![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
I'm going to church, today. The place where I go to church (when I do) is called the Center for Spiritual Living. Here’s the website: http://www.spiritualliving.org/
It’s difficult to describe this church, except to say that – while I generally do not go to churches that are large, this is the one exception. It’s the only church I’ve been to where I feel like I can be completely myself, and not have to worry about what people are going to think.
Their “what we believe” page says this: “Our faith is not a revelation of some particular individual or of any one group. Rather, it is a correlation of the most empowering truths found in religious texts and the discoveries of science. We start with the simple proposition that God, known to many by many names and traditions, is an immediate Presence not only around but also within every person. We believe in a power greater than ourselves. We believe that an invisible law, force, and intelligence governs everything in the universe. We, as individuals, endeavor to discover our immediate relationship to that Power and become partners in Its activities.”
The webpages no longer say much if anything at all that I can find about it being a branch of the
Anyhow, I plan on attending every Sunday from now on until further notice. :) I might even join the choir.
Anyhow, let's see... I don't think I'll do this chronologically. That's too tidy. *chuckle*
First off, about a week ago I'd just had it with my job as a telephone operator. It was, as I think I've mentioned, the most difficult and frustrating position I've ever held, and I'd had enough. I got to work, had made a couple of mistakes the day before AND one of the client had lied to my boss about something he said I'd done (or rather, not done), and that was it. I told Jan - who is a wonderfully sweet Christian woman but a terrible manager, btw - that I felt that I simply did not suit the position and that I thought it would be better if I moved on. After a bit she agreed, I gathered my stuff, and I came home. Relieved, frustrated that I couldn't handle the position I'd thought I'd do so well at, and sad that I'd let her down. What it came down to is that I simply do not have the highly detailed photographic memory required of the position... if the data was all organized coherently, systematically, and reliably, I could have - but the system there evolved over the last twenty years and several people inputting the information and simply was a hodgepodge and a mess. I could have organized it well, no problem... that's what I do, I organize things. But I never got to the point where I was good enough at dealing with the initial mess that I was allowed such access. So... *shrug*
And now I'm looking for a new job. That, in itself, is always a trial. But in these days of economic depression, it's even more frustrating than usual. I just keep chugging away at it, hoping that the resumes I send out, the applications I fill in, that something, somewhere, will work.
One of the especially frustrating things at my former position was that I was the Weekend Girl, and had to work every single weekend. At first I thought that would be okay, and so did Mike. But it became clearer with every weekend apart from each other - and with each SCA, gaming, and other social event that I missed - that it really wasn't okay after all. Whatever I end up doing in a new job, I will not work weekends again.
And let's see... in between all that, there was also my friend Darrell who his family and I were trying to get to rehab, my sister Cathy's mother-in-law being ill and failing, my continued struggle with my weight, the weird weather up here, trying to work and keep the house somewhat clean, Zoe the minicat falling deathly ill and going to the vet, my computer trying to die, and a bunch of other things I can't really remember off the top of my head right now.
Darrell did go to rehab, after a few false starts. Three days later he ended up in the hospital and since then it's been discovered that he has, unsurprisingly, cirrhosis of the liver, thrombosis, and liver cancer. His family and I, as his best friend, are dealing the best we can with it. He has about a year to live, doctors think.
Cathy's mother-in-law Carol has since passed, and - because I was still working at my previous position - I was unable to attend the funeral or support her as I would have liked to. I grew up with Carol and her family in my hometown church, and I really would have liked to attend. I especially would have liked to be there for Cathy. :(
Zoe, after a stay at the hospital, is doing much better. She's much more energetic, being the little purrbox as usual, and the folks at the hospital fell in love with her as expected.
My computer is doing so-so. Mike got me a new CD/DVD drives for my birthday and I hope to install them tonight.
The best thing that occurred in the last few months was that Mike and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. :) To celebrate we went and saw the new Star Trek movie in IMAX and had dinner out. It was a wonderful night!
Things are okay. Stressed, but okay. Really, I'm doing all right. :) Things are balancing out again, and I'll find a new job. Today I scrubbed the kitchen, did more job stuff (discovering that no, there were no positions at the new Owajimaya that I could apply for), and cleaned out the indoor freezer.
