The Part Where I've been Listening to a Lot of Imagine Dragons

And I'm keeping my promise about the dreaded double blog!

Here's the pic for the day:

January 27, 2013. Once again, grain is my favorites of favorites! Took this one while I walked to church this afternoon. It's got me thinking of lyrics and lines...!

There's a light at the end of this tunnel I'm in

I've just got to look back once in a while to remember where I've been

The western light can warm my soul

When the wind tells me whispers of all the places I'll go

Time for the Lorax now, with E!

Peace out kiddos!

--Tiffany

The Part Where My Week DID End in a Hilariously Crazy Fashion!

So.... obviously I lied about putting up pictures last night, but to make up for it, I'm putting this past week's photos up now. And then maybe today's picture too. So the dreaded double blog might be coming today!

January 21, 2013. Hiked the Mishe Mokwa trail again, this time with friends! It was beautiful, once again, and, despite having to work later that day, and being super exhausted, it was SO worth it.

January 22, 2013. My lovely KaiChi. After we made a shady transaction in which I bought my iThing from him ^_^ He's such a precious joy to be around! haha

January 23, 2013. "In the Hole". I'm not totally sure why I named this one, but.... it has a name now! Two of my animation major friends, who are both seniors and embarking on their last semester of doom and sleep deprivation known as THESIS!!! This is in the stripped mocap room. No more camera poles -- Eeep!

January 24, 2013. Inside Grauman's Chinese Theater for the Hansel and Gretel Premiere. Best part about this: I stood up to take my pic of the day and EVERYONE around me thought I was trying to take a picture of someone famous so everyone immediately started getting up and looking around and stuff. You can kinda see it in the picture. But in fact, I was just trying to get my pic of the day. I was having way too much fun talking to FSF about story ideas to really care at that point.

January 25, 2013. It pays to have friends in high places. This is the inside of Colony, the bar/club I went to on Friday night. Doesn't look to hoppin', but it got pretty crowded later on.

January 26, 2013. Walking to work. Underexposed. Trees in the mist. Dunno why it caught my eye, but it was a pretty cool moment.

And finally. Saturday update. Let's just say that the end of the week was in fact amazing. Here's what happened.

I was on my way to this lunch thing that my mom's friend set up, and I turned on the radio as I got in the car to 104.3 MyFM, and heard them announcing a live and unplugged session with Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls. Quick backtrack: the Goo Goo Dolls are my all time favorite band. If there's ever been a voice crush in the history of voice crushes, Mr. Rzeznik's is my one and only. I've seen the GGD twice live, and let's be real, the first time I saw them live, I got a little emotional. 

Needless to say, I was totally stoked. Like, way beyond stoked. So, I listened intently all the way down, and sat in my car to hear when they'd announce the phone lines opening. The DJ comes on and announces the contest (20th person to call wins), and the phone number: 866-544-MYFM. Side note: My phone is a Blackberry, with teeny, tiny buttons. The keypad does not have the alphabet on the numbers. In other words, I had NO idea what numbers were what letters and I just guessed. 

First time I called, busy tone, which eventually disconnected. Second time I called, busy tone, which I hung up on. I was about to give up, but I figured I'd call one more time and start walking towards the restaurant. This time, the phone rang. 

I was a little shocked, but I thought, "Well, they must have gotten the caller already, but on the off chance they didn't, I'll just stick around until they pick up. The worst that could happen is that I ask about the contest and they tell me someone else has already won. I'm sure it happens all the time." A funny little thought crossed my mind that there was a definite possibility that I was calling completely the wrong number, so I figured that that would be hilarious as well if someone random picked up and just got confused at why I was calling them.

And then the call was answered.

"Hello."

"Hi! Is this MyFM?"

"Yes it is. You're caller number 20."

WHAT. 

I'm pretty sure I almost lost my shit at that moment. I was outside this dinky seafood restaurant in Carson (which, btw, had the best calamari I've ever had), running late to this lunch, and I'd just won entrance to an intimate, unplugged concert with my all time favorite singer. I'm pretty sure I almost lost my shit. And I'm pretty sure I was in shock for the rest of the afternoon.

BUT IT WAS AWESOME!

