.jeri.

it's freaking hot in here!

We have no airconditioning. It's disgusting.

And now, a picture I thought was funny when looking for images of "hot"...

Posted by wendytime at 04:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

spirited away

I kept waiting to see this movie because I was hoping they would release it more widely with the subtitles, but unfortunately, I had to see it dubbed. But for a dubbing job, I'd have to say it was pretty good. But that's not what really mattered about Spirited Away.

This movie was amazing. I wish all movies were animated as well as this one was. There was one point in the movie when I looked at a background wall, and it was covered in cracks and dirt... I haven't seen detail like that in a Disney movie in ages. The flowers leading down to the pig pen were beautiful, and so 3-D, and the shots of sky and water were wonderful as well.

The plot (remember, it's Japanese) was insane, but somehow it all comes together even though every once-in-a-while you have those moments of "what the heck is going on?" In case anyone's wondering, a young and spoiled girl and her parents accidentally stumble into a spirit world, where her parents are turned into pigs. The girl work in the spirit world and, with the help of friends, discover a way to rescue her parents.

The characters are all interesting, the music is perfect for the animation, and you get some bizarre laughs from the least expected things (like the bouncing heads and soot poofs that have eyes). But overall, it was highly entertaining, and amazing to watch. I can't wait to see it one day with the proper voices.

Posted by wendytime at 02:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

look out! planet x is headed this way!

And now, for your enjoyment, a little information on the end of our world as we know it.

Basically, this planet is headed our way. It won't hit us, but when it passes us by, it will cause a magnetic shift in which the core of our earth will be affected in such a way that there will be flooding, fires, earthquakes, and more. Apparently LA is in a lot of danger. The date is supposed to be May 15th, or shortly thereafter, but not after June 1st.

And how do we know so much about this? The aliens are telling this lady, and she's telling the world! She's in direct communication with them. Check out the websites.

http://www.zetatalk.com/

http://www.planetxvideo.com/

Posted by wendytime at 08:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

wedding stuff

To update anyone... like WENDY... who wants to know what I've been up to with wedding stuff...

- We thought we had dresses for the bridesmaids. Now we don't.

- I'm almost 100% convinced I'm going to make my own invitations, with a little help from grace.

- I'm almost sold on a dress. I'm basically too chicken to order right now because it's not the style I was originally planning on, and I just have to get used to the idea.

- I went to the LA Flower District on Saturday again. For $10, I was able to buy roses, tulips, and ranunculas... enough to make a bridesmaids bouquet of 14 roses, a fat vase of 10 tulips, a medium vase of an assortment of flowers, and two small vases, each with a few flowers. I'm SO doing my own flowers.

- Ric and I scouted out Penn Park together the other night. We'll be doing a photo shoot with Ira there after the reception. Oh yeah. We emailed him about changing the times of the shoots too.

- I'm thinking of using Richie Beanan as a videographer. I used to be a student worker with him in the library. Unless anyone else knows of a cheap videographer. I seriously just need a basic filming of things - no montages or special crazy stuff.

- I'm not sure which baker to use. One has better looking cakes and seems more professional. The other has better options with fillings and flavors. Looks... or flavor? Anyone?

...back to work. I'm picking up Brendan tonight! Everyone get ready to party!!

Posted by wendytime at 04:12 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

random

okay. one of the profs had vertigo last week and gave me all these mumbled instructions, which i followed. now she's asking me where someone's contract is. "I mailed that!" I say. She says, "I said mail everything BUT the contract." i think to myself, "THE HECK YOU DID!!!!"

and now, a picture of me from my childhood.

Posted by wendytime at 02:41 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

wounded in iraq

Well, I got an email from my mom. My uncle's grandson (which makes him what to me specifically, I'm not sure - a second cousin?), Val Saucedo III, has been wounded in action. I don't know how badly he's been hurt. I don't know him. But if you think about it, shoot up a little prayer for his family.

