I Act Five Years Older???

You Act Like You Are 32 Years Old

You are a thirty-something at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! You're responsible, wise, and have enough experience to understand a lot of the world. You're at the point in your life where you understand yourself pretty well. You are figuring out what you want... and how to get it!

What Age Do You Act?

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

I feel so old...

The Zombies Take Over

Last Halloween weekend, I watched Ghost Ship, Carrie, 1408, and Dawn of the Dead on cable. While watching the first and last films, I saw the ads for the new AMC series, The Walking Dead.

I had seen the sneak peek for the show at this year's Scream Awards. I thought it was interesting, but it didn't exactly set my insides on fire. And, then I watched it on Halloween night.

The pilot episode was amazingly well-written and well-executed. It did remind me of Stephen King's The Stand. (But then, when I see anything that's post-apocalyptic with a group of characters uniting to stand against the bad guys, I think of The Stand anyway.) And, just like LOST, it really is all about the characters.

So I'm not really surprised that, two episodes in, AMC already renewed it for a second season. Woot woot!

Congratulations to the cast and crew! I look forward to being awesomely grossed out for a while.

Goodbye, Rogers. Hello, Bell!!!

After two years and 10 months, I finally upgraded my BlackBerry Pearl to a BlackBerry Torch.

Boo-yah.

Last Friday, I went to the mall after work. I wanted just to upgrade to the best BlackBerry - so far - but the Torch was sold out at the Rogers Wireless store! It was sold out at the Wireless Wave too. The salesperson did offer me a Torch, but with Bell Mobility. For $50 a month, I can get 100 local minutes, 100 bonus local minutes, 500 MB of data, unlimited local calls on weekends and nights, unlimited sent and received text messages, extended hours (5 PM to 7 AM), and unlimited calling and text with 10 contacts across Canada. The Message Centre Express and Call Display Bundle costs only $10 a month. He also threw in a phone pouch, car charger, LCD screen protector, and screen cleaner - for free!

So the choice was between staying with Rogers Wireless for two months (CAD$90+) and switching to Bell Mobility for three years (CAD$60).

I obviously chose the latter. Hah!

I am loving my new phone! Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were preloaded. The touchscreen and the slide-out keyboard are amazing. The Social Feeds feature is very helpful and fast. A 4GB media card is included - which adds to the awesome speed. The 5 MP camera is a giant step-up from my old Pearl's camera. Instant messaging applications are also preloaded, as are memo, task, calculator, word/sheet/slideshow to go, files, password keeper, and voice dialing apps. Also, when I connected the phone to my laptop, it appeared as a portable drive (like a flash drive). I only had to copy and paste my ringtones and pictures to the Torch. Copy and paste, dudes!

What did I do with my old phone? I downgraded the plan to the basics and the data plan (because I don't want to pay $75 early termination fee) so I don't have to pay the $100 early termination fee. I'm also giving it to my mom. A BlackBerry Pearl in the hands of a 66-year-old woman should be fun.

*Sigh* I love my Torch!

Scream 2010 LOST Tribute

Last Tuesday, Spike aired the Scream 2010, which included a final farewell to LOST.

As I mentioned on my previous post, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Jorge Garcia, Henry Ian Cusick, and Harold Perrineau were there for the farewell tribute. In addition to them, Malcolm David Kelly, Ian Somerhalder, and Francois Chau were also on stage. Jimmy Kimmel - probably the biggest LOST dork in Hollywood - introduced the aforementioned men after an emotional montage for LOST was shown. (And, of course, I teared up when I saw the final moment of the show. Again.)

I think it was fitting that Jorge spoke on behalf of the cast and crew. I loved when he referred to the black dagger-like trophy as the proverbial nail on the coffin for LOST. I only wish the entire cast were there.

Check out the following video for the men's entrance and Jorge's speech. Thanks to user THELOSTAFTERLIFE for making the video embeddable.

And, oh, Matthew Fox won the Best Television Performance award for LOST.

Thank God for genre award shows. If not for them, LOST would not be recognized.

Left or Right?

