« December 2009 | Main | February 2010 »

Kathy needs your prayers. Most of you know Kathy. For those of you who don't, she's like the Erma Bombeck of the blogger world. You should read her. Because she's funny. Even in the face of this, which is breaking my heart and making me cry.
KitschinLogic

I am SO TIRED. I've been writing about Cinequest and communicating with all my film friends all day. AND watching film screeners for review later. The first one I watched was entertaining but kind of poorly acted... but starred three of the most beautiful women ever, and that was enough to keep my attention, and anyone else's to tell you the truth. The second one I'm half through and has Zach Galafanikonkitisss in it and is HYSTERICAL. No academy award winner, but it's pretty good. BUT, I'm not finished with it yet.

Earlier today I was telling Erin about something that happened at the CQ party and she said "Oh my, I can't imagine you sassing someone like that!" and I thought she was being sarcastic and I LAUGHED, because... you all know I'm about as sassy as it gets, right? Turns out, she really didn't think I would ever be sassy to someone in a position above me -- which I think all my former bosses would think to be QUITE hilarious. When I realized she was actually serious all I could think of was my old BigBoss who would have thought she had lost her damn mind, or never actually met me.

Okay, anyway. Um yes, I don't care who you are, I will sass you if needed.

My dishwasher washed all the dishes without incident and without flooding the house today, FYI.

And now I go to bed. Tomorrow is more movie watching and Friday I go to the SJ Rep to watch The Weir. And then probably write all weekend.

60-second SanDisk Phone Flick contest

Here's a fun thing from Cinequest that everyone can participate in. You don't have to attend the festival, you don't even have to live in California.

SanDisk asked 20 Cinequest filmmakers to make a 60-second film using only a smartphone and a mobile memory card. All the resulting films are on YouTube here.

You can go watch the films and vote thumbs up or down for each one. When you are done you can enter your name and email for a chance to win your own smartphone, or one of 24 mobile memory cards!

It's easy to do, each film is only 60 seconds long -- but most important, some of these films are pretty incredible and will show you what amazing things can be done even with just a little camera phone. So go check them out! Vote! And enter to win your own smartphone.

My tongue is still licking bright green Psycho Donut crumbs off my lips and my fingers are already black with ink from the Cinequest program.

People. A lot of stuff happened tonight. A lot of information was given. I don't even know where to begin. I have a pile of film screeners to watch and review and what might be the makings of the flu. We shall see.

I'm going to write things up tomorrow. Festival programs will be available at your local Peet's Coffee Wednesday morning, and the updated website with new interactive and totally synch-able film calendar will go live at midnight tonight!

You want more details?

Deepak Chopra... GONNA BE THERE!
Benjamin Bratt... GONNA BE THERE!

76 Trombones - oh, I mean 76 PREMIERES... GONNA BE THERE!

A 3D showcase... GONNA HAPPEN!

Comedy Writing Forums... DON'T MISS THEM!

And of course, PARTY PARTY PARTY, every single night of the festival...

The program is filled with some very interesting movies, and we saw clips of some films that I cannot WAIT to see.

For now, I need to go to bed. In the morning I'll be writing things up for Metblogs and CQCentral, and maybe post more here. Let's all cross our fingers that I am NOT coming down with the flu.

Oh, one last very important thing: Mike Rabehl totally WISHES he were part of the cool kids blogger group.
That is all.

Get ready for Cinequest

Tonight is the Cinequest press launch party, which I will be attending and where I will be eating their food and drinking their "surplus of alcohol" that I've heard about.

So anyway, when all of us press people are done eating and drinking Cinequest dry tonight, it's very likely to be all Cinequest all the time here again, or at least for the next six weeks. Can you handle it?

CAN YOU??? Hey, I know *I'm* looking forward to it.

Of course I'm sure there will be breaks for workout grumblings, relationship happies, and kid gripings. But mostly you're going to be hearing about movies and parties.

Which brings up a question: If you live anywhere near San Jose, you'll BE at Cinequest, right? Why wouldn't you? Are you going to leave all the awesome films and parties to ME? It's the 20th anniversary of Cinequest, one of the top ten film festivals in the world, and if you've been around but have never attended, you might want to ask yourself why.

I'll likely be back here this evening writing about all the incredible things we have in store. If I've had too much alcohol, I might have to wait until tomorrow, haha. But you can always follow Cinequest directly too:

Cinequest on Twitter
Cinequest on Facebook

Proposition 8 Court Battle

I realize not all of you are interested in the Proposition 8/Gay Marriage court battle currently under way in San Francisco, but really you all should be. Why? Because civil rights, human dignity and the right to love your partner openly affects everyone. Whether the specific right specifically pertains to you or not, the implications of taking away any right from any group of people WILL affect you somewhere down the line.

