It's a Brand New Day

(title borrowed from a song from Camp Rock 2 which is coming out on Friday and even though I've already seen it, I'm still looking forward to seeing it again =D )

SO.....I have a big interview tomorrow. Wish me luck! It would be beyond awesome if I got it. We'll see....

I don't really have much to write, really, it had just been a long time since I'd written and I sounded so depressed. I'm not really. Frustrated at worst. Hmm...what have I been up to...

*I went to San Diego last weekend, which was really nice, albeit on the cold side. Mmmmm....Ghirardelli hot fudge sundaes....yumm.

*Oh, fall drinks are back at Starbucks! This fall, they have a Toffee Mocha Frappuccino that I'm super excited to try. It kinda reminds me of the English Toffee Twist Chiller at Gloria Jean's (because of it's name, obviously, as I haven't tried it yet. I plan on getting one this weekend. I'm theoretically trying to lose weight, and part of that is limiting myself to 1 frappuccino a week), but it's Starbucks so I can get it pretty much anywhere. Love it. =D

*I'm going up to LA tomorrow for my interview, and I was just thinking, that will be my third time in LA in the past 4 weeks or so, and therefore I'll have gone up to LA more times in the past few weeks than I normally do in a year. Maybe even in 2 years. wow. But I've decided that I actually like L.A. Not the hardcore downtown area mind you, but pretty much every other part of the county. It's significantly less sketchy than I thought (except downtown, as I mentioned. I think I told this story before? when my mom & I went to a vegan cupcake place downtown the weekend we went to see Camp Rock 2? Probably. But to make a long story short: it was super sketchy and I was happy to leave the area)

*Sigh* Trying not to be discouraged...

Soooooo the job search continues. I think it would be going much better if:

1) I'd gone to a bigger school or a school more known in this area with connections here (because, apparently, being the 4th best liberal arts school in the country according to the US News & World Report means nothing if you aren't on the east coast. And apparently, MiddKids all stay on the east coast and therefore there are few alumni connections on the west coast. There might just be few alumni connections that do any good anyways. I'm just saying, the people I know who went to a school like USC have jobs, people from Midd? Some yes, some no)

2) I'd majored in something recognized as useful (not that people don't recognize that languages are super useful, they just don't recognize that as a useful major in and of itself. If I'd been an International Studies and Spanish double major, I'd be set. Or even Psychology (which I'd thought about, but had already declared my majors and would have had a hard time changing my majors & getting in all the necessary courses by the time I realized that I really liked psych) with Spanish or French. Or SOMETHING like that. As it is, my job prospects are low seeing that I don't want to be a translator...or a teacher...)

3) I really, truly, deeply knew what I wanted to do with my life. I know things that I like: I'm interested in communications, languages, cultures, psychology, entertainment, marketing, crafts, artsy things of all types...but how to combine them all?!?! On the upside, I'm now discovering things that I like and not just things I don't like. Woohoo! =D I guess the book I got (What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles) is helping?

Here are some Comics from the NY times (Sun, Aug 1) that I liked and found interesting:

Wow. Starting to feel old. Why? Because in my short 22.5 years, so much has changed in technology / media. I remember my first cell phone that I got in 8th grade and it was big and looked much like a landline phone does now, and now phones are slim & sleek and connect to the internet and all sorts of cool things. Mine called & received calls. Period. And kids in kindergarten have them. wow. I'm somewhat confused about the one about MTV, because I don't watch a lot of MTV, and I totally did not know that they don't show music videos anymore? Please confirm or deny. MTV in Europe still does...please explain. Oh, and facebook. I remember when I got on it before my freshman year in college. Wow, that was a loooooooong time ago (ok, 4 years, but it *seems* like a long time ago). Anyways, it presents an interesting thing about this generation: that people sometimes connect more over technology than in person. I like how in the Phineas & Ferb "public service commercial" (on Disney), it encourages kids to get off the computer and spend time with "real friends." So true. It seems like all teenagers do is text. (yes, I can say that because I am NOT a teen! hehehe. One's 20th birthday is so great).