So yeah. Apparently I'm getting a phone call tomorrow that's going to explain more details, but I am SO, SO, SO, SO, SOOOOOOOOOO excited.

And that is the part where my week ended in the most hilarious fashion, and this: "And now it's Saturday. I've got a lunch thing in like 45 minutes, so I've gotta rocket, but who knows what the end of the week has in store for me!" was somehow a prediction for something amazing to come!

And then E pulled me to a pajama party in Fullerton after work, so I didn't get around to posting anything last night. Didn't even get in until 3:45 because of a really nasty accident on I-5 =(. But, the party was fun, and worth it, and her Nickelodeon intern friends are always hilarious to hang out with so, no complaints from me. ^_^

And now it's a new week. So come on, word; HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT.

--Tiffany

The Part Where This Past Week Was The Most Unexpectedly Crazy Week Ever

Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but ... it's true. Haha.

Anyways, not a picture post, but I've got to make up for my radio silence this week! So today is the day of the dreaded double post!! I'll put up pictures tonight after I take the pic for today. I actually have been keeping up with the Project 365, just haven't been putting them up here or on facebook every day. I really need to work on that....

Anyways! My week in review:

Sunday: The Part Where I Worked in the Labs Because I Knew I'd Be at Loft Most Days This Week.

And I hate going to school on Sunday unless it's for mass. :/ Sorry LMU friends, I just like to have Sundays up in Westwood with E! I never see her otherwise. But, I'd been scheduled for work on Monday from 1-10, Wednesday from 9-1:30, Friday from 3-7, and Saturday from 12-4. So I would have only had 2.5 days to do any work on my reel if I didn't go to the labs on Sunday. Low key day, as most Sundays are. Got stuff done; worked on the walk cycle for the girl character I'm animating, who was giving me trouble (I eventually did get her movement right). Also went to lunch with one of my Kairos children (KaiChi, for further reference), who told me about his new boyfriend, and that he was selling his 1st generation iPad for pretty cheap. (Both of which were very exciting news!). So yeah. Sunday was pretty low-key.

Monday: The Part Where I Went on a 6 Mile Hike and Then Had 7 Hours of Work

I mean.... I never said I was actually intelligent about these kind of things.... Haha! Last week, one of my friends asked if I wanted to go on a hike with him and his gf and a few other people on Monday because it's MLK so the LMU kiddos had the day off. I was all: "yeah! hike! awesome!". And then I realized I was doing shipment at Loft from 1-10. Buuuuuuut this is a group of people who are awesome, so I said screw it, I'm gonna do it... and did it. And I think I might still be sore right now! haha. Let's just say by the end of the day, I was stepping rather gingerly and ready to hit the hay right when I got back to my apartment. E, on the other hand, discovered the existence of a Cheesecake Factory really close to us and wanted to go, but we decided in the end to try for it the next day.

Tuesday: The Part Where My "Terrible" Taste in Movies Ends Up Being Really Useful

Went to the labs that day to work, and while I was perusing the interwebs while taking a break, I realized that Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters was in fact coming out this weekend. So I posted the trailer on one of my film school friends' wall because we both love Jeremy Renner, and the movie looked freaking ridiculous, and one of our other friends noticed and mentioned that she had gofobo tickets for the premiere that she couldn't use. Needless to say, I was in, and eventually, so was my film school friend, so we got the tickets for Thursday... And then I met with my KaiChi, and bought his iPad off of him, which I've affectionately renamed my iThing because I can't believe I've turned my back on non-Apple products. But it's okay, because I'm not gonna lie, this thing is pretty awesome. Haha Oh! And E and I did end up going to Cheesecake Factory, aka, the place with the cheesecake, and getting served by a guy who looked a lot like Channing Tatum.

Yup, Tuesday was pretty busy....

Wednesday: The Part Where I Really Didn't Want to Wake Up Early

But I had to, because I had work at 9 in the morning and I had to look pretty. Uhhh waking up with Elise at 7 usually isn't that bad, but I think that's only because I usually don't have to look good because I'm just going to the labs. This time, no such luck. But it also meant I was all jazzed up when I went to school and worked in the labs, which is always entertaining. Of all the days this week, Wednesday was probably the least unexpectedly weird day.

