I usually plan to do something fun for Halloween but, in the end, my lack of follow-through generally outweighs my good intentions. This year, though, I am pleased that I not only completed the outfit I intended to, but I attended a fun Halloween event...on the day of no less!

Since I have no shame, I wore my Scarlett costume to work on Friday. Fortunately, the others in my office shared in the spirit. The fact that I drew my inspiration from the 1982 GI Joe action figure was not lost on them. (I guess it helps that they're mostly artists.) In fact, a good deal of them dressed up as well! One of the guys wore a sweet Max costume from "Where the Wild Things Are"...sewn by a fellow costumer and friend: Maria.

After having several last-minute afternoon meetings, where I wondered if people took me seriously with my flaming red wig, I rushed off to join up with other friends/costumers: Shawn and Colleen. They were helping out with a haunted "yard" in Studio City called The Witch's Castle. It was very nicely set up. Colleen dressed as the creepiest "dead girl" I have ever seen! When people would come around the tree she would be sitting quietly (sometimes singing softly) on her swing, gripping her doll by the neck, and staring straight into their eyes. Kids and adults alike were completely unnerved. Many would come back again and again just to look at her.

Halloween is fabulous. It's the one day of year that everyone else joins in on something the rest of us love to do every day: play dress up!

Except for possibly the "career" mocap actors, getting in the spandex suit for most actors is not exactly an ego-boosting experience. These suits are spandex and tight-fitting for a reason. One of the actors once called it his "sexy suit." But, I have to say, that is far from how I felt about it when I dawned one for the first time yesterday. (Yes, I've been in the industry for almost four years and this was my first time...shocker!) I can barely look at pictures of myself in the suit. Bleh. Not attractive!

I decided to run my own test shoot in order to put some of the things I've been talking about to my team to the test. The good news is that there was no need to go to lunchtime yoga after the shoot. The bad news is that my knees and elbows are sore from all the joint locks I was doing and I have some small, deep bruises on my back where the markers dug into me during a judo roll. How do these actors do this all day long? We should install a hot tub for everyone to sit in at the end of a shoot. Mmm. Hot tuuubbb.

I've spent the last two days being very self-centered...in a good way! I've finally dug in and spent the time to clean out my second bedroom to be my proper sewing/project room instead of the giant storage closet it had turned into. Several trips to the recycling bin and Goodwill Donation Center later, I was able to use my re-found (is that a word?) space to sew the red shoulder patch for my Scarlett costume. Organization = happiness!

I took a break from my mostly indoor weekend to soak up some sunshine in my garden. Okay, technically it belongs to the Crosbys. Lucky for me that neither of them enjoys gardening like I do so I have been given carte blanche (effectively) to plant, mulch and weed to my heart's content. Yes, I know it's strange that I even enjoy weeding. Oddly enough it makes me miss my late bunny Penny. She would have loved that clover I dug up from around the privet bush!

All of this house work and gardening has left me happy but a bit sore. Fingers crossed that lunchtime yoga isn't too brutal tomorrow!

One of my favorite childhood memories is playing GI Joe with my brother. Naturally I played the only female character at the time: Scarlett. She was very cool; she had flaming red hair and a crossbow. How can you not love that?

I remember being very sad when I lost that tiny little crossbow in the tall grasses surrounding our air conditioning unit in Millington, Tennessee. The original action figure itself has been long gone by this point in my life, but I smile everytime I think of tough, no-nonsense Scarlett and her weapon of choice.

Well, being a self-proclaimed costumer I can certainly do more than just remember her. I can recreate...even become...my dear Scarlett. Halloween turns out to the be the perfect deadline to provide the motivation I need for this project. And, I'm happy to say, that I am well on my way to being done in time! Woo-hoo!