Posted by wendytime at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Talk to Her

Some people I know have been referring to Talk to Her as "simply the latest movie by Pedro Almodóvar," since many of us went out to the theater to see All About My Mother. I was very hesitant to go see this movie. All About My Mother is a mere blip on the screen of my memory, and nothing about the synopsis of Talk to Her made me want to see it. Actually, I thought it sounded stupid. But the critics went crazy over it, and Almodóvar was nominated for Academy Awards for screenwriting and directing, so I forced myself to make the drive and check it out before the Oscars were held.

What a great surprise! I can see what people were talking about in regards to All About My Mother - I felt like the moods of the movies were somewhat similar. But I found Talk to Her to be a much more complete piece of work. From the very beginning I could sense the richness of the layers of this movie. The directing included so many subtleties, the actors were very emotional but not over the top, the music was beautiful, and the "arts" of movies, bullfighting, and dance were all intriguing.

This is the story of four people in Madrid: A journalist and his famed bullfighting girlfriend, and a male nurse who takes care of a young dancer who is in a coma. The establishing stories of each couple don't cheesily intertwine, but once they all end up in the hospital coma ward. The two men tell their stories to each other and establish a dedicated friendship, which is tested more and more as the story evolves.

I loved the acting by Dario Grandinetti, who plays the journalist, Marco. His face was part of what made this movie what it is.

The characters in this movie were great. Every one of them was so interesting. Almodóvar explores friendships, relationships, and even psychology without giving the feeling he's trying to do anything at all. And as the story got unexpectedly darker and darker, I appreciated what he was doing more and more.

I really enjoyed Talk to Her and am glad I caught it before it left the theater. Don't take your mother to see it, because some interesting plotlines and silent movie sequences are probably too much for her... and perhaps for you too. But if you can't make it out to Irvine to see it, I'd say it's definitely worth the rental when it comes out.

p.s. I still think bullfighting is disgusting.

Posted by wendytime at 08:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Okay, so yesterday I literally

Okay, so yesterday I literally forgot that I have a blog. Weird.

So I just read this quote from the link off of Josh's article on quoting movies: "Guys live in fantasy more than women," Ramis said. "And movies work hard at feeding back our fantasies to us." The implication here is that men are more likely to quote and memorize movies than women, I think.

While this statement may be somewhat true, it doesn't change the fact that I'm a walking encyclopedia of stupid quotes and sounds from music and movies. And most of the time the only one who gets them is my sister.

It's interesting to me how I can go shopping with her, looking for something in particular, and when I find it I say, "Ah-ha-HA-ha-ha"... and she knows that I'm quoting Mary Poppins (from the scene where they look for the tape measure in the carpet bag).

Or if she's not around, and I just say "NUTS," I get bummed because no one can share in my joy of quoting Willy Wonka (when Mr. Salt says he's in the business of nuts).

Hey, there's a blurry picture of me in this week's Chimes! William Lane Craig was speaking, and there's a great photo of a sleepy me watching him. I think it's page 2. I'll be scanning it (since I'm going to add a section to the news portion of the Chaos page to include Chaos in the Chimes).

There's a girl in here sitting with her arms crossed over her stomach. She reminds me of Becky. Even her facial expressions. But she doesn't really look like B.

Posted by wendytime at 04:20 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

fluor fountain

I passed by Fluor Fountain today, all flowing with water. I couldn't help but think Brendan might get a hint of either satisfaction or anger at its completion. I remember him talking about all the money that got sent to an unfinished project. Well, it's finished now. And do you know how much it cost? Do you WANT to know? Now, you have to remember that they built a nice little shaded area too.... You ready? $185,000.

Posted by wendytime at 04:13 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

france

Happy Spring, everyone.

At a time when my country is mad at France, all I can think about is that a year ago I was coming home from such sights as these...

... and dreaming of being there again

Posted by wendytime at 03:41 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Updated Photos! etc.

I just thought I'd let you all know that I have updated the Chaos website with tons and tons of pictures!!!

