Tuesday, August 28, 2007

this and that.

i want to make this.

if only i were this productive. (dang, girl!!)

this is one of my guilty pleasures. (and of course, this is my other guilty pleasure).

this sounds interesting... but i'd rather see this.

and this is just plain awful.

this week: designing albums for michael on wednesday. working with james lemmo thursday (and possibly saturday) as a production assistant for a factory shoot. promo event on satuday. and tomorrow... possible beach day??? :)

Monday, August 27, 2007

jersey girls.

just a silly joke i found amusing...

Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had given their new wives duties.

The first man had married a Woman from Texas and told her that she was going to do dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple days, but on the third day he came home to a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second man had married a woman from Nebraska . He had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done, and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third man had married a girl from New Jersey. He told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, enough to fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher.

hahaha. ;)

Friday, August 24, 2007

rick and jena quotations

rick and i usually write down funny things we say and stick them in an email draft that's been forming over the past three years. this might fall into that "you had to be there" category, but here are some funny quotations we've jotted down this week:

*after handing miss gray a kidney bean and she refused it*
jena: she just looked at me and said "W.T.F!!"

*after rick gets all touchy over me threatening to add lettuce to his salad, thus ruining his lettuce-to-other-stuff ratio*
jena: ohmygawd, if i was how you just were [being] over my salad, you'd make fun of me.
rick: probably. but that's what makes you better than me.

*after rick (who is lying on the floor) picks up miss gray and puts her on his chest*
rick: jena said you like this gray.
*two seconds later*
rick: ...OWWW!!!!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

dear nicolas cage, loosen up.

tonight rick, aldo and i watched Matchstick Men. here's the plot outline from imdb.com:

"A phobic con artist and his protege are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the con artist's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly."

it was realllly good!! nicolas cage always comes off as a bad actor (in my opinion), but somehow he gets by in every role. he seems limited by his own body, like his face and his body are too stiff. maybe it's just how he carries himself. he needs to loosen up!! anyway, the only problem i had with the plot was the ending. the movie should have ended where it seems to end instead of after the TMI provided in the "one year later..." segment. the info we learn is unnecessary and was best left to the imagination as to what happened next. usually the best endings are no endings at all.

here is the funniest part of the entire movie... nicolas cage's character storms into a drugstore demanding pills (he's a bit OCD and thinks he has mental problems) but he has to wait his turn...

the funniest part: after i made rick rewind so we could watch that scene again, i said: "we should record that and post it on youtube!!" and rick said, "it probably already is on youtube." and surely enough, it is.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

HILARIOUS.

today i worked for michael in a detached office at his house. it was my first time working for him since i've been back from vacation and before i left for vacation, i accidentally left a bag in his car. we shot a black-tie wedding and i was afraid i wouldn't be "fancy" enough, so i brought along an extra shirt just in case i needed to change. since i usually wear all black and this shirt is cream-colored, i also brought a different bra. and naturally, i accidentally leave it his car. so today michael shows me his home office, checks his voicemails on his new iPhone and then says this, jokingly:

"Hey, by the way, you left your bra in my car. What if my wife found it?! Thanks A LOT. That'd be like me leaving a condom in your car."

so we laugh and he explains what albums i needed work on and attends to the company he and his wife had over. two hours later, he returns to the office with his wife. "wait'll you here this!!" he says. apparently brandon (a co-worker) stopped by michael's house and pulled him aside to talk to him in private, away from michael's wife.

"you might want to check your voicemail," he told michael. it turns out that michael's iPhone somehow recorded him saying what he said about my bra and... set it as his outgoing message!!!!
"Hey, by the way, you left your bra in my car. What if my wife found it?! Thanks A LOT. That'd be like me leaving a condom in your car." *BEEP!!*

HAHAHAHAHA. imagine that!!!! and the best part is... people were actually calling and getting that message. if someone calls the studio for michael and he doesn't answer, the call gets forwarded to his cell phone. the ladies who work at the studio heard it and michael's not sure how many people got his voicemail. the ironic part: michael's wife (who also found this whole situation to be funny), is a therapist who also deals with marriage counseling!!!!

moral of the story: be careful what you say in front of you iPhone!! HAHAHAHA.

sugar and spice and everything nice...

that's what little girls are made of.

funny story:
rick and i were doing dishes and making dinner when rick saw two little girls from our kitchen window. they were outside their apartment gathering painting supplies.