Things on the list:
- red hair - wig arrived in the mail last week
- boots - bought a pair last night at the mall
- gloves - still have to find some...ideally which will match the boots
- olive catsuit (first layer) - ordered and (theoretically) on its way
- beige leotard (second layer) - arrived and fits perfectly
- crossbow - Shawn promises to let me borrow his (yippee!)
- throwing stars - need to decide if I want to order some or make some
- red shoulder pad - made the prelim version this morning; need to quilt grid, then done
- grenade - need to make one from a small tomato paste can
- belt - picked one up from army surplus store
- pouches for belt - need to order from military store on-line
- pouches for boots - need to pick up leather to make pouches

I can hardly wait to finish putting everything together!!

Today I received a package in the mail from my Texas granny. In it was my great-grandmother's 1925 wedding dress and slip. Both the dress and slip are simple but sweet. They were constructed with french seams, and the dress itself has some lovely pin tucks. There are spots that need repair but, generally speaking, they're both in reasonable shape. The best news is that they actually fit me! I plan to take a picture of myself in it to send to my grandmother this weekend. She'll be so pleased!

Also in the package was my great-grandmother's favorite bonnet and handbag. The bonnet is the one she wore practically every day around the ranch; it's soft and faded. (That side of the family has been in Texas for _many_ generations.) I'm not sure at what point in her life she had the handbag, but she clearly took care of it.

When I called my grandmother today to let her know about receiving the package she mentioned that she has a couple of more goodies for me. She plans to find them when I come for my Christmas-time visit. One of the things she mentioned is a stoll which was made from a red wolf that my grandfather shot on his ranch. Now, I don't like the idea of killing animals just for their fur. However, if there was a wolf on the property I know my great-grandfather was primarily concerned with protecting his goats. Perhaps I'm just rationalizing, but it makes me feel better.

A couple of weeks ago I had the great opportunity to attending a week of management training at UCLA. I took classes on organizational politics, business administration and transitioning from technical to managerial responsibilities. I certainly learned a lot, but I have to say that what I especially enjoyed was the networking with fellow managers, albeit in completely different industries. It reminded me that I'm not alone with the frustrations I face day to day at work.

One of the things that I started thinking about again, while I was in class, was the thought of getting an MBA. I thought about it before when I was at Corning, but I never did it. Then, of course, I ended up changing careers and coming out to LA. I'm still trying to decide if investing the time and money is worth it. Everyone seems to have a different opinion on the subject. On one hand, some say, yes, get an MBA in case you want to run your own business someday or be an executive making business decisions. Others say it's not worth it because you can learn what you need on the job.

The nice thing is that if I decide to pursue this degree I have the option to attend a school (LMU) that is conveniently situated halfway inbetween home and work. Plus, I could earn the degree while still working. Reading LMU's promotional materials I have to say that the concept feels more and more exciting.

In the end, I know that I have to decide for myself whether or not it's worth it. So, I thought I would outline some of the reasons why I think it might be a good idea...for me.

* Develop understanding in areas as finance, accounting, marketing, etc.
* Network with other professionals.
* Find mentors for help with tough decisions.
* Flesh out my resume and increase my chances for career advancement.
* Learn the unwritten rules of business and management.
* Contribute to whatever industry I'm in by making _educated_ decisions.

Hmm. Still thinking...

Okay, not exactly. I've been here six years, and this is (oddly enough) the first one I've felt/noticed. It probably helps that I'm on the 4th floor. It was a soft, rolling sensation.

Anyone who's been through a major earthquake likely doesn't share my enthusiam. But, I at least want to note it for my record.

Here's the official notice:

A minor earthquake occurred at 7:57:08 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, September 30, 2008.
The magnitude 3.0 event occurred 4 km (2 miles) N of El Segundo, CA.
The hypocentral depth is 14 km ( 8 miles).

I love sunshine. This is perhaps my favorite part (aside from my good friends) about L.A. I went home for lunch today and was reminded of why I love living here. Sun...without the humidity I grew up with. The weather could not have been more perfect. Even my kitty was laying in front of the door soaking up some rays. I even made use of my grill. I made a very tasty veggie burger with spinach and yogurt cheese...mmmm...