Mostly, though, I miss you all. *hugs*
*whimper* The auction starts in 15 minutes.
There's no way, short of someone REALLY, REALLY wanting to splurge and get me something I would treasure forever, that I could ever get the one item I want...
Adama's simple gold wedding ring - "Gold wedding band worn by Admiral William Adama throughout the series."
*sniff*
However, I have received something just as wonderful. :) I got an email last night from Edward James Olmos. You see, recently I began corresponding with a friend of EJO, and when she found out that I'd sent a letter to him via Olmos Productions, she suggested that I send it to her and she could forward it on to him for me...
And last night I received an email back from him. *grin* His response was so kind and generous, so very much the EJO I've come to respect and adore... I can't tell you how much it meant to me for him to encourage and support my efforts at learning the craft of screenwriting. He reminded me that a good portion of the battle is to keep working on it, especially when when you're frustrated and don't want to, and that it takes a lot of strength to keep going.
Is it any wonder that I and so many others adore this man? :)
Here's the trailer in English:
http://www.sleepdealer.com/trailer_en.h
It apparently opened on April 17th, but I hadn't heard anything about it. The movie was a Sundance award winner. It's showing mostly in Los Angeles, according to the website.
Additionally... I am such a sucker. Yes, yes, we already know that. But today for the first time I investigated the movie The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, based on a story by Ray Bradbury by the same name. I found the trailer, and it made me laugh because there's EJO in a rather Sasquatch-like role. How often do we get to see EJO in a comic role?!? Practically never, eh? There are some pretty amusing bits in American Family, but nothing like his role of Vamanos in Ice Cream Suit. Want a peek? Take a look at the trailer for yourself! And yes, I've ordered myself my own copy. Heh.
---------------------
What I'm reading lately...
Commitment Hour, by James Alan Gardner
How to Write a Selling Screenplay, by Christopher Keane
How NOT to Write a Screenplay, by Denny Martin Flinn
All of them very good!
Overall, it's an interesting beginning for the show that'll be airing next year... at least, that's what I understand from the "2010" stamped all over ads and the DVD cover and such. What came in the mail today that we watched is a 93-minute (plus bonus features) start on the series. It's quite different from Battlestar Galactica, although it does happily answer some questions about the show.
Was I overwhelmed with the wonderfulness of it all? Well, no, not really. The pacing of it was a bit slow, and a lot more could have been covered than what was included. Was I happy to see more of the Adama family - Joseph, young Wiliam, and so on? Yes, certainly! Was it fun to see the origins of the cylons? Yep. Were the special effects good? Yep. Will I watch Caprica the series when it arrives? Oh yes!
But I'm more looking forward to seeing The Plan.
LALIFF Edward James Olmos Tribute
This one is notable because you get to see him in a variety of roles and you get to hear him singing. You'll hear him in Zoot Suit and, later in the video, doing a rock cover of Sixteen Tons from when he was "Eddie James and the Pacific Ocean." (And yes, I am trying to get ahold of the one record they produced, no luck yet.) Time: 3:10.
Edward James Olmos Lifetime Achievement Award - Part 1
Edward James Olmos Lifetime Achievement Award - Part 2
This tribute was broadcast during the national hispanic media coalition's awards gala in beverly hills on 2/23/07. Time: 9:18/6:26.
Conversations at KCTS 9: Edward James Olmos (YouTube)
Conversations at KCTS 9: Edward James Olmos (KCTS, may stream better)
In this interview from Seattle's PBS station KCTS, Edward James Olmos talks about his 40 year in the film industry, about being a Latino actor, the success of Battlestar Galactica and the importance of giving back to communities. Airdate: Dec. 26, 2008. Time: 26:48.
The movies I've recently watched include American Me, Stand and Deliver, Zoot Suit, my nth-viewing of Blade Runner, and Selena. On the way to me in the mail (good for me but an indication of the under appreciation of these movies, thank goodness they're inexpensive on EBay) are the first season of American Family, Walkout, The Burning Season, and Talent for the Game.
