40

It was 40 years ago man set foot on the moon. Makes one feel so small, so glad to be a creation of God.

another particular

you have not been in production until you have hired a male stripper to play a practical joke on someone on set.

particulars of production life

I dunno if it's the particulars of my job that woke me up this morning at 5am, or if it's the death of Michael Jackson. Probably not the latter, yet here I am 6am when I'm supposed to be on set by 11am and I've already showered and started my oatmeal.

I don't really like talking about my job because when I do it feels like I'm bragging or name dropping. I work on commercials and sometimes yes, there is a celebrity spokesperson and yes, sometimes we get all access to cool places like The LA Coliseum or The Edison or an entire abandoned building. But there are nuances of my job that interest even me.

If you have a 4am calltime and you work a 17 hour day, it is a bad idea to wear a thong.

Every single morning you wake up before you're supposed to, you will have a stomach ache. It feels moderately like nausea but it's just this pain in your stomach that will go away once you've had some food. I've gotten these stomach aches years before I was married so I know it ain't THAT.

There is such a thing as a stupid question. Whoever says otherwise is a big fat liar.

Even though you emphasis the importance of having a PA call you from a location where they're out on a run, they will forget to call and you'll have to call them.

No matter how prepared you are, at a crucial moment, the one thing they need, you will not have in any of your kits.

When picking up coffee, never put the coffee on the seats, always on the floor of the car with the openings all facing into the middle of the drink holder.

After a long shoot day your nose will be full of so much snot that you will have to blow your nose twice.

It is inevitable that on a sunny day you will get pink even if you're sitting inside of a motorhome and are wearing sunblock.

My job is basically 60 people all having a personal mission and job and needing things from me and believing they are my most important priority.

When extremely exhausted, I have a two question in a row limit, after that I start tuning the person out.

Catering will never have cooked tofu.

And Michael Jackson... I can't believe he's dead. I know that later in life he's been seen as that "wacko jacko" and all those accusations are not to be ignored. But I think we're sadded party because of the sudden shock of his death and partly because a part of our youth, or more particularly, memories our youth were wrapped around that man and now he's gone. We remain, his music remains.

san francisco

Welp, I haven't posted for weeks and now that I am posting it's about something that happened months ago. So relevant, I know. (images are from restaurants we visited via the web)

I finally uploaded my 10 pictures from Matt & my trip to San Francisco in April. Here's the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/emailevy/SanFrancisco09?pli=1#

It was a really great trip. It makes all the difference in the world to stay in the city you want to sight see for an extended period, in our case, four days. We've been to the city before but never at our own pace and never with the amount of time we had. 

Bad part of trip: The hotel itself was fine, but the location was terrible. It was in the city up the street from the ballet and opera houses and city hall but the surrounding areas were shady crap. Parking the car every night was expensive so next time, I'm making sure the hotel has free parking included and you know, HAS parking. 

Great part of trip: We slept in EVERY morning and still had time to do everything we'd wanted to each day. Why? Because we picked things we wanted to do and then did them according to location. And also because we had the greatest tool known to traveler: my iPhone. That baby's GPS never got us lost, we got from point to point quick and with the restaurant apps I had of Yelp and iWant we always ate at places that were highly rated and didn't disappoint. FOOD was the most important thing on any trip now for me. I'm all about the local food and these were places I'd recommend any day and would visit if I went to San Fran again:

La Boulange de Hayes (got there just in time for brunch and a veggie frittata, oh my lord, YUM)

Jeanty at Jack's (french and expensive but historical)

Yank Sing (someone from work recommended it and their dim sum, out of control good)

Crown & Crumpet (a tea salon with the greatest tea you may ever have, warning: very girly)

So if you go to San Francisco, be sure to grab some yummy grub. 

slumdog

It was a movie that after winning so many awards and having everyone I know tell me it was great and I'd love it and all that, I just couldn't bring myself to go see it. Now that it's on DVD, it's been sitting on our TV stand waiting for us to watch it. Fine, let's watch it. 

