I'm in love!!!

Yeah yeah... Whateley... vows...'til death... whatever. No... I mean, sitting in front of me is a thing of beauty, a sight to behold, something that stirs love in even the coldest of hearts.

Yes, it's a new widescreen LCD monitor. *love ya!

My old monitor had gone fuzzy. Literally. I kept having hard time reading the text in WoW, and I thought, boy these designers sure picked an illegible font! Whereupon Whateley pointed out that it was perfectly clear on his monitor. Which then made me realize that things are not suppose to appear that fuzzy on a monitor.

So... I got a brand new monitor (it's so beautitful!) that's making Whateley green with envy. But per my suggestion, he's going to wait a month for his birthday and he can ask for gift cards to help pay for it. And let me just say, God bless gift cards!

It was a pretty good Christmas. It was weird going from Whateley's family Christmas in the morning (10 people total, including us!) to my family's Christmas, where it was three or four times that number. And that's sort of a low turnout this year. And we were the youngest people at his family gathering, but there were kids galore at mine.

My blog, my rules:

1. I don't respond to stupidity and name-calling.

2. Neither does Whateley.

Don't make me take further actions to stop your annoyance, Anonymous.

Can I get an amen from the regular readers (who don't post comments anonymously for one)? I mean, why is an anonymous troll criticizing my values on my blog? I wonder if s/he'd criticize me if I said work is my life and I value that and money above all else, including my family.

Geez. The least s/he could do was leave me a fake name or something. Not hide behind the Internet.

Audience + Anonymity = Stupidity (in exponential factors)

Ooh, flame war. Or is it Troll Wars: the Last Dope. The second poster, my the way, was Whateley and I have no idea why he posted as anonymous.

Anyway, I'm not sure what the first commenter was talking about, but he was rather snarky like I was whining about money. First of all, it's my blog, I can whine if I want to. Second of all, I'm not destitute. Hell, I'm not even in the working class any more, we're lower-middle-class! Almost.

Thirdly, and most importantly, who the hell do you think you are Mr./Ms. High-and-Mighty? Yes, I care about money, but y'know what I figured out? Money sucks if you don't have the time to spend it. And I don't mean waste it. Spend it. Because while two extra hours per day for an entire week may be nothing to you, it's 10-extra hours spent stuck at work when I could be out enjoying the rest of my life. A day has 24 hrs. You spend 8 hours sleeping, a half hour getting ready in the morning (skipping breakfast) and a half hour getting ready for bed each night, 1 hour commute (there and back... and we're the lucky ones!), 10 hours of work and 1 hour for lunch, and you're left with 3 hours, one of which will be spent on cooking/eating/cleaning up after dinner, and that's only if you go for something ridiculously simple (like boil some pasta, throw some sauce from a jar on it), and then you're left with 2 hours... two precious hours to do what you want to do for fun. And if you need at least a half hour of TV to wind down at night? Or heaven forbid you have to stop by the market?

Then there's Whateley's and my favorite pasttime (you know what I'm referring to) where to even sign up for a battleground you have to wait over an hour.

So let me ask you this, Mr./Ms. Anonymous, how worth it is that 2 hours of overtime pay, huh? Especially when you stretch that out to every day, 5 days a week, for 4 weeks straight (which it might end up being, like last time). How much is your free time worth to you? Cuz to me? It's worth a lot more than time-and-a-half.

Not to mention it doesn't give us time to go to the gym and my ass is starting to spread.

Two hours overtime today... and I think we'll be getting two hours every day for the coming week. Erg.

I remember when Whateley was going through a solid month of overtime in the summer. It sucked. Hopefully, it'll be better this time around cuz we're actually working together at least.

Christmas season is here! And so comes the gift-buying. Erg. Before, I would save up all my Discovercard cash back bonuses and turn them into Borders gift cards and then wait for Whateley's 40% off employee appreciation weekend to buy gifts. Pretty much, I'd end up only spending about $25 to $40 on top of that for all my gifts and I wouldn't feel any of the pinch come January. But now I've got in-laws to add to the mix. And Whately and I are no longer working for Borders. So while we may make more money now, we will end up spending more money on gifts for Christmas. D'oh.

That and I don't have any Borders gift cards from Discover for awhile cuz I took 'em out early and used them for a last-week spending spree at Borders during my... well, last week of working there. I talked about staying contingent there to keep the discount, until the manager told me I'd only get the discount on the days that I'd work there... and frankly, there's no way in hell I'd work a shift there, even a short one, after a 9-hr work day (minus lunch), and there's no way in hell I'd give up hours in my precious, precious weekends to work a shift. Sooo... the point is moot. I ain't gonna be a contingent, so no discount for me. (Or for Whateley, as spouses can get the employee discount also.)

So what do I want for Christmas? Well, I put these on my list for Christmas (which I have a slim chance of getting since it'd be pretty pricey): a flat-screen monitor (17" or bigger), a digital camera, and a Nintendo Wii remote and nunchuk controller, so Whateley and I can play Wii sports tennis together. If I don't end up getting the monitor for Christmas, I think I'd end up getting it myself since my monitor is crapping out on me. For the longest time I thought my eyes were going.

I think a lot of people will be getting gift cards this Christmas. Oh well, sometimes that's the best gift of all, a free shopping trip (except for the gas and maintenence on your car).

So... more work news: Work is getting better and I'm definitely getting used to the job and the various co-workers I'm surrounded by. Whateley and I are now on the same shift, so our schedules sync. I'm almost waiting for the axe to fall... like there's no way a husband and wife can be together 24/7 and not want to kill each other at the end of the week. But then, we are newlyweds. Maybe that will come later.

In other news, we're both sick. In fact, everyone on our team seems to be sick, and half the company seems sick. I think one person brought the germ... and it spread is apocalypse over all of us. We even left early on Wednesday but worked on Thursday (unfortunately, being newbies, we didn't get Thanksgiving off) because I don't think they would've let us call in to begin with, but then we both called out Friday, and Whateley called out today but I went into work half-miserable. That's the sad status of a temp worker. When I take sick days, they're unpaid. What sucks is that they had a health fare a couple of weeks ago, where the real employees (the non-temp-through-staffing-agency people) got free flu shots. Well, Whateley didn't go because he forgot, and our roommate went and didn't get the flu shot cuz he's convinced flu shots make you sick. So poor me, someone who actually went and paid for flu shots last year, who actually would jump at the chance for a flu shot, didn't get one, while two other people around me who could didn't. Where's the justice in this world?

So forgive my I'm-in-pain-and-I-feel-like-I'm-dying tone of this entry. But my friggin' stomach muscles are sore from my coughing, and now they feel like they're burning. Or it might be something I ate. Or didn't eat. Did I mention I'm having a hard time eating yet I'm always hungry?

The problem with a customer service job is this: You don't need a degree to get one.

Heck, even a friend of ours who's basically a high school drop-out (w/ no GED, even) managed to get a job there (though he quit after two days).

So basically, a lot of my co-workers are very young, and it's their first or even second full-time job, and some are even going through college at the same time. So basically, what happens when you're surrounded by all that youth? Well, it's a fun environment where everybody has shared interests. But... it also means that many of them have very little experience in the corporate environment. And the only one they can compare it to is school and parents. Now, that's usually not an issue, except that some of the people in managerial positions have never dealt with corporate leadership before. All they know of is teacher/parent leadership... where you're the disciplinarian, the evil watchful eye, and you're basically there to tell people what to do and to catch them doing something bad.

But anyone's that's ever worked for a corporation knows that when your employees are treated like children, morale and productivity will drop. And if people don't feel like they're part of the company, and they're just there to pass the time so they'll get paid... well, it'll end up costing the company more money and it won't have a chance to grow.

I guess part of the problem is that since so many of these people are young, there are people that don't take their job seriously, who will skip and be late like they were at school, and who do need to be told what to do or else they won't work (heck, that's what working retail's like). But it seems insulting to the rest of us who do know how to work but are being treated like children.
I'm just venting. It's not as bad as I'm making it sound. It's more of the extreme that I'm describing. And maybe I'm pissy that I'm older than 80% of the department. (An estimate.) (Maybe even an exaggeration.)

Work's been good so far. Whateley and I are dealing with having different days off and having a two-hour shift differential while he tries to move into mine. But then he applied for the Billing department, the same one that called me three days into training at my current position at Customer Service. And because of that, they won't hire me into that department until I can become permanent at my current position and get the recommendation of my supervisor. And most likely, Whateley will be able to get into Billing cuz he actually is permanent, and he will take the job cuz it pays just a little bit more.

Do you see the irony here? If I could've not started training until a few days later, then when I got the call from Billing, I could've taken the interview and possibly the job. And then Whateley would be able to transfer over. Instead, because of those three little days, I now have to wait at least three months to even make permanent (through an agreement they made with the staffing company) and most people don't even get it 'til 4 or 5 months. So instead of Whateley and I having the same schedule by next month, we'll have it by next spring. Sigh. It's stupid cuz if I were to quit and apply to Billing, they probably wouldn't hire me cuz I quit my last job after only two weeks... and it's the same company!

Maybe it's the cosmos telling me not to get too complacent at my current position and to work on getting an artistic position instead.

My first day as a non-trainee. It went well, though I learned now that I get tired about mid-way, and while one cup of coffee does wonders, a second cup will make me jittery and nauseous. Who knew, huh? I mean, I used to have two to three drinks per shift at Starbucks.