Okay, I need a do-over for today. It was...challenging...but, oddly, more on a physical level than anything else. I started off the day with a crick in my neck. (Maybe a pinched nerve?) Then I think my salad dressing for lunch had dairy in it because the afternoon was spent with a massive stomach ache. That was less than fun especially considering I had further dealings with my "favorite" client. I don't which pain was worse, come to think of it.

The highlight of the day came when Colleen helped me fit my mock-up. (Of course, keeping with the theme, that was punctuated with an accidental poke or two with pins.) Sadly it needed so much pinning that I will definitely need to do a second mock-up before I can even hope to start cutting the real material. Well, I know what my spare time this week will entail!

Back to the motif for the evening: pain. As I was putting my sewing project into the trunk I failed to notice that I didn't raise the trunk high enough and smacked my head (just below the hairline) on the edge of it. As it turns out, that was just foreshadowing for what was to come.

I made it to my salsa class (now on Monday nights) where I was introduced to Elisabeth's replacement: Elizabeth. Yep, that's right. And, get this, the other person we were considering was another Elizabeth. What's really funny is that I'm an Amy Beth. Go figure. Things were going along well, considering I still can't count salsa music worth a darn, until Salar and I tried a particular move. (Very few of the moves seem to have actual names.) Well, it ended up being more kungfu than salsa. Salar's elbow came straight back as I was stepping forward...we made contact very similar to the one I had with the trunk earlier in the evening. That one took me down. I literally had to sit on the floor with my hands on my head for a while. They brought me ibuprofen and ice. Yes, I did cry some. Come on, it hurt!! (Salar felt pretty bad.) After I was able to get back to practice, the guys started gently teasing me...calling me a unicorn. Yep, there's a nice big, very visible knot in the middle of my forehead now. I'm thinking about painting it to look like my third eye. :)

Today was a lovely day full of plenty of "Amy time". I finished sewing the mock-up for the 40's dress. I mended my blue skirt with the neverending rows of ruffles. I made some progress on the blouse I'm making to match a skirt I picked up in the Philippines. And, I'm in the middle of baking a couple of loafs of banana bread. (There were a couple of dozen unused bananas left over from Friday's shoot at work.) I'm interested in finding out how they taste; this is the first time I've tried this recipe and it's a little unusual. (It's from my allergen-free recipe book.)

I'm so looking forward to the four-day weekend coming up. Why oh why can't we have four-day weekends every week? Boo. Oh, well. I guess I'll just enjoy the time I do have off. :)

The weekend was actually a lot more fun that those words might imply. On Saturday, I met Steven and his new girlfriend Kate at the Bridge to watch Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D. It was fun getting to know Kate better and I loved seeing Nightmare on the big screen again. We ended up watching it earlier in the day because Steven (yet again) flew off to Hong Kong today. That boy's got some serious frequent flyer miles. :)

The evening was rounded off with another riveting episode of Lost followed by a look back on the career of Lucille Ball and Bob Newhart (not at the same time, of course!) with the Crosbys. It was fun hanging out but I practically fell asleep on the floor. I blame the exhaustion on the water aerobics class I went to in the morning. (The teacher of that class was odd...she obviously wanted to be teaching salsa instead.)

This morning I went to a read-through of the Bladerunner radio play that I'll be performing in for Loscon this year. Being the only girl that showed up, I read all the female parts. It was kinda fun, but I realized that it's been over 15 years since the last time I had lines in a play. It was hard to make up consistent voices on the fly, especially since it was my first time seeing the script. The good news in that in the end, I just need to do two voices: Pris as Marilyn Monroe and the "Cab Driver" as a random female. Now I just need to finish that 40's dress, darn it!

