The Move, the Toe, and the Tour

Man, it's been a while between updates! I guess the Mega-Mash took a lot out of me. So, since it's been so long, this post requires 3 acts.

Act1
The Move

Well, I'm all moved into my new apartment! It's gonna be a pretty slick pad once I fix it all up. I'm gonna throw a party once it's ready, so stay tuned! But man, moving was a B-I-T-C-H! I hate moving. I spent every day after work moving, and then the whole weekend. Gah. But now's it's done! My folks are coming down this weekend to bring some stuff from home, so that'll be nice. It's gonna be the coolest pad ever! From here on out, it shall be known as the Crocco-cabana. And whenever anyone comes to hang and tells stories afterwards, they must incorporate the name into the tale. Ie: "So last weekend I was hanging out at the Crocco-cabana..." You get the picture. I'm glad everything survived the move in one piece, well, almost everything.... which leads me to...

Act 2
The Toe

As I was moving, I found my old friend and nemesis, APEX!!!! For those not-in-the-know, APEX was my old dvd player. He was a good little trooper, and got me through some hard nights these last few years. However, a few months ago, he started to be, well, difficult. You see, he would start off being nice, and play the movie like a good lil player, but then, just when you were all settled.... BAM! Green screen!!! BUSTED! However, he wasn't completely broken. I was able to communicate to him that I wanted him to play my movie with a series of ejects and blows to the head, and eventually he would understand and cooperate. And just when your hand had stopped throbbing from hittin' 'im, and you were once again settled.... BAM! Green screen! "APEX!!! Why have you forsaken me???" could be heard throughout the hallowed halls of Parkwest at any given weekend. At first I was in denial. I mean, APEX was my friend, how could he do this to me? Maybe it was just a phase, he would grow out of it. However, I finally realized it was time to acknowledge the problem. The only way to save him was surgery. I broke out my tool kit, and pryed the little guy open. After what seemed like an eternity of tweaking, adjusting, and bashing, I deemed that there was nothing more I could do. We would just have to wait and see if the surgery was a success. I plugged him back in, and with a sputter and a pop, he lived again!! Success!! But it was not to be. After about a week or so of flawless playing, APEX had a complete relapse. There was nothing I could do to save him this time, and I pulled the plug. I put him in his little box, but I still did not have the heart to let him go. He was laid to rest in my closet. Some people say you could hear taps playing that night, slowly, and gently in the breeze.

Fast forward 3 months: Moving day. As the closet was being cleaned, I found a strangely familiar box. I dusted off the top, and could it be? Yes! It was APEX! After 3 months of grieving, I deemed I was ready to finally let go. Feelings welled up inside me. The times we shared, the movies we watched. Then finally of his horrible disease. I now realize in hindsight it was not his fault, but, overcome by emotion, I raised little APEX above my head, and thrust him down in a mighty blow. "HOW COULD YOU APEX??? I thoght we were friends!!!" I then unleashed a mighty kick. How ignorant I was. Even in death, APEX was more than any mere man could handle. The mighty kick crippled me, my big toe lay limp, a casualty of the feud among friends. I picked up the remnants of APEX, and limped to throw him down the garbage shoot. But he refused to die! His cord, caught in the crack of the shoot, clutching to a life he longed to have and was denied long before his time, still clinged to that glimmer of hope. APEX??? WHY??? I, I, I, Loved you... And with a swipe, I lay the old friend to rest among his other fallen comrades. But not to fear readers! APEX still lives on! In the form of my sprained, black and blue big toe. APEX!!!!

Act 3
The Tour

With a new spring in my step (or limp in my gait, however you view it) I arrived at the Sony lot early this morning for my orientation. It was your general new hire meeting, but it was fun. We took a tour of the studio, saw the apartment where Cary Grant and Elvis used to stay, the sound stage where they filmed Wizard of Oz, and also saw them building new props for Spider-Man 3. We also went to the set of Jeopardy, which was neat! At the end of the tour, they gave us a goodie bag containing a wind breaker, hat, notepad, mosuepad, pens, and a dvd (I got Hitch). Pretty sweet deal!! Oh, and I also found my new favorite movie!

It has shadows, it's at night, with thrills, doctors, crimes, trances, and ghost killers! What more could you ask for???

So there you have it. A 3 act update from yours truly. Stay tuned until next week!

MASH!

One day, some kind of challenge arrived in the mailbox...

Family Size! 62 cubic inches of 'taters!

It taunted, nay, BAFFLED us for a week!


Until Nick had a brilliant idea!


"We should go buy it! One per each!"


Little did we know, it came with bonus 'desserts' of gravy!


Dowis dove right in...



Rob and Nick were a tad more tactful in their methods of consumption...


"Goes down smooooooooth...."

Andrew: "Aghast and agog, and it's still early yet!"


Nick lost his patience...


He's got a heart of a champion!


Then Andrew grew impatient...


Insanity breaks loose...


An hour in, our team begins to struggle...




But one is undauted...


But then Rob gets a second wind!


Behold the madness!

Nick rises to the challenge!


Oh, how the mighty have fallen.




Success for our challengers!



Consumed by madness...


...Andrew defeats the monstrous potatoes!


At a high cost.... DIGNITY.


Rob's victory has led to a spud-induced coma.


Not to be outdone, Dowis meditates before his last stand! He can make it on his own!!


Fueled by Metallica, Dowis gives it his all, but faces difficulty.

Medic!


Man down!


"I'll get you next time! Damned 'taters!"


Everyone's a loser in the mega-mash challenge.


The End...?

Mega Mash

As taken from Andrew Dowis' away message:

I was working in the lab late one night
When my eye beheld a frightening sight
For my stomach had a rumble that began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise

I saw the mash
It was the MEGA MASH!
I saw the mash
It was a tater smash
I saw the mash
I grabbed it in a flash
I saw the mash
And I ate MEGA MASH!!

I grabbed a straw and dove into this beast
And so I began my potato feast
But my stomach churned with unpleasent sound
And I wailed in pain as I hit the ground

It's madness smash!
OH GOD! THE MEGA MASH!
Potato trash!
It's too much mega mash
A madness splash
It came on in a flash
PLEASE NO MORE MASH!
It was the MADNESS MASH!

Update would we?

I figured it was about time to update, so here it goes:

Well, December 4th is our official move out day at Park West, so last weekend I went and found a new apartment. It's called the Meadows and it's right behind Fox Hills Mall, which is literally a mile from where I work, so that makes it nice. So I got a studio there, and can move in starting the 19th. It should end up being a pretty slick bachelor pad, and even though it's a studio, I think I can fix it up real nice. It has vaulted ceilings and everything looks really new, so I'm pretty excited. Goodbye LAX!

Work has been going well, so that's been fun. It hasn't gotten old yet, so that's a good sign, and everyone there is really nice.

