Sayin' Good-Bye for a Bit, I think...

Y'all were pretty excited for me when I got my great new job, right? I was pretty excited, too. And I'm still pretty excited. I get to work a full-time schedule and wear pretty clothes and DANCE.

But here's the thing. As part of my administrative job at the dance studio, I am also required to maintain our online presence with Facebook and our website.  On Wednesdays, I have to upload a video to the website (via YouTube) and then link it on three Facebook pages. On Fridays, I have to edit my boss' blog and post it on the website and then link it on three Facebook pages. On days that aren't Wednesdays or Fridays, I have to be sure to post something on at least two of the three Facebook pages.

When I'm home, I just don't care anymore about my Facebook page. I don't have time to read the dozen or so blogs that I used to. I don't have a lot to say here, on my own blog.

I'm sorry, kids. I'm just gonna be a luddite for awhile, until the mood strikes me to come back and catch up. Call me or send me an email or a text message if you need to hear from me.

Golden Globes and such...

So, did you watch the Golden Globes on Sunday? Did you watch the lead-in show, where all the celebrities arrive in their shiny? No? Me, neither. On Sunday, my route was re-directed past the entrance, where nothing was quite happening yet, but for inconveniencing drivers with the wet streets and the detour. (Los Angelenos don't see a lot of rain, so they don't like driving in it, or on the streets that have been rained on.) On my way home from my bookkeeping gig, the traffic was even worse, because now there were traffic cops allowing streams of black cars (some of them limos) to cut INTO the flow of our three lanes being funneled down to one. I also saw one chick in a long white dress with a huge red sash walking from the curb to wherever the entrance was. This was at 3:30 in the afternoon. I didn't necessarily recognize the chick, nor could I really figure out why our banner signage indicated that the telecast was from 11 - 5, when in reality, it was from 5 - 8 (or 9). Whatevs. That was my SunDAY. Sunday night, we watched something that was in the DVR queue and our screener of

The Imitation Game.

Yesterday, I had the day off. Instead of going online or doing anything productive, I watched movies in the DVR queue. Then when Stephen got home from work, I checked my emails and found that we were in fact on the list for the screening I'd RSVP'd to, so last night we went to see Gone Girl. It was followed by a Q&A with Rosamund Pike and David Fincher, which was not terribly interesting (more due to the Q's than the A's), and we left there wondering how we felt about the movie overall. Of the women nominated for Best Performance by an Actor (female) in a Leading Role, Rosamund definitely deserves her nomination. That much, I can say. Ben Affleck was not nominated for the (male) role, but his performance was 100% believable.

Today, I get to go back to my dance studio gig, but when I get home tonight, if it's not too terribly late, I'd love to watch our screener of

Boyhood.

And then at some point, I've got to figure out how to download the screener for Wild that's in my inbox. We'll see if Reese will give Ros a run for her money!

Awards Season! Screeners in the mail! Screenings at Guilds!

As you know from previous posts, I've begun receiving screeners from the Screen Actors Guild so that I can vote for SAG Award performances. I've been receiving invitations to screenings in my email inbox for some time now, too, but today's screening was the first one I had time to attend and was able to RSVP for in a timely manner. I even RSVP'd "with 1 guest" in case Stephen was available! He wasn't, so I drove alone over the hill to get in a miles-long (felt like) line at 9:45 this morning.

Just check this out, and see if you can see why I had difficulty getting in.

The first line I started to get in was outside, and actually headed to a restaurant, for what is probably The. Most. Amazing. Breakfast. Anywhere. But all the people getting out of the line and heading into the DGA building redirected me. The queue that held the really "early birds" was along a wall, and it was separated from the later line by the main doors. The later queue went along the front glass wall, and then there were velvet ropes to direct the cattle; beyond the velvet ropes, we all just directed ourselves. We actors sure know how to queue up!

So upon my arrival at the "end of the line" I was standing in a self-directed queue on carpeting. When 10:15 rolled around and we began moving, I made it to "velvet rope adjacent"; the next move put be between velvet ropes; the next move took me to along the glass front wall (and on non-carpeted floor). Then we moved across the gap to the "early bird" line. Then I was suddenly trying to check in, and we couldn't find my name on the list! What? But I'm on it, I swear!

The chick who couldn't find me listed told me to "pimp myself out" to the folks still in line who may have registered a guest but were solo. A lovely gentleman named Mike was only 3 entries deep into that queue and was willing to "guest" me in the door. Thank you, Mike!

Got inside, found a great seat in the dead-center of the theater, settled in with my magazine while all of the rule-breakers around me continued texting and whatnot. (I had left my phone in my car, as I had been instructed to in The Rules). The two older ladies to my left chatted quietly-ish until the film began, and then I had to listen to my immediate-left neighbor grunt and verbally respond to every emotional moment in the film! You'd think she hadn't left her house to watch movies in a decade or more. Thankfully, I can avoid sitting next to her at the next one.

Great film, followed by a fun Q&A with the director and four members of the cast. If you don't know anything about this film but you're any of the following:

• a WWII buff
• a Downton Abbey fan
• a Brit-flick geek
• a "Cumberbitch" (per IMDb, "His female fans were originally known as "Cumberbitches", but are now known as the "CumberCollective" or "Cumberpeople". [Benedict] Cumberbatch is uncomfortable with the term "Cumberbitches" because he says its non-inclusive and pejorative.")
• all of the above, or just bored enough to watch "a group of really smart people sit in a room and solve puzzles" for a couple of hours (that's a quote from Benedict during the Q&A, regarding the original "pitch" for the film)

then you should DEFINITELY make time to see The Imitation Game.

Another Day, Another Year, Another puzzle?

Two more screeners arrived! Woot! Woot!

 Short day at work yesterday, but when I got home last night, we had no plans to go out, and since the screeners arrived, we watched Birdman... not what either of us was expecting, not that we had any expectations. Brilliant direction, cinematography, and acting. And not that we didn't like it, we're still not sure today whether we liked it.

During the LA Lit Crawl this past fall (I can't believe I didn't blog about it!), I was handed this little solar-powered dancing flower as "SWAG" - I had it on my dashboard for a bit, and then when I brought it inside, the cats knocked it to the floor, breaking it into its many pieces. Stephen attempted a repair, and then saved all the little pieces in our kitchen "junk" drawer.  This morning, I was either going to rebuild it or throw away the junk. Turns out, it's just a little puzzle - each piece fits into a specific slot in a specific direction. Thankfully, the little grey "case" that holds the "electric" parts was not broken; the two grey topper pieces and the flower itself, along with the yellow "pot" were the parts I had to fit into that "case".

Innards put together, solar panel facing up on the front/left

Copper battery? that swings the pendulum magnets

From above and behind - in all of these photos, the parts are moving.

Pretty little solar-powered pink flower in a cute little yellow pot! So happy!

And with that puzzle "solved" I had time to do the laundry... and Stephen set up the "toilet-training" that we will re-embark on (every new living space means starting over) with the cats.

2015! Yeah! Let's get stuff done! What puzzles are YOU solving this year?