant to.

I woke up with a hankering for the new Black Keys album “Brothers.” But the stores were still a ways off from being open, so I spent some time watching old episodes of Angel. It was a lazy Saturday so I was pretty relaxed when suddenly I woke up. I had fallen asleep! I looked at my cell phone for what time it was. Nearly five hours had gone by. Geez, that changed the entire pace of the day for me.

I headed to Best Buy and bought the album and proceeded to listen to the album nearly twice before I got to the beach. I kept listening to track 3, “Tighten Up,” on repeat. I couldn’t seem to get enough of that song. I found myself humming the song for the rest of the day.

I got to the beach roughly around 3:00 and found Victor, Justin, Quincy, Shinar, Ken, and Janey were kicking back and enjoying the day. The wind was relentless, and we had to hold off on starting a fire in the pit till sunset. Problems were added by the wind, since it blew out nearly every match we struck. Thankfully, a group next to us had lighter fluid to help us with. They
actually needed matches, too. So were able to help each other out. Its funny how life can be.

The beach party itself was very relaxing. We had some BBQ, and talked about the usual random assortment of topics on your minds. I walked on the beach for a while, looking for treasure. Not in any serious way, but I did keep my eyes open. Ken and Janey took off around 7:00 or so, and the beach closed at 9:00. Shinar took off around the time the it closed, and Victor, Quincy, Justin, and myself headed to Justin’s place.

We talked at Justin’s for a bit, before he had to turn in. He had work early in the morning. Quincy, Victor, and myself headed to Norm’s for dinner and keep the socializing going for a little longer. But after I was done eating, I could tell my stamina for the day was done. We all left for our respective homes, and I took a shower to get the ocean off of me.

The ocean doesn’t smell that great.

Topics of Conversation: Smores, Awesome-O, Tower 23, Tesla, those that we actually expect, Sweet Magazine, cooking oil, green flame, seaweed whip, sandy burgers, manipulative tactics to get our fire pit, etc.

-Nate

Quick Water Slayage

2010-06-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

I got a call the day before to cover a special meeting of the Central Basin water board. I was available, and would have no problem covering it. But this would be a little extra busy because I would be showing a co-worker, Joe, around the shoot. This was because since I would be starting school, I would not be available to shoot Central Basin meeting coming up on the 28th.

I met up with Joe at the Central Basin building and showed him all the stuff he would have to do to get in the building, sign up on the guest sheet, which rooms were used for meetings, and how to set up the new microphone on the camera. This wasn’t difficult since Joe is a pro, and would be able to figure out all in no time.

Though a funny reveal about the shoot came up while we were setting up. One of the secretaries came up to us and mentioned that there was only one item on the agenda for today. One item usually means maybe 15 minutes of talking about it. Max. All this work, and I would be done practically before I started. Joe took off back to Lakewood. I stayed and shot the Special Central Basin Meeting. I was wrong about the 15 minutes.

It took 10 minutes.

And like that I was done. The item had been about a grant, and wasn’t even close to being a controversial issue. Heh. Well, them’s the breaks. I put the equipment away, got in the work van, took off for Lakewood, and put all the equipment away. I was done with the shoot in just a few hours. I talked with Joe a little more before I took off. He had been feeling antsy (similar to myself) about not having a project to shoot that he could call his own.

We started talking about an idea I had for a TV show. We started cracking each other up as we came up with more and more ideas for it. I can’t say too much about it, but I think the idea has wings and could take off. I just got to be sure about the story structure I want it in.

I took off and picked up Amy to meet up with Patrick at Taco Surf for lunch. Patrick seems to be in a better place creatively, doing some work at an FX shop in Orange County, of all places. But the movie is still wallowing in Purgatory, but hopefully for not much longer. After lunch, Patrick went back to work, while Amy and I went and picked up Aaron from his work. We went to Amy’s place to watch some more Buffy.

And not just any Buffy, but the final three episodes of Season 3: The Prom and Graduation Day (Parts 1 & 2). After finally completing Season 3, we watched my bootlegs of the Angel pilot/pitch and both the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot episode AND Buffy the Animated Series pilot. It was quite funny to watch them, knowing where it was all going know AND surprising Amy with the existence of an cartoon pilot.

We broke for lunch at a pho restaurant, and then came back to watch my grand finale for the evening: the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie from 1992, starring Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry! I had completely forgotten how campy this movie was. But watching it, I could still hear Joss Whedon’s voice in the script. I wonder if he wanted to direct it back then, or if he still felt like too new a writer to even dare to dream that.

I really do love Buffy. I have a bit of an obsessive collection. I’m aware of that.

Topics of Conversation: Alan Moore, Homeless Mafia, Sarcasmo, facial expressions, movies that make no sense as to why we like them so much, taco greed, tour buses, lying as usual, etc.

-Nate

Second-Person

2010-06-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

Getting a paycheck is awesome, isn’t it?

Its just… its money that’s yours. You earned it. It ain’t addressed to you for no reason. You should be able to have each dollar to spend as you see fit. To invest and throw away to your heart’s content.

Too bad it just isn’t like that.

You got the bills. They get first crack at all your money, and they always want more of it. You always want to give them less of it. Really, if all your debt had a face, you’d kick it’s ass. Friggin’ bills, man…

I’m not sure why I went all second-person on you. For all I know, you hate when people assume what you’ll do. But I’m thinking you’re a creature of empathy, and that we’re on the same page, right? OF COURSE I’M RIGHT.

So anyways, I got a paycheck, which I would spend a majority of on bills, and then went out to catch up with Carissa. She was getting her car smogged, and I figured I could help her out in dealing with this big ol’ scary world. After doing that, I would run out to a bank and deposit my paycheck.

And that’s pretty much how the day went. She got her car smogged, saw how easy it was, we got my check to the bank, which actually took longer than it was supposed to. It was much more harder to find the bank branch in question than I had originally thought. But found it we did, and then food was acquired with said money.

After that, Carissa headed home, and I headed to Lainey’s place to watch yet more Lost. I’m officially getting WAY into it. The 2nd Season isn’t quite as good as the first, but its still better written than a lot of the crap on TV right now. I think the other thing I like about it is the sheer ambition. This is a very unconventional show. And its creating its own mythology with each episode.

Lainey fell asleep. I guess she’s not into the show as much.

(I’m kidding, Lainey! She actually already watched almost the entire season).

Topics of Conversation: Dinosaur people, visual learning, hummus for the day, mangoes, diary shovers, banks, sometimes I think too damn hard about stuff, drinking to anything, 3-second memory, cold show, dreams of repeat importance, getting some good anger going, etc.

-Nate

1 Gig of Memory

2010-06-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

I went to the comic shop today and hung out with Mark and Lainey, talking about random things. Nancy joined up a bit later, as did Victor and Josh. It was nice to be able to go to the shop, especially with how much harder it might be next week. School will definitely take a bite out of my time at the shop.

