sos

The other day, a friend of mine was telling me about some movie that was coming out. She said it had the word "sleep" in it, but couldn't remember the actual title. I hadn't heard of any movie with the word "sleep" in it... until today.

I was watching a recorded episode of "Scrubs" when on comes this commercial for a movie entitled "The Science of Sleep." I noticed it had the guy from "Motorcycle Diaries" in it, and found it to be slightly amusing at first. Then, I heard it... A film by Michel Gondry.

I've written about my love for Michel Gondry before. The most obvious example is "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" - a movie I bought even before it was out in stores (I've got the hook-up at The Exclusive Company!) However, what first got me into Michel Gondry's work was his work with music videos. The first time I saw the video for The White Stripes "Fell In Love With A Girl" I was hooked. Also, some of you may have seen his work with other artists such as Bjork, Kylie Minogue, Beck, Hot Hot Heat, Kanye West, and other artists.

Gondry's use of stop motion is so cool... Even though I have an extreme dislike for Jan Svankmeyer films (who is well known for his use for stop motion) and he somewhat tainted my feelings about stop motion, I think that Gondry does a good job with it and uses it tastefully.

I'm really, really excited about "The Science of Sleep" - even though I was pretty late finding out about it. Thanks to my friend who SORT OF gave me a heads up!

You can see the trailer here.

You can visit "The Science of Sleep" interactive website by going here.

The movie comes out this Friday at the Oriental Theater...

I'm excited!

personal

I find it interesting... I struggle to write blog entries when I have a lot of things consuming my thought life, especially when those things are extremely personal. The same goes for writing articles for Relevant Magazine's website - I can't seem to write them when the stuff I'm going through is too personal. You'd think "tough stuff" like that would generate some good writing material... However, I wonder if the thought of having a lot of people - those close to me, and those not so close to me, reading things that are very deep and personal is the very thing that is paralyzing me.

I've journaled a little bit about it, but have you ever had those moments where some of your own thoughts are scary to you to the point of not being sure what happens if you speak them or write them out? Where you're like, "Why in the world am I thinking that way?" or "Where did that thought come from?" Don't worry, they're nothing extremely terrible. But they are just thoughts that I'm struggling to get rid of, struggling to work through, and it's causing a bit of a writer's block for me to post here.

So thanks for being patient with me. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some more in the near future... Gotta work through some more of these thoughts though first.

nothing

Hey folks... Sorry I haven't been writing much lately. Typically, I love to write blog entries, and write about what's going on in my life. However, I don't want to always write about work, and that seems to be what's consuming my thoughts as of late. I haven't really had a whole lot else going on... Therefore, I haven't had much to write about.

I will keep brainstorming about a good topic to write about. However, I didn't want to be MIA for much longer, so I thought I'd write a random post about nothing really... Just little tidbits from my life.

Movies I want to see:
"Last Kiss" with Zach Braff
"Half Nelson" with Ryan Gosling
"All The Kings Men" with Sean Penn
"The Prestige" - with Christian Bale

(oh, and by the way, I think I'm at like movie #30 on my list from the summer)

Fall Shows I'm excited about:
Lost - I seriuosly cannot wait for the season to start!
Gilmore Girls
Scrubs - I can now get caught up with it being in re-runs

Music I've been listening to:
Joshua Radin
Mum - Thanks to Longbrake for the suggestion
Snow Patrol - I was late getting on that bandwagon... good stuff
Get - a band I found on MySpace

Fun things happening this weekend:
Going apple picking with my mom this morning
Tailgating with Cataldo & friends for her birthday
Lazy Sunday (and I don't mean the SNL sketch)

Ok crazyees... that's it for now... I promise to post a more interesting post sometime in the near future.

nemesis

So, a while back, there was this little invention called "Myspace" where people could meet new friends from all over the globe. However, what if making new friends is not really what you're all about? What if instead of making friends, you could make enemies...

"Myspace was created so that friends could keep in touch with each other, but until Nemesis Village came along, there has never been a place for enemies to keep in touch with each other and meet new nemeses...until now..."

