We've decided that we would like to stay in this apartment for the next year and not move to Long Beach. The hour+ commute from Long Beach to campus in downtown L.A. via train and then metro was a hard sell--especially since I have a hard enough time avoiding men who try to talk to me on the 10-minute busride while wearing sunglasses and headphones; I'm assuming it'd be even harder to be a captive audience for an hour on a train (there's no escaping). You can't really beat a 10 minute bus-ride for a quarter to campus, not to mention B's reverse traffic situation--in the morning he's going out of Los Angeles while people are vying their way in (kinda like what I did in Maryland, when I left for Baltimore people wanted into DC, on my way home the situation was reversed).

Plus, we really do love our building. When neighbors are noisy, we complain to management and they quiet down. When neighbors get a dog that barks constantly for three weeks, having dogs in the first place is against the lease anyway, and B complains (it was waking him up at night, and the poor man already gets up at 5 a.m.), the dog barking magically disappears. Not to mention the amenities we enjoy: 24-hour heated (in the winter) pool, 24-hour gym (which I've taken advantage of at 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. in the past), billiard room with foosball and a pool table and Ms. Pac Man, 24-hour clubhouse that we'll be taking advantage of when Josh & Des come out in July, 24-hour concierge/security, secured entrance. Also included in the cost of the rent: refrigerator, stove, garbage disposal and a parking spot (yes, we have toured apartments where none of the above were included). Plus, there's card-operated laundry--which is conveniently located on our floor.

We're considering relocating somewhere within our current building, but it's an extremely hard decision to make.

Our current apartment is approximately 550 square feet. We're fitting two desks, a dining table and two chairs, a full-size couch, entertainment center with 27" television, two smallish end-tables, two stools, my horsehoe-shaped chair, a bookcase, and a huge cabinet that we had to purchase to hold our dishes, plus a portable dishwasher. Our bedroom, which is approximately half the size of our living room, has a queen size bed, two end tables (the closet door bangs into mine when we open the door), two bookcases, a dresser, a wicker horsehoe chair, and a set of 3-plastic drawers on casters with all of B's Warhammer stuff. I can't actually sit in my chair and read anymore, though, because the set of plastic drawers is in the way, as well as a pile of junk.

B has done some brilliant rearranging, so it doesn't feel as cramped in here, but it's a lot of stuff. Too much stuff for such a small space, in my opinon. But it all feels essential.

Our current apartment costs $1325. When we re-sign the lease in August, the price will jump to $1475. We were notified last Friday.

$1475. This for an apartment that is already pretty small (the bedroom door, the bathroom door and shower door all touch when fully open), has a half-size stove (hard to fit 2-hour turkey into), and no dishwasher (we had to buy our own portable). There also wasn't enough cupboard space to house both dishes and food, which was perplexing. So we had to buy a cabinet specially to house dishes, and the cabinet is huge in itself (but I got a great deal). The bathroom is poorly designed. It's actually quite large, but has no tub, only a standup-shower, and the cabinet is wonky. There's a full cabinet where the sink rests, but the cabinet right next to it is exactly half the size of the cabinet next to it, which makes storage a nightmare (the cabinet, I kid you not, is 6 inches wide). There are also no drawers in the bathroom, so our stuff clutters the counter, and I installed a small shelf to alleviate the problem of counter clutter. The carpet is probably 10 years old and is matted down. We bought a new vaccum cleaner that is superb at getting my hair and the cat hair off of it (it wouldn't come up before), but the carpet's not particularly comfortable. Our place in the Valley (where we lived before here) has new carpet and it was very squishy and comfy.

We also face a very busy main street, and while the windows are excellent at muting the noise, it makes opening the windows, well, not the best idea in the world, and the view isn't that great because we face a building that was just finished. We don't care too much, we've gotten used to it.

Mostly it's the space that's the issue. We recently bought two bikes, and they are currently housed in one of our two closets, front wheels off, upright up, tied to the closet shelf with string. Every time we want to ride our bikes, it's a rig-a-ma-roll. Plus, half the closet can't be used to actually store anything. Which isn't so bad because we don't have that much crap to store.

