If small quizzes are quizzies, what are small tests?

Bored on a Friday night. Not sure if it's because I'm broke (what I tell myself) or because I don't have any friends... So I'm taking online quizzes.

After 3 beers, I have an IQ of 142.

And this is my superpower:
"Say what? Your superpower is ANIMAL COMMUNICATION! Many people pretend to talk to their pets, but you can really, truly do it. Have you ever mimicked the monkeys or the penguins at the zoo? If you have, you're on your way to becoming a great animal communicator, just like Aquaman with his fishy friends. Some people think animal communication has to be vocal. Not so. Any superhero knows that mental telepathy is where it's at. So while barking at Fido might be fun, it's not the practice you really need. Instead, try thinking like an animal. When you get into the mindset of, say, a squirrel, you'll be able to truly communicate with one. Of course it's a two way street, because you'll be able to understand everything they say back, too. And they've got a lot to tell! Imagine talking to a walrus about the deep ocean or to an ant about life underground. Once you've perfected your superhuman gift, you'll never be without interesting conversation."

Me-OW.

Well, this one was disappointing -- what car matches your personality?:
"You're all about the substance of relationships, not the flash and panache. You're focused on spending time with people and on doing the things you want to do more than the way in which you do it. Sometimes you have to deal with limited resources, but that doesn't mean your life can't be exciting and rich. Just the opposite. You're probably a champion for the underdog, too. Where most people see flaws, you see the character that brings people, and even cars, to life.

So what's the perfect car for your personality? Anything with a history that can get you, well, from here to there, in comfort."

I thought they were gonna tell me WHAT CAR. You know, "you're a '67 Mustang!" I KNOW I drive a car that gets me from here to there (sort of).

Speaking of which, I'm thinking of calling Car Talk. I think I have an electrical problem. I'm hoping someone will tell me it can easily be fixed by cleaning the connections to my battery... Or something equally cheap. The things I can think of: 1) the windshield wipers are OUT OF CONTROL. THEY WON'T STOP. Usually I eventually get them to settle down (though they'll kick back on while I'm scraping my windshield in the morning and scare the crap out of me). 2) the light that illuminates on the shifter what gear I'm in is out. I've only been driving an automatic for a couple years, so I have to turn on the dome light when I start out in the dark or I end up in neutral wondering why I won't go (another good reason to drive a stick -- you KNOW what gear you're in, baby!). 3) I replaced my rear passenger side blinker twice in probably 6 or 8 months (never did that once in 9 years with my last car). 4) my fan only works on the top 2 settings -- bottom two are the same as "off." I feel like there are more things that I've become so used to I'm forgetting them now. I did have the fuse to the lighter blow, never had that in 9 years with the old one either. Anyway, those are my car woes -- not enough to HAVE to fix it, and I can't AFFORD to fix it, so that means I have to live with screaming at my wipers every morning to STOP! PLEASE JUST FUCKING STOP!

And my signature city? New York!:
"Whether you like to have lots of options at your fingertips or you like to be in a metropolitan environment that's buzzing with energy, the Big Apple is the perfect place for you. Maybe you like to mix and mingle at some of the edgiest restaurants, shops, and clubs in the world. Or maybe you like to be in the middle of it all — in the bright lights and big city.

One night could be dinner and a show on Broadway, a stroll through Central Park the next, or a trip to the Met the next. From Grand Central Station to Greenwich Village, New York's got some of the biggest and edgiest things to see and do anywhere in the world. No wonder a trendsetter like you would be right at home in the Big Apple."

(OK, I have to admit that from my answers, that doesn't make much sense. Maybe it's sponsored by the NY tourism industry. But I'll take it!)