You Are the Left Side of the Brain

You are a logical and orderly person. You have a system for almost everything in your life. You like to stay busy, and it's important that you stay on task. You prefer to do one thing at a time. You are rational and detail oriented. You love to analyze, and you have a head for numbers. You are also good with words. You love to read, and you've been known to write well.

What Side of the Brain Are You?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

The good-with-numbers thing corresponds with my career. On the other hand, the good-with-words thing corresponds with my passion. So. Yeah.

LOST Farewell Tribute at the 2010 Scream Awards!

In case y'all don't know and haven`t seen the DHARMA Initiative Scream Orientation spots featuring Dr. Edgar Halliwax (a.k.a. Dr. Pierre Chang) on TV, Spike is honouring LOST at the 2010 Scream Awards! The awards night was last Saturday, October 16th, and will be televised tonight at 9 PM on Spike. Jorge Garcia, Harold Perrineau, Henry Ian Cusick, Carlton Cuse, and Damon Lindelof were there.

So, tune in to Spike at 9PM/8 PM Central on October 19th!

Need a Month-Long Vacation

You Are Burned Out Stressed

You're not just stressed out - you're exhausted. Your reserves are empty. You've been stressed out for long enough that you just don't have any energy left. You may be feeling numb or depressed. It's probably hard for you to enjoy fun and relaxing activities. The stress you feel is always with you. Give yourself a break if it's at all possible. No one should have to experience this much stress.

What Kind of Stressed Are You?

Blogthings: If Quizzes Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Take Quizzes

Tell me about it.

Serenity Now

You Are Serene

You are tranquil and content. You find your peace anyway you can. You are easygoing and comfortable in most situations. You pride yourself on being laid back. You are patient and forgiving. You are always willing to give someone or something other chance. You try not to let the world get under your skin. You remain as stoic as possible.

The Watercolor Flowers Test

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

Stuck on the Discovery Channel of Life

The Meaning of Your Life is Understanding

There's so much to life, and once you think you have it figured out, you realize you have so much more to learn. By understanding life, you can discover what it means for you. Where you find your purpose is very individual. Your eyes are always open to new possibilities and ideas. You never feel like you know it all. You are constantly exploring, learning, and growing. And you never tire of it!

What Is The Meaning of Your Life?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

Weird Dream of the Day: The Empty Office and Norah Jones

If you've been following me on Twitter, you may have seen my tweets about my weird dreams. Normally, I barely remember them once I wake up. But there are days when I remember most of the weird dream; sometimes, part of it or the feeling it left me after I woke up even stays with me throughout the day.

In today's dream, I was walking through my side of an almost empty office with my lunch in my hand. I saw my nine-months-pregnant colleague talking with a couple of officemates who had their back toward me. They looked very serious. My colleague glanced at me while nodding at one guy. I went out to the shop side to get to the lunchroom. But when I closed the door behind me, I saw that the lunchroom had one door boarded up. I don't remember whether the other door was locked or not, though. Also, the tables and chairs from the lunchroom were moved to the shop side, where the manufacturing equipment would be in real life. There were three women - who didn't work at my office - sitting and chatting in the shop/lunchroom. Two of them sat at one table, while the other sat at another table. When I sat at the table where the two women were, I saw that the third woman was Norah Jones. Yes, Norah Jones - the Grammy-winning musician and the star of My Blueberry Nights. They were discussing ideas about either a new video or new movie. I don't remember what Norah was saying when I sat down, though; and I wouldn't have known what song (if it's a song) they were discussing, because I don't follow her music. Which is probably why, when Norah noticed me, she said something like, "Oh, she's OK." I don't recall what she said after that, but I think she mentioned something about that fact that I don't know her music as much as I know, say, Kelly Clarkson's (see two previous sentences). Then the dream ended.

Weird, eh? Disturbing too, because the office and shop were practically empty; although it could also mean that it was a very slow Friday or that the manufacturing equipment was moved to the larger shop section downstairs. Also, three were talking with each other on the office side and three were also talking on the shop/lunchroom side. Also, Norah Jones in my office? Not to mention that she knew the music I prefer and was OK with it.