We are considering relocating within the building. However, the next size apartment that is available is 770 square feet for three various prices: $1705 (second floor), $1765 (sixth floor), and $1775 (eighth floor). The nice thing about all three apartments is that they face the park instead of the main street where metro buses make stops (the side we currently live on, unfortunately). However, the second floor has no elevator access, so I refuse to move to a place in the current building where I'd have to actually walk up and down stairs in order to move (that's just weird). The eighth floor is right next to the elevators (I didn't think I was so picky about location in the building, but we live with a lot of college students who like to party, and I think it would be way annoying to constantly hear drunkards walking down the hall in the middle of the night, at least it pissed me off at college, and I was younger and less judgmental then).

That leaves the sixth floor. It's at the end of the hall, like our current apartment, so not a lot of foot traffic, which I like. We took a tour of it this afternoon because it's empty. And I must say it's a beautiful place. The view of the garden and skyline is spectacular. Even my favorite fountain in the park is right under the window. And the wall in the living room is full-wall-sized windows. It's gorgeous. And when the windows were opened during rush hour traffic, I could still hear the woosh of cars from the main street on the other side of the building, but the noise isn't that bad. Plus it has a built-in dishwasher (fancy!) and a full-size stove/oven (no problems baking a turkey in there)--plus the dials on the stove aren't rubbed off either, so you don't have to guess which level of heat to which you're turning the stovetop (a problem where we currently live). The kitchen itself is well-laid out--it's an actual kitchen with cabinets enough to store groceries and dishes. The bathroom, too, is laid out nicely. It's bigger than our current bathroom, and it even has a tub--with a shower. Plus, the counter/cabinets in the bathroom have twice the storage space because they have drawers--and one of the cabinets isn't cut half in depth.

The place on the sixth floor has a walk-in closet about a third of the size (maybe half, I'm not sure) of our current bedroom closet (in our bedroom closet we have two sets of upright dressers and literally everything that can be stashed away (linens, clothing, Christmas decorations, our laundry cart). The closet is packed, and yet I still have space to change clothes in there (but then again I'm a tiny little woman). But the lack in walk-in closet space gets made up with a double-size closet where we're currently hosting our bikes. So 1) They could just be wheeled in (no more jerry-rigs) and 2) We could actually still store everything we need to be stored away.

Plus, when we have guests over, we wouldn't feel cramped. When we had two people over for 3 weeks in January, it was cramped. That's mostly because Lindsi is packing-slut who has over-packed for every little trip I've ever seen her take, and I've known her since she was ten years old. She felt the need to bring her entire immediate life into our apartment, even when I told her we had another guest coming (whom we invited before her--they agreed that overlapping wouldn't be a problem even though they didn't know each other). Dude, she had to get a storage space while she was here because all of her junk couldn't fit in our apartment. And yet, she still managed to take up a good amount of floor space. It was insane. Now, none of our other friends, nor relatives, are so crazy. So that will probably not be an issue ever again, but still, more space for entertaining would be awesome.

Now, there's pretty much no contest. The place on the sixth floor is the much better apartment than our current one.

Is it $290 better, though?

We could afford it. B is getting a raise and a mandatory cost-of-living increase in July. But we both have qualms.

For me, I just have a very hard time dealing with paying that much money in rent. I currently have a hard time dealing paying $1325 a month in rent. I'm having a harder time dealing with the $150 increase that's looming. I realize we're paying for the 48-hour guaranteed maintence service, 24-hour concierge/security, rooftop pool, gym. As well as a parking space and refrigerator, stove and garbage disposal (some places make you rent all of those, not included in the price of the rent). But it seems like we could a buy a place for that amount of money (if we had enough for a downpayment, that is) and we could still have all those amenities (the condos/lofts being built in this area all have the same perks).

B's problem is that with that extra money we could use it to buy stuff. To which I said, "Uh. Yeah. Try fitting anything else in this apartment, babe." And he laughed and said he meant stuff like vacations.