What color is my aura:
"We don't need a psychic to tell us that you're giving off a Sapphire vibe. People with blue auras feel everything strongly — you tend to get a little emotional at the drop of a hat. You're also deeply spiritual and introspective. Matters of the heart, mind, and soul are important to you, and your waters run as deep as the ocean. Nurturing by nature, you're likely a loving, supportive caretaker. That's why friends, family, and co-workers adore you. They know you're a good listener and always have great advice and a shoulder for them to cry on. In fact, if we had to find a fault, it's that you can be a tad too self-sacrificing. Remember that it's okay to say no sometimes. You forgive everyone else their weaknesses, so go ahead and forgive yourself for a little well-deserved selfishness. Indulge your creative side and do something artsy, or just take a break from being the world's counselor. You'll come back refreshed and ready for more."

Well. While I was hoping for green (don't know what they mean, green is just my favorite color), this is pretty damn right on. I mean, it's hard to sit here and agree that yeah, everyone ADORES me! And I don't know if I'm the world's counselor. But some of that is creepy.

I'll update if I come across anything else good (it just crashed Firefox on me, and although this came back, I'm taking it as a sign to shut up now!).

PS, the title is one of those things you just don't know why you remember -- there was a teacher in high school who called quizzes quizzies, and that's what people used to say. Dumb!

I'm going to Florida! Not sure it counts as a vacation in the sense that it's not somewhere I've been dreaming of going, but it does in that it should be relaxing. Hangin' with the mom and stepdad. Maybe catch Universal Studios. I have no need to ever go back to Disney World, so that's not an issue. Maybe a giant flea market!

Friday, July 30, 2049

Apparently that's when I'm going to die, according to deathclock.com. Sounds about right to me. Just putting that down for posterity so I can go back on my 72nd birthday and remind myself it's almost over.

Who the hell decided to settle in this god forsaken land, anyway?

I would also like to say that I went back to my inaugural blog back in February or March, where I was bitching that it was the coldest stretch in 11 years, not supposed to get above 0 for 86 hours straight. And I mentioned that in a few months I'd be bitching that it's so hot.

Well, IT'S SO HOT. OK, today it's really nice and it's getting cooler now. But for most of July and half of August (and it'll probably be back), it's been pretty much in the 90s. I'm sure there were a lot of upper-80s days, but WAY more 90s days than I ever remember. TONS. This while I am now no longer working in an air-conditioned office. Man, when it's 95 degrees with 70%+ humidity and you're either in an smelly, stuffy, airless warehouse putting up hot lights or outside in the direct sun (working with large pieces of black fabric, no less), mostly moving heavy things around and climbing ladders (which makes me sweat no matter what the temp is -- I'm CONFRONTING my fear of heights, getting AROUND it, but I'm far from OVER it), that adds up to a lot of damn sweat. I reached the point where I stopped caring if I looked/smelled gross pretty quickly, but it does get old.

So let the tomato throwing begin. I guarantee that in a few months I will bitch about the cold. That is what it means to be a Minnesotan.

Sleep? That's so 1987.

Not that much new to write about, but thought I would update that the 2 jobs this week went well. The 2 paying jobs, in addition to the 2 free jobs that I did over the course of 4 days. The thing with that is that, although my feature has weird-ass hours, when you mix the weird-ass hours of FOUR different jobs together, crap, man.

Friday night I got 3 hours of sleep between my late shoot, my inability to go to sleep immediately when I got home, and my early shoot the next day. Sat. night I got 5 hrs., which would have been OK if I had recovered from the night before... Sun. we had a dawn shoot, so we were there at 5 am. Did our thing then had about 6 hours off (was only able to take an off-and-on nap for 2.5 hours) and came back until midnight. However, I wanted to stay up as long as possible because of my overnight the next night, so I went to bed at 5 am -- over 24 hours with a 2.5 hour nap. Mon. night was overnight 9pm-7 or 8am. Had a couple hours to unwind, then went to my NEXT JOB at 11 am. At about 7:30pm started to get quite delirious, having been up for 27 hours. That is, the 2nd day in -- well, I can't count the days because it's hard to tell them apart, but my 2nd >24 hour day in maybe 4 days' time. Got 8 actual hrs. in that night. Then got up before 5 for a 14-hour day Wed. (which is really nothing at this point). Today was AWESOME -- we shot from 11am-3pm. And we were DONE. What the hell? So tonight I'm going out, just to make sure I'm not too rested for our 9am shoot tomorrow.

