I Love Pop Music, Sprinkle Sugar Through It, Philosophy That You Can Dance To

Right now I'm obsessed with four particular songs that don't really have too much in common. One of them kind of makes sense, but the others don't. None of them are current, but they are indeed on an iPod playlist, which repeats multiple times a day (for now) whenever I'm in the car. It's one of those "On The Go" playlists, which I just figured out how to make. Now I don't remember how to do it though and have accidentally added multiple copies of another song I don't want on the list.

• "Bad Day" by R.E.M. (2003)-this song has a great video!

• "Do What You Want" by OK Go (2006)-a great rock song to wake me up in the morning. Not surprisingly, there are several videos for this one tune.

• "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service (2003)-thank you Ren for introducing me to these guys oh so many years ago. Most new bands I discover are through Ren. I'm still not sure how to find these things out when radio sucks and I don't have the chance to listen to music on the internet very often.
  

• "Miss America" by David Byrne (1997)-upbeat song with cynical lyrics. You can dance to it.

I do have a few more playlists. One is Hippie Music, which has 70 songs from people like Mamas & The Papas, Procol Harum, and Electric Prunes. I made this from some compilation cds we have of songs from the 60's. It was the pre-show entertainment for a drive-in E was doing recently.

I made a couple of other playlists, on purpose. I'll share, just because I want to.

L.A. Songs: I made this for research when I was working on a few posts for an L.A. Metblogs series on songs about our city. The ones I ended up profiling have a link.

• "Ventura Highway" by America (1972)-while this is a great driving song, I decided it wasn't necessarily about L.A.
• "Electrolite" by R.E.M. (1997)
• "Can't Take This Town" by Colin Hay (1992)
• "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty (1989)-this is a pre-L.A. song for me. I still think it's fun when this comes on and I'm driving on Ventura Boulevard.
• "Valley Girl" by Frank and Moon Unit Zappa (1982)

If you want to see what I've included on Upbeat Fun, read on after the jump.

Feelin' Groovy

Edit on 03/29/06 @ 8:30 am: So I had a window of grooviness that passed. I've been up, pretty sick, most of the night. I'm going to try to catch a little more sleep now. Blergh.

Groovy might be a bit of a stretch, but compared to how I felt yesterday, I'll go with it as a description of my current state. I was pretty scared and thought death might be imminent. I'd never felt that way before. Ever. I would sleep for a few hours, get up, and still be in really bad pain. Every inch of my body hurt and I could not find a comfortable position in which to sit, lie, or stand. Once sleeping, I had very vivid and bizarre dreams. Even though I didn't wake up until early afternoon today, I was exhausted. However, except for a little twinge in my back and a slight headache, the pain was gone! Besides that wondrous news, here are some other good things:

• I sat and catnapped in my hanging chair in the back yard for a couple of hours late in the day. The dogs hung out with me and took turns snuggling. I even snapped a few photos.
  

• I managed to get a much-needed hair appointment for tomorrow--not always possible last minute. When my bangs start looking like a baby possum, something must be done. I may be doing something color-wise too, but no final decision yet.
  

• We're going with a friend to get the best Brooklyn style pizza in L.A. at the newly opened Robano's in Toluca Lake. I mentioned it before and this weekend is their official grand opening.

P.S. Thank you for the 'get well' comments and emails!

...I Guess It's Pretty Serious

Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night...

If I was feeling better, this might be better. However, I'm suffering from:

• Body and muscle aches from my neck to my toes.
  

• Low grade fever.

• Wooziness.
  

• Mild headache, compared to the other pain.
  

Enough complaining. I'm going back to bed. I hope everyone else is well.

(Come Up And See Me) Make Me Smile

Online comics that make me giggle, chuckle, and occasionally snort:

• Hamleto The Hamster (Valentina "TYN" Sgaggero): This Italian strip is updated three times a week. I can relate to the current post about the sometimes confusing gender of your pet hamster.
  

• Patches (Kelly Vivanco): This off-the-wall comic features various depressed, anxious, and self-depricating rodent-like creatures who appear to be hamsters and/or gophers and/or rabbits. Good times.
  

• Natalie Dee: Simply drawn, irreverent, and funny as hell. Often features dogs or hamsters.
  

• The Misadventures of Hello Cthulhu: Bizarre and adorable.
  

• Kawaii Not (Meghan Murphy): "the comic for cute gone bad."
  

