2003

No, not the year. That's how many songs are going on my iPod. I didn't even load all my CDs (or even all the songs on a single CD) onto my computer! ITunes took some getting used to. For example, it converted all my Windows Media-controlled MP3s, but when it came to the mpga files under Real Player, I ran into trouble. I ended up burning my mpga clips onto a CD, and then I ripped them again with iTunes. Sheesh.

But yay! I made the right choice to buy a 20 GB iPod. :D Hehehe.

Another perk of going through all my CDs is that I rediscovered some long-lost treasures. For example, I listened to snippets from Mozart's Requiem. Yes, I have a recording of the concert in which I performed. :) No, I didn't put the Requiem on my computer. It's over an hour long, and it's just one track. And LOL! I listened to the version of "My Heart Will Go On" with the movie dialogue. Maybe it's not a "treasure," but it was definitely buried and untouched for years! Jason gave me the Back to Titanic CD for my birthday one year. :) I'm currently listening to Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida in Dutch.

I can feel it

Maybe it was the warmth of and smell from the oven...

Maybe it was the seemingly early sunset...

Maybe it's the Christmas music I'm putting on my computer...

Perhaps it's all these things. 'Tis almost the season to be jolly! :)

TGIF

I can't tell you how happy I am that it's Friday. Sure I have two midterms and a paper due next week and sure I have class and work today, but I'm loving that it's Friday. :) And that's all I have to say about that. For now. :)

Okay, I realize I've been talking about Alias quite a bit, so let me switch gears and praise the two best shows on TV: Grey's Anatomy and Everwood. (Although first I hafta mention the actor who appeared on last night's episodes of Alias and Everwood! Ha ha. He played the interrogator on the government committee [whatever it was called] that pardoned Sloan for the umpteenth time and Father Patrick [albeit a little creepily, I have to admit]. I recognized him from Connie and Carla. Yes, Connie and Carla!) So yeah, G's A and E are awesome shows. Yay!

Last night's episode of Everwood was particularly good in that it showed everyone in the cast at some point. Everyone! It packed some punch and didn't run thin. I can't tell you which storyline I liked best; they were all great. Right on, Hannah, for telling off Jake. You go, girl.

Woohoo!

My iPod arrived today! The thing is so dang tiny! Who needs a nano? Not Mini Me!

Woohoo2! I got caught up in the music aspect that I temporarily (as in a nanosecond) forgot I ordered the one where you can store photos on it too. I wanted the color screen and not necessarily the photos, but I'm excited to have the feature! No video, but that's totally OK with me. :)))))

I really want to set up my iPod, but I have other things on my mind tonight, actually. Hehehe. And I don't have my iSkin yet. I'll wait for the plastic protector to arrive before taking this baby for a spin on the 197. LOL!

Plus, I realize I should start putting more music on my computer. I'm staring at my CD collection, and this is going to be a lengthy task. Worth it in the end, I'm sure. I can't even see the priority CDs because they're behind the CDs I bought within the past year or so.

IPod heaven, here iI come!

That's what I'm talkin' about!

I have a free flight from JetBlue!

In the past year (October 2004-October 2005), I've flown to New York via JetBlue three times. And now that my credit card earns points towards the TrueBlue frequent-flyer program, I finally got a free flight!

Maybe this will help if and when I do interviews in New York??? Of course, I'll mix business with pleasure. :)

Practice, practice, practice

My friend Don informed me that Lea Salonga will be giving a concert at Carnegie Hall on November 7. The entire audience that night will be one huge group of lucky dawgs! Wish I could be there.

Anyway, I need to play my guitar more often. Regularly. My poor fingers on my left hand hurt even as I type this message. I'm so excited to be playing new music! I ordered some sheet music online last week, and it arrived a few days ago. I bought some Josh Groban songs, but those are all for the piano. Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway songbook is awesome. I love that I can actually play a few of these songs. And I'm learning new chords in the process. Yay! Ooh, and "Accidentally in Love" by the Counting Crows (is it Counting Crows or the Counting Crows?) is fairly easy to learn and play, too. :) That was one of my favorite songs last year.

Probably the best thing about learning to play the guitar is I can actually sing along when I play music. Can't do that so much on the piano. Not sure why. I guess I didn't wire my brain when I first learned to play the piano back in the day ... first grade!

I still want to learn how to play the violin.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

If you want to read delightful, humorous books, I highly recommend Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I'm reading the third installment, The Wide Window.

I wanted to read these books after seeing the movie starring Jim Carrey. While the movie's great, the books paint a much richer picture. Of course, of course. There *is* sadness and grief, but the Baudelaire orphans are resilient and resourceful. Sunny's my favorite character 'cause she hasn't quite mastered English yet, but she has a lot of meaningful things to say. :)

Family and friends, you are welcome to borrow my books. :) And I promise to take out the flags that mark my favorite parts (the ones where I laughed aloud upon reading them).