What could this dream mean (as well as the other weird dreams I've had and will have)? Does this mean that I should buy the new Norah Jones record when it comes out? That's some sneaky and creepy advertising! Or is it just the bottle of Corona talking? Or that I slept at 1 AM? Or that I ate some meat the As brought home from Pinpin Restaurant in Vancouver three hours before I went to bed and four hours before I actually fell asleep? Not that I'm saying there's something in the food, just the fact that I ate something that heavy at 9 PM (after I watched the Stand Up 2 Cancer special on ABC/FOX/CBS/NBC).

Regardless, I'll try to write about my weird dreams as much as I can. I hope that I can figure them out or why I'm having such dreams by blogging about them. Feel free to comment, y'all.

LOST Snubbed at the Emmys

If y'all followed me on Twitter - or if you're my Facebook friend - you'd know how I felt about this year's Primetime Emmy Awards. Particularly the last 10 minutes.

Apart from last week's Creative Emmys win for the LOST editing team, the show was shut out of the major categories. Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad took the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series award, instead of either Michael Emerson or Terry O'Quinn (who deserved another Emmy for his dual role in Season 6, as Flocke/The Man in Black and Sideways John Locke). Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad achieved a three-peat on the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series race, beating Matthew Fox, who was phenomenal as Jack Shephard during the final season. Taking the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series award, Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy's writing for Mad Men beat Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse's excellent crafting of the LOST series finale. Steve Shill's directing of an episode of Dexter earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, beating Jack Bender's incredible direction of the series finale. The most painful loss is in the Outstanding Drama Series category, which Mad Men won.

I would be very happy if I woke up from this horrible nightmare or if I found out that LOST won all the awards for which it is nominated in an alternate timeline.

*Sigh*

The night started well, actually. Glee's Cory Monteith, Lea Michele, Amber Reilly, Chris Colfer, 30 Rock's Tina Fey, LOST's Jorge Garcia, and The Vampire Diaries's Nina Dobrev were included in Jimmy Fallon's opening number. That was fun. Then Eric Stonestreet of Modern Family won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Then Glee's Jane Lynch won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy. Then Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory - so deservedly - won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy. Archie Panjabi of The Good Wife surprisingly won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series award.

Thankfully, the rest of the LOST fandom on Twitter complained about the Emmy snubs as much as I did. And after the Outstanding Drama Series upset, we comforted ourselves with the fact that LOST will remain the best drama series for us in 2010 and for the six years it was on air.

I know I said that I'll be happy with the 13 nominations even if LOST didn't win anything. Of course, one win out of 13 is better than nothing. But this is the last time the Emmy voters could honour LOST for its greatness. There'll be no more chance for them to honour the series with another Outstanding Drama Series award, because the show is done. The Emmys even staged a funny musical tribute for shows that just ended, including LOST. That is not enough to recognize a show like LOST.

You have no idea how much I cried after the Emmy telecast. I am incredibly sad that the Emmy voters failed to recognize LOST for the outstanding show that it was. Even Modern Family's Outstanding Comedy Series win didn't ease the pain of LOST being snubbed tonight.

LOST was robbed tonight.

Oh, well.

To make us all laugh after tonight's depressive Emmy Awards, I leave you with the Season 6 bloopers from the Season 6 DVD/Blu-ray set. Thanks to user glennD for making the video embeddable.

LOST Editors Win Emmy!

Congratulations to Stephen Semel, Mark J. Goldman, Christopher Nelson, and Henk Van Eeghan for winning the Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series award!!!

I was so happy when I saw their names on the Creative Arts Emmy Awards winner sheet. On LOST Auction weekend, no less.

It sucks, though, that Elizabeth Mitchell lost in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series category. Also that Michael Giacchino lost in the Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) category. And that LOST, well, lost in the Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour), Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series, and Outstanding Special Class Programs categories.

FlashForward's stunt specialist Danny Weselis also won the Outstanding Stunt Coordination award for his work on the pilot. Take that, ABC! Also, Neil Patrick Harris won the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series award. Betty White won the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series award. Heck, even the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony won two awards: Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic, Multi-Camera) For a Variety, Music, or Comedy Programming and Outstanding Musical Direction.

