What am I supposed to do with my life?

If I get a house and a job that pays more than $8.50 an hour, will I finally be a responsible adult? Will kids make me feel like I served a purpose? Won't I just be dumping the same unanswerable question on them. What are you going to do? "Work and have some kids, I suppose."

It's as though life were a stack of bills, and everyone is supposed to find a unique way to spend their money. Well, there are only so many stores.

Somewhere between 20 and 35, fear grips half the men and women in this world. "I need money to retire on. I can't work when I'm 60." - "I've got to have kids. Otherwise, what was I here for?"

I ask myself that question every single day. What am I here for? There are billions of people on the globe. We've all been here the preverbial blink of an eye, as far as the universe is concerned - isn't my existence a bit extraneous?

Freud was right. Life is about sex. If it weren't, most of you probably wouldn't be here. There'd be a couple million people around, not 7 billion. 7 Billion says, "We like sex. Let's go have some more." We're manufacturers - and business is good.

A few people get to have fun every day, but most of us just spend our lives making sure that 2% is comfortable.

How many people don't kill themselves because everyone else made them feel guilty about actually going through with it?

So how do you win?

"Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." Right?

Well, you'd have to stop caring about money and posessions. [Done. I stopped caring years ago.] We can take control of everything. I just have to figure out how to convince everyone else to stop caring.

Good luck.

In the meantime, I'm going to see the entire world. I want to travel. If I was born trapped on this planet, I'm going to every corner of the cage.

Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life.

What if never working a day in my life is doing what I love?

1) The team saw Spider-Man 2 this morning. Great movie. Four thumbs up. They set up a lot for the future, and there are some things that you don't even see. "What could they be, Billy?" Hmmm...

2) Have you guys heard of this 'C2' by Coca-Cola. I'm sure you have. It's all over the freakin' place. We all tried it (It's not good). But Chuck and I tried 'Pepsi Edge', the Pepsi version of the same thing. We both concur: I would definitely drink this, as would Chuck. Go on...try it.

3) One final note. I just wanted to share my favorite quote of the day: "You can't get off, if you never get on." -think about it...

My step-sister, Amber, just sent an email to say she'll be coming for a visit in late July. I wrote in an earlier post about her getting accepted to the Cali intisute of the arts; she'll be starting there in the fall and is coming for a long weekend for some type of presentation. When she's finnished with that, on Sunday night, she'll be coming here to stay for 2 days.

I've been thinking a lot about all of the things I want to do while she's here. I don't know if she's ever been to L.A., but if not, I'd like to show her downtown Hollywood and take a hike around Mahulland. I want to go to the beach, soak up some sun, and watch the surfers. I want to have lunch and go clothes shopping in Santa Monica. I want to get drunk, sit out on the balcony and stay up all night gossipping about everything (the way only girls do).

Needless to say I'm very excited. Amber is one year younger than me and a lot of fun. She's an aspiring actress, filled with energy. The night before my Dad married her Mom, she and I spent some time in the sauna, hung out in the kitchen eating a bag of marshmellows, and stayed up most of the night talking with my sister, Emily, about sex. It was a fantastic way to bond. I can't wait until she moves here and I have a perminant girlfriend to spend time with.


This photo was taken that night... almost 8 years ago. Wow! I can't believe it's been that long. Yes, I know, we look a little scary.

My brother is back from Kenya. He made it safe. He was there for two and half weeks, and I'm sure he has a handful of amazing stories to share -- he left a post in our forum hoping to get some questions about his visit there. Here's his post:

I thought it would be fun to start a forum about kenya.. any one interested about kenya or just my experience in general can leave questions and i will attempt to answer [them] the best i can.. remember i was only there for 2 and a half weeks so i didnt see it all but i saw enough.. dont be afraid to ask about anything.. and i do mean anything...

I'm going to try and get some pictures out of him, but in the meantime; ask away [you can click on the "post" link above, or click "forum" at the foot of each post].

Two of our short clips have gone missing in action from our server. If anyone out there happens to have either "Hollywood" or "LoveSong" saved on their computer and wouldn't mind sending them back our way, we would greatly appreciate it.

Phone tag is finally over; I am meeting with Eric friday morning to return his film and ask for a plethora of advise. Hmm... I don't have anything to wear.

About a year ago, I used to have a brand new Geo Metro that my dad bought me in high school. The gas mileage on this thing was awesome. I got maybe 50 miles to the gallon on the highway. Moving to California and paying $2.50 a gallon can make you pine for a tiny little car.

I was driving along one day, minding my own business, when a little old lady pulled out in front of me at an intersection in front of a hospital. I swerved to the left, but she tried to speed up and I hit her head-on going about 45mph.

When I hit her, the airbags exploded and burned my t-shirt, and the seatbelt left a mark across my chest. I have an old injury to my left knee, which also got banged up pretty good. I was doing ok though, considering.

The adrenaline kicked in pretty fast, and I got out of the car without any trouble. I ran over to the lady's car to make sure everyone was ok, because I could hear her screaming "Oh my God" over and over again.

As I got up to her car [I think I opened the door for her], I realized that she had a clean break of the bone in her forearm. She was holding it just above her elbow and it looked like she had another joint. Her forearm and hand were just hanging off the middle of her arm, completely limp. It was snapped in two, and she wouldn't stop screaming.



I went back to my car and picked up my cell phone off the ground to call 911. I told them I was about 2 seconds from the hospital. They took about 5 minutes to get there, so I sat on the grass in front of my car on a small hill. All of a sudden I felt really winded, and I realized that I'd hurt my knee pretty bad. I could feel it swelling up inside my jeans. Then I felt sore over my whole body.

A guy came up and asked me if I knew where I was going. I was so out of it that it seemed really odd. I thought he was asking the question in the philisophical sense. I wondered "Where am I going?". Of course, he was just trying to see if I was coherent by asking me a simple question. When I realized it, I said I was fine and to check out the lady in the car.



They pumped me up with vicodin and put a brace on my leg and right hand. It felt like I had fractured a bone in my hand, but it healed itself - I guess. I'd say I came out of it ok, considering how well the old lady had fared.

The worst part was the money. Not two hours before the accident, I'd spent $200 on my car to fix the muffler. The ambulance ride that lasted thirty seconds cost me $500. I still owe them $150 that my insurance didn't cover.



Other Interesting Facts:
1. My bike was stolen a week later.
2. I was on my way to a bible study.
3. I put on my seatbelt a block before I hit her.
4. It was the last time I saw my ex-girlfriend. (She drove past the accident and didn't see me.)

Well it's been awhile since I've posted anything non-political so let me ease into this post with a quote from Reagan Jr.

“I think it was a relief for Americans to look at pictures of something besides men on leashes. If you are going to call yourself a Christian -- and I don't -- then you have to ask yourself a fundamental question, and that is: Whom would Jesus torture? Whom would Jesus drag around on a dog's leash? How can Christians tolerate it? It is unconscionable. It has put our young men and women who are over there, fighting a war that they should not have been asked to fight -- it has put them in greater danger.”

Sorry Mark, I stole that one from you. But it's such good stuff I couldn't fight the temptation [note: the link added within the quote is semi-random. Reagan Jr. made no mention of it -- I just thought it was nice place to sneak it in...].

Moving on: Here's some random video clips from the other day when Amanda called in sick to work, we spent the afternoon sitting on some rocks overlooking the ocean. The same rocks we discovered while filming the "project: pedal" footage. First off; we spotted a group of dolphin's swimming about fifty feet out, but I couldn't get a damn shot of them; they kept coming up and going under for a minute only pop up somewhere completeldifferentnt. Slippery bastards.