The quality of life would improve in that apartment for $290 more a month. But we've dealt with the space issue for a year now, and people in Manhattan deal with space issues a lot more severe than us. I wonder if it's greedy to want more space rather than utilizing the space we have. We've done really well in that department, but we've also been lax.

We currently have a pile covering my poor sweet wicker horseshoe chair with stuff we tagged "to sell" but never got around to it. So I haven't been able to sit in my chair and read since March. Plus, there's a lot of unutilized space around the entertainment center because we didn't buy the matching Ikea stand to put the TV on (we made due with our bargain purchase from Pier 1 because we liked the style of it better--it used to be practical in our previous apartments, but here, where space is at a premium, it's not doing it's job properly. Especially if we want to get a DVR--we'd have absolutely no where to put it.) Also, we could buy B a new desk, a smaller, more economically-spacious desk to give more room around the couch (his computer chair hits the couch). His current desk couldn't survive another move anyway, it fell apart on the move here. Hmmm... maybe a new desk chair, too.

So I have no idea what to do. It's easier not to move, and even though the rent is going to be jacked $150, it's still a bargain to live here--it's really hard for me to say that because I still can't believe how much we do pay in rent already (I constantly have to remind myself of all the perks of the building and the location that we're paying for in the cost of the rent).

This building is the first place I ever felt safe. Which translates to: 1) I don't have visions of being murdered whilst we sleep and 2) I don't sleep with a hatchet under my pillow anymore. If you don't believe I slept with a hatchet, then you don't know me very well. Which is a shame, because I'm pretty cool. :P Oh, and the entire year we've been here: I haven't seen one cockroach. Not one. Every single place we lived before, I always saw them. And no threat of bedbugs, either.

I love that the dilemma of my life is whether or not to upgrade to a better apartment. It's much better than: the bedbugs infested everything we own and no matter what we do, we can't get rid of them. Or, my personal favorite, the neighbor is threatening my life again and the police say they can't do anything until he actually kills me (their words, not mine--if you click the link, it'll take you to the review of that hellhole, my review of the hellhole, that is).

Suggestions?

And in case you're wondering: how much would it cost us to rent a storage space of our own, equal in size to the one Lindsi rented while she stayed with us? No less than $103 a month for a 5x5 spot. The extra 220 square feet for $290 extra (plus that spectacular view) almost seems like a bargain in comparison.

Labels: los angeles, real estate, real life

( 2comments )

at June 20, 2006 10:46 AM  Princess Blogonoke said...

How long are you planning on staying in that area? Another year? Another two to five years? If you think you might move in another year (to a house or a different area entirely) then I say stick it out and stay in the same place.

If you see yourselves living in that area for longer than that, then move to the sixth floor apartment and enjoy the extra floorspace and bigger kitchen.

On a personal note, if I were in your situation, I'd move to the sixth floor apartment. It sounds like you really love that building, and if you had a little extra space, living there would be almost ideal. Granted, it costs extra money, but I like being comfortable and I'd be willing to pay for the extra space. Besides, I think there is enough stuff in the L.A. area to keep me occupied without having to go on any vacations for a year, but that's just me. You guys have already lived out there a while.

 

at June 20, 2006 1:06 PM  Samantha said...

We're planning on staying in the Los Angeles area for at least 4 more years (I have 3 more years of coursework to complete, plus a year for my dissertation). It could be longer, depending on whether or not the panel I put together for my defense can actually meet on time (I know someone whose defense was waylaid for 18 additional months because the people on the panel couldn't coordinate their schedules).