I tried the Bagel Thin sandwich at Noah’s Bakery. Its worth the $1 I paid, thanks to the coupon I received from Mark, but I would never pay the $4.75 they had it marked down as for “normal” price. Its small, and the bacon I had on it was tortilla chips at best. Don’t waste your money on it. Go for the regular sandwiches.

After the shop, I headed to Norwalk. It was uneventful, but I learned about an app from Bill for my parents’ Droid cell phone. Its called “Vignette,” and it can add different, cool effects to the pictures that the camera on the phone takes. I can’t wait to try it out, though I’m not sure if my parents will want it for very long.

Lately, my laptop has been lagging in memory. Heh. “Lately.” Lately by the past three years or so. I looked at it and realized that I only had one gig of memory left. What? How is that possible? I don’t download movies, and I only write on it. Were my stories and notes really taking up so much room? I had deleted a few programs that I wasn’t using anymore…

So I started checking.

As it turns out, I hadn’t deleted a single picture I had taken and uploaded to my computer since
2006. 2006. That is madness. At the same time, I thought it didn’t take up that much room. So I started to transfer all my pictures to CDs. I didn’t think it would take that long.

FIVE CD’s later and I’m only a quarter of the way done. Holy cow. This is insane I never thought I had that many pictures, or that it took up that much memory. Looks like I win the Dumb Award this year. I’ve already cleared up 3 gigs of memory just doing this first run at cleaning up the memory. I wonder what number of CD’s I’ll stop at?

Topics of Conversation: Fundraisers, all the crazy people in our lives, concert prostitute, Turok scene explanations, bagel thins and smoothies, Hannah Montana, 1000 hot dogs a day, In Edgar Wright We Trust, security cameras, green Solomon Grundy, stress headaches, etc.

-Nate

Another Day

2010-06-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

This morning, I worked for PCTA on a City Works video. This time they were talking about Emergency Preparedness. Its been odd how this has been coming up so consistently in my life. I think I should take it as a sign that I better get ready for some unfortunate turn of events. Well, at least I know how to crib debris off someone.

I headed to Norwalk, with yet another shoot awaiting me. It was another City Council Meeting. It was an uneventful one, at that. These past days have been same old, same old. Sorry that they’re not more action packed. Hopefully the next days start getting more intriguing.

Topics of Conversation: Terrorist hunters, small town robbery, reporter gigs, working the Jib, flues to avoid, when you’re actually looking for a Starbucks, the same story about dismemberment, old timey, etc.

-Nate

Devising

2010-06-14T10:43:00.001-07:00

I took a walk today, and I got an idea in my head. I wanted to convert an old idea that I had been working on nearly four years ago into a new idea. I went digging through some old notes, slowly compiling the scattered pieces of the big story arches that I had been devising way back then. I eventually came up with what might be a really fun idea, and some really strong characters. And the overall story can really pay off, especially the big moments I’m planning.

I went to Norwalk as well, and since it was a slow day, I worked on the idea some more. I basically have seven characters that are pretty different, though two might be a little too similar. And the first three story arches build upon each other nicely. And the end result is a world that has supernatural elements, but melds humor enough that having evil, demonic girl scouts fighting the heroes isn’t a stretch.

I know. That’s what I think about when I go on walks?

Topics of Conversation: Russian workout, the environment, busted elevator, hidden lists, art, The Hitchhiker, refrigerators, Neanderthals, bad luck, googling goggles, pasta love, etc.

-Nate

Half-Assed Journal Entry #07

2010-06-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

I was sunburnt and tired from yesterday, so I stayed home and contemplated the movies I could watch.

I also cleaned my car a little more.

And I changed my Summer school class from Environmental Science to Biological Anthropology. Mostly because it would give me even more chance to work on my homework.

Mostly I recovered.

Topics of Conversation: Pandora, the damn Celtics, True Blood’s amazing ability to be both ridiculous and interesting, lasagna, etc.

-Nate

A Quick History of a Different "Love Buggy"

2010-06-12T07:54:00.001-07:00

And so we come to Saturday the 12th of June. This day was going to be a long one. It was also going to be a fun day, luckily. But it started at 7:00 am and had a big ol’ question mark at its end point. I had a shoot for PCTA in the morning till somewhere in the afternoon, followed up by a Birthday party for Patrick in the evening. Great times, just a little too much of it.

The shoot for PCTA was at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley. It was a Summer Festival/Car Show. It was a two camera set-up with me as one of the cameramen, one other cameraman, a Producer, and a host. We started off the day with some B-roll of all the cars and early morning festivities, which were made up mostly of a Pancake Breakfast and, oddly enough, some Hooters girls promoting their restaurant. At 8:00 in the morning. That seemed wrong, some how. It was as though, at this hour and with this much sunlight, judgment seemed more easy to come up with. Like Hooters girls should only be allowed out in the late afternoon and in the evenings.

The cars were a pretty cool assortment. You had your usual newer models and older muscle cars, but there were some really awesome custom cars, and even an Amphibious Sports Car. That was actually really impressive. There was even a DeLorean, and I am a complete sucker for DeLoreans.

But the cars that usually make my “favorites” list are the ones with stories. And no story beat that of the “Love Buggy” van. It was a beautifully restored green van that had a sex doll in the passenger seat that the owner affectionately named “Tonya.” The interior had nothing but shag carpeting, a TV, and all wood paneling. The owner was a guy that, if you listened long enough, you could tell had been around. Seen a story or two, and survived double that many. He had even lost ownership of the van more than once, but always found a way to get it back, if just to live in it when he was down and out.

He apparently used the van in his youth for one thing: “To pick up girls,” he said happily. And when I mean “pick up,” I mean literally pick up hitchhikers (predominantly women), and they would be his company for the day… “and the night, sometimes.” Wow. You heard that right. Women just can’t seem to pass up an opportunity to get a ride in a strange van with almost no windows, by a guy of questionable moral fiber.

But he seemed like a nice guy, even if he had only one thing on his mind. At least he was honest about it.

The Festival finally kicked into full gear, and we shot some of the different rides. We tried to get the host onto a kiddy roller coaster, but that was a no go. But we did get on a Ferris Wheel, a Haunted House, a Bumble Bee ride. We all each of us failed to ring the bell on what I feel was a rigged hammer game. I figured it was rigged because I lost. I think my logic is sound.

We tried some of the food from the vendors. And I have to say that the food was outstanding. There was a fried Halibut with French fries that was phenomenal, and a strawberry short cake that had to have had cocaine in it. And some teriyaki beef that was both tangy and sweet. I have never hated working and not having money at the same time as I did at this point.

The entire shoot started at 8:30 am and didn’t end till 4:30 pm. I was sunburnt, tired, sweaty, and ready to sleep for the rest of the day. Oh yeah, and my glasses decided to break some more. Just like that, the lens fell out of the right side. Argh. That’s when I got a text asking if I was on my way to Patrick’s party. Heh. Yeah, I was going. But I was going to take my time.