Second up; here's a clip of Amanda on the rocks. She's so cute.

And, it's getting late, so the last fews things I wanted to write about are going to be in list form:

Third clip: don't worry... the camera was in a water tight case.

Today at work I saw Jeremy Davies, he was sporting a full beard [I'm guessing for his recent roll as Charles Manson]. I was going to say "you kicked ass in CQ..." or something along those lines. But a lady from our lighting department beat me to it. That bitch [just kidding -- she's actually very nice].

ps. This was found in the apartment today, and I thought it was so funny I had to post it for the world to see.



Enjoy.

Nobody is doing the dishes over here.



I eat out.

"If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we'd better reexamine our reasoning".

- Robert S. McNamara

Funny thing happened before the movie last night; they were running paid advertisements and trivia while people were being seated and an "eco-something" from Coke Cola came up reading: "If you end your shower a minute earlier than usual, you'll save over 115 gallons of water a month".

Which I thought was humorous considering that each six pack of Coke requires 88 gallons to make. So in theory if you drank one less can of Coke a day, at the end of the month you'd have saved over 440 gallons.

I just wanted to take a minute and say Chuck, Mike and I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 today and I haven't been this inspired since I Mike and I went to the We The Planet seminar at Eastern Michigan University, last fall.

It was great! Please go see this movie. GET OUT AND VOTE! We need to turn this country around and repair some of the damage that has been done.

Thank you. And good-night.

Chuck and I went to see The Terminal today, which was a great movie, and we saw a trailer for Anchorman. More than 50% of the trailer clips were not even in the version of the film that we saw, and they were funny. It made me wish I could have seen the clips in context.

I mentioned that we watched The Joe Schmo Show on DVD, yesterday. I had picked it up at Ameoba, after the movie. It said on the cover, "uncensored", but as we watched the episodes, it was censored like crazy! I felt SO deceived. So if you were going to buy it, which it IS an addicting show, just buyer beware. I still enjoyed just fine, but it's the principle of the whole thing. ...O.K., that's all.

I can honestly say that today (Wednesday) was best day I have had in a long time. I really, truly enjoyed myself for the first time since I've been out in California. And it went a little something...like this:

Chuck and I both stayed up until late into daybreak before sleeping for about two hours (Chuck had to work and I was at home working on some things). I woke up around 10:30a.m. and then proceeded to wake up 'Sleeping Beauty', so that we could start our day. We got ready and headed out the door by a little after 11:00. Chuck and I had gotten invitations to go catch a private screening of "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (coming to theaters July 9th) at the Arclight Cinemas in downtown Hollywood at 1:00p.m. We felt really bad, because Mike and The Girl had the morning off, but it was a VERY small audience and we could only get an invitation for two. They still don't know, yet, and we'd appreciate it if nobody mentioned it to them, so "Shhhhhh!" The theater, itself, was really nice (it's the same theater that I had ran into Thomas Jane and Rebecca Romijn at for The Punisher premiere). It was a lot more decorated than your normal theater, including actual CGI mattes and preliminary drawings for Shrek 2 framed on the walls (I'm guessing that it premiered there, as well).
Before we had made it to our seats they offered us free popcorn and sodas, which was pretty generous, I thought. Inside the cinema, we had great seats, right where we would have wanted to be. It was a really small crowd of people. Before the movie started, a P.R. guy for Dreamworks came out and gave a quick rundown of the campaign they have set up for the next few weeks before the movie opens. Apparently, they're going to have 'Channel 4' vans going around town spreading the news (as it were) and giving away T-shirts, frisbees, and condoms that say "Stay Classy!", Ferrell's catch-phrase in the movie. Chuck and I both want to get our hands on some of that booty. After he had finished, he introduced one of the writers of the film to say a few words and answer any questions people might have.
Finally...the movie! I can't say too much about the movie, because of the disclosure rules for early screenings, but it was just so funny. I would actually go see this movie a few more times. I just thought it was THAT good. I'll put up a review tomorrow, though. I'm too tired tonight.

Following the movie, we headed over to the most spectacular Music/DVD store. If you want it, you could probably find it there, including an extensive collection of classic LP's and freakin' LaserDiscs...LaserDiscs!!! I picked up a few things in there (though I could have spent $1,000 and still not been done). We grabbed something to eat after that and then went home and watched some of the Joe Schmo Show on DVD. It was a really good day.

Oh, I almost forgot. The writer...the one that had come out and talked to us... Yeah, he was really funny. Of course, he should have been. It was Will Ferrell. Will 'freakin' Ferrell!!! He was standing not more than 15 ft. in front of us talking to us about the movie, telling jokes, and basically just being Will Ferrell -warning us of a salmonella outbreak in the popcorn and telling us that they've opted not to validate parking, exactly what you'd expect from him. He even was willing to take questions and converse a little with the audience. How cool is that?! How cool is he?! I could go on for quite a while, I'm still so excited. I was still smiling for hours afterwards. I had literally forgotten how it feels to be as happy as I was today. It's like a drug now. I need to feel that level of happiness more. And the cost of this fabulous day? $2.50, between the two of us. I would have happily paid $50 for the same experience. I just wanted to share my day with you. It was good and I was happy...

I know I had an assignment today... dang - what was it....?



Dave, you are the winner. (Secretly, Billy got 1st, but he didn't want the t-shirt. Though, I think he was sleeping with more than one of the judges) Kerrie, second place is yours.

Thanks to everyone else for your entries. Better luck next time.

I just got home from work and everyone is still asleep. Once they get up, everyone gets a vote to determine who the winner is. Each of us will list their top three choices and we'll go from there. Good luck everyone. Here's one last shot of all the entries. It took me forever to write the code. So click on a few and make my time worth it, ok. p.s. I know the Oz pic is next to the little kids. It just happened, ok.

I wasn't going to put them in any particular order, but then I remembered Dave was the only one who cares and put him last.

Since we were all talking about the Simpsons today, I found an interesting article in Yahoo news. It seems that the Simpsons are securing the Archbishop of Canterbury to be in a future episode. The Archbishop is apparently a big fan of the show, which he praised for it's "humour and humility." When it rains, it pours. For more information on my favorite show, visit snpp.com.

We have a late submission for the photo contest, which I wanted to have up before I go to work. It's from Kerrie in Michigan, representing for all us former residents. Apparently she has a 102 degree fever and had to take the picture with no set-up, sans make-up. So let's all hear it for Kerrie! She's cute as a button.

Just as I posted this, Christine sent me an entry. Apparently, we're huge in Japan. Of course, we'd be huge comparatively, if we went there.

If you could go back in time and change one event in your life, why is that a stupid question?

Sleep tight, everyone. Only in dreams can we make no mistakes.

Well, everyone, we've had a lot of fun with the photo contest. We made fun of Mike, slacked off in school, ruined a shirt, flushed a sign, developed a twin, and saw some boobs. Well, I saw them anyway. Sure some people didn't participate, but I don't hold it against them. Let's face it - the prize wasn't that great. Cash next time?

So today is the last chance. If you really meant to do it and just never got around to it, today is the day. I'll be closing the contest around midnight, maybe a little bit after. By the time I get home from work, I expect to know who I'll be congratulating as our first contest winner. I'll have it posted before I pass out on the couch.

