Livin' it up at the Hotel California

I was in Palm Springs, CA last week attending a soapmaking conference (yes, they do have those) I had a blast and when it was over me and three of the attendees, Georgia, Eleanor and Gili headed out to take the Palm Springs Tram tour. I recommend it highly for anyone going to that area. As we headed out to the base of the mountain at 2,600 feet above sea level our car just decided it didn’t like the grade of the mountain. The speed limit said 15mph and by golly our car wasn’t going to go any higher. After parking and getting out of the car, we didn’t know if we were even going to make it up the parking lot to the entrance!! People all around us had hiking boots, walking sticks, walking poles, etc. Yes, we were in trouble! As we were walking up the hill we hear “Helloooo my ladies!” It was a jolly man from Austria now living in California. Apparently, he had a season pass and walked the mountain every day. He called us his little girls and encouraged us to keep walking that we would enjoy the beauty of the squirrels and other wildlife that we might see once we took the tram up. According to Frank (our Austrian friend), the tram is Swiss made making it one of the best. Everyone piles in and as you go up the 4 mile rail, the tram rotates 360°. It takes about 10 minutes to get up to the top of the mountain, but once you are up their the temperature drops to around 62° and it is just fresh, clean air. There are a couple of nature trails that you can hike. One is very gentle and the other has a couple of hills and is about a mile and a half long. Georgia chose the gentle path whereas Gili, Eleanor and I chose the latter. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and we stopped and took many pictures as we walked about. As we came back around we heard weird squawking sounds. Lo and behold, it was our friend Frank. He was calling to his lovely animal friends as he called it and was tossing them bits of food. He had Stellar Jays, a raven
and a very brave Ground Squirrel
that kept running up to him and grabbing a cracker out of his hand. We took a few photos of this and made our way back up to the main building as we had now built up quite an appetite. Inside, there is a really nice restaurant with floor to ceiling windows so that you can look out all around at the mountains and what’s below. We're seated near the back end of the restaurant. We’re enjoying our lunch and our company when a fly lands in my meal. I'm thinking the thing that has landed in my food will just fly off, but it doesn't!! I think, my gosh! It died!!! I had to scoop it out with my spoon and stick it on the napkin!! Uh,,,,waiter? Then, Georgia says Nikie what's on your jacket? I look and I have a moth on my jacket so I brush it off. I go back to enjoying my meal sans fly and I see something down on my right hand side. I look and jump! It's a squirrel!!! There is a squirrel in the restaurant and it's looking up at me like it's going to jump in my lap!!! Gili jumps up and screams, which startles the squirrel and it scampers off. My friend Georgia is trying to get her camera and I'm grabbing mine cause we think it's hilarious that there's this squirrel IN a restaurant!! How the heck did it get in there!!! So, we can't find it and go back to eating. Next thing we see is the waiter shooing the squirrel down the carpet!!! We said, wait, we want a picture of it. So, he calls it! He gets down on his knee and acts like he has food and the squirrel comes running back to him! Eleanor takes one of her French fries and lowers her hand to the floor and the squirrel runs towards her and jumps on her purse. It then proceeds to climb up the chair and jump in her lap!!! She now has a squirrel in her lap getting a french fry!! At this point we are now the paparazzi and taking pictures of this animal just enjoying itself. The squirrel jumps down, eats the french fry on her purse and proceeds to scamper it's way out of the restaurant. At this point we can't stop laughing because we think this is the funniest thing ever. We look outside the window and there on the sidewalk we see this squirrel walking towards where we are sitting, but it's outside. I raise my hand and do a sideways wave and say Hello little buddy and I swear, cross my heart that the squirrel stopped walking and raised its paw up and waved back! Georgia and Gili saw it too!!! We all shouted that the squirrel waved back, and no Georgia said there is no way that that squirrel just waved at you. It then went along it's merry way down the mountain!!! Needless to say after that nothing else could be topped so we headed back on the tram down the mountain. But, if you ever go to Palm Springs and take the Tram Tour be sure and stop in their restaurant and say hello to our Little Buddy! She just might be there waiting to jump in your lap!

