Happy Birthday, America!

Pork & Beans

Someday, le cub and I will get Beans a friend.
Beans seems to enjoy the company of pugs.
Wouldn't a lil' pug named "Pork" be adorable?
Pork & Beans!

Bright Lights, Big City

Kinda. Sorta. Apartment renovation is coming along great. The walnut floors (see photo) are nearly finished and look pretty spectacular! The new flooring paired with my new Noguchi lamp (to be lighting up one of the lucky guest rooms) and new Heath ceramic mugs filled with hot tea will make for a cozy, clean home, no?

Great Minds

...think alike.

I realized this morning that Beans and I inhale similar looking foods for breakfast. Hmm.

Good Girl Gone Bad

Meet Sam. She's a sock puppet I made today at UCLA. She's a cougar who's desperately seeking the company of hot young male puppets. *RAWR*

C'est si Bon, No?

A gorgeous new fridge will be arriving at my apartment this Friday.
It's got drool-worthy French doors that I want to kiss.
Never knew it was possible to feel this way about a kitchen appliance...

*Tee-Hee*

Jo (of A Cup of Jo fame) posted this on her blog yesterday, and it made me smile.

Average Joe

I'm 29 years-old, and my wisdom teeth are just coming in. This comes to me as a disappointment, for when I was in college, an Anthropology professor informed us students that the fewer molars a human has, the more "advanced" the individual is. Alas, I'm not an "advanced" being. Whatever that means. But boy, it kinda' sucks to be normal. Common. Average.

It also sucks that it hurts. My gums are being broken into by an unwelcome tooth! Grr~

But hey... that I was able to douse my dental discomfort in the fluffy cream of of Sweet Lady Jane's Triple-Berry-Cake in good company?

YAY!

Camera Shy

I'm not big on having my photo taken. In fact, more often than not, when shot, I tend to secretly delete the photos off of my friends' cameras when they're not looking. Shhh! Don't tell.

Yet should I get married someday... Yes. I say someday. I would love to be photographed by the uber-talented Max Wanger. See his work HERE. He is nothing short of AMAZING.

Photo: Michelle Williams for Boy. Band of Outsiders. I don't know who took the photo.

Home Improvement

Still in the process of renovating the apartment in Burbank. Amidst all the headaches, I was able to pull away and find THIS lil' white-chocolate-Hershey Kiss-esque pendant. Delish! I can't wait to have it hanging in my stairwell...

Belated Adieu

"eat it, eat it / if it's gettin' cold, reheat it / have a big dinner / have a light snack / if you don't like it, you can't send it back / just eat it." - weird al yankovich

As a person, Michael Jackson was a tad strange for my liking. But as an artist, he was, no doubt, a genius. I've been a fan for as long as i can remember. As a child, i ate up his music not knowing what any of the lyrics meant. Seriously, "Billie Jean is not my lover..." Whaaat?!?

Two unforgettable concerts (even my Ma went) and one band performance for the undisputed King of Pop... (In high school, our band was hired by the Grand Regent Hotel to "serenade" Michael upon his arrival in Taipei, Taiwan - he was on his world tour. Unfortunately, he ended up entering the hotel from a back entrance. pity. I think that may have been the only time I REALLY practiced my clarinet...) Fond, fond memories.

May you rest in peace.

Beat It

I make a MEAN (rawr!) mac & cheese. Seriously. Joan's on Third has nothing on me. That said, I'm really looking forward to Courtney's "Mom Jeans Mac-Off," come July. That's right. a MOM JEANS Mac-Off. An event at which lovely ladies will gather to enjoy a variety of M&Cs while wearing the world's most hideous, er, I meant, spectacular array of denim.

P.S. The photo-above? So not doing my truffle-filled M&C justice. It is, however, the only photo I've taken of my self-proclaimed "amazeballs" M&C. Dude. It even got picked at (see top left corner) before it had a chance to get photographed. Lovely.

I Can't Stop This Feeling...

Deep inside of me...

Taking a puppetry class at UCLA and find myself performing funky finger exercises. That's right. Don't roll your eyes at me. Finger exercises! My eccentric (in a good way) instructor tells us that they help improve our hand movement abilities :)

Such fun.

P.S. Yes, my bangs are getting long. I've been clipping them up in a style similar to that sported by a pageant-going Yorkshire Terrier. Niiice.

Downtown

Spent my Sunday living it up in downtown LA with my college bf, Kathy. (WHO, by the way, recently scored a script rewrite! Hurray for Hollywood! Hurray for "Mama"!!! That's what I call Kathy...)