So send something in. You can fire it to filmforthought@hotmail.com. Remember, we're going for a big finish here. Here's a submission I got the other day that concerns me a little. I don't know who the person is, but I know who sent it.



Just a side note here - I have to resize all these down to website size, so sending me a picture at 900 dpi doesn't really help me out a bunch. It just crashes my e-mail. I mean resolution is important, but let's not go crazy.

That said, everyone enjoy your day. I'm going to sleep now.

Here's a photo from Kenya of my brother, Nick. The Church group that he went with has a web site with a handful of photos up. Looking at this makes me miss him so badly, I wish I could be there too.



I tried signing the guest-book but it wasn't working. So Nick, if you're out there reading -- I love you.

ps. Chuck is watching the Simpson's DVD he bought, and speaking the lines before they say them. Very strange.

Tzaddi sent me this the other day. The first one says Chuck stinks. I never seem to get one submission without a second though. Here's one from an 'anonymous' entrant:



Just to clarify - stroke of midnight on Monday night is it for submissions to the contest (ok, I won't kill you if it's 1am) but I am posting the winner before noon on Tuesday. Just in time for the Wednesday hits spike. We get the most readers in the middle of the week. I guess everyone is so bored at work, it's all they have to do.

It's kinda funny that we have this group of ten or twelve people that submit comments and pictures. We have a thousand people a day reading the site and only ten people ever speak up. So here's to the loud-mouths, making us look popular. May you never be silenced. (You know who you are.)

I had an awful day at work. The kind when you want to drive a car through plate glass, or maybe a fist - but I don't really feel like writing about it. Let's just say people are jerks. Most people. You guys are ok I guess.

This guy is ok too. Go here. Drew Olbrich.

Well I have the next two days off. Which means: it's time to get some work done.

First things first. I need to go pick up a copy of "On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom", an Oscar nominated documentary I've mentioned earlier on the blog, I also mentioned several attempts at finding a copy to watch before meeting with Eric Simonson, the director. But I didn't realize it hadn't been released yet. Here's an excerpt of a review from imdb:

"This short film packs more emotion into 45+ minutes than most films pack into 145. The cinematography, editing, and audio of this film is as good as it gets. You'll immediately become a fan of Joseph Shabalala..."

Anyways, the director himself lent a personal copy for me to go over before I sit down with him and pick his brain for an hour. On one hand; I don't know what to say. On the other; I have too many questions for him. I am currently busy sifting through them and separating the "I need to ask someone for help on this" ones, from the "that's something you just have to learn as you go" topics. But I am very excited to see his film, and to get an opportunity to talk with him.

It's 3:19 in the morning right now, and I don't like anything I've written above, so I'm going to stop here because I'm obviously too tired and foggy-eyed to go on. You know that feeling when your on the verge of falling asleep while in mid-sentence? Yeah, I'm guessing the second my head hits the pillow I'm going to be out cold. "Goodnight cruel world".

This is actually a response to a comment from my "...Underdogs..." post, but I ran out of room in the comment box, so please forgive me. I wouldn't usually bother with a response to someone who's, obviously, just talking to talk, but he said something that I really didn't like and it wasn't about the Pistons. Aside from the idiotic wisecrack about Detroit burning down the city, considering it's L.A. who's popular for it's outbreaks and riots, not Detroit (not to mention it's not like they're not used to titles from the Red Wings), what kind of 'tail between the legs' person comes online and insults other people without even having the balls to leave his own e-mail address? ...and just for the record, I happen to be a Laker fan all the way back to "Showtime". I was thrilled that they got their rings a few years back, they earned them, but my boys will always be the Pistons. Everyone, feel free to skip this post. It will just take a second.

**********************************************************

One year wonder? They've been one of the last few teams in the playoffs for the last three years. Every year they've gone up another notch. They didn't just come out of nowhere. Their defense is raved about throughout the league. And it wasn't like they knocked the kings from their throne. The Lakers are nobody special this year. They're not even the returning champions or anything. In fact, what were they last year? 5th in the West? What was Detroit? Oh, yeah, that's right...number 1 in the East. (One year wonder...) -Hell, the Lakers didn't even finish in the top three this year, because they weren't a strong enough team to earn it. Their regular season record was 56-26, the Piston's was 54-28. Last time I checked, two games is not a dominating margin (Or course, it's more games than the Lakers could pull off in the Finals).

To add insult to injury, the Pistons won their playoff games straight out, while the Lakers had AT LEAST two games this year where they were screaming, "Please go in!!!", at last second shots, because, minus some dumb luck, they were as good as beaten. Yeah, that sounds like an unstoppable force to me. You really should think about what you're saying before you open your mouth and put your foot in it. There was ONE team to beat in the Finals this year, and it wasn't the one voted most popular, but it was, apparently, the one most likely to succeed.

On a final note, how stupid do you sound telling someone THAT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW that they don't know anything about basketball? Tina happens to be one of the most intelligent people I've ever know in my life. If I was as big a blow-hard as you seem to be, I wouldn't put my E-mail address in the comment box, either...Jackass...

I have two more pictures for the contest. James sent me a new one, and Carinne sent me one. I'm going to post both of them, but I should be stricter on Carinne for not following the rules. I think if we all ask her nicely, maybe she'll send us a goofy pic of herself, sitting in a miniature chair or something like that. Maybe she just doesn't want her picture all over the web, like the attention whores in this apartment. (Mostly me.)


Ironic that James will ruin a t-shirt to win a t-shirt. Good thing I wasn't giving away a car.



Carinne's entry, while cool, seems to lack the all-too-important element of a real person. She told me she was in the left hand corner, but I'm not so sure. She did take the time to do something, so I guess that makes her better than the rest of you. Don't be lazy like me. Enter the contest. Win a t-shirt. Get a free link to your blog. Piss off Dave. Does anyone really want an aussie to win?

I thought maybe you guys just need an example. I've already seen a couple people flex their Photoshop muscle, so I thought I'd show you what I can do with a digital camera and about 10 minutes. This is, what I feel, the ideal submission contains.


If only I had a clone. We could both work two days a week. I don't know why I have those sour expressions on my face.

Hopefully, Stacey and Kerrie will send in pics to top this thing off. Then we can all get on with our lives. Maybe Tzaddi too, if I give earth 2 Tzaddi some nice big props. She seemed a little shaken by not being included, but she's a funny girl, so go check her out.

I leave you for the night, because I don't have anything else to talk about. I'm going to sit on the couch, drink a box of wine, and watch a few episodes of the greatest TV show ever conceived and painstakingly illustrated overseas... the Simpsons.

Everyone can rest easy again, the movies are back on the server. So go crazy.

I spent half the day looking over my shoulder alone in the apartment [or so I hoped]. After I got out of the shower I walked in the bedroom to find a hand-written note laying on the bed reading: "I'm watching you". Since I had been home alone for the past two hours, I was 40% concerned I was being stalked and 60% hopeful it was Chuck and Billy playing a prank on me. But unfortunately, after a long six hours of paranoia, Chuck and Billy admitted to the note, no exciting stalker stories to speak of here.

I spent the other half bored out of mind. I wrote some. Taught myself Flash MX; made a stupid 'test' web site. Fell asleep in the shower. Did the dishes. Blah blah blah. Read alot of current news, most of which was spoon-fed crap [the usual].