I got to Patrick’s party, which was a BBQ/Wolfman movie watching affair, sat down with a plate of food and some gaffer’s tape and got to work on my glasses. After they were fixed enough, I started eating and zoning out to the movie. For at least an hour, I was in a complete fog. If the movie hadn’t been playing, I would have just been staring at a wall, drooling. I literally couldn’t conceive of doing anything. I finally shook out of it after Aaron and Amy arrived.

Patrick wanted to play croquet, to which none of us had ever played. So we half read the rules, and half made them up as we went along. Not bad times, even if I felt like I was shaking off a drunken stupor induced by too much sunlight. We eventually started playing a game called (and I think spelled) “Ping Pon Pan.” Basically, it’s a dare/punishment game. An okay game, but in the state I was in, nothing could surpass “okay,” because I was so out of it.

We finished up the game, and started watching Borat, and that’s when I really started hitting the wall. I bided Patrick a good night and a Happy Birthday, said good bye to all and headed home to recover and try to feel human again. This mostly consisted of a cool shower and spacing out till I fell asleep completely.

I made no plans for tomorrow, and I think that’s exactly what I will need.

Topics of Conversation: DeLoreans, sunshine so deadly, the Love Buggy, spines, a Beach Boys cover band, audio shenanigans, a Japanese Crime Dog that cries by saying “wan,” Schlongers the male restaurant equivalent of Hooters, that damn hammer, itchy grass, annoying the neighbors, Korean burritos, art pieces I‘m glad I was present for, too many songs, arrogance that is unlikely, a Pope joke that will never be aired, etc.

-Nate

My Friend Has a Manga and You Should Buy It

2010-06-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

Two good things for me today. First, I had lunch with Sam(antha) at a ramen place in the Marukai Marketplace. And second, I had a solo shoot for Norwalk that was to cover a pep rally for the Special Olympics. Both were good, uplifting activities to participate in. Though I the food was WAY better at the Sam lunch.

To start off, for the lunch with Sam, I punched in the destination into my GPS, Sheila… and was led down a direction that got me to the place, but took way longer than was necessary. Sheila has rarely led me astray, so it was troubling to have such an obvious betrayal of my trust. We will have to talk about it at some point…

I met up with Sam at Book-Off, a used bookstore next to the Marukai Marketplace, and we headed out to get some ramen. Once we got our food, I was presented with Sam’s self-published manga, The Piper’s Promise. She had worked for two months, from writing to drawing to printing, and had just received the copies a few days previously. And she gave me a copy! I gave her all the money I had at the time (three sad, measly little dollars), but figured I would blackmail her into having lunch with me again by promising to give her the other $3 when we meet up again.

Quick Plug for Sam’s Manga!:
Have you ever read the Pied Piper? Have you ever wondered as to the background of this mysterious figure? Who was he? Was he the bad guy? Was he the good guy? Was he human at all? In The Piper’s Promise, the prologue to the much anticipated follow up, all these questions will begun to be answered. But like any fairy tale, Once Upon a Time is only the beginning…

Sam (Sammi G. for print), is only asking for $6 for these little one-of-a-kind babies! The art is completely original, and all the money goes to paying off her publishers (i.e. PARENTS). And it does not get any more Independent then this gal. Hand-made manga, what else do you want? She’s also going to be at Anime Expo, so hit up her table!

So yeah, my friend has a manga and you should buy it.

The ramen at the place was pretty good, but I confess that I still like Santouka more. No place has beaten it for me, yet. But who knows, the future is big and wide and unknown. That’s why it’s the future. After the ramen, we hung out and talked, catching up on all the different people and events in our lives. I eventually had to head to work, and we said our farewells.

Norwalk was a little intimidating, because I would have to shoot everything by myself. No backup. Nobody to ask for advice on a shot. Yes, this is good for me, and it helps me grow and learn. But it still kind of sucks. Especially when the damn white balance changes so damn much!

(“White Balance” pertains to the balance of light and color in a shot, and is a film/video term, NOT a racial one).

The Special Olympics Pep Rally was pretty cool, after all was said and done and video taped. The athletes were happy, as were the parents, and the staff involved seemed to be having a ball. There was a slideshow of all the pictures from past events, and the training that the athletes had undergone. And then there was a big dance party after the Pep Rally was over. I didn’t dance, but everybody danced for the video camera.

After I stressed out if I shot the entire event wrong, or hadn’t recorded enough (I actually recorded too much, but it didn’t hurt to have too much footage), I dropped off the equipment and headed home and caught the Doctor Who episode, Amy’s Choice. Britain was now three episodes ahead of us. But at least I was this far along. The episode was really good, with a great threat and even better character moments. I can’t wait till the next episode. Maybe I’ll charm Vic or Justin into letting me catch the next two episodes before I have to die from old age waiting for America to catch up.

Topics of Conversation: Self publishing, Diet Milk Tea, first autograph, Greased Lightning, AX, music videos you can’t say no to, mango flavored, Free Radar, new Aunts, happy noise, sandals for stilettos, those that we can’t forget, turning green, camera hogs, gentlemen, etc.

-Nate

Burning Playgrounds of Armageddon

2010-06-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

I was invited to Maureen’s Graduation in Moreno Valley. I figured it has been a while since I had seen her and Kristin and the gang, and it seemed like a good reason to visit. Though it does seem that I only get down there for big events. I should just visit for visiting sake. I’ll make a note of that, when I’m not so very broke.

I met up with Kristin ahead of time, and we grabbed some lunch. We hadn’t talked face to face since March(?), and it was just like old times. She’s got a lot of stuff coming up, so it would be interesting to see how all that turns out for her.

We picked up Maureen and headed to her school. After she got processed, Kristin and I found seats for everyone. “Everyone” included pretty much all of Maureen’s family, which is quite the gathering. I’m an only child, so its always like an Anthropology experiment to see how so many different people can be assembled into a living unit. And some of the siblings could not be more different, while some are mirrors of each other. They always love each other, but they don’t always like each other. That’s how family is, folks. I guess we just have to deal with that.

The Graduation was out in the open. Now, I’m not sure if you’ve been to Moreno Valley, but its in Riverside. Riverside is where you go when you want to cook eggs on your belt buckle. The place can get hot. I do not like heat. This is problematic, since I live in California. I really should move to Oregon. Not because it never gets hot there, but because its not miles and miles of raging desert.

The speakers were your usual assortment of Professors that have to speak, former students, and FBI guys that are decently funny. Okay, maybe the FBI part is a little different, but the decently funny part shows up at least once in every Graduation. You have people that don’t like to speak in public, and people who tell speeches that they photocopied from a dictionary.

And then there’s the occasional person that tell a speech that doesn’t make a lick of sense. (I like these the most).

In this case, it was a dude who used to teach at the school. His speech was… baffling, really. He started with a audio sound bite from a movie that, for the life of me, I couldn’t place where it came from. And the audio clip itself was distorted just enough for the words to not make any sense. He then started talking about trains, and how many accidents occurred. As to why, it was never clear.

And then the main theme from Terminator 2 started playing.

It was subtle at first. But it steadily grew to where it was unmistakable. It was in fact the driving drum beat and bass of Terminator 2. You know the song? It played at the opening credits. With the burning playgrounds. THAT’S the friggin’ image that came to my mind as he talked about his inspirational speech. Burning playgrounds of Armageddon.

