I [heart] vampires

Quote of the Day:
"You don't know how to read do you?"
"What the fuck is this?" - Michael Emerson

Got to the convention center around 7:30 to get in line for Hall H for the LOST panel. We were SO MUCH closer then we were for Heroes/Lost last year. The panel was probably one of the better moments of my life. Darlton (Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof) did a bit with locking up the final pages of the Lost script in a box and then they had some actors do little skits, like Jorge Garcia asking questions in the audience (including the all important will time reset because if it does, that would be lame) and Michael Emerson coming out to yell at Jorge and showing Michael's Hurley audition tape. My favorite was the Nestor Carbonell putting on eyeliner back stage. Then Josh Holloway came out (Tara creamed her pants) and he opened the locked box and Michael Emerson read it. Turned out to be a script from Heroes. Too funny. Oh! Then they showed an In Memoriam vid clip and at the end Dominic Monaghan walked out. Place went ape shit.

side note: we've been playing this game where you call people to be on "your team". We got carried away with it and Jon made the rule that you have to SEE the person in person to claim them. Both Jon and I wanted Damon Lindelof so when they walked out on stage, we both shouted MY TEAM! I got carried away and really started yelling. People around me were asking, what is that girl yelling? But whatever, he's on my team.

After that I barely had time to roam the floor before I had to make it back up to Ballroom 20 for the rest of the afternoon. While in the incredibly long ass line for Ballroom 20, Joshua Jackson walked by us and no one was saying anything so I took the initiative and said, "Hi Josh!" and waved. He looked up surprised saw me waving, smiled and waved back. My heart melted.

Inside Ballroom 20 we saw the end of The Simpsons panel, then Fringe which was amusing, especially John Noble and then the True Blood panel which was also very exciting. Eric definitely is EVERYONE'S favorite character, followed closely by Lafayatte.

Sadly, I had to leave that panel early so that I could get into the Mythbusters panel. After being denied last year, I was determined to get in this time. However, we did have to sit through the Vampire DIaries panel AND watch the pilot episode. No one was there for that show, it was kinda sad. Every time the screen went black, people applauded thinking it was over, then sighed when it came back. Also hilarious, when it was revealed the main character was a vampire, someone shouted (very sarcastically) "What?!" Best part of the panel was Ian Somnerhalder, who is so hot and who also said we'd see Boone next year on Lost

Mythbusters was awesome, more then I ever thought it could be. They were hilarious and showed some cool footage. The coming season looks insane.

All in all a very successful Comic Con, one of the best yet.

Quote of the Day:
"Booth is a sniper so he only needs one sperm Straight shot!" - Hart Hanson

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Got a good tip in the morning that the WB booth was passing out Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Bags. We ran through the exhibition floor and got the elusive bags. We were sweaty and out of breath but already we felt our Comic Con experience was complete. Continued to browse the floor getting freebies, including foam Vulcan hands, the obligatory DC pins and Dark Horse Buffy bags.

Waited in line for Hall H for a Disney panel but gave up on it so that I could get into Ballroom 20 for Bones, Dollhouse, Joss and TV Guide panel. At first it looked like we weren't going to be able to get in line for 20 because this one event staffer was telling us they capped the line, but then another event staff let us in line! We waited outside in the mother of all switch backs and finally got inside just at the 24 panel started. Tara and I stayed in there for the next 4 hours.

David Boreanaz couldn't be there because his wife is about to pop out another kid, so it was just Emily and Hart but it was still enjoyable. Then Joss came out and screened the unseen Dollhouse which was really good and then a panel followed. Finally, a TV Guide panel on Sci Fi on TV. John Cho, the 2 guys from Big Bang Theory, Zachary Levi, Rebecca Romjin and Scott Wolf were present (all for their various shows). Chuck was clearly the most popular one. Zachary Levi was pretty funny.

Outside the Con at the end of the day, I was with Jobin and Tara and I spotted Zachary Levi walking by. I didn't even try to be subtle and pointed my phaser gun shouting, "Zach Levi, Chuck! Over there! Get a picture! Go!" Both Jobin got a picture. It was pretty awesome.