Speaking of which, it put a smile on my face to read that Tex is hanging onto the last thread of his pre-war accountability. What a slow and beautiful downward spiral. Also, here's something I found interesting / terrifying:

It's not a political judgment that said, `Let's see if we can cook the books.' We can't get away with that now. Nobody was out to cook the books.

That was Powell making a statement about a terrorist report released last year, that was now found to be dead-wrong. Surprise, surprise. But does anyone else find the quote: "We can't get away with that now", disturbing? Because if I said that, or anyone else for that matter, I would imagine, it would strongly imply that in the past I could "get away with that"; but not anymore. Did he just admit to "cooking the books" in the past. It would be consistent with their record of things "said", and things "found to be true". Ugh... but I can feel myself starting to rant, so I'm going to call it a night before I get too carried away.

Well, I'd post another picture of a caliblog fan, but I don't really have one. With the exception of James (Who should really know better than to try and pass off an old pic for a new one. I know she looked nice, but lets not lose focus here, James.) I'm sure he'll probably send us an updated pic sometime in the future. As for the rest of you, it's a weekend left. Remember, Dave thinks you're all losers.

I'm still working on our website problem. Putting the movies on a different server isn't really going to help. We're still burning 1.5GB a day on just the visitors, sans movies. This is getting complicated, but I promise you I am trying to figure it out. I'm on turbo-lazy speed.

Since we started the blog, people have been linking to us and showing their support. If it weren't for my deeply rooted fear of clutter, we'd put links to all these people on the left bar. Because I am a neat freak, and six is almost more I can handle, here are a few links to people that seem to have one eye on us. Go check them out, because they're all really cool.

The Bean Blog From the one and only, Oz.
Gutter Slut Anonymous Stacey rocks. And she's from Canada.
American Blogger The man himself, James Shirley.
My Big Fat Fishbowl She's going to be famous soon.
Little Sea Nymph Nerina's new blog, with an old pen camera.
live with kinky carinne When the name doesn't say it all.
Reflections of a Whimsy Chick A girl from Michigan.
The Earley Edition Dave, Australia's own reporter.
and my buddy, Pete Check out his pictures section.

The 4th season of the Simpsons was released Tuesday. I've been waiting on it for a while. I've only watched one episode ("Whacking Day"), so I've got 21 more to go. Good thing it's my day off. Didn't I just tell everyone I'd figure out the website problem?

I used to date a girl that loved the show as much as I did, but now I only have Billy to watch it with. Kinda sad. Michelle never liked it as much. She faked it - but that might not have been the only thing she was faking.

I just wanted to let everyone know about a really interesting blog that I found from one of our faithful readers. It's a newer site, but definitely one to watch. Aside from the fact that I thought that this person was pretty funny (kind of cute, too) and the blog was an enjoyable read, she has been given the opportunity to be a contestant on a new 'reality' television show called Casino Night. That right there should be enough to draw some attention. If I remember right, she is supposed to start her little journey of celebrity on Monday and already the drama has started. "What's happened, Billy? What-Oh-What has happened?! What could possibly have gone wrong? Did her long lost twin sister come out of the shadows to reveal a hideous secret? Was SHE the one who pulled the trigger from the grassy knoll? Does her loyalty lie with her friend or her boobies?" There's only one way to find out (unless I mention it later).

Go to My Big Fat Fishbowl and show some support for a cool girl who just wants to play some cards...and be on T.V...and get a little more respect from a friend...and post a blog...and have a moment that I feel is more like an It's a Wonderful Life moment than a Christmas Carol moment, but whatever... Go check out the site, I think it's the groundfloor of something really cool. I'll be checking up on you to see if did, so...

Our third contestant took a unique approach to the photo contest. Unique and unexpected. Thanks to Oz for putting her own 'personal touch' on her entry. Very inspiring.



Who's next?

In case you were sleeping in a cave tonight and missed the news, the Detroit Pistons have done the unthinkable. Tonight, they have done everything that they were told they couldn't do - by everyone with a voice in sports. The HIGHLY unfavored Pistons have not only beaten, but devastated the all-star packed, bred for a championship Los Angeles Lakers...and it couldn't have been sweeter. Putting aside a last second three-pointer from Bryant in game two to tie and eventually win, we're looking at a 4-game sweep...in the other direction. You don't know how good it feels moving out here to L.A. and seeing my boys from back home take it all and do it at home. It's just awesome! Congratulations and props to the NBA World Champion Detroit Pistons. I just wish I could get my Conference and Finals jerseys/t-shirts like everyone else in Michigan (that part kind of sucks). I have to celebrate all alone.

On the good side, I have been inspired beyond all limitations to kick the @$$ of this town and succeed. If my boys can come to L.A. and overcome insurmountable odds, then so can I. This is my resounding slap in the face. I'm going to do it no matter what. Expect a lot more from me from this point on, because you're going to see it...

My buddy Pete in Germany sent me a picture for the contest. He's obviously studying hard, but who could pay attention to teachers when they're speaking German all the time. That's right ladies, my friend is fluent in German [which means he's brilliant], but he's also taken. By a cute girl I might add.



Sorry to everyone who's mad cause the movies are still down. I thought it might help our bandwidth to move them to another site, but I don't think it's going to help as much as I wanted it to. If you absolutely have to have one to show to your mom, or a famous director, just fire me off an e-mail and I'll put it back up.

But until I find a website without a hidden cancellation fee or something like that, it might be another day. If anyone has any suggestions, we need some hosting with about 80GB of bandwidth that's moderately priced. This all comes out of our pockets, and I'm trying to avoid paying more than $30 a month.

Some kid took one of my pictures off the site and put it on his. Normally, I wouldn't care, especially since the image is James Kolchalka's artwork, but he wrote the exact same thing about it. I mean it was a quote. And he acted like this was his own personal thought about it.

I tried to leave a comment, but he wouldn't take it off. Since he didn't actually steal the picture (he just linked to it) I just gave a different picture the same name and put it on our server. Let's just say I hope the next time he loads his site that his mother isn't standing behind him.

Website warfare, baby - and I'm a 4 Star General.

For those of you who don't know, the Detroit Pistons are one (home) game away from winning the NBA Finals. If not for a last second 3-pointer in game 2 by Kobe Bryant, this was a 4 game sweep. Yet for some reason the Pistons still fail to get any respect for what they've done. I have to hear it everyday at work from these hardcore Laker fans that the Lakers are going to take the next three (of course the've said that for the last three games, so it's losing some of it's impact). They say that any team in the East is just a playground team coming to play a real pro ball team in the West. That there is no match-up. They keep saying the Lakers are just trying to stretch it out (for Las Vegas' sake). We have one more game in Detroit tomorrow night and hopefully they can celebrate at home with a victory. Go Pistons, baby!!!

So we got our first entry to the t-shirt contest just minutes ago. This one made me laugh out loud, so I had to post it as soon as possible. I just want Dave to know he has an early lead. I'm not sure if anyone will beat the amount of work that went into this one.



Under the picture, it says "Earley Edition editor, Dave, points out the sky writing. "Mike really must suck," he said."

My favorite part is the actual story. It begins "A most unusual contest has begun, spanning this wide planet; to win a t-shirt denigrating the state of Michigan. In another, more innovative way to procrastinate, Caliblog team member Chuck has some up with a contest sure to win the hearts and minds of millions."

I'm glad someone knows what the contest is really about.

He continues, "One such inhabitant of the planet, Earley Edition Editor, Dave, has wasted some of his precious time in an attempt to win this prize."

