Yesterday was my day off from work, and I spent the entire day hanging out in the the Happiest Place on Earth; aka Disneyland.
Now, I have been to Disneyworld a truckload of times thanks to the fact that 90 percent of my extended family lives in Florida. However, whenever I point this out to Californians they tend to scoff and make it perfectly clear that Disneyworld is little more than a desperate wannabe struggling to live up to Disneyland's awesome factor.
In truth, they're remarkably similar. The same rides. The same characters wandering the little paved streets. Even the same shows.
However, I don't think I'd ever been to Disneyworld during the holiday season, and seeing Disneyland all decked out in Christmas lights and decorations was a real sight to see. Especially impressive was the completely-redone Small World. Outside, the Small World castle boasted a facade-full of glittering holiday lights. Inside, the trademark dancing children had been decked out in holiday gear and spun around bearing signs that said things like "Feliz Navidad!" or, in the case of the Chinese children, "Happy New Year!"
California Adventure was a completely new experience for me. I fully admit to having been a ride-dodger throughout my teenage and young adult years. I was the girl who stood patiently on the platform holding half a dozen purses while everyone else went on the rollercoaster on top of New York New York in Las Vegas. But, since I'm trying to approach life in a different way, this time around I did all the rides right aloneside them. And they were a blast! I loved it all; especially the Hollywood Tower of Terror.
We left at about 9:30 am and didn't get back home till almost 1:00 am. It was a completely full day, jam-packed with constant walking from one "land" to the next (i.e. TomorrowLand to FrontierLand, etc). I was completely exhausted by the time we got home, but it was totally worth it.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Triumph!
NaNoWriMo, I have beaten thee.
With 34 minutes to spare, no less. That's 32 minutes more leeway than I had when I won ScriptFrenzy (the same challenge, only for scripts) back in April. Maybe next time I'll actually get the darn thing finished a whole hour before midnight!
Or maybe that's wishful thinking.
I wrote 8,500 words today alone. I'm impressed that I can still move my fingers.
Needless to say, 50k words is not really novel-length. I hit 50,129 words by 11:26pm and I've got a grand total of 94 single-spaced pages in my word processor. It's easily the longest piece of prose fiction I have ever written...but it's not really done. Basically, when I realized I was drawing scarily close to the deadline and was nowhere near done, I started jumping ahead to hit the most interesting bits. Finally, in the last stretch, I lunged straight to the final chapter. So there's a good third or so of the book that's missing in there. Ideally, it ought to wind up somewhere between 80k and 100k words, so I've got some more space that I can fill.
Not to mention a hell of a lot of editing. There are some massive chunks--I'm talking entire chapters--that just need to be burned. Fortunately NaNoWriMo is about quantity, not quality, and those absolutely horrendous sections helped me reach my word count even if they aren't exactly literary genius.
Phew. Talk about a crazy dash to the finish line. I feel a little lightheaded and a lot tired. It doesn't help that I have to work at ArcLight at 9:15 a.m tomorrow. I dislike morning shifts. And I dislike working at the snack bar. So, naturally, I am working a morning shift in the snack bar. Because ArcLight hates me.
But, hey, at least I have this snazzy little NaNoWriMo graphic that I can show off...
It's the little things.
With 34 minutes to spare, no less. That's 32 minutes more leeway than I had when I won ScriptFrenzy (the same challenge, only for scripts) back in April. Maybe next time I'll actually get the darn thing finished a whole hour before midnight!
Or maybe that's wishful thinking.
I wrote 8,500 words today alone. I'm impressed that I can still move my fingers.
Needless to say, 50k words is not really novel-length. I hit 50,129 words by 11:26pm and I've got a grand total of 94 single-spaced pages in my word processor. It's easily the longest piece of prose fiction I have ever written...but it's not really done. Basically, when I realized I was drawing scarily close to the deadline and was nowhere near done, I started jumping ahead to hit the most interesting bits. Finally, in the last stretch, I lunged straight to the final chapter. So there's a good third or so of the book that's missing in there. Ideally, it ought to wind up somewhere between 80k and 100k words, so I've got some more space that I can fill.