Congratulations to all the winners at the Creative Arts Emmy! I hope LOST wins more at the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on August 29th.

Vacation!!!

It's time again for my annual week off from my day job. Yay!

I timed my vacation with the week of my Basic Copy Editing classes at SFU Vancouver. I actually didn't expect my boss to approve my leave, because the August billings are due on Wednesday, August 25th. But she did, and I'm so thankful for that. I am in dire need of time off from work!

For four days, I'll be in class in the mornings and studying in the afternoons. I guess I'm kinda thankful that my freelance business is kinda slow. I can still bid on a project that I like, if I find one, but no work and deadlines this week.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do on Friday. I can either go to Victoria with my mom - because I haven't been there in my eight years in Canada! - or book a spa appointment at Spa Utopia. What do y'all think I should do?

Still, I wish I could take a month-long vacation. I've been so exhausted!

Anyhow, I'll try my darnedest to enjoy this week off. I think I'm gonna need the rest for my return to work on August 30th.

I Miss LOST

In honour of this weekend's LOST: The Official Auction and Exhibit in Santa Monica, CA, I bring you a Jimmy Kimmel Live! clip featuring Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver. Check it out!



In his monologue, Jimmy was talking about Jacob and the Man in Black after the episode "Across the Sea" was aired. He even likened the polarizing episode to the Soup Nazi appearing on an entire episode of Seinfeld before its series finale. Very funny.

*Sigh* I really, really miss LOST. Thank God I'm thisclose from getting my hands on the Season 6 DVD/Blu-Ray set. I haven't gotten the shipping confirmation from Amazon.ca, though. Maybe on Monday? Also, thank God I can bid online. Hope I get one of them!

I Miss Going to the Bookstore...

You Are Modern

You are optimistic and forward looking. You love living in this world. You have a good memory for facts. You always are an ace at trivia. The world excites you. There are so many places you want to go and things you want to learn. You have a few key interests that are borderline obsessions. You can't stop thinking about them!

The Bookstore Test

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

LOST Wins At TCA Awards

The Television Critics Association honoured LOST with the Outstanding Achievement in Drama award at the 26th Annual TCA Awards tonight, Televisionary reports.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

LOST was tied with Breaking Bad for the award, while Modern Family took the Outstanding Achievement in Comedy honour. The Good Wife's Julianna Margulies, who could win the Emmy Best Actress - Drama in a month, won the Individual Achievement in Drama award, while Glee's Jane Lynch, a shoo-in for the Best Supporting Actress - Comedy Emmy, won the Individual Achievement in Comedy honour. The Pacific also won the Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries, and Specials award.

So happy for Julianna Margulies and Jane Lynch! Modern Family too!

The big winner, though, is Glee, which won both the Program of the Year (the award show's highest honour) and the Outstanding New Program awards. I'm surprised that it didn't win the Outstanding Achievement in Comedy award. Hehehe...

Anyway, LOST was nominated for two other awards, Program of the Year and Heritage Award. The latter was given to M*A*S*H for its cultural and social impact on society.

Not too shabby for a recently departed show, though.

Congrats to all the winners, the full list of which can be found here.

Three Stories. Yeah.

I did it: I submitted three stories for the 2010 FMC Fiction Prize.

Thank God.

I decided to add another story to the mix, because submitting three stories is a little bit cheaper than submitting just one. Well, USD $2 is still two bucks. So, in addition to Before I Let You Go and Frogs & Princes, I quickly edited Under The Autumn Rain, a story I wrote seven years ago. Then I went on the Flatmancrooked website and paid USD $40 for the three stories via PayPal. Then I copied and pasted the three stories on the submission form under my pen name. I was so relieved to see the "Success!" message after I hit send.

Again, thank You, Lord!

If you've read Before I Let You Go on my Writing.com profile - coughgotomyprofilecough - you'd know what it's about. Frogs & Princes is about a Christian girl torn between a Christian guy with whom she's in love and a non-Christian guy who's into her. It's semi-autobiographical. 'Nuff said. Anyway, Under The Autumn Rain is about a new Canadian immigrant who's had a bad day and who wants to give up.