I don't know what color your eyes are baby, but your hair is long and brown

I am co-teaching a filmmaking class with two very wonderful people. We teach kids from 10-17 years of age all about what goes on in making a film and then they get to go out and create their masterpieces. One of the groups is working on a vampire film! In doing this they needed red contacts for some of their actors. In searching for the red contacts, I found that colored contacts weren't that expensive. Also, I had been hanging out with a friend of mine who had been wearing some and they looked pretty cool, so I decided to order some and give them a try.

For $13.00 I could get a pair of non-prescription lenses. So, I got a few colors to play with. I got jade green, dark blue and gray. They arrived and came with an instruction sheet on how to put them in your eye. Well, I have never ever in my life worn contact lenses, but, because of theatre and such, I don't have a problem with sticking stuff in or near my eyes. Plus, my sister wore contacts, how hard can this be? So, I go to put the contact lens in. It goes in my eye and directly to the top inside of my lid!!! Hmmmm....how do I get it out? I try pulling my upper lid over my lower. I try pulling my lid out and looking down. I try pretty much everything and I can see the contact lens up in there!! So, I call the people whom I bought the contacts from.

Contact Lens People: Hi, can I help you?
Me: Yes, I tried to put in my contact lens, but it's now up inside my eyelid.
CLP: Oh, it's probably a memory thing and you think it's up there, but it actually popped out!
Me: Nope. I can see it. It's up there.
CLP: Well, then. It is in your eye. You know it's not going to go into your brain or anything.
Me: Yes, I know that. Can you tell me how to get it out?
CLP: Uh, have you tried pulling your eyelid over your bottom eyelid?
Me: Yes, I've done that already. It didn't work.
CLP: Oh. Well, hold the eyelid out and look down at your feet. With your left hand bring it above your head over your eye and then try to see if you can get to the contact.
Me: What? Excuse me. This should eventually come out, right?
CLP: Oh yes. It will come out eventually. Like I said, it can't go into your brain.
Me: Yes, again, I know that.
CLP: Okay then. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Me (sighing) No, I'll call you if I have any problems. Thanks.


It was sooooo goofy. Apparently, they don't get phone calls like that!! That night was film class, so, I went there with the thing in my eyelid. It didn't hurt at all, but I could feel it. I get to the class and some of the kids are there. I say, "Well, I did an idiot thing. I tried to put a contact in my eye and now it's stuck! Who wants to put their finger in my eye and get it out?" Apparently, no one wanted the job!! Finally, the guy I work with said, "I wear contacts, you want me to try to get it out?" I said, "Sure, I don't care just get it out!" He walks over to me and I just looked at him and said, "Uh, can you wash your hands first?".

So, I sat down in a chair, leaned my head back and he started poking and prodding at my eye. Apparently, this sucker had wedged its way up under the eyelid muscle!! He finally worked it down a bit, but couldn't get his finger on it. He said, okay who has fingernails and can pull it down! The other teacher who works with us said, "I do, but I don't want to poke in Nikie's eye!". I said, "Go for it. This doesn't hurt me and I want it out!" She so did not want to go near my eye, but she bravely and very gently caught the tip of it with her fingernail and pulled it out from under my eyelid. Once I saw it over my pupil (it got real blurrry) I grabbed it and pulled it off my eye!! Tadah!

I wanted to put it back in to try it since I now had people who could pull it out if necessary, but they said no way!

The next day, I told my husband, "Hey! I have an idea!! It's time for me to have my yearly eye exam right? So, why don't I go down to the doctor's office, get my eyes checked and see if they can show me how to put in contacts!" And that's what I did!! But, when I asked them to do that, they said it would be a liability for them to show me with contacts I didn't get from them. Being that the glasses I already had should still work for the next year and my insurance did allow for contacts, my doctor prescribed for me new colored contacts! Whoo hoo!! Then, they showed me how to put in contacts!!! Now, I know how to put them in and it only took one try! I don't wear them every day, so these should last a few years!

The stuff I go through just for fun! But, they look cool!

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want Too!

Alright, so it's not mine, but close enough. I gotta be the one to put this sucker on, right? Over the years, birthday parties have gotten crazier and crazier! They gotta have themes. All the plates have to match the invitations, the napkins, the decorations.

Oh, and on top of that, they are going home with goodies!!! WHAT? I never understood this concept. Come to my party and I'll bribe you by sending you home with tons of trinkets and treats that you will never use and lose! We went to a Build-A-Bear party where all the guests were given $10 gift cards! I couldn't wrap my mind around that one. The biggest bribe of them all, come to my party and you get to Build-A-Bear for free, oh and bring me a gift too! I couldn't even imagine the bill for that parent! Glad I wasn't her!

