Small Triumphs

Officially accepted L.A. Back out west I go, even if I'm shoved... or pulled there by a tractor (I know the phrase is actually "tractor beam," but I changed it so that it implies my resistance rather than L.A.'s irresistibility. Maybe I should've gone with different wording... but it's my blog).

I slept about a BILLION hours this weekend. Miraculously, it put me in an excellent mood instead of a groggy one. I must've needed it.

We got a new chef at the hillel for Saturdays. I met him two Saturdays ago briefly-- he's tall, about 45ish, and has Vince Vaughn's voice exactly--it's weird. ANYWAY, this week I saw him and he hugged me, which made me feel really weird and uncomfortable. But then he gave me a cookie... so my attitude changed. By the end we were essentially in love and he gave me 6 rolls of challah, 2 tomatoes, a little tupperware of roast beef, one with potato salad, and one with watermelon, AND 6 baby pumpkins for decoration. Awesome!

I talked to my mom before accepting L.A. and I told her that one of my biggest concerns is that they are going to judge me about how I dress, even though I am for sure buying new clothes. Still... said clothes are certainly not going to be the epitome of chic. My mom told me that I was being prejudiced and that people from L.A. are not different than people here. To which I replied that they absolutely ARE different. I told her that to say they weren't is like when people suggest that you can't tell if men are gay or not because a straight man can be super flamboyant and a gay man could be... not. But really, even though there are always exceptions, to say that there aren't patterns is to be turning a blind eye completely. Yes of course there are many kinds of people in L.A.... but there is also an L.A. culture that isn't the same as northeast culture-- to say they are generally the same is wrong. Then she got pissed and told me that I was prejudiced about gay people. Ugh.

In other news, I chose High Fidelity as my Best Buy movie. I'm pleased with the choice. I think I needed it. It was PRETTY fun choosing, but they don't have a terrific movie selection at Best Buy-- only a half an aisle for ALL of their comedy and drama films. They used to have an entire aisle. Lame. Although I REALLY wanted Being John Malkovich. I was not at all surprised that they didn't have Amelie, though.

Also, when I was little I used to watch this live action version of Snow White that I was obsessed with. About two years ago I REALLY tried to find out what it was but I couldn't. I asked about it on yahoo answers and someone gave me a title of a german film that seemed like it might be the one, but I could only find one picture so I couldn't be sure.

For whatever reason, I tried to find it again today. I went back to the yahoo answers (which told me I last posted a question two years ago-- that's how I know) and got the title and looked it up. Now there are MANY postings of the movie. I found some pictures. I found a trailer. I even found a site that had the entire film that I could watch... but it didn't seem to work on a mac. Regardless, I'm so amused because it was totally dubbed in English and I guess I never noticed as a child. Also... it's like... the worst production quality ever. But it was SUPER neat seeing and hearing it again. It was veeeery nostalgic to hear the wicked witch's theme song and feel more fear than I would have if I was just seeing this incredibly lame movie for the first time. If you'd like to see what I'm talking about, here's the trailer. The movie was made in 1955 and I have NO idea why I had a tape of it or why it was clearly one of my most frequently watched movies as a child. Here's a picture:

I kind of want to paint it...

ANYWAY, I need(ed?) to come up with a story for The Big Bang Theory. I basically came up with the whole thing in... not that long (although it HAS been floating in my mind for a while). I'm SHOCKED because I thought it would be harder than The Office, given that I'm not QUITE as intimately familiar with The Big Bang Theory as I am with The Office. Turns out... that's not really the factor. The Big Bang Theory only has about 10 scenes per half hour, whereas The Office has...

40!!

Plus... The Office really is much more intricate... and has many more people to incorporate. This, of course, is assuming my Big Bang Theory idea is any good... Hope so.

Money Issues That I Can Complain About

I'm seriously going to stop talking about money the SECOND it stops being my main cause of anxiety. Seriously SERIOUSLY! And I'm super pissed about it because I don't really believe this to be my fault anymore.

I started working for Hillel on Sept. 3 and since then I've literally worked 29 hours for Hillel alone (and 43 hours if you add SED). Why don't I have any money on Sept 21?! And some of these problems should be solved. For instance, it took him (my boss) about 100 years to put my name into the computer. Obviously I don't know what that process involves, and maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt, but I only filled out one side of a sheet of paper... so how much more could he have to do?