I called my mom today after ignoring several voicemails. I don't really mean to, but often times I don't even check my voicemail until well after midnight, so I couldn't call them right away, and then of course I'd forget the next day. Anyway, it's always hard talking to my mom since she's convinced I've thrown my life away. I can't even explain to her where I'm working now cuz I just don't have the vocabulary. To her, all she knows is that I'm working the swing shift with non-traditional days off. She kept mentioning how she wished I'd go study something useful and get a good job. I can't explain to her that I'm hoping this job will lead me to the artistic job that I want. Sigh.

Anyway, in other stories, I just gave Compassion International $18 for a Christmas gift for my sponsored kid. Sigh.... I don't know how to feel about this. I sponsored this kid sort of as a whim. More like, I was considering it, it was the big thing at church when I was college, and I had plenty of money from my scholarship and my overpaid campus gig. But then college ended, I was struggling for money, I was working crap retail jobs, and I was barely scraping by. But I couldn't justify cutting $28 a month out of my budget because while I coulda used the money, I wasn't in desperate need of the money. And meanwhile, I hooked up with Whateley, moved in, and his and my income combined covered our expenses, so again, while I coulda used the money, I wasn't so desperate. Now, now that I've got a full-time job, I'm not in school, and we're on our way to saving up for place of our own... well, we can afford that donation, though, like I said, I could always use the money since I'm not making a lot of money. (I'd say we're on our way to becoming lower middle-class.)

Am I a horrible person? I've been feeling so guilty I can't get myself to open his letters, nor write to him much. And this poor kid is caught in this weird psychological web I've entrapped myself in. But I feel so guilty cuz I've been this kid's sponsor for over 5 years now, and I don't want to drop him as a sponsor since older kids have a harder time finding sponsors. Yet, it seems cruel to be a sponsor for him 'til he turns 18 and barely communicate for the entirety of his childhood. Okay, I just requested that they assign a correspondent for him. I'm so weak. :(

Anyway, Happy Halloween, everyone. And if you object to Halloween, then Happy Hallow's End! And if you don't know what that means... go play WoW!

Training is over! My new work schedule is this: 1pm to 10pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

Unless, of course, I get to transfer to the Billing Department... which would mean a traditional 9 to 6 with weekends off. It's a long story.

Until then, I can totally hang with y'all now... on Sundays! Or Mondays if you don't work. Or at night after 10:30. No, not before 1. I will probably be waking up at noon most of the time.

What's the talk about? Life is a series of ups and downs, but essentially, every day is the same. This past week was my first week of training at my new job. So far so good, though there were parts when I thought I am going to be stuck in that temp status forever. I mean, Whateley made permanent in just 4 months, they say the average is about 6 months, but meanwhile, I'm technically not an employee of theirs, I'm an employee of the staffing agency, so if I want to move betwen departments and whatnot, I think I'm at the mercy of the staffing company. Sigh. Anyway, maybe it's just the trainer talking since he doesn't want to make any empty promises, but it is discouraging to hear that we have to work extra hard and achieve the same goals as the highest achieving permanent-employee to even get permanent status. Maybe he's just trying to encourage us to set high goals and the-reach-for-the-stars-crap, but I feel like I'm not in control of my life (yeah, right, like who doesn't?) and it doesn't help when I know what I want but I can't find the path to get there, and what's worse, I can see a faint path, but I ain't no friggin' Aragorn, so I might just end up getting lost instead.

So... there ya go, my whine of the week.

My last day at Borders was uneventful. Given that I gave them basically a one-week notice, I should hardly expect anything else. I thought about staying on as "contingent" status (where you basically work one shift every month or two, and they call you for emergencies) but I'm going to be working full-time, so hardly think I'll want to work even just 4 more hours on a work day or even on my day off. That and I couldn't buy anything with my discount except on the days I'd work. So... nope, no contigency. I bought a whole mess of books, mostly for Whateley, though I did get a Thomas Guide so I won't have to keep getting lost while driving, and I forgot to stock up on my Burt's Bees. Dang it. I really like their chapstick and lip shimmer. I like the minty tingle. Oh well, that means I'd have to pay $4 for the lip shimmer, rather than $3. Oh well. Considering that I'd be making way more money, I don't think that extra dollar should make a difference.

I also discovered a little piece of heaven today, called The Container Store. I've kinda got this weird thing with boxes and shelves and organizers... it's sick. Funny, how I'm a messy person, but I like having things to organize my stuff. I try to keep organized... mostly due to years of searching around for stuff that I know exists in my room but was hiding from my presence. Whateley, it seems, haven't had the same frustrations. But then, I know he get plenty mad when he's running late and can't find stuff. I didn't go crazy and buy a lot of stuff. I couldn't afford to, first of all, and we didn't have to room for it. Though, perhaps if I had it my way, the walls would be covered in shelving or something.

Soo... if I've totally girly-fied myself here, I apologize. In my next few entries, I promise to talk about WoW or job-sitch or just rant about the stupidity of something.

A few things to blog about tonight:

Costa Mesa, why you gotta be so confusin'? I mean, when I see a street go north, I expect to continue going north as much as possible. And when I pass by something on the freeway, then I expect that if I get off on the next exit and head back towards that, then I would eventually hit it. But no, Costa Mesa, you gotta be all "special" and have streets that don't connect, freeway on-ramps for one direction but not the other, and no clear signs indicating where the freeway entrances are. Why you gotta be like that? All the other cities follow order, grid systems, etc. I know you march to the beat of your own drum... but don't you see, you're just making people frustrated. They start yelling in their cars at everything. It just ain't good.

In other news, I got a job! A different job than the cafe at Borders. Pays more. Full-time. Artistic? Nope. Nada. Zip. But they do have an art department... so I'll just have to see if I can get in. It's actually the same job as Whateley's... so we'll see if I can get a similar shift so we can carpool.

And I had dinner with Bluesky tonight. It was good to see her. It's only the second time she's come over to my place, though I've been to her place dozens of times.

Alright, off I go.

Not much news here. No one is commenting, so I'm guessing y'all don't care anyway.

Job search is not going anywhere... but there might be hope on the horizon. Though, an art job... that might be a little further away.

In WoW news, Ophemia has made Knight-Champion! Which means nothing much, since all you get is a battle standard that gives 15% extra health to all in a 45 yard radius. Just one (or two) more weeks, I can get to Lieutenant Commander, get the rest of the armor set, and not have to PvP again! I mean... I'd do it for fun, of course, but this honor grind sucks. It's not as much fun if it becomes a job.

Sigh.

Yes, I'm beginning my entry with yet another "sigh."

I actually worked out our budget and figured out that Whateley and I are living paycheck-to-paycheck... on mostly Whateley's paycheck. That sucks. We're living pretty meagerly to begin with, but if we want to buy a place of our own (and raise a family one day) then I'm going to have to earn more money. Sigh.

I don't have much options. I could:

1) ask for more hours at the bookstore -- which I loathe to do since I hate retail and the thought of doing 20 more hours of it just sucks
2) get a full-time office job through a temp agency -- which I really don't want to do for many reasons, one being that I've had a job like that and it's a soul-sucking experience that leaves no time and energy for art, and two being that then my hours would completely not mesh with Whateley's and we would not ever see each other
3) get a full-time job as an animator/ tracker/ 3d-generalist/ some-entry-level-schmo-in-an-effects-or-game-studio -- which would be ideal... but I don't know when that will happen and I can't shake my stupid unmotivation and I can't seem to get my act together

Sigh.

"Be Easy" by Young Hot Rod. That's the video I worked on. I was looking for it for the longest time, and I couldn't find it, and then I realized it's because G-Unit is the name of the record label (or else it's the name of the group but the songs are by individual people), and so I did a search of the name of the song.

Anyway, I did the tracking for a number of those shots... but you can't really tell cuz the cuts are so damn short, and also they cropped a lot of the shots in close. But it's cool recognizing the footage (and realizing the shots I did were the "tame" ones). There's this really tough shot near the end where Young Hot Rod is walking funky and then he comes in close to the camera and they edited it so that it pulsed with the beat. Well... that shot was a bitch of a shot. I got done with all my work a couple of hours early on that third day, and I spent the last two hours working on that shot... and I just couldn't track that shot once he got close to the camera. Dang director. Didn't he realize he should've made him do it farther away so you could cut in close later? But I think Young Hot Rod liked the idea of strutting right up to the camera. Nevermind the hassle it was for the post people.

So... um... just waiting for my check and footage from the studio now....

This past "weekend" (which in our case is Tue-Wed) was great. We didn't play any WoW, I cleaned and vaccuumed our room (which hadn't been done in months) , and basically we had a weekend of lots of snuggling and being together non-stop. Sooo... when's the honeymoon suppose to end?

The most satisfying thing, sad to say, was getting our room clean. We had a pile of stuff on our floor that hadn't moved in months (case in point, it contained a bag with a pair of jeans, socks, and underwear... that Whateley took with him to Vegas last March when we went scouting for chapels). Yeah... we don't clean much. The pile of dust in the vaccuum cleaner was mighty. I found our wedding paperwork, and promptly realized that we now have two (not one, but two!) copies each of our wedding certificate and wedding license (cuz we got a copy when we got the license and I just sent away for one), which means that I can go to the Social Security office again and change my name. Finally.

Alright, back to procrastinating.

So I'm on the "honor grind" in WoW... and I don't know... I feel a bit guilty about it. Like, I shouldn't have the time to do this, but I am... which means that I'm neglecting something else. Which I am. For one, I have to mail a letter or call the Las Vegas Marriage License Bureau to get a copy of our marriage license so I can change my name. Two, I've got to call a company and complain that when I tried to cash in my gift certificate, they refused... which is against California law! Three... well, I'm sure you all know what #3 is.