At any rate, I just wanted to state that the NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights) has been live-tweeting the court case from day one. You don't have to be a member of twitter to follow, just go to their twitter page for almost a complete transcription of events as they happen (just keep hitting "refresh"). It's also not "lesbian minded" in their reporting, it's just a play by play of what's happening, which is kind of nice since it's not being broadcast and otherwise we must depend on what reporters manage to get into the papers.

It has been getting VERY interesting today as the prominent place that religious groups took in getting Proposition 8 passed in California is being questioned and brought to light.

You don't have to be interested enough to follow them on Twitter. But you should be interested in the case. You should be kept informed. You might think it has no bearing on your life, but it could certainly have bearing on the life of someone you know, perhaps one of your own kids.

Good bye January 25

So yesterday was the day from hell, and I'm glad it's over.
First, for some reason my body thought it would be great to wake up at 3am and stay wide awake. So I got 3.5 hours of sleep.
Then I was woken up by a cell phone alert that a certain email had come in, and due to my lack of sleep I took it the wrong way, blew it all out of proportion, fired off a return email that wasn't exactly called for, and got up in a severely angry mood.
Then I found out the cat had peed on the couch. Again.
Then I had to get to the annual lady-doctor appointment, which all ladies know aren't our favorites... although I must say I liked my new doctor and the appointment was pleasant. So one good thing that morning.
Spent the morning sending more irrational emails to my friend, blasting her for things that mostly happened only in my sleep deprived brain and not in reality.
Loaded up the dishwasher, turned it on and thought "With the way today is going this fucker is going to leak all over the place again."
Got up to use the bathroom and... HOLY CRAP the F@#%ing dishwasher leaked all over and flooded the entire dining room!!! Pulled out all the towels I could find, including the ones I had on the couch where the cat had peed, and soaked up all the water...
But of course our dryer isn't working, so now I have a ton of soaking wet and pee-filled towels.

Ate lunch and took a nap.

Ahhhh. Woke up all better, but then realized that possibly, just possibly, I had spent the entire morning email-yelling at someone who had every right to act as shocked and surprised and hurt as she had. Oops.

Convinced her to go out and have a drink with me. I'm not sure why she accepted, but she did. She must be a really good friend, heh. I apologized, tried to explain. I think she got it. Seriously, she must be a really good friend to understand and forgive me.

We had another drink and everything was all better.
Went home and passed out on the couch. Got up and went to bed.

Woke up this morning, yesterday is OVER, talked to friend again and everything is back to normal. Thank goodness for fresh starts!

Today was the first Cinequest volunteer meeting and film festival madness has already begun!

I got there early and already the Camera theaters were PACKED with eager volunteers eating the free Psycho Donuts and other goodies. Right away I spotted friends: Nathan, Darnisha, Stephanie, Christopher, Paul, Vince, Ray, Lou, Art, Cheri, Robert... Everywhere I looked in this packed theater were friends.

We all went inside to hear about the different jobs, and Halfdan stood up to give his speech. He told us that Cinequest was not really about watching films and getting drunk. Paul and I looked at each other... "Well, I quit," we both said, haha. The funny thing though was when later we were told instead of seven soiree nights where we get to meet and drink, there will be TWELVE nights to meet and drink. "But it's not about getting drunk!" I told Paul.

Halfdan also talked about how Cinequest has not only changed lives, but SAVED lives. Paul and I laughed at that later, a lot, but I should keep quiet, because the reality is it certainly has changed my own life

So the main job I wanted was to introduce the films, the Speaker job. This job would at least allow me to see the films so I could still write about them, and I don't mind speaking in front of an audience. I also liked the job of Envoy, being paired with a filmmaker and introducing him around the festival and promoting his film. I do that anyway as part of the press.

So the job I have at the moment is Speaker! It's going to take a lot of time, but I think it will be another good way to show my presence and support the festival, and get that line on my resume too. :) And you know, I don't normally shy away from the spotlight either.

Then I went to lunch with friend Paul at Gordon Biersch and ate too much but had a good time. All in all the day worked wonders for a bad weekend, and set things right again.