The photos pages have all been updated, with pictures all the way up through January of this year. There are many never-before-seen pictures from 2001 and 2002! It's beautiful. And it's my labor of love for you kids. If you have any photos you would like to share that aren't on the site, either scan and email them to me, or let me borrow them and I'll do it.

I've also been fixing up the news pages and archives. I kind of forgot about them. Oops. From now on, send me your updates on stories such asthe battles of Phil Frank and the spawn of NickMoe and everything else you want to be heard!! If you have links to Chaosites in the news on a website, or if you have hard copies of any Chaosites in public materials such as magazines or newspapers (the Chimes too), either inform me, or mail them to me, and I'll either scan or retype or WHATEVER to make sure we have the story on the Chaos website.

And now I need to go scan the pictures from my birthday. It never ends.

Posted by wendytime at 03:11 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

I would go out tonight, but I haven't got a stitch to wear

Hey there, kiddos!!

I just thought I'd mention that I went to Allusions to see my Brazil lady, Laura, again, and tried on more dresses. I ended up still feeling attached to the one dress I liked last time I went in. This is a good sign. They are telling me I should order soon. I think this might be it, but I get nervous about committing to it. It's $700, but if I pay everything all at once, I get 10% off. That's always nice. I'm trying to find a picture of it on the internet, but I'm not finding it anywhere.

Laura told me it was a Victoria's but I'm wondering if sthe label (not on the dress - on the bag) was wrong. Anyway, it's a complete departure from what I had originally been looking for. It's ivory. It's strapless (I might add some). It's A-Line. It's got an overlay with really nice embroidery. Okay, I know the guys are tuning out. It's really nice though!! With the veil on, I felt comfortable because it was covering me up more. I'm still going to work on toning my arms and I might look into some kind of cosmetic surgery on a scar on my left arm.

I'm going to look around a little bit more, but I think this might be it.

Posted by wendytime at 11:35 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

tv at home at work

Okay, so the Nursing Department realized that the Education Department had a TV/VCR in their building and called me to come pick it up. So now we have a TV/VCR in the office. So far we've watched PBS kids shows, the news, and I Love Lucy is on right now. I think it's great to work in a house and be watching TV. This is awesome.

By the way, my whole department keeps clashing with Metzger. I think it's hilarious that right now everyone in here has SOMEONE they're upset with in Metzger. Right now all these people are on the phone gossiping and ranting. I love it!!!

Last night Ric and I went to Jon and Grace's, met up with them and Dan and Jenine, and we all went to Stubrik's. See, the thing is... is that Stubriks is a rip off when they don't have specials. Usually they have free pool on Monday nights. But not last night. Usually on Irish night, they have specials on Irish drinks. But since it wasn't Wednesday Irish night, they didn't have any specials. There weren't any cool green beers or food specials. Instead, a freaking little drink like an Irish mint was almost $5. So Ric got a little frustrated that by the time he had eaten dinner and we had had some drinks, we had spent half of his week's spending money. And he's right to be frustrated. Stubriks charges way too much sometimes. And we didn't even get to be near the band because it was so busy - stuck in a booth. Boooooo!

On a side note, I think my dad is nuts. He's just turning completly senile. He just realized THIS YEAR that there's a separation between him and my mom. I can't believe he just figured it out when I've known it for over 15 years. So what did he do last night? He took a book he's been reading for some church class, and took a section about adultery and how it creates separation, and had my mom read it. My mom asked him, "Are you accusing me of adultery?" He said, "No, but I'm talking about the separation between us." Then he went on and on about the things she did that make it all her fault, and finally she had it and yelled at him for always belittling her. So what does he do? He just points at her for yelling and says, "See, that's how you ARE." He has no train of logic. We think it's because he spends all day alone, probably brooding on the little things that bother him, and then he unleashes it on my mom later in the day. He needs counseling, but I seriously think he would react to it in the wrong way. He'd get defensive and pass blame and stop going. Such an old man.

Posted by wendytime at 10:15 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

irish night on monday!

