Monday, December 20, 2010

One update to rule them all

1. My tree died the other day, which I am presuming it was due to the extensive period that I had it on. Sad, really. For something that only is operated for about 3 weeks a year, you'd think it would hold out.

2. Finally got my super fun car: a Toyota Yaris. I believe the name "Manischevitz" has been bestowed, mainly due to my overzealous love of kosher goods.

3. Going home for a few days, and I am hoping it won't be hellish. The weather, of course.

4. Enjoyed seeing Tron: Legacy with a friend at the DGA screening room. Felt pretty cool for about 15 minutes.

5. It's been raining a whole bunch lately! Usually don't mind, but the roads are really awful.

That'll do.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Minnesota state of mind Part II

I remember a time when I welcomed the rapid heartbeat of caffeine. It doesn't seem too long ago, indulging in one espresso after the other. Sweaty palms. Carrying on conversations with soon to be friends. Phone numbers exchanged, empty promises of "next time". having a list of shops where I would have my social hour, while the others were marked as centers of productivity. I loved running into some of the characters, especially when I was feeling lonely or suppressed of creativity. Most times, the fables they told had my jaw grazing the nearby Utne Reader. I could feel my eyes widening, if not for them; but for my own joy at having such outlandish people to listen to. Only silent gestures and murmurs of shock were exchanged while my ears were filled with anecdotes. Being more of a private person, I prefer to hear various accounts from another. Speaking of which, I have heard some of the best while minding that role. Heartbreak, drugs, thievery, and scandal headlined most of the sordid tales. I felt honored that these raconteurs felt comfort with me hearing their stories. Trusting me with their childhood traumas, or just a banal day in the life, I was allowed to see in. When they would leave me to chat someone else up, I would feel relieved initially, then distracted. How am I supposed to write self-indulgently when all I can think about is his home invasion? My drama was considerably tame, and less interesting to say the least. I ended up drawing half-assed female faces, along with short biographies.
One time I was there, writing and drawing in a flurry, a fedora clad fellow sauntered up, and jotted: "music hides you from the bullshit", then went on his way. My mind wrapped around that slogan many times, being cautious due to uncertain intent. Maybe he thought what I was writing was bullshit, which wasn't completely off base. The more I obsessed about it, logic finally entered the room and assured me that he meant well. When I look back, I know my penmanship and aura warranted his mantra. Never would have guessed in that one moment, I would fully appreciate the human condition.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

A mid-winter's adventure/lewd photographs Part 1

















A friend of mine came into to town on Wednesday, and we made the best of the short time we had. He's one of the hippest cats I know. He plays in a band called "Skeleton Show", in Denver, and everyone should check it out. Although he may not enjoy the corn dog pic; hindsight is 20/20, right?

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

half assed Virginia

Maybe its time to teach myself to knit.
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Wednesday, December 01, 2010

To all the Google searches

I know a lot of you land on this site when searching for Master control operator. Let me tell you of my years (8-plus!) of master controlling.

1. Enjoy tedium. Checking network logs, making sure everything is airing correctly. There won't a lot of new things to learn once you settle in, and sometimes, it is a dead end job. (exceptions, of course) If you like MC'ing, this won't be an issue. Some people love this job, and I understand why. It doesn't require an awful lot of brain power (which can be a good thing), as long as your common sense smart, you will have tremendous success in this field. (Please note: there are moments of trouble shooting, live events, and other obstacles that I really can't fit here that do require a good amount of brains, patience, and deep breaths)

2. You are there to ensure if there is failure of a device, automation, content, or a human, to correct the problem instantly, and get the program on air. Black on air = losses of tons and tons of money. And possibly your job.

3. Grabbing satellite signals, so you can record programs for future airing. Some places don't have you do this, sometimes they arrive on tape from distribution centers. Or on hard drives, flash drives, FTP, Aspera, ect. Or if you're lucky, you work at a facility where the ingest department is separate from the master control.

4. enjoy watching tons and tons of TV. It's an odd job for someone like me, but it enables me to do other things in my spare time because you can't take master control home with you. I work with people that do stand-up comedy, musicians, ect.

5. I've never worked at an affiliate station, only for cable networks. I can't speak for them. I work at a multi-network one, so I can only speak for those. We run fully automated on a server, so no more manual takes, or playing tapes. It's all loaded in the computer for air. We only deal with the traffic department at each network.

6. Get used to not getting credit. I at one time did live master control and at the end of the season, they would never put us in the credits. I mean, how did all those breaks roll, and who put them on air? (Sort of like being that old guy in "Wizard of Oz" behind the curtain) I know it's a trivial complaint, but it would've been nice to have a shout out after the 125+ events that required an MCO.

7. Multi-tasking. Some don't require this, but get your octopus arms ready; some require you to take on multiple items at once. Especially ones that have an immediate deadline, and you STILL haven't grabbed that hot pocket out of the microwave, and ran to the restroom yet.