I can safely say this was a perfect Comic Con day

Quote of the Day:
"Is Martin Sheen in there?!" -Jamie, upon seeing the $500 price tag of the West Wing complete series DVD collection

Friday after camp saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with Jenny and Tara. I loved it. It was surprisingly very funny. Harry + Liquid Luck = priceless. I wish the ending had more substance though. And more Snape. Always need more Snape.

Saturday hung out with Jamie. We had lunch at Father's Office then saw the play Farragut North at the Geffen with Chris Noth and Chris Pine who wore boxer briefs. It was really good. The political-ness of it reminded me of West Wing but more bleak. I enjoyed it. And did I mention the boxer briefs?

Oh, and while we were waiting in the lobby before the play, Chris Noth was just arriving and walked right by us! Mr. Big! OH! During intermission, we were sitting outside in the courtyard when this drunk lady started talking to us. She totally tried to hook us up with hey son Tyler. She was there to see Mr. Big in the play and gave him a standing ovation at the end drunkenly. Tyler pulled her back down.

Afterward we met up with Tara to meet Justin and stupid-ass Dan (who never calls or answers IMs) for dinner. Dan hasn't been back in LA since he left a year ago June so it was really nice to see him. We ate at Rush St (mmmm ... mac n cheese) and then dessert at the new CC hang out Menchies. Good times.

Sunday hung out in my house without my parents or sister present. I loved it. I caught up on True Blood. Omg, that show is amazing. I love how they've interpreted the book and made little changes here and there. Love, love, love Eric! And I love the Eric/Bill relationship. It is totally Angel/Spike. I'm loving Jessica too and Bill's relationship with her. And I just realized there was a new episode on tonight and I missed it. C'mon On Demand!

Later in the evening, Jenny and I saw Star Trek again. It's still good. It's like I had a Chris Pine weekend!

There were 2 cool times today:

12:34.56 07/08/09

and

4:05.06 07/08/09

Went to the high school again this year with Tara. Again we staked our claim in the same spot we had last year in the names of Brody, Berger and August. Again we started out with just 3 people and we grew to about 20 people by the time the fireworks started. We had the best food, all Italian flavor (I was with Tara after all). Tara and I made this amazing sandwich that I'll have to make next time someone has a party. This year my family came to see the fireworks instead of watching them from the driveway of our house complaining they can't see the low ones or hear the music. The fireworks themselves were AMAZING. The music needed a little work.

Best part, little Joshie exclaiming, "How cool!" or "Wow!" or "That one scared me with it's boom!" or "That's my favorite!" after every firework. He cracked me up.

Quote of the Day:
"He's married to Scarlet Johansson"
"Oh, like that will last." - an old couple as we were leaving the theater

Evening in Irvine with Jamie and Alex. BBQ hot dogs, chips and dip and blue hawaiians.

Saw The Proposal which was really good. I laughed a lot and my side actually started to hurt towards the end. Betty White is fabulous. She needs to be in everything.

Then some vanilla caramel irish cream milkshakes while enjoying Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and some Deadliest Catch.

Spent all of last night celebrating Jobin's engagement! It was one of the most exciting yet nervous events I've attended and I was just an observer!

Jon rented out a theater and played a specially made video for Robin while the guests sneaked into the back of the theater. Afterward we ate dinner and celebrated at Beechwood in Venice.

Now I have to lose weight for the wedding. No way we will be looking at their wedding pictures for the rest of our lives and I'm not looking fabulous.

saw 17 Again and loved it.

Zac Efron is totally underrated as an actor.

I laughed by ass off and was thoroughly impressed with his ability to carry the film.

Excellent non-teen movie.

Quote of the Month:
"Caesar!!" random audience member at the Greek Theater
"That's Roman ..." - Bret and Jermaine, Flight of the Conchords

It was like I disappeared since April. I think journaling has lost it's appeal. sigh

Think catching up will have to be in more then one post. I can't remember everything I want to say and I'm too tired to type a lot.