As for myself? I think I'm doing well. I'm not sure if I've really grasped the fact that I'm off on my own now, even though I have been for the last few months. Maybe because I'm still living where I lived during school? I dunno. I think moving to a new place by myself will really symbolize the fact that I'm off in the real world, and I'm doing alright. I always thought that being a 'grownup' meant that you don't like cartoons, you watch the news every day, read the paper, and listen to talk radio while drinking coffee and caring about the latest politcal... stuff. I for one love to watch cartoons (animation major, duh!), HATE the news, only read the paper to laugh at the Crime Watch section of the Argonaut, I listen to a podcast that might be considered talk radio, but it's about He-Man, so I dunno if that counts, and could not care less about politics. Oh, and coffee burns my tongue EVERY FRICKIN TIME I DRINK IT. But then I have a full time job, pay bills, taxes, have responsibilites, and all that crap. So what does that make me then?

Content

PS: Bass-akwards is my new favorite word. Work it into your daily vocabulary! Here's an example: "I was trying to code a new game in Flash, and it turned out all bass-akwards so I gave up." Or: "What took you so long to get here?" "Well, I took lincoln to jefferson to the 405 to the 105 to the 605 to the 5 to 10 the 110 to get back on the 5 got off on la cienega and took it down to fountain" "That's a bass-akwards way of going... but heck, you made it!"

Ween!

Well, another Halloween has come and gone. It was pretty damn good too. Monday I went to work all dressed up in my pirate digs, so that was a blast. Everyone loved it, even though I was only one of 3 people who dressed up, including my co-worker Ryan. He went as Elvis, so, of course, we had to go show off. And what better place than the Sony Pictures lot? I felt like a movie star, it was so awesome. Walking around Sony Pictures' movie lot, dressed as a pirate accompanied by Elvis. It was just like out of a movie, a really weird movie.... Elvis vs the Pirates.... but it still was one of the coolest experiences I've had in a while. After work, I picked up Cassie (Snow White) and went over to Derek's (Kid Moxie). Met Andrew D (Slipknot drummer ..1), Andrew C (bearded knight), Jess (Malificent), Zach (Samurai X), and Mike (60's Hipster) there, so that was fun. I don't think I've seen so many trick or treaters in my life, it was intense. A few people wanted to take pictures with me, so I was digging that. Halloween is all about getting the attention :) After the ToTers died down, we dropped in at Dana and (other) Cassie's party, then off to iHop. I even ordered like a pirate! And a SPRITE is what I be wanting to drink I be! Damn, I love Halloween. Good times.

Fun weekend and then some

This past weekend was fun! A group of 7 of us went to Anaheim to celebrate Cassie's birthday. We left friday night and stayed in a big 2 story suite. Saturday we kinda hung out around there. There happened to be a Mexican Flea Market across the street, so we went there lol. We got those snaps that you throw on the ground and make the snap sound (probably why they call them snaps) and we went around popping them in our hands, because we're hardcore like that. Then we took the Chili Pepper Challenge! The goal is to eat as many chili peppers you can until you cry or puke. Sadly, we all lost........ My tongue was numb for like 30min, it was intense! Played basketball later that day as well. Then Sunday we went to, you guessed it Disneyland! So much fun! I got a Stitch hat and gloves, so that was a blast. Oh, how I love Disneyland.

Monday was officially my first full day of work! So I went over to the Imageworks building to turn in my paperwork. They had the bike from Ghost Rider on display, and tons of storyboards from Imageworks next animated feature on the walls. Pretty cool! Then I actually ran in David Feiss, my old soccer coach (who created Cow and Chicken)! So we talked for a few seconds, but we both had to go. We're gonna "do lunch" next week lol. So that was fun. Good times, good times.

It's my lucky day!

This week was chill. The new iPod came out, which I'm excited about! I had just got a color one a week earlier, so I returned it and ordered the new one. Thursday Cassie calls me after work, and wants to know if I'd like to go to the Disney Soda Fountain in Hollywood. How could I say no? So we had ice-cream, and it was delicious! Then Saturday my friend Keith was in town, so we met up and I showed him around. We went to Venice Beach, and then Hollywood, followed by a Galaxy game. It was really fun. After I got back, I went out and rented Amityville Horror, and watched it with both Andrews and Rob. It was actually really good, I was suprised.

Today was really fun. Slept in real late, then got up and met Jess at Derek's to go pumpkin patching! We were trying to look for Dr. Bones' Ol' Timey Pumpkin Patch, but, alas, no luck. We stopped at another place that had some good pumpkins, but it was on the pricey side. We went to a Halloween store and got some decorations, followed by a trip to the gas station. It must have been my lucky day. As I was pumpin gas, I look down and see folded up cash on the ground. I pick it up, expecting maybe a dollar or a fiver, but no! $100!!! I found a hundred dollar bill on the ground at the gas station! NUTS! So after that, we went to Target to check out their pumpkins, and they actually had a pretty good selection. We ended up getting 10 pumpkins :) Derek had to head out, so after that, Jess and I went to pick up some Chipotle (CHIPOTLE!!!) and headed back to my place. Watched some Seinfeld, shopped for Halloween costumes online, and played some CROSSFIRE!!!! You might even say we got caught up in it. Worked on Jose's website a bit as well. That's about it. Overall, a very fun few days. I can't believe I found $100!

General Update

Well, things are going well for me. Work is fun. Moved to a new cube next to Ryan, one of the guys I work with, so that's cool. On one hand I can't dink around when it's a slow day, but on the other, it's right next to the printer, so it's good in a sense that I can start talking to people more, including Ryan.

This weekend was fun. Friday night after work I went to Best Buy and got a new iPod. My mom mentioned she wanted to get one, so I'm gonna give her my old one. I also listen to it at work a lot, so I needed to upgrade to a model that holds more songs, and my old one (a mini) has more than enough space for my mom. So I got a color one, which is really cool. I spent all night friday updating my library to sync with the new 'Pod (including all my album artwork, since it's viewable).

Saturday, I slept in 'til late, which was really nice. Got like 12 hours of sleep lol. Then Andrew and I went to Michaels so I could pick up a frame for my Submarine Voyage print I got at Disneyland. Of course, Disneyland matted it with an akward size, so I had to trim it to fit. No biggie, it turned out nice! We stopped by Party City for Halloween stuff. I got a pirate pistol for my pirate costume, and also gloves, a mask, and chains for whenever. You can never have enough Halloween costumes. Damn, I love halloween! I can't wait until I have a house so I can decorate it for Halloween. It's my favorite holiday, and yet I've never lived in a house that had trick-or-treaters. That's one of my life goals, have a house that I can decorate for Halloween. I want to be that one house on the street people go out of their way to go to. I'd seriously hand out full size candy bars and everything. Oh well, one day...

Today we went over to Mike's party. It was really fun. Had some good BBQ, played some Candyland (GO CRACKER!!), some b-ball, watched some Labryinth, saw some people I haven't seen in a few years which I wasn't expecting, but it was good times.

Pictures

I was looking at my pictures and realized 80% of them are either at/or have to do with Disneyland. The only 2 that don't are crazy japanese happy number 1 bing-go me, and graduation lol What's even sad is that most of the pics are from different visits too! And if I'm not at Disneyland, I'm dressed up as something from Disneyland (halloween) or somewhere because it's Disney (El Capitan/Soda Fountain for my birthday). I guess I really like Disneyland.

Then again, who doesn't?