Listmaker, Listmaker Make Me A List

Lists. I love 'em. I don't know if it's biological at all, but SnarkyMom is quite the list maker herself. Her daily things to do is quite elaborate and she not only crosses out, but also highlights or something like that. I'm not quite that organized. I often have more than one going at a time. Sometimes they are repetitive, if a task is REALLY important. Other times, I don't even look at them once I've made it. In that case, it serves as a brain dump that hopefully clears away some of the mind clutter. I'm not convinced that it always works. Here are some lists I make regularly:

• Groceries. I don't have a running one, in spite of a nifty program in my PDA that could serve this purpose. I do this as I'm about to run to the store. Four out of five times, I still forget to get something.
  

• Work tasks. I usually have a list at work that gets revised multiple times during the day. This is the one I follow most closely. Write this report, email this person, update this document, punch so-and-so. Okay, I may be exaggerating on the last point, but I haven't gotten to my mental list yet.
  

• Packing. I always make lists if I'm going out of town, even if just for overnight. That way, I can check things off as I pack. Four out of five times, I still forget to pack something.
  

• Thank-you notes. I am pretty good about sending thank-you notes, cards, or emails. Okay, so there are still a few from last Christmas I haven't done, but somewhere there is a list!

• Lists. When deciding to do "lists" as a theme for the month of March, I listed ideas. I've used some of them and not others. I've mostly been inspired to do things that aren't on it, but when I run out of ideas, I will be posting my favorite bass players.
  

The Easter Beagle Won't Let Us Down

While I don't celebrate Easter in any sort of religious way, it's a holiday, like Christmas, that's hard to escape. I can't say yesterday was terrible, but it wasn't the greatest of days. For one, I missed the calling of the start of the egg hunt and then only found one egg. One lousy egg. At least it was one of the plastic ones with candy and not a real egg. Ew. The real kick in the pants came though when I went to stock up on discounted Peeps that night, only to be told they had sold out two days ago. I did pick up some Cadbury Creme Eggs and chocolate marshmallow eggs. But no Peeps. Boo.

None of those disappointments compare to when I was about five years old and my father told me that the Easter Bunny had been hit by a car and killed. As I used to be pretty gullible, I was understandably devastated.

Not all of my Easter memories are bad. Here are my top three:

• I believe it was 1978. I was in 2nd grade and The E. Bunny put Shaun Cassidy tickets in my basket. Coincidentally, a few of my friends got them too. Best first concert ever!

• It must have been 1979 or 1980 and I got my first pair of panty hose for Easter. Nowadays, I avoid wearing them like the plague, but I'd been begging my Mom for some for a while. I was growing up and felt ready to move up from tights. Awesome!

• In 2006, I embarked on making the Easter candy version of the turducken. I called it an Egg Peepunny. Click to see a set of photos of the process and finished product.

Gee Our Old LaSalle Ran Great

Besides this one, there are a few blogs in my little family:

• E, being the 3D enthusiast and expert that he is recently started Retinal Rivalry. He probably won't update it more than once a week, but if you are interested in checking out some 3D photos, videos, and other projects from time to time, you might like it.
  

• I have a photoblog, Jodi101 Snaps, where I'm posting daily photos for Project 365, which I'm doing for 2008. I used to participate in daily challenges, but now am not constrained by themes and just put up whatever I feel like shooting.
  

• One of the canines in our household, Rusty, has had a blog longer than any of us. Rusty's online diary is where I started my foray into the blogosphere back in November 2002. It's not Rusty's fault, but when I started my other blogs, I started neglecting his. I have plans to rectify this situation very soon.

Sing, Sing A Song, Sing Out Loud, Sing Out Strong

Karaoke songs I may or may not have participated in tonight:

• "Tiny Dancer"

• "Summer Lovin'"

• "American Pie"

• "Rhinestone Cowboy"

• "Born To Be Wild"

Also, I may or may not have sang into the mic on one of the above.

What's With Today, Today?

Some of the things I did today:

• Picked up dog poop in the back yard.

• Steam cleaned the dining room carpet.
  

• Got a case of cucumber soda at Galco's.
  

• Walked to a local theater to see a play.
  

It doesn't cover everything. I won't bother listing what I didn't get done.