Alias: The New Class

After watching the rest of last night's episode of "Alias," I'm still sticking to my statement that this is not the same show I got hooked on. So Rachel Gibson has a parallel story to Sydney's. Big whoop. I think that's a major mistake. I don't want to watch the same storylines played out with different actors. That was "Saved By the Bell: The New Class." There, I said it.

And when we want more of Sydney's home life, we want her with friends, but even Weiss is leaving for a new show. I mean, Greg Grunberg. :) No Will, no Francie, no Weiss, no Vaughn, no Nadia.

The call to cancel Vaughn's magazine subscription was really sad, but that, too, was already played out when Sydney had to change the message on her answering machine when Danny was murdered.

I had high hopes for this season. I wanted it to top the last one. ABC really does want this show to die. And that's sad. "Alias" reaches its 100th episode this season, and then they'll be good to go for cancellation with benefits of syndication. At least I think that's how it works. I'm still clinging to a little bit of hope that the season will turn around, but I'm not holding my breath.

*yawn*

My sleeping pattern this week is out of whack. After returning from New Jersey on Monday night, I actually didn't go to sleep until past 2 a.m. to finish a paper. Yesterday I fell asleep during "Lost." Yikes. I saw maybe 10 to 15 minutes of the entire episode (yet another reason for TiVo). Then I went to sleep at 10 p.m. and woke up at 3 a.m. to finish a paper. No more papers, please.

On a completely different note, what is up with "Alias"??? This is not the show I got hooked on four years ago. Granted, I've only watched the first half, and I think I'll be awake for the second, but I can't believe how quickly this season has faltered. Maybe I should have participated in the "Save Michael Vaughn/Michael Vartan" fan campaign. Half joking, half serious. :)

That doesn't feel good

My back officially hurts. Ohhhh. Not good.

I have all three of my classes on Thursday, and that means I have to lug all 4 of my textbooks plus notebooks, folders purse, and water around all day long. I tried my best to carry some of them in my arms throughout the day.

But then it started raining in the afternoon, so I had to store everything in my backpack. After getting off the bus, I was carrying my too-heavy backpback, and the pain jabbed at me. Now I'm either still feeling pain, or just thinking of the pain is causing me pain. I'm not going to enjoy Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Does anyone have a cool lookin' -- not to mention functional -- tote bag that I can carry my books in? I think I need one. I'll take a tote bag, but one of those rolly backpack thingies would annoy me.

The eternal three minutes

I got stuck in an elevator today. All by myself. The whole ordeal seemed like an eternity. When I first started working in the ATG building, I was warned by the other student assistant that the elevator was not to be trusted. Oh, I believed her, but nothing happened to me for nearly two years. All that changed today.

As I was traveling up to the sixth floor, the elevator moved up and down, and then it stopped. The doors didn't open. I pressed the "open" button several times. Still nothing. Oh crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap.

Then, I had to do something I'd never done before: I called the emergency phone by pressing a red button. It was basically a speakerphone, and I was relieved to hear someone answer. Unfortunately, the connection was pretty bad; the guy kept asking me to repeat which floor I was on. There was no way I could know for sure, but I said the sixth floor. I wanted to tell him I was in the ATG building and would someone please hurry, but I never got around to it. Our conversation was very brief, and it ended with him saying he was sending someone over.

That was slightly comforting. But how long would it take before that someone arrived? I couldn't decide what to do with myself. Should I pace? Should I stand against the elevator wall in case it falls like it has in "Alias"? Should I sit on the floor? Constantly staring at my watch, I just stood still. Meanwhile, the emergency phone was making weird noises before it hung up.

I never actually ended up being rescued in a dramatic way. (I imagined being pulled out between floors or at least climbing to safety with the aid of a helping hand.) Instead, someone had pressed a button to use the elevator. The elevator moved "normally" to the 4th floor, and I was free at last. I warned the person that I just got stuck in the elevator, and he opted to take the stairs.

From here on out, I'm taking the stairs as much as possible.

Consciously or subconsciously or coincidentally?

Are the writers on Alias also fans of Michelle Branch? When Sydney was suggesting names for the baby, she mentioned Owen, Clementine and Isabelle. And as we know, Michelle Branch's daughter is Owen Isabelle.

But when did they shoot the season premiere? Last month? And when did they write the script? Hmmm.... HMMMMMM.... Okay, enough about baby names and possible coincidences or intentional inclusions.

I thought Alias was great ... for the most part. I can't stand the thought of Michael Vaughn not being Michael Vaughn. Not Andre Mishapoopoo. Okay that's not his name, but I don't know how to spell it. And I also can't stand that he died! I almost refuse to believe it. And you know Alias. People we *think* are dead aren't really dead. I hope that's the case. Hmmm... not much of a chance of that though. If we get to see Michael Vaughn in "flashbacks," I guess that's fine but not much of a consolation.

I knew that investigator guy was up to no good! (He played King Amonasro in Aida on Broadway, hehehe. I'll post the picture later, if I remember.) Argh.

Marshall was awesome. What was up with Jack? He seemed out of his game. I almost forgot about Sloane. Too bad Nadia has an incurable infection. She's a good character.