Full Time

Well, today at Sony, Jamie called me into her office. She said that they really like my work and would like to go ahead and offer me a full time position!!! So I'm going to be a full time Sony employee! That means more money + benefits!

I'm so fucking happy I could cry.

Serendipity?

ser·en·dip·i·ty (srn-dp-t)
n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery.

Lately I've been thinking about serendipity, the crazy word Van taught us in class. Does everything happen for a reason or is it just a coincidence? A forunate accident?

Like yesterday, Mike, Derek, Derek's friend Thomas and I all went and saw The Presidents of the United States of America in concert last night. They were literally my firsr favorite band, and they were also my first cd I ever bought. I listened to that thing over and over. Some of my favorite songs... anyway, I was stoked to go. They broke up 5 years ago, and just got back together and released a cd at the end of last year. So of course, where do they end up playing? Disneyland (my most favorist of places), at the House of Blues. And where was their previous show? Orangevale. My hometown where I grew up. Serendipity?

I was thinking today as well. Here I am working at Sony, using all of the things I've learned either from school, or what I've taught myself, literally what I did for fun in my spare time. If I never would have messed around making my first website over 8 years ago (quick side note, if you want to see my first real website made in 1999, I actually found the old files and uploaded it again here) I never would have taught myself html. I also would never have had a reason to teach myself photoshop. Also, my html knowledge helped me understand actionscript, and if I wouldn't have picked it up so fast, I never would have made a game for my thesis, which helped me get the job at Sony, and it never would have lead to me becoming Tom's TA, which lead to the opportunity of me teaching a section of Interactive Animation at the college I just graduated from next semester. Serendipity?

And then 9 years ago, my grandma won a trip for a Disney vacation at Florida. While at one of the Disneyland resorts, I was introduced to the art of cels, and I also got my first cel kit. It came with a clear plastic sheet with the image of the genie from Aladdin printed on it, and the right colors of cel vinyl (cel paint). It also gave instructions on how to properly color it, on the backside. Getting that kit lead me to start making my own cels. I bought my own clear plastic. I drew a drawing on a piece of paper, then laid the clear plastic over the top of it, traced it with a sharpie, turned it over, and painted it. I had to be selective with what I drew, because all I had for paint was the leftover from my Disney kit, about 6 colors. Then I found a hobby shop in Sacramento that sold cel vinyl (made by Cartoon Color, ha!) so I started making my own cels with no limitations. I probably made over 30 different ones all throughout middle school and highschool, which I enjoyed showing off and framing. This was all years before freshman year in college with the infamous cel painting. If my grandma never would have won that trip to Florida, I never would have gotten my cel kit, I never would have begun to make my own cels, which lead to me drawing more, increased my appreciation for cartoons, and, who knows, maybe I never would have become an animation major. On that note, if I never would have painted cels, and if I never went to Jesuit Highschool, I never would have heard of LMU, and never gone down to LA. Serendipity?

In elementary school, I played baseball and soccer. One year of soccer, our team was the Sharks, and our coach was a guy named David Feiss, whose son was also on the team. One of my best friends then and now, Ryan's dad was good friends with Mr. Feiss as well, so we ended up being friends too. His son, Davy, ended up being on my baseball team for 2 years, which my dad coached. We would play basketball together and also went trick-or-treating once or twice with our mutual friend. I remember his dad being gone sometimes for long periods of time, which I later found out was him being in Japan working on animated Pink Panther commercials. David Feiss later went on to be the creator of the show Cow and Chicken. We've stayed in touch through the years, I always watched the show, and took time to e-mail him now and then. Junior year in high school I found out he was working at Sony Animation, and early this year he was able to give me some tips on how to apply for Sony. And now I'm working here. My old soccer coach when I was 12 helped me get a job in the field I ended up studying. Serendipity?

So what does it all mean? Is it all a coincidence or something more? have I come to be where I'm at because of chance? Has it all just been a chance of fortunate accidents? Actually, I'd rather it not be a series of accidents that lead to where I am today. There's gotta be more to it than that.

Right?

Nick the teacher?

So tonight (of all nights) I went and hung out with Fletcher and Jamel after work. We went to California Pizza Kitchen at Westwood, got milkshakes, and finished the night off with some Mario Baseball. But that's not why I'm writing... When I got back (around 11:30) I checked my e-mail and I got an e-mail from Jose (one of our animation instructors) and it said the following:

Hey Nick,

Following Tom Klein's advise:
Would you be interested in teaching one section of Interactive Animation 1?
Let me know ASAP. It would be in the evening, 7 til 10.
Greetings,

JOSE

I was like OH SHIT! NO WAY! I mean, I always kinda planned of maybe someday coming back to work part time at LMU.... but never this soon! Damn. So of course I e-mailed him back and said I'd love to! I'm just hating myself now, because I was gone all night and now I have to wait until tomorrow for a reply. I'm just so damn excited. The time works too, since I get off from Sony at 6:30, I have enough time to go teach the class. Me. A teacher. I'm so excited and scared shitless at the same time. So hopefully Jose will e-mail me back soon with more details. DAMN!

Disneyland Pirates!

Today Andrew Fletcher and I went to Disneyland. I had such a good time! We both got pirate hats so all day we were going around talking like pirates! I'll have to post a pic of our Splash Mountain picture. Anyway, oh so tired now... Now I go to bed.

Corpse Bride!!

Well, I went to go see Corpse Bride yesterday. Our little group outing turned into 10 people lol, but it was still really fun. It was playing at 3rd Street, so Dowis, Andrew and I got there around 8:00, Mike, Traci, Kristina and Derek got there around 9:00, Jess got there around 9:15, and Jeremy, Fonzie, and Fonzie's gf got there around 9:30. It was a blast hanging out with everyone, and we must have just "loitered" inside and outside the theater just talking and having fun for over and hour after the movie. It was a blast. Until the cops kicked us out lol. We ate at Johnny Rockets, and I have to admit it was pretty nasty. They were too busy and my burger was as dry as could be, but I was starving so whatever. As for the movie:

First of all, one of my favorite movies is Nightmare Before Christmas, I love Tim Burton's stuff, and Ray Harryhausen is one of my idols. With that said, I had very very high hopes for this movie. So, what did I think? I was actually dissappointed. Now don't get me wrong, visually and technically, the movie is jaw droppingly amazing. It is the best stop motion animation ever seen on film. The character designs are incredible, the animation is AMAZING and the camera movements are wicked. Like I said, visually and technically unmatched. But story wise? It was kinda boring. No character development. The main character Victor was very boring, and I didn't like him much. Danny Elfman did the music, wrote the songs, and performed one of them. And yet, the songs were lacking. The thing that was amazing about Nightmare was how the songs would develop the story, let you gain insight to the characters mind, and set the mood. Music was a huge part of Nightmare, and there are very few scenes where there is none. 80f the music has music in it, and it was done perfectly. In Corpse Bride, there is not very much music, yet it's a musical. The songs didn't develop the plot, they just riiterated what you already knew. They were very easily forgettable. There was no "Town theme" or "Dead theme" or "Victor theme" either. The movie just kinda went along for the ride, and seemed very very short, yet it's exactly the same length as Nightmare.