As we were watching the movie a 4.7 earthquake hit southern california. No, I'm not kidding. We were interrupted a few times for phone calls from concerned parents and siblings. Yes, we felt it, yes, it was lengthy, yes, I am going to work tomorrow. And now back to the movie....It was good. Real good. I won't explain anything about it because no one explained it to me, just watch it, you'll like it. And if you don't finish the movie and thank Jesus that you are not an orphan living in Mumbai and that you live in Southern California, earthquakes included, then you missed a little bit of the point of the movie. Be thankful. I know I am. 

Now to find the cats... 

Julie & Julia!!

YES! I read maybe five books a year and this was one of my favorite reads from last year. Its about a girl who cooks and blogs her way through Julia Child's "Mastering the art of French Cooking" for a year and gets a book published and now it's a movie!
It's a triumphant story for women and bloggers everywhere but the movie actually looks terrific and has my two favorite actresses: Meryl Streep & Amy Adams. Its like Devil Wears Prada if the Devil was nice, funny, never met her apprentice, and was 6' tall and cooked amazingly.
I am particularly excited for this movie because it's about cooking with the aide of a cookbook and that's how I've made every family meal contribution for the past year and some change since the Barefoot Contessa came into my life.

And without Julia, there would have been no Ina so eat up.

anthony vs bono

My two favorite bands are rock bands. They have multiple hit singles & albums around the world not to mention legions of fans. They both consist of a lead singer that is incredibly hot, writes the songs, and only sings and does not play an instrument (well at least) and a bass player, a drummer, and a lead guitar.

Both the lead singers are the best friend of one other member of the band that has an unusual nickname. They both have a quiet, soulful member of the band. By and large both of them have consisted of the same four members for the majority of their existence. Both were formed through band members knowing each other in high school. Both have been together for at least 25 years and they've both guest starred on The Simpsons.

But then again it seems like they could not be more different. You got the Irish boys that have been through seeing their country torn apart in civil wars and California boys that tore themselves apart due to their own problems with drugs and alcohol. U2 has spiritual influences and quote the Bible. The Chili Peppers have all sorts of Eastern Religious influences and their only acknowledgment of a higher power is when it comes to a 12 step program of AA. U2 was influenced by The Ramones. The Chili Peppers by The Germs.

U2 seems to be trying to say something either political or spiritual and the Chili Peppers just want to have fun. I love how deep U2 is and I love how the Chili Peppers are so much my State and my City. I acknowledge that it completely makes sense to love them both and say that they're my favorite bands when looking at how many great songs they both have but its interesting that they can have so much in common and still be like the ying and yang, the negative and the positive.

What does that mean?

what the???

I was posting a comment on someone's blog and was shocked to see another Evy AND an evy had left a comment too. SONOFA!!! Even though I'm the only EvY with a capital Y I still wish to seek and destroy these other imposters.

mission: hellboy lemon zulu delta

Shopping. For some people, its a boring part of life. When they see something they want, they buy it or order it online. In our family, shopping is an art form and a hobby. Its not a simple task, its a mission. A plan of attack is formed and executed with military accuracy. So let me tell you about tonight's mission...NAVY SEAL VERSION

1800 hours: enter shower facilities and gear up for battle. weapons charged, locked, and loaded.

1830 hours: military vehicle exists basecamp in direction of target 1.

1840 hours: estimated time of arrival early. take post in book shop and browse military field manuals.

1910 hours: make contact with spousal unit. head to mess hall for meal.

1940 hours: depart mess hall for target 2. on the way phone target 1 location to confirm rondevous time.

1950 hours: arrive at target 2. mission failed. team leader relays vital mission information. phone possible target basecamp. target confirms mission and depart for target 1.

2000 hours: arrive at target 1. enemy has constructed elaborate trenches and steer mission slight off course. locals assist in redirection. find target 1.

2015 hours: arrive at target 1. make contact with team leader. mission 1 accomplished. head to target 3 with time ticking.

2045 hours: arrive at target 3. enemies attempt diversion. does not work. connect with team leader. mission accomplished. head back to basecamp.