ABC, Easy As 123

I got an email today announcing the theme for April's NaBloPoMo, which is LETTERS. I've kept up with the March challenge so far and have actually had fun trying to come up with daily lists. There are still several days to go in the month, so I may have to get even more creative. Here are some reasons why I'm considering doing April as well:

• I'll be more likely to blog consistently with a central idea.

• Finishing projects is not a strength of mine. Committing to blogging daily and actually doing it is a way to work on this issue.

• I already have some ideas and feel like I might be more inventive than I have been with this month's theme.

• The lazy in me comes out thinking, "Oh! I can reprint some letters I've received, thus not having to think up my own content." Ha!
  

• I can possibly do even more cross-posting of photos from the Project365 I'm doing and posting on my photoblog.

So, who's with me?

Good Thing, You've Been Gone Too Long

Some Good Things:

• The smaller of my new twin nephews, Lucas, made it to 5 pounds today! Pretty soon, he'll catch up to bigger brother Dillon.

Photo by C.M.

• Thanks to Joz, I found out that a wish of hers, as well and mine and E's, came true. Thomas Wilkins will become the Principle Guest Conductor for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra for the next two years. We saw him at a couple of shows last summer and as much as I miss John Mauceri, I said I'd love to have Wilkins take over. Looks like we're a step closer to that becoming a reality!

• Good pizza is back in L.A.! And I can walk to it!!! Albano's on Melrose was always our favorite place for a N.Y. style pie. There was a short-lived Studio City location, but after that closed, we would go over the hill whenever we wanted a good pizza. We never really found out why, but sometime around last Thanksgiving, Albano's suddenly closed. Lights out. Gone. Tonight, E and I were thinking about getting a pizza from one of the places we've been settling for, when we are too lazy to make our own. E, the eternal optimist, decided to look online--just in case--and found this on Yelp, written by Anthony Albano himself. WHAT? He's back??? We got very excited and hopped in the car. We were practically hyperventilating on the quick drive over. Robano's is in the location where Sebastian's, a restaurant that starred in one of the most entertaining episodes of Kitchen Nightmares, was in Toluca Lake. We spoke to Anthony and got a lot of scoop of where Albano's has been and where Robano's is going. They officially open at the end of the month, but you can go there now and get the best Brooklyn style pizza that is cooked in a wood-fired pizza oven! Oh, and for those who care about such things, there is a full bar.

Like A Tiger Defying The Laws Of Gravity

• Ready for Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica? Even if you answered yes, you may want to review the series so far in this brilliant 8-minute recap, What The Frack Is Going On?
  *Um, yeah, there are spoilers if you aren't up to speed.*
  

• There is a fantastic documentary that can be viewed on YouTube for those interested. The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off is the story of Jonny Kennedy and his acceptance of and preparation for his impending death. If you can handle someone who is somewhat disfigured, you might just learn something from Jonny. (The film is in 5 parts, each about 10 minutes long). I know this won't be every one's cup of tea and won't be offended if you don't watch.
  

• For some lighter fare, you might want to check out these hilarious Lost recaps. The one for "Eggtown" particularly cracked me up.

• I'm nicking this from a certain Ambitious Hamster, who previously posted this link to a video of a very persistent (and perhaps not too bright?) hamster. Hilarious and best use of the Queen song "Don't Stop Me Now"* since the pub scene in Shaun of the Dead.

• Another video link idea I stole from another blogger is this one, that Beaucoup Kevin posted a while back, in which a 3-year old explains Star Wars. Fracking brilliant!

*The song also features prominently in the Jonny Kennedy film. I didn't know that when I was putting this somewhat random list together.

It's Going To Be A Long Day

• 5:30 to 6:00 am: Wake up. (I snooze my alarm a lot).

• 7:30 am to 12 pm: Work

• 12 pm to 1:00 pm: Meeting (This is usually my lunch break).

• 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm: Work (I normally work until 6 pm).
  

• 4:20 pm: Vet appointment for Cosette.
  

• 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm: Chuck @ the PaleyFest

• 9:30 pm to 11:00 pm: Work. Yes, I'm going back to work tomorrow night to do some training for some night shift workers. Luckily, I only have to do this every five years or so.

They Say It's Your Birthday, We're Gonna Have A Good Time

As I mentioned before, this past Friday was Rusty's birthday. Since we were visiting the program where he works as a therapy dog, I proposed having a little celebration that the staff was all for. We pulled it off and had a fun party for 1 dog, 22 children, and 4 staffers. What does it take to do this?