Remember the good ole days when all your friends came to your house? Your mom made a cake and you played relay games like blowing up a balloon, running to the end of the drive and sitting on it to pop it and then run back to tag the next person in line. Or, carrying an egg on a spoon and racing back and forth to see which team could do this the fastest! All without worrying about prizes! It was all for the fun of it. Later, you could whack a pinata, eat the cake, open gifts and everyone had a good time!

Luckily, this seems to be the going trend again and I'm glad that it's back. I was never one for the trinkets and goody bags!

So, tomorrow, we will have numerous kids running rampant, playing relay games, whacking a pinata, eating cake and just having a bunch of fun at a no-theme birthday party! You know, everyday life! Now, let's just hope the weather holds up!

Tweet, Tweet-a-tweetle Leet

So, there's this thing out in the cyberspace world called Twitter. I'm sure most of you have heard of it. www.twitter.com . I signed up about a year ago, but really didn't do much with it. I mean, how to write in 160 characters or less, what you are doing RIGHT NOW! Well, mainly, I was sitting at my computer! But, then I realized that you could "Tweet" from your cellphone. But, I wasn't doing much from there either and I didn't really have anyone to follow. Over the course of the year I found some of my friends on there and would keep tabs on what they were doing.

I have one friend who tweets like crazy. She's a real smart cookie with a long history....oh wait, that's another song. Back track....well, she is really smart and uses every new toy to her advantage. She's got Twitter wired for sound among her blogs, museums, and other techno stuff!

I just recently figured out that if I clicked on who I'm following and turned the device status to on, then I would get text messages on when they "tweeted". I know, I'm slow, but I'm learning! I think I'm going to have to up my text messaging ability to unlimited pretty soon!

This is a great networking tool especially in the business world! Not only can I tweet with my friends, but I'm also able to keep up with my colleagues! I can already see this will be great when I attend the HSMG conference in May. So, all of you in the guild and otherwise who are on Twitter, come follow me @shadowfax0704 . Those who have yet to join Twitter can find me at http://twitter.com/shadowfax0704 . Just put in the comments section that you found me on my blog so I'll know who you are!

Oh, and if any of you Twitter experts know of more tips and tricks out there, please let me know. I am still learning my way around Twitter and would love to know more!! Just add your comments below.

And now, in 160 or less? Putting out a great blog on the joy of tweeting!

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor......

Who says living out in the middle of nowhere isn't interesting. Many of you hear me talk about the many musings of country life. Well, it's an endless stream of bizarre goings on. We have the dead lady that lives next door, the fake illegals across the street and with them comes their horse who, apparently, hates living there!! She's always breaking out and coming to our house! Pretty much, every day (or night) she comes for a visit. I guess it wouldn't be bad if we wanted a third horse, but considering she comes into our barn and then breaks into the food bins, it gets a little tiresome. This last time, she yet again, broke into the feed bags and consumed a half bag of feed. Yes, I know it is bad for a horse to eat that much food. We called her owners only to find out he was out of town. All throughout the day we chased her and ran her down the road only to see she returned. We let the dogs out after her and she nonchalantly brushed them off. I guess she got tired of me chasing her out of the barn as she sauntered to the end of our driveway and laid down for a nap! Much like a stray dog wandering the street and deciding to catch some rays in the sun! She didn't even move when my husband came home from work. She just casually lifted her head as if he might disturb her beauty sleep and then stretched out even more! At this time I looked across the street and noticed the neighbor's son jumping on the trampoline! Uh, did he not notice his horse had been missing all day and all the previous night? I yelled to the jumping child to come and retrieve his horse. He promptly came over and when I asked him if he had been home, he said why yes he had. I told him that we had his horse and all I received was a grumbled, "Oh." I then proceeded to tell him that his horse had eaten a bag of our feed and I had been chasing said horse out of our barn all day. Nary a word of sorrow or concern for the horse or any trouble we had gone through was spoken from this creature of a boy. Needless to say, I was not happy about the situation and spoke to the father when he returned from out of town. Apologies were given from the father (but no compensation of the feed) and we were told that the horse was finding a new home, which did happen.