Unless something drastically changes in the actual building--like roaches, bedbugs and mice infest the place, or the building becomes a known crack den--B and I would prefer to stay in this building. The management treats the residents extremely well, and it's one of the most affordable buildings in the area. There was this place on 7th & Spring Street we looked at, even smaller than our current apartment, for $1500 a month and windows literally shook from the street noise (garbage trucks, delivery trucks, semis, buses, cars) outside. It was so loud, we had to raise our voices to talk to each other--with zero amenities. We hear that another place called the Pegasus has the same amenities, but the inside of the apartments become coated in a weird black dust from the garage 7 floors below. The place that went up across the street is very nice, but more expensive than our building, and has the same exact amenities--except they don't have a pool. And seriously, I need a pool. :P

As far as vacations go, we have been saving up for a trip to Stratford-on-Avon next March--we're going to go to the tail-end of the largest Shakespearean festival hosted by Royal Shakespeare Company ever. It's going to be awesome.

 

Does Fatherhood Make You Happy?
By DANIEL GILBERT

Studies reveal that most married couples start out happy and then become progressively less satisfied over the course of their lives, becoming especially disconsolate when their children are in diapers and in adolescence, and returning to their initial levels of happiness only after their children have had the decency to grow up and go away. When the popular press invented a malady called "empty-nest syndrome," it failed to mention that its primary symptom is a marked increase in smiling.Psychologists have measured how people feel as they go about their daily activities, and have found that people are less happy when they are interacting with their children than when they are eating, exercising, shopping or watching television. Indeed, an act of parenting makes most people about as happy as an act of housework. Economists have modeled the impact of many variables on people's overall happiness and have consistently found that children have only a small impact. A small negative impact.

Those findings are hard to swallow because they fly in the face of our most compelling intuitions. We love our children! We talk about them to anyone who will listen, show their photographs to anyone who will look and hide our refrigerators behind vast collages of their drawings, notes, pictures and report cards. We feel confident that we are happy with our kids, about our kids, for our kids and because of our kids--so why is our personal experience at odds with the scientific data?

Three reasons.

First, when something makes us happy we are willing to pay a lot for it, which is why the worst Belgian chocolate is more expensive than the best Belgian tofu. But that process can work in reverse: when we pay a lot for something, we assume it makes us happy, which is why we swear to the wonders of bottled water and Armani socks. The compulsion to care for our children was long ago written into our DNA, so we toil and sweat, lose sleep and hair, play nurse, housekeeper, chauffeur and cook, and we do all that because nature just won't have it any other way. Given the high price we pay, it isn't surprising that we rationalize those costs and conclude that our children must be repaying us with happiness.

Second, if the Red Sox and the Yankees were scoreless until Manny Ramirez hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth, you can be sure that Boston fans would remember it as the best game of the season. Memories are dominated by their most powerful--and not their most typical--instances. Just as a glorious game-winning homer can erase our memory of 812 dull innings, the sublime moment when our 3-year-old looks up from the mess she is making with her mashed potatoes and says, "I wub you, Daddy," can erase eight hours of no, not yet, not now and stop asking. Children may not make us happy very often, but when they do, that happiness is both transcendent and amnesic.

Third, although most of us think of heroin as a source of human misery, shooting heroin doesn't actually make people feel miserable. It makes them feel really, really good--so good, in fact, that it crowds out every other source of pleasure. Family, friends, work, play, food, sex--none can compete with the narcotic experience; hence all fall by the wayside. The analogy to children is all too clear. Even if their company were an unremitting pleasure, the fact that they require so much company means that other sources of pleasure will all but disappear. Movies, theater, parties, travel--those are just a few of the English nouns that parents of young children quickly forget how to pronounce. We believe our children are our greatest joy, and we're absolutely right. When you have one joy, it's bound to be the greatest.

--Excerpts of the article Does Fatherhood Make You Happy? on Time.com

Has anyone seen that show on Discovery Channel called I Shouldn't Be Alive? Sometimes I feel like that. I often feel as if I am living on borrowed time. I should have been aborted. Had it been left up to my dad, I would have been. Thank goodness for my mom, even though she didn't know what she was doing. I realize that not everyone is cut out to be a parent. But it would have been nice to feel like a joy to mine. At least once in a while. Or heck, I would have settled for invisible instead of a target for black eyes and two-by-fours with nails.