"we should go paint with them," he said.
the girls had paint up and down their arms and one was holding a shallow cardboard box with a string attached around her neck.
"they're not painting, they're selling stuff," i said.
"No, they're painting," rick reiterated.
"i should know... i was once a little girl."

so rick continues with the dishes and i step into the living room. miss gray lets out a loud "MRRRREOWWW" and the doorbell rings.

"who is it???" i whisper to rick.
rick, not wanting to say who it was since they could see him throught the kitchen window says, "you'll see."

during the .15 seconds i hesitated to open the door, my mind raced. at first i thought it was someone from our apartment complex office. then i imagined it was aldrin stopping by to show off his new miniature golden retriever puppy.

but to my surprise... it was those two little girls. SELLING STUFF. finger paintings and faces painted on cardboard squares. that's why rick didn't want to admit who was at the door. i almost couldn't contain myself.

"would you like to buy some paintings???" the little blonde with the box asked.
"these are crosses and this is God," the other little girl said. "and this one is rock n' roll man. and this this best one... these are flowers..."

i forget what they were calling them, people-somethings, but i bought one for 25 cents although one of the little girls was even "going to make a deal" with me if i bought one of the finger paintings. (it would be 25 cents instead of 35 cents).

here's what i bought:

on the back:

"sorry about the tape," the little girl with the box around her neck said. "it was the best girl one, so that's why it was on display."
"and this is the best guy one," the other little girl chimed in pointing to the other painting attached to the string.

after i paid my quarter, the little blonde girl glanced at her friend with "holy-crap-i-can't-believe-this-is-working/we're-going-to-be-rich" smile. and that made it all worth it.

and as soon as i shut the door, rick got a big "i told you so!!!!"

i had to call my mother to tell her the story. "doesn't rick know about all the crap you used to try to sell???" she asked. (my dad's biker friends used to have to visit my "store" in my treehouse and, of course, feel obligated to buy whatever little trinkets i was pushing. i also used to sell stuff to raise money to save the manatees. and once i made my grandparents pay to join my club where they'd receive homemade arts & crafts every month). i guess it's just one of those things little girls do. i wonder if i could get away with it now. ;)

my grandmother's reply:
good morning jena; I read your blog this morning and remembered visiting your gift shop or treehouse store. i remembered how you would sell me and ed things that we had bought for you. we didn't even get a discount. everything had prices on them and that was it, quite the little business girl when all else failed you would smile and look cute,that clinched the sale for sure.
talk to you later love gram xoxoxoxoxox

Monday, August 20, 2007

check the tech, 311 in LA.

311 in irvine 08.19.07.

rick and i went to the 311 show in irvine... my 18th 311 show!! our friend cory (who i met at a 311 show in 2004), was there as well as a handful of familiar faces. i took along the digital rebel camera my friend hal has graciously been letting me borrow for an extended amount of time. i wasn't sure if i was going to bother to bring the camera in the show but the tickets didn't say "NO CAMERAS ALLOWED" and i knew i'd be kicking myself in the ass if i didn't take the camera so i called cory who was approaching the entrance of the venue to inquire about the camera situation. he told me that digital cameras were allowed as long as they didn't have a detachable lens. which, of course, the rebel has. :(

so i bring the camera. we get the entrance and i gravitate away from a mean-looking security lady's line toward a guy who seems to not be giving anyone a problem. the guy checks my bag and asks me to take out the camera. the conversation went like this:

GUY: *sees the large ass camera*
ohhh man... does this lens come off???

ME: *"twists" the lens without pushing the button in*
No.

GUY: oh good, that just saved you a trip [back to your car] because my manager is standing right there.


apparently they're afraid someone is going to throw their $300+ detachable lens into the crowd or at 311. who does that?!?!

the guy proceeds to ask for the cap from our bottle of water because that too can be a projectile. (why not throw the whole bottle?!!) really didn't make sense.

so we make our way toward the TINY, intimate pit (which i had bought tickets for well in advance through 311's presale)... only to be told we didn't have pit tickets. we had "orchestra" tickets. row N. which were still really good seats, but a major let-down if you thought you'd be in the pit. so now i'm inspired to write a nasty letter to ticketmaster who led me to believe i was purchasing two GA (general admission) pit tickets. those bastards. but it worked out because rick and i still danced around and he didn't have to worry about someone accidentally ripping out the stitches in his hand. YE-OUCH. that would suck. and i also got to take photos of the entire band, which is rare because usually i am only far enough away to take photos of one or two band members (which i am NOT complaining about because that is how close i like to be).