So it's Irish day! I actually wore green because I work with teachers, who work with kids, and I don't like getting pinched. Tonight we plan to have a tame celebration of St. Patrick's Day at Stubrik's. They're going to have music and fun times. We plan to drag Grace away from work to go out with us and Jon to celebrate. After all, believe it or not, I am part Irish, on my mom's father's side.

What else? Hmm. This weekend:

Friday: We ate out with my family to celebrate my birthday a little late. Then Ric and I headed over to Jon and Grace's. We watched Dead Alive - another of Peter Jackson's masterpieces. It was awesome.

Saturday: Went shopping with my sister at the South Coast Plaza Mall. I found my Robinson's May dress that I'd been looking for. Wohoo! I also bought a $70 Macy's skirt for $13 on clearance. And car freshener: vanilla. Mmmm. Saturday night Ric and I saw Harry Potter again at the discount theater in Brea. $13 bucks got us two into the movies, plus a large popcorn and a large coke!!!

Sunday: We went to church, then I went with Grace to a store with paper supplies to look for invitation ideas. We did the usual Sunday night at Gron's.

Gotta go home!!!

Posted by wendytime at 04:32 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

WHATEVER!

AND THIS IS MY UNITED STATES OF WHATEVER!

Posted by wendytime at 04:42 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

OH yeah!

OH yeah! I just got back from Acapulco. They treated me to lunch. I was actually pretty lucky to have my birthday fall on a bad day for the office. Why? Because Sylvia took me out to lunch at China Cottage last week, and the rest of the office took me out THIS week. So I got two lunches, plus breakfast last week!! I had the spinach enchiladas. Hmmmm. Enchimaladassss....

So last night I tried on a billion (or maybe 10-15) dresses at Allusions in Brea. I have a funny little lady named Laura. She makes me laugh because she's blunt, and just a nice little old lady. She eerily reminds me of this woman:

So this weekend: I want to go see Talk to Her, which was nominated for best director, yet somehow Spain never put it up for nominations as best foreign film. Whatever. Then I need to do wedding errands. As always.

Posted by wendytime at 03:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Tears of the Sun

I went to see Tears of the Sun the other day, and I was very pleasantly surprised. A lot of the commercials seemed to make it out to be just another action movie, but the critics I heard were saying better things about it, and we know Bruce Willis is capable of doing cool stuff like 12 Monkeys... so I took a chance, and the movie was an action movie, but with much more of a story and it has more character development than say (I'll pick on it again) Triple X.

I really appreciated the subtle acting of Bruce Willis, as well as the setting and how it was featured. I was reading Roger Ebert's review, and how the cinematography and Bruce Willis were really what kept the movie going, and I basically agree. The story is pretty simple - a small mission becomes a bigger one as a group of Navy Seals are trying to rescue a few people who are in the midst of a civil war in Nigeria. They are trying to reach Cameroon's border safely, and are being pursued by military forces. But Bruce Willis' facial expressions, and the whole feel of the movie were awesome.

Anyway, I can't quite describe it, but this is an action movie with a lesser sense of grandeur, and I appreciated it for that.

Posted by wendytime at 02:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

do you see what they all do to me!?!?!

This is an example of what people like my mom and her friends send me in little emails on a regular basis. Did I mention my mom bought me a picture frame with hearts on it, and my grandma bought me a picture frame SHAPED like a heart? Is there something about my personality that screams out "JERI LIKES STUPID THINGS LIKE HEARTS AND HEART SHAPED PICTURE FRAMES" !?!?!

On a side note, I know my mom means well, but getting a mixer and an angel food cake pan for my birthday when I wanted movie theater certificates and certificates to the mall so I can buy some clothes... that's just not cool. You buy mixers for 50 year old women's birthdays, when their mixers break down.