And then from the subject of trains, he jumped right to “sexting.” Yes. The use of cell phone texts to send words and images of strong sexual content. He even went out of his way to describe what “sexting” was to the audience. He said it was “the use of cell phone texts to send words and images of strong sexual content.” Oh, wait, I said that already, didn’t I? Well, he made sure a crowd full of parents, grandparents, and children now know what sexting is. All this in a Graduation speech. Did this guy just google random things and make a Mad Lib speech?

Anyways, awesome Graduation!

After Maureen was diploma’d and took all the pictures with her family, we headed to a Thai restaurant for dinner. The food was pretty good, and I liked the Pad Thai that I bought. Maureen got a Sweet and Sour Soup that wasn’t half bad, though it had more herbs than vegetables. Kristin got a chicken dish that was really good. So good, that I didn’t like my Pad Thai as much. Oh well, such is life.

We headed back to Maureen’s parent’s place and played Red Dead Redemption. I was soon betrayed by my teammates (Alex and Maureen), but only long enough to laugh at my dead horse. Red Dead Redemption is a crazy game. Think Grand Theft Auto meets The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. You’re a badass cowboy that can do whatever you feel like you can get away with. You keep all the guns you earn. And the map is amazing and completely open to explore. It was really fun.

After a while, everyone was starting to hit the wall (at least, I was and two others were a little tired). I took my leave and listened to SModcast all the way home. Again, I must make a note to hang out when I’m not so darn broke.

Topics of Conversation: Jellyfish song, dancing birds, keeping the genetics strong, grad dust, running to Mexico, pad Thai, Red Dead Graduation, glasses, oleanders, Utah, stealing women, full-time jobs that make you want to commit full-time suicide, CSU Fullerton, uncomfortable choir songs, wacky animes, Misc. Women, soft hugs, where is the beacon?, using the stairs as a zombie chokepoint, writing critique, summoning a donkey, etc.

-Nate

Longing For The Very Recent Past

2010-06-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

I did my comic run nice and prompt this time around. It was a really good one, because nearly the entire band was back together! Victor, Justin, Lainey, Mark, (no) Nancy, and myself kicking it and talking comics. Just like the good ol’ days. Which were about two months ago. I can’t believe I’m getting nostalgic for only two months in the past.

As for comics I bought Secret Six (#22) and Demo (#05). Secret Six was as good as it usually is. Gail Simone has so much more talent than she gets credit for. The simple fact that she can make a character as lame as Catman into an actually interesting and multi-layered person is an achievement in of itself. But the rest of her characters are so well written, too. Each of them have a voice of their own, which is hard for a lot of writers to pull off.

Demo was pretty decent, but this second volume has been a little wobbly. I really liked Stranded (#05), though. I little time travel piece that would have lost steam if it was a series, but as a one-shot, easily entertained and had a great moral that its never too late to make yourself a better, stronger person. ESPECIALLY if you’ve got a nifty time travel power.

I headed to Norwalk for my usual work time. We had a Planning Commission Meeting that, for some reason, started nearly half an hour late. No one really knows why. And the Meeting itself went on for over an hour. Just a long night, I guess.

Topics of Conversation: Hemlock cupcakes, Ruby Quartz, cheap Baseball seats, the other F-word, Pretzel M&M’s, a true Poker face, new cell phones, documentation without informing the subject, Baconaise, Beat Box, etc.

-Nate

Capable of Being Useful

2010-06-08T00:36:00.000-07:00

Today started early for me because of yet another SEAACA video taping. I would, once again, be taping a 6-pack of cats and dogs. 3 cats and 3 dogs. And they would be adorable and wanting a home. So get down to SEAACA, people!

Every shoot I do seems to make me feel a little more capable of being useful. It’s a very gradual thing. Mostly consisting of cussing in my head, and staring at a shot till my eyes bleed. But I’ve had to do less and less of this ritual over the two or so years. Will I ever feel 100% comfortable?
Not bloody likely, but who knows, right?

After the SEAACA shoot, I had lunch with Bill and Musse at Burger Basket. I just really felt like a Greek owned burger joint. And this place hit the spot nicely. While there, Bill told me of a lady who, after picking up food from the very same restaurant, got into her car and was completely oblivious to the fact that the car was heavily leaking gasoline. Her car was running the entire time. Bill said he warned her… from a safe distance. Wow, that lady nearly received a Darwin Award.

I met up with Justin after work and we headed out to the Long Beach Town Center to hang out with Aaron and Amy. I had meant to watch Buffy Season 3 with them, but had forgotten it in my car. The problem was that I had carpooled with Justin in his car. Brilliant, Nate. Still a good night was had.

Topics of Conversation: Moron drivers, leaks, rich Canadian ladies, chili cheese fries, Palpians, free babies with every purchase, 22-year-old cat, the absolute ecstasy of Selling Out, Kenneth Shwartz, job hunting for the kill, the Human Centipede, how to not win fans, etc.

-Nate

Muthertruckin' Car Wax!

2010-06-07T14:42:00.001-07:00

My car is filthy. It’s a fact. And now, because of this very blog, it is a DOCUMENTED fact. I never really think about it until it practically has the little cartoon stink lines and flies around it. I just put it out of my mind.

But today was different. For some reason I looked at my car and saw how dirty it was. It bugged me. So I asked my dad where all our car cleaning stuff was, grabbed it, and went to the nearest $5 automated car wash. After washing the outside, I vacuumed all the little accumulated debris, for lack of a better word. All the pebbles, dried grass and leaves, crumbs, tiny bits of paper, etc. that gathers on the floor of a car.

And then I upped the ante on the car cleaning.

I drove to a nearby parking lot with lots of room and shade. I parked under a tree and busted out the car wax. And yeah, you heard me. The Muthertruckin’ CAR WAX. I wasn’t playing around anymore. I was going to make my car sparkle like a gay ol’ Twilight vampire, or die trying.

Long story short, waxing your car takes a ton of time.

But my car was looking better than it had in a year. On the flip side, the little scratches and dings that had accumulated over its years on the road were now more pronounced. Oh well, the stink lines were gone, and I was feeling accomplished. I got home, cleaned myself up, and headed for work.

Something very quick and strange happened while I was waiting at a light.

Some guy on a bike was booking it and, apparently not paying any attention to the red light, CROSSED THE STREET. And yes, he got hit by a car that was pulling up. Luckily, the car was slowing down to turn, so he didn’t get hit as hard as he could have. The guy got knocked off the bike, and rolled up onto the hood of the car. Before the driver can react, the guy jumps off the hood, flips off the driver, gets on his bike, and high tails it down the street. This was all in the span of no more than five seconds. Insane.

Work, by contrast, was very sane and relaxed.

Topics of Conversation: Fancy apps, digitizing, wax, 0.3 pixels, new accessories, a Slurpee by any other name, waking up, Mozart, etc.