So yeah, I was dissapointed. This just proves that you can have an amazing looking movie with the best people in the business working on it, but if the story isn't there, it just ruins it. I've been looking forward to seeing this movie since it was just a rumor. I was blown away at the props at comic-con, and talking to one of the animators there (Peter Dodd) was just awesome. Seeing the technology of the puppets was great. I coudln't have been more excited to see it, but after seeing it, I felt Corpse Bride was just okay. If you want to get your mind blown by visuals and the pure insanity of how good it looks, by all means, please go see it. There really is nothing else like it. If you're looking for another Nightmare Before Christmas, with unforgettable music, great character development, and an awesome story arc, you'll be let down.

Oh well. At least the company was good!

Oh, and tomorrow, Fletcher and I are going to Disneyland!!

Crazy Week of Magical Fun: Days 7-11

I'll post a better blog later, I promise. But Nick's Crazy Week of Magical Fun has ended.... but the good news is it almost turned into 2 weeks of Magical Fun! Friday I took Beth to get jumper cables, picked up Cassie from the airport, picked up Jamel from Westwood, and then to the airport, and then LAS VEGAS! Spent friday night and saturday night in Vegas, didn't win anything, didn't get completely trashed, but it was fun! Hung out with Shinri and Shinju (Shinri's cool little sister) so that was a blast! Came home sunday night. That was supposed to be the end of the crazy week of magical fun.... but NO! Monday I started work at Sony! And guess how I started it? By going to the main lot to watch a movie!! FUN! Tuesday was my second day, and guess what I did after work? Went back to Disneyland!! One of the best times ever!!! Got me some Magical Mouse Ears which grant me (along with Derek and Jess) super powers. We formed Da Mousket33rz, a magical fighting tour-de-force. Good times. Crazy Week of Magical Fun, you were everything I'd hope you'd be, and more. It was a great fling, but we both knew it wouldn't work out in the end. Until our paths cross ways again, I bid you adeiu.

Crazy Week of Magical Fun: Day 6

Today was pretty blah. Slept in until late, like always. Then I pretty much just mucked around on the internet all day. I called Jaime over at Sony and found out that I should come in at 10am monday. Other than that, just hung out here. Listened to music, fooled around with photoshop, just kinda whatever. It was boring, but also kinda nice. At around 5, I had a craving for some chinese food, and after realizing the only thing I had eaten today was a taste of Disneyland fudge (which literally had me drooling like Homer........) I headed out to the Panda Express. Brought the grub back here, popped in Pirate of the Caribbean and chilled out. After the movie, Mike IMed me to play some Battlefield 2, and Petere H joined in as well. PB$ also hopped on and we played too. Very fun. We pwned with the helicopter! Good times. But now it is late, and tomorrow shall be busy. Gotta go grocery shopping (ughhhhh), pick up Cassie from the airport at 4 and then I leave with Jamel for Vegas! Oh yeahh! But now, I sleep.

Crazy Week of Magical Fun: Day 5

Today was cool. Got up around 11am, so didn't sleep in quite as long. Took a shower, and decided to go get a haircut. I loaded up my iPod with new tunes, and I was off! First stop, the good ol' haircuit place. They always do such a good job, and it's only $10. Good deal. After the haircut, decided to stop at Jack in the Crack for some grub. Stopped in the Games 4 Less first, and they said they'd get a shipment of Nintendogs in later today (joy!) so I should come by later. Went to da Crack, had a Club Sandwhich (which was actually really good) and then off to Hollywood! First stop: Meltdown Comics. I wasn't planning on getting anything, but they had Alex Ross' artbook in, so I had to get that. They also had a Bruce Timm book in that I new Andrew would love, so I got that for him. And as I was about to pay. they had Superman For Tomorrow vol 2, which I didn't know was out yet, so I had to get that as well lol. After spending more money than I wanted, I headed out to Amoeba. I wanted to get the new Nine Inch Nails cd, which I just downloaded and was oh so good, and also Green Day's American Idiot cd. I downloaded that a while back and have grown to love it. Gotta support the artists by buying cds you know! So I found both of those, then I scored! They had a used copy of Disney's Peter Pan on dvd, which is super rare and usually goes for over $50, but I picked it up for $14.99!!! I also got a cd called Walt Disney takes you to Disneyland. It's off an old record, and Walt discusses each land and has music from each land as well. Very cool stuff. After my purchases, I decided to blast some Green Day and drive down Hollywood blvd. Even though I've been here over 4 years now, it's still so fun to drive down Hollywood and just gawk at all the cool stuff. I also saw some old people on La Cienega all dressed up in the park playing chess. That really made me smile. On the way back, I stopped by the game place again to see if they had Nintendogs, but alas, that is next week. Got back home, tallied my purchases, realized I better not eat until my next paycheck (lol) and then Kristina IMed me to go to dinner with her, PB$, and Beth. Heck, it's a week of magical fun, might as well eh? So we went to mystery italian place in Manhattan Beach, which was really good, and then headed back. We all wanted to watch a movie, and after being 10min to late to rent one from Blockbuster, we headed up to my place to pick from my wide selection. Beth was up for anything, and after Peter chose Unforgiven, everyone pretty much agreed to see that since they hadn't before. Good movie. Everyone enjoyed it, especially when Clint went Wolverine on their ass. Overall, a very fun day, very much worth being deemed Crazy Week of Magical Fun worthy.

Crazy Week of Magical Fun: Day 4

Today was fun. Pretty laid back overall. Slept in until late, which was nice. At around 3:00pm, Mike's bro came over and picked up his bikes (finally!) so that was cool. I now have 3 square feet more room in my room! Then Andrew and I high-tailed it to Best Buy. Sin City came out today, so that was a must buy. Such a cool movie. I also picked up the Great Escape starring Steve McQueen, which is a really cool WWII movie, Once Upon a Time in the West, one of the best westerns ever made, The Quick and the Dead, a cool western directed by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Evil Dead), and I also got an 8 disc Little Rascals box set, which is soooooo cool. It even has The Kid From Borneo on it!! I know only 2 other people know what the heck that means, but I'm stoked. Here's a pic to give you an idea what it's about:

Definitely one of my favorite Little Rascals shorts. After Best Buy, we grabbed some Taco Hell, watched Kid from Borneo, an episode from Simpsons season 6, and then Sin City. It's really funny, at comic-con, Andrew got me a kickass Sin City poster, and after watching the movie again, I decided to put it up. So now I have 2 posters up in my room of my 2 favorite places: Sin City and Disneyland. I have some pretty varied tastes I suppose, just by looking at the stuff in my room you can tell. Anime cels, Disneyland poster, Sin City poster, a framed Bambi print, a Captain EO poster, a 3D sign with a gargoyle that says "Abandon all hope ye who enter here" which is right next to my Fraggle Rock poster, then you look at my dvds, and you'll notice that my Full House season 1 set is right next to Goodfellas. Then I also have a Bambi artbook sitting next to the From Hell graphic novel. My music collection has everything from Garth Brooks to Nine Inch Nails to Al Jolsten and Cab Calloway. Pretty eclectic (wow, vocab word!), but I enjoy it all! I figure the more variety in taste I have the more chances of having fun I have... And I like to have fun. So today was pretty chill. Now to figure out what tomorrow has in store..... perhaps Hollywood? The possibilities are endless.