Movies:
Star Trek was freakin' awesome. Definitely revamping the franchise, and definitely a JJ Abrams film. It had his trademarks all over it! I thoroughly enjoyed even with all the nit picky things only a true Star Trek fan will nit pick at. I'm down for a sequel.

Angels and Demons better then Da Vinci Code. They handled all the talky exposition stuff better and I think they did a better job of translating book to screen. They left out all the right stuff and you didn't lose anything from the story. I enjoyed it.

Wolverine Hugh Jackman is awesome and he plays Wolverine awesomely. Can say so much for the filmmakers. I think Jon was the one who said the movie was like a guy told another guy a story about Wolverine, who told another guy, who told another guy who thought it would make a good movie, so he told another guy and they made a movie. Actions sequences were cool, needed work on pacing and dialogue. Also when the hell are these comic book movies going to learn too many chefs spoil the soup or whatever. STOP JAMMING CHARACTERS DOWN OUR THROATS! I love Gambit, one of my fav characters and Taylor Kitsch did a fine job playing him but not enough! Such a throw away character in the film. It could have been ANY mutant. The whole thing could have been better.

Sunshine Cleaning the new movie from the Little Miss Sunshine people. Not what I was expecting. I thought it would be more of a comedy then it was. It was even more drama filled/darker then LIttle Miss Sunshine. And it ended on a weird note. I really expected another 10-15 minutes out of the movie but no the screen went black and the credits rolled.

Last day of my Mediterranean Cruise. I'm sad to see it go.

Right now we are at sea on our way to Barcelona. Today was my busiest day onboard. We did 2 trivia challenges, Bingo, watched a cake decorating demo, a towel folding demo, played shuffle board and mini golf. The day's not even over yet.

Met a really nice young couple from Florida today during trivia. I've seen them around the ship but haven't talked to them before. The girl is a carbon copy of me. I wish we had gotten to know each other BEFORE the last day.

Also just want to let you know, Jenny and I won the trivia challenge yesterday and we got baseball caps and a gold medal! I'm wearing it right now, proudly, so everyone can see. Awesome.

Gtg, paying for time and have to get ready for dinner!

I leave for the airport in 40 minutes.

AHHHHHHHHH!

I haven't really felt all that excited until right now.

I have nothing to do but wait.

See ya later.

Yay! It's my birthday!

I know I'm really not that old, but I still can't stop thinking that after 26 years, so much time as passed and I still haven't accomplished as much as I could have.

It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in the cafeteria in elementary school talking with my friends about how we couldn't wait to be 18.

Saturday had my birthday celebration parts 1 and 2. First, had lunch with my family at Pizzeria Mozza. It was delicious and I got to have my new favorite cheese burrata .... mmmm burrata.

That night I went to the Alibi Room with Tara, Jamie, Alex, Rebecca, Casandra, Jobin and their friends Shirit and Steve for Kogi BBQ. Everyone loved it I'm happy to say. Next we caravaned to Diddy Riese for ice cream sandwiches!

Today, the actual day of my birthday, Jenny and I went to Disneyland so I could collect my $69 birthday fun card. To our surprise Disneyland was so freakin' crowded! All the lines were 30 minutes or more. We hardly went on any rides because we didn't want to wait in line. We mostly window shopped picking out potential items to buy. I eventually got a cute hoodie, a reusable shopping bag and a beach towel (there was a deal going on for that) and Jenny got a t-shirt. It was so nice to go shopping at Disneyland and not care about the price. I think I might be addicted.

Jamie and Alex showed up later that evening and we went on a few more rides and had dinner. During dinner, we sat an eatery that a piano for Ragtime live music. While we sat there, this old man kept talking to the pianiast. Then the old man sat down and starting playing ragtime music ... better then the Disneyland employee. Then they start taking turns and then they both sit down together and start playing together. It was like a Ragtime music showdown duel. It was pretty awesome ... up until the old man turned to some young ladies walking by and asked, "You girls play?" while he wiggled his finger. Creepy.