I'd say it's a tough call, but as of today, Dave is the only entry. I've decided the contest will end on Monday, June 21st. So get your entries in soon. And for the love of God, don't send a file bigger than 1MB. Almost crashed my e-mail account.

Mike woke me up this morning to ask if he could borrow my car. I can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was around 8:30. I had gone to sleep around 8, so I was more than a little irritated, but the alternative was driving him myself and picking him back up. No thanks. Now I'm car-less until about 6 tonight.

The overnight gig is really starting to hurt me. I've been able to manage sleeping longer than four hours in a row about 10 times since I moved here. I have to catch my nods in the morning, and then again right before work.

Could it be the heat? The merciless sun? I'm not sure about the specifics, but my days off I stay up all afternoon, just so I can plop my head on a pillow, just as the horizon is going black. I never realized how wonderful it is to sleep at night.

The reason I got especially irritated with Mike is that it's 9:30 and I'm wide awake. I couldn't have slept longer than an hour and I won't be able to pass out again until tonight.


Note how much higher June is (still only the 14th.) 181,000 hits strong.

Fortunately, due to some serious downloading that's been going on from the site, I've actually got some work to do this morning. I'm putting all the movies onto an external server so we'll be able to show you all the movies we want, all the time. It's just a matter of getting them all off one and onto the other.

I also got a book yesterday, thicker than the Bible, about Macromedia Flash. I'll learn this program if it's the last thing I do. I have a software snafu right now, but I'll figure it out. I can't open any of my tutorial files in the program. It stinks. It keep telling me "Unexpected file extension", if anybody out there knows what that means. Anyway. I just want to be able to design a cooler site for you guys.

My sincerest apologies if a download doesn't work out today. I'll try to get the site up and running as soon as my sleep-deprived eyes and brain will allow. In the meantime, enjoy some hilarious pictures, which we often feature on the website as well.

I've been dreaming about puppies; a whole littler of puppies. Curled into balls with their eyes still closed. So small they could fit into the palm of your hand. I think their mother died and I was trying to figure out how I would have to feed them with a bottle until they were big enough to find decent homes for. The first one I picked up I held onto and never put down the entire time I tried to get the rest into a box to keep them warm. He started to grow at an incredible rate and before I knew it he was as big as a human baby curled around my torso. He felt so good and close and connected to me.

I'm not sure what all of that means but for some reason I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. My dreams are often times very intense and incredibly detailed. I try to tell other people about them but they usually think I'm crazy and going on forever, and then soon stop paying attention to what I'm saying. It's true, Chuck was right...I do talk a lot. Most of the time once I've started I notice after a while that I'm the only one still paying attention to me.

I have a nervous habit of writing on a piece of paper until it's completely filled and then throwing it away. Sometimes it's a note to myself, other times I just write random nonsense. Some people draw, I write. Even when I don't have anything to write. In college, I started doing it on index cards.



Untitled 1 (Index Card)

Black and blue pen, & red stamp ink on white notecard.
Total Dimensions: 3" x 5"

Notes Collection


Untitled 2 (Index Card)


Untitled 3 (Index Card)


Untitled 4 (Index Card)


Untitled 5 (Index Card)


Untitled 6 (Index Card)


Untitled 7 (Index Card)


Untitled 8 (Index Card)

I have an idea for a business. Here it is: I become an arms supplier, selling my supplies to foreign up & coming political leaders in bulk [an un-bias political trend spotter if you will], making a nice profit for myself. Sounds okay so far, right? Well, here's where the money really starts rolling in.

I [anonymously] blow the whistle on the buyer. Calling attention to any would be "targets", creating mass paranoia. While I'm at it, I'll slip my business card to a handful of "big wigs", and maybe cut them a deal on weapons.

That's it. That's my idea. I'll just keep selling my "products" under the radar to a variety of outside influences, and in return, well, I'm sure you see the pattern. It's beauty is in it's simplicity. A twisted 'Spy vs. Spy', where I sell one the over-sized hammer, then the other a giant boxing glove, then a spring loaded car seat... each of course for a pretty penny.

I just hope nobody has thought of this before.

Mike and I have started running again to train for the bike trip. It's only been a week, so far, but it feels good and I hope I can stick with it. I mean, I know I have to if I want to do this bike trip…. And I do want to make this trip. Sometimes I think I might act like it's not a big deal to me…. But honestly, it is. I want it so bad.



Running sucks. It's one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'm not sure if it's the same for everyone else, but it's just one of those things for me. Mike and I are motivated in totally different ways so it makes training together difficult. Not to mention that he is an award winning cross-country runner. Anyway, he is motivated by people telling him he can't do something…. he likes to prove them wrong. I on the other hand need lots of encouragement. The way Mike gets on Chuck about writing and filming is the same way he gets on me about running. I hate it. Mike is a little more relaxed this time around and I'm a little more determined. We're taking things a bit slower and I think it's going to work out ok.

I have to go to work in a half hour, so this has to be quick. Quick so I can lay down for a minute, that is. 30 minutes to be precise.

Billy and I went to see Van Helsing. Despite what the critics had to say, the special effects were better in the movie than the preview. The theatre had cheap tickets, but the film was out of focus for 15 minutes. I had to go get the manager twice before they finally fixed it.

I promise a better post tomorrow morning. I just wanted to remind everyone to send in their pictures for the t-shirt contest. I'm not keeping this shirt, so one of you had better take it. I've had tons of people ask about it though.

Pistons rock!

God bless Wi/Fi. At this moment, I am slumped down in Billy's chair on the back balcony of our apartment, the night is a perfect cool and unusually quite [I swear the second I typed that, I started to hear a helicopter coming from Burbank...anyways]. This has to be the most comfortable post I've ever written.

Amanda and I finally splurged and bought a wireless router. And having said that, I would like to say: I hate windows. No matter what it is you're trying to install [hardware & software], it never works right off the bat, but what is most frustrating is that after an hour of trying the same three things over and over again, it just starts to work. With no obvious reason. It finally decides it's given you enough shit and does what it's suppose to do. Grr.

Well, even though we [Chuck, Amanda and myself] decided after looking over the footage filmed yesterday that we needed more [alot more] before we could make the trailer we wanted to make. I got bored this morning and spent four hours cutting it up anyways, just to see what I could make out of it. So, keep in mind this is an unfinished version of a mock - teaser trailer for a film we haven't even started to actually film. Be easy on us.

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions with different documentaries they've seen and enjoyed. Some I've seen, some I've only heard of. I'm going to add them to my netflix list and do some catching up when I get a chance. Speaking of which, I should get back to reading a book I bought today on documentary film-making, I'm mainly interested in the budget / funding aspect of the book.

side note: this is my 100th post. How exciting, I'm officially a dork.

Nick, my brother, has left for Kenya. As I'm writing this now, he is half a world away. This could probably use some explaining: Three years ago, my brother built a school in Bolivia with a group of friends from a church he goes to. And this year, they are building a house for a church custodian [I think]. He'll be there just shy of a month. I have to admit, I am extremely jealous. It's strange but I miss him, yes, I realize I already live 2,500 miles away from Onsted. Maybe it's just that I don't know where he is, I mean I realize he is in Kenya... but thats about it. And Kenya is about twice the size of Michigan.


Above: Here's a pic of my bro playing guitar. Well, that much was probably obvious... but ladies, he is single.