OMG, what fun we had! Our recession-friendly day began at the Fashion District. No, the Fashion District is not a mall. It happens to be the section of downtown LA that many Melrose boutique frequent for their wholesale goods. Several years back, Kathy and Koo (another pal) discovered the wonder that is "F.D." and they've never paid retail since :) Anyhoo, "F.D.", as we like to call it, is no Barneys. It's run by hard-working Mexicans and Koreans and boasts a ginormous assortment of tacky garments and accessories. But ooh... treasures can be found by the patient! I liken the experience to thrifting...

I returned home triumphant.

80s-prom dress? Check. I've got an 80s-prom-themed party to attend in July. Kathy invited me. I'm going for a Madonna vibe. Only I don't think the Queen of Pop ever owned a diamond encrusted white tiger pendant with matching earrings...
bodacious bondage sandals ? Check. I love that they aren't knock-offs of any known brand. You'd never guess that they only cost $19.99. Can't wait to wear them to Sydney!

Speaking of lunch, I finally got to eat at Nickel Diner. AMAZEBALLS!!! Read my review HERE. I'm definitely going back.

Such a wonderful day spent with wonderful company.

Flashback.

Back in high-school, my Uncle Tom would pick-up my cousin, "Jen" from her school dances. And when he did, he'd arrive at the school gate shining a beam of light from a flashlight at the exiting crowd of students. He did this in order to make it easier for Jen to find him. Mortified, Jen asked her dad to stop bringing the flashlight. And stop he did. The next time Jen had a dance, Uncle Tom brought a broom. He twirled it above his head as if he were a helicopter. O.M.G.

Barbarians

A typical meal at le cougar's. Le cub and le cougar feasting on take-out roast duck and pork from bang-for-your-buck Rowland Heights gem, Seafood Village straight out of the to-go boxes. We use our hands.

We try not to look at each other as we eat.
We also try not to look at the ginormous puppy who patiently awaits for the glorious moments during which greasy meat falls to the floor.

Bittersweet

Bitter.
* China-bound cub. Dropped him off at LAX this morning *sniffles* He'll be spending the month of July in Shanghai, in an effort to improve his Chinese. Excited for him, but forlorn for me. And Beans!! It's not right when we're not together. We're a family.

Sweet.
* My mommy. She's in town!!!
* Newly discovered blogs like THIS one. Love the photos. Love the illustrations.
* Letterpress Class in San Francisco! Madge took one a while back, and I've been wanting to attend one ever since. I came across Jordan Ferney's class when surfing Joanna's blog and signed up immediately.
* Puppetry class at UCLA. (See photo above. My classmate, Justin with his demonic puppet)
* Sydney, Australia. Airfare is affordable, so le cub and I will be going in mid-August... just before his return to corporate America. All Sydney travel tips welcome. I've never been!
* Lala-land renter no more! Come fall, I"ll be moving into one my parents' old apartments located in Burbank. The unit is, however, currently in poor condition (having been rented out for 15+ years to a crazy hermit), so new wood flooring, kitchen tiling, appliances, cabinetry, lighting, and bathroom pieces are being put in. And ooh... we're also battling termites and rats. But hey, the unit will be so-fresh-and-so-clean when I ultimately move in. Photos to come.

Great Expectations

One of my favorite writers is a gentleman named Dave Eggers. He wrote A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - a book I'd picked up from the shelf solely because of its ridiculously-long-and-self-praising title. The memoir is a masterpiece (at least to me), and I highly recommend it to anyone with a wee-bit of extra-time on his/her hands. Anyhoo, Eggers' latest project is a screenplay he cowrote with his wife, Vendela Vida... and the movie for which this I'm-assuming-is-magnificent screenplay is for Away We Go... a movie starring none-other than SNL alum, Maya Rudolph (the cub and I love her), and The Office stud, John Krasinski. Oh, and did I mention that Sam Mendes will be directing this lil' summer flick?

I cannot wait.

He Did It!!!

My cub graduated from UCLA Anderson with an MBA this past Friday. I'm so proud of him. So is Beans.

Chez Cougar

Le cub and I are hosting a pot-luck tonight for some MBAers tonight. Am making Mario Batali's Pappardelle Bolognese, Sunday Suppers at Lucque's Swiss Chard Tart, and the fool-proof Magnolia's Famous Banana Cream Pudding.

Beerfest and karaoke to follow.

Life's good :)

Such Pretty Things

Idyllic settings. Photo above taken at a enviro-friendly Stella McCartney event in West Hollywood (www.style.com).