Thursday: The Part Where I Sat In Grauman's Chinese Theater With Jeremy Renner

or Mr. Giggles, as I like to call him. Too many tumblr gifs of him giggling away adorably. ANYWAYS. Me and Film School Friend (FSF) went to the premiere of this movie for freesies, which was great fun. At one point, when we were around the corner from the theater, in line waiting, we could hear all the paparazzi calling "Jeremy! Jeremy!" so there's at least the assumption that he was in the theater at some point. Me and FSF just ended up not exactly having the will to look for him. Mostly because we started talking about story ideas that we've been working on; I told her about my two stories that I'm outlining for NaNoWriMo, and she told me about some pilots that she's trying to write to help her get a screenwriting job somewhere. It was very cool bouncing ideas and listening to her ideas.

Side note: funnily enough, FSF's roommate is actually a bigger Renner fan, but gave her blessing to FSF to go with me because she was going to the Muse concert with .... the girl who gave US the tickets to the premiere! It was just one of those hilarious coincidences.

And then the movie started. Ohmygod, it was less than 1.5 hours of hilarious bloody explosions, decapitations, and really, REALLY cliche, but WONDERFUL one-liners. It was pretty much a Michael Bay movie in its pacing and story, but, hey, when the trailer looks like it does, does one really expect more?

Just remember kids: Whatever you do, don't eat the f----ing candy. *cue Renner glare*

Friday: The Part Where I Think I was Part of a Rapper's Posse Last Night. At Least for A Little Bit.

Yeah........ hahaha So Loft changed my hours earlier in the week, so I'd be working 1-9:30 doing shipment processing, so I was on my feet all day yesterday, and then I went out with some of my coworkers to this place in Hollywood called Colony. It was pretty sweet, not gonna lie. It started out really chill, but as the night went on, it got pretty crazy. And then the girl who brought us all there told us that we were sitting (squatting??) at the table that was rented for the night by the guy who does "Tell Me When To Go". Which I guess is pretty sweet. At the very least, it was free drinks all night, especially since one of the friends of the guy was massively hitting on one of my coworkers. Very entertaining to watch.

Other than that, the dancing was nice. The subwoofers in that place were amazing, so the bass was pretty much deafening (I think my ears are still ringing from last night), but it was worth it. Sadly, there was a complete lack of cute guys there, which I wanted to remedy, but... c'est la vie. I tried my hardest, and my best is all I can give *shrugg* to the max.

And now it's Saturday. I've got a lunch thing in like 45 minutes so I've gotta rocket, but who knows what the end of the week has in store for me!

'Til tonight!

--Tiffany

The Part Where I Went on a Disney Day Adventure! And Then Did Some Other Stuff Too.

That's right! E, who works at Disney Feature Animation in Burbank, invited all us recent animation major grads up to Burbank to tour the Disney/ABC lot. And then I went to Downtown Disney that night. Let's just say it was a BUSY Friday. But very fun!

Then, had work yesterday morning, and then went out with E and C, and went to a pretty divey bar. T'was pretty awesome, not gonna lie.

And now we're watching Once Upon a Time and I'm not really in the mood to go over my day anymore. (sorry!). Here are the pictures!

January 18, 2013:

Disneyland Fireworks! After the epic Disney day. So beautiful ^_^

January 19, 2013:

The spookily-lit trees outside my apartment. I'm not gonna lie, I do love the view from my place, even if it's a tad bit creepy on spooky nights.

January 20, 2013:

Salmon chowder for dinner! And it was delicious!

That is all. Good night! Early morning hike's probably going down, so I've got to be sleeeeeeping soon!

--Tiffany

The Part Where I Went on a Deep Sea Fishing Adventure

That's right, kids! Deep sea fishing, ftw! Man, oh man, it was painful waking up this morning (4:30 AM, for those of you keeping score), but WOW, was it so worth it!!

It all started at the end of October, when one of my track/alumni friends tweeted about a LivingSocial deal he had just bought. We had gone fishing off the Venice pier a couple times together, and at the very least, it had been bunches of fun just talking, and catching up, and feeding the fish fishing for dinner. And the deal was about 50% off the usual price for a full day trip, so I thought, What the heck?! and bought it. And we finally went today!