Any questions, comments?

La Vida en la actualidad


1. Ole Blue died. My Saturn of 10 years has called it quits. The positive: found out I now come equipped with a high credit score...go go responsibility!

2. Attempting to buy a Toyota Yarrrrr-is. I have the financing, just waiting on the pira-private seller to hand over the vehicle.

3. put my Christmas tree up. It's silver with fiber optics, and I waste most of my day staring at it.

4. A friend will be coming next week for a weekend extravaganza. Have to start pretending that I am really cool, and that I am constantly overrun with plans.

5. Possibly having a dinner party. My anxiety and I will keep you posted if that happens.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

defining moments of master control

Making a creature out of my work vittles...if you didn't believe I work master control due to the lack of tech blogs, this should sell you. Although on second look, prehaps I should have shaped the brownie into something fun, like a pellet, or at least something that could fit into his smallish mouth.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Michigan


Sorry U.P, just didn't have enough brownie left.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

what kind of person are you?

I'm a person that eats her food in to the shape of states.
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Monday, November 08, 2010

Meow-zers!

I guess I should apologize for not being around lately, but I have good reason. (I know, you've heard this all before)

I am finally embarking on a personal project that I am very passionate about: a documentary about my mother, who is a foster mom for unwanted, and sometimes undesirable cats. She does it for Last Hope, an organization in MN, and she spends most of her time and devotion to these felines. At first, I was considering doing it about the organization, but I needed something to focus on. I am very excited, and have been spending most of my waking hours developing it. Hopefully, my forgetful self will update and share the progress. I am hoping to start principal photography next spring...keeping my fingers crossed.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

cats want you to vote

On my way to my polling center, I was greeted by these lovely felines.
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Friday, October 15, 2010

bad mood bears

Whenever I am prepping myself for bad times ahead, or just having a bad time of it, I enjoy going to the olive bar at Whole Foods. My prescription: olives stuffed with feta, and picholines. My rainy day turns into a perfect day with elevated sodium levels, and oily finger prints.
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Saturday, October 09, 2010

trying times

I procured some oranges due to my craving of juice, and good health. I made a silly assumption that 3 oranges would yield a tad more. There I go, dreaming big again.

Monday, October 04, 2010

September in a nutshell

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

One of my favorite pictures I have taken.

This is actually a re-post from over a year ago, but I felt like I needed to do it again. One of the reasons being A: I really miss the subjects, and B: I miss shooting with the camera. I have it, but I need to bring it in for repairs due to the camera eating film. Its a Polaroid land camera from 1965, and it just takes really great photos. When I scanned it the first time, it didn't turn out so good.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Friday, September 10, 2010

No more low end tea parties.

Thanks to Chinatown, I have a lovely teapot! My old one suffered the fate of rust, which made me realize that I may have been a tad cheap initially. At least I'm self-aware, I guess.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

A lovely day in the camera hood.

Outfitting


An oldie, but a fantastically goodie. I have had this versatile dress for at least, 5 years, and I have received lots of wear from it. Some days I layer shirts over it, throw on a sweater, or just wear as is. I half-assed the process in which to do a four image picture. As geeky as I am, you would think I would be terrific at these photo editing softwares...but mediocrity is my middle on this one.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Change of many paces

I have been making attempts at being more choice with my fashions as I step out. Time and time again, I glance at myself when out with friends, and I wonder; is this how I want to represent myself? I have been so lazy lately with my garb, it has consisted of plain V-necks, with jeans and a cardigan (which is classic, and looks nice) but really want to be a tad more pleasant looking.
Blaming it partly on the Sartorialist (sp?) and on other interweb sites, I think at 29, yours truly needs a clothes lift.

Without further adieu, outfit for day 1.

Lady Joplin's porsche, Grammy museum

Friday, August 06, 2010

Fancy Cookies, Fancy Times

(I wrote this in March, of 2005 while master controllin' in MN. I believe it was an overnight shift)


5:15am I gaze longingly at my now-empty bag of chips, with the hope of maybe some little mouse or a borrower decided to nest inside. Distraught, I throw the bag away, but not without taking one last peek in the bag.


5:18Am I decided to capitalize the A in AM.

5:19am After much debate, the a went back to lowercase.

5:19Am Alright, I sort of enjoy the large A. Very much in command, almost boastful, but not enough to intimidate.

5:20AM The M started a revolt among the letters and almost wouldn't stop until I made her capitalized. I thought I never wanted children. Until AM came along, I was childless.

5:23AM A told me a great story. She acted it out with a great flourish, so great that she knocked my tea over. I tell her everyday that there is a career in stand-up with her name on it, but she insists on being a exotic dancer/rodeo clown. It's her life.

5:26AM I think A wants to have babies. Last night, I overheard her telling M and that scrawny johnson boy from next door that she wants someone to fill her with babies.

4:30AM Whilst changing the clock to set the next alarm for my recording at 6Am, I accidently added an hour*. Mostly wishful thinking.