Well, Chuck, Amanda and myself went out all day long filming footage for a mock-trailer for the bike documentary. It's not cut yet... actually, I am still busy importing it while I'm writing this. But I am thinking of selecting some key clips to post here as a sneak peak. But... it's gonna be at least an hour. Till then.

ps. It's been about an hour, so here ya' go, it's all your getting for the moment. Enjoy.

I think a lot about what might happen if this whole experiment goes end up. In the beginning, we were in pretty serious danger of tearing apart from the inside out. I've never wanted to go home as badly as my first month here. I was reminded of this, briefly, a few days ago when Mike got in my face about not writing with him.

I was sitting on the couch, reading a TV guide that had a Simpsons story on the cover. Maybe it was the fact that I was reading about television that got on his nerves. He made it a point to stand in front of me while saying he couldn't think of anything to write about. Then he asked me if I had any ideas.

Without looking up, I told him I couldn't think of anything and not to rush it. I think that's what pissed him off because he went on a rant about me never wanting to write. I've heard this rant before.

Truth be told, I haven't felt like writing in a long time. Our friendship, especially after we moved to California, has become more like a business partnership, and I'm the guy that never shows up to work. It was like moving here was signing a contract. We're all business from here out.

It was easy in High School. We were just goofing off when we made videos. I ponder often what we'd be doing right now if I'd never gotten him on the film kick in the first place.

Mike works like a freight train. He's always forcing himself. An effective method for him in the past. It got him to State finals in cross country, and rode him 2,500 miles on a bicycle across the United States.

It's the same method he's tried to force on me before. Three of us left, to ride from Michigan to California, and the second day I wanted to quit. As I sat on the side of the road, he stood next to me yelling about how I couldn't quit. How there were two walls, mental and physical and I was just hitting the first one.

I hated him. And I could tell he hated me for sitting there - doing nothing. If I'd been just another guy on a track team, he'd probably have written me off right then.

It's happened like that before. Back in high school even, we'd have these huge arguments about who was putting enough work into what. It was my fault most of the time. I have a tendency to be lazy.

I guess I'm one of those people that just takes it all. It was my suggestion to come to California and I seem to suffer for it every day.

I wish I had said more when he apologized. I just said "That's ok." Then I got on the computer to research the new trip, just to show him I was trying my best. I can't believe how submissive I was.

It wouldn't have mattered much anyway. Mike feels like I joke so much that it's impossible for us to have a serious conversation. Looking back on the five years we've been hanging out, I can only think of one.

We've had quite a few fights here, though I've never mentioned it. I remember another ending a little worse. I stormed out of the room and told Billy I just wanted "friends that don't expect anything from me." I cursed myself for ever stretching out my hand to touch something I apparently didn't have the desire to grab.

Billy said I've been introspective lately. One of the hardest things I've ever had to come to grips with is that I'm completely apathetic. I asked him if I was once, and he said not really. I think he was just being nice. Really, I'd prefer to do nothing at all.

I guess lately I've felt like a bit of a fraud. All these people keep telling me how great we are and how we're an inspiration to all the people out there going after their goals - and here I am, borderline all the time. Always ready to go back to my home, to my comfort zone where I can manage a soup store and live in obscurity, away from friends that expect more from me.

But a verse I've heard often from my father keeps coming back into my head...

"...to whom much is given, much shall be required." -Luke 12:48

... and I can't help wondering if it's time to set the bar a little higher.

"All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed;
Second, it is violently opposed; and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident".

-- Arthur Schopenhauer

Where to start...? I'm working on it, but this may take a while.

Mike's been bothering me for a while to sell my zine on the website. I used to have a site called Send Tretter that sold stickers, but it never went anywhere. Is this something you guys would be interested in? For now, I've decided instead to give back to the community from which I've taken so much. To that end, I'm starting a contest.

THE CONTEST.

How to win - The rules are simple. Take a picture of yourself, either alone or with other people, holding a sign that says something about Caliblog. You can say "Caliblog sucks.", "Mike sucks.", "I think Caliblog is Cali-cool." or even "Amanda, please dump Mike so we can go out sometime."

I don't care if you take it in front of your computer, next to the Washington Monument, or riding backwards on a horse [excluding those three ideas.] Just make sure it's memorable, because it is the competition.

The Prize! - The prize will be a t-shirt. This t-shirt. I made it last night.



If you want, you can take a picture with it and we'll post it. There'll be a grand prize winner and a runner-up. Amanda gets to decide the runner-up and what prize they get. I'm all out of ideas. If everyone has fun, I'll make a different shirt and we'll do it again. I'm having fun already.

[E-mail submissions to filmforthought@hotmail.com. Put something like "photo contest" in the subject heading, ok - otherwise you'll get deleted.]

Caliblog needs your help. Okay. Well, actually, rc.Pro [rolling chair productions: Chuck and I's production group] needs your help... I'm looking for documentaries with unusually excellent narrative. Tonight I'm going to call every video store in town until I find one with, "On Tiptoe: The Music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo". It comes very highly recommended by some close friends of ours who know the guy who made the film [his first documentary, which was nominated for an Academy Award]. Apparently he has just finished cutting the first run of his latest documentary, and if all goes well, Chuck and I should have an opportunity to sit and pick his brain about narrative. Okay. I'm rambling. Back to the subject at hand:

Any of you readers out there who have seen or heard of a documentary that exceeded your expectations [preferably due to narrative]; please drop us a comment. Well, I would keep writing but at the moment Chuck and Billy are watching the big game and randomly shouting "hell yeah", or "that was a f'ing foul"... you get the idea. It's distracting.

Actually before I go, I would like to posse another question; "why are so many of you out there shy"? We have been pulling in 1,300 new readers each day, and granted 40% of them leave within 20 seconds. But, that still leaves 520 people a day that visit between 30 seconds and an hour. Now, I'll be realistic, say on average, 8% of readers comment, that's still 40 people. We are getting about five comments on average per post. Those are sad numbers. I have to admit when we first found we had been noted on blogger; I was very anxious to hear all the different thoughts of people from every corner of the web. But it has only been a few days... perhaps I should be more patient.

At any rate, for those of you who have stayed longer than 20 seconds, thank you very much for reading. And for the few who have joined in on the conversation, we are always very excited to read what others have to say. Well, stay tuned.

You ever feel like you're being watched?

We've noticed recently that someone from Method Studios has been checking out the website almost daily. From what I can tell, Method Studios is a collection of video artists based in Santa Monica. They've never signed the guest book or left a comment, so I'm going to try and start a dialouge.

It might just be that they like the site, but is it a coincidence that they do video work? Still looking for a PA job over here [hint - hint]. Either way, I can't help but be curious.

They have some pretty cool videos on the site. One in particular that I saw recently on TV with Billy. It's a new Mountain Dew commercial using the Spy v.s. Spy characters. They did it live-action, instead of animated.

Check out how many people worked on it [a 23-second spot!]. I wonder how much the costumes set them back.

There's not enough time in the day... mostly thanks to work. I was looking forward to going to a book store in Studio City to look for some "how to" books on documentary script writing and budgeting. But, it's 10 'till 1 and I have to be at work at 2. All this makes me melancholy [for those of you who don't really know me... that was dry humor].

I was going to write something on the "sunnier" side. but I think I need to eat and hang out with Amanda before I leave. Sorry to be such a downer.

ps: everyone needs to go see this film. The fact that Miramax Films [owned by Disney] funded it, saw it, and then refused to distribute it [due to Disney getting enormous tax breaks in Florida, which is governerned by Jeb], is suspicious enough to spark interest. Why else would they want it to just go away unless it packed a punch with some truth behind it?