My press meeting for Cinequest is Tuesday when the lineup will officially be introduced. Already a few eager filmmakers are announcing their dates, and I am SO excited to hear some of my favorite director friends are returning with new films. Number one: Cullen Hoback, director of Freedom State and Monster Camp, two of the funnest movies at Cinequest. Cullen himself is a GREAT guy, and I'm so excited he'll be back again. Number two: Jarrod Whaley. Jarrod is a personal friend, and he made the incredible short Passion Flower, which I reviewed on Metblogs. Number three: Alejandro Adams and Marya Murphy for Babnik. Both of them are also friends of mine, and director/producers of Around the Bay and Canary.

Those are only the three films that popped up today. Of course there will be more incredible films showing also. But it's so exciting to hear friends from around the country making travel plans for February, and to know I'll be a part of it again. And to have two weeks of fun, and film, and friends.

And drinking. Because face it, there's gonna be drinking too.

Okay, so I'm going to start crying if the rain doesn't stop.

It's been non-stop all week. Last night I really wanted to run, I really NEEDED to run, and it was pouring rain.

Today it was sunny this afternoon, blue skies and everything, but as soon as I got off work, suited up and stepped out the front door IT CAME POURING DOWN. OMG!! NOT FAIR.

I feel like the tears are going to come soon if I don't get out.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to the gym. I was going to ride the bikes, but I might do a bike, a run AND a swim.

I know, I know, we're crying and depressed because it's rained for a whole week straight, it's not like we really know what snow is or freezing temperatures. But this is why I live here. So I can run outside!!!!! Because it doesn't rain for days on end!!!

Sighhh...
Depressed.
Just want to run.

Went to dinner with Erin, had a very good time and a good talk, also many drinks, in no condition to write. Just... she makes me happy, that's all. You hear that Erin? You make me happy. You will always be my best friend. I hope I remember most of our conversation in the morning, and if not, at least the feeling that I do make you happy in some ways too.

So... Happy Tuesday! And Happy Wednesday!

And now it's time for me to write her her nightly email.
Good night.
Love,
Me.

I have run a lot of miles this week, and I'm about ready for a rest.
I hardly got a swim in on Sunday due to the crowded lanes, so it's just been mile after mile on the road and treadmill.
Tuesday morning I get up early so I can swim again. HURRAY!

But that means bedtime for me. Now.

Good night.

Moved but not purged

Well that felt good, and was all for the best.
Should have been smart like that in the beginning.
#crypticblogentries

Status update

It is cold.
It is rainy.
It is windy.
It is dark.

BOO.

I'll be watching the entire season of "24" this year because KATEE SACKHOFF is going to be on every episode.

And that is good enough reason for me. Please let her be the Bad Girl, and not Kiefer's love interest.

It starts tonight. Don't miss it.

I guess it's just who I am now

I have a new iGoogle template that has a women's triathlete theme, and every day it changes from a woman swimming, a woman running, a woman cycling. I absolutely love it every time I open it up and it's different.

I just had to say that.

I believe it's just called "Vanessa Fernandes" if you search that theme in iGoogle. You won't see all the changes it makes, but it's cool and I love it.

Better late than never?

Good thing I finally checked all those links. Oops.

Busy Day

It's a busy day, kicking off more busy weeks ahead, but at least I still have five days free ahead of me.

Today I got up and swam, though the pool was more crowded than it's ever been and we were stuck four to a lane! I can't get in a good workout like that!!! There was no way to get a non-stop time for my 800m when I had to keep stopping to wait for other swimmers. And my lane had two slow swimmers and one swimmer who swam all over the rest of us. I left early, but I did get in a tough workout (and wrenched my shoulder in the process).

Went home and took my weight for the Quadrathon weight loss challenge, I did drop a pound since last night as I figured I would. It's ON NOW, kids. I want those gift cards and I want new running clothes!!

Now I'm going to get that sweeping done that didn't happen yesterday and then head back to the gym for a 7 mile run. Not terribly happy about it, but I know I can do it and it will be good for me. Just have to be careful not to trip on the treadmill and hope my iPod batteries last.

So far I only have one dinner request, from my friend Mary, and that's good. A week of time to myself (and nursing a body that will likely be suffering from cramps soon) will be good for me. I wish I knew when press night is for the next SJ Rep show, I think it has to be Friday or Saturday and I need time to plan for it (i.e. convince someone to go with me).

The entry below is just my annual book list, and it can be reached by that link to the right ---> as usual. My poor 2009 list was pathetically short, but I started the year with a broken brain, went through some certifiable crazies, experienced incredible life changes, and finally got things back on track. I expect the list will be much longer again this year. Also, I'll be trying out some SciFi books which will, for the most part, be new to me.

Enough procrastinating. A seven mile run is out there with my name on it.