Also, I've just been handing him my hours on a sheet of paper. I asked him on the first day if I should punch in and he said no because I wasn't in the computer yet. Fine. Three shifts (a week) later I asked him if it was time yet. No, still not in the computer. Even though at this point I believe it is HIS job to tell me when I'm in the computer, I ask again last Thursday. Yes, he says. I should have been swiping in.

!!!! I'm going to die of fury! (that is an exaggeration)!

So fine. I accept that my Hillel boss is inept (yes. I WILL be that harsh!). BUUUT SED (my other job) is not. I started SED in the middle of the week about 2 weeks ago. I worked 4 hours, which would be about $30, which isn't much... but it'll get me through a week. On Friday, I went to SED to pick up this check. It wasn't there! The lady looked for it on the computer for me. If you work in two places at the University, they only give you one check for both jobs. My check has been sent to the Hillel!

NOOOO!!

I asked her if she could have my check directed to SED for next time, which she did. That doesn't really help now though. It only gives me comfort that next Friday I should have the 10 hours of money I earned from SED last week... which is actually quite a comfort.

The EASILY most annoying part about that was that I asked my Hillel manager about it. At the time that I filled out my employment paper, I said I wanted my to pick up my check at Hillel because I wasn't sure I was still working for SED. The day after I found out I'd be working for SED again, I asked him specifically if I could have my checks sent there. "They probably will already go there," he said.

MOTHER OF CRAP!

On Saturday, I tentatively told him that my SED check had been sent to the Hillel. He told me he would look for it in the office on Monday. I am never getting that check.

Now it WOULD seem that I'm being dramatic. I GUESS I am. But actually... I'm not really. I had $500 worth of points that I could spend at whatever location on campus, essentially. I spent $300 on books and I've spent the other $200 on various things already... since I've only had $50 for the past... however long. So now I have exactly $.97 in points. And I have exactly $3.76 in my checking account and $.48 in my savings. I have a half a bag of spaghetti and a half a jar of sauce. I have several cans of tuna and I get sandwiches on Tuesday and Thursday from the Hillel. Today I went to the dining hall and stole as much food as I could.

Fine. I'll make it through a week. But the issue I have right now is that I have to print out 3 scripts and a semi-paper thing for Wednesday. The scripts are about 50 pages each and I no longer have a quota (the University lowered the quota from 500 pages (with the option to request more) to 100 pages, which I went through with one homework assignment). Two scripts cost me $7.30 last week. I also have to print out a piece of music for Tuesday.

I don't know what I'm going to do, although I have some ideas.

I am angry about money, and for the first time in months, I'm not angry at myself.

Four Parts and the Longest One is About TV...

I guess fortunately (?) my life has reached such a momentum that I can no longer write everything I do, despite what seemed to be my insatiable need to record all of my own dull doings. So, I will break it (my life) into parts and see what happens:

Part 1: Blythe-specific Selective Media Coverage (if you loosely define "media coverage")

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are back. Thank god! Even the few things that I actually saw on my own (without their coaxing) were infinitely funnier and more illuminating when they showed it to me.

The Office is also back!!! (YEEESS!!!!!) I thought the first episode was great, which is a good sign because I had awfully high expectations.

Right afterwards was the new show Community, which seemed a little offensive about community colleges... but it seemed funny enough. I only watched until the first commercial because ... I guess it didn't capture me enough. BUT John Oliver, one of my favorite Daily Show correspondents, was a main character. The real question is where is this Community going to go when 30 Rock comes after it's time-slot on October 15th? Also, I do NOT have faith in Parks and Recreations.

On the radio front, I HIGHLY recommend subscribing to the free podcast of This American Life... although I wouldn't hold anyone against not doing it because... I don't know anyone who really has the time to listen to an hour of radio. But if you DO have the time... or a long drive or something... pretty much every episode inspires me or illuminates something for me or makes me rethink or recognize the complexity of things I thought I knew. It's just pure gold. Plus David Sedaris sometimes contributes!

Also, I STILL haven't used my free movie pass. The one that I had back when I decided I was going to use it on 500 Days of Summer. And then I was going to see Inglourious Basterds. And then Extract. Bah!