After running a few errands I finished off the day with my latest netflix movie: Doom. I know, that doesn't seem like my type of movie. But, my friend designed all of the creatures for the video game which inspired the movie. Plus, he was interviewed in some of the DVD extras. I have to admit that I was surprised by the movie. The story wasn't particularly unique...it felt like a cross between Aliens, Stargate, and 28 Days Later. But, it was well acted (for the most part) and the effects were pretty cool. I can see fans of the game being huge fans of the movie. Of course, I loved seeing The Rock. I had the chance to meet him in person when he came to do some work at our studio; he is such a lovely man! As they say "his momma must have raised him right!" He is so genuine and kind in person to everyone, regardless of their status on set. Plus, I find his acting style to be endearing. :)

Oh, man. I mean, I love my job, but I don't want to be doing it all the time! Monday I worked until midnight. Tuesday I worked until 1:30 in the morning. Wednesday and Thursday lightened up and then today was another late one. Bleh. This would be the downside of being a dedicated employee. :)

That said, not all was frustrating this week. I did escape for a couple of hours on Halloween to go home and hand out candy with Elizabeth to kids in my neighborhood. We didn't get a lot of children coming by, but it's possible that I missed some before I got home. Elizabeth and I had our own treats...hot apple cider and yummy cupcakes and Rice Krispy treats. Mmmm!

Sewing with the girls Wednesday evening was therapeutic as usual. Plus, on the tangible side, I got the mock-up for my 40's dress cut out and marked up. Only a few weeks to go before the play so I better get going! I may have to give up on the thought of finishing the hat in time. What am I saying? I'm sure I'll just do the normal thing...stay up all night in the days leading up to performance to get everything finished. Nothing like a deadline to provide proper motivation! :)

Thursday night included an absolutely amazing dinner at my favorite restaurant: Takao. Wow. If I won the lottery I would pay Takao-san to be my personal chef!!

After the long week I'm spending my Friday night updating my live journal and going to bed "early". Does that make me old? ;)

I saw Man of the Year tonight with my buddy Ed. I wasn't sure how the story would hold together, but I must say that I thought it was an excellent movie! It's good inspiration for me to continue my research on the Propositions and Candidates under consideration for the mid-term elections coming up. It worries me to think how many people out there either don't do any research or don't even bother to vote at all. But, in the end I have to have faith that people will vote not just with their hearts but also their minds. (What can I say, I'm an optimist!)

Yesterday was a long but eventful day. I got up by 6:30am (yawn!) to go help my buddy Elizabeth set up her jewelry booth at the Altadena Festival. Her husband Michael and I joked with each other that this is the way we like to hang out with each other: packing and unpacking cars. :) The day was a bit on the warm side, but it was really nice spending time with Elizabeth and Michael and spending the day outside. The other vendors were friendly and a couple of their children came back every few minutes to oogle Elizabeth's beautiful creations. The festival itself had a sadly small turnout, but the day ended strong and Elizabeth ended up turning a decent profit! :)

As we were leaving the festival, I decided to return a call to my friend Ann (whom I met in NC when she was working on Ya-Ya Sisterhood) since she lives just off the highway on the way home. She wasn't home at the time but her husband told me that they were having a small get together for Ann's birthday that evening. I didn't have a gift with me, but it dawned on me that the car in front of me (with M & E) had a trunk full of jewelry. After trying both of their cell phones with no luck (annoying cell phone coverage!), we had a comedic moment of trying to communicate with each other through the car windows. Finally we both pulled off the road and I bought a set of Day of the Dead necklace and earrings for Ann. Of course it turns out that the ones I wanted were buried at the bottom of the box. Doh!

The party itself got started late...it is LA after all! But, it was nice catching up with Ann a little before everyone showed up. And, of course, it was great seeing Cricket (Ann's dog) again. She is the sweetest creature ever! It's funny how the pit bull (she's only part) got such a bad rap. My Grandma Ruth had a full pit and that dog was also the most loving creature I had ever met. Cricket was so pleased to show me her newest stuffed toy: The Garbage Man. This new toy apparently had usurped the position of The Postal Worker in the hierarchy of toys in her toy box. :)

While at the party I enjoyed watching parts of the 1931 classics: Frankenstein and Dracula. But, between the candle-lit rooms, the good party food, and the long day out in the sun...I had to call it a night pretty early. I ended up needing to call a friend to keep me awake on the drive home. Why must I get so sleepy in the car? But I made it home to my comfy bed and sweet kitty safe and sound.

