Saturday I wasn’t needed on set (found out Friday night) so I spent a wonderful day in Puyallup with Jing and her aunt roaming around the antique shopping area. Because I am super poor lately, I knew I was not going to be able to purchase anything, so I spent my time taking pictures of us, moving statues into compromising positions, and seeing if these places would actually try to sell racist/sexist pieces of the past. Seriously, why would you sell statues of what appears to be monkeys but clear supposed to represent African Americans? I can’t see anyone but KKK members wanting to reminisce about that time in history. Anyways, I also enjoyed trying on random things I could get my hands on.

Anyhow, after painting a horrid star on Jing’s aunt’s wall (I had a grand idea doing an Indian-styled emblem that morphed into something else) I talked them both into going to see Star Trek. I had seen it before with mi madre (super mamma geek), but because of my weak bladder and being distracted by the new hand dryers in the theater, I missed some of the film. PLUS I am just a big time geek and once is never enough! Oh JJ Abrams, despite you sometimes giving me a headache (thank you Lost), you never leave me disappointed.

I’m just a big time nerd. I would absolutely just shit my pants if I was able to simply sweep the floors of a film like Star Trek. I know I should be more anti-blockbuster having spent many hard hours supporting the uber-independent “human experience” films around the area…but you know what? Sometimes I find those films depressing. Yes, it’s a form of art, but screw it! I have enough damn drama in my own life that I don’t need to see more of it when I want to watch a film. I want to escape every day annoyances! I want aliens! I want magic! I want vampires! I happen to enjoy a multitude of films, but my fav has and always will be uber-geeky sci-fi/fantasy and I’m not going to apologize! Those films can have just as much heart and meaning as those damned “cry your eyes out/I’m so confused but it must mean it’s deep” indies. Yes, I would rather watch Ghostbusters for the 100th time then watch Dancer in the Dark for a second. MY BAD.

Speaking of nerdiness, I am having major nerd show withdrawals. Aside from my regular shows I do enjoy, I am left without Lost and Reaper. I am PRAYING Reaper will be back and I don’t think Lost is back until 2010. I do have True Blood to look forward to, but the lack of shows (I am a TV-aholic, so shoot me) and my REFUSAL to watch reality (stupid mindless filth!) I am using this time in between True Blood and the new Tonight Show to catch up on shows I’ve always wanted to watch but never started.

I admit. I am a hard one to get started on a show. Sometimes I can be flat out stubborn. My mom will try just about anything once (aside from reality, like her daughter) especially if it’s nerdy. The trouble with her is, she doesn’t care if I watch it she will flat out tell me about every episode and character so I get to a point that I know everything that is going on and finally break down and try it. I was VERY reluctant to watch Buffy, but now it is considered to be one of my favs. She kept rambling about NCIS which typically isn’t my type of show, but I did indeed fall in love with it. Same with Stargate .

Anyways, she’s doing the same thing with Heroes and Supernatural, both of which I had intended to start watching when they first aired but for whatever reason never got around to it. So I am trying to spare myself of having plots ruined (which she will do and kinda already has because of her forcing me to watch some episodes) so I am trying to catch up via Netflix and iTunes. It’s hard work having a nerd mom!

Since I was little, I’ve loved two things: writing and my dad’s video camera. As an only child, I had to keep myself entertained when I couldn’t have play dates (don’t feel bad, I had PLENTY, and they can all tell you I made them perform “skits” with me on video and tape). During summertime I would spend most days at my dad’s art studio while my mom was at work. Because my dad was usually working on a new piece, I had to find ways to entertain myself.

One particular summer, I remember I had a broken arm (left thankfully *I’m a righty) so swimming was out of the question. Unfortunately, this was also the summer that O.J. Simpson was on trial and my dad was INSISTANT on watching it. This left me to REALLY use my imagination to entertain myself. He gave me his video camera, which I used to do what I still feel was pretty sweet claymation for a 9-10 year old girl. I also had my friends over and we would put on skits, some of which involved magic tricks such as disappearing.

The skits weren’t limited to video. As a kid, and I know this is going to sound super weird, I was a fan (and still am) of NPR. I LOVE radio stories in particular so I would recreate my own radio program complete with commercials, stories, music, and news. I would put it on cassette tapes and sell them at my dad’s shop. Oh how I want to dig up some of these to post for you. I would be very interested myself to see how I was all those years ago.

Through out my childhood and into my teen years, writing was another thing I enjoyed (which of course relates to the skit developments). I use to have a “newspaper” I would publish by hand then make copies at the local newspaper office. I was in the basement of my mom’s house not too long ago and came across some old typed out partial stories I had started to write as a kid. Not to toot my own horn, but for a kid, I thought it was pretty damn good. But alas, it was like every other attempt at writing: half or ¼ done. I have yet to complete ANY writing projects I have started. I think it really is a shame, because with comedy in particular, I seemed to get REALLY good laughs out of people from my writing, kids and adults alike. I don’t know when I started to be so afraid of writing. Maybe it was when I went to school and we spent so much time analyzing films and scripts and the special “formulas” it takes to concoct the perfect story that caused me to lose sight of what it really takes. This may seem obvious, but it is very easy to get caught up in this mess. I am not one who can simply sit down and begin typing. I do have to be “in the mood”, but the “mood” use to come so much more often and lasted longer when I was younger. I think I spend too much time worrying if this is something others would like I forget what it is that I like. When you try to please others with your creatively, it comes across as insincere and cheap and I think my subconscious is catching on to that. But because I can’t move on from the worrying about others, I am stuck. I’ve lost the spark that came so easily with the carefree attitude of youth.

I am going to make a promise to myself. Out of the multiple stories I have floating around; I am going to chose one. After choosing, I am going to write the story as something I would definitely like to see played out and not worry if it’s too boring, too cheesy, or too obvious. If I like it, that is what counts. And if someone else likes it, even better!