Lastly, if you know me at all, you know that I watch like... a billion interviews per day. Well I PARTICULARLY enjoyed Matt Damon on Letterman the other day. The entire interview was gold, but as I couldn't find the entire thing as an isolated clip, I would at least recommend watching the best part. If you want to watch the whole thing, you can find it on cbs.com. Just find the interview and then move the marker right on top of the commercial line that looks closest to the middle (I don't know why I'm explaining when I know that no one will do it).

Part 2: Work

I LOVE working at SED! I've caught up on my Real Time with Bill Maher and I'm going through my This American Life. Hillel is fine and easy too. Today I decided to not shower right away so that I could shower AFTER I have to wear the visor. What I'd like most from these places, though, is to get paid. I'm getting to be QUITE poor again (thank god for my god money).

Part 3: Anecdote

Today when I got to work, Sandy, the woman who sets up the station and who I now know is from Hong Kong (she also has an accent) was there. I'm OBSESSED with her! Well today when she was leaving to go upstairs, she stopped to tell me what the muffin flavors were today:

Sandy: We have banana nut and cheepo

Blythe: Cheepo?

Sandy: Yes cheepo. They have cranberries, blueberries, and one other kind.

Blythe: Okay thanks.

About 15 minutes later, Ben, a regular customer (and friend of Rachael's) comes over.

Ben: Can I have a muffin?

Blythe: Sure. We have banana nut and what Sandy told me was a "cheepo" muffin. It has cranberries, blueberries, and one other kind of berry.

:::pause:::

Ben: I think she meant "triple."

How embarrassing!! I'm so glad he pointed that out to me before I spent the whole day calling them "cheepo" muffins (/I'm definitely always going to call berry muffins "cheepo" in my head.)

Part 4: Let's Wrap it Up

This girl that I thought was the funniest girl in my old TV writing class transferred into my new one. I tried to downplay my excitement but she wrote a GREAT episode of Seinfeld last year and I am PUMPED to see what she comes up with this year!! She's also reeeaaally nice. So... awesome (/I'm a creep).

We post our final list of girls for Chords tomorrow at 8am. I hope they choose us!!!!

Unaccountable Taste and Dirty Money

I have to see Extract. Both Jimmy Fallon AND Letterman were RAVING about it for like... a year and a half. Tomorrow.

Also, this was last week or something, but I posed the question to someone about why THE Final Destination was doing so well. 3D! I forgot about that surprisingly weighty new element to movies. I think I might piss my pants if I saw that in 3D... so I can see the appeal.

Glee got great ratings, which was especially impressive because that's when Obama did his big health care address. Plus everyone talks about the show. At the Hillel, these girls talked for like... a half hour about where they were going to watch it. Plus my a cappella friends are obsessed... which makes sense because it's about a cappella... but even my TV friend whose taste I trust, Stephanie, recommended it to me. I watched it! I don't get it!

I watched Death to Smoochy last night. It was PRETTY good... but I'm pretty sure I'll never have to see it again. I liked the message and satire more than the movie itself. I MORE enjoyed watching it and then going on thedailyshow.com and watching Jon Stewart interview all of the people that were in the movie. It reaffirmed all of my feelings about all of the actors. Loves the Ed Norton, Danny DeVito is fun as hell, and Robin Williams has so much god damn energy that IIII need to take a nap per every 10 minutes he talks.

Last night, when I was getting out of bed for something... I don't know what happened exactly but I caught my big toe nail on my ankle. But the (more) mysterious part is, while my toe nail is incredibly strong and my ankle skin is relatively weak, I did not break the skin on my ankle but my big toe nail broke half way down and started bleeding quite a bit! I just wonder how that's possible. I imagine it was some magic angle at which the nail hit my ankle... the only angle that would cause the nail to break instead of the skin. Or maybe this isn't interesting at all. Regardless, I didn't know what to do about the toe, so I taped it with medical tape and I haven't looked at it again. I imagine I'm currently susceptible to foot diseases.

Also, I forgot to mention that I now have to wear a visor at Hillel... which sucks because now I have to really think about when I'm going to take a shower every day to minimize how long I have to go around with flat hair from the visor. My question is, do visors even help? Because I was already wearing my hair back and it's not like you shed from the top of your head.