Wow, what a week. I am SO glad I have a couple of days reprieve from work. What should have only taken me a day or two at the most to do just took me the better part of two weeks. But, alas, after many a frustrating phone with clients and developers I finally found a solution to the problem. And, I was able to come out of all of it as a bit of a hero! Now, I am exhausted and I need to recover.

Last night was fun. I got to be the guinea pig for Colleen's most scrumptious pumpkin soup. Mmm. I must take a lesson from her and try this concept of "menu planning" so that I can actually shop for ingredients for things I plan to make...as opposed - ahem - to waiting until I'm too hungry to think about what I want to cook. I do love the concept of cooking and eating good food. Sadly though, my blood sugar drops and my brain ceases to function.

The entertainment for yesterday evening definitely won out over the choice for this evening. Last night was the weekly viewing of another fantastic episode of Lost. I love that story. Sawyer makes me laugh out loud more than any other character. I still get embarrassed when I remember the day I met that actor at Bristol Farms and totally made a fool of myself. It was one of those "hey don't I know you?" moments. Sigh.

Tonight was a viewing of my netflix choice: The Brothers Grimm. Oh my. That's truly the worst rendition of a good idea that I've seen in a long time. I had high hopes for the story, but it was done so poorly, imho. It felt like it was trying too hard to pull out the essence of classic Monty Python but just falling flat. Oh well.

One of my best friends that I've known since high school, Diana, had her first baby girl this morning!! I'm so proud of her and I wish I could be there right now to give little Aurora a kiss from her "auntie"! Diana is in the midst of medical school right now and she and her husband just bought a house in San Antonio. Chris (the hubby) is working on his PhD in neuroscience. Needless to say this couple has their hands full!!! My other best friend from high school, Josie, has had two more children since the last time I've seen her. I'm planning on seeing Josie, Diana, their hubbies and all their little ones when I go home (to San Antonio) for Christmas this year. I can hardly wait!!! :)

Friday night was girls' night out. Elizabeth, Colleen, Sarah, and I had a lovely dinner in downtown Culver City at Tender Greens. (I loved the sherry vinaigrette dressing!) Afterward we went to the costume-heavy film Marie Antoinette. I wasn't pleased with Kirsten's acting skills (facial expressions were generally good but not so much with the spoken parts) but that wasn't the reason we were there. It was for the gorgeous costumes, of course! The movie itself was more like a super long music video. :)

On Saturday I went with Colleen to see the Broadway play Souvenir. Although there were only two actors on stage over the course of two hours, I was never bored. In fact, I was laughing throughout and even had a tear or two welling up in my eye at the end. The play was a touching story (based on a real person) of a socialite woman that truly believed she could sing opera. (She was not only bad, she was unbelievably bad!) She befriended a pianist (the other character in the play) and together they performed at recitals, recorded records, and even culminated in a performance at Carnegie Hall! The ending scene was very touching...she sang the last song "as it sounded to her." In other words, she sang absolutely beautifully. The actress had a wonderful voice, but, for my money, nobody sings opera better than Elizabeth. :)

Last night I finally went back to my weekly drawing class...the same one I model for sometimes. It was nice to start drawing again. It's been so long! One of the co-coordinators for the workshop (it's not technically a "class" since there's no teacher) is also an artist. He was there on Sunday when I was modeling. The pic I attached to this entry is a photo of one of the sketches he did of me. (Elizabeth, recognize the outfit?) I liked it so much that he gave it to me! I taped it up on the wall in my bedroom. I'm trying to decide if I should get it framed.

