Crashing California

It's been a week and a bit since my last email. Lots of stuff has happened, of which I'm going to try my best to let you in on, ofcourse =) Most recently this past Tues. I was involved in a low key food photo shoot for JC, of which I played the role of sole photog. (!!) I was VERY nervous but rented some lights and a crazy lens and the photos turned out fabulously! Food can be one of the hardest things to shoot, but one of my co-workers was the cook/food stylist and did a phenomenal job! I also (ofcourse) did some practice @ home with the equip. the night before, and am posting my pics (here is a link to the album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=248930&id=622540106&l=f0dd41fdb1 ) ... it was a blast and I hope I get to do it again. Of course, there is our whole, home-hunting situation. Turns out the market down here (because of all the foreclosures and such) is quite aggressive, I called on one place I had my eye on and it already had 26 offers on it!!! basically...

I've had a phenomenal weekend. It's literally been one of "those" weekends, where everything seemed as it should ... and nothing but joy and blessing fell over me. Aside from getting a tad sunburnt on Saturday, hanging with some good friends on Sunday, here is the highlight: On Friday evening we got word from our bank that we were officially "pre-approved" for a mortage (!!!) Can you stand it? I still can't really believe it ... it seems too good to be true. Coming from the mindset of a couple years ago that I'd prob. buy my first house when someone passed away and left us an inheritance of somekind ... to being exactly where we are in history right now. With the whole crumbling down of the economy, those of us who are blessed enough to still have work and nothing else, are all of a sudden in the drivers seat in so many ways. We had no money before and therefore lost nothing with all the Wall street hoo-haa, and now, with our meager savings and a ...

I'm having one of those moments/mornings where my brain is quite actively thinking about life, or rather, what we're supposed to do with ours. We had dinner last night with a young friend of ours (our drummer Mike) and our conversation turned to music, and the proverbial "making it" (whatever making it means) and Mike informed us (among other things) that if he didn't "make it" in music by the time he was 30 (he's 24 ... oh, to be 24) he was going to move to Colorado and become a park ranger. Now, I'm not sure how incredibly serious he was about his alternate career choice, but speaking those words to two people who are OVER 30 (and still wondering about life and what it's all about) it was slightly comical, and also, depressing if we were to let it. Music is one of those liquid-type things. There are players who are able to craft emotional songs that connect with listeners and bond to their lives and times. There are song-writers who write l...

So, right now I feel like my toes are burning from being stuck in high heeled shoes ... (just thought I'd share!!) But down to business! I have a couple fun stories to share ... My first experience with the American Health Care system ... two Friday's ago I went to a family clinic ... waited for about an hour ... paid my "copay of $15" ... went into the doctors office (waited another 20 mins or so) saw said doctor (who stepped out to answer a cellphone call in the middle of my appt.) got lab work and a prescription, got scheduled for a "follow-up" appt. the following Friday. Showed up said following Friday ... waited another 40 mins ... paid my "co-pay of $25" for my second visit ... waited another 1/2 in the doctors office to find out that my lab never got the results to my doctor, they don't know what's wrong with me and would I like to make another appointment ... well, no, I just wasted my time AND money to find out this overly valuab...

Oh, well, it's time for an update on Amy's (& consequently Jay's) lives here in Sunny Southern California. As of late, as people have been asking me how I've been doing, or how things are going, I've replied a steady "oh, you know, just the usus." or "just trucking along" or "nothing crazy, just same old". Same Old. I've made the self realization that I've been saying that to others (and myself) but in reality, things are progressing, changing, my brain is constantly thinking -- but I feel like what is really going on in life seems mundane, or ordinary, or maybe not important enough to share, so hence I just end up saying "oh you know, same old". Well, really it's not, so here we go... Here is what's going on in life in general for me. I went to the doctor for the FIRST TIME since we moved down here last Friday as I had a minor "feminine issue" which needed medicating, of which I am now on and...

Why are we so obsessed with what we think perfection is? As North American's we're so incredibly obsessed with appearances, what's on the outside, what characteristics we've got (or not) that I'm sure it's a million dollar business in tweaking photos, airbrushing this or that (or another thing) to make things seem as they are not, in order to appeal to the most impeccable and critical eyes and come out on top. Working in the marketing dept. I've noticed that we do that a lot. And it's part of our job, to touch up photos, pick flattering angles. We make wrinkles disappear, smooth clothing lines, even (dare I say it) "exchange" certain parts for others. It's just part of our job. This morning the director of Marketing Communications came to Creative Services and asked that we take the "head" from one photo of her little boy and place it on the still photo of another because his face was not "as cute" in the first pict...

Our Show (to me) was amazing, there is nothing quite like sharing the something that's so personal and close to your heart, with so many friends that we had show -- including some of the girls I work with, our neighbors (past and present) and Jay's work buds. The sound was not amazing I guess, though I didn't notice at all -- and we had a bunch of people taking pics and one guy that Jay works with video taping (for our viewing pleasure, or horror, at a later date!) Our set is 8 solid songs about 45 mins worth of material, but we were asked to cut one song short because of time, and I felt like everything literally FLEW by my face. In fact, there was one point where Jay started playing the intro to our "middle song" Dead Flowers and I was SURE he was making a mistake because I wasn't even aware we'd already blasted through the first three songs of our set! It's amazing how that works. But in all honesty, I enjoyed it, I hope my friends did too. I don...