Posted by wendytime at 03:59 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Updates

Update Number One: The Parents
My dad is a jerk. Last night my mom tried to get me to stay home as long as possible so my dad wouldn't be able to get out of control, yelling at her. I stayed home. When my dad went into their bedroom and closed the doors, I went and sat in my room (adjacent to theirs) and listened. The walls are paper thin in my room. My dad seemed to be somewhat resigned to the fact that my mom is actually GOING to the CR... So then he started talking about their relationship. My dad belittled her, turned everything having to do with their relationship into HER fault, got holier than thou, called her a hypocrite, and MORE. He heard, but didn't listen to a single word she had to say. He was full of shit. And as soon as he left the room, I went in and TOLD her he was full of shit. I think it made her relax. I think the word choice was actually the best thing for her. So he's a jerk, and sometimes I think about giving him back his money for the wedding.

(this is a recreation in honor of the first one)

Update Number Two: Metzger" Watching" Me
So after a few more conversations with my bosses, we figured out what the deal was with that whole thing about me being "monitored" by someone in Metzger. It turns out that the Vice-Provost was wandering through BUBBS and happened upon some folders where I was active. She knew I had recently been hired, and, going into something that really wasn't her business since there is NO OFFICIAL POLICY in the Employee Handbook, she emailed my boss (more casually than we originally thought) and told her that she noticed I was active on BUBBS during work hours. My boss said, "I'm sure she doesn't do it unless it's in the Education folder." Vice-Provost Lady wrote back and said, "Yes she is, here's a printout." My boss and my supervisor wrote back and said, "Jeri is doing her job. We trust her." But I guess the supervisor who spoke to me thought the Vice-Provost was more serious about it because she hadn't read the original emails, so when she spoke with me, it sounded worse than it really was. I'm still bothered by the way it was handled, and I still think VPLady had no business interfering with BUBBS-related stuff when there are other people who deal with that, and there are TONS of staff members who post in the Conferences during the work day. Oh well. My bosses talked to me today and said not to worry about it.

Posted by wendytime at 03:41 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (1)

AAAAAAAAAH!

Okay, so work is really busy today, so I don't have TOO much time for play.

First of all, I just realized this Shakespeare site exists. I can't believe I never typed it in before, and it's wonderful because you can read Shakespeare plays online. Wheee! Okay, so maybe Josh is the only one besides me who might truly appreciate that. Josh, there's something to fill your time at work when no one's watching.

Second, for those of you who wonder what wedding stuff I do on the weekends, I went to the Sugar and Spice bakery and talked to the lady there. I liked it. A cake is a cake, to me, so I'm not sure if I'll go with this place or the first one I visited. They're both about the same. Grace and I also went to an art supply store that has cool papers. I'd love to do my own invitations, but I seriously doubt my creativity and my ability to realize my own visions. We're going to go to another store later. I also went to Smart and Final to price plates, cups, and etc. If anyone has any suggestions besides going to Smart and Final, the 99-cents store, or Big!Lots, let me know.

Third, the parents (here's your update, David): Today my mom left a "letter" for my dad on the kitchen counter. We'll see what the results are. Basically, right now, he has no idea that her trip to the Czech Republic is finalized and she is definitely going, and that she has already sent out support letters to friends and family. The weird thing about my parents is that they have a complete lack of a real and respectful relationship, yet they still try to adhere (sometimes I think they pick and choose randomly) to certain Christian beliefs. So, even though my dad is being stupid to think that my mom's absence for a freaking TWO WEEKS on a MISSION TRIP is a bad thing, my mom actually feels bad because she's going against her husband's will. Crazy, huh? Did she ever care about it in like 10,000 other instances in life? No. But for some reason she cares THIS time, so she had a conversation with one of the pastors at our church. He basically told her that, since the trip is certain, she should tell my dad that she's going, and that she would like his blessing when she leaves. ... So anyway, she left the letter for him this morning. This could be big. Or it could be stupid. Or funny. All I know is it has potential. My mom's stressing though. I feel bad for her because when she stresses out, she gets really bad stomach problems, so she's been taking extra medication over all this. blah blah blah.