I really don't mind being tired and all, except that I know I'll get sick if I keep it up. Hopefully the last couple days will be OK, and then I'm back to having nothing lined up yet, so we'll see. I'd still rather do this and not sleep than any of my stupid day jobs.

What Babo lacks in mind power, he makes up for in love

"Babo will protect you. Having a bad day? Someone giving you a hard time? Babo's got your back. What Babo lacks in mind power, he makes up for in love. He will stick with you to the end, and when something scary happens, he will send you a nice greeting card from wherever it is he runs away to."

Beware: you are entering a long drawn-out ranty-rave about how just super great everything is, Pollyanna. Consider your ass warned.

A few years ago when I was having one of my notorious strings of bad luck (I think it was the time my grandpa died, my car died twice, and I fucked up my hand and had to go to the emergency room and later have my finger re-broken, all within one or two weeks), a friend gave me the above Ugly Doll keychain for luck. I used it until I got my widdle buh-buh (now giant cat-man Neko) last summer (when I had to hide everything of such kittenly temptation), but honestly, it was always just a cute trinket to me. Little did I know the power it held.

On Monday I was looking for something else and came across the ugly little thing (now kinda grubby) and stuck it on my purse zipper for the hell of it.

Tuesday, while out having a great time with my old work friends (and $.75 PBR pints? Gotta love suburbia), I got a call, a hopefully very lucrative job working on corporate videos for a locally based corporation. Hopefully as in maybe it will turn into a lot more work.

Then I got the check I'd been vaguely waiting for from cashing out my pension when I quit my job. Didn't really know when it would get here (they possibly only paid out twice a year, so I was thinking January), so I wasn't counting on it for anything. Not only was it here, but, uh, it was a LOT MORE than I had expected. Nice reward for my years of doorknob shit, I have to admit. And to clarify, this wasn't money I put in and am losing some of now, this was 100% contributed by my otherwise shitty employer.

Wednesday was fun, nothing terribly lucky, but it was the wrap party for the movie I just worked on and I had a very good time.

Then today I randomly got ANOTHER job that actually pays actual money. And anything local that pays (most of my paying stuff has been "passing through" TV and such) will hopefully lead to more work too. It was a referral by someone I respect, the girl who called me sounded really nice (good first sign that it won't suck), etc. So hooray. Pays well too.

Later I went to a little industry happy hour with a friend and might have helped her get some work (introduced her to the people I knew there), had a good time, and got back on the freebie but fun job tomorrow that I thought I wasn't going to be able to do. Not only that, they were so sweet about being happy I was going to be there. The one who I saw at the happy hour called after I left to see if I could work because someone else would be gone, and was really happy I said yes. So then I called the director (or producer, I forget now, oops) to tell him I was coming after all, and he got all happy and told me I was a bright spot in his crappy day! How cute is that? So those last bits aren't really luck, but it was a good day.

Anyway, I'm scared to death now that I'm going to step on a crack, break a mirror, or something else to end my string of goodness. But it's been an awesome week, and if things stay this good, my head just might explode.

Well, this fucking bites.

I was in a bar about a mile away from this bridge when it happened (and have proceeded to get a little drunk, sorry). Hadn't driven across said bridge in a week... Which is a little creepy since I can't remember the last time, before the shoot that brought me to the area last week. Not that it's about me and my non-close-calls. My landlord was the first person to ask if I was OK, via text message, and I was like, OK, me? Sure, why? OHHHHH, because people like US were ON that thing. Not that I didn't realize it, but that's when it really hit. Now I'm worried about everyone. Not that it matters whether I knew the affected people or not -- I got worry enough for everyone.

Things like this don't happen in Minneapolis.