Pixar creations. "Up" was beautiful! Not my favorite Pixar flick to date, but the first 20 minutes did leave me in tears.

Beautiful bedding. I would never get out of THIS bed. *sigh*

Twisted animated shorts like THIS one by UCLA Animation Workshop alum, Aglaia Mortcheva. Adorable.

Lady-like clutches like THIS one.

Slick headphones like THESE. They'd look better than default white iPod buds, no?

New online discoveries. THIS one makes me smile. As does THIS one.

Shweeet

Le cub is back in the den!!! That's right. He was away in Vegas this past weekend getting DIS-oriented (as opposed to oriented) without me. Yup-yup-yup. Le cub is graduating!!! And I'm super-duper proud of him. *Arsenio WOOPWOOPWOOP* Graduation ceremony to take place this Friday...

Life is so much more delicious when le cub's in town. And I mean that quite literally. Upon his return, I was presented with the beautiful box of French macarons from Payard Patisserie pictured above. They are almost too beautiful to eat. Almost. :)

Dinner at Hiko Sushi in West LA.
We'd read a positive review for the sushi joint by big-time foodie, Jonathan Gold, and just couldn't resist. Wish we would've taken photos of the heavenly uni we downed, but we were both too excited and hungry to wait. Our review of Hiko Sushi to be posted HERE.

School's Out!

Well, I've got two days left, and THEN school's out. At UCLA, that is.

I am, however, looking into some continued education during these next few months. With the help Lynda (as recommended by my talented classmate, Chris Mais, (see his award-winning shorts HERE and HERE), I hope to return to UCLA in the fall jam-packed with new-found Adobe After Effects knowledge.

Waiting For Tonight

"Woah-oh-ohhhh..." (Yes, I'm afraid I'm channeling old school J.Lo at the moment.)

Tonight's the night, people! Making my splash at UCLA's much-awaited (by me, at least) annual toon gala. I'm nervous...

Victory!

Le cub and I successfully hunted down the Kogi truck last night with the help of Twitter. Read reviews about this culinary unicorn HERE.

Le cub thinks: "It's fun to hear what everyone else wants to get. People speaking in all sorts of languages. Weird people that are clearly obsessed with the truck. I'm just talking. And a blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. It's good bar food."

Cougar thinks: "It was fun eating late at night. I really enjoyed the spiced-up mixed greens in my taco. Nandor (my bootcamp instructor) would not have approved. Hehe."

Star-Sighting

Dropped in on Charles Solomon's class on Disney animation yesterday to be in the presence of guest speaker Andreas Deja speak and draw. In case you don't know who he is, let it be known that the dude's kinda' a big deal. Andreas is a lead animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He animated Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast", Scar in "The Lion King", Lilo, in "Lilo & Stitch" and Mickey in one of my fav shorts, "The Runaway Brain" - haven't seen it? No worries. Watch it HERE. It's awesome!

Was so much fun and inspiring to be in the presence of greatness. Andreas shared with a lecture hall of UCLA students juicy stories involving "important" decisions made at the House of the Mouse... ones involving the placement of the actual scar on "Scar" and the length and type of chest hair on every-last-inch-of-him's-covered-with-hair "Gaston"...

Good-times.

Photo: Me and le cub at the Greek Theater.

DONE. DONE-DONE-DONE!

OMG, I can have a life again! I've finished my first-year film. While it didn't tun out exactly the way I'd envisioned it - mind you, this is my first REAL foray into animation - it is, however, watchable. The short is desperately in need of more inbetweening (that's what the summer is for), and I'll need to drop in my composer, Cody Westheimer's, creation in lieu of my current temp track, Claude Bolling's "Paris Musette" (for copyright reasons), but hey, I'm DONE! For now.

Once I format the video to be smaller, I'll be able to post it online. Will try to post it soon after its debut at the UCLA Film Festivals' Animatio "Prom"... taking place this coming Saturday at James Bridges Hall. Tickets are SOLD OUT... So very exciting.

*SIGH*

I want to go to there. Photo being sold at 20x200.

Note to Self

Must stop wallowing.

But when it rains, it pours. Monday evening, le cub and I were rear-ended while driving the MINI through West Hollywood. FANTASTIC. I had stopped for a pedestrian at a crosswalk and the driver behind me was driving too quickly to stop. Luckily no one was hurt. I'm really hoping that I, at very least, am racking up some mad karma points. The good kind, of course.

My first accident, and hopefully my last.

Poor "Uter" (the name le cub bestowed upon my car). It looks as if Godzilla took a massive bite out of its rear.

Sigh.