Fourth, I would like to thank the following people for contributing to my birthday:
Grace Lozano and Jon Crosier - you guys were so generous!
Ric Price
Josh and Wendy Neal
Roland and Becky Morgan
Brendan Creecy
Paul and Cyndi Hutchins
Judi and boyfriend Ralph
Erika Terrazas
Jenny Saucedo and Adrian Lozano
Dan and Jenine Haard
Dominic Vivona
Beth DuBois
Joanna Crosier
Ruth Lozano
David Seruyange

And dangit, I know I probably left someone obvious out. I'm sorry.

I'll post pictures someday.

Posted by wendytime at 03:22 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

DA NA NA NA NA-NA ... na-na.

THEY SAY IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!
da na na na na-na ..na-na
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY OOOOH YEAH!
da na na na na-na ..na-na
THEY SAY IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!
da na na na na-na ..na-na
WE'RE GONNA HAVE A GOOD TIME!

So far I've had:
A few CHEESY egreetings from my mom
Birthday wishes from afar (Brendan, Roland, Becky)
A birthday song from Kathy on my voicemail
Angelfood cake and strawberries for breakfeast at work
$20 in gift certificates to the movies from my office!
A big baloon and a card from the department
A mini balloon and a box of candy from the boss
A baked apple pie from McDonald's from Pete (my favorite prof)
A cute email from Ruth

TONIGHT:
Dinner with close friends at Angelo and Vinci's!

Posted by wendytime at 12:04 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

sigh.

David just used the phrase "a word I'm loath to use because it invokes romanticism"... Oh my gosh. A whole rush of phrases, memories, and words just flooded my head. I miss reading books as an English major, and discussing them and their critics. I miss thinking about pluralism and how a light went on in my head when we first discussed it in class. I remember getting ticked off the first time someone suggested one cannot determine authorial intent. ...And how interesting I found new historicism when I read Greenblatt's comments on Shakespeare. I wish I were able to sit in on classes again... to just discuss literature with other people... to read articles about novels and plays after I've read them.... Maybe I WILL start doing research more often. We have such a big resource through the library's hookups to all the online research materials.

I need to finish up this book, Herzog, by Saul Bellow and MOVE ON to something I enjoy. Unfortunately, now that I'm 125 pages in, I can't give it up. At least once it got to page 100, I actually started gaining interest. Oh man, the cover on this one is so much better than the one I have. I think I have an original from the 50's.

Posted by wendytime at 12:01 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

itch, food, chapel

First of all, I have an itch on my left ankle... Or an irritation? It feels like a bug is crawling around on my ankle.

Second, my boss bought everyone pizza. I like it when she's extremely hungry and it's lunchtime. She treats everyone to lunch a lot. I'm fortunate to work for someone who's so generous.

Third, (I just got pizza grease on the keyboard) I went to chapel yesterday. Yes, that's right. I work at Biola, and they actually PAY you to leave work for an hour to go to chape... any time you want. I have to admit, I'm really liking chapels now. Maybe it's because I was always FORCED to go, or maybe it's because now I'm not sitting right next to the door, or maybe it's because the worship at my church isn't as fulfilling as I'd like it to be... but chapels are so much better for me.

Yesterday we went to chapel not knowing who was speaking. It turned out to be a young man named Chong Won Kim. He was in a car accident on the freeway in the summer, and had less than 1% chance of living. The doctors were so convinced he would die, they never operated on his shattered ankle, and suggested that his family take him off life support. But his parents were convinced that God had a call on their son's life that they continued to pray, as did many Biolans. Yesterday, Chong was actually a SPEAKER in chapel. He was in a wheelchair, but he wasn't the vegetable they said he would be. He was speaking fluently in Chinese (he forgot most of his English after the accident), and waving at the audience, and telling us how God told him he was going to live for a bit longer. He recovered so quickly that his doctor apologized for not operating on his ankle sooner, his nurse re-committed her life to Christ and started attending church again, and one of the other patients in the hospital asked him which God he prayed to since he had recovered so quickly.