Sigh.

I can't respond to any comments because something's wrong with blogspot.com and my blog is not coming up. So I'm sure people won't be able to read this blog until that gets fixed anyway.

Vegas was fun... though Whateley and I decided we are Vegas-ed out for the moment. We need to give that city another year for everything to reset and for old things to become new again. Besides, how much money can you shovel into Megabucks with nary a multi-million-dollar-jackpot before you give up?

We stayed at the Hilton so that we could stagger up to our room after getting drunk at the Trek bar instead of having to sober up to drive afterwards. But then we had the dinner buffet not too long before the Trek bar, so we didn't get drunk. Damn. And our room sucked. The view was nice (who knew there was a giant golf course beside the Strip?), but our bathtub drain was really slow.... and they didn't do anything to fix that while we were there. Nuth-thing. So the Hilton -- not a great hotel. In fact, the only reason to stay there is if you're attending a convention in their convention center. While we were there, they had the "Alien Encounters Convention." Sweeeeeet.

Anyway, that little trip ended up costing us about what I made on the freelance job, but then Whateley used a floating holiday... so money-wise, we're at what we'd have been at had I not had that freelance job and Whateley didn't have a floating. Dead even?

Speaking of money, I have the opportunity to move out of the cafe into selling books. The pay would be the same (I think... it's all kinds of hazy about exactly when I'm suppose to get a raise) but I wouldn't get tips. But on the other hand, I wouldn't have to deal with all the stupid people who come in and order Frappuccinos. I used to think that was funny when Whateley complained about that years ago. Back then, I was working for Dr. Evil's Evil Empire, so I was used to making Frappuccinos. But now, it's just damn annoying. I mean, Starbucks isn't the only frickin' coffeeshop in the whole world. Geez, all it takes is looking at our frickin' aprons, or the millions of Seattle's Best signs frickin' everywhere. Now, if you came in and asked if we had something similar to a Frappuccino, I don't mind. But frickin-a, don't just waltz in and order a frickin' Frappuccino! When a lady ordered a "tall soy latte" today, I felt like saying, "so you want a large soy latte? Okay!" Then have her stammer out, no, I said tall, and I'd say, yeah, tall, as in large, right, cuz we only have small, medium, and large here, like normal coffee shops.

But no... I'm too nice... or more like, too chicken to put a customer in their place like that, cuz I'm too ingrained in the "treat the customers right" mentality that I've been brainwashed with. Not to mention, if they complain, I could get fired.

People, PEOPLE!!! Don't be that person! Don't be that stupid customer that orders whatever without even checking to see if they have that item in the first place! Don't be that stupid customer who assume every coffeeshop is a Starbucks! Above all, DON'T BE A STUPID CUSTOMER!!!!!

Whateley and I will be gone for the next three days, re-living our wedding day at Las Vegas. Well... more like... the hotels are really cheap right now!

Please feel free to leave us good messages, and if we don't come back, it's because we won the Megabucks and we decided to take off for a trip around the world. Or something like that.

I got thiiiiiiiiiiis close to gaining the rank of Knight Lieutenant. Darn it.

Now that my internship's over, I now have no more excuses about finding a full-time job or at least preparing myself for a full-time job. Whateley's threatening to take the coaxial cables with him when he leaves for work so that TV won't be a temptation for me. And while I do have to agree that it is a major temptation, especially with TiVo, I'm not someone with absolutely no self-control that I can't tear myself away from the TV. No, I've got other issues, and TV is only a symptom.

My biggest, stupidest issue, I'm afraid, is that I know that it'll take a lot of hard work to succeed in this business, and even then I might still fail, so a part of me is afraid of working hard only to have it lead to nowhere. But there's the stupidity of it. If I don't work hard, then I'm guaranteed to fail. So I swear, I need to give myself a Tony-Robbins-pep-talk everyday just to remind myself that I am dooming myself to failure by not working hard.

What can I say, self-motivation has always been hard for me. It's been a little more successful if I have an outside influence telling me what to do. But that has its drawbacks because what they want me to do (e.g. a teacher) isn't necessarily what I need to do, and in the end, when the outside influence is gone, I'm still left with low self-motivation.

And I know how to solve my problems, I do! I just have to do stuff. Plain and simple.


On a diffent note, last Tuesday Whateley and I went to The Stinking Rose in Beverly Hills. I didn't think it was possible, but I think I had too much garlic in one sitting. I remember wanting to go when I was in Berkeley, but never got a chance to. It was fun. Perhaps after we've recovered, we'll go again. Anyone who's a garlic-lover, though, I totally recommend checking them out. But I'd watch it on the garlic relish at the table. I didn't realize that raw garlic is potent, and my tonsils felt like they were on fire.

Wow, lots of posts this week. I've got a lot on my mind, and it hasn't helped that I haven't had a day off in nine days (and won't for three more days!).

So here I am, sitting in a dark room at Zoic, some people around, and it's basically my last day. I get to come in once more for an evaluation, but that's it. My time here is kaput. It's kinda sad... even though I really won't miss the runs. (I don't mean diarrhea, I mean the delivering.)

What's next? Don't know. Through that friend that got me the freelance gig, he gave me some more work which might not end up paying since they might be impossible-to-track shots, and they pay by the shot, not the hour. But other than that, I'm officially on the prowl for a full-time job. And I'm still trying to get a job at Whateley's company. So far, no word, but then the guy's been on vacation for a week.

================================================================

The thought that's been plagueing my mind lately is whether or not I want to go the freelance route. I mean, if I don't get any more gigs, then my choice is made for me. But I did a pretty good job on that G-Unit stuff, and I've got a good chance that this place will call me again if any more tracking work comes up. And through that friend I've got more leads on possible tracking jobs in the future.

But that's what's annoying. It's all in the future and it's all uncertain. And I'm not even talking about actually getting the job. But whatever the case, if I end up with a job at Whateley's company, I don't want to just quit on them, since they are a major game company and I want to end up in their art department ASAP, and I don't want to ruin my chances with any bad blood. So if I end up working there, I'll be working steadily doing non-artistic but entry-level stuff for a company I want to work for. But if I go the freelance route, I'll be doing actual artistic stuff (stuff I can put on my reel), but I'd have to do temp work (or worse, retail...) in between to keep a cash flow going. It's a risk, a bet, but I have to go one way or the other, because in the world of freelance, you don't get to put in a two week's notice. They call you and you can either do it or not, at the time they want you or not. Like I said, I don't want there to be any bad blood between me and Whateley's company. And quitting in a hurry can create bad blood.

So if the world-wide-web-audience want to chime in an offer some thoughts or suggestions, please go ahead and comment!

Awww, no one but Beno even ventured a guess. Well, it's G-Unit. Who? Apparently it's 50-cent's crew. He even appears in the video, even though I didn't recognize him. The three girls in the video are basically seen sitting or standing next to the guys a bopping. Like... I'm just hanging out, standing around, bopping to the music that this guy is singing right next to me... with two other girls... and we're all wearing sexy little black numbers and showing off our legs.

Anyway, I was thinking as I was working on the shots... do these girls want to be there? I mean, was their goal as they embarked upon their acting/modeling/singing/whatever career was to be a skimpy chick in a hip-hop video? Is it like Kelly Bundy from "Married with Children" who, as she got a job doing modeling or something or other, said, "Next stop, slut in a Bon Jovi video."

On the other hand, these girls get paid hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars per day just to stand around and bop and look pretty, so maybe I should shut up.

I'll post the link once the video's up, but considering that they're shooting Mary J. Blige's segments tomorrow, I doubt it'll be up soon. Maybe two more weeks. Turnaround's quick for a music video.

Soooo friggin' tired... yet very content.

Whateley can attest that I had a long whine session about the state of my lack of career not too long ago. Anyway, I was all set to march into Zoic and quit my internship (it's been 5 months, so technically it's over anyway), and then out of the blue I find two of my friends working there! Well, actually, another friend told me they were, but I hadn't known until the night before.

Anyway, they're doing matchmoving and camera-tracking, which I totally could have done! I just didn't think to ask. Anyway, then one of them (who has been working freelance for about a year now) offers me this freelance gig he had to turn down cuz he was working at Zoic. I'm like, hell yeah! After he gave them my number and then after they called me hours later, I set it up... and I had to call out sick at the cafe... I had my first day on a freelance gig! It's 3D camera tracking, which is basically where you get a footage with a moving camera, and you have to recreate the camera move and environment in a 3D program.

Yeah, it's a short gig, only about three days, but it's my very first paid visual effects job! And does it pay! Considering that they're not paying me that much by industry standards, I'm still making more in three days than I do in one month at the cafe.

It was damn cool. And time does fly by when you're not on your feet all day. Of course, my eyes hurt now, but I think part of that's from the lack of sleep. Let's just say, it's been awhile since I touched that program, there were a lot of things I still didn't know, and spent 4 hours the night before watching tutorials. But I figured it out! I think I actually did some quality work.

So yay me! I'm still uncertain as to the future of my career, but it sure feels good to have some professional work under my belt. I'm not sure if I want to be a freelancer since work is very unsteady now, but with this, it's definitely an option, even with just this tiny studio.

What was I working on? I'll give you a hint: it was a music video with a black guy in a suit, a hip-hop black guy in jeans, sideways cap, a big shirt with a big chain, and three scantily clad women dancing around. Hahahahahaha. Hey, whatever pays the bills, man. I ain't here to judge.