ACTUAL VERSION

6:00 like totally shower and get dolled up with only the hottest designers touching my hot bod AKA take 10 minute shower, put on yesterday's jeans and sunday's shirt. throw on scarf and blazer and steve madden silver flats recently purchased at TJ Maxx for $20 bucks

6:30 head to Matt's work

6:40 arrive early? whatever! read Sex & the City book 'til my Baldwin can take a break.

7:10 Matt and I eat dinner at Rubio's. I try to Enchilada plate for the first time, not bad at all.

7:40 Head to Brea Mall but decide to see if Best Buy, which is on the way, has Hellboy video game Matt wants so I can buy it and surprise him. On the way I call to make sure Best Buy will still be open.

7:50 Best Buy does not have the game. The employee informs me that the Yorba Linda store allegedly has two copies. I head to the Brea Mall and phone the Yorba Linda store to confirm they have the game. They do and put it on hold under my name and am reminded that the store closes at 9pm.

8:00 Instead of phoning ahead like I should have to the Potterybarn to find out where they are in the mall I just park near the Macy's and like a dumbbutt have no idea where the mall is in relation to the Macy's so I ask a few employees how to get out of their dang store and then head to the Potterybarn.

8:15 Arrive at Potterybarn and do a little bit of browsing but then ask an employee to pull the already held lemon tree under my name and she emerges with the little tree. I pay for it and furiously type in my phone to get the driving directions to the Yorba Linda store. It's 14 miles away but I love Matt and I will drive there so he can feel good that we only paid $10 for a video game. Plus, its 8:15 so I have to book it and on the way remind myself of all the stupid PA missions I've been sent on where time was ticking and I never once failed and figure if I can do it for work, I can do it for the man I love.

8:45 Huzzah! Arrive at the most remote motherpucking Best Buy in the history of Southern California. The customer service line, where the security guy has informed me is where I pick up something reserved under my name, is remarkably empty, just one couple in front of me. This won't take long I figure. WRONG. It takes like a million hours, or like 5 minutes and then finally I get my hands on the video game and pay for it. Since I had time to spare, I wander the Playstation aisle to see if any games are worth getting for Matt that he had wanted. None to be seen though the $10 Bolt game sounds like it might be worth it? Decide not to go nuts. Walk out to the sprinkly sky with game and head home.

Missions Accomplished.

she didn't say yes

I'm reading "Columbine" by Dave Cullen right now. Its been ten years since the shootings happened in Littleton. I was a junior in high school and remember hearing about it here and there and wondering what it was that made those kids do what they did, something I know we still ask ourselves to this day and will continue to wonder for years to come.

Cullen does a good job of giving you detailed background information of the chaos that was the Columbine shooting, particularly the media aftermath and the officials who botched up the information being given to the hounds. They are not all painted so favorably, particularly the local law enforcement officials who are portrayed as blabbering dunces once a camera rolls.

Thirteen kids died. Fifteen if you include the killers. That was the real tragedy. But it seems like the press did its best to just bring the worst out of people. The part that just kills me is the story of the girl Cassie Bernall. The one who allegedly spoke up for God when faced with a gun. Its been confirmed by witnesses now that she didn't say anything. That question was posed "Do you believe in God?" but it wasn't her that affirmed it, it was another girl, one who lived! It was horrible that Cassie died from a shot to the face, just horrible. And with all the grief and confusion, people cast their crowns on the wrong throne.

We wanted so badly to get something good out of it. To tell Satan that you could kill our children but you couldn't take our faith. Somehow they forgot that their faith was supposed to be in God, in Christ and not some girl who they thought was a martyr.

It bothers me. Knowing that it was falsley attributed to someone, that it's a LIE. That we used that story to bring people to Christ, I wish so much they came to him and that the story of a man dying on a cross for our sins was enough to bring them in, not the made up story of a girl who supposedly said yes. And reminder Evelyn, the real tragedy is the death of all those kids, who cares if we're living a lie? Who cares if we make ourselves believe things that aren't true.

Do you care?

I wish I didn't care so much about that lie.

I wish she had lived.