The reason for the visor is the health inspector lady came. Everything was okay. Buuut, what I've been doing is wearing plastic gloves to make food and then whenever I touch money, I take the gloves off and put new gloves on... which in my opinion is excessive and pretty wasteful. I essentially use different gloves for every customer... and the trash can largely consists of "used" gloves. Whatever, I get it. But the health inspector lady told me that I should wear gloves when I make the food, take them off to work with the money, WASH MY HANDS, and then put more gloves on. She was like, "you see you hands get contaminated when you touch the dirty money and then you touch the clean gloves, which contaminates them-- just another way of looking at it."

I REAAALLLY wanted to say "how dirty is it?" in a suggestive manner. Nevertheless, I'm not actually going to do that because it would dry my hands out. I already have to use lotion EVERY TIME I wash my hands... and even sometimes when I don't because I FREQUENTLY (like... 15 times a day, literally) feel like my hands are too dry. I actually don't know how the compulsion started... because I've only been doing it for like... 1.5 years but it doesn't seem like something that's going to go away for me. And I'm not sad about it because it will just keep my hands smooth longer. The rest of my skin will shrivel up over the years, but my hands might remain silky. Regardless, I simply cannot wash my hands 25 times in 4 hours. Although I don't want to deliberately breaks rules just because I think it's incredibly stupid. I NEVER wash my hands before meals and I'm positive that I haven't gotten sick once from that. And I'm sure I've touched dirtier things than money before sticking my fingers right in my mouth. I don't care. I hardly get sick at all. Plus it strengthens your immune system.

ANYWAY, I'm just going to wear my dirty gloves when I touch the dirty money and then my hands will only be touching new clean gloves and nothing else. Problem solved. Hay day for plastic glove companies and anti-bacterial soap, though (as always).

Bragging About My Life (Sorry) with a Side of Cellphone Complaint

Life is going GREAT so far!!

Yesterday/Tuesdays in general, according to my schedule, look the roughest. I have work from 9am-1pm, then class from 2pm to 6pm (but really 5:30pm most of the time) and Chords from 7pm-10pm (except yesterday when I had to be there at 6:30pm).

ANYWAY, that is a LOOONG day! Except that it really wasn't. Hillel is SO un-taxing that I mostly read for my homework the whole time. And what did I read? Scripts of Two and a Half Men and 30 Rock. Then I had a free sandwich and off to film class.

This was my first film discussion and my teacher wanted to do getting-to-know-you exercises, which in my opinion cause WWAAAAYYY more anxiety than they alleviate. In fact, I don't think they EVER alleviate anxiety. I'm not sure why professors (or TAs in this case) do it.

BUUUUUUUT you know how we did it in this class?! We got in groups of three and we had to pick out three movies that would be on all of our top ten movie list!!!

!!!!!!!!

THAT IS MY FAVORITE THING TO DISCUSS WITH STRANGERS!!! Particularly strangers who love movies!!

AAAAAND!!!!!

We picked The Princess Bride (!!!), American Beauty (!!), and Wall-e (which wouldn't REALLY make my top ten... but... obviously we needed a little give, and it was perfectly acceptable).

AAAAAAAAND!!! (can there even BE an "and"!!?)

My class' favorites as a whole were The Princess Bride (!!!!!!!!), American Beauty (!!), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind!

GOLD!! We even filled out little cards and put our own personal top five movies on that! This is where I want to be!!

Then we watched some old movies and discussed. It's really about learning the best film-story technique right now... so it's not too noteworthy what the movies were. Regardless, in the future we're basically watching a movie and then discussing it at the end. That is what the 3.5-4 hours will make up.

And THEN I get to sing. Or in this case, listen to people try out, which ... you can use your imagination to think of how fun that is (QUITE fun).

Plus today, in my TV writing class, we voted to write our class script (which we're doing BEFORE individual ones) on The Office!!!!

And today we watched an episode of South Park in class. South Park is hilarious as it is, but I think it's ESPECIALLY hilarious when you watch it in class. AAAND when you have to talk about it. For instance, here is a direct quote from my professor:

"So we talked about the story of one little kid masturbating a dog escalating into..."