Many of Edward James Olmos' film works deal with pretty serious issues, and watching so many of them recently has given me both a happy appreciation of the work and a darker view of the world around me. It took a couple days after watching American Me to get some of the dark and violent images of EJO replaced by less disturbing ones from Battlestar Galactica and Stand and Deliver. I highly recommend American Me, however, and you can see clips from it on Hulu, ten-minute portions individually on YouTube, and if you have Netflix you can watch it in its entirety online at the website. Just make sure you're in the mood for the dark, serious, and often violent issues you'll see on the screen.
So I'm looking forward to getting Talent for the Game in the mail, admittedly. EJO was a crack baseball player as a kid, and I fully expect he'll bring the same excellence and talent in his performance as he does with everything else. But hey, it's a baseball movie, hopefully it'll be on the lighter side, eh?
For those of you who've not seen it based on the 1970s version, please reconsider. The new Battlestar, "re-imagined" as they put it, is - while based on the original's general framework - completely different. The new BSG deals with the trials of humanity, takes a hard look at people and their difficulties, their culture, their politics and religion. Brought together not long after the tragedy of 9/11, it explores what it means to be human. It's well worth watching.
How many televisions shows do you know of that were given a symposium by the United Nations? "United Nations is co-hosting a discussion with the stars and creators of the television show Battlestar Galactica today, exploring themes which are important to both – human rights, terrorism, children and armed conflict, and reconciliation between civilians and faiths." Here's just a short excerpt from part of the symposium, featuring Edward James Olmos. You can see the entirety of it on Scifi.com.
I won't even begin telling you right now about how I feel about the accomplishments of Edward James Olmos. The man is astounding. I spend more time than I should online reading articles about him, watching videos of him in various shows, movies, at conventions, at charity events. Seriously, I'm thinking about writing a book.
Anyhow, for those of us who didn't watch the show on television and who missed bits of excitement online because of it, I thought I'd give you a list of links to the webisodes for Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance - there are 10 small "episodes" from the time they were on New Caprica. There are also newer webisodes still available for viewing on Scifi.com called The Face of the Enemy which feature more story on Lt. Gaeta. But although I knew there were other webisodes from earlier seasons Scifi.com doesn't host them anymore and I looked in vain... and comes Hulu to the rescue.
So, here you are. The links for Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance.
( So, here you are. The links for Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance )
PS: There's a new video blog of Caprica production, too... ;)
I got the weekend for Norwescon off, but... Jewel Staite!! Maybe she'll be a sweetie and drop in on us at NWC... naw, she's had many opportunities in the past, and hasn't done it. Maybe someone at Comicon will mention it to her and she'll surprise us...
- I'm feeling:
cranky
I have loads to do here at home. Mike has been cooking dinner for us and I end up eating dinner when I get home, but on my days off I hope to cook for us like I used to. Mike is an excellent cook and cooked for himself for years when he was still a bachelor, but it’s been almost ten years since he cooked regularly. He tends to make pretty involved dishes, which is nice because they’re delicious, but I wonder how long it’ll take him to start wanting to make less complicated food. *laugh* My plan was to make crockpot teriyaki chicken, but I ended up going to Ranch 99 Market's buffet instead, so we have a mixture of seafood (the best calamari around, little fried fishies, shrimp), pork (they don't label their dishes so I think I have a mixture of different flavors of short ribs), and poultry (a bit of honey chicken and I think some duck). We'll make the rice or noodles here at home, and - tada! - a meal fit for... well, for people who really like Chinese food. :)
I was loooooong overdue for a haircut, so I went to my favorite place and got one. It's Vietnamese owned and the ladies there are great. Getting a shampoo and cut includes a nice head and neck massage, and they always get my hair done in a way that's cute, even if it's in a way that I don't expect. So I got a nice treatment for an inexpensive price, and sometime in the upcoming week I'll go back to get the first pedicure I've had since last summer, yay!
Got an email from Gabe and Heidi today, they're having a farewell gathering for Culinary Communion on Saturday. My hours on Sat/Sun is 8-4:30, so wonder of wonders, both Mike and I will be able to attend. We're gonna take along some of Mike's excellent mead, which I know Gabe will appreciate... and considering that a few bottles of Mike's mead was, ehem, "taken" from the last CC dinner they were served at, I know other folks there will appreciate it, too. I'm looking forward to being able to spend time with the CC crowd, which I haven't done in far too long. Now we just need to figure out how we'll all keep in touch.