• Cupcakes for the humans. Much to the chagrin of certain friends, I was not about to bake for that many people. I ended up getting them at Ralph's, a local grocery store, and they were quite tasty.
  

• Cute doggie themed plates, napkins, tablecloth, and party hats. I didn't get a photo of the hats and tablecloth. Party America came through for me with an entire selection of dog themed party supplies. That store has been good to us lately.
  

• A pupcake for Rusty from the Three Dog Bakery.
  

• Goody bags for the kids, with stickers, tattoos, and candy.

• A #8 candle and doggie party hat.
  

• Rolling in the grass and belly rubs from some of the kids.
  

...But I Have My Reasons Why

This year's PaleyFest, something I look forward to every Spring, moved venues. Here's why holding it in the Cinerama Dome at the Arclight Hollywood is so much better than the previous Directors' Guild location:

• More seats, which means more people can get tickets. The event has become so popular that it's become really difficult to get in.
  

• Parking is SO much better. Sometimes in the past, we could park at the DGA, but other times we had to park down at 8000 Sunset. (I found free street parking tonight anyway).

• Concessions!!! The DGA theater doesn't allow any food or drinks. Being at at movie theater, that happens to have really great popcorn, makes it possible to enjoy a snack or some caffeine.

• The Arclight is much closer to my home and work making it much more convenient for me. And really, it's all about me.
  

These are the panels we are attending at this year's festival:

• Pushing Daisies-well, I just got home from this one and it was great. Looking very forward to the new season this coming fall. They even threw out some t-shirts to the hardcore fans that rushed the stage after the panel. I've only done that once*.

• The Comedy World of Judd Apatow and Friends

• Chuck
  

• The X-Files

Paley Fest events I've been to in the past: (I really wish I'd known about it sooner).

2002

• Undeclared
• St. Elsewhere
• Six Feet Under
• Alias

2003

• Creating Comedy (Judd Apatow)
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
• Columbo
• Monk
• 24*-This is the one time I lined up super-duper early to get a close seat and I rushed the stage to meet Kiefer. You can read more about it here.
  

2004

• An Evening with William Shatner
• Arrested Development
• A Salute To Sherwood Schwartz
• Carnivàle

2005

• In Living Color
• An Evening with Michael Palin
• Lost

2006

• Entourage
• Battlestar Galactica
• Medium (I don't watch this show and fell asleep during the panel).
• My Name Is Earl
• How I Met Your Mother

2007 (This was the year of major ticketing snafus. We almost saw nothing!)

• The Office
• Heroes
• The Simpsons

This year, the Paley Center will post video highlights from all of the nights. They announced that there will be live streaming of a couple of events, including the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reunion, which sold out very quickly. E really wanted to go to that one, but we were shut out. Maybe we'll watch it online. I'm not a Buffy fan, but may want to hear Whedon. (So much for having any geek cred. I just feel I should be honest).

Practically Running A Nursing Home Up In Here

As of today, with Rusty's birthday, these are the pets in my home who are considered old:

• Cosette, 15. She's had her share of health problems lately, but is doing much better for the most part.
  

• Little Guy, 11. He doesn't really have arthritis, like Cosette does, but he limps around like an old man. His hearing is still great.
  

• Rusty, 8. He's a fairly small, healthy dog, so I don't think of him as a senior. He is graying on his snout and has lost some front teeth.
  

• Ami, a little over 2. For a hamster, that's pretty good. He's still quite active and perky. Must be the fresh veggies.
  

In lieu of links, for photos of the pets, refer to the banner and left to right corresponds to the list.

Coming soon: Recipe for throwing a birthday party for a dog and 22 kids.

We Get Distracted By Dreams Of Our Own

My excuses reasons for this lame, boring, overdue but back-timed post:

• Our internet connection has been wonky tonight. True story.
  

• Lost night! We watched the recap show in fast speed and the new one. Some more answers, a lot more questions.
  

• I went shopping, after already working late, to pick up some supplies for Rusty's birthday party (more on that at a later time).

• While I have some ideas for potentially interesting posts, I am lazy and a lot of them take too much effort.

Hey! I'm Gonna Use That List On My Blog!