Seeing Chong up there, speaking from his heart and praising God and thanking us for our prayers, was amazing. His recovery has progressed in leaps and bounds. He expects to fully recover. They gave him a standing ovation at the end of the ceremony, and he started crying... it was all I could do not bawl like a baby.

Posted by wendytime at 02:07 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

The Quiet American

The further I get away from this movie, the more I appreciate it.

Rising political and military action sets the background for an unfolding murder-mystery story involving a British journalist, played by Michael Caine, who is in Saigon during the French Indochina War in Vietnam. Thomas Fowler is in love with Phong, a girl in the city, but cannot give her the marriage she wants because his Catholic wife who lives in England won't give him a divorce. Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) arrives on the scene as a young American aid worker, who instantly falls for the same woman.

The Quiet American is a "retelling" of Graham Greene story. Perhaps if I read it, I'd be ranting right now. Instead, I was actually very pleased with the several layers of this movie, including friendships, a love triangle, a war, and a focus on the city of Saigon.

Michael Caine turns in a great performance (surprise, surprise), as do all the rest of the cast members. The music was a little bit like the Volvo SUV commercial, but it wasn't that bad. I loved the look, enjoyed the direction, and although it took me a while (perhaps because some lady took a dive while holding all her snacks right at the beginning of the movie), I got into the story and its developments. The story turned out to be more complicated than I thought it would be (based on the previews), which made it all the more enjoyable. I'd say this movie has more substance than 90% of the movies in the theater right now, so if you're done catching up with the main Oscar-nominees, go check it out.

Posted by wendytime at 09:34 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

3rd day 3rd month 3rd year? 3rd millenium

Okay, isn't this only technically the SECOND year of the 3rd millenium?

Anyway, in honor of the possibility that the world could come to an end today, we all ate some chocolate. We wouldn't want our last day to be chocolate-free.

Posted by wendytime at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

weekend

I think I'll break these posts down for your attention span's sake.

weekend
Friday night, Ric and I hung out with Jon. Jon and I pooled money to buy Smirnoff Ices and Smirnoff Triple Blacks. I'm a new fan of the Triple Blacks. We had a good time watching the Simpsons about Santa's Little Helper, when he went to obedience school.

It's just WAY too much like Roxy and Whiskey.

Saturday I went to the following places:
- Sugar and Spice Bakery: Closed for vacation.
- Fantasy Frostings Bakery: By appointment only. Very snooty, don't you think?
- Albertsons in Uptown Whittier: Got info on Deli party platters
- Drove around uptown drawing a little map with parking and wedding info
- Penn Park: checked it out because Ira thought it might be cool for photos. I like it, but I'm worried about trouncing around there before the wedding because a) I don't know what car I'd be driving in with that dress and I'm worried about it getting creases and b) the ground was wet at 2 in the afternoon and I don't want to get the dress muddy

- Brea Edwards: went to see the Quiet American
- Big Lots! in La Habra: to look for wedding ideas. Not much luck.
- Home: to meet with Jon and Ric
- Rocky Cola Cafe in Whittier: some Biola alum thing that actually turned out to be a few people having dinner and passing out Biola key chains
- Home: to get dressed up for going out again
- Club BANG [shut up] in Hollywood: to dance away the night to Britpop and 80s and indie hits. It was fun. I needed a double shot of Baccardi 151 and a Midori Sour to get into it.
- Home again.

Sunday: went to church, went out to eat at Red Robin (I'm getting a little tired of it. No Red Robin on my birthday!), went home, slept, shopped pottery barn, drove with Ric to Allen's Tux's on Whittier Blvd. They were closed. Went to Best Buy and bought some CD cases for all the CDs I burn while I'm at work. Went to Biola to play on the internet and look for honeymoon ideas. Went back to Ric's to fill out an application for Josh and Wendy's apartment complex (I like that name.. SHANA MANOR .. ha ha.), then went to Jon and Grace's to watch the Simpsons and Alias. Anna Nicole sucked. Fell asleep on the couch while Jon and Ric did computer stuff into the wee hours of the night.

Posted by wendytime at 11:00 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)