Labels: abortion, childhood, memories, parents

( 0comments )

All those Federal taxes you love to hate? It all comes from us and goes to you, so shut up and enjoy your fucking Tennessee Valley Authority electricity and your fancy highways that we paid for. And the next time Florida gets hit by a hurricane you can come crying to us if you want to, but you're the ones who built on a fucking swamp. "Let the Spanish keep it, it's a shithole," we said, but you had to have your fucking orange juice.

--Annotated Rant: Fuck the South

I came across this page doing a search for a very specific quote from Robert Browning's Paracelsus.

"At times I almost dream
I too have spent a life the sages' way,
And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance
I perished in an arrogant self-reliance
Ages ago; and in that act a prayer
For one more chance went up so earnest, so
Instinct with better light let in by death,
That life was blotted out -- not so completely
But scattered wrecks enough of it remain,
Dim memories, as now, when once more seems
The goal in sight again."

The Internet is a strange creature.

Labels: real life

( 0comments )

Personality Reading for Desmond

I decided to do this in a staircase type of reading, since in life we're trying to move forward, progess. I have included the URL at Amazon on the meaning of the card as provided by the text author Jessica Macbeth, and the page number the card appears on with the Amazon Online Reader--so if you want to read the Fearie Oracle meaning, you can search for the card name and then click on the page number I indicate. You might find that Amazon gives you an error message in reading more than 2 pages, they have a page cap. But it resets in a relatively short amount of time. So if you get a message saying you can't look at any more pages, just give it a few minutes...

I am publishing this information for three reasons: 1) I can actually format the information the way I want, unlike I can in an e-mail. 2) I want to demonstrate that tarot reading is not evil--like Ouija boards, cards cannot in and of themselves, be evil. Someone could argue that the simple act of reading tarot cards is a sin against God, but I disagree. How could discovering information that could make us better human beings be evil? Evil is in the heart of the explorer, it's not in inanimate objects and certainly not in spiritual growth. 3) I also want to demonstrate that tarot reading is not entirely psychic. I merely arced the cards, and ran my hand above them until I felt a tingle or a pull or some kind of warmth sensation. In one case, there was a loud popping noise, and it felt out of the deck in my hand. That is perhaps the only psychic aspect--pulling the cards themselves, or at least pulling the cards that will hopefully be helpful. I then mused on the cards a while, attempting to jigsaw the information from the accompanying text and the artwork into the puzzle of my knowledge about Desmond.

However, this will be written directly to Desmond from here on in...



First Card: The Bright Mother (page 68); Creativity, Nurturing, Productivity, Intimacy, Sheltering.
My Interpretation: While I shuffled the deck, I spoke your name and birthdate outloud, and as soon as I did there was a loud pop--so loud it startled me and Zhoul. It was this card that popped out, face down. I didn't know what the card was at the moment (didn't turn it over), but I decided to use it since apparently it was important enough to jump out of the deck. I suppose the first thing that struck me about the card, once I turned it over, was the female nudity, and I giggled to myself because it just seemed to figure for you. While reading the symbolic meaning given by Macbeth, the strongest reaction I had for you was this thought: "Consider what you have. Acknowledge the people and things in your life--good, bad, and indifferent. This consideration is not to judge, approve, or reject, but merely to recognize what is present in your life... Once you have looked clearly at what is present in your life, you may want to ask yourself what you want to change."

Taking this into consideration, and then studying the art, it is my interpretation that The Bright Mother is gazing into a crystal ball (or perhaps a soap bubble), or maybe not gazing, but studying. She is so focused on this observation that she is completely oblivious to the utter chaos that surrounds her: the rampant nudity, the bizarre goblins and mischievious sprites, even the pixies standing on her head--perhaps it is this focus that you need to remember and practice. The Bright Mother's confidence also struck me--she is nude herself, and yet displays no traditional humility in the Biblical sense (she doesn't feel the need to cover herself up, or censor herself). Perhaps more self-confidence will aid you in your examination, so you're not consistently second-guessing yourself and selling yourself short, or allowing others to do this; also the self-confidence will aid you in focusing on your goals. Because when you're confident with your decisions, then it doesn't matter how silly they might be to anyone else.