So. Up at 4:30. Haven't been up that early since probably the Bridge to Nowhere Hike, which was epic in of itself, so obviously, this trip was going to be boatloads (pun very much intended) of fun. Drove to his place, picked him up, and scooted on down 110 to get to San Pedro and hop on our boat. The boat left the marina pretty promptly at 6 AM, and by the time the sun rose we were out on the ocean headed toward Catalina Island.

From about... 10 AM to 2 PM, we fished in five or six spots on the northeast side of the island. I'm not actually sure if we made it around to the west side, but either way, it was cool. There weren't that many people on board, probably because it's pretty much fishing-off-season right now, and because it's "cold" in LA this time of year (actually, leaving my apartment this morning was actually relatively chilly. and miserable. that too.) But I caught my very first (two) fishies! Ever!

Yeah, it's complicated. The first fish I caught was some type of rock bass (I have my money on a cabezon), but rock bass aren't in season until March, so I couldn't keep it. He put up a little bit of a fight too; if there hadn't been cool people on board who knew how to fish (unlike me), he might have actually gotten away. So, I took my obligatory photo, and he took the initiative of flopping himself back into the ocean himself after I snapped the pic. About fifteen minutes later, I caught another bite, and this one was a black-something fish. I looked up fishies that live around Catalina, and I'm guessing that the one I caught was a blacksmith fish. It was cool! Maybe seven inches long... didn't put up much of a fight, so much so that after the initial nibbles, I thought I'd lost my bait to a fish more intelligent than I.

Anyways, after the fishing was done for the day, he was beheaded and ... scaled (?). I dunno. The fisherman guy ran his knife against the skin/scales and most of the scales popped off. I guess that's one way to do it. And then popped in a bag so I could cook him. Never have I ever eaten something that was in the wide, wild ocean less than five hours prior! At least... not that I know of. Who knows what's fed to me at those crazy seafood restaurants that I love so much! ^_^

The whole day was pretty crazy, from waking up early, to the long trek to San Pedro at a God-awfully early hour of the morning, to fishing right by Catalina, and then eating my very own catch! We saw all sorts of crazy wildlife: probably four pods of dolphins (even little baby dolphins! so adorable), some sort of whales off in the distance (once going out, and once coming in), pelicans and seagulls, sea lions/seals (we couldn't figure out which they were), jellyfish, and of course FISH! and two bald eagles. That was definitely a highlight! I can't wait to go again ^_^

Here's my rock bass which flopped itself back into the ocean:

Aaaaaand a lighthouse, for good measure, because I'm obsessed with them:

And finally, pictures of the day!

January 15, 2013. Birdies on a telephone wire! One of my favorite images, ever, at least conceptually. I've always found it really interesting what the birds are doing when they're on wires. Do they watch everything going on around and have crazy bird conversations about what us strange humans are doing all the time?? Yeah, that's where my brain goes. Also, this kind of reminds me of the Pixar short "For the Birds", which is one of my favorite shorts by them. I just keep imagining Kevin from Up settling down right in the middle of these birds.... haha!

January 16, 2013. A bit of a conceptual photo. I've been waking up early with E to get some roommate time in before she goes to work (or else I don't get to see her enough =((), and then going on to school to work on my own projects, and sunrise and the golden hour it brings are right around when we get up. I keep missing the picture I really want, but I definitely love the colors playing on my blinds in the morning, so this picture is pretty cool ^_^

January 17, 2013. My blacksmith fish, in the burlap sack rented for the day. Picture quality isn't as good; used my Olympus Tough instead of my usual Nikon, but it's okay, I guess. Had a wonderful day today, and am very happy to finally be able to say that I "know" how to fish!

All right. It's "late", as in I've been awake for 18ish hours at this point, and I'm a little bit roasty from being out in the sun all day, so it's time to give my eyes a rest and turn off the computer. Toodles!

--Tiffany

The Part Where I Can Almost See the Milky Way. If I Squint. And Imagine It.

My days... are still really lame. On the bright side, classes have started at LMU, which means all my still-in-school friends are back! Yay! So much happiness. Soup club even tried to reunite. I think I was the only one who got soup, funnily enough. Oh well.