I wish none of those kids had to die.

moooving

I think I neglected to mention on this here blog that Matt & I are moving. Back to Los Angeles County and once again to La Mirada. We've both been residents of Biola and therefore La Mirada and Matt has actually had a few residences in La Mirada, three I think. I'm VERY excited because we're moving into a house with four rooms and three baths and a garage and a laundry nook and we can get a dog.

More details to come...

an actually fun run

Its been awhile since I actually ran on a treadmill. I've been using the Wii Fit bi-weekly but this morning, yes a Saturday morning, I thought I'd try a little run... slow one and short one because it takes me awhile to adjust to any activity since I'm so out of shape. This was my playlist....

First you start with "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West so you can walk and warm up. Its a spiritual song actually when you listen to it. "I wanna talk to God but I'm afraid 'cause we ain't spoke in so long" stuff like that so you do a little warming, a little thinking about Jesus and the tune is sort of an army march so you picture yourself as a soldier marching, warming up.

Then "King without a Crown" by Matisyahu, another spiritual song. My playlist was set alphabetically so it was just the next one and I was very happy because it kept the worship going. Start spiritual.

Then "SOS" by Rhianna. This is when you move the speed up a little because its just a girly pop dance song. If at some point you start posing, that's perfectly normal.

After that should probably have been "Gimme More" by Britney Spears. Its the only song of hers that I have and its only for the purpose of pretending you're at a dance club while actually on a treadmill.

Then you start getting serious with "Gonna Fly Now" the Rocky theme. The duration of the song you must have your arms up in boxer position and throwing punches at the air. You are Rocky and you just climbed the steps of the Philadelphia museum of art (or whatever it is) please lift your arms triumphantly in the air cause you did it and throw a few more hard punches before...

"Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina & the Waves will make you want to jump around happily. Try to control yourself and keep running but keep a big ole smile on your face cause you're running on sunshine. A couple of boisterous head boppings are not only acceptable, they're necessary.

So now you're feeling "Hella good" as No Doubt you know. This one brings your fast run a notch down, maybe half a speed. And you'll be feeling like you have to...

bring "Sexyback" yeah! Them other effers don't know how to run, yeah! This one is more of an either slow run or fast walk cause now you've been running for about 20 minutes and its time to bring it down a little with JT.

If you want to keep the slow run/fast walk up then you add a some more "Yeah" Usher, Usher. Feel free to out loud sing "YEAH!" cause you feel good.

Or you skip to bring to the boys to the yard with your "Milk Shake." Which you only do long enough to shake that milkshake (your hips). This is essential. Shake them exaggeratedly side to side while continuing to run. I can't tell you how good it feels on my hip since I have hip problems and the extra movement to them is like shooting them an asprin. So let Kelis sing for like a minute, then...

my brethren "Touch the Sky". Also by Kanye. The song speaks of how he's come from nothing to something which is an inspiring story to end a run on. Now its imperative you take this song seriously because you gotta start crip walking. You know that gangsta walk/dance? That gangsta lean walk? I promise you will feel both ridiculous and awesome especially if you are under the belief that no one is watching you and you are not in Inglewood. Let the song take you over because you just accomplished something that should fill you with pride which Kanye has plenty of.

So that was my fun run. Ipods have really changed how people workout because it makes it fun and varied. I don't keep a consistent speed when I do it, I change it up depending on the song on my workout mix if its a hard rock song I book it, if its a latin one I may swing a little.

I hope this was a good start to a continued morning tradition.

out of the way you!

One of Matt and my's favorite Simpsons episode is "Lisa the Vegetarian" because well, we are. I found an image that reminded me of why it was a little lamb that converted Lisa....
AWWW.....

before & after

I had a thought as I drove myself to Aaron's goodbye party in North Hollywood. Women, when getting dressed for a night out embody a before & an after. If you were to see pictures of the same woman on the very same night, it would be like watching a makeover reality show, an ambush makeover small scale.