I heard about this new thing that's coming to the web - Nemesis Village. Imagine if you will, a sort of "virtual fight club." The project is very hush hush right now, and is still under construction, but it will function as a network of enemies, archrivals, nemeses, and pretty much any other word you want to come up with for it. Apparently, it has rigorous tests one must go through in order to be accepted as a "villager." However, the little information I have is a bit sketchy, so enter at your own risk.

As I mentioned before, the site isn't fully functioning yet... but keep checking back for the dawn of a new era...

Click here to visit the village...

curveball

Well, as always... Life threw a curveball. As it ended up, I didn't get to meet any of the teens tonight. It was kind of a sad reason - one of our staff had a family emergency. But at the same time, I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that I'd been worried all week, and then it didn't even happen...

I'm so good at worrying...
Maybe this was just one of the many lessons to come in working towards NOT worrying.

teenagers

Today I finish the first week of my new job. Have no fear, I will not chronicle every day I work there... Just this first week. However, I felt like today might be a good "before and after" post. I don't have to be to work until 2pm today because I've already put in enough hours for the week. However, today is the day I've been nervous about all week.

I'm definitely the kind of person who much prefers somewhat structured social settings, especially when it comes to meeting new people. For me, if I am involved in some sort of activity, I like to have a "job" to do... I guess that's just how I'm wired. I thrive in situations where I can be working on something and interacting with people at the same time. But when it's a situation where I just have to "be" and not "do," I tend to struggle a bit more... and that's what today will bring me.
Enter: The teenagers

As a part of my job, I will be a part of what's called the Teen Drop-in Center. It serves as a place where teens can come to hang out in a safe place. The thing is, I don't really have a responsibility other than to just "hang out" with them.

Up until this point, I've pretty much been dealing with kids ages 5-8. Little kids are really easy for me to connect with, and so up until this point, it's been pretty fun meeting a bunch of them. However, jr. high and high school is a whole different ballgame. They're much more picky about who they choose to associate with, they have more expectations of people, and they don't always want an "old" person hanging around them, especially one who's supposed to be considered an "authority" figure.

Tonight, I will have to stretch way beyond my comfort zone, and I'm really nervous. You'd think with having worked with both jr. high and high school in the past, I'd be totally ready for this. But this is a different situation, on multiple levels. Theoretically, I know it probably won't be that bad. I'm even hoping it'll be a total blast. But there's still that part of me that fears the unknown and is nervous for the teenagers to arrive.

I will try to post again tonight AFTER the event... Hopefully, it'll be an entry telling of great interactions and amazing conversations.

(image found here.)

elevator

Why is it that elevators are one of the most awkward places in the world? Seriously, have you ever had it where you're in an elevator with someone else that you don't know, and you think to yourself, "Should I say something? Should I keep quiet?" The only thing you can think to talk about is the weather or stupid small talk, which is never a whole lot of fun - especially if the other person isn't into it. You feel like a dork staring at your feet or at the changing numbers, but you also know that you cannot, no matter what, look at the other person in the elevator unless you plan to say something. I don't know about you, but I think that's what elevator service men were for - you know, the guys who asked you what floor and pushed the button? They functioned as the ice breaker... It's their job to make small talk and be friendly not only to you, but the other people in the elevator as you all ascend to a higher floor. I think that the elevator service man position should be brought back. I think it should be a requirement for all elevators. That way, when I have to take the elevator 15 different times in one day, I won't have those awkward moments of "Do I say something... or continue to stare at my feet?"

Day two at the new job went well... Minus the awkward elevator moments.

day one

Who can say they got to jump rope at work? I CAN! I CAN!

Today was my first day at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. After going through some initial "first day" stuff like paperwork and meeting with HR, it was time to help out with lunch. Yes, that's right... Yours truly functions as a lunchroom monitor 3 days a week, which of course is followed by RECESS! Things seemed really awkward up until recess time. There I was, trying to assist kids while they ate their lunch - I mean, chip bags and milk jugs are hard to open after all! I didn't know ANY of them. I didn't know any of their names, and I didn't really know the other people assisting either, making the whole situation a little strange. However, all of that awkwardness was put aside for 15 minutes of fun - RECESS! A little girl came up to me and asked me if I would hold one end of the jumprope while her and her friends jumped. I also very quickly became "home base" for a game of tag as well. Quite fun.