On the salmon note, the salmon burgers says that they're made from "wild alaskan salmon." I'm not sure how much of that is true. But they can't lie on the packaging, right? And we also bought canned salmon. I don't remember what kind of salmon is in it. Sooo... wild salmon... okay to eat more than twice a month?

Speaking of Costco, why do they gotta have such lousy hours?

Back then after I told my parents that Whateley and I were engaged and wanted to tie the knot in Vegas, my mom asked me why I had to get married there, and after I replied it was cheap and easy, she asked why it had to be cheap and easy and why couldn't we wait until our careers had started and we could save up enough money to have a more expensive wedding in SoCal. My response had been, we want to get married now and I didn't want to wait until my career settled.

Good thing I did, actually, since my internship is winding down without a job prospect in sight, and my job search for a foot-in-the-door is not going well. At this rate, if we had waited, we wouldn't have been even able to set a date by now.

(And to make it worse, I wouldn't even qualify for Whateley's health plan that he is now qualified for which will kick in as soon as the higher-ups get around to making up the paperwork.)

So how goes the job search? Crappy. Crappy crappy crappy.

Part of my problem is what Whateley and I discussed briefly today: we are both not willing to sacrifice our time together to focus on our careers. However, I've also realized that we do need to set aside some time at least to focus on it, or else I'll be whining about lack of job prospects for years to come. Anyway, the point is that we both want family to be first. Now, we're not going to squirt out a kid anytime soon, but we both want our careers to be such that when the time comes, we can afford kids and still have time for them.

My other issue is that I'm always frickin' tired. My failed attempt at donating blood last week showed that I was 1% below acceptable iron levels, which is okay but bordering on anemic. My sleep pattern is weird due to our weird schedule, which means that we're going to sleep when the earliest commuters are waking up, and sleeping through most of the morning/early afternoon. And apparently, my being able to sleep like the dead doesn't pass over to Whateley as soon as we got married. So we're always griping about being tired.

(On that iron note, Whateley now thinks I'm crazy and obsessed over raising my iron levels but has consented to buying salmon burgers at Costco, which he has admitted tastes "not fishy." All I can say is, salmon's good for you. Now I'm trying to figure out how to donate blood without driving all over southern California.)

Update: Just got the call. Didn't get the job. I needed more technical experience. Siiiiiiiiiiiigh.

I called, left a message this morning, no word yet. So....

I applied to be the gnome's co-worker today. It would majorly suck if I can't get a job there. And once they get their new building, it might get easier to schmooze with their art department.

It hasn't been too busy at my internship. The kitchen lady (who's more of a kitchen-and-all-around-custodian-lady) didn't come in today, so the receptionists gave me the task to empty out any full waste baskets. I agreed with a smile but fell a little pissy inside. I went up to the other intern (who was next to an artistic supervisor) that I went to 7.5 years of college to take out the trash of a visual effects company. (The artistic supervisor then remarked that he's a community college drop-out. Heh. But he's cool, so that statement was a bit funny.)

Anyway, Whateley called not too long after, so I vented to him, to which he replied, "Why didn't you use that as an excuse to talk to the artists?" I could've killed him. Why? Cuz he was right. (I hate it when he does that.)

I mean, I don't need an excuse to talk to the artists, they know I'm an intern and they fully expect someone like me to talk to them. But here's one thing I found about myself awhile ago. I'm a coward and non-confrontational. And while there's absolutely nothing confrontational about talking to artists, I feel shy. Like I'm bothering them. There's another intern who's so much better at this. His artistic skills are so-so (pretty good but I'm not sure if it's good enough... either that or his reel doesn't really reflect his skillz) but he's so comfortable just approaching people and talking with them. Me? I can fake it. And I can chat very well in a networking/forced-to-socialize setting. But when it comes to talking to people while they work.... Ugh. I had to pick an industry that requires networking like mad.

So in the end, they will take a chance on the gregarious intern with the so-so skills, but I don't think they'll take a chance on an intern whom they've only gotten to know as the delivery girl. Sigh.

I should rename this blog as "Sigh." I seem to do that a lot.

If they said they'd make the decision this week... and it's Friday at 7:24 pm... I'm guessing they won't call... and that means I didn't get the job. :*(

Sigh. Siiiiiiigh. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Crossing my fingers... why won't they call??? And yet, while they don't call, there's still hope....

From what I gather, the #1 reason people quit WoW is because it ends up taking over their lives. I'm trying really hard not to let it, but it's hard when the gnome attains level 60 last night and you feel left behind and you wanna catch up but you don't want to just grind your way to 60....

List of things to do is too great to fathom, but at the moment WoW shouldn't be on that list... except that I really want to sell those swords cuz we have 4 levels to earn 500 more gold so I can buy an epic mount, and the other things on that to-do list are boring or overwhelming, and WoW is so easy to wrap your head around.

Meanwhile, it seems the only artistic things I can do at my internship is light Photoshop work. Sigh....

I wanna talk about someone, and I don't think that someone reads this blog, and I also don't think I'll be running into this someone since it's this someone's last day here.

I delivered some paperwork for "Rita" for her new job as a receptionist (she said "assistant" so that means receptionist / administrative assistant, she said the job duties will be similiar to here, so basically, receptionist) and because I'm a nosy little fart, I took a peek at her paperwork. The reason she took this job was because she'd be getting paid a lot more than she was here. Well, it seemed so, since it'd be in the low 40's. Anyway, also saw her birthdate, and I didn't realize she's older than she looks. She's in the early 30's... barely. I asked her how'd she feel about working at a boring finance company, and she shrugged and said she wanted to save up money so she could go do what she really wanted to do. I asked her what she wanted to do. She said something in the creative field, preferrably fashion. But to get in the fashion world, especially as a non-designer, would require moving up the ranks from grunt-work (much like what I'm doing now) . So I was thinking in the car, I don't know how long she's been a receptionist, but she's been at it for about ten years since graduating college (I assume). And I'm thinking, even if she works at this new place for just a few years to save up money, she'd be near forty before she could begin as a lowly fashion assistant! I don't know how the fashion industry works, but I know age makes a bigger perception in fashion than most other industries, and I would think starting in your late 30's would be a really big drawback. (Unless she saved up every penny and only worked for two more years as a receptionist, and then she'd be in her mid-30's.)

Anyway, I was thinking, it's not like she's trying to start a second career (well, technically, I guess she is, but it's not like she doesn't know what she wants to do, or else she's tried one path and is going to try another). It's more like, she settled for whatever job would pay her the most and put her "passion" on hold. And there's nothing wrong with that. I told an SAT student once that a lot of the career advice out there is: find what you like to do and get someone to pay you for it. But that only works sometimes. I mean, how many people will pay you to play WoW? Well, I suppose you could be a gold farmer, but that's not really playing, it's still work, and besides, it's not honest work. I don't know if it's officially illegal, but you get the idea.

Anyway, the advice I gave him was: Find out what you like to do, and figure out the best way to do as much of it as you can. If you can get paid to do it, great. Otherwise, you'll have to find a job that will let you have enough time and money and energy to do the thing you like to do.

I was making this observation because in terms of Rita, it seems like she would rather have money and comfort than pursuing her "dream." And there's nothing wrong with that, except that if this dream was important enough to her, then instead of spending the last ten years (and the next five) being a receptionist, she should just go and try to be a fashion assistant, while she's still young enough to endure the lack of money and grunt work. I look at my fellow interns here, and we're all young (actually, I think I am the oldest... bleh) and we're all hoping that by the time we're 30, we'll be doing what we want to be doing.

But I'm talking out of my ass, so if anyone has anything to chime in, please do so. I'm sure the gnome will get on my case about how my "pursuit of my dream" is putting us in the poorhouse. Yes, it's been hard, it's been a tough sacrifice, but having worked "a real job" that I hated, I have to keep trying. And I've been fortunate that I've had the chance to "not get a real job" because there are so many out there where that is not an option.

So yes, you can now call me... "Mrs. the Gnome."

This past weekend was a blur and definitely too short.

To recap, on Friday we went to pick up the gnome's tux (and he wouldn't let me see him in it, though if I had, then maybe I would've told him he needed to get a smaller size since all that working out shrank him a bit), got two gigantic bobas, and drove on to Las Vegas. We had sent out our itineraries to all our guests, so we had to stick to it for the most part. After we checked in, we went to the Marriage License Bureau (which is its own building with around 10 windows, all of them busy when we arrived!) and got our marriage license, and then headed to Harrah's for buffet dinner with Bleusky and our roommates. Harrahs is a pretty good buffet, but we went there for lunch last time, so we didn't realize that their dinners were rather expensive. Overpriced, was our opinion. We then hung out our suite (with a jacuzzi!) with Bleusky's traveling companions, our roommates, and some bottles of hard apple cider. Mmmm....

Of course, this being the night before our wedding, we were very chaste... well, "chaste"... oh who are we kidding. But what were we going to do, get separate rooms for the night?

Saturday morning was hectic. We decided to stay at the Luxor for the most part and had breakfast buffet there, joined by my family. It was Whateley's stepmother's idea that we have a "family breakfast" on the morning of the wedding, but they ended up walking around and eating at the MGM. Which, if you think about it, is just a crosswalk and a tram stop away from Luxor, so I don't know why they couldn't just go a little farther. Whateley has theories but I won't list them here. I had to cut out of the breakfast early so I could make it to my hair/make-up appointment. I looked bee-yoo-tee-fool. But it's one of those, well-I-better-for-all-the-money-I-spent-on-it-deals. To put into perspective, the cost of hair and make-up (including tip) was three times what I spent on the dress.