One of the greatest films as voted by the a female gender is Pretty Woman. Why? Because of the makeover. Homegirl goes from hooker to classy date of millionaire. And while it isn't THAT impressive that 20 year old Julia Roberts with .005% body fat looks SMOKING hot as both hooker and classy date its the fact that she wasn't wanted, she was out of place that breaks our hearts. Those hos in that fancy Beverly Hills shop were so mean, "Its very expensive, you can't afford it" "You obviously don't belong here" "Please leave" and Julia leaves, hurt, I mean, she is a hooker, but she's not made of rubber, she cries with the hotel manager later, classy little sniffles as she hands him all the money she couldn't spend. So he pulls some strings and then later, Richard Gere pulls even more strings and gives her that fantasy shopping spree with that really profane or offensive amounts of money spent and girls shoving outfits in her hands as that Roy Orbison classic pipes. "Pretty woman give your smile to meeee...eeee."

Same makeover thing happens to Annie in "Devil Wears Prada" except the awesome song appears at the beginning in the sequence of beautiful girls, no, clackers, getting themselves beautified "Suddenly I See." And when she comes back and she's wearing those Chanel boots and even supermodel Giselle Bundchen tells her she looks good, you know that Annie is in and the montage of awesome outfits she wears continues.

But underneath, its not that she was ugly before and its not that she really needed it but it helped her move forward, it was a make better, not a make over. Julia Roberts can't really look ugly, it was just an improvement, finding something beautiful that can be unearthed and look ravishing in red and diamonds.

That's why the getting ready to go out must be done with a mix of songs that include "Pretty Woman" because we know we are that woman. All we need is a little mascara and some boots. We are the after.

three

Three away from thirty... (thanks Wii Fit for remembering my birthday, not that you're not a computer and totally programmed to remember)

adela

My aunt Adela died yesterday of pneumonia. She was #4 of 10 children and one of my mom's big sisters. She is survived by her son, two daughters, son in-law, and four grandchildren.

My family is amazing. Losing one of our own just hurts so bad but I know, my amazing family will pull each other through this and make each other laugh.

It shouldn't take a funeral to make you visit your family, this I know.

exactly

I watch a lot of DVD special features and the thing that kills me is when an actor describes his director as someone that knows "exactly what he wants."

To me, this just seems like a redundant compliment. The director is the one that, surprise, directs the film to the minutia of details and ultimately responsible for everything on the film from the titles down to the the film score. Yes, its a collaborative effort 100% but he is the one that artistically guides it.

Therefore, he should know exactly what he wants, its HIS JOB!

need a ride

As I was driving home today, thinking about how some people in Los Angeles just had the knack for driving in Los Angeles, I remembered a fantastic fact. I have a driver's license and a car.

Driving is taken for granted unless you were a girl that learned to drive in her 20s. The decades of being driven around still ring in our minds. Public transporation. Mercy of family & friends. I used to have to get rides to go everywhere. When a friend finally got a car, it was a joyous day not just for him but for all his bestes. I remember Alex driving Nancy & I around all over the greater Los Angeles area, the three of us living in completely different areas, moms dropping someone off at another's just so Alex wouldn't have to make two stops. I owe that guy some gas money I think.

Nowadays it doesn't pain me to give someone a ride because I remember when I didn't have a car and vowed that if I ever had a car, I would help out anyone I could. So if you ever need a ride, don't hesitate to call my cab company. It'll just cost you a good story.

new year new yellow

The yellow frames from Target I got for Christmas, well I wanted more of them. Luckily they were deeply discounted at 2.48 and I got myself two cute yellow ones. Then I moved a mirror around from the entry way and rearranged some stuff at the top of the entertaining expedit and this is what the top of it looks like without Christmas decorations:This blog is focusing a lot on the decorating, I think its because that's my hobby as of late and I can understand it being really boring to some people like how I feel when one of my favorite decorating chicks gets knocked up. They turn into these dull vanilla wafers that only want to talk about the child even when they write about something else you can almost sense the restraint because they really want to use the word baby in the post.

UPDATE: I started a decorating, cooking, and entertaining specific blog: http://evyathome.blogspot.com/ Go live in peace...