Apparently, I'm not a peaceful sleeper. It may be the extremely vivid dreams I tend to have. I don't know. E has told me this many times. The other night, we were driving somewhere and he was complaining that I was "burrito-ing" myself in the covers and he had trouble getting them free when he came to bed. He said I "thrash" and practically jump up in the air when I turn over.
Unable to take all of the criticism, I shot back about his snoring. I know that I snore too, so that's what he shot back at me. He said, "On nights when you go to bed before me [most work nights], I'm in the den and can hear:"

• The ocean

• Seagulls

• A restless pig!
  

I found it really funny. He said, "Yeah, but YOU'RE the pig!" Well, so? If we can't laugh at ourselves, then we really are taking things way too seriously, right? The ocean and seagulls are from my noise machine I like to fall asleep to, along with the air purifier. I have problems if it's too quiet.

And I said, "What about Breakfast at Tiffany's?" and she said, "I think I remember that film."

For tonight's fun and games, here's a meme I jacked from Ren. This requires audience participation, with some rules. First, here's what I did:

* Pick fifteen of your favorite movies.
* Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie.
* Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
* Fill in the film title once it’s guessed.

This part is for you, dear reader:
* No Googling or using IMDB search functions.
* Leave your answer(s) in the comments.

1. Oh, no, sir. I'm sorry, sir. I could never answer to a whistle. Whistles are for dogs and cats and other animals, but not for children and definitely not for me. It would be too... humiliating. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Calvin)
   
   
2. I am not a gun. THE IRON GIANT (Chris)
   
   
3. All gay men have track lightin'. And all gay men are named Mark, Rick, or Steve. STEEL MAGNOLIAS (Ashleigh)
   
   
4. And though every single human in the stands or in the commentary boxes was at a complete loss for words, the man who in his life had uttered fewer words than any of them knew exactly what to say. BABE (Stan)
   
   
5. Are you frightened? Not nearly frightened enough. I know what hunts you. LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (Anonymous)
   
   
6. Don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter. NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Jen)
   
   
7. What's with you? Yesterday you were normal and today you're like the Chinese guy from the Karate Kid. What's with you today? EMPIRE RECORDS (Ren)
   
   
8. There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (Jen)
   
   
9. As your leader, I encourage you from time to time, and always in a respectful manner, to question my logic. If you're unconvinced that a particular plan of action I've decided is the wisest, tell me so, but allow me to convince you and I promise you right here and now, no subject will ever be taboo. Except, of course, the subject that was just under discussion. The price you pay for bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is... I collect your fucking head. Just like this fucker here. Now, if any of you sons of bitches got anything else to say, now's the fucking time! KILL BILL, VOL. 1 (Miss Know It All)
   
   
10. "Empire" had the better ending. I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader's his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that's what life is, a series of down endings. All "Jedi" had was a bunch of Muppets. CLERKS (Ren)
    
    
11. You all wanna be looking very intently at your own belly buttons. I see a head start to rise, violence is going to ensue. Probably guessed we mean to be thieving here but what we're after is not yours. So, let's have no undue fussing. SERENITY (Ren)
    
    
12. Say that reminds me, how'd you get that kid so darn fast? Me and Dot went in to adopt on account a' somethin' went wrong with my semen, and they said we had to wait five years for a healthy white baby. I said, "Healthy white baby? Five years? What else you got?" Said they got two Koreans and a negra born with his heart on the outside. It's a crazy world. RAISING ARIZONA (Jen)
    
    
13. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria! GHOSTBUSTERS (Ren and Stan was right that it was said by Bill Murray)
    
    
14. We take Pete's car, we drive over to mum's, we go in, take care of Phillip - "I'm so sorry Phillip" - then we grab mum, we go over to Liz's place, hole up, have a cup of tea and wait for this whole thing to blow over. SHAUN OF THE DEAD (Ren)
    
    
15. Now that's a real shame when folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that. BETTER OFF DEAD (Ren)
    

Happy guessing and remember...no cheating!

The Making Of A Monster

Put all these together:

1. Orange felt
   
2. Orange thread
3. Polyfiber stuffing
4. Pieces of a pink soft blanket
5. Brown felt, cut into small shapes
6. Glue
7. Googly eyes
8. Frilly yarn (not sure that this is the correct term)
9. Pink embroidery thread

And you get this:

I was hoping to make a cupcake-shaped monster, with a bite taken out of it. It looks more like a piece of pizza or as E described it, a "deranged carrot."