*Please do not feel led astray, I really didn't know that I am an idiot and added an hour. These events really did happen.

4:33AM A confessed that she was feeling a mommy tendancy. She told me that I wouldn't understand and that I am lucky to "own" ( I have tried to repeatedly tell her that it's built in) a uterus to spawn. I think the best part of this conversation was that she came home after her rodeo clownin' and still had her outfit on.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Update for the interested party.

1. I will be heading to the Carolinas next week, for some good times. I will hopefully do some mobile blogging, if I remember. I am a bit of a jackass sometimes.

2. Currently been working on my portfolio, on and off. It's coming along. I re-posted one on my Vimeo, with a couple of tweaks.

3. Also working on a project with my co-worker. It involves a family of Wigs, (not to be confused with the Whig party, history buffs) incidentally all named wig. Well, the main character is nicknamed "Wigzy", but it's just something silly we are putting together. I will have a file uploaded soon for the interested parties.

4. Been going to the beach a few times a week, along with doing lots of weight training with my cardio. I will be boob-less in no time...kidding.

I think that will do.

I love bread.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Love and circus freaks

I've come to the conclusion that I am sick of meeting and hearing about gorgeous people. Some might point and wave the insecurity flag in my face, and to that I say, not true. I am a very secure and confident lass, albeit a bored one.

We live in Los Angeles, with lots of good looking and if yer lucky, intelligent people. Now, I am totally down for meeting cool, good looking people. But it's 2010, can't we be more, um, creative?

I would much rather have this preface:

"Ok, so Jack's partner is really great, no worries. But one thing: He has a quatto on the side of his head."

This scenario would be preferential as well:

Them: "So, Anne is coming over, and I just have to tell you real quick...she has a slight abnormalcy."
Me: "What, does she have narcolepsy or something?"
Them: "She has a mouth like Predator."
Me: "Uhm, is that possible?"

See?

Monday, July 12, 2010

Quote of the Week.

"Is that the one with the gold robot?"

My co-worker, when asked about Star Wars.

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Quote of the Week.

"All they do is sleep and cause mischief."

My brother, complaining about his autistic roommates at his group home.

Always enjoyable.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Totally awesome.

1. Baking oatmeal chocolate/chocolate chocolate chip cookies on a 4th of July, while the live-in is hanging out with friends.

2. Enjoying the last few days of alone time, considering I have been in school, and not able to really enjoy the time.

3. Am working on a sewing project that is coming out "eh", but all-in-all, it has been great to get back into doing hand crafts.

4. just really happy and in love, which is an excellent change of pace.

5. should probably get to work on my portfolio...whoops!

A Minnesota state of mind. Part I

The other night at work, a co-worker and I were discussing Los Angeles' inadequacies. We generally do this every few weeks, due to the mass ego that native Californians sometimes possess. He being from Boston, I; Minneapolis, compare how intelligent, and diverse our home cites are. Sometimes they are gaps in discussion, due to the daydream state we both indulge in.
I pick up with the lackadaisical began; continuing to describe my days employed at Wal-mart. At the time, there was a family of God fearing Liberian refugees, who had endured the horrors of a brutal civil war. They were some of the most kind, intriguing, and welcoming people I had ever had the honor of meeting. The eldest of the family, John, would always tell me I can always call him and talk if I needed to. And a few times, I did. I had such a great relationship with these people, and it's a regret that I was 18 and naive, and let that slip away. It was such a wake up call to me, interacting with people that I have only heard about on tv. The intense reality of the branding scars I was shown due to the constant rape she endured, stories from their childhood from when they were forced to drop the jump rope, and wield AK47s instead. One of their brothers still lived there, and they were trying so hard to bring him here.
I had such an incredible amount of respect for this family. After everything they had encountered; their consistently positive outlook made my teen angst completely trivial.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Pema Chodron to save the day.

I have been reading "When Things Fall Apart", and I enjoy posting occasional paragraphs that inspire and change my perspective.

My favorite for today:

"We proceed as if we were separate from everything else, as if we were a fixed identity, when our true situation is ego less. We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior. We waste precious time exaggerating or romanticizing or belittling ourselves with a complacent surety that yes, that's who we are. We mistake the openness of our being - the inherent wonder and surprise of each moment - for a solid, irrefutable self. Because of this misunderstanding, we suffer.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Verified loser status

I apparently wrote this to myself back in 3rd grade.

Eggs and relaxation. Both provided by Cosmo.


Wheelies!


Biking thru Hermosa, Manhattan, and Redondo.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Adventures with butternut squash

My first time cooking butternut squash wasn't too bad. I peeled, chopped and marinated the pieces in a olive oil, soy sauce, and crushed coriander. The coriander needed to be crushed a bit more, but after allowing it carmelize, the taste was similar to sweet potatoes on thanksgiving. Yum. Thanks to Veganomicon.