BTW, a note about my dress. I looked damn hot. It was a beautiful dress, with a full skirt and flower detailing, and it was a prom dress. Not only that, I got it at an outlet store, so it was last year's prom dress. (Which might explain why it didn't sell since it looked too much like a wedding dress.) Anyway, the cost of the dress is less than the cost of a rental.

The wedding ceremony was short. REALLY short. There's a reason why I told people to come early, cuz truly it would be one of those blink-and-you'll-miss-it ceremonies. If I had known about the photo package upsell (more on that later) then I wouldn't have upgraded the photos and I would've upgraded the length of the chapel time. Oh well.

Afterwards, we milled around, took pictures, and pretty much everyone headed for the reception while I went back to Bleusky's room to take off my borrowed contacts. Yes, borrowed contacts. Well, it's been years since I've worn contacts, and the soft ones I had had been sitting in the same solution for 3 or 4 years. I was prepared to walk down the aisle with fuzzy vision when Bleusky's friend checked my glasses and said that hers was similar. And darned if they weren't. I was able to see and only get slightly nauseous by the time I took them off. Of course, being nervous about the wedding didn't help.

I tried not to stress out. Weddings can be stressfull enough on their own, so I really tried to keep things simple by having it in Vegas. But I really should've taken my family's lateness into account. They arrived literally five minutes before we had to assemble to walk. And my parents had the flowers. Ugh. And then when my mom got there, the bouquet my aunt made was smaller than the one from Luxor. So I ended up using the one from Luxor. And my dad sat down. Sigh. He's done it once before. We had to call him out to make sure he could walk me down the aisle. What can I say? I looked hot, I was all ready, and I was pacing like mad in the room. It was overwhelming.

I almost broke down during the ceremony, but kept my cool. They hadn't asked us what kind of ceremony we wanted, so they went with the default, which is a civil one. I would've like a slightly more religious one... but it was still nice. So that's the lesson here, I guess. You gotta tell them what you want, and not wait for them to ask.

But we had a good minister. Whateley and I watched some webcam broadcasts of random Vegas weddings, and there were boring ones and obnoxious ones, and ours was very well-spoken and nice.

And our reception totally pwned. The food was really good (too bad I didn't get to finish my plate before the ninja waiters took it away... really, both Bleusky and the bestman were on the watch to make sure this didn't happen), there was plenty of margaritas, and even though there were little snags, all in all, it was great. And our cake rocked. Mmm mmm. Marble with bavarian creme. Mmmmm. We had the leftovers over the next two nights.

That night, I changed into a tank top that looked like my dress, wore the garter over my jeans, kept my veil on, and we went to Quark's Bar at the Star Trek experience at the Hilton. A Klingon woman came by. She was cool. We had 1.5 Borg Spheres. That's a total of 15 shots of alcohol. Between the two of us. It was a fun night. I hope my relatives did too.

Speaking of, dang Koreans and their never-RSVP-ness! We expected 46, when we arrived at the restaurant, there was no table for us! There was a six-seat table meant for the bridal party, and I guess the coordinator didn't bother to tell them that. But... you would think that the people there would think... now where's the bride and groom gonna sit?

Anyway, the total number actually ended up being 50 because a few of my relatives that I didn't expect showed up. When we arrived, we had to kick Whateley's family off the six-seat table and they ended up splitting up and scattering. They had to bring in more chairs, and the only reason 50 people could fit was that Whateley's siblings left early and two of our guests came really really late. Sigh. They say you gotta plan for this... but with it being Vegas and all, I figured they would tell somebody they were coming so that they could coordinate hanging out and hotels and such. Either that, or no one bothered to tell me! I really should've put someone in charge of keeping track of my relatives and put someone else in charge of making sure all the other details got taken care of (like seating for us and such). As it was, I didn't even know that they had a guitarist to come and sing for us. Which was nice. My great-aunt loved singing along with "La Bamba." I can see now why people hire wedding coordinators. Besides arranging the wedding, it's nice to have someone who's official job is to make sure things flow smoothly. But the whole point of a cheap Vegas wedding is no wedding coordinator!

Whateley and I didn't get to relax until we finally went to the Trek bar. He also said that he's glad I won't be stressing out about the wedding anymore. What can I say? I didn't like having to keep track of everything. Whateley didn't understand why I'd get so stressed. But there's a reason why the term "bride-zilla" was coined. Anyway, I was lucky in that there was very little planning involved. But it was a bitch dealing with invitations, RSVPs, confirming details, keeping track of gifts, etc. And I really forgot what a bitch it was dealing with the timeliness of 48 other people, including my habitually-late family.

The next morning, we had brunch at the Flamingo, and it ended up being with a couple of friends who were staying there and Whateley's relatives from Minnesota. We had a good time, and I ate a lot of lox. Mmmmmmmmmmm. We stayed so late that we forgot we had an appointment to look at photos at the chapel. We went there, apologized profusely, and then scheduled an appointment for the next day.

Afterwards, we returned Whateley's tux (there's a Men's Wearhouse there), looked through an EB Games, and then went to take a nap.

We saw Blue Man Group that night, and it was a really good show! Odd, eclectic, and really hard to describe. It's part comedy, part rock and techno, and part performance art. And it's really, really smart.

On Monday, we made sure we made it to the photo meeting at the chapel. More on that later. Then we had Luxor buffet (2-for-1 deal for our suite package), then we wandered around the Strip. We always could never make it past Treasure Island, so this time we parked at the Flamingo and walked north from there. There was a fancy mall we wandered around in, and we even went in search of boba. There was one tea place that had them but ran out. I don't think boba is popular in Vegas, which is weird considering all their Asian visitors. We wandered around the Wynn... and that's a really fancy hotel. Gorgeous. Perhaps a bit too fancy. They have cool sinks. It's actually one big sink (think tilted slab of stone).

BTW, we ended each night with a soak in the jacuzzi of our suite. That was so nice.

We finally checked out Tuesday morning, and we ate at the buffet at Caesar's. It was a bit pricey and there wasn't much selection (they didn't have the massive buffets of the newer hotels), but the food they did have was really good. I had two pieces of hanging skirt steak. I'm not even sure what that is, but it was good.

We got back in good time and dropped off our photos at Costco. (We had a bunch of disposable cameras at each table at the reception.) There was a photo that involved me, a fancy Wynn urinal, and... well, me pretending to be one of those Asian men (who don't just open their fly... if you catch my drift) and that photo was on the top of the pile. I don't think it was suppose to be there. Well... I'm married now, so I guess if the Costco picture guy wants to take a look... well... it's Whateley's problem, not mine. And I'm guessing he doesn't have a problem.

Yeah... we are so made for each other. He suggest something crazy that involves photographic evidence, and I just agree to do it. They don't make that into movies.

The next day, we went over to Whateley's step-grandmother's house and showed her pictures and the video. The video ended with a commercial for the photographers that was as long as the ceremony. I'll be editing that out.

Regarding the photos, we found out why the wedding package was so cheap. For one thing, all the pictures were taken digitally. And secondly, we didn't own the rights to them.

Sucks.

So if we wanted the original digital files, we had to buy the CD, which is basically the rights. And that was pricey. They tried to squeeze us for as much as they could (and gave us a discount on stuff if we'd just purchase other things... let's just say that the total price of the photos was more than the wedding package... which if I had known, I wouldn't have ordered the enlargments to begin with). Anyway, we bought the CD and I'll be Photoshop-ing like crazy to make Whateley not whine about his looks, and they tried to sell us a bad i-Tunes slideshow, and we declined. I think we're going to digitize the video of our ceremony, make a slideshow, and create a way better DVD of our wedding.

Anyway, that means that if you guys would like one of those official photos, we can totally... e-mail you the file and you can make your own damn print.

Okay, so that's my wedding weekend recap. Long entry, I know, but please feel free to add your own comments and share your experiences. And at least acknowledge that 1) the Borg Sphere is one yummy drink, and 2) I looked damn hot that day.

The Day's almost here!

So the gnome and I won't be available for the next few days while we take care of our nuptuals and whatnot. I doubt we'll have internet, so if you absolutely need to contact us, call us. But don't call us... if you know what I mean. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, hubba hubba, a-oooooooooh, *pant *pant)

Meanwhile, if you'd like to leave a comment wishing us luck and all that, please do so!

Islands is dead to me!

Let be back up, so at my wonderful new job at a company I cannot say publicly because they don't want me to. I could insert some cute joke which would allude to where I work, but that maybe asking for trouble as I know they check stuff like this. So for now I will just say that I work at Mooby's. Anyhoo so on my team at Mooby's a guy got promoted to um... head fry chief or something and basically it means I would not be working with him anymore. Now I haven't been there long, however this guy has a strange kinda out there sense of humor that I do... although his is a little more snarky. So we go to "Islands" the burger restraint chain for his last day.

Now when we get there we have this waiter who takes our order. Not really a fan of "Islands" burgers anyway I order a taco, after I order he goes. "Would you like guacamole or sour cream with that?" Now maybe I am a sucker for not reading the menu correctly but since he put it like that I automatically assumed it just came with it. But when I get the check, and look at the menu again, sour cream or guacamole costs $1.95..... ONE DOLLAR AND NINETY FIVE FREAKING CENTS for a little stupid side scoop of Guacamole! Seriously people it was about the size of a golf ball. As I said maybe I am a sucker for not reading more carefully, however the way this stupid jackhole waiter presented the sour cream and guacamole to us it SOUNDED as if it came with the stupid tacos which already cost $8.00. So if that is the kind of business Islands wants to do, they can just go ahead and do it without me!