-Nate

Crepe Tasting Tomfoolery

2010-06-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

Way back in the yesteryear of 2006, I went to England. Yes, yes, it was pretty awesome. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I came back to America with amazing memories, DVDs of the TV show “Spaced,” and a seriously depleted bank account.

And a taste for crepes.

A crepe is like a cross between a pancake and a tortilla. In England, they had street crepes that would range from sweet fillings like ice cream or fruit to savory fillings like ham or mushrooms. Each time I had one, the vendor would make it right in front of me, and the end product was always satisfying. I have yet to see many of these delightful eats since coming back to the States.

So imagine my happiness when I found a place right across from Cypress College that makes them. Take a second… Yeah, I look pretty happy right? Wait… why are you picturing me wearing that shirt in your head? Just because I like comic books doesn’t mean I’m going to wear a Wolverine T-shirt! Especially yellow spandex Wolverine. I’m so much more a fan of Wolverine in his 80’s dark brown costume.

How could you not know that? I thought we were friends…

Anyways, imaginary betrayals aside, I decided to grab my friend Katie along for the crepe tasting tomfoolery. She had yet to ever try out a crepe, and I figured the best thing to do would be to let her try it out with me, so I could be the cool guy for the day. I picked her up from her place, and we hit the road with adventure in front of us, and a devil may care attitude to carry us through the miles.

The name of the crepe/sorbet place was Frostbite’s, across from Cypress College. The first thing I had ever tried there was sorbet. This was with Justin after I had some crappy car problems. The sorbet actually cheered me up for a moment or two, it was so good. And now I returned in much better spirits and equally awesome company in tow, I would see if the crepes could put me in an even better mood than I was at the moment.

We got a sweet crepe to share between us. It had Nutella, bananas, strawberries, whipped cream, and cinnamon. It was pretty good. I don’t usually go for sweet crepes. I prefer savory. But this was a tasty little bugger! And we also had some strawberry sorbet. Right now, the best thing there is the sorbet, but the sweet crepes are really good. I can’t wait to try savory next. There’s a chicken crepe on the menu that I think will be as good, if not better, than the sweet crepe.

After Frostbite’s, Katie and I walked around the Cypress College Swap Meet for a bit. Most of the stalls were closing down for the day, but I did spot a little statue that I wanted way more than I should have. It was a dog dressed up as a butler. He was standing up straight, holding a tray next to his shoulder, and was wearing little eye glasses. I named him Owen after a quiet discussion with Katie, though she was more taken with the name Otis. If he didn’t have the little eye glasses, I would agree with her, but I think Owen is more upper crust.

We left the Swap Meet and headed back to her neck of the woods. We hung out in La Mirada Park, and watched various geese. This park was pretty impressive. It had a water park, tennis courts, a duck pond (though more of a GEESE pond by the sheer volume and swagger of the geese), and little posts for something called “Frisbee golf.” What is Frisbee golf, you might ask? Good question. By the power of deduction and plain lazy imagination, I would say that it’s a cross between Frisbee and golf.

*Ba-Dum-Bump!*

After the park, I dropped Katie off at her place and headed back home. I got a text from Lainey letting me know that it was game on for Lost tonight. Sweetness. I had been jonesing for some more episodes of Season 2. I don’t think I would like the show that much if I had to watch it from week to week, but as little blocks of episodes at a good friend’s place? The enjoyment factor is astonishing.

I watched Lost, as Lainey worked on cutting out the fabric she would need for a dress she was making. Hemlock, Lainey’s black cat of mischief, was being equal parts adorable and troublemaker. A good night, after all’s said and done.

Topics of Conversation: Nutella, how to fall, Owen the Butler Dog, trusting with caution, butt muscles, frozen custard, little clones, fabric playing, the little mohawk, The Gnome, blackmail, geeky glasses, dubious compliments, improbably games, the number 22, etc.

-Nate

Now I'm Ready For Any Emergency

2010-06-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

I had to get up early today. Its always one of those decisions I need to plan ahead for. Like going on vacation. I have to make sure my accommodations are seen to. That the transportation is ready to go. That my clothes are ready to be thrown on. But most especially, I need to make sure I wake up in time for it.

And holy cow! I was woke up in time for it.

I was up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:20. I even had enough time to feel almost human. That’s not usually the case when it comes to these morning shifts. And the best part? I beat everybody that was I was meeting up with for the shoot. Shawn drove up ten minutes after me. And Eileen fifteen minutes after that. I was made of victory.

After loading up the gear, we headed out to Cerritos. We were to shoot a Earthquake Disaster preparedness simulation. CERT (California Emergency Response Training) was using an abandoned Medical Center that was normally used by the Police as a training course and had set up six different training scenarios. It was actually interesting, and used a lot of hands on demonstrations by professional firefighters and police officers.

CERT Roll Call!:

1. SEARCH & RESCUE: In the building they had set up obstacles and victims for CERT trainees to find and deal with. There were some overturned desks and “debris” that the they would have to navigate through. And for the “victims,” a bunch of High School students had volunteered to pretend to be the victims, and each one had a different injury. CERT even brought in a makeup artist to apply different injuries, from burns to broken bones to cuts, etc. All the victims were given a card that explained the injury and how badly they were hurt.

2. TRIAGE: Outside the building, CERT set up a place for all the victims to be taken out of the building and sent to, so the CERT trainees could deal with the different “injuries.” So they had blankets, bandages, and other medical items they had to use correctly. At the same time, the supplies were limited, and the Triage people had to figure out who could wait, and who needed immediate attention. All the while, the “victims” had to wail and react to their “injuries.” It was a little funny at times, but did a decent job of stressing out the Triage trainees.

3. STRETCHERS: Trainees were shown how to properly move a victim onto a stretcher and how to transport them. They just used a dummy as a “victim,” but it was interesting to see all the different factors that went into moving someone safely.

4. FIRE EXTINGUISHER USE: CERT had set up some controlled fires that trainees could use fire extinguishers on. So all throughout the day there were clouds of smoke and fire suppressants. But it was cool to see the extinguishers at work.

5. CRIBBING: What the hell is cribbing? Well, it’s the technique that firefighters use to properly lift things off of victims. First, you have someone use some sort of bar and leverage to SLOWLY lift the object up. Then others put whatever they have at hand to “crib” a support under the object so that it both keeps the object from falling on the victim, but also makes the progress of the person lifting the object easier. “Lift an inch, crib on inch.” You don’t have to do a ton of cribbing, just enough to get the victim out from under the object.

6. NOAH: “Noah” is a term for rescuing animals that are in the same disaster situations. It taught the trainees how to deal with terrified animals, and how to care for them in Emergency situations.

The CERT training was actually very well done. I think I even accidentally learned a thing or two. Hopefully I won’t need it.

While at the shoot, I ran into Mike, who is a fellow employee from my job at Norwalk That was pretty funny. It almost seemed like I was cheating on Norwalk with Lakewood. Hey, they weren’t giving me enough of what I needed, baby…

After the shoot for Lakewood, I met up with Victor for lunch. We grabbed some Mongolian BBQ at the Cerritos Mall. I had forgotten how much I loved Mongolian BBQ! I need to find a decent restaurant more closer to where I live. We caught up and talked about the life, school, and art. I gave him a pep talk that I hoped helped. The dude is talented, but his greatest enemy is himself.