Crazy Week of Magical Fun: Day 3

Today was pretty fun. Slept in, which was nice, even though I kept waking up because I kept thinking I was supposed to be somewhere... stupid work. Talked to Jess for a bit, and we were both bored so we decided to get some 31 Flavors, in particular the Bee ice-cream. First we stopped off at Longs and I dropped off some digital camera pics I took at graduation to be printed out, then off to 31. It was sooo funny, the 31 Flavors was in the middle of the ghetto, and it was kinda shady around there, but we went in anyway. And of course, no more Bee ice-cream.... boo! We still got ice cream anyway, but left kinda dejected. We got back to my place, watched Alien, followed by some Disney shopping online, Seinfeld, pizza and Smash Bros. Jess took off to check out an apartment, Eugene stopped by to return my dvds and to drop off a present for Andrew. I organized all my graduation/screening pics and put them in an album too. Now I'm just chillin out, listenin to Disneyland music in a generally happy mood. Nothing I like better than hangin with friends. Good times.

Crazy Week of Magical Fun: Day 1

DAY 1: Went to Disneyland. Was a blast. Will discuss later. Now I pass out. Check out new picture.

Nick's Crazy Week of Magical Fun!

It's offical! As of 4:30pm, Nick's Crazy Week of Magical Fun has began! It started as soon as I walked out the doors of EA for the last time, with a fatty mc paycheck to boot! So now I have a week off to do whatever I want! So, how might one start off a Crazy Week of Magical Fun? you might ask. Well, how about at Disneyland??? Yup, tomorrow is Disneyland! I'm pumped. I love that place. Then I can do whatever I went all next week. How might one end a Crazy Week of Magical Fun? you might ask. Well, how about Las Vegas! Ohh yeah, Vegas baby. Next weekend. I'm stoked. Then I start working at Sony monday. Can it get any better? Can I be any more excited. My friend, I think not.

Nintendo DS

Well, I've been wanting to get one on and off since November........ and today I finally splurged and got myself a Nintendo DS! I went in to Gamestop to get a used one to save some $$ and I also picked up Mario 64 DS and Warioware Touched. After they rang me up, I thought the total seemed a little low, but I didn't say anything. When I got in the car, I looked at the receipt and they only charged me $59.99 instead of $109.99! They rang it up as a Gameboy SP instead, so I saved $50! Woohoo! It's soooooo fun. Warioware is crazy cool, and Mario is a portable version of the 64 game, one of my favorite games ever. Good times! And then Nintendogs is coming out in a few weeks too! I can't wait. I've been wanting to get a real dog for a little while now, like a French Bulldog or something, but I know I can't because of my hectic schedual, and I won't be able to for a while until I become a bit more settled. Hopefully Nintendogs will hold me off for a while :)

SONY!!

I got the job at SONY!! Can I get a fuck yea??? FUCK YEA! Oh man, this is gonna be flippin' sweet. I'm so damn excited!!

Work

I hate working saturdays and I hate working OT. I always come home in such a bad mood. I need to get out of there soon so I can get back to my old self again. It's also ruining my love of video games. When I come back home, I don't want to play any of my games that are actually fun because I've been playing bad games all day that leave a bad taste in my mouth... oh. well.

Sony!

2nd interview at Sony friday!!! I think this may be it!!! Have everything crossed for me!

Friends and MySpace

Wow, 2 entries back to back! I guess I feel like writing. Anywho, I've been thinking about MySpace lately, and about these blogs. I've never kept a diary or anything, and lately I've been posting a lot here. I've always been one to work things out myself and only talk to people about it if I really need advice, and a lot of the times it's just to hear myself say it. You know? Just talking stuff out helps. It seems like MySpace has become a little outlet for me, a diary type place I can write about stuff, how my day was, and keep a log of some of the things I did I can look back on and say "oh yeah!!" if I forget.

But then the difference with MySpace is that everyone can see it. It makes it really weird, because I may want to say something but then I would hold back because of who may be reading.

I think lately I've finally come to the realization that I am off on my own now. No more going back home for summer vacation, no more winter break, no more spring break, no more school. Just me in the real world. I know my parents are there to help me along and everything, and I've got some great friends that I know will be there too (hopefully for life) but it's just...... scary. I think it was because I just got my first big check from my first real job. It was the biggest check I had ever gotten, and realizing every last bit of it will go to pay rent was a wake up call. Since this transition from student to working stiff is new, what I do now can affect everything I do later. So it's been a period of reflection of what the future has to offer, and now is my chance to mold it into what I want it to be.

That being said, I've been thinking a lot about the people I know. People that I call aquatence, the people I call friend, and the people I know I will always be friends with for the rest of my life. I don't mean to sound rude or like a terrible person or anything (see, the only reason I wrote that is for the people reading, if it were a true diary, I would never have said that) but I feel like now is the chance I get to choose whom I want in my life and who can get left by the wayside.

It's like one of those things where you started off as their friend and slowly but surely, you realize the way you work and the way they work is very different. Your views and their views clash, and there are just certain things about them you can't stand. One of those people that when you talk to them, they say something, and when you reply, they don't pay attention, they're just waiting to say what they want again (and sometimes they don't wait.) I have very few pet peeves, but damn! I can't stand people that don't pay attention to you or wait your turn to talk! I know sometimes I may jump in at inapropriate times in a conversation, but I usually just stop to be polite and et them finish, or consciencly remember what they were saying and ask them to go back to it. Anyway, the hard part is you're pretty sure they don't feel the same way about your friendship. And also, you may have mutual friends, so you can never truly just drift apart, which is what I want to do. Don't worry people reading this, I can guarantee it's not you just by the fact you're reading this. So the tricky thing is what to do. You want this person to move on and do their own thing, but that probably won't happen. I could go into soooooo much more detail, and I really feel like blowing off steam, but this isn't the place to do it.

So much reflection lately, so much thinking. It feels like my head is going to explode. It's so damn scary too. But damn, it's sure is exciting! One quote that I always keep in mind when I'm feeling a bit down or overwhelmed is from the very last Calvin and Hobbes strip. At the time it came out, I thought it was stupid. But the more I have thought about it, the more I believe it and the more true it has become:

"It's a wonderful world Hobbes ol' friend. Lets go exploring."

That's what I feel like I'm doing, exploring this wonderful place....

To Elaborate

Yeah, so as my last post said, I don't want to work at EA anymore. I was super depressed and mad about it, so now that I've cooled off a bit, I'll elaborate.