My Fabulous Book List - 2010

Currently reading (and paying attention to):

Invisible Monsters Chuck Palahniuk (Audiobook)
Android Karenina Leo Tolstoy & Ben H. Winters
Girl in Translation Jean Kwok
Herland & Selected Stories Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism Vincent B. Leitch
Gay and Lesbian Criticism and Queer Theory
~~ Judith Butler
~~ Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
~~ Bonnie Zimmerman

Finished:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon (Audiobook)
Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris (Audiobook)
Potential Ariel Schrag
When You Lie About Your Age the Terrorists Win Carol Leifer (Audiobook)
The Girl Who Played With Fire Stieg Larsson
Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe (Audiobook)
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Alison Bechdel
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism Vincent B. Leitch
Gay and Lesbian Criticism and Queer Theory
~~ Gloria Anzaldua --> Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Chapter 7
~~ Adrienne Rich --> Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Experience
~~ Monique Wittig --> One Is Not Born a Woman
~~ Barbara Smith --> Toward a Black Feminist Criticism
The New Atlantis Francis Bacon
The Penelopiad Margaret Atwood
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Jeanette Winterson
The Allegory of the Cave Plato
There Will Come Soft Rains Ray Bradbury
Y the Last Man Books 7 - 10 Brian K. Vaughan
The Bean Trees Barbara Kingsolver

Previous Years
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2002-2004

Okay, tomorrow's planned workout?

In the AM, swim some ungodly amount of laps, I don't know offhand, but also time myself on 800m for my #winterswim competition.

In the PM, run SEVEN MILES. Sad face.

But this is what I wanted, right? Right.

Weight Loss Challenge!

In case you didn't get to the end of that long entry below, there is a weight loss challenge that my friend Stuart is conducting, and it starts tomorrow, Sunday. So head over to the Quadrathon blog for the rules. It only costs $20 to join, and you could win much more if you do well on your weight loss.

And yes, you'll be competing with me. :)

I was fat when I started this entry, but by the time I finished it...

So I noticed Friday that my stomach appeared to be a bit bigger than it had been. I mean, my old pants are still too big, but my new pants are not as loose, and I carried most of the extra in my belly and it just seemed like the belly was bigger.

On Friday night I changed into a skirt and sweater I had wanted to wear to dinner, and the skirt had been a lot loose the last time I wore it, but that night it fit just about perfectly - if not a tad bit small.

So, yikes. Face it, I've been only sporadically getting my training done, and though I've been doing really well when I do run, it just hasn't been a consistent thing. And if I don't get back on the bandwagon, I'm going to have to lose 80 pounds again.

Also, I really should put away the breadmaker. Because I'm pretty sure that's where most of this extra weight came from.

...well Good Grief, I just stepped on the scale this second, with a full load of lunch in my belly, and while I did gain five pounds over the holidays, I haven't gained an ounce in the last two weeks.

So maybe I'm just bloated. Who knows. GAH.

But the fact is that my training has lagged, and Erin made it clear that she was still up for the Olympic distance triathlon in June - something I guess I thought she was going to bail on - so I need to get going. That means running when I'm supposed to run and swimming twice a week like I'm supposed to. GRRRR.

So my friend Stuart, an ultra-runner, created this weight loss challenge starting tomorrow - and you're all welcome to join too. Everyone who is in will buy one $20 gift card from Road Runner Sports. Then every week we email Stuart our weight, and whoever has the greatest percentage lost will be sent a gift card from someone else in the challenge. Click the link if you want all the rules, but what it means is it costs $20 to join the group, and you could conceivable win $20/week for however many weeks you have the top weight loss.

And you know all I need is a challenge.

I do the dumbest things sometimes.

Nothing that eating a huge bowl of tortellini couldn't fix.

Good grief.

Oh UGH.

Dinner tonight, bike shopping tomorrow, dinner tomorrow night, and then finally seven days with no plans. At the moment.

My resolution to drop television hasn't really worked, it was easier to do when everything was a repeat. Now all the good shows are on again.

And The Bachelor is finally so ridiculous that it's actually quite good.

I had to cancel my Cinequest Happy Hour this week, declined a play invitation, and sort of decided with Erin that we won't go to another play that's in San Francisco. I was feeling sort of overwhelmed after going from zero to 160 in two weeks. It will be nice to have a week off, and then the SJ Rep starts their next show.

Avenue Q was awesome. Everyone should see it if they get a chance.

Buffy is psyched because she passed all her classes this semester. Barely, but she passed.

Spike is doing fine, and rarely home, so we all get along really well and the bathroom is staying clean.

I think that's it. I've been sort of too busy to have anything to write about.