Second Card: Solus (page 60)); Knowledge, Consciousness, Synthesis, Spiritual empowerment.
My Interpretation: This card came up reversed, and the reversed meaning as given on page 61 gave me goosebumps: "When the light and spiritual empowerment of Solus is veiled, we need to remember that this Singer is there to help with seemingly lost causes and forlorn hopes. When you don't even know what to ask for, ask for his help and guidance. And then do the best you can for yourself." This is very much a Christian line of thinking--it's like that joke about the guy who was mad at God about never winning the lottery and then God says, "You never bought a ticket." I think this card, coupled with the Bright Mother is interesting, because these seem to pair together in an interesting parental dynamic, if I take this appearance of Solus as praternal that is... and well, that is the tingling sensation I'm getting.

Examining the art of this card, I notice that Solus is rising out of darkness, from a single pinnacle of light. Hope, I think. The light might not be as strong in the dark, but that small hope is enough to combat the darkness, which I think is the condition for human happiness. I was suddenly reminded of Samuel Johnson and his position that we are conditioned to live in the future because it gives us hope: "When I graduate college, I'll be happy." "When I get a real job, I'll be happy." "I'll be happy when I get a girlfriend." "When I get married." "When I buy a house." But once we achieve these goals, and we arrive in "happiness" we usually find that we aren't actually happy and we need to set another goal. It's funny because I remember writing about Samuel Johnson on my blog, so I did a search and found this entry--it's even directed to you, Des, from two years ago. Perhaps the message here is: you need to find a way to be happy in your present, as opposed to wistfully thinking the fluctuating future will being you happiness--because that's a lot of pressure to put on something that hasn't even happened yet.

Third Card: Honesty (page 118); Honesty, Compassion, Tect, Self-Deceit.
My Interpretation: After reading the meaning in the book, I found it interesting that Honesty is in plant form, and also goes by either other names. This kind of reminds me of the many identities you are predisposed to having: Alex Knight, for one; whatever character you D&D with; the LARPing. Plus, the fact that you're a Gemini, not that I ever put much credence into astrology (ironic, no?), but that seems like yet another predisposition to alternate egos. I think this might be important to keep in mind, especially when pursuing a relationship, in particular with a possible girlfriend. It may be appealing to be someone else for a while, someone the potential woman will like and find more interesting than simply you. It might be appealing to be someone's knight in shining armor, but that kind of strength, though noble, doesn't last very long. It's best in small doses.

As I look at the art of this card, the eyes strike me in particular. They remind me a basset hound's eyes. They're welcoming, gentle, understanding--unconditional. Honesty will accept you for who you are, as long as you can accept yourself. What is making you melancholy, Des? Honesty is reflecting what he sees.

Final Card: Tobaira of the Waters (page 111); Emotions, Serenity, Meditation, Gracefully accepting change.
My Interpretation: Again, there's nudity in this card, so I find it kind of ironic that the reading both begins and ends with nakedness. I don't think physical nakedness is the true meaning to be taken from this, but true soul-nakedness: an honest and thorough investigation of yourself and your life, and what you want out of it, and how you might become the best possible person you can be.

I think water is a curious substance. It has the power to create ponds and swamps, stagnant waters, while it also has the power to erode layers and reveal beauty underneath. Water sustains our bodies, but can also be deadly. Water is a simple thing we take for granted in this country.

One of the themes that the Bright Mother and Tobaira have in common is creativity, and if you look at the picture, it almost looks like Tobaira is weaving a tapestry with water. Perhaps that is her gift. Practicing her gift looks like it gives her serenity. Maybe taking more time for yourself and your creative endeavors (making campaigns, modeling, painting) will be beneficial, because I don't know how much time you actually give yourself to be creative in any given day or week. Perhaps incorporating creativity into a routine will renew you. I know how easy it is to just go to work, grab some dinner, and then sit in fornt of a computer instead of modeling or painting (the way it is for me easier to play video games than to write, heh). It's hard to actually get beyond that stagnation sometimes. But establishing a new routine, and allowing the creativity to flow, can be refreshing. We just need to find the motivation.