Argh. I know the feeling.

After lunch, I got a hold of Carissa for some ice cream. I got a Sour Grape Icee-Thingy-Whatever that I really didn’t like that much. They didn’t have Peach, and I paid for my adventurous decision. Luckily, Carissa wasn’t digging the Snozzberry Icee-Thingy-Whatever she had, so we switched. I now will never buy Sour Grape anything ever again. See? Now I’m ready for any emergency.

We ended the night by catching The Losers at the Brookhurst Theater near my house. Wow. I’ve actually seen this movie THREE times. I’m not even sure how that happened. But I’ve liked it each time, so no harm, no foul. After the movie, I dropped off Carissa at her house, and headed home.

Tomorrow I will have crepes!

Topics of Conversation: Hans and Franz, the lightning bolt, rice fried chicken things, shell casings, purple tongue, the sudden appearance of an unexpected individual, white cheddar popcorn, realizing you are actually pretty awesome, Jonah Hex, Sour Grape vs. Snozzberry, punk girl in a zombie movie, Cinegear, Filipino food, etc.

-Nate

The Charm of Corn

2010-06-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

Because of Memorial Day, new comics did not come in on Wednesday, and were pushed to Thursday. Because of my work schedule on Thursday, I was not able to go to Comics Unlimited until today. AND I had work tonight at Norwalk to shoot a TAP (Teen Awareness Program) dinner. That’s just the way life is, but today could work out fairly well. I could go to Comics Unlimited in the day, and then head to work.

I got to Comics Unlimited and found that Lainey was running the store solo, which always struck me as both cool and crappy at the same time. On one hand, Lainey gets to run the store the way she’d like to. Listen to the music she wants to. Dance in place. Jump up and down. Doodle. Stare at the ceiling. Whatever. She’s a responsible person, so she won’t do anything that could hurt the store. I would love to run a comic shop on my own.

But what about going to the bathroom? What about lunch? What about being alone with strangers through out the day? Besides the occasional Regular (Ex.: ME), she’s got to be professional person AND run to the bathroom. I can see the downside to flying solo in a comic shop.

Moving on…

So I got my comics, Invincible (#72) and Demo (#04), and chatted with Lainey about everything and nothing. Mon (another Comics Unlimited worker bee) came in around 2:00 which is about the time I left for work.

I got to Norwalk and found that I was going to do some more Inventory. Mostly the stuff that hadn’t been found in the first two passes. I only found five or so things that weren’t already accounted for. I found just as many things that hadn’t already been on the Inventory list. Looks like we’ll need more tags made up, as well as some updating of the list.

My boss and I headed to the TAP dinner and found that we were nearly an hour earlier than we needed to be there by. It was odd, but I didn’t mind. We went over to a burger place nearby and grabbed some lunch/dinner. I had a chocolate shake as well that wasn’t too bad.

Finally the TAP dinner was ready and we shot all the festivities. The theme for this year was a Hollywood party. Corny, but it’s a teen program designed with all the passion of a Saturday Afternoon Special. These kinds of programs are forever cursed to be corny. But that’s its charm. The charm of corn. Don’t underestimate it.

All the kids seemed to be having fun, and the free food was pretty darn tasty. All in all a good night.

Topics of Conversation: Razors, kitten tattoos, writing, apprenticeships in questionable locales, sign language for “powerful,” girl smelly isn’t as bad as boy smelly, recent confidence, roast beef, Anime Wonder Woman, standing in front of calendars, the new breed of customers, chocolate covered licorice, etc.

-Nate

Art Recycling Werewolf

2010-06-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

I picked up a shoot for Norwalk today. Basically, they needed me to document interviews with two different artists. A committee was assembled to get an art piece for the City of Norwalk. And when I say “art piece,” I’m talking a big ol’ hunk of art that they could show off and point to and say “Yo, we’re an artsy city. Word!”

I can’t go into the details, so I will use this sentence to artfully gloss over the details.
After Norwalk, I headed to Cypress College to check on the status of my class and college fee payments. Success! The class fee waiver had gone into effect, and the remains of scholarship were still active. I pretty much paid for all my school needs without having to sell my kidneys!

For another year, at least…

Patrick called me up to see what I was up to. I told him I needed to run to the Recycling Center, and then I could hang for a bit. I headed to his place, ate a couple tamales, and we were off to save the environment and make a few bucks.

After that, we lounged around his place and watched nearly all the special features on An American Werewolf In London. John Landis is one kooky cat, but deeply likeable. The documentaries were really interesting, and it was amazing what they pulled off with just some imagination and ingenuity. It really inspired me to write something, anything.

I can only hope it’s half as decent a script as Werewolf in London.

Topics of Conversation: Italy, bar codes, metaphors for other things, John Landis, microwave tamales, marble, expenses, flying to Japan, FX, grapes, Masters, names not used, etc.

-Nate

Olde World Authentic Twittering

2010-06-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

I’ve been on Twitter for a bit. Its not something I go out of my way to mention, because honestly, haven’t you heard enough from me on the web as is? I mean, you’re reading this blog, so you might be one of the few that can’t get enough of my weird thoughts on life and stuff and all the things in between. You might actually look forward to this little daily exercise of words I’ve thrust upon myself.

God help you. :-D

Anyways, I kind of just realized that I don’t receive any notifications from twitter. Which is mostly the way I want it, but I’ve come to enjoy some of the twitter feeds that I’m signed up to. And I would like to twitter in the authentic capacity. From my phone. So I recently but my number on twitter, and will receive updates from a select number of feeds. If this fills up my inbox too fast, then I will change it if I have to, but for now this is a fun little experiment.

I better not start getting too much spam. Grrr…

With the invention of blogs, twittering, and the myriad of other ways to communicate instantly, I can’t help but wonder if humans were always this gabby. Did we just never have an outlet before? Would we have gotten just as many tweets if it was possible to do so in 1780? Or 1882? Or 1943?

These are random years I’m throwing out, but picture Benjamin Franklin on a cell phone, twittering “Gonna fly a kite with a key on it for lols. OMG its fukin rainy!”

Or Albert Einstein writing a blog about how much he friggin’ hates math? Or a status update about how crazy a Project in Manhattan is getting?

Have we gotten more impractical and talkative in these recent decades, or was it just more quiet because there was no way to express one’s self in decades and centuries past? And now that blogs and tweets DO exist, will our grandchildren and great grandchildren look upon them as if they were etchings in stone? Anyways, my brain wanders…

Patrick wanted to meet up today, but I had so many things going on, that it just didn’t happen. Hopefully I can get a hold of him later and figure out a better day. I ran around to figure out ways to stretch out my finances till Friday, and went to Cypress College to pay for some side fees that my BOGG waiver doesn’t cover.