So now Islands is dead to me, and I encourage you to not eat there as well, because they are a bunch of stupid jackholes!

Interestingly enough, I've had someone today tell me I need to make the push for work at Zoic (someone who actually works here) rather than let them take advantage of me and use me only for runs. It's for their benefit, too, but they won't take a chance on you unless you've got the confidence (or arrogance) to convince them you can do the work.

Hmmm....

Can't think right now. It's been a bitchy day, and all I can think about is the wedding. Well, that and floundering career prospects. Last week as a legally single woman!

This other intern was working on a compositing piece for a new show. Sooo jealous. Well... she had to do it on her off time cuz during her internship days she's too busy doing runs and fetching food... so that part sucks, but... damn, she's going to have a professional piece for her reel! Sigh. I think I need to push for stuff for me. The main problem is that I'm more 3d than 2d, and there's a lot more 2d work. Sigh....

A week left! So yeah, my excuse for not working on my reel: too busy with the wedding, which is a big fat lie. Most things are taken care of. I got my hair done on Tuesday (looks fab, darling!), all my clothes are set, flowers are taken care of, Whateley's stepmom is throwing herself into reception details (hey, if she likes it, why stop her?), we've got a guest list, itineraries have been sent out, and I think everyone's ready for some fun time. The only thing on my mind nowadays is how to take care of my shirt tan, whether my teeth need to be whiter, and making sure I steal some luggage from my parents.

And no one commented on my (alleged) witty throwdown on dairy! That means you, Whateley! (I'm just kidding. Boy, I'm using a lot of parentheses.)

See y'all at mah weddin'!

Ah, dairy. Why do you hate me so? I've only loved you and cherished you all my life. Sure, there was that period in college when I ignored you for two months... but I learned my lesson and came crawling back to you. And how have you reacted? You rejected me, made me sick and gassy. No wonder my intestines grew intolerant of you.

But we had an understanding. I knew our relationship could never be like the way it was. I understood it. I gave you your space, satisfied my urges with that slutty soy... as long as I could come back to you as ice cream and cream cheese and cheesecake. I thought you were slowing warming up to me again.

But no. You've drawn your line. I understand now. But how could you enlist half-n-half into our little war now? Poor innocent half-n-half. I only sought it out to accompany me in some coffee. It was nothing serious, just some innocent fun. But now you've turned it against me. Made me nauseous. I had to spend hours with club soda today just to recover from the beating it gave me.

Well, it's war now. Half-n-half will no longer come anywhere near my coffee. Soy is my mistress now! So there!

(weep) But at least yogurt is strong enough not to take sides. So dairy... I'll see you next time through yogurt. But know this... this war ain't over!

As you can see from the new countdown clock above, we're only one month away from our wedding! I'm so frickin' nervous! (Not about the marriage, just the process of throwing a wedding... even a Vegas one.)

We also got a gift from Whateley's aunt from Minnesota (whom he hasn't seen in years and will be flying down for our big day... hope she won't think it's weird to be surrounded by all these Asians), and it's pretty cool. She has a kitchen supply store, so she gave us this neat electric grill that beats George Foreman to the ground any day. Really! George Foreman is in our floor right now, up to his ears in dusty carpet!

Final project due this Thursday... good thing our server is being serviced until 9 tomorrow night. Meanwhile, I've been searching on the internet for The Prince and Me cuz I've "acquired" instead The Prince and Me 2 which is looking like a lame movie. I mean, I can find just about any movie or TV program out there (well, at least the recent ones) but sometimes, I just can't find the one I really want to watch. Though patience is key, because I wasn't able to get Ella Enchanted for the longest time, and then it became available recently. I... liked the book better. I really like Anne Hathaway, but dagnabit, she needs to be in better movies. Either that, or I'm just not watching the right movies. But the movie was cute cuz they knew they were being anachronistic, and they took full advantage of it. Didn't bother trying to look authentic in any way. And why should they, considering its high fantasy low realism. So when they were in the Frell Galleria (a new mall) going down a wooden escalator and Ella attended Frell Community College, it didn't seem hokey to me. And yes, they live in a land called Frell. (Farscape fans tally ho!)

Final wedding plans... sigh. Need to be done. Soon. Sigh.

There's no one here at Zoic (I think there might be someone cuz I saw a light, but I didn't want to investigate) but I'm waiting out the traffic, listening to KPCC online, eating free food (yay for spending less money!), and working on my animation homework. I'm realizing that I've been a very bad girl and not doing my homework. Or at least, not working on it enough. And the culprit is... tada, a lack of discipline. Sigh.

RSVPs are coming in the mail! Pretty cool. Be sure to send yours in!

See nobody loves Gnomes.... no comments... /sigh


By the way we are at what T-minus 6 weeks and a few days now.... terribly exciting stuff! Bring this wedding on!

It's hard being a Gnome!

World of Warcraft is a very interesting game, especially when you play on an RP server. Because it is very obvious after you play for awhile, that certain personality types are drawn to certain races. I don't know much about the Horde races, beyond that we out number them about 4 to 1 from what I hear, and that they are proud of being ugly. However I do know about the Alliance Races. Dwarves tend to be very quiet, a lot of them enjoy role playing the whole "Scottish" accent thing that dwarves have going on. Human's are a mixed lot, because a lot of people simply gravitate towards something they know. Night Elves on the other hand almost all completely suck! I know my lovely bride to be is a Night Elf, and enjoys being a tall beautiful Night Elf, but most people think Elf = snooty and arrogant, which is annoying. Gnome players on the other hand are all completely insane. On our realm we have a Gnome Rogue who picks locks advertising himself as "the naked Gnome," I routinely run around screaming "Gnome Power" etc. Basically as a race we don't take ourselves all that seriously, however we get really upset that people don't take us all that seriously. Most other players consider Gnomes to be a joke, and thus treat us as such. I have had people sit on me, I get picked on in Stormwind (the human city) because to use the Bank I have to climb up on the counter just to see the man, I get to listen to people over general chat say things like "Gnome sandwiches are tasty." It doesn't help much that as part of our lore we irradiated our city to try and kill of the Trogg's that were invading... and thus almost completely destroyed it. But it completely sucks. Plus the horde really hate us, because as part of being insane Gnome players are normally very very smart... I guess it's an insane genus sort of thing. We tend to play our characters very well, and since we are so short it is very easy to miss exactly what we are up to, and it is very hard to target us. On the battlegrounds we are very dangerous, over half of the really good battleground players are Gnomes.

Anyway be nice to the Gnomes, we are people to.

Joss Whedon... as Joss Whedon!

This is why I think he's frickin' hilarious.

Such an up-and-down day.... And you know what's at the root of all my problems?

My parents.

Well, to be accurate, I have plenty of problems that stem from other sources in my life, but none of them causes a fraction of the headache that my parents cause.

Sigh. I'm not asking for much. I just want them to treat Whateley like they treat my sister's husband. Or hell, if they treat him as half as nicely as they treat my sister's husband, I'd be satisfied.

Whateley's family loves me and already accepts me as a daughter. My family doesn't even call him by his real name. :(


On a happier note, Whateley and I joined a gym! Perhaps I can firm up enough to look perfect in my wedding dress. Unless, of course, I end up losing a lot of weight and not having the dress fit anymore. Hmmm.... (I don't think I'll have to worry about that.) Next baby-step fitness goal: to last longer than 20 mins on the gazelle machine.

Invitations will be going out in the mail soon, so if you don't get one within a week, then you should contact me. (Though... maybe I didn't send you one....)

According to my Dad's list, we only have 98 people in our family (up to second cousin). That ain't too bad. 'course, that list is a bit out of date.

Tired....

Stephen Colbert is my hero. He had the guts to do what the "real" press wouldn't, he had the guts to "tell" the truth, and if you're too stupid to understand his satire, then you and Bush truly deserve each other.

(The above link is to a website which has links to Stephen Colbert's speech given at the White House Correspondent's Dinner, given right in front of the President, and some say it was a "roast." I'd say he was skewered and stuffed in a pig and barbecued over hot coals.)

If I want the truth, I won't watch the "news." No, I will watch The Colbert Report and The Daily Show. I bet the administration is beating themselves that they even considered asking Stephen Colbert to speak at this event. Hahahaha.

The wedding is coming along at a fast pace. It's pretty nuts. I have the tuxedo rental done, thank you Men's Warehouse! We bought the wedding dress awhile ago, actually it's a prom dress but I love it! It fits the ascetic of simple is better that I tend to go for. We bought our wedding bands, and they are titanium. I feel like I'm going to be like Wonder Woman and deflect bullets with this thing. My ring is a little to snug so I'm going to have it up sided... which basically means they are going to grind a little more metal out of it, for the low low cost of $35... yippie. We got some nice comfy shoes to go with the dress, that give Jeanna a little lift in her step. We also bought a slip because the dress is a little to translucent on one side. We got our room booked... TANGENT ALERT!!!!!


We are not setting up a "group rate" at the Luxor because frankly you can just get the same deal on line. Luxor isn't a expensive Vegas hotel, but it's not the cheapest either. So far the Stratosphere looks to be the good deal in town, but it's WAY far away. Excalibur is pretty cheap most of the time. My family is staying in the ghetto Mardi Gras Best Western. I suggest you check out www.travelocity.com for the best deals. Also sometimes booking at the last minute gets you a better deal. Also there is a Motel 6 across the freeway that is pretty cheap... /tangent

Which is a really groovy room in the Luxor Pyramid, which has been a personal dream of mine. The reception is mostly done, just have to pick our cake, menu (buffet!), and table setting color. We are pretty much done thinking what the invitation is going to say. Just need to send them out. All in all, it's very exciting! Plus the artiste and I totally pwnd on Warsong Gulch today in World of Warcraft! It was a fraking sweet day!