I hope this was helpful.

Labels: psychic

( 0comments )

Dear HBO,

Deadwood is my favorite show. Ever. Period. I like it even more than Kung Fu, 24 or The Sopranos. It's smart. Realistic. The production values are top notch and the music: outstanding.

I'm disappointed that this extremely intelligent, well-and-lyrically-written show is cancelled. It's a shame that smart television cannot even be appreciated on the premium network channels anymore.

Sorely disappointed,
Samantha Stark

Dear HBO,

I can understand shows coming to a natural conclusion (Sopranos, Sex and the City). However, The Comeback (the smartest and most painfully funny comedy, second only to Arrested Development) and Deadwood (a show written with Shakespearean lyricism) were the only reasons why I was keeping my HBO subscription. But seeing as how they're both cancelled, well, I guess I have no other recourse to protest other than to cancel my subscription with HBO.

Sincerely disappointed,
Samantha Stark

If you would like to protest the recent cancellation of Deadwood or The Comeback: click on their names and send HBO your thoughts.

Labels: television

( 5comments )

at June 15, 2006 6:33 PM  Unknown Screenwriter said...

While I agree that DEADWOOD is an outstanding series... It is not dead yet. The Producers will be creating several 2 hour DEADWOOD movies as a substitute for the series.

Just thought you would like to know that.

Unk

 

at June 15, 2006 6:38 PM  Samantha said...

I do, indeed, know that. However, it is my understanding that the two (not several) 2 hour "movies" are supposed to serve as a series finale of sorts. This comes directly from this article: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13169063/

 

at June 15, 2006 8:21 PM  Unknown Screenwriter said...

Don't believe everything you read. There will be both SOPRANOS and DEADWOOD films and yes, the two DEADWOOD films you speak of will end the series as we know it.

Having said that, there are other SOPRANOS and DEADWOOD films in the works. Marketing research is currently going on to figure out if they should release these future films specifically on HBO or theatrically.

My bet is that they will in fact go to the theater.

Not trying to argue with you but you have limited info on your blog. LOL.

Unk

 

at June 15, 2006 8:25 PM  Samantha said...

Actually that is rather heartening news. I'm glad the shows won't effectively die. However, I am skeptical that they'd make it to the theater. I remember when Sex and the City ended, there was all this buzz about a Sex and the City movie. About a year later, the buzz died when they couldn't get all the cast members to sign on for it. So I hope that doesn't happen to Deadwood. Or the Sopranos for that matter.

 

at June 15, 2006 8:43 PM  Unknown Screenwriter said...

Well no offense intended but there are several SEX AND THE CITY screenplays floating around.

The real problem here - that you don't have so much with DEADWOOD and the SOPRANOS is that you tend to end a screenplay on an up-beat; which is how these screenplays end. They don't leave a lot of room for a continuing story.

However, now with THE BREAK UP doing pretty decent box office, these SATC screenplays are being rethought.

That's NOT to say that the same characters or actors will return to these roles however. You can effectively place ANYONE in these roles and expect a certain amount of boxoffice because of the built-in audience.

None of the principals involved even want a SATC, SOPRANOS, or DEADWOOD film to go into production right now anyway. Waiting several years will heighten the expectancy and anticipation of the built-in audience which translates into good boxoffice.

In other words, there's no hurry.

Unk

 

So we live in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country, but it also holds the dubious honor of being one of the dumbest.

Labels: los angeles

( 1comments )

at June 12, 2006 9:46 PM  Jack's Shack said...

It really all depends on how you crunch the numbers.