We went on Storybook Land ride since Alex has never been on it and we pressured him. While in line they told us that if we were lucky enough to be on a boat during the fireworks then they stop the boats and watch the fireworks on the canal. Jamie and I were practically jumping up and down hoping we made it onto a boat and we totally did! It was a great way to see the fire works. We right between the fireworks they shoot off from Toontown and the ones they shoot off in front of the castle. It was pretty awesome.

I come home tired from Disneyland, excited that I am going to watch the new Lost episode I taped only to discover it some how recorded in Spanish. WTF! Poop.

Besides how crowded it was today I enjoyed it. It was a good day.

In 2 weeks I leave for my cruise and I'm not prepared at all. I don't even know what I should be doing.

I don't think it's hit me that I am going yet.

George Clooney as Doug Ross just appeared on my TV screen. My 11 year old self just jumped for joy.

I can't stop smiling

And he's wearing a wedding ring! Him and Carol got married! Holla!

Went to see the musical RENT with Jamie. My third time seeing it, her first. Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal (original Mark and Roger) starred. They were both really good. I had a huge smile on my face for the entire first half because I was so happy to see them live preforming RENT. I don't care it's 12 years since the debut, it was still full of awesomeness.

Someone had told me about this traveling Korean BBQ truck that goes around LA serving cheap but really good tacos and people stand in block long lines to buy them. Jon found out the truck goes to a local Culver City ex-dive bar that's been completely redone to a chic lounge; Alibi Room. (Side note: Alibi Room used to be an icky icky bar that Robert Downey Jr went to before he was arrested in CC). I looked into his Kogi Korean BBQ and found that the Alibi Room serves it in house so we went there and ordered tacos and french fries. Omg, it was delicious. Totally would go back in a heartbeat.

For dessert we drove to Westchester to this crepe place we always go to and instead of our usual ice cream crepes we shared a Tiramsu crepe and it was TO DIE FOR! It's what I am going to get from now also.

Also, Jamie had her CD collection with her so I ripped a handful of her CDs and burned her a few of my own because that's what friends do Alex that's what friends do

Went out tonight with Robin and Jon and some of their friends to King's Head Pub in Santa Monica. Every Wednesday is a trivia night. We were team Naked Ninja. I had fun. We came in 5th I believe which isn't too bad. We had a group of 7 the winners had a group of 15, so it was unbalanced. I'm pretty impressed with my knowledge but also embarrassed that I didn't get few. I would totally do it again.

I have a list of about 10 things I need to talk about but I am dead tired and I have to work tomorrow.

Did you know Matthias replaced Judas?

Even though I know Anne Boylen was found guilty for treason and dies and I can't watch it happen on the The Tudors. It is just awful! Seeing Henry get manipulated into believing she cheated on him and that she used witchcraft to seduce him. Believing that Elizabeth might not be his daughter. Innocent men dying, Anne's ladies in waiting confessing. No one will stand up for her! The one person who does decides not to last minute! Ugh! So aggravating!

I just want it to be different.

At Monday Night School/Akiba High this semester I am teaching a Jewish blogging class. I showed my kids different kinds of blogs, how people use themes and interest and about the types of things people post. They enjoyed looking at various blogs, but when I tried to get them to come up with something they could blog about they came up blank.

I used my example of finding out Daniel Radcliffe is Jewish and how that's something I find interesting and worth a blog post, which I have already done. Adding to the previous post, just read an interview with Dan Rad and he was asked about being Jewish:

Your mother is Jewish. Do you identify as Jewish yourself?

Absolutely. I really do. My dad is Northern Irish and my mum is Jewish. That’s working blood. Though I am not religious in the least, I am very proud to be Jewish.

Totally awesome.

Even before this Jewish revelation, I've been more intrigued with Daniel Radcliffe. It's reached a new level.