Let's just say I'm deliriously happy, still, and leave it at that.

Things are crazyyyy!!!
I really can barely keep track of my social/work obligations.

Tonight I go out with Erin to see Avenue Q and dinner before. I was given free tickets to review the show, and we're super excited. Erin's had some tough times this week, and this will be a perfect show to cheer her up. Dinner and drinks and Avenue Q, lots of laughter... what more could we ask for?
Tomorrow I go to a Cinequest Happy Hour.
Friday I'm going to dinner with a friend.
Saturday we might go shopping for a road bike for me.
Saturday evening I might get a home cooked dinner by a friend.

So my only free day is Thursday? Perfect, I can watch Real Housewives of OC/New York!!

Coming up I have several things going on with Cinequest and a show for the SJ Rep for review (The Weir). Erin's going to have to suck it up and come with me to that one whether she likes it or not.

I was hoping things would get better after the Holidays. It's looking like 2010 is shaping up to be the best year ever, in every aspect of my life.

Next on the list: Must find a new full-time job. Preferably with Cinequest. But just about any place would be great.

I have four dates with three different women in two days. (Friend dates)
And Saturday I have a gallery showing to attend.
And next week a musical to review.
And Cinequest friends are planning another evening soon.

Ten days ago I felt all alone in the world. Now I don't have enough time to give.

This beats lonely any day.

I have suddenly become Miss Popular. How did THIS happen??
I seriously need to start using my calendar planner to keep track of things.

We'll see how long it takes before I get tired of this and go back to hiding in my hole.

Oh, also, because this is my blog and I can write what I want to, I heard these comments last night:

"I love Pischina. I love her laugh, I love her voice, I love her hair." ~~ unnamed awesome drunk girl
"Pischina, have you lost even MORE weight since the triathlon??" ~~ quite a few people

I am still fat, and sort of hate the pictures taken of me last night, but it's always nice to hear lovely things about yourself.
:)

Happy Birthday Jarrod

Went to a birthday celebration for my friend Jarrod last night. Even better, we were celebrating the arrival of Ginger from Tennessee, his girlfriend. Jarrod is from Tennessee too, I met him at Cinequest last year. Mr. Snarky-the-whole-world-hates-me Jarrod. In the Spring he decided to move to the Bay Area and we were happy to have him. But then his arrival was delayed... and delayed... and his internet posts started to get all schmoopy and lovey-dovey and joy-to-the-world... And my friend Jason and I were like, "What the hell happened to Whaley??"

Turns out he had met A Girl. THE girl. And didn't want to leave her. And so sarcastic Jason and love-hating Pischina decided to put a stop to this. "Get rid of her! Get out here! Ya loser!" we shouted across the internet to him every day.

Finally he arrived in California and loved it here. Except for the missing girl. So in July she came to visit and I took them to the beach. Oh My. SUCH LOVE. It was impossible to be snarky about love when you saw those two together. Immediately I started working to convince Ginger to move here with Jarrod. I certainly didn't want Jarrod to leave California, but Ginger was obviously a huge piece of Jarrod now. So obviously she needed to stay!

She had to leave. But they continued their long distance relationship. Until... she bought her one-way ticket to California! Awww, I have a tear in my eye right now. They are SO CUTE together you have no idea. And if ever someone really could change another person, Jarrod is 100 times the person he used to be.

So let me tell you, all is right in Jarrod-land right now. As it should be. I wish Jarrod's happiness on everyone!

So anyway, we (Cinequest friends) all went out to have some drinks with them last night and had a good time. Some of us got plastered (Jason), some of us did not (ME). Well, the entire thing was being broadcast over the internet by our friend Chris, so there was no way in hell *I* was going to get stupid. Mostly there was just much laughter.

Good times with good friends. And friends in love. It was nice.

Site
Diary
Running Diary
Pictures
Guestbook
Pischina-Ku
books

Recent Entries
KitschinLogic
YAWWWWNNNNNNN
60-second SanDisk Phone Flick contest
Cinequest is here!
Get ready for Cinequest
Proposition 8 Court Battle
Good bye January 25
Cinequest
Rain
Happiness

Categories
Blogger Idol
Books
Computer People
Diary Update
eBay
Family
Food
Friday Five
Happy!
Health
Interesting
Kids
Lara Croft
Movies
Music
News
Nothing Special
Old Blogger Entries
Pets and Pets and Pets
Politics
Quiz
Reasons for Love
Recipes
Running
School
Scott
Site Maintenance
Sports
Television
Theatre
Vehicles
Work
Writing