I had almost forgotten about the remnants of a scholarship I had received way the heck back in High School. I had been slowly picking it apart over the years, but I still had a few hundred dollars in it to use for the parking pass and Health fee. I found myself quietly pumped to get back into school. I knew that the only thing that had held me back before was my mindset, which was negative to say the least.

But this time around…? I’m ready to learn and surpass my own expectations.

I headed to Norwalk. It turned out I was in for a quiet evening this Wednesday, but tomorrow morning I would have to shoot coverage for a string of artist interviews. What they’re for, I do not know. But I’m happy to have some work tomorrow, on top of the work I have Friday night!

Topics of Conversation: The Story, koalas, Mary Elizabeth Winestead, nails, This American Life, audio coverage, hanging out with cats, E3, school money, dogs eating peanut butter, cheap noodles, etc.

-Nate

After Rebate

2010-06-01T00:33:00.001-07:00

As of the past month or so, my cell phone had been giving me trouble. It couldn’t hold a charge to save its life. For example, the battery could be fully charged, and I would send out three text messages. And then the battery would be dead. Just like that. And forget having a decent conversation on it! It would just cut out right in the middle of a phone call.

The good news was that I’ve had my cell phone for two years. Which meant that the “New In Two” plan was in affect. I went to a Verizon store on Lincoln, and after looking around for a bit, and avoiding some Hard Sale to get a Droid, I ended up getting a new cell phone that actually was a better upgrade from my old phone, but didn’t end up actually costing me anything more.

After rebate, of course.

Okay, RANT TIME! What is the friggin’ deal with this “Rebate” bull crap?! They keep throwing the damn price around like you already got a rebate, which is a lie, since it hasn’t happened yet. But I still have to pay the money now and there. Isn’t there a sneaky law suit just waiting in the wings for that loop hole of false advertisement?

If the thing costs $100 AFTER REBATE, then that means I end up having to pay over $100 right then and there! Rebate just annoys me, because I always have to figure out the math just that much longer. And I don’t like math, so stop it with this rebate shenanigans!

Okay, moving on…

I checked my e-mail and found that a seat had opened up in Environmental Biology! I hungrily grabbed it and am now waiting for my BOGG fee waiver to take effect. I will probably have to go in tomorrow to pay for the incidental fees. It will be interesting how I pull off paying for them, what with no money in my account…

I held off on charging my new phone till I got to work. Since I would be at Norwalk for over four hours, I figured that I could let it sit and juice up while I earned the money to support my cell addiction. We had a City Council Meeting that mostly consisted of Senior Citizens getting angry at the bus system. Just another day. Just another Council Meeting.

After getting off work, I met up with Victor at In-N-Out. In retrospect, I probably should have bowed out from going. My brain was pretty fried, and I don’t think I was the most attentive of company. But it was a decent hang out, if one that would have been better if I had some more sleep in me. Hopefully I can pull out a higher quality hang-out later in the week.

Topics of Conversation: Droid, eyebrow threading, more talk about cell phones than I’ve done in years, insomnia of a different sort, forgetting to bring the Noise, drunk dancing as a last resort, my poison is Solitude, “That’s What She Didn’t Say,” party dog, two-step to home, etc.

-Nate

A Win/Win Situation

2010-05-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

I had two important events for Memorial Day:

1. Memorial Day Ceremony for the City of Lakewood.

AND

2. Memorial Day BBQ at Amy’s House!

Both of these have pros and cons.

For the Ceremony at Lakewood, I would have to wake up early and work on a Holiday. But I would be getting paid, and honestly, its not that difficult a shoot.
For Amy’s BBQ, the pros were that there were no cons. It would be a completely Win/Win situation. BBQ with friends? And I will already be in the area thanks to work? Epic victory!

For the Memorial Day shoot, we had to set up three cameras and some simple audio. Normally, this is easy as pie, except we were shooting outside at a park. A park that we had already had problems with in the past. Electrical problems, to be exact. And we had them yet again. We tried THREE different power sources before we had to plug into an entirely different building that we almost didn’t have enough cable to reach.

But we were victorious, and we shot the ceremony with no problems.

After we were done, I headed to Borders to await word of the BBQ. Figuring that they would be ready somewhere in the later afternoon bordering on evening, I settled down and started reading The Good, The Bad, and The Uncanny by Simon R. Green.

From what I read, his pacing has gotten even quicker than usual. There were entire story lines that were hurried along, and character development that was almost rushed past. But the imagination is still pretty strong, if a little repetitive. He actually introduced a huge threat, and then glossed over it with an even bigger threat. It wasn’t bad, mind you. It was just surprising just how much stuff was packed in the first half of the book. And he picked up a plot point that I had almost thought dead, but now it looks like he was just looking for the proper time to delve into it.

I got a text from Amy… The BBQ was on like Donkey Kong!

(My vegan friends will probably want to skip ahead).

I got to her house and dug into pork ribs. Delicious pork ribs. It had been too long since I had ribs of this magnitude. And the rest of the fixing’s were great. Hawaiian rolls, corn on the cobb, potatoes, and salad. I was full and happy. All this, and I had only had an apple all day, so I was proper starving.

We finished up the day with a Buffy five episode marathon: Consequences, Dopplegangland,
Enemies, Earshot, and Choices.

Topics of Conversation: The Holy Hand Grenade, peach juice, sad stories of dismemberment, hearting, half thy ass, rib drunk, broken backs, graduation parties, etc.

-Nate

Playfully Arrogant

2010-05-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

I went to sleep late last night and woke up early today. Not the best of combos for most people, but ESPECIALLY a bad idea considering just how bad I am at waking up as it is.

But I soldiered on.

First on the list was meeting up with Carissa at a park near The Block to hang out and talk about any and all things that were pertinent to life and everything in it. It was quite a nice day, in fact. I don’t spend enough time outdoors. And today was quite nice. After a good talk, I ended up giving her a box of comics that I had always meant to get around to dropping off somewhere. She seemed to really want them, so I was glad that they were getting a good home.

Yeah, sometimes my comics are like pets to me.

After the park, I had to head off and meet up with Sarah at a Del Taco near Huntington Beach. We had made plans to do some bowling, and it had been a long time since I had thrown a heavy ball at a bunch of pins. I was more than happy to play again.

After a light lunch at the Del Taco, we headed out to Linbrook Bowl near where I live. It had been forever since I had bowled, and though I talked a big game, which I think is way funnier than being nice and honest about my lack of skills, I had no way of knowing how well I would do. I did some jokey cheating to throw off Sarah’s game, which mostly consisted of me yelling nonsensical words that had nothing to do with bowling like “Yosemite!” or “Shazam!” when she went up to bowl.

I actually did pretty decent. In fact, I would go so far as to say I did far better than when I used to not be playfully arrogant. I would state that I would knock down most of the pins, and I did. Nearly half the time I would actually succeed in what I was pretending to be good enough to do. It was bizarre. Sarah was annoyed, but seemed to be laughing about it.

Of course, she might be furious and desperately wants to kick my ass, so who knows. The girl is hard to read.