Tonight I'll eat buffet Asian food, watch Survivor, and get on SL for the first time in a few days. Like I said, life is good.
Once I settle into my work schedule and hours a bit better and my body gets used to it all, I hope to find more time to spend on SL with my responsibilties there and also find time to get together some crockpot meals I can start before I go to work. Mike is doing a wonderful job of cooking us dinner - after all, he had many, many years of cooking experience before we married and he's quite good at it - but I don't want to stick him with the job every day of the week. :)
Life is good. Tiring, but good.
Update: found this recipe via Cooking this morning, and oh-my, want to make it soon...
Crab ravioli with lemon cream sauce Might cheat and use wonton skins as the ravioli outsides, instead, but mmmm...
I *HATE* what this stupid economy is doing to our lives. I know that for a lot of people, the closing of their cooking school is something that would barely register on their scale, but for me it's traumatic.
I mean, I know people are losing their jobs, their homes. Until last week, even I was out of a job since last October. But for the people who love and have attended at CC - not to mention those who were employed there and who owned the business - man, this really, really sucks.
- Transcribed recorded messages from previous calls.
- Listened to live calls featuring blown transformers, on-call doctors, confused elder care patients, hospice patients.
- Entered information from live calls while another operator spoke with the caller.
- Swapped out keyboards from the computer workstations.
- Had lunch, took breaks.
- Went over the functions of the giant 136-key custom keyboard again.
- Stressed a bit about the correct order of keystrokes for call on said keyboard.
- Stressed more about being able to find the on-call information on the screen for the countless doctors in the system.
- Stressed again about that on-call info, let myself be reassured that all the new operators go through it and "it'll be fine once you get used to it all."
- Came home.
- Napped.
- Got up.
- Took a look at what was going on in Cooking.
- Watched Ghost Whisperer.
Work again tomorrow! And I'll be taking my first live calls... *fingers crossed*
- Re-styled my journal.
- Re-styled the
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
cooking community. </lj> - Cleaned the kitchen.
- Made dinner (okay, so it was leftovers of the Balsamic Dijon Sirloin Tips, but I did make fresh ranch dressing, made Mike eat a salad, and made rice).
- Made tomorrow's lunch of: salad w/ toppings (in a nifty plastic container I haven't used in ages that has a little compartment in the top to keep the dressing separate) and a sandwich made with turkey, balsamic sprinkled fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil from our AeroGarden.
- Dug out a therm-chill thingy from the garage and put lunch, Diet Coke, and a V8 in it to take tomorrow.
I'm pretty sure I did other stuff, but I don't recall what all it was. All I know is that I've been on my feet pretty much non-stop since I got going.
It was a good day. :) Time for bed.
PS: I'm gonna try and be a good friend and read my Friend posts, too, btw. It'll have to be one of the ways I keep in touch and/or socialize with my new weird work schedule...
Anyhow, it went well, I think. More training tomorrow. Whoo!
Oh, an additional note... unfortunately, the hours/days of the new job mean, well, I'll be working pretty much all weekends except for any I pre-arrange to get off. Luckily, I've already arranged for Norwescon weekend. But it means probably few, if any, SCA or gaming weekends for the foreseeable future. It's just something I'm going to have to live with until I've had the job for a while and someone else can be found to cover the weekends. It kinda screws my social life for a while, I know, but considering the economy, I figure it's better to have a job and bills paid. I'll figure out other ways to socialize.
Unrelated: I'm trying to get in the habit of both titling all my entries and using tags in them. So while there are tags listed on the main page, most of them won't have many entries listed for them so far. Just so's you know. :)
I'm about to remedy that.
Whee!!
The hours aren't great, the pay isn't that great, but hey, a job is a job. Considering today's economy, I don't expect to be able to work as a personal assistant again for a couple of years.
Anyhoo... so, there it is. :)
Other news, I'm updating the Cooking community. That's gonna be more work than the new job will be, and I'm sure that while it'll all come out nice and pretty in the end, there will be a few tough spots and grumbling before it's over. Wish us luck!
I need to go get my clothes ready... *rummagerummagerummage*
And that was about it. :)
Dinner: cabbage/onion/edamame seafood saute with noodles. The seafood being poached catfish and squid.
Now I'm hungry...
Syndicate
