Nathaniel is a lucky dude. Since we have two different sets of friends--one in Burbank, and one in San Diego--he gets TWO parties (taking place this Saturday and the next).

Every year I make Nathaniel's birthday cake.
Some years it is marvelous, others...well...it usually tastes good.

Here is what this year's cake is SUPPOSED to look like:

And here is what I made, with the limited amount of food coloring I had, and limited tools:

Yeah, baby.

Today iTunes is bringing back the "45"...albeit a digital incarnation.

It used to be--long before I was born--that instead of buying an entire album, one could purchase these smaller 45s.  Kind of like buying a single...usually they contained an  "A" side--the big song--and a "B" side with a bonus track or something.  But don't ask me...I wasn't there.  Talk to my parents.  HAHAHAHA

Today iTunes is selling the D45--a digital version of this very thing--two songs for the price of one (sorta).  Check it out.

I did a shocking thing the other day.  I went to Blockbuster and RENTED MOVIES!

(GASP!)

If you've been reading for any time at all, then you know I never, ever, ever, neverevernever, rent movies--except for last week.  I don't know what came over me...

I actually went in to pick up ONE movie that had been a surprise success at the box office, but that we had missed when in the theatres, and I walked out of that place with SEVERAL movies.

But hey, don't judge, I'm in the film business.  This is RESEARCH.

So here's the scoop:

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

I had high hopes for this movies since it raked in some cash at the box office (over a hundred million...) but I was sorely disappointed.  It is clearly meant for young kids and/or families.  It was almost funny in spots, but not laugh-out-loud.  The bad guys were just soft enough to not be too scary, but trying to be scary just enough to be silly...it did not do a good job teetering the line between realistic and cheesy. It was just plain cheesy.  Sorry Blart.  I'm not a fan.

Frost/Nixon

This was a great movie.  I happen to like Ron Howard's films (Backdraft, Far and Away, Willow, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, anyone?) and this was no exception.  Great acting on the part of the two main characters, and an interesting story, to boot.  If you care anything about politics or history, you'll love this.  And if you don't, you'll probably like it just fine as well. 

Twilight

TwilightTwilightTwilightBlahBlahBlahoverdramaticmessofamovieBlahBlahBlahTwilightTwilightTwilightBlahBlahBlahBlahBlah...

Memento

Christopher Nolan directs (Batman Begins, The Prestige, Batman: The Dark Knight) and leads us on a most fabulous journey through the mind of a guy with short-term memory loss that is out to track down the guy who killed and raped his wife.  It's a fascinating concept and was executed most excellently by Chris Nolan.   There is a great twist, and I was left with many questions at the end.  I LOVED it.  It would have garnered an easy PG-13 rating if they had taken out most or all of the F-bombs, but they didn't. 

It's been a while, but she's baaaaaack!

Tonight Christy and I saw this new mystery/suspense/sci-fi movie SURROGATES in a test screening.  It was pretty awesome.

It was poignant, but not preachy; sci-fi, but not nerdy; suspenseful, but not scary. 
Good story, good actors, good script...all goooood.

Check it out when it comes out, I think you'll like it!

It is set to release September 25.

I'm sick and tired of my glasses.

SICK 

AND

TIRED

of them.

Yes, they are pretty cool-looking, and they help me see stuff I would not normally be able to see, but they are so darn annoying!

They are constantly falling off of my face and sliding down my nose--so much so that I've developed a NASTY habit of pushing them back up onto the top of my nose like, every ten seconds...(so much so that I even bring my hand to my face to do it when I'm not wearing them).  They get smudges on them about every 66.7 seconds, and do not clean off easily...and there is a scratch on the lens of my right eye in the middle--smack dab where I am looking through if I'm looking straight ahead.

I am beginning to despise my glasses.

I can't wear sunglasses...I can't look down or up without bending my whole face/neck in the direction in which I'd like to look...I JUST HATE THEM SOOOO MUCH.

But I've never worn contacts.

And I'm scared.

Help me xanga nerds and facebook friends!

What's the deal with contacts?

Is it weird putting a piece of plastic over your eyeball?!?

HELP!

They say that it takes 28 days to make or break a habit.

I'm here to tell you that it's true.

I'm here to TESTIFY!!!!!

For as long as I can remember, I've had a sweet tooth.

My little brother and I used to save our lunch money (sorry mom, it's true) and buy candy at Ed's Mini Mart on the way home from the bus stop every day--my earliest memories are in that tiny candy shop, buying the bite-size Laffy Taffy candies and Jolly Ranchers for 5 cents each.  (No, I did not grow up in the 1950s, this was back in the 80s, when a regular size Snickers bar wasn't $1.29).  We'd go home and play Mega Man III and eat our candy while trying to beat Snake Man.  Ah, those were the days...good ole original NES.

Unfortunately, sweets were not reserved for a special occasion, they were a part of everyday life.  I have the cavities and the overweight pictures to prove it.  I ate way too much sweets...candy, cookies, anything I could get my hands on.  It certainly tasted better than vegetables!

Then, in the latter half of high school, I discovered that I could control my weight directly with the amount of food I ate--kind of like how people shrivel up on Survivor, except by choice.  This was not a great time in my life...it was the ultimate control-freak rearing its ugly head.  I made a lot of people miserable during that time with my neurotic desire to be in control of my weight.   It was only compounded by the fact that I was working my first official job at a local bakery, and spent the summer there 8 hours a day surrounded by sugar, sugar, cookies, sugar, donuts, and more sugar.  OH, and I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted while I was there.  Holy cow, that was a rough year.  I'm pretty sure my mom cried through half of it...(sorry, mom!)