We've decided to try something new today. As a reintroduction for new people who have joined our little site recently, each of us has decided to tell you a little bit about one member of Caliblog from our own perspective. Obviously, per the title, I will be writing about Chuck.

If I had to describe Chuck in just one sentence I would say that he is exactly what Calvin would be if he had made it to his early twenties, both mentally and physically. (I am, of course, referring to the character from Bill Watterson's strip Calvin & Hobbes) But, obviously, this is not a one sentence post.

What can I say about Chuck that hasn't already been mentioned in Penthouse Forum? I first met Chuck while working at Target, back in Ypsilanti, MI. I was his boss. After a few days of working together, he said that he would like to do what I do. From there I took it upon myself to train him in every facet of my job. Teaching him anything he would need to know to be a good supervisor, which he quickly lost interest in, but it did make him a pretty valuble asset to the team. Along the way, we both realized we had similar taste in movies as well as a penchant for breaking out into song and dance spontaneously, especially to off-the-wall songs. But it was our love for the movie Moulin Rouge that really tipped the scales. Along with our other friend, Andrew, we would constantly do our own little renditions of the movie to pass the time at work. We kind of became an inseperable little trio. A lot of time has passed since then, some spots where we hardly talked for weeks on end, but here we are now, on the other side of the country together. Man, that's hot!!!

From what I know of Chuck, he comes from a fairly normal family (mother, father, sister). His father is old an fashioned type of man who subscribes to a strict moral structure and who believes in working hard and sacrificing for his family, for which Chuck holds him in very high esteem. Though he does have a few frustrating quirks, overall Chuck's a pretty good guy. Always inquisitive, he really likes to learn and experience new things.

For those of you who don't know, it was initially Chuck's little suggestion to throw caution to the wind and just move out to California. As it came closer to fruition, he came down with a slight case of cold feet, but he knew this was something that we all had to do and it would be a lot easier if we did it together. He did, however, stay an extra couple of weeks in Michigan, so that I wouldn't have to make the trip alone (What a guy!). Adjusting to his new life hasn't come easy for him and he still struggles with certain aspects everyday, but that's more of the kind of thing that he can talk about, if he feels the need.

I would definitely say that Chuck is one of my closest friends. Even if I had stayed in Michigan, that would still hold true. I honestly don't think I would have made it here for this long or maybe even made the trip at all if not for Chuck standing by me. Chuck's a good guy and a lot of fun to be around, usually. We've been pretty stupid together at times. For as crazy as Chuck can get (and he can...), generally, he's a very serious guy. He's really at a point in his life where he's become deeply introspective. Examining every aspect of his life and trying to figure exactly who is and what he wants. If he had his choice, he would spend the next few years as a nomad, walking across the country and taking work as he needs it. A very non-materialistic person, he discarded almost every possession that he owned before the trip, minus a few things that would fit in his very small car. I have to admire him for that. Actually, I could say that about making the trip, itself. That was quite a bold move. Now that he's out here, though, I think it's become a little less clear exactly what he wants out of this trip.

What else can I say about him? He likes his women like he likes his coffee: cold an bitter. He loves The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, and the hardly heard of Clone High. He wears a nightgown to bed. He loves strawberry ice cream, but only if it has real strawberries in it. He wants to learn to play the guitar, which is hard since he gave his away to someone who could never afford to get one on their own. He has an unhealthy obsession for Swiss Cake Rolls (seriously). He thinks his ears are too big. He's a huge fan of Val Kilmer. He works at a copy place, but is hoping to get job as a P.A. out here. If you want to know more about the wonder that is Chuck, stay tuned here or visit your local library...and now you know, and knowing is half the battle. (O.K., he doesn't really wear a nightgown to bed. He just wears it while he's relaxing around the apartment.)

Knowing that an unusually large number of people are now viewing the blog, kinda' makes it somewhat difficult to write about 'nothing'. I just caught myself sitting here searching the web for something interesting to mention... but realized that's not very original.

I suppose now is as good as a time as any to bring up our current project / "big decision". After a lot of discussing and debating and debating some more... Wait; this isn't where I should start this. Okay, from the top. If I had to guess how long it's been, I would say half a year ago Amanda suggested an idea for a documentary; a bike trip. And Chuck and I loved it. But it had worked it's way to the back-burner [probably due to it's many challenges]. And I know I've been mentioning co.op films lately but I think that I'm focusing too much on the short-term and not the long-term.

It was a hard decision to drop co.op films as my main focus, I hate [hate, hate, hate...] changing my focus when my mind has been set. It feels too much like giving up, but really it's just being stubborn. So we've been doing everything we can the past few days to begin preparing, it's a little overwhelming.

I guess I should better explain the documentary: Right now, it's just Amanda and I riding bicycles from the Atlantic to the Pacific, zigzagging our way across the northern states. We will interview other riders we encounter [and possibly a few younger working people who would say they feel stuck in life]. The film will capture why someone would do something so dangerous and exhausting as well as what is gained. Well, as you can tell, we haven't written a professional sounding synopsis yet, but there's the gist of it. No ripping it off.

To give some visuals on what you might see in the documentary. Here are some random pictures from our last trip we took in '01.


Above: Judging from all the tall grass fields I would say this was taken in 'North Dakota'. It rained all day, and Tim got four flat tires. Here he is fixing his second, only an hour after his first.


Above: Here's the three of us [left to right: Chuck, Tim & Myself] outside of a mini-food mart somewhere in Illinois if I remember right.


Above: Here was the day we arrived in San Francisco (our goal), it was our 55th day. Yes, I'm as tired and dirty as I look in that picture.

I didn't do a very good job picking pictures to showcase, no mountains, no waterfalls. Just gas stations and grass fields. Oh well, maybe later. I need to get going now, it's my Mom's birthday today! Wish her a "happy b-day"!

I was photocopying the usual amount of scripts last night when an older gentlemen I've worked with before came in. I showed him how to copy his own script a week previous, but he decided to drop it off anyway.

As soon as he got up to the counter, a guy recognized him. "Hey, I know this guy. You were in Kill Bill: Volume II, right?". "Yeah, thanks." came the response. "Quentin and I are working on a new one now."

I racked my brain, but I couldn't remember him. I found out later that he played the strip club owner, which is hilarious, because he's one of the nicest guys I've had in the store. For those of you who haven't seen it, he's a real prick in the movie, so he must be a decent actor.

On another topic, we've been stepped up to the prestigious Blog of Note list on Blogger's homepage. To tell you the truth, I'm honored. It's this kind of attention that's going to get me writing every single day again. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure about our server space. We're not hosted by blogger anymore, so I hope it holds out for a while. Go easy on the video downloads folks.

For those unaware, this blog is all about our attempt to make it in Hollywood. It's not a very original goal, but Shakespeare's written all the good stories anyway. And just a piece of advice. This all makes perfect sense if you start from the beginning.

Ronald Reagan, our 40th American President, died today from complications from pneumonia affecting his late stage of Alzheimer's disease. Known for his 'Reaganomics' economy and bringing an end to the cold war with Russia, he was one of this centuries most endeared presidents. He was 93.