Thursday night I had an epiphany: EA is teh sux0rz. I realized that I didn't like working there, I didn't like doing overtime, and I didn't like working weekends. I don't want to sound like an ass, or I'm full of myself or anything, but I know that I'm the best guy there and I can't stand stooping down and testing other people's games that suck. I should be making the games, not testing some other person's crappy idea because I know I could make it so much better. Yes yes, I know it's a temporary position, and I know "you gotta start somewhere!" and I know it could be a lot worse and I know I should be glad for having a job there and I know it pays the rent, but still. I hate it. I can't wait to get the hell out of there. It feels like a job, and I didn't go to college to get a fucking job, I went to college so I could have fun with work and do what I wanted. Why the hell did I decide to major in animation?? If I wanted a "job" I would have majored in business or something equally as boring. At EA, all I do is find other people's crappy mistakes (bugs) and tell them how I found it so they can fix it. Fun huh? Oh yeah, and I found out today overtime is now mandatory! So that means working 9am-9pm mon-fri and saturday 10am-7pm on something I don't fucking care about! Woohoo! So EA sucks, and I want to get out the hell out of there. I can stick it out for a little while, but man I hate it. It actually makes me depressed working there, and I'm never depressed. And when I am, I fucking hate it. Fucking EA.

(wow, that was a pretty mean entry, huh? Lots of nuaghty words...)

EA

EA is cool and all, and I've learned one thing since I've started working there:

I don't want to work there.

You're really weird...

Just saw Charlie and the Chocolate factory last night with my movie buddy Jess. Oh man, it was weiiiiiiirrddd, and ackward, and hilarious. I liked it a lot. It was disturbing and the jokes were great, but not everybody got them, which led me to start cracking up and then hold back to make sure I didn't look like an idiot for being the only one laughing. It was a fun movie though, and it was very very close to the book. Before the movie, Andrew, Mike and I went to Chipotle, (Chipotle!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and Jess met us there. She stopped by the ATM and then we headed to the movie. When we sat down in the theater, she realized that she threw away the $20 she just took out of the ATM! And then I relized Andrew didn't have his keys to the apartment! So after the movie, we went back to the ATM, dug through the trash, found Jess' money, picked up Andrew and came back here. Crazy night, with crazy food, crazy movie, crazy adventure, with a crazy full moon out. And yes, you guessed it, it was crazy cool.

Trying not to be excited

Well, I talked to Sony again tuesday. They said that were talking about me that day and that they're still trying to figure out what to do about the hiring situation (whatever that means) but the fact they were talking about me still was good! They said they should know pretty soon! I'm trying for the life of me not to get excited, because I don't want to be let down if nothing happens.

But what if it does? the interview went so well, and I know I impressed the hell out of 'im... Gak!

We came, we saw, we conned.

Comic con. Comic-con. SDCC. Connnnnnnnnnn! However you spell it, thats what we did last weekend. It was intense! Me, Mike, Jess, Andrew, Derek, and Eugene drove down friday night after work, got to Derek's at around 1ish, got up Saturday early and got to the con at 10am. Saturday was crazy crowded, but crazy fun. Started off the day by browing around the floor for about 2 hours. I got a cool Edgar Allen Poe book illustrated by Gris Grimly (think Tim Burton, but this guy can actually draw) which is awesome, and a Ragnar art book too, which I wanted to get since last con. Then I was super suprised that I could get a King Randor from He-Man and they weren't sold out, so I got that and got it signed by the 4 Horsemen, geeked out a little, but tried to keep it to a bare minimum, and we all headed to go see the Quick Draw panel.

Quick draw was really fun. It was 3 of the top comic strip artists drawing what is suggested as fast as they could. Quick, if you will. It was really funny. A good time was had by all (even if we were kinda falling asleep.) Then after that, was the panel I came to see. Ray Harryhausen.

If you don't know who Ray Harryhausen is, then you haven't truly lived. And if you think you have lived, then I will come to your house and kill you just to prove my saying true. Or maybe I won't.... But I most likely will, most likely. He's the guy that did the stop motion animation for films like Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, and Seventh Voyage of Sinbad single handedly! He's an amazing fellow and the way he incorporated animation into live action paved the way for todays CGI boom. Just listening to this man talk was incredible. Oh yeah, and Ray Bradbury was there too, and he was pretty kick ass as well lol. You can learn so much from people who have been in the biz for the last 60+ years!! I also got a DVD of his early works and tests which looks awesome too.

After that, I went back down to the floor only to meet the author of my favorite comic ever (Usagi Yojimbo), Stan Sakai! He was such a cool, nice, humble guy. I completed my Usagi collection, got an action figure, and he signed it all and drew a sketch in every book as well! Kick ass!!!

Man, what a day? Could it get better? Hell yeah! Two words: Umm, well, one word that's hyphenated? Err.... Two words (I guess): He-Man! The classic He-Man finally came out on dvd last week, and I was able to pick it up at the con. That was cool in itself, but what was even cooler was the fact that the people who made the dvd were there to sign it, along with a he-man.orger I had known from online. Cool stuff.

That was a crazy day...... oh wait, I almost forgot! We also saw a Tenacious D concert!! It was sooooooo fun. The D is so funny, and they know how to rock the house. Top it off with a little Juanitas, finish it off with some Nick Arcade starring Mikey, our video adventurer, and you have a pretty awesome day.

Oh, and we also ran into PB$, and we invited him to stay with us at Derek's so he wouldn't have to sneak into the hotel across the street and sleep in the kitchen again (!) So that was cool.

Sunday was spent mostly recovering from Saturday. We woke up later, got to the con later, and mainly just wandered all day, and that was fine with me. The highlights were getting to see the head animator of the Corpse Bride (Peter Dodd) animate Scraps the dog and being able to ask him a few questions, meeting Ray Harryhausen again and getting his autograph, and mostly wandering around checking stuff out. I found Captain EO on dvd (bootleg of course) and I spent about 3 hours looking for a Rocketeer comic from the 80's done by Dave Stevens. I finally was able to find one (just one!) which I bought with 10 minutes left of the con. I got the guy to drop the price $10 so that was cool. Andrew picked up a sweet Sin City poster and an even sweeter Pirates of the Carribean 2 poster (if thats even possible) so now that means I need more frames! And of course I spent too much money, but thats what overtime is for, eh?

We got back to Derek's pad, chilled out a bit, had some cookies, some brownies, some pita, some hummus, and shared stories. We then packed up and rolled out. Headed to the local New York pizza place, ate and started the long traffic ridden trek home. Good music and good company made the time past quickly. Good times.

MAT!

and as a frequenter of the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con, Comic Book Guy would say, "longest........blog........ever........"

If you want it done...

Why is it if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself?

It seems like that's been the case lately for me. If you want to make sure you get anything at all done, you sure as heck better take care of it. There are fewer and fewer people you can count these days.

Sometimes I just kinda want to go along for the ride, because it takes tons of effort to be the organizer, especially since it seems I am always the organizer. But the problem is when I feel like standing back and watching, nothing happens and I end up taking control anyway.

If you want it done right.... you better do it yourself, or it won't get done.

Lucy Moment

oh man, I had a Lucy moment today (like from I Love Lucy). Now, I've done a lot over the last 22 years, but apparently, I've never used a dishwasher by myself before. I mean I've washed dishes, dried them, loaded the dishwasher and unloaded the dishwasher, but I've never actually put the soap in and turned the dial. Anyway, today I decided to clean up the joint and I wanted to do the dishes, but we were out of dishwasher soap.So I found some regular concentrate dish soap like you use in the sink to clean dishes. Same thing, right?? Anyway, I poured that into the dish washer, pretty much filling the little place to pour it, and (you guessed it!) I guess I used too much and soap started pouring out!! It was going all over the kitchen floor and I kept turning off the dishwasher to stop it! I was sliding all over and then after I thought I got it all out of the dishwasher, I turned it back on and it did it again!! AH! It was really funny, straight out of I Love Lucy. Rickyyyyyyyy....... I wannahhh go ta da showwwwwww!!! Wahhhhhhh!!!