Yes, yes, my life is boring, there is nothing to comment about.

More on to the whole health care crisis and how the White House cares so little for the little guys. This I gotta say about Starbucks, they had a lot better health insurance. Borders actually has the same insurance company, but they only offer that to the full-timers. For the part-timers, like me, they offer the cheapo-plan. They offer different plan levels, but the cheapest one is still $29/month and the benefits are so low that if I had to go to the hospital, I would come out of there with a huge bill still (last I checked, hospital stays were more than $100 per day). Basically, it would only be good for discounts on prescription drugs and for doctor's visits (I wouldn't even know if it covered labs or x-rays). Sigh. I gotta wonder... that $29 per month could pay for a lot of things....

So here I am moaning about whether or not I could even afford the premiums on the el-crappo-plan, and the White House's solution is, take even more money out of my meager paycheck and put it in a non-taxable savings account, which I don't even think I'll use much because of the cost of care would be so expensive that I wouldn't even go to the doctor, and even if I did, it certainly wouldn't be enough to cover my co-pay. Cuz if I had that much money in the first place, then I wouldn't need to get el-crappo-plan anyway! Sigh.

So is $29 per month worth it (technically it's $7.25 per week, so some months would be $36.25) just to get a discount on prescriptions and to go to the doctor for $15 (and possibly pay for $50 plus 20% of labs and x-rays)? I could go to the low-income clinics and pay just $15 for a visit. They wouldn't help me out in emergencies and hospital stays, but then, this insurance plan wouldn't help much, either. (Or I could pay $53 per month for the plan that would be decent for minor emergencies, or $81 per month for a plan that would be decent for a major, short-term emergency.) All in all, the plans suck. Which isn't surprising since plans for part-timers rarely don't suck.

So what to do? Is having crappy insurance better than having no insurance?

I think I'll change the template on this blog soon. I want it to reflect the duality of this blog, I guess, while still maintaining my personality. Well, that and I don't want to alter the template to make it look like how I want it to.

I got my schedule changed at Zoic so I would be there Thursdays and Fridays from now on. That means that I will have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off with Whateley, but that also means that I have to get my homework done earlier cuz I won't be able to do it right before class like I normally do. So basically, one of my days off will be dedicated to working on stuff. Now it will be up to Whateley on what he will do during that day-o-work, whether he too will work on stuff or spend a good deal of time at the battlegrounds on WoW.

I was the only intern on today, so of course, I did a lot of runs. In fact, I thought there'd be more, but the receptionists and the PAs (production assistants) are kicking in, too. I think the production scheduler (who is also the internship coordinator) was crackin' the whip on the people that were abusing the interns. Now if only I can stop being the grunt and get to work on some projects!

Big news: Whateley met up with various members of my extended family. Whew. It went well, he was loved... and the fun is just beginning.

More to come later. Now, must sleep.

Hey there everybody welcome to my first official post on the artiste’s blog. Let me explain a little bit about my name on this blog... not Grissium the Gnome that is another story. No the name of Whateley. I used to play a great card game called Doomtown, which in essence had nine factions you could play trying to take over, help, or destroy this little down called Gomorra California. The setting is an alternate old west, where recently magic, and all sorts of nasty critters had appeared. One of the factions were the Whateleys, a group of inbreed evil sorcerers from New England who were up to no good in Gomorra. Now I'm normally not one to play scum and villainy, but something about the Whateleys tickled me pink. So then I was looking at my Whateley cards and I noticed a Cthulhu reference on them. That was when I realized where I heard the name Whateley before! They were the villains in one of H.P. Lovecraft's better stories The Dunwich Horror. Which brings me to today’s topic.

THE CALL OF CTHULHU!

This is easily one of Lovecraft's more famous stories, the role playing game based on the Cthulhu stories is actually named The Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraft's stories are in the vein of cosmic horror. Basically where everything you know is a lie, and mankind is actually rather small, puny, and insignificant. The horror comes from buying into the idea that humanity is as useful in the universe as a poopie flavored lollipop. Or that we are ants on the cosmic scale. Which is all fine an good in book form. Lovecraft’s stories are fairly hard to read because of his... unique writing style. But people who have come to visit his world after his passing, especially the British author Brian Lumley who has written several books in the so called Cthulhu Mythos. Now as good as the books are, the movies based on Lovecrafts work have been spotty at best. I'll be honest, most of them are complete crap. However some group of plucky fans went and made a movie based on "The Call of Cthulhu" that is really good. So go check it out, here is the link. Also if you wanna borrow it I own it. What makes the movie good is that they decided to make it as if the movie was made when "The Call of Cthulhu" was written, namely in 1926. So it's a silent movie, filled with cheesy silent movie goodness. The special effects are pretty bad, the acting is a bit over the top in places. But because you simply buy into the fact it's a silent movie you are a lot more forgiving of the problems with the movie, and enjoy it for what it is. Plus there is a amusing making of feature which is almost as long as the movie (the movie runs at 46 mintues)! So yes, this piece of fan made moviedom gets two thumbs up from me. Check out the preview located HERE!

Oh geez, so now Whateley wants to take time to post a thoughtful entry and says that his posts are not "angrier" than mine. He won't post much (watch, I'll end up eating my words) anyway, so this is still mostly my blog, and it will still be mostly my rants.

And before I forget, I took some time to catch up on some blogs, and I was checking out my bro-in-law's and he posted an excerpt from my blog and wanted permission to reveal who it was, and I'm just stating now that if I post it here, then I'm giving permission for it to be posted elsewhere. (I hope I won't regret giving this blanket permission.) The only thing I request is that if it's going to be posted in a popular forum or something where a lot of people see it, that I just get a comment or an e-mail stating it has been done so. Y'never know when a group of people will decide to spam your e-mail in anger or something.

Okay, gotta go to bed. Whateley's still at work doing overtime... sigh, well, it's extra money... and I should've been asleep anyway when he came home.... This sucks, we only have one day off together. And I can't get off my butt to do some work and work on my reel... my new reel... long story.

Massachusetts creates "near-universal" health coverage.

Just thought I'd add that link in response to my last post. I wonder if it would help me out.... After all, I think I would qualify for subsidies and I might even qualify to be at or below the poverty level, though certainly not after getting married.

Speaking of getting married, Whateley (or whatever his gnome-power-related name will be) has requested access to post on this blog, so be prepared for his ramblings. He tends to rant angrier and his spelling can be atrocious. Funny how his new job requires "good spelling skills."

Oh, and for those of you coming to our wedding, we have been told that they give us FIVE MINUTES to seat everyone at the chapel, so NO ONE MUST BE LATE! We will mention it on the invitation, but just a forewarning. I figure if everyone meets up fifteen minutes before, they can hang around and pull a few slots or play an arcade game or two. And come hungry! Afterwards we will be having a Mexican buffet reception. Buh...fay!!! (I'm also pulling for extra pitchers of margaritas.)

Alright, that's it for now. On to you Whateley... if you dare!

I was looking at the White House website which talked a lot about HSAs (Health Savings Account) and there was a lot of info. And yeah, basically HSAs are good for people that are healthy & wealthy. Here's the way I see it: HSAs require you to have a high-deductible insurance plan. But what if you can't afford to buy a high-deductible plan in the first place? And they talk a lot about the leftover money rolling over from year-to-year. But they don't address, what happens if you don't have enough money in your HSA to cover your deductibles? How the heck are you going to put money away in an HSA if you can barely pay your rent? How are you going to pay for your health care when you have chronic medical conditions which will now cost more to treat?

Yeah, HSAs, that will solve all our healthcare problems.

(Ironically, HSAs would help me out since I had one of those high-deductible plans when I worked for Starbucks, and I barely went to the doctor since the co-pay was so high. But I'm thinking about my future. And diabetes and cancer runs in my family. And I've been developing worsening health problems. Sigh. If only I was a rich, white male. Then Bush would be favoring me. )

Alright, I've been so tired that I haven't updated much. Before I go on, I keep on forgetting to send Bleusky my schedule, so I will post it here for all the world to see:

Mon -- work, usually afternoon to early evening
Tue -- internship (10 to 6, plus hours to drive to and back)
Wed -- day off, spend with Whateley (usually)
Thu -- work then school, though I'm trying to not have work
Fri -- internship
Sat -- work
Sun -- work

So far I'm having mixed thoughts about my job at Borders. I like that it's quieter, not too busy. What I don't like is that I don't get to have free lattes (or eat "leftover" food). Tips suck, though what's good is that you take them at the end of your shift, and you get what you earn and don't have to share w/ people who didn't work the rush, etc. But the suckiest part is that people don't treat that job very seriously. To get into Borders, you have to start out either as a cashier or cafe seller. The only reason people choose cafe seller seems to be because it pays a little more. But it's still crappy pay. Anyway, so on Monday we had two people that just didn't show up for their shift. One guy had done it two days in a row, so if he didn't quit, then he will be fired. But I don't know what's the deal with the second person. Anyway, it just sucks. Being short-staffed at Starbucks sucks cuz then everyone's busier. But at Borders (SBC, to be exact) since it's not busy to begin with, it only makes a difference when you have more than one customer. Anyway, I actually broke out in a sweat and I felt weary after my shift, like I used to feel after a shift at Starbucks. That was not pleasant.