And here are the pictures from the past three days:

January 12, 2013. E and I spent a whole lot of time at Bed, Bath & Beyond discussing flowers for her office. It was so hilarious, it necessitated taking a picture. And then she neglected to actually buy any of these specific flowers. Oh the insanity!

January 13, 2013. E and I went out to lunch with C after moving all my bedroom furniture to J's new place. It's this very yummy, trendy place in Venice that's a little overpriced, but pretty much delicious enough to make up for it. I swear, every time I go there, it's like explosions of flavor in my mouth! Like in Ratatouille (fav Pixar movie, btdub), when Remy is explaining how to really taste food. That's what Lemonade does for me. Bon Appetite. Yum ^_^

January 14, 2013. It's official. I'm running away and eloping with the-idea-of-grain-on-film. Well, I would, if it were a person. Aaaaanyways! ISO at 800; aperture at 2.8; shutter speed at 1/4 of a second.  It was beautiful. If there's one thing I miss about being home, it's that I can't see the stars here. I'm not totally sure what star that burning ball of light is in my picture, but I'm willing to bet it's probably a planet. If you squint real hard (okay, maybe not that hard), you should be able to see Orion in this picture, which I love. Who knew that Los Angeles could make some of the most interesting star photos...

It made me think of Tahoe, all over again, walking out to the balcony of the girl's cabin, the last night of the first year I was a Leader-in-Training. We were up late giggling that night, and, for some reason, I went outside, and there was the whole sky, opened up like it was no big deal. I'd never seen the stars like that before, and even since! I haven't been able to find a view quite like that one. 

Today, admittedly, was a day of missing things immensely. Like the stars, or feeling like I have a purpose, or my own bed (not the one I gave away, kids. That one I could do with never seeing again). Growing up is a lot scarier once you're "grown up" and supposed to know what you're doing. But I got some good advice from a friend today: I'm young. I'm a year out of college, and only 21. In terms of people knowing what they're doing as a career, I've got a head start in that I majored in something extremely specific so I do have a very specified skill set and career goal. Most people change careers like 10+ times throughout their lives. In other words, I don't need to be freaking out just yet; I need to be concentrating, and working, and working some more. I'll get there.

--Tiffany

The Part Where Christmas Break is Almost Over (for LMU students), so I'm Starting to See Friends Again!

As the title says, LMU's winter holidays are coming to a close (school starts for them on Monday! GASP!), so a few seniors and juniors from out of town are starting to trickle back into the LA area. It's crazy how long this break has felt, even though I'm not even in school anymore! It's been such a crazy couple of weeks for me, but quite empty and lonely in the Animation labs/department, so I'll be glad for some company once again.

Well my new bedroom set up is almost all complete. I got a foam mattress topper from the guy I gave all my stuff too. At the very least, it'll keep me warm. The last two nights have been brutal! E and I are making a Target/BB&B run tomorrow, so I'll probably get another pad to insulate and ease my achy back.

I accidentally butt dialed my best friend from high school yesterday, as I was helping another friend move, and it turns out that he's in Los Angeles with family, going to Disneyland. I told him to let me know if he randomly had free time; I would try to get out to Anaheim to visit. I haven't seen that kid since at least a year and a half ago! Here's to hoping that happens.

Other than that, not much going on in my life. Here are the pictures from yesterday and today; I'm so tired right now that I'm kinda surprised at myself for putting these up when I'm SO ready for bed.

January 10, 2013:

This is J, one of my roommates from this past summer, and the recipient of my bedroom set. I picked him up from the airport and we moved some of his stuff, and my bed and bed frame to his new place. Then he was getting hungry so we went to this Thai place near school that we ate at a lot over the summer and had a really delicious dinner. Shout out to Ayara for sure!

January 11, 2013:

I brought my/his nightstand down to school today, so J was all excited to hang out again, this time with our friend A. J recommended this German sausage house on Lincoln Blvd. whose name I can't pronounce or spell, which I was making fun of at first, but which also turned out to be quite delicious and wonderful. I got a bratwurst and a hot Italian sausage, which was yummmmmmmy! If anyone likes hot dogs, this is definitely the place to go in Los Angeles!

All right world... Good night!

--Tiffany