Had a disappointing day yesterday, but I suppose bad luck was due.
I wasn't crying. It was just raining on my face.

Greasy Chinese food at Hop Li with le cub made me feel a tad better.
As did the raspberry fruit "leather" (fruit-roll) from Trader Joe's.
Beans thought I was eating one of his Beggin' Strips. No, Beans. I wasn't.

Uber-cool Naomi posted THIS awesome piano-cello rendition of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" and Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" a couple days ago. Watch it and hear Jon (I think he's the pianist) rave about his 7 year-old daughter to whom this song is dedicated. So very cute.

Okay. Back to editing.

New Zealand Rocks!

As a Valentine's gift to le cub earlier this year, I had purchased tickets to a Flight of the Conchords concert at the Greek Theater (near Griffith Park Observatory) which he wouldn't be able to redeem until May.

Well, it's finally May, and last night, we finally went. It was le cub's first concert ever, and boy was it fun!

Highlights:
1) Opening acts featuring Arj Barker (Dave) and Eugene Mirman
2) "Too Many Dicks" as their first song. Wahahahahaha!
2) South American, Spanish-singing versions of Bret and Jemaine
3) Their "I'm Not Crying" act that Jemaine preceded with lighting suggestions, "Like we're inside a teardrop!"
4) One of le cub's favs, "Carol Brown"
5) Jemaine's "Sugarlump" dance moves.
6) An emotional performance of "Hurt Feelings"...
7) The classic, "Business Time"...
8) And one of MY favorites, "Albi the Racist Dragon"!


They didn't play "If That's What You're Into", but I'll live.
Bret and Jemaine, you two are AWESOME!!!!!!!

Action-Packed

I've been in Los Angeles for nearly two years now, yet I don't think I've covered as many touristy activities during all my time here as I did over this one weekend. Minnesotan sweetie, Mai (or "My Mai", as I like to call her), was in town, so le cub tried his very best to play tour guide.

Santa Monica was a must-see:
1) The Pier (Mai wanted to trapeze, but le cub wouldn't join her...)
2) The Promenade
3) Farmer's Market (I bought a bag of THE sweetest grapefruit I've ever tasted)

All of the West Side became a must-eat:
1) Bar Pinxto for tapas (white shrimp & bacon wrapped dates... yum)
2) Joan's on Third for brunch (breakfast tart, yay!)
3) Huckleberry for more brunch (Maple Bacon Biscuit!)
4) Park's for authentic Korean BBQ (marinated kalbi & seafood pancake)
5) Sprinkles for delightful cupcakes (RVC, baby. "RVC" = red velvet cake)
6) Anisette for dessert (lavender ice-cream with meringue and berries)
7) Pinkberry for what else? Pinkberry!

We even made time for extra-curriculars:
1) A drive down Rodeo and Sunset - "Look, Mai! That's the Pretty Woman hotel! Ooh, Mai! That's where Lohan gets wasted")
2) Dancing at Air Conditioned
3) Hiking at Runyon Canyon with Beans (Mai wanted to scope out the Hollywood sign).
4) Strolling along the Hollywood Walk of Fame (home all sub-par street performers and celebrity imitators)

A fun-filled weekend spent with fantastic company. I probably should've been spent working on my film, but... Could've, would've, should've. This coming week is going to be all-nighter-filled. Oh boy.

Safe trip back to Ohio, Mai. And ooh, Beans misses you already. He really does.

A Reunion You Don't Want to Miss

Tonight ASIFA-Hollywood is proudly presenting "The Little Mermaid Twentieth Anniversary Reunion" at Woodbury University. Details here:
Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium
Woodbury University
7500 Glenoaks Bl, Burbank, California
Thursday, May 21, 2009 7-10 PM

I've got class, so I won't be making this awesome gathering of talented writers and animators. BOO.

Do You Believe In Magic?

Last night, a trip to the supermarket to pick up milk for "lactarded" lil' me turned into an evening of delightful entertainment. Accompanied by le cub and his visiting sister, I stepped into Ralphs, only to encounter a tall, old gentleman dressed in a flashy blazer covered in purple sequins. His black slacks, though denied sequin treatment, sported a sparkly outline of one famous Hello Kitty. Unable to ignore the pink elephant in the room, er, grocery store, I complimented him on his pants - "Nice pants!" And boy oh boy, would we (le cub, his sis, and me), be in for a big surprise.

Turns out the strange old man dressed in the sparkly suit was a magician! And right then and there, right next to the baked-goods displays, the "Fantastic Fig" (that's his stage name), or "Paul" if you prefer his actual name, began to run through a bevy of sleight of hand maneuvers!