L.A., L.A., Baby

So, we went up to LA this weekend (by weekend, I mean Saturday and half of Sunday). We went because there was a special preview of the upcoming DCOM, Camp Rock 2. There were a lot of people there, but I'm guessing that it didn't actually sell out because there were quite a few open seats, but that's ok. All the better for me & my mom to get great seats =D. Additional bonus of seeing the movie before everyone else? I got to go to Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, which is hard for non-Disney workers to get into. It's completely gated in (I noted that all of the major media networks/companies were, though. But NBC advertised a studio tour, so I'm assuming you don't need a special invitation, but maybe. Also, Disney might need to be more careful because around the world Mickey Mouse (aka Disney) is kind of a symbol of American consumerism, and those who are opposed to American consumerism use & target Mickey for their own purposes. So I *suppose* I can see why they're extra careful. Anyways....), but we were able to go on in order to see the movie. What I noted was that the Studios look A LOT like Disneyland. I think that I had read about that in Mouse Under Glass by David Koenig, but wow. Seriously, the signs, the colors, everything was a lot like Disneyland. Interesting, and really cool. SO, we saw the movie in a little theater (not super little, but like the small (but still stadium) theaters that movies often move into once they've been out for a while and the newer movies take up the biggest rooms in the theater), and they gave us free popcorn & water (two types of water. Regular spring water and Smart Water, which is interesting. I wonder what the reason for having two types of water is. It seems like Smart Water is becoming more prominent...everywhere, but it's still interesting. Did the Glaceau company donate it? Does Disney have a deal with Glaceau? Do people demand it? Who knows. (well, *somebody* knows, but that somebody is not me). Anyways, so it was super cool to see the film before everyone else, and it's SO good. I think I might just like it better than the first one. Seeing it in the theater was also very special because otherwise I would likely watch it on the TV in this room with has a sound issue (background noise is louder than the sound that you're supposed to hear. Example: When we watched Pride & Prejudice, we couldn't hear the dialogue at all, practically, during the scene at the "country dance" because the background noise was so loud. So with a musical movie like this one, I would have heard the beat really strongly, the rest of the music pretty well, and the rest somewhat ok) and is surrounded by very distracting things (like computers, people moving around, etc) which could keep me from focusing just on the movie, so seeing it there with fans of all ages was great (and yes, of all ages. The loudest most enthusiastic person around me was at least 40 and she'd go "woo" and things like that. She reminded me of the women at the showing of New Moon that I went to...(forgot about them? Read this blog entry). Oh, extra bonus? No commercials. Yes...Then there was a Q&A section with the director of the film, the VP (or was it the president...) of DCOMs, the director of soundtracks, and the writer of the film. I enjoyed hearing about how they put the movie together and their motivation behind certain scenes and other choices.

All this to say: 1) it was a really great experience; 2) you should watch it on Disney Channel on Friday, September 3rd; 3) I SO want to work at Disney or for D23

aaaah, just looked it up Glaceau is owned by Coca-Cola (not advertised on the website, but I figured it out). That makes sense though. Based on Disneyland, I'd say that Disney and Coke are pretty close. Now that I think about it, they totally sell Vitamin Water at Disneyland now...

PICTURE TIME!!!

Yes, I'm officially here

The check-in stand for the film

We all got these bags for free. Inside there's a Camp Rock 2 folder & magnets

New Plan: Listen to my iPod constantly

Why is this my new plan, you ask? Well, because I seem to get stopped and suckered in a lot recently. Previously, I was rarely ever reeled in by those people trying to convince you to buy something or do something or whatever. Fortunately, I don't get stopped all of the time because, as I'm sure I have mentioned before, I look 14 (or at best 16) to most people, so they let me be because they think that I'm not old enough to vote or to have a credit card or anything. But I've been stopped for a while twice. Today it was by some lady *in* the grocery store. She was at a desk and everything, so I assumed that it had something to do w/ Albertsons (especially as first she asked if I had a Preferred Card. At first, I thought maybe she was trying to sign people up for that, then she started talking about something else and I totally misunderstood and then had to figure a way out of it, much like I had to do when I was stopped by a Green Peace guy outside of Best Buy. I mean, you stop and listen because you feel bad & don't know how to get out of it politely & nicely. After their spiel, then you have to figure out a nice & polite way to not sign up or pay or whatever. It's SO annoying. I REALLY don't like being bugged. So my new plan is this: wear my iPod in the stores, or at least on my way in & out. Or, at least, pretend like I'm on the phone when I go by people. Hmm...the iPod idea is better because then you're less likely to get surprised by someone you weren't expecting (like the lady in the Albertsons), where as the phone is useful if somebody sets up shop right outside of the store....anyways, I plan on putting this into effect ASAP.

Word of the day:

Ascot: "a broad neck scarf that is looped under the chin" (m-w.com)

I had wondered about this since it was mentioned in Toy Story 3 (remember? Barbie says "Nice ascot" to Ken), and then a few moments ago I heard it again and decided that I'd see what it actually was. Now you know too (in case you already knew...)