At this rate, it seems that Sydney will never get married. Engaged twice. Now has two dead fiances. Also, in self-defense, had to kill ex-lover, the icky Snowman or whatever his name was. Let's forget about him.

All I have left to say is: Is it Thursday yet?

No love for left-handers

First, Brittany passes on an article that states left-handed women may have a higher risk for breast cancer than right-handed women.

Now, UW is cramping my style. Or giving me a hand cramp. Or both. In all my classes, there are individual desks. One has them bolted to the floor even. And in all three, I couldn't find a left-handed desk in sight. In two of the three classrooms, ALL the desks were built for right-handers. In the third classroom, I didn't get there early enough to tell if there were any left-handed desks and had to sit in the back anyway.

In the past, I was able to scout out the left-handed desk. Now there simply aren't any.

Argh, I feel like I should complain ... to the higher-ups, I mean. Not just here on my blog.

That's why having TiVo would be cool

As you know, "Lost" is on my TV schedule this season. Well, the season premiered last Wednesday. I needed to do some last-minute shopping for a new outfit, so I taped "Lost" from 8 to 9 p.m. Unfortunately, I ended up taping the first-season recap/introduction show. I'll admit that it was very helpful to watch, but that means I didn't tape the actual season premiere. ARGH. Imagine my frustration if you can.

There's a solution to this problem: TiVo. Precious, precious TiVo.

There's an obstacle to this solution. So until I can afford to buy you, I will dream of having you.

Oh TiVo. In your absence, my couch-potato-y heart grows fonder.

The End

Spent my last day as the communications intern at The 5th Avenue Theatre. :) It sure was a memorable one. I wrapped up a few projects, cleaned out my files, sent my last e-mails and said my "see ya later"s. (It's not really good-bye though! I've been invited to future opening nights. Yay!)

Around 4 o'clock, they surprised me with a chocolate and raspberry cake that had "You rock!" on it. :) Mmm ... that cake was delicious. It was from Gelatiamo, which I have seen countless times on my way to and from the Metro tunnel. Now I know they have great desserts!

I'm really grateful that I got to spend my summer at the 5th. I know that I may sound like a broken record by now, but it's true. A big thanks to everyone who made my time there an awesome one. :)

Breaking it down:

66: number of days spent in the communications office
7: number of days I took off during the entire span of my internship (5 for vacation to New York, 1 for family day, 1 for my birthday)
0: number of dollars earned (but the experience is invaluable)
2: number of press/opening nights worked
4: number of musicals I saw at the 5th over the course of my internship
6: number of comp tickets received
3: number of happy-hour outings I went to
271: number of hours logged onto weekly timesheets

I'm not a gamer, but ...

I tend to get addicted to playing a certain game for a period of time. Earlier this year it was Minesweeper. A few weeks ago it was Free Cell. Last week it was Tetris. And now it's Pac-Man. :)

Oh, I accidentally cleared my best times on Minesweeper. I mourned the loss for maybe a minute and moved on. Minesweeper is soooo last June. LOL. No, no. I'm just bitter than I can no longer finish the expert time. What happened?

But Pac-Man though? I'm all about it.

A word about blogs

Time Magazine gave all these tips on how to start a blog and included a point to stick to one topic. Well, that's not gonna happen. I'm not all about just one thing.

So here are a few different things that came about today, September 21:

The morning commute took forEVER. And by forever, I mean 75 minutes. Not that I'm complaining, really. I had tea this morning and couldn't fall asleep until right before I saw a glimpse of downtown Seattle. Then I dozed off. And when I woke up, we were slowly creeping towards UW. Good nap.

Had a good day at work, I guess. Got a call from the Opera, so I'm proofreading tonight. Oh my gawd, I'm proofreading tonight. GOTTA GO!

No time to blog! Oh wait! I guess I do have a theme after all. :)

And how do we feel about that?

Before I watched the season premiere, I saw that "Gilmore Girls" received a 9.6 (out of 10) rating from the TV-show Web site I frequent. What were people thinking?

I don't know about you, but I was sorely disappointed in the premiere. The only saving grace was Paris. Paris had it right on the money. Logan needs to go. I don't care if they made him a regular. He's sucked the life out of the once-great character that was Rory Gilmore. Rory, go back to school. Lorelai and Luke... uh, yeah... okay... Right on, Paris. I hope you get more airtime.

Ooh, it's back

Mid-September means several things:

My birthday is coming up!

Summer vacation is winding down.

The new TV season returns on the WB ("Gilmore Girls" begins its 6th season in a few minutes!)

Here are my shows:
Desperate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy
Gimore Girls
The Amazing Race
Lost (I think I'll start watching more)
ALIAS
Everwood

The Office is pretty funny, too, but it'll air the same time as The Amazing Race. Full TV schedule? Heck yeah!

A year ago today ... in pictures

Sutton Foster sings "Astonishing"


Um, duh...


Jennifer Laura Thompson and Idina Menzel sing "For Good"


The cast of Avenue Q performs "It Sucks to Be Me"


Confetti pours on Times Square


Broadway on Broadway