Not to mention a hell of a lot of editing. There are some massive chunks--I'm talking entire chapters--that just need to be burned. Fortunately NaNoWriMo is about quantity, not quality, and those absolutely horrendous sections helped me reach my word count even if they aren't exactly literary genius.
Phew. Talk about a crazy dash to the finish line. I feel a little lightheaded and a lot tired. It doesn't help that I have to work at ArcLight at 9:15 a.m tomorrow. I dislike morning shifts. And I dislike working at the snack bar. So, naturally, I am working a morning shift in the snack bar. Because ArcLight hates me.
But, hey, at least I have this snazzy little NaNoWriMo graphic that I can show off...
It's the little things.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Obsessin' 'bout Recession
I'll admit to being vaguely nervous about the economy for quite some time, but it really hit me the other day when I was watching a news story about the government bailout of Citigroup. Specifically the part when they said that just a few days earlier Citigroup was considered one of the healthier financial institutions, and had been making deals to buy out the struggling Wachovia. Then a headline today stating that the government's list of distressed financial institutions was up to 171. And, of course, the fact that just a while back my own bank (Washington Mutual) went spectacularly bust and has since been swallowed up by JP Morgan Chase.
Seriously, is anybody else freaking out right now?
Yesterday I got an email stating that the website I write for on a freelance basis is cutting their freelance fees by $50-$100 per article. They're already down to a skeleton staff and they're still looking for ways to cut costs. While I'll still be OK despite this, it's got me searching CraigsList for actual full-time jobs that might offer a bit more security than what I've got going right now. Much as I loathe the idea of rejoining the ranks of the 9-5ers, it may turn out to be unavoidable, at least for the moment. At the very least, it might help calm my anxiety about the possibility of suddenly losing one of my sources of income completely.
Freakin' economy. How dare it decide to tank right when I'm trying to strike out on my own? So inconsiderate.
Seriously, is anybody else freaking out right now?
Yesterday I got an email stating that the website I write for on a freelance basis is cutting their freelance fees by $50-$100 per article. They're already down to a skeleton staff and they're still looking for ways to cut costs. While I'll still be OK despite this, it's got me searching CraigsList for actual full-time jobs that might offer a bit more security than what I've got going right now. Much as I loathe the idea of rejoining the ranks of the 9-5ers, it may turn out to be unavoidable, at least for the moment. At the very least, it might help calm my anxiety about the possibility of suddenly losing one of my sources of income completely.
Freakin' economy. How dare it decide to tank right when I'm trying to strike out on my own? So inconsiderate.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Firsts
Wednesday was my first day working at the ArcLight movie theatre on a part-time basis (free movie passes + health insurance; what's not to love?). And last night marked another LA milestone: My first official celebrity sighting. It occurred last night while I was with a group of fellow trainees, going over the basics of ushering. Then one girl surreptitiously pointed out that there was a "person of note" standing over by the Guest Services desk.
Who was my first celeb sighting, you ask? Gene Simmons, of KISS fame.
In other news, my feet/legs hate me for taking a part-time job that had me standing 6-8 hours a day, five days in a row this week. Fortunately today was the last day of training, and five shifts in a row during one week isn't the norm. I'm definitely looking forward to using my movie privileges to keep myself a bit more up-to-date on current releases than I've been doing recently.
Now, time to crash.
Who was my first celeb sighting, you ask? Gene Simmons, of KISS fame.
In other news, my feet/legs hate me for taking a part-time job that had me standing 6-8 hours a day, five days in a row this week. Fortunately today was the last day of training, and five shifts in a row during one week isn't the norm. I'm definitely looking forward to using my movie privileges to keep myself a bit more up-to-date on current releases than I've been doing recently.
Now, time to crash.
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