Later that night as I was making fresh hamburgers for the grill, I heard quite a ruckus on our porch. Thinking by some miraculous feat the horse had come back, I peeked out our front door! We had a new visitor! It was a huge, fat possum hanging out on the railing. Having my handy dandy camera on the table, I set down the hamburgers and took a few pictures of this wayward feller! As I went back into the house to grill up our dinner, I went to grab the plate and noticed it was empty and looking at me with big eyes and wagging her tail was our Great Dane licking her chops! Sometimes I just happen to forget that our dog is bigger than the table!

And that, my friends ended our adventurous day out in the middle of nowhere! Dinner ended up being mashed potatoes and some other veggies, but we can't say it wasn't exciting!

People. People who need people.........

Everday we are always meeting someone. Whether it's someone who is helping you to carry boxes from your car, or it's a new aquaintance or friend for life even if they are of different political or religious persuasions. Just the other day I met a few more interesting people in my life. All extremely different from one another.

One was a Native American. He was a healer and had finished making a documentary and I had the privilege of watching a little bit of his unfinished movie. It was very interesting and what was more so is that sitting next to him, I was able to ask questions as to what different things were in his movie and why they were being done. He told me that he was burning Sage in the beginning to purify the things around him. Sage is always used to purify. I did not know this.

Another person that I met that evening was a scriptwriter who was in the process of filming his comedic/horror zombie movie! It's actually a really good, thought out process and sounds like it's going to be a great film! He's quite the character himself and very humorous so I'm sure this translates well into his movie. On hand was his producer who picked up the movie on the basis that it was different than most slasher, gore horror flicks.

I like the fact that on any given day you never know who you may meet. Like I said, very extreme from one another!

Sometimes I'm told I live in the past, but even in the past, I've known some interesting people as well. In my brief stint in college, my English professor had us write papers on where we would like to be in 10 years. I wrote that I would like to be a film maker with at least ten films under my belt. He called me up to his desk one day and said, "Filmmaker, huh?" I have someone you might like to meet." He invited me to meet his friend one evening. Always one for adventure, I agreed. His friend, turned out to be Samuel Bronston, movie producer. Mr. Bronston produced such films as El Cid, John Paul Jones and The Fall of the Roman Empire with such stars as Sophia Loren, Bette Davis and Charleton Heston. I spent the evening listening as Mr. Bronston regaled me with his stories of the movie business and Ms. Loren. He was a pleasant and sweet gentle man. It was a thrill to have met him and one that I will remember always.

I didn't get to become that filmmaker per se. But I've been lucky enough to have opportunities to dabble in it more now.

Our past is what makes up who we are today. We don't forget who the Beatles were. Their music still continues to play on all radio stations, much like the Rolling Stones, Rush, Elvis. Their music influences up and coming bands to create new sounds even if it's from the past.

Much like my life. Even if I talk about my past and bring it into the present, it could influence my children who can create something new from what I've learned. The only harm would be if you wallow in your past and never come out. But, I have no intention of that. I love what the future holds and welcome incorporating the past and the present to see what I can conjure up!

Freeze Frame

Ever since I can remember, I've loved taking pictures. I had a little Kodak Instamatic when I was around 9 or 10 and was always taking photos. As a child I fondly recall my grandfather with his Super 8mm cameras and the tape recorder hanging on his side so that he would have sound recorded movies. They fascinated me so. When I was in junior high, my grandfather gave me his Yashica camera with screw on lenses. I thought I had the greatest camera in the world! Of course it had an attachable viewfinder, so you had to guess that your photos were in focus. Good times! In my senior year of high school, I took a filmmaking course! It was a dream come true! We were given sound Super 8's to use and film our own movies! According to our teacher, we could make any movie we wanted, even soft porn! Yeah, tell that to a bunch of teenagers! My partner and I decided to make documentaries. I made one about her and she made one about me! It was great fun, but I wanted more! My mom let me borrow her Super 8 camera and I was off! I wrote a script full of kidnapping,stealing, guns, and suspense! There was a lot you could do in three minutes! Here for you now, for the first time converted from super 8 film is my First Movie!



My love for film and photography has never been sated and to this day I still continue to make videos with more up to date cameras, both still and video. Of course, the editing and sound have gotten a bit better.