I know I'm getting into my brag-y self again... but it's MUUUCH better than the downer I've been more recently. At least for me it is.

Here's something though. Yesterday I read a lot of scary health care things and then I told them to Elena later in the night. Presumably as a consequence, I had nightmares about my mom losing her health care.

Also, I had to buy deodorant for the first time in literally years. I'd obtained so much from various places but I've finally run out.

Also, this isn't relevant to today or this week or anything, but I would like to reflect on how depressed (yes, depressed) cellphones make me. I'm not TRRYYYYING to be a butt (I say that so much... on some level I'm sure I am trying to be a butt), but I HATE that you can't talk to ANYONE without them being distracted by their phone. I hate it because it's alREADY hard to make a connection with someone. But then they get a text. And MOST people look at it... but they insist that you keep talking or THEY try to keep talking but you know they aren't thinking about your conversation anymore. And then they smile and ask "what was I talking about?" and in my head I'm like "fuck you. I don't give a shit anymore!" because you know that whatever the text was was completely useless and I just think the person with you should get your attention.

I only like actually talking to a few people anyway... but I think it's more of a depressing notion. I can't even talk to my MOM without her getting distracted. That's why grandpas are awesome. But I ESPECIALLY despise when people pick up their calls... which only a FEW people still haven't realized is like... the least cool thing ever. Some people do it in the middle of THEIR sentence!! And some people don't even give you a warning.

Actually the worst thing is that I can't say anything about it. I'm pretty sure I'd be less offended, especially in the case of answering the phone mid sentence, if the person slapped me across the face.... but if you got noticeably upset, you'd look completely crazy and irrational.

Buuuut... I had a great day today!!

David Letterman said Extract was brilliant.... so maybe I'll check that out.

Joni Mitchell, Hillel, Hair, Other Uselessness...

Before I start... You know when you know something could likely be good or interesting but it looks or sounds so SO boring that you either aren't going to see or hear it OR it's going to take a lot of will power to see or hear it? Ok, to my knowledge, it's a common situation with no single word to describe it. Now, Kevin and I used to use "Joni Mitchell" as the description. For example:

Person A: Are you going to see Paul Revere's house?

Person B: eh... I don't know. It's pretty Joni Mitchell.

This isn't to say anything bad about the actual Joni Mitchell. At the time we came up with the phrase (and subsequent list of Joni Mitchell things), we felt like we SHOULD listen to Joni Mitchell but... it was too Joni Mitchell. Since then, I have grown very fond of Joni Mitchell, particularly the songs "Little Green," "River," and "Carey." Also, Bob Dylan really likes Joni Mitchell. Regardless, I need this to be part of my blogging vocabulary.

Pressing on... I saw a new trailer for The Open Road starring Jeff Bridges and Justin Timberlake, who I think is a WONDERFUL actor, but I concede that I could just be seduced by his charm and charisma... although in my opinion, that's about 75% of acting. It does look a little JONI MITCHELL though. Also, it looks like Justin's less cute-and-funny-teen version of Crossroads.... and there are parents involved.

I had my first day at the Hillel dining hall (as opposed to the cafe, where I started on Thursday). It was lovely. I worked with two boys, which made me very shy... so I'm going to have to try to speak more next time. But also, I enjoyed watching how they interact with me as "the girl"-- where they drew the line on everything. For instance, they didn't seem to have a problem talking about strippers, but they wouldn't look me in the eye while doing it. Also, their voices became gentler when directing their speech to me.

Here is something glorious for me (relatively speaking) that I noticed. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I start the day with class which begins at 10am, which I think is the earliest that my brain is fully functioning. BUUUT on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I start the day with (largely non-interactive) work at 9am... which is fine because I don't NEED to have a fully functioning brain yet. Then on Saturday I start work at 10am... which is a LITTLE sucky... but it IS interactive and also a good way to get up on a Saturday.

And for something unrelated (as all of these things are), part of my homework was to familiarize myself with these 4 shows:

1. Two and a Half Men

2. The Office

3. 30 Rock

4. The Big Bang Theory

(Being a television major is AWESOME... I do have other things too though... because all majors require work!)