I was pretty healthy in college, and I exercised a lot...yay.  I still ate sweets, but I ran a lot, so it seemed to even out.  Plus, I was young...oh, so young and spry.  During my swimming class, we measured our BMI (body mass index).  At the end of my freshman year of college I was at 6% body fat--I think olympians are about 3%...yeah, I was hot and I didn't even know it.  I was so young and naive.

Then after moving to San Diego, I started indulging those sweet-tooth cravings again and with the birth of children and a full-time job to which I was compelled to be wholly committed, exercise and health took a back seat. 

Fast forward ten years (goodness, I did not mean for this to turn in to my life story...) and desserts are still a big part of life.  Day in and day out, after most every meal, I craved dessert.  I was definitely addicted.

It wasn't until what I like to call "The Great Candy Gorge of Easter, Aught-Nine" that I realized that I HAD to make a life change.

So I stopped.

I just...STOPPED.

No dessert for four weeks straight.  Not one bite...not one nibble..cause that's how I have to do it, folks.  All or nothing.  The years of "trying" for moderation are over.  For addictions, there is no such place to be found. 

And after a month of being without, I didn't want it anymore.  It's true--28 days and the habit was GONE.  Even after years, and years, and years, of being addicted to sugar--all it took was 28 days of being dessert-free to break the habit.

If you're counting, Easter was a lot longer than 28 days ago...and I've kept up the no-dessert habit since.  I've had dessert once or twice on special occasions, but nothing regular.  99% of the time, I'm dessert-free.

And you know what?  It feels great.  I've never had more consistent energy or stamina than before now.  I don't have blood-sugar spikes and crashes...nooooo sirrrreeee.  My body feels great and I feel healthier than I have in a long time!

So...
All this to say...

You can do it.

Whatever lifestyle change you want to make for yourself, just GO.  Don't wait for the motivation, just do it and stick to it for 28 days.  You'll kick the habit.  It works. 

Can I get a witness?

I LOVE MY BESTIES!

I'm sure you've heard by now that Michael Jackson died yesterday of cardiac arrest.

In fact, I'm fairly certain you know already, because a good portion of the world knew within 30 minutes of the event.  Christy and I had a cup of coffee and checked our Twitter and Facebook accounts right around 3:30pm, and the world was a BUZZING about it all. By the time I tweeted and facebooked it, I had already read it from dozens of my FB friends. 

Amazing.

We're talking about mere MINUTES after he died (he was pronounced dead at 3:15pm PST, I think)--the whole world knew--well, at least those connected to the most popular social networking sites.

But let's not forget the network news stations...oh wait...we can...because most of them didn't cover the story until a couple of hours after the fact--at least on the west coast (which was an eternity later).  And although we all were watching the 5 o'clock news to hear more of the story, by then it was old news. The world is just moving faster than that.
Hopefully you're jumping on board, if you haven't already.

OK--enough of that...onto MJ.

Hmm...

Unfortunately, for folks around my age or younger, the only thing we really can remember about Michael Jackson is his reputation in the 90's, which wasn't great. 

I'm hanging around with some older folks this weekend (heeheehee) who are all fans of MJ because they are old enough to remember the MJ of the 80's--the HUGE pop star he was during that time...the time of BAD, and BEAT IT, and THRILLER, and BILLY JEAN, and so on, and so forth...

But not me. I only know of MJ from the 90's...the strange era of his life.  The child molestation accusations, the trials, the weird plastic surgery allogations...you know, the "Whacko Jacko" era. 

Sadly, I understand the loss of the King of Pop for what it is, but it is not as emotional for me.  I appreciate the event for its global magnitude, and I understand the fact that he was one of the biggest pop stars in the world, but I'm not devastated by it.  I guess I was just born a little too late for this one...

...or maybe my heart is just an emotional meat locker.

Next on Daniel's blog..."The Proposal".

Last year at this time I was frantically calling the Glendale Galleria to see what their policy was for staying overnight to buy the new iPhone 3G. I WAS SO EXCITED. Turns out I went over there around midnight, and was joined shortly thereafter by Heidi...and we stayed up all night until the opening of the Apple Store at 8AM.
IT WAS AWESOME.
We were 12th and 13th in line.  We walked out of the store with our iPhones, and I'm pretty sure (not exaggerating here, folks) that there were 500 people in line behind us by that time. I actually thought I was going to be mugged, or there would be a riot...or something.
It was epic.

This year, I'm will not be upgrading quite so quickly. I'm not too sad about it. I love my phone...and although video capture would be pretty sweet, that's about the only feature that I know of that is enticing as of now.  The 3.0 update is pretty rockin' and there's an app for just about everything...soooooo I'm good.  I'm good for now...you know...and also, I kinda started a business this year...and that has cost me some money...so, I'm being smart this time...and waiting.

I'm not sad.

Really.

(sniff)

--

In other news:
This week has been amazingly stressful, but I'm just about done with EVERYTHING I wanted to accomplish. I'm sooooo grateful to you all for your prayers.  It has been tough and also fulfilling.

Twelve years ago I walked into a professors office as a lowly freshman at APU and told him that I wanted to be the next John Williams.
I was definitly more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than I am now...
He went on and on about how hard I was going to have to work--told me about all I needed to learn and know how to do--and frankly, overwhelmed me a bit.  So let me just say that although I am actually TRULY surprised by the incredible amount of work it takes to do what I'm doing, I can't say that I didn't see it coming. The long hours and sleepless nights are just all a part of the deal, folks...and let's just be clear that I'm not making millions here, either...I'm still doing a lot of work for free and/or little pay. That's just where I'm at on the totem pole, but I'm OK with it.
And I press on...working my bushy tail off...and sometimes taking a break for facebook scrabble.

And let that just be the gauntlet you need thrown before you if you aren't already playing with me...I hereby challenge you to a facebook scrabble duel.

BRING IT ON.