We hung out and talked in the parking lot for a bit before she left for home. I got a call from Justin Claraval, who was on break from the Jesuit school he was attending. He and Victor were going to be at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Fullerton in a few minutes, and he was hoping I could join them. It had been a while since I had seen him, so I was game.

I wasn’t very hungry when I met up with them, so I ordered a soup and salad deal. The salad had a pesto ranch dressing that I will have to duplicate on my own time, because it was really good, but needed a touch more pesto. Justin Quizon joined as a little later. After the restaurant, we headed out to grab a beer at Hero’s, and walk around Downtown Fullerton for a bit. It was a reasonably quiet night, all said and done.

Except someone attempted to egg us.

Now, it wasn’t the best egging that’s ever been done. In fact, they completely missed us. It was a little sad, in hindsight. Justin C., Victor, Justin Q., and myself were walking through a crosswalk when we heard a “SPLAT” and looked down in time to find the remains of an egg splatter across the street. We looked back to see a black truck gunning it down the street after they turned right at the light.

We were all rather calm for a group that had narrowly avoided a vicious egging. I guess what really helped keep us from getting angry was that fact that we avoided it. And we were amused by the fact that the alleged Egg-Hurlers had failed so miserably at hitting four slow moving targets. We speculated the reasons all the way from a last minute change of heart, to someone clumsily eating raw eggs while they were driving with their window open.

Either way, we felt protected, and hung out near the night life of Fullerton a little more before calling it a night.

Topics of Conversation: Drool, caterpillars, the wino at the next tree over, other people’s trash, sex dust, a bizarre episode of Law & Order, morals and cleavage, honking your horn as fanfare, free comics, cars dropping their ass, cheating at bowling, moments of painful clarity, salt & vinegar chips, no socks, kids that are spending an unhealthy amount of time near and on a dumpster, June being a rough month, etc.

-Nate

Guys Over Hours

2010-05-29T09:47:00.001-07:00

I hung out with Jamal and Justin to eat some really good pizza and watch a TON of a Japanese Drama named Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers). Nine episodes, to be exact. This was also done with the intent of watching Game 7 of the Lakers vs. Suns game. And with the added intent of hanging out with him when he had to baby-sit his nephew, Michael.

Jamal did not want to have to experience that trauma by himself.

Michael was supposed to get dropped off by Jamal’s sister by 5:00. He didn’t get dropped off till almost 8:00. It seemed as though there was no point to having Jamal watch the kid, and Jamal seemed to be hopeful for this point of logic to stick. But to no avail. Ben joined us a little later.

Michael immediately wanted his mom back as soon as she was gone for more than 10 minutes. Unless we entertained him with discussions of girls and cooties, which we tried, but we got more and more tired, and he got more and more awake. It was an exhausting stalemate.

He didn’t fall asleep until 1:30 am.

Jamal’s sister finally came back to pick him up. We stayed up till 3:30 talking. As to where we found the energy to keep talking, I could never tell you.

Topics of Conversation @ Jamal’s: Anti-Wing Man, Zeroed In, staying mighty, Jaw Jut of Doom, the continued bizarre threat of the “Obits,” Just Too Cool, childhood fears, Coke Zero, Manly Man Points, lost money, Nice can’t beat Destiny, etc.

-Nate

Wait List

2010-05-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 9:00 am and found out when I could sign up for my Summer classes.

At 1:00 pm.

That was a good four hours away, which meant I didn’t know when I would be able to meet up with Justin, James, and Nick for lunch. Why? Because I had planned to meet up with them at 1:00 pm. Plans were just made to fail.

I called up Justin to make sure that he was aware of my delay. He seemed okay with it, since he was still awaiting word from James and Nick. So the time rolled around, and I signed up for classes. Everything was impacted, especially the classes I needed. So I got on the Wait-List for Biological Anthropology and Environmental Biology. I only needed one for my Science portion, so I figured I would cover my bases and get on the list for both and see if either opened up.

I met up with Justin and we headed down to Seal Beach to have lunch with James and Nick. We went to a Steak Sandwich place which turned out to be pretty good. It was good to see these guys again, because they had always been really good friends, but I just never seemed to catch them on a regular basis.

After lunch, I hung out at Justin’s for a bit before I headed out to watch Lost at Lainey’s place. When I got there, I found out that some good friends of her’s, Kris and Andy, were visiting as well. It was a pretty cool surprise, but I felt a little bad to watching Lost with them, since neither of them had ever even seen more than an episode. Luckily, we turned it off, grabbed pizza, and played a round of Apples to Apples.

Not only that, but we had a movie called The Big Gay Musical playing in the background. Though the opening of the movie was actually very funny, the movie itself turned out to not be very musical. But it was quite Gay. Very, very Gay.

Topics of Conversation: The Inherent racism of the TEA Party, Gentlemen Rickshaws, cousins, broken bones, kitchen staff, Nate Mii, hurtful subconscious, quiet people need to not be quiet, Lainey Approved, etc.

-Nate

A Degree In Anything's-Better-Than-Nothing-ology

2010-05-27T00:22:00.000-07:00

I may have not mentioned this, but I never graduated from College.

The reasons are varied and weak. Mostly endless excuses, and kind of thought out reasons of middling conviction.

This error in judgment has been going on for a while now. But I’ve decided I need to change my mind and academic standing. I need a degree. In what, I’m not sure (I guess not much has changed in the directionless aspect of my academia), but I plan to figure it out.

And the first step was going to involve getting a class in the Summer session at Cypress College.

I headed to campus to get the ball rolling properly. Before I could even sign up for classes, I needed to apply for admission to the school, since I was a returning student. After doing that I would have to wait for 24 hours before I could apply for classes. I signed up for FAFSA and the Board of Governor’s Grant to get a fee waiver. After accomplishing all this, I went and waited for a Counselor to see where I stood academically.

Not bad, it turned out.

I had knocked out a lot of General Education classes in my sporadic college attendance. In fact, I only had five or so classes left and I would be done with all my GE. This was quite uplifting. Especially considering I didn’t have a clue about how much I had left to go. My next step would be to decide on a Major and move forward from there. My end goal is now to transfer and graduate with a degree in Anything‘s-Better-Than-Nothing-ology.

After my academic plans were put into motion, I headed out to meet up with Katie, a friend I met at the Anaheim Comic Con, at Comics Unlimited. We talked about comics and discussed our mutual hunger for Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles. Which made us finally go and get said food.

Roscoe’s was delicious, which was no surprise, but it was good to see that all my talking up of the restaurant to Katie didn’t leave her disappointed. We ate and talked and had an all around good time. We made a stop at Barnes & Noble so she could pick my brain about comics, since she had started getting interested in them thanks to Yours Truly.

I got home, updated my facebook, and went to sleep a little earlier than usual.

Topics of Conversation: General Ed, phoenix tattoo, greed, percussion, celebrity look-alikes, scars, Strawberry Festival costumes, thoughtful looks, music people, Ewoks, parent induced paranoia, choosing halves, days of future past, etc.

-Nate