Overall, my first day went pretty well. I will say, I'm a bit overwhelmed. There's just a lot of different things to remember because there's a lot going on. I am really excited about most of the things I am a part of, and extremely nervous about two of them. I'm assisting with the junior high release time (junior highers aren't always as "welcoming" as kindergarten, first, and second graders) and I'm also helping with the teen center - both of which make me nervous because they're slightly out of my element. However, I know that after time and after I get to know the kids, it will be a lot of fun.

As with every new job, it's normal to be nervous about things and feel the discomfort of not knowing anything and being the "newbie." I'll just be excited when I can move past the "learning" part, and I can move on to enjoying it!

Good day though... More updates to come.

new

With lots of "new" things going on in my life, I figured why not give my blog a new facelift as well! So, without further ado - welcome to my new blog. But, I'm not going to leave you hanging. Here are a few tricks to the new blog...

Here's the scoop behind the "Pull" tag above.

Now, I'm not sure how many of you out there use Safari as your web browser, but for some reason, it seems as though the Pull Tag doesn't work on Safari. I haven't had any problems with it on Internet Explorer or Firefox, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I will continue to work on figuring it out, but I'm guessing not a ton of you use Safari (or, if you do, you probably have Firefox or IE as well), so it's all good for right now.

Once you click on the Pull Tag, another window will pop down. This has all the info and links I had listed on my old blog. So, for those of you who use my blog to link to a bunch of other blogs, have no fear - they're still there. There's also a navigation menu which is pretty cool.

I like the Pull Tag because it allows simplicity. My entries are really the only thing that appear on the main page, which is nice, but the pull tag allows me to keep all my original links and information. SWEET!

Comments are a little different, and I'm still working to revamp what they look like. Currently, in order to leave a comment, you click on the number that is listed after the Entry Title and Post Date (it's a darker color, so it blends in... I'm working on fixing it). I really want to hear your thoughts though, so click on that number in order to leave one!

I am really interested to hear what you guys think of the new layout. If I get enough "I hate it" responses, I may change it back. I also want to know if you have problems with any of the links or the pull tag. So send me your thoughts and comments!

mrm

Well friends, the time has finally arrived... I have a job! Let the celebration begin!

And, it's exactly where I wanted to be - The Milwaukee Rescue Mission, more specifically, Cross Trainers which is their youth division. I had applied mid-July for an administrative assistant position with Cross Trainers Academy - a new school that the Milwaukee Rescue Mission just started. I interviewed for that position towards the end of July, but they decided to go with another candidate. However, they then invited me to interview for another position with their youth ministry - another administrative assistant position. I interviewed about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and was officially offered the position today. I couldn't be more excited!

I start on Monday... My position is sort of being "created as we go" because they're still not totally sure what all their needs will be at this point. But currently, it looks like some of my duties will include your typical administrative duties: data entry, filing, typing projects, photocopying, etc. But will also include: assisting with classroom setup, doing something during the academy's lunchtime (I'm not sure what that entails yet - serving, or lunch monitor?), assisting with the tutoring program (including greeting tutors/students, and helping to make sure things are going smoothly), watching a student while he waits to be picked up by his mom, being a chaperone while taking kids home from school... and I'm sure a whole lot more!

I can't even tell you how excited I am... I have been praying for this job for a while. My family has been praying. My friends have been praying. My family's friends have been praying... I'm so grateful to God for this opportunity. As my friend C-Sliw would say, it's a PG moment (Praise God).

Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that I am about to embark on a new era of my life, something that totally excites me but I know will also stretch and grow me a great deal. I'm anxious to see what's ahead! There are also some other cool bits of news that are "in the works," but I'll save that for another blog.

For now, I'm just going to continue to be excited for this amazing opportunity I've been provided with! I'll keep you guys posted as to how things are going.

If you've been praying for me, I can't thank you enough. You have been a constant encouragement as I have waited for this opportunity to arrive. Thank you.

Here's looking to what's ahead...

(For more info on the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, check out www.milmission.org.)