the opening bands were Matisyahu, the Wailers, Pato Banton and the Expendables. the Wailers were really good, but i could have done without the others. although it was definitely interesting to see Matisyahu perform. he's much skinnier and more awkward than i imagined. he was wearing a navy blue button-down dress shirt, khakis, white sneakers and a yamaka. he did start off the show wearing a navy blue blazer and a hisidic jew hat, but i am hesistant to believe that his image is more than just an image. (he grew up in new york and was a little druggie who used to follow Phish) but good for him that he found Judaism and is able to be a role model and so forth.

needless to say, 311 rocked and rick and i had a good time and we sang along to every song. rick and i played "would you rather" from the moment we left the venue until we reached our destination... a 90 mile trek. and i only remember a handful of the questions we asked each other. i know i asked rick "would you rather work a normal job until you're 65 or would you rather only work until your 45 but have to commute 3 hours to work." (he'd opted for the former). if we didn't play the game, we probably would have fallen asleep because we were that exhausted.

and apparently i was THAT exhausted because in the middle of the night miss gray was meowing next to my side of the bed and i dangled my hand over the edge of the bed and called "hexum... hexum..." (hexum is my cat back home). rick thinks i was really delusionally calling nick hexum into bed. luckily my cat has the same name. ;)

photos from the concert (and other 311 concerts) can be seen here.

Friday, August 17, 2007

my mom and i got tattoos.

monday: i went shopping with my grandmother. we went to kohl's and i bought a pair of black leggings. after we ate lunch, we each spent $15 at the dollar store. i found these surprisingly adorable Moroccan-looking frames, a set of pink glass candle holders and a bunch of other junk. a family friend (my former 2nd grade teacher mrs. m), took me, my mom, my grandmother to dinner at a thai restaurant she and her husband recently discovered. the staff was extremely nice and the food was pretty good too.

tuesday: my mom and i got tattoos!! our appointment was at 6 pm and we took FOREVER to finalize what we wanted. my mom (who went to add sommething to a tattoo she already has), wound up getting a really awesome-looking dream catcher and i (who went in to get a libra symbol), wound up with a small heart. the tattoo artist (who did my 311 tattoo... 4 years ago!!) limited my mother to three times to change her design and then told us "you guys are trouble together!!" my mom is going back this week to get another tattoo touched up and i'd love to get another tattoo in the near future, but rick would probably throw a fit. :(

wednesday: my mom and i went shop-shopping. she wound up buying a pair of cowboy boots that look like prop boots (fake) or at least that's what i think. i bought a really awesome lime greenish yellowish dress (on sale for $30) and a pair of black dressy shoes for work. i also bought two more pairs of giant $8 sunglasses. can't have too many of those. i've officially switched over to giant sunglasses. wearing regular-sized sunglasses makes me feel like i still need to squint to keep the sun out of my eyes.

thursday: my friend zac and his gf jess visited. they treated me to dinner at a spanish restaurant. i haven't seen them since... i don't even know when!! maybe last summer. zac and i met in 11th grade algebra class. we used to pass notes. i invited him to a get-together we had at andrea's house on halloween, that was the first time we hung out. and of course i painted his nails and i wound up washing his hair for some reason. hahaha!! andrea and i used to see how many guys would allow us to paint their fingernails and surprisingly, we racked up a decent number. and of course, after their nails were painted, i would take blackmail photos of them. :)

friday (today): my grandmother and i went over my aunt's house. she just got her FOURTH bengal cat. i think she wants to start breeding and showing them. it's a cute kitten and i took a lot of photos of it. my grandmother and i were planning to hang out by the pool all day, but after we ate lunch it started to rain. so i ran out to my grandmother's car to close her windows. riiiight after the door swung shut, i remembered that her car doors lock automatically after you shut a door. and the keys were idlely hanging from the ignition. luckily that's why she always carries a spare key in her purse... but unfortunately her purse was in the car. so i had to call my cousin who was getting ready to leave for work (he works until 3 am). but luckily, he stopped over and got the door open for us. what a good cousin!!

then it STORMED. thunder and lightning and rain and wind. it was pretty bad. i went outside during the storm because roxie had to go to the bathroom and after a LOUD lightning bolt struck, i actually saw SPARKS fly down the side of my house into the ground from the lightning rod wires!! needless to say, roxie and i RAN back to the house. after dinner with mom, lindsay stopped by and we looked at photos and chatted til after midnight. she is planning on visiting me and rick in november. and we are planning on going to las vegas!! :)

and that concludes my week home. now back to the heat, traffic, work, rick and miss gray. <3 (the only one i can really complain about is the traffic, hehe).