Phew!

Even if I don't win anything, at least I got to write a new story. And I was able to write and edit with a deadline. See? It's a win-win situation.

But I do hope I win something. It'd be cool to win even a runner-up prize or consolation prize on the first fiction-writing contest I entered. That'd be really cool.

Ciao for now!

Frogs & Princes

What do you think of Natasha Bedingfield's song, Frogs & Princes, as official title for Maybe This Time?

Here are the lyrics, copied from Natasha's website (and proofread, hehe):

The in & out of datin's got me all confused
I build up expectation, end up feelin' used
Seems everybody's into fast food, everybody's into quick
I want someone to take the time, fine dine me not rush it

Now it's nearly 7.30 I'm slippin' on a dress
I keep my fingers crossed you're not like all the rest
So when you come to pick me up come right to my door
Don't stay in ur car and beep beep the horn

Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic
You'll pick the sounds for the background to our drive into town
Baby don't be one of the traffic
Had too many nights with the wrong guys comin' up redlights

Tell me how many frogs do I have to kiss
Before I find my Prince
Before I find my Prince
All you girls that are goin' thru this
Tell 'em how it is
Tell 'em how it is

We pull up to our premiere, red carpet good
You check my coat, get my chair like I hoped u would
You're funny and your flirtin's really workin' 4 me
But where it goes from here gotta wait and see

Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic
And you'll pick the view that we kiss to make me go Ooh Ooh
But maybe it'll all turn out tragic
And u'll push 4 more back at my front door more than I'm ready for

You gotta..Tip the waiter, that's how it works
You can't skip the starter, go straight to desert
U gotta.. pop the cork..Before u taste the wine
Don't make a mad dash for the finish...
Line up in a row cos the dating game is (wooh)
We get hooked up but the real shame is
Too much connection followed by rejection
S'gonna hurt a girl till she learns her lesson

What do you guys think?

Lessons Learned***

Yesterday, I finished the story analysis for Maybe This Time. I based my analysis (as with all other analyses) on the five-step story structure that Elizabeth Lyon described in her book A Writer’s Guide to Fiction.


1. Character with a problem – i.e. the protagonist
2. Complications
3. Crises that reach a climax
4. Resolution of the problem
5. Character learns something about self or life

While working on my story analysis, I had a bit of difficulty listing the lessons that my protagonist learns. So I went back to the book. Without giving a clear definition or description, Ms Lyon gave Little Red Riding Hood (Brothers Grimm’s version, I think) as an example; she said that Little Red Riding Hood learned to listen to her mother (who told her not to stray into the woods at the beginning of the story) and to be careful when talking to strangers. Since her mother warned her about straying into the woods at the beginning, I think it would be safe to assume that her mother had warned her about the dangers of talking to strangers. The problem with Little Red Riding Hood was that she didn’t listen to her mother and didn’t take those warnings to heart (she and all other kids, as well as adults, really). In the end, it’s assumed that she learned from her mistakes. That, I guess, is what Ms Lyon meant in her book.

For my story, I listed two things that my protagonist has always known (i.e. before the story even began) and that she applied to solve the story problem. But should that be the case? The reader may not consider those lessons learned, because my heroine used the knowledge of the lessons to solve her problem. She didn’t learn the lessons per se, just applied them.

Although, I realize now, if I rephrase the lessons, they would work. If I did that, I wouldn’t have to make major changes in the problem resolution section, which I was afraid I might need to do. Phew!

I still need to do a major edit and to find a better title. Although, thanks to Kelly Rowland, I might have one.

Ciao for now.

***Originally posted on Adrienne's Notebook on July 14, 2010, at 13:08.***

How Would I Decorate My Future Home?

Quiz: What’s Your Home Décor Style? My result: Modern It seems you are drawn to a modern home décor style. Comfort seems to be your main priority, having a room that is stylish yet accessible. A modern home includes plenty of neutral colours, simple furniture, sleek surfaces, and a few fancy accessorizing pieces that stand out. This will turn any space into a warm and inviting one!

Take this quiz!