Super cool. Super unexpected.

Oh, Wow.

Watch THIS :)

Leggo My Eggo

Oldie but goodie. "I Love Eggs" video. HERE.

Midget Arnold

Little Woman. That's what my Morning Crunch bootcamp instructor, Nandor calls me. I wish he'd address me as Midget Arnold. I'll explain why some other time...

Pictured is me and le cub at his business school "Prom". I'm rocking the LOD (little orange dress), and le cub's rocking his skinny tie. Yay. We like the top photo because it resembles a tabloid paparazzi shot. Neither of us can be bothered to look at the camera. Yay. We like the bottom photo because we both look very classy. Flexing at a formal. Who does that? I had, at this point, completed two sessions of bootcamp. Yes, the sessions have been doing me wonders.

Animation Show of Shows

Haven't been posting very many doodles as of late because my C-film's been keeping me busy. However, yesterday afternoon, I was able to take a breather and catch The 10th Annual "Animation Show of Shows", a program of the best in new animation curated by Ron Diamond and presented by Animation World Network and Acme Filmworks. An hour and a half very well-spent :)

The line-up:
1) Skhizein by Jeremy Clapin
2) KJFG #5 by Alexei Alexeev
3) Glago's Guest by Chris WIlliams
4) Kudan by Taku Kimura
5) Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor by Koji Yamamura
6) La Maison en Petits Cubes by Kunio Kato
7) Hot Seat by Janete Perlman
8) Presto by Doug Sweetland
9) A Mouse's Tale by Benjamin Renner
10) Keith Reynolds Can't Make It Tonight by Felix Massie

My favorites were "Skhizein" and "A Mouse's Tale". And then there's "KJFG #5" ... Cracked me up. Watch it HERE.

Birdlike Men

The following is a list of my "Top Five Celebrity Crushes" I filled out and shared on Facebook (in no particular order):
1) Conan O'Brien
2) Paul Bettany
3) Patrick Dempsey
4) Andy Samberg
5) Michael Cera)
Apparently I have a type. "Geeky Dreamboats" and "Birdlike Men."
Hmm. Should le cub be worried?

Old School

I like THIS.

Mamamia!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mommy (and all other mommies).
I "heart" my Mommy lots.
Really. I do.

I've Got the Power

Who would've thunk that Adobe CS4 could enable a person to create something as delightful as THIS?

Pearls

Day 1 of Morning Crunch Boot-Camp conquered! Feelin' good, but I've got to get a move on with my day. That said, I leave you with this: "If you aren't cheatin', you aren't tryin'!!!" Pearls of wisdom bestowed upon me and my boot-camp-mates by my instructor, Nandor, as we performed a lap of challenging lunges in the children's sand box at Cheviot Hills Park.

And ooh. "Dead Bug." It's an ab-exercise. I had no idea.

P.S. No time for new doodles this week, so I'm leaving y'all with an old doodle of me just doing (or dough-ing) it.

Silly Really

I'm behind schedule for my C-film because I've been over-dosing on fun. What can I say? The stuff's addictive. This past weekend, I enjoyed a midnight showing of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (nice booty, Hugh!), made a spontaneous visit to the Magical Kingdom (after all of these years, it's still surprisingly magical), and ooh... dined on sushi and pie with classmates (raw fish and banana cream pie go together better than you think). *tsk-tsk=tsk* Must show more restraint this week. Or else!!!

Old Soul

When I grow up, I want to be like THESE TWO.

Until then, I'd like to be like the above two. Pictured: Me and the kid brother at Disneyland decades ago. Notice my brother's hand-me-down mouse ears. He's wearing a bow :)

Happiest Place on Earth

Did you know that Disneyland offers THE best churros in the whole freakin' world? Will be there with some of my animation classmates tomorrow and am really looking forward to handing over five buckaroos in exchange for some cinnamon-sugar goodness.

Will bring the Holga and see what happens. I'm thinking "magic"!

31 for 31

In celebration of the company's birthday, Baskin Robbins' 31 Flavors was offering scoops of deliciousness for 31 cents yesterday. Maximum scoopage? Three. Very nice.

Hot Date

The business school has a prom, and le cub asked le cougar. Rrrrrrr... (That's my cougar roar.)
Back in high-school, I was so busy and tired from planning the high school proms (junior and senior), that I skipped out on both.
Excited about getting all dolled-up for le cub's.

And ooh... Check out THIS video of a little guy professing his love to a little girl who wears earrings and sports a ponytail. I can't get over his ginormous, adorable teeth. Too cute.