 

You scored as II - The High Priestess. The High Priestess is a card of intuition, instinct and hidden knowledge. She knows all your secrets, you can hide nothing from her. Yet you will never know the secrets she herself protects.If well aspected in a Tarot spread, this card can indicate the use of intuition to solve problems; trust to your instincts. If badly aspected, it can mean suppression and ignoring of such instincts - following your head at the expense of your heart. II - The High Priestess 88% III - The Empress 75% VI: The Lovers 69% XI: Justice 69% XIII: Death 69% I - Magician 63% IV - The Emperor 63% VIII - Strength 63% XIX: The Sun 63% XVI: The Tower 63% 0 - The Fool 50% X - Wheel of Fortune 50% XV: The Devil 44% Which Major Arcana Tarot Card Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

Whenever I play with the mini Tarot card deck my brother got me for Christmas, and I do a reading on myself, I always get the High Priestess. It's kinda funny that I got it in this quiz as well.

Since I'm feeling particularly generous and curious and creative tonight, I'll say that anyone who is curious to have a Mini-Tarot Card reading or a Faerie Oracle reading--I'll do it. But you have to give me your name and birthday, and what you'd like me to focus on: just a life/personality, future, past, whatever--in the comments, and I'll post what the cards come up and their meanings according to the Mini-Tarot or the Faerie Oracle. But you have to choose one deck to go with. The Mini-Tarot cards are the size of my thumb nail. The Faerie Oracle has illustrations done by Brian Froud.

This is what happens when you're home all summer and bored. Heh.

Labels: quiz

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at June 19, 2006 12:08 AM  Princess Blogonoke said...

I'll take a mini tarot reading if the offer is still up :D

< fake-o Jamaican accent> Call now for your free readin'! < /fake-o Jamaican accent>

 

at June 19, 2006 2:36 AM  Samantha said...

Sure. It won't be as in depth because I'm not as familiar with those cards, plus they are absurdly tiny. It's awesome.

But what kind of reading do you want?

 

at June 20, 2006 10:33 AM  Princess Blogonoke said...

Eh, any one (I'm not sure what kinds there are). I've been feeling off kilter as of late. I expect it has something to do with wedding stress. Being away from Stink Pants so long and the fact that I'm still living with my parents isn't helping either.

It's almost like I'm in high school again. Ugh.

 

This is where we live.

See the Los Angeles Skyline? Yeah. We live right there.

Labels: los angeles

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So there was this baby they're calling Jei-Jei born in China a few months ago. The baby has three arms.

There was talk of amputating one of this baby's two left arms, but it's not an easy decision:

Neither of the boy's two left arms is fully functional and tests have so far been unable to determine which was more developed, said Dr. Chen Bochang, head of the orthopedics department at Shanghai Children's Medical Center.

Of course the left arms are not fully functional. I'm willing to bet the right arm isn't fully functional either--babies have no freakin' motor skills.

Things a third arm could come in handy for:

1. Scratching the parts of your back that you can't reach with two boring arms alone.


2. Thrice as many Starburst could be unwrapped and devoured.


3. Baseball: the kid could be a pitcher.


4. Movies: the kid could be in a movie about being a three-armed pitcher--I bet it'd be better than that crappy stupid Rookie of the Year movie.


5. Pull-ups/chin-ups would probably be a lot easier.


6. Washing dishes by hand would go faster.


7. Cooking, in general, would be easier. You could be mixing in one bowl while you sautee.


8. You could be the fastest typist in the world. Think: people can type 100 WPM with two hands. But how fast could you type with three?


9. Could dress up as Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man. Have your parents make two little fake arms to hang in front, and let your three arms be the Doc Ock mechanical arms. And then people would be mesmerized by how you're making three of the fake arms move.


10. Be the most talented magician on the Vegas circuit. Vegas magic is all about misdirection and "palming" stuff. What could be more convenient than a built-in misdirection device (i.e. the third arm), plus it could also aid in palming items for disappearing acts.


11. Eating a corn dog, an ice cream cone and a Subway sandwich all at the same time.

I say let the kid have three arms. Apparently the third arm isn't killing him, and so it's not a danger to him. He might be a future X-Man or something.

Labels: children, news

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