Sony?

Well, I started at EA monday. It's pretty chill. I pretty much play new games they are making, try to break them any way possible, document the breakage and report it to be fixed. No too bad, but kinda boring...

Anyway, wednesday I get an e-mail from Sony asking me to go in for an interview today. I got lucky because we got today off from EA. So I go in, and the interview went really well. It's for wat they call a Web Designer position, and it's pretty much making website assets using all the programs I know. I talked to 3 different people, and I think it went really well. They seemed impressed by my skill set and it seemed it was exactly what they were looking for. Hopefully they felt the same way! So now I've been at EA about 4 days, and might leave already lol. Sony's a much better job, and I'll actually be able to use my skills. Wish me luck, and hopefully I'll get it!

Got the EA Job!

I got the job at EA! I start monday! Heck of a birthday present, hahaha!! Well, I'm going home for a few days! Woohoo!

New Place!

Well, moving is done! Still gotta help Andrew move his bed, but I'm all set! Park West 2132. I'm excited, this place is pretty cool. We each have our own room and we even have a counter and a ceiling fan!! Woohoo! My desk didn't survive the trek though... we got it all the way inside the room, and as we were lifting it off the cart, SNAP and it broke in half.... Oh well... so I had to go get a new desk. I gotta put away some clothes still and hang up some posters. I got this sweet Disneyland Wall Map I gotta hang up. It's a map of all of Disneyland and it's huge! New places are fun, it's just a bitch getting there. Gah, and we still gotta clean the old place.... but at least my bathroom is done!

Stuff!

Went to Disneyland yesterday with some family friends, so that was a blast!!! I love Disneyland so. And now today I'm packing everything up and moving...... all of 200 yards down the road lol. Andrew and I got a little place in Park West that I think has great potential. Room 2132. I'm excited to move in, plus, I get my own ROOM!! I'm stoked. Also, I get to move away from those gorillas upstairs that I swear STOMP EVERYWHERE THEY GO!!! Gah, I hate it!!! One more night, one more night........

Done!

I'm now an offical LMU Alumni. How scary is that??? Check out my graduation pics! See the Huge Pics!

Almost done

It's over tomorrow. Or has it only just begun? I almost broke down the other day... I'm gonna miss LMU :(

Orange Juice

When your Orange Juice in your fridge expires the week that you graduate, that's when things start getting scary.

Almost too scary.

Oh, and I guess I dislocated my knee cap at the Senior Banquet. The POP I heard was my knee cap coming out of where it is supposed to be. And later that night when I heard another noise coming from my knee that floored me because of the pain, that was my knee cap going back into the joint. It pretty much sprained every thing that could be sprained next to me knee. And it bruised my bone. Ouch. It's still sore, but I can walk on it without a brace and crutches, and it's tons better that before.

Spring break was okay. It was good to be home, even thugh I had to go to the doctor 3 times and get an MRI cuz of the ol' Thriller injury.... I got some stuff done on thesis. Not as much as I hoped, but I got some done, which is good. Now it's time to lock and load. Take no prisoners. Hide you women and children. Put on your Sunday best kids:

We're going to Sears.

Spring Break

Well, a lot has happened since the last blog. I went to the Senior Banquet and it was so damn fun. I haven't had that much fun in a while, it was a blast. We had an animation table and everything. At the end of the night, the animation gang had a whole dance floor to ourselves, and the DJ was playing all 80's songs. He played Ice Ice Baby and I totally rocked out, and then I requested Thriller. Sooo much fun. We were all doing the thriller. At the end of the song, I went out with a bang... literally. My knee gave out and I fell over lol Too much dancing for me. On monday it was really swollen and hurtin so I had to go to the ER to get it looked at. Fun stuff. So now I'm in a knee brace and crutches.... all thanks to the Thriller. Oh well, it was still fun. You can see a picture of me doing the thriller in my picture album a few moments before it all happened.

And now tomorrow I go home for a week for spring break. I hopefully will be able to get some stuff done while I'm there, mostly backgrounds for my game. It should be nice though.

Time is still a tickin'.

Thesis

Thesis has official kicked into high gear. Every waking moment is now dedicated to Thesis. So if you don't see me for the next month, you'll know what I'm doing. So much for having fun at the end of college. There just isn't any time.

And I'm still scared to death.

But I will finish.

I will.

I must.

Scared

Well, last night I think it finally hit me. I was just lying in bed thinking for over 2 hours about it: It's almost over.

I have never been so scared in my entire life.

Shy Guy

I was always kinda shy growing up. Not super super shy or anything, but I was shy. I mean, I had lots of friends and everything, but I think it just took me a little bit... I dunno. I also went to an all guys high school, which was cool for many reasons, but was also bad for obvious reasons. It probably wasn't until junior or senior year in high school that I finally wasn't too shy anymore. College has been really cool, and here it is, senior year, and I thought I wasn't shy at all anymore. I mean, I can wear my Goofy hat and ears to school just because the hat is green and totally not care. I can even make faces at Disneyland on Splash Mountain or make funny gestures for the drop camera just for the sake of making people laugh.

But here I am, a senior in college, and I'm shy.

Like I said before, have you ever heard the perfect song that sums up how you feel at that point in time perfectly? That happened to me today. The song's called Let Go by Frou Frou.

drink up, baby down
mmm, are you in or are you out
leave your things behind
'cause it's all going off without you
excuse me, too busy you're writing your tragedy
these mishaps
you bubble wrap
when you've no idea what you're like

so let go, jump in
oh well, whatcha waiting for
it's alright
'cause there's beauty in the breakdown
so let go, just get in
oh, it's so amazing here
it's alright
'cause there's beauty in the breakdown

it gains the more it gives
and then it rises with the fall
so hand me that remote
can't you see that all that stuff's a sideshow

such boundless pleasure
we've no time for later now
you can't await your own arrival
you've 20 seconds to comply

so let go, jump in
oh well, whatcha waiting for
it's alright
'cause there's beauty in the breakdown
so let go, just get in
oh, it's so amazing here
it's alright
'cause there's beauty in the breakdown

San Diego Zoo!

Oh man! Just got back from the Zoo trip. What a blast! I had such a good time. Mike, Andrew, Trey, and I drove down and got there around 2:00 on friday and everyone else got there around around 6ish. Friday night was a blast, everyone (minus Andrew and Trey) went bar-hoppin and we ended up at some guys party. It was really fun and stupid, but it was just good to go out, hang with friends in a new place. I love adventures, and all the U-Turns made this a pretty damn good one.