Tonight was sewing night. I did another example of a "pieced heart" square. This rendition came out much better than the last. I think I'm confident enough to say that this quilt is doable. I just need to finish getting all the fabric purchased and divide up the tasks amongst the girls. Elizabeth tried to show me how to cast on and start knitting a scarf, but my butter fingers were having a time at it. I need some serious practice in that arena. Elizabeth, Colleen, and I flipped through some historical fashion books, drooling over the beautiful dresses. I decided that I liked the 1880's ballroom dresses, but when I decided that the 1890's weren't really for me the other girls seemed determined to convince me otherwise. Well, it will be awhile before I can start the Victorian ballgown so there's plenty of time to influence my decision on style... :)

I have to admit that I wake up every morning to KROQ on the radio. The rationale is the DJs on KROQ are less annoying than a buzzer (I refuse to ever wake up to that again!) but annoying enough that I actually wake up and don't feel like staying in bed all morning. (I tried KCRW, but I kept oversleeping my alarm and dreaming of world events.)

Well, this morning they were interviewing one of the owners of the web service youmail.com and I have to admit that it sounds pretty darn cool. The sad thing is my cell carrier (Sprint) isn't on the provider list yet. (Maybe I'll petition for them to join.) The service is cool because you can record separate voicemail greetings for different people, e-mail recordings of voice messages and even use something called "ditchmail" to hang up on people you know you don't want to talk to before they have a chance to leave you a message. What I would have given to have had that back in the day of my stalker ex! :) Well, like I said. Hopefully Sprint will jump on that bandwagon soon...

Wow, there's nothing like a jam-packed, late night weekend to make a girl feel like getting to bed early! I can't believe I'm actually going to bed before ten o'clock. Yikes!

Saturday was spent helping Elizabeth prep for the absolutely fabulous Halloween tea! It was a lot of work getting everything together, but it was so well worth it. :) Elizabeth and Richard spear-headed the project, and Michael, Megan, and I were the "slave labor." (Of course, we were all only too happy to help out.) As what seems to be usual, I wore Elizabeth's clothes and jewelry once we got a chance to get all dressed up. I felt like a pretty, pretty princess in a glittery pewter skirt, black and silver bodice, and sparkly rhinestones on my neck, ears, and wrist. Of course, wearing my corset and three-inch high salsa shoes helped as well! The party itself was a smashing success with the beautiful decorations, everyone dressed to the nines, games (pin the bats to the belfry...drawn by yours truly!), ghost stories, waltzing, and of course delicious tea and sandwiches and scones and tarts and, and...even crazy jello with gummy eyeballs! :) I really hope we have or go to these sorts of events more often. This kind of "playing dress up" is the sort of thing I always wanted to do as a kid. And, seeing Alyxx's gorgeous dress that she sewed (so fast!) I'm totally wanting to make my own Victorian ball gown. Ah, so many projects and too much time spent at work getting in the way! ;)

After the last guest left and we took a couple of hours to clean up I barely dragged myself back to the Reeds to unload. Fortunately they have a toothbrush and coach with my name on them. Later that morning I awoke from dreams of packing tea cups and Michael and I finish the unloading of the cars. Elizabeth was a sweetie and made us a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, cataloupe and (you guessed it) scones! Mmmm. Yummy!

By the time I headed home I was well fed but the muscle soreness was starting to set in. At that point I was regretting the decision to model for the Pico Art Walk event over at the YWCA in Santa Monica. (This would be the normal place I model around twice a year...but it's usually not public and on Tuesday nights.) But, once I got there I got into it and really enjoyed being there. Nothing seems to boost my self-esteem like modeling for a figure drawing class. Everyone is so complimentary of my poses and they always ask when I'll be back again. There was one twenty-year old female student that told me today that she normally has photography classes on Tuesdays but if I let her know when the next time I'm posing she'll skip that night and come draw instead. That really makes me feel good. I think it really helps that I pose in positions I wish I could draw when I'm the artist. (What I would give to be in both places at once!) What was really fun today is that I brought along my new green Turkish bellydancing outfit and my can-can costume (that's right, the one I spent three months making this summer!) to wear for the long poses. Everyone loved them! I'm hoping to get a copy of one of the pictures, done with pastels, of me posing in my bellydancing outfit. :)

Oops...okay, so much for getting to bed before 10. Like usual I'm running my typical 10-15 minutes late. :)