I spent my day working at an IKEA store in Carson today. Trying to find different things from other stores to help improve our processes. Blah, blah, blah, like you care about that. Anyway, when I left work I stopped to get gas before jumping on the highway home. While I was there I met a man who asked if he could wash my windows for change, 'Get 'em nice and clean'. I was a little hesitant, but he continued to talk to me while I filled my tank. Now, I used a card so that I could deny having the cash to give him (or whatever reason, him approaching me just made me more apt to pull it out instead of cash). Before I was done filling up, though, I had a change of heart. He had talked on long enough for me to stop seeing him as a phantom that would just go away when I left and became ever so slight of an acquaintance. He seemed nice enough and in the mood to talk...Incessantly, so I decided I would buy him some dinner. If he wanted money to eat, then I would just cut out the middle man. A more pleasant man you could not want to meet. His conversation skills we're a bit rough, speaking quite fast and not really looking for any responses. I wasn't actually able to catch 100% of his speech. One or two things slipped past me. He was a pretty good guy, as far as I could tell. His name was Clinton Parker and, from what he told me, up until a couple of years ago (when he turned 45) everything was pretty normal for him. Not long after that, he began to develop intense epileptic seizures and it made it impossible to continue his life as he knew it and things began to spiral down. I didn't asked any of the specifics (as I just let him talk) of his life following and leading up to this point, but it did make me wonder. I also learned that the money he was asking for wasn't for food at all, but for the medication for his epilepsy. He showed me his medicine with the prescription and a few other things from his pockets, including a card with his ID on it. I'm not really sure what that was. It may have been a medical card, since he was talking about his medicine as he showed it to me, but he held it too close to my face to see. It was small and gold, I know that with his name and birthdate. He noticed my shirt said IKEA on it and asked if I worked there and if I liked it. I told him yes and then he asked if I thought they would take a man with seizures if he applied. I said that I didn't see why not. He said he wanted to apply there as long as he could get a job where he didn't have to carry anything too heavy or drive anything, in case of a seizure. I guess the medicine helps, but not completely. I'm sure there's something there that he could do. When we were done I said goodbye and gave him what little bit of money I did have in my pocket. It didn't seem like it was going to waste. He said, 'God bless you. You a good person', and I smiled and told him to take care. Then I headed home, but I couldn't stop thinking about him.

I want to know what his life was like before, when he was younger. What did he want out of life? What were his dreams then, and now, for that matter? I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for not being able to do more. I've decided I want to go back there and talk to him some more, maybe even take the video camera. I want to know all I can about his life to this point. If he's as genuine as he seemed, I want to help him try to get a job and whatever else he needs, maybe a new outfit. I may even try to raise some money for him, just for some basics.

I know, for the most part, that people make a decision to live their lives that way. But what if once they have, they realize that they've made a wrong turn, but they can't see the opportunity to get it back to where they feel they should be. Once someone has put him or herself in this life they seem to become almost a different breed of person in the community's eyes. An un-erasable mistake that you try to ignore, like a smudge on a perfectly typed page. I just want to know more. Chuck and I had talked a couple of weeks ago about doing a documentary on street beggars. Maybe this is a perfect place to start, if he's willing, that is. O.K., I'll stop. I know I'm just going on and on, but I was hoping writing about it would make the thought a little less prevalent in my mind. Apparently, that wasn't the case. But it is almost four in the morning and I have to work tomorrow, so I will stop...for now. I'm not finished with you yet, though. Until next time...WATCH THE DETROIT PISTONS, there will be a test following the video portion.

I'm too tired or depressed or hungry... or what ever the hell I am right now to go into great detail on this, but Bush is already quietly preparing for a draft that would take effect as early as June 15th, 2005 [if of course, he is re-elected].

All I can say is that I'm nothing but anxious to fight for a cause that's proven to be so honest, noble, liberating and [especially] necessary. Ahh yes... I would say "sign me up", but they're taking care of that behind my back.

All I can think is; "why does Canada have to be so damn north... it's too cold all year round".

I know everyone has been wondering what happened to me... I've been wondering the same. To be honest, I haven't been up to much lately except work. I just don't like to write when I have noting to write about. Yesterday was the first day I feel like I've done anything in a long time. Mike and I went to Santa Monica. We had lunch, shopped around and went to see the movie 'Super-Size Me'. It was a nice day, the first day the two of us both had the day off in a long, long, time. On the way home we talked a lot about why we're here and what Mike wants to do as far as film goes. Mostly what direction he wants to start off in- which way he wants to go. Watching the movie was really inspiring, it showed us that you can make a good movie without really having a lot. We talked a lot about the Bike trip documentary we want to make. I think he's finally started to buckle down and get serious about it.

I think it was the first time I've been to the beach in weeks, and we didn't even actually go to the beach. But it was nice.

I was going to write more about Jill's house. I borrowed Chuck's digital camera to take a few pictures of the dog and the view and such, but the batteries died before I got the pictures onto my computer.

I found out recently that my family doesn't even read this blog.... I suppose that's kind of a bummer. My sister says it makes her realize how far away I am and she gets sad. My mom said, in the beginning we wrote about our worries so much that it made her worry about us even more, so she had to stop.

I've spent most of my time lately (when not working) feeling fat, unattractive, and insecure about my bad skin, and wondering why one of my bestfriends, Crystal, suddenly stopped talking to me.

That all sounds very depressing and I thought about taking it out... but I think I'll leave it in.

Chuck and I have been really wanting to join a gym lately. We went to Bally's for their special: $19 down and $19 a month, but then we found out there's a 3 year contract. So if any of you readers out there are from the LA area and know of a good affordable gym, please let us know. We'd really appreciate it.

I called home today to talk to my two cousins. Just checking in on everyone. I wanted to hear if Aurora & Breanna have been talking more since I left (pictured below) I really miss both of them. Just before I left, they were getting into the talking thing.



Watching a baby learn to speak is pretty amazing. I've never been old enough to see someone grow up like that. I lived with them for a while, so I got to see her "lessons" pretty much every day. She repeated a lot of the stuff we said to her. My favorite was "me and my shadow".

Befora Aurora was born, they told Jessica and Andrew that she would be brain dead. They gave her a couple weeks to decide whether or not she would get the abortion or let it happen naturally, since they were sure it would. It was devastating for the entire family.

Fortunately, they were wrong; as she was born almost perfectly healthy. She has a condition that wasn't severe. It was corrected with surgery. Here's a little clip of her, post-op. It's been a while since I thought about the scar she used to have.

When I called today, she sang part of the "Veggie Tales" song to me over the phone.

I love those little moments in life when you know someone is an absolute miracle.

Just wanted to say to everyone...YEAH, BABY!!! The Piston have beaten the Pacers and they're heading to the finals to take on the L.A. Lakers! Everyone out here thinks it's going to be a four game sweep for the Lakers, but I think the Pistons have enough big men to bump Shaq around for 48 minutes. As long as he doesn't hit those free throws, that should take him out of the game. I'm rootin' for my boys. GO PISTONS!!!

Isn't it funny how there seems to be a pattern? First us and now the Detroit Pistons have decided to come to L.A. from Michigan to achieve greatness? It's nice to be a role model...

-Four games, baby! That's all we have to win!-

I've been dreading this for weeks. The point where I would eventually be forced to call Ted, our landlord, and ask if we could add a friend, Chuck, to the lease. I guess I was content with laying low, but I knew Chuck felt like a prisoner in his own home, so the question was asked. And the answer wasn't good.

"I'm uncomfortable with that..."

I said, "okay, thanks". Hung up. And started thinking about where we should move next. Or if at all... we could always opt for: living here until discovered / kicked out. I guess time will tell. Damn. And I really like our place.