Today, after a looooong night (I barely got any sleep at all) we all got up early and went to the Zoo. Stopped on the way, got some doughnuts (ugh, and whole milk by accident.... *puke*) and after some "creative" driving, we made it to the zoo! It started out slow, we were all a little tired and cranky at the beginning, but soon we all started having a really good time. I think everyone had a great time, so that was awesome. We saw some really cool animals, got in some great quality drawing time and just had fun. I really liked hanging out with everyone, since we never really have a chance to do so outside of class (with this many people anyway) so that was a blast. So we were there until it closed (5:00pm) and then we headed back. The ride home was nice. We were all so tired, both sleepy tired and fatigued from walking tired that in order to stay awake, Andrew, Mike and I were singing 80's songs. I think Trey was asleep, but it doesn't matter since I was having so much fun. You know you have great friends when you can let all your gaurds and inhibitions down and sing "I just died in your arms tonight" at the top of your lungs in your highest pitched voice. So much fun, damn. We then stopped at Long Beach, grabbed some Chinese food, parted ways with the gals and headed home. One of the most fun weekends I've had in a long time.

Kinda Sick

Man, I think I have a cold. It might be allergies, but I have no idea. It's one of those things where overall I fell fine, except for the fact my right nostril is completely clogged. Fun stuff. I just better be better by friday, when we go to the ZOO! Woohoo, it's gonna be so awesome.

Lets see, what else. I guess the animation lab flooded over the weekend, so now it smells like crap in there. I went to TA and an hour into the class, we were kicked out. Apparently we weren't supposed to be in there. Now I got a clogged nose and a lungfull of spores. Fun stuff.

It better not rain tomorrow... I have to walk 2 blocks to my internship because of our new parking spaces, and I really don't want to walk in the rain. I don't even own an umbrella.

Thesis is coming along slowly but surely. I have to make 2 more levels and 2 more bosses. Not really too bad, but then I have the artwork to do as well. I sure hope it all comes together. It will, but I sure hope it does...

I could use some gollashes. And a hug.

Lyrics

I went out today and had a little adventure. In n Out, the bank, Meltdown Comic, Amoeba music, and a drive down Hollywood blvd. It was really fun, driving in the rain and rockin out to music.

Have you ever heard the perfect song that sums up how you feel at that point in time perfectly? That happened to me today. The song's called Dizzy by Rob Thomas. I must have listened to it 4 times in a row.

And outside, the sky is falling
People dodging raindrops, staying dry
And inside, I never gave a damn 'bout those outside people anyway
And it hurt me, they don't even know who I am

And inside, there's no rainbows
And inside, I try I try I try, try to clear my head
And outside, the rain is drying
And inside I'm dying

Cause in here, I'm staring at the rings my coffee cup has made on the table
And in here, I know I know I know that this is as good as it gets
and in time I hope to be the one that talks about my better half
Until then, I count the cracks on the wall
Until it's time to lay my head

And inside, I play with shadows
And inside, I know I know I know that I'll feel this way all day, all day
And outside, there's hope for trying
And inside I'm dying

You walk before me, lord knows I can't follow
You walk behind me and I don't think I can lead
You walk around me, please don't walk around me
Cause you know how dizzy I get.

Storm

Today went from blah, to good, to very blah, to awesome. Woke up late, got all cleaned up and pretty much sat around for a while. I had this great idea to make this week fun by making a Full House quiz and the person who got the most answers right would win something. Well, I made up all the questions and everything and was all excited, and Andrew was the first to take the test, and got them all right. That made me kinda mad... ruined my plans and buildup. Oh well.

Then I worked on thesis a bit, got some work done on level 3, which was good. The bad news is I got on a roll right when other Andrew came over to play Smash Bros. So I was sitting here in my room by myself coding while Smash Bros is outside. Suckage. By the time I was done with what I wanted to do, they were done as well. Then they started watching this terrible dvd I wasn't in the mood for, so I just sat here waiting to do something and nothing happened. That really sucked.

Now, I'm sitting here typing and talking with Jess on IM while it's thundering and lightning-ing outside. Oh man, it's soo cool. I have all my lights out, and since Jess is only 2 miles north, we're pretty much hearing and seeing the same thing. It is sooo tight, man. It's like being in the haunted mansion. Creepy and cool. Damn, this is so fun. Weather like this kicks ass. Nobody else here seems to care, but I'm just sitting here alone in the dark talking to Jess loving every minute of it. It's like the blah all day today led up to this moment. It's just so damn cool. Definitely the most fun I've had in a long time! I'm so in awe and creeped out and loving every moment. There goes another one! Too awesome beyond words. What a great night, I love it.

*sigh*

Blog rhymes with log

Wow, I'm still goin strong! Today was easy, got up early and went to G4. Played some old school ninja games for NES and SNES, and they let me go early right before lunch. So on the way back, I got Taco Hell, and came back and watched my Full House dvd and ate tacos. I had forgotten how fun that show was.

Fun Full House Factoid: Uncle Joey is not allowed to use the phone. It's true!

So after that I did nothing for 2 hours (go me!) and then went to Nintendo Narratives. Sadly, Fun Hat Day didn't turn out as well as planned. Perhaps next time... I can't believe how boring NN is. We even have a midterm! Gah! So now I'm sitting here loathing the fact that for dinner it's Top Ramen again. I need to go to the store!

"Never opened myself this way,
Life is ours, we live it our way.
All these words I don't just say,
and nothing else matters." - Metallica

Dog rhymes with blog

Wow, am I actually gonna start writing in here more often? Only time will tell. Today was a blah kind of day. Woke up, went to thesis, which pretty much entailed hanging around for 45min for Jose before we could start. Saw how everyone's stuff was coming along, and it's all coming along...

Lets see, what else. I gave Jess some mini Krackels to tide her over until we strike the BIG one, heh. It was weird, I had gotten them yesterday on my way back from G4 to give them to her during the speaker last night, but she couldn't make it. When I got back home, I had an IM from her saying we should get some mini Krackels and melt them down to make a big one. Killer Koincidence. Came back to an appartment full of sick people, so I hope I won't get sick. Time to go into obbsessive compulsive mode and wash my hands like crazy. Burned Mike a copy of Lost, which is a pretty cool show. Then went to TA and worked on thesis during TA and afterwards in the lab until about midnight mostly debugging. I hate debugging. It takes so damn long and usually you get absolutely nothing done and feel bad because it took so long to do nothing. But tonight I actually got some stuff done, so ha!

Oh yeah, I just got charged a buttload of money because my file trasfer limit or my website went over the alloted space because people have been playing my Nemo game. It's cool people are playing, too bad they're not actually paying... There goes what little fun money I had left. *sigh*

So now I'm just sitting here, thinking about bosses to use in my game with Rob Thomas' new single "Lonely No More" stuck in my head.

I don't want to be lonely anymore.

Blog rhymes with frog

Wow, a new entry... who knew! Lets see, what's new? Today was a busy day, went to my internship at G4 which was fun, then came back to school, hung out in the lab for a bit talking with Nancy and Pete, then went to Pupa sculpting, left early and went to the Ed Wood screening, which was very cool. Martin Landeau was there, and he gave us tips and told stories for like 2 hours! Very neat. I was even able to get his autograph after the event, which was awesome. Thats about it. I wonder if anyone actually reads this thing.