On Monday, Whateley and I did our laundry, though it was a larger load than usual due to sheets, towels, and robes. Anyway, we didn't finish until almost two in the morning. And then I had to get up at 7:30 am today for my internship. I was late again, but I didn't bother calling since I knew they knew I was coming, the rain was making traffic horrible beyond belief, and I was so tired I was fighting just to stay awake. Ugh. I totally need the day off tomorrow (er, today).

I'm too tired to go into the internship now, but so far it's good. Well... tiring, a bit boring, and getting used to it, but otherwise good. I'm sure it could lead to an actual job there, though it might not be an artistic job, which would suck. I've got other plans if things don't work out at Zoic. But until then... well, I gotta pay my dues, suffer through working cafe and making little money, and doing homework. Sigh... homework....

Meanwhile, I'm having a lot of fun listening to Air America (AM 1150). Yeah... it is the liberal version of conservative talk radio, but at least they broach subjects that conventional media won't cover. An ooh, it totally gets my goat that Tom DeLay compared himself to Jesus Christ in his resignation speech. I don't think money laundering, fraud, and accepting bribes compares to... oh, I don't know, dying for the sins of the world. All I can say is, I'm a Christian and I am ashamed that so many Christians are blind and think that the Republicans follow Christian morals and Democrats are Satan-worshippers. All I can say is, sure they may ban abortion and gay marriage, but they'll also tax you out of the middle-class, ship your jobs to China, take away your health insurance and tell you to just get a savings account, play with the lives of millions of soldiers and lie about the reasons to send them to war, etc, etc. So yeah, while you're living in your cardboard box dying of preventable disease and your sons are getting killed abroad, you can comfort yourself with the notion that hey, at least poor people in the South can't abort their unwanted pregnancies and gay people can't legally get married. All is right in the world.

Oh, and one of the talk show hosts made an interesting point: during the Terri Shiavo fiasco, Congress met and passed a bill in less than 24-hrs to meddle in the private affairs of a family, and yet when Katrina hit, it took them more than 10 days to get help for the millions of homeless victims. So if the federal government won't pay attention to you if you're house blows away, the best way to get their attention is to bash your head against the wall really hard and hope you become a vegetable.

Generous Bush, always thinking of others

What can I say, almost three months of non-working has made me very weak. I've got no energy or stamina to last an 8-hr day. Either that, or I'm just sick.

Anyway, this week has been busy for me. I started working as a cafe seller at a nearby Borders. It's a lot like working for Starbucks, only less busy and the hours are less crazy. But yeah, less money, less benefits, no perks. Well, except that as part of the training process, I've been tasting pastries and drinks. So... caffeine, my old friend and enemy, we meet again. So why did I take a pay cut and less benefits to work at a Seattle's Best rather than a Starbucks? (Especially since SBC is owned by Starbucks) Well, it's a long story, and even I'm not sure of the reasons, but I think the main one was because one of my roommates already works there, so I know of the store politics and dynamics already, everybody else in this household works for Borders (for this week, anyway, before Whateley ships off to his new and improved job elsewhere), and basically, this cafe is very calm and not-busy, which is the opposite of Starbucks, and I knew I wouldn't be tired out after a shift like I was at Starbucks. And right now, my sanity and strength is more important than a few extra bucks an hour. Why? Read on.

So yeah, I got meself an internship at Zoic Studios, the place that does the effects for Battlestar Galactica (along with Serenity and Firefly). So far I've only been there one day, and it's been exhausting. I think it was partly because I didn't get much sleep the night before, but also because it took me an hour and a half to get there in the first place. Stupid big rig stalled on the freeway!

Anyway, being an intern basically means being a grunt, a go-fer, a runner. (Carousel... carousel...) And all that driving made my lower back ache like crazy. I think I will have to get one of those lower back car pillows.

So ask me in five months if this internship experience was a good one. I have hopes, so hopefully the answer will be yes.

I spent St. Patrick's Day looking at various wedding dresses with Bleusky. Boy, it was exhausting. Perhaps we should have a traditional Betazed ceremony where everyone's naked.

Then later that night, me and Whateley and our roommates proceeded to get trashed on our own version of the Borg Sphere. Yeah, with 5 shots of liquor per drink, it just sneaks up on you. I conked out soon after.

I woke up this morning feeling fine, but as soon as I started moving around, riding in a car, and drinking water, I felt like crap. Yep, I was hungover. Bad. Remind me never to drink like that again. I had dinner, what was the deal? The food should've been a nice buffer like it was in Vegas. Anyway, Whateley was good to me all day and took care of our laundry while I slept and drank lots of water. Then his stepmom proceeded to bombard me with lots of details about our wedding. Damn. Well, I suppose somebody's gotta think of those things. Hmm... is it still too late to elope?

Anyway, I definitely got the job at Borders (at the cafe) so I'll be making a bit of money now. If anything, it'll mean that we can still get books at a discount even after Whateley leaves, and after we're married, I won't even have to "buy the books then give it to him," he can just use my discount himself. (Although, my desire is that by the time we get married, I won't have to work for Borders any more.)

So this coming week will be the first in a long time where I've actually got to be places almost every day. I'll post my schedule when everything settles. It looks like Wednesdays will be Whateley and my "day together" so that means that if you want to hang out with the both of us, that will be the day to do it.

One last note: the next time I'm in Vegas, which will actually be our wedding day, I will make sure to take a ziploc of Metamucil with me. Let that be a warning to y'all. With all the buffets, unless you're planning on having a salad at every meal (which I always think is a waste of money unless they have a really varied and high-quality selection of veggies and salad fixin's... which Vegas buffets aren't known for) then having a glass of Metamucil at the end of the night will be important. Well, at least for someone like me. I think my large intestine is super efficient at absorbing water and packing 'em in tight.

Heh heh. I love being gross.

I just used Photoshop to create the gif below. Just look for the animation menu. It was a bit complicated, actually, cuz I was trying to make it easier on myself, and I basically did some importing a folder as an animation and then rearranging and deleting layers, and then turned the layers into frames. And then I had to figure out where I can upload an animated gif and link to it cuz Blogger won't let you upload animated gifs. It took awhile, but tinypic.com worked wonders!

Anyway, on the news front. Good new all around!

1. I am "this close" to getting a job at Borders, which will help pay the bills for the time being.

2. I got an internship at that visual effects company! I start next week, and I'll go more into details as soon as I can. I'm pretty sure I can talk about it now, but I don't want to jinx it, so I will wait until I've at least been there one day. It's unpaid, hence the job above, but if I play my cards right, this internship can turn into a real job afterwards. Yay!

3. Whateley got a new (and better) job!

4. Wedding plans are good! Things are progressing at a good rate!

Regarding #4, yeah, we were definitely procrastinating. We should've done all this months ago, but we finally buckled down and took a scouting trip to Vegas these past three days. Here's what we found out: chapels in Vegas are cheesy. And many are scuzzy. And they are in crappy neighborhoods. And they are small.

After looking at a couple of old Strip hotel chapels, we decided to check out the Luxor for the heck of it. Well... the chapel there is bee-yoo-tee-ful! Not a hint of cheese anywhere! And it's encased in really thick walls that keep out the casino sounds, so you forget that it's in a casino! And the color schemes are gorgeous. So... even though it'll make our budget a little higher than we want (we were hoping to go as cheap as possible without getting cheesy because we want to save up for a house for the long term and TiVO for the short term and Whateley will need a new car in the medium term) but... well, if you compare the Luxor to the independent chapels (or even the old Vegas hotel chapels) they just blew them out of the water! In short, the others blew! You can't help but see how cheesy and scuzzy they were!

Anyway, so we got a game plan, we got a date (which I will not reveal at the moment because I want to make sure we can book the chapel at that date), and it's just matter of calling and setting things up. So, wish us luck!

Because I have no life, I created this animated gif of the national flu report:

Okay, say what you will, but the best $13 I spent was on a flu shot last October.

How else can you explain that in our household, Whateley and our two roommates got sick (not at the same time, but as soon as one ended the other began) and I alone did not get sick? It's not like we're the cleanest people in the world, and because of my eczema I touch my face a lot (I shouldn't, I know, but when it itches, I do it unconsciously), and yet, I alone did not get sick. I even kissed Whateley while he was sick, and I did not get sick. I tell you, IT'S THE FLU!

But the others were convinced it wasn't the flu because they weren't getting any nausea. Well, I found this excerpt on weather.com (emphasis is mine):

What are Symptoms of the Flu?

Influenza, also known as the flu, is a contagious disease that is caused by the influenza virus. It attacks the respiratory tract in humans (nose, throat, and lungs). The flu is different from a cold. Influenza usually comes on suddenly and may include these symptoms:

• Fever
• Headache
• Tiredness (can be extreme)
• Dry cough
• Sore throat
• Nasal congestion
• Body aches

These symptoms are usually referred to as "flu-like symptoms."

What about "Stomach Flu"?

Many people use the term "stomach flu" to describe illnesses with nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. These symptoms can be caused by many different viruses, bacteria, or even parasites. While vomiting, diarrhea, and being nauseous or "sick to your stomach" can sometimes be related to the flu – particularly in children – these problems are rarely the main symptoms of influenza. The flu is a respiratory disease and not a stomach or intestinal disease.

In fact, I remember from the food handling class that there is no such thing as the "24-hr flu." Those are actually cases of food poisoning. BTW, food poisoning = not much fun.

So, here's my message to you, if you get a flu shot, you will never regret it.