I obviously know The Office and 30 Rock, but I watched several episodes of the other two. Not bad. I particularly like The Big Bang Theory because Leonard is David from Roseanne (my favorite character)... which I already knew, but what I DIDN'T know was that Sara Gilbert, Darlene from Roseanne, is a regular character too!! Fun!

Lastly, Elena and Matt went to see a Boston taping of Wheel of Fortune! I can't WAIT to hear what it was like!

Double lastly, how could THE Final Destination (why did we need a "the?"), aka: Final Destination 4, reach the top of the box office??!! And without any Devon Sawa!! I just don't understand! I'm inclined to blame the recent series of films with bad lady hair:

(Bullock in All About Steve)

(Adams in Julie and Julia)

You may say that's just two films... I say two's enough to do some damage! People are growing confused and they want to see death follow some beautiful people around.

(I'm really kidding though. I think we need more leads with less attractive hair so we can start relaxing some standards here. I think Adams should grow some armpit hair... help her sisters out a bit).

(but actually not-- I'm not that liberated.)

(yet...)

:::dramatic music swell:::

Job Security and Class

Glorious glorious glorious!

First of all, the Hillel job is pie. Plus, I make sandwiches during the job (but only 2 kinds of sandwiches-- lox and tuna) but MAYBE this will be able to count as some kind of food services job in the future if I need to be a waitress. Mostly it's nice because it isn't terribly busy. I got through a LOT of my Colbert book re-read, which will hopefully be replaced with a book of more academic use in the future (I didn't realize I would be able to read and thus wasn't prepared).

Also, while I'm speaking of work, I DID get my SED job back (it was questionable before because I thought I was too busy for them to take me). Soooo I'm working either 21 or 22 hours a week this year (questionable because I know I'm starting at 10am at Hillel on Saturday but I DON'T know when I'm ending... I didn't think to ask. I imagine 1 or 2pm)!! WHOOO! I haven't had money in so long (my fault, my fault, I know, I know, I know, I know!). Elena informs me that she thinks this is going to be stressful... but I don't think so. Or maybe I'm just greedy about the moneys.

ANYWAY, my classes seem kick ass!

TV writing: My professor has an INTENSE career! If you look up Michael Loman on imbd.com, you'll see what I mean. He's very kind and not scary at all, though. Also, he's my professor for my television comedy (sans writing), which I haven't had yet, but... I assume they'll be similarly awesome. PLUS I get to write a script on my own as a final project and it can be whatever running sitcom I want. YES!!

Health care sociology: When I signed up for the course, I thought I would enjoy it because it's so timely. NOW I see that I'm so fortunate to take the class while we have a strong hope for change. When I left the class, I a LITTLE wanted to kill myself over our current health care situation. I'll probably (hopefully) write out the stuff I think is important. Crazy stuff here.

Art and literature of film: AWESOME!! Basically we watch a movie on Tuesdays. Then right after we discuss it. Then on Thursday we have a lecture about it. Then Friday is an optional re-screening of the movie from Tuesday. Two things are great about that:

1. It's GREAT that they accommodate for wanting to watch a movie twice. On a big screen!

2. That's 2.5 hours on a Friday that I don't have to go to... which makes it easier for me to decide to take a trip... to Penn State, perhaps? Yes!

Also, we're not really starting the novels yet, but they're going to quiz us on the novels, which is nice because it'll make me actually read them. They aren't that long, so I don't think it'll get to be too much.

Some other semi-interesting things:

1. My friend Nora and I were walking home from Julia's (west) at 1am and we saw this guy screaming at a girl in a really scary way for a long time. We thought, maybe it'll be fine, but on the off chance that something happens, it would never escape our conscience's. So I called the police and we watched as two police cars came and took them both away. It couldn't have taken more than a minute from the time I placed the call. I hadn't even hung up before the first police car got there. Awesome. After wards we basically kissed each other's ass, telling each other what good samaritans we are. We were pretty pleased with ourselves.

2. I watched Pumpkin. When I started it I was like "oh god, this is the worst movie ever!" And then as it progressed I was like "wait... this really IS the worst movie... in a good way." I think it was intentional.. in which case, it's pretty funny. I guess it's kind of in the realm of But I'm a Cheerleader... which I do like.

3. New season of The Office starts Sept. 17 at 9pm. PUUUUMPED!! It starts in real time with Pam four months pregnant!