Bolt of Blue

The natural disaster hitting the gulf is unbelievable. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that the city of New Orleans is so devastated and destroyed. And the chaos that’s happening now is so saddening. I wish there was more I could do then donate money and ride my bike to work to save on gas. I had to stop watching the news videos on CNN. It was hurting my heart too much.

Man. I’ve only been to Florida twice in the last 2 months. And both times, hurricanes hit.

We were fine in Orlando. It was more humid than usual and not very sunny most of the time we were there. And it rained a lot. Especially on Sunday. Thunder booming overhead as we were safely enjoying the convention.

I barely went outside. Only when walking from my hotel room to the convention center at the hotel or getting a bite to eat at night.

We had an incredible time. I’ll go into further detail soon cause it was really something. And I don’t want to forget all the fun we had. It’s something I can hold onto amid all these news reports and images of tragedy.

Our flight back home on Monday didn’t get affected by the hurricane. There was some wicked turbulence during part of it that shot my nerves. It was while we were passing by New Orleans. Since we only heard inklings of the news (and enough to know Orlando would be fine), I didn’t really know how bad it was until I woke up Tuesday and turned on the TV.

Mother nature can be frightening. We are so powerless no matter how much we try and prepare.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while but I haven’t had a chance to download the photos from my camera.

Time is flying. I’ve been working a lot as we get closer to ELF. I’m taking 4 days off so I have to make sure all my projects get done or are up to speed before I leave for Orlando.

Then there was my birthday.

I have…
the best husband in the world.

On my actual birthday, we went out to one of my favorite restaurants, the Fish Company in Santa Monica. I had Dungeness Crab, which was incredible. I couldn’t get over how good it was. Great wine and food and spending alone time with my boy… It was a perfect evening.

The next night, the 6th, we had some friends over to hang out. Of course, our AC is still not working (it’s been out since the fire) so it got pretty hot in our small place with so many people filling it out.

Remi had been making me a cake for the past 3 days. I wasn’t allowed to even peek at his creation. That night I finally got to see and taste it. He made me a chocolate and vanilla ice cream cake. He made both ice creams himself and also made the fudge filling too. It was amazing! It tasted great but also looked so good. I can’t believe how much work he put into it. He took my Yoshi stuffed animal and from there made a cake design out of it. See below. It was so sweet and I was touched that he went to all that trouble for me.

This Saturday, Remi and I are going to see Coldplay. Next week we head to Orlando with our friend Autumn for ELF. And before we know it, September will be here. Man, this month has been going by fast.

My pals Josh and Stephanie have finally launched their website for their joint collaboration comic book Journey Into Misery.

They will have a table in the small press section (booth N4) at this year’s Comic Con International in San Diego. If you happen to be reading this and are going, drop by and check out their comic book. Support their indie effort – they are extremely talented.

I’ll be laying out on the white shell beach of Marco Island instead of weaving my way through the masses of geeks wearing tin foil hats, celebrities touting their next bad action flick, nerds frothing at the mouth over the latest Star Wars exclusive toy, anime frat boys drooling over the hot babes, guys in Boba Fett costumes made out of construction paper, and excitable fan girls and boys swooning over everything.

I haven’t been to Comic Con since 2002. I hear it’s gotten more crowded and insane but I’d still like to go back and check things out again. That dealer’s room made my head hurt just thinking about all the possibilities to damage my wallet. It’s definitely not my style of con (just too big and too much to do). I’m more partial to how Creation runs things now a days. Intimate, well run, and really deliver the interaction with celebrities that make fans happy (don’t get me started on all the anti-Creation talk out there). You get more interaction with people one on one. It’s quieter. You can hear yourself think.

Wedding plans progessing steadily. I can’t believe it’s happening in 10 days. We’ve taken care of a lot more things but are still scrambling. Remi’s first guests from Canada come tomorrow night. Then most of his family and friends come Monday. We’ll get to celebrate his dad’s birthday (which is on the 4th) and also show them how we celebrate 4th of July with our family BBQ. It will be a great chance for them to meet many of my family and friends too.

In the midst of everything, I launched the 4th annual Jonny birthday project. We’ve already raised $100 in one day of the store being open. Hopefully, we can raise a nice donation for charity once again.

Things are still a bit messy as I fiddle around. But new layout up featuring my first love, Luke Skywalker. Hold tight.

Items worth noting – Wedding invites were sent. Whew. Still have no one to atually marry us. I’m not concered. Yet.

I’m going to be the Art Show Director for ELF! Creation wants to fly me out to Orlando and hook me up with a hotel room to run this. Insanity! After the fun of running the art show for ORC, I’m super excited to be doing this too. Maybe it’s my 2nd calling. I love working with the artists and seeing all the amazing art work that’s out there. I can’t wait.

Just a little Jude for a holiday treat. Or pop over to the JRMfansite where I just uploaded 90 images to the Gallery. For all who celebrate have a wonderful and fun Christmas! I hope your days are filled with love, warmth and much happiness!

Jonathan is going to play Elvis in a mini-series for CBS that starts filming next month and airs in May. I still don’t know how I feel about this. This will be great exposure for him to American audiences and finally, he might do talk shows in the US but playing a legend like Elvis? Such pressure and so much to live up to. At least this has the approval of the Elvis estate. But I’m feeling awfully anxious about this. Just have to wait and see how it turns out.

I’ve officially closed my Paul Walker fansite. It’s been down since July. I didn’t have the energy or time to devote to getting it back up and I’ve realized I just can’t do it anymore. It’s hard enough with everything else on my plate. I still love Paul… he was great in Noel, which I watched last night on TNT. But now I’ll be enjoying him as just a fan and not have to worry about scanning pix or getting news updated or think about my neglected site. I can just relax. Plus there’s now a really wonderful Paul site online so it’s not like my site will be missed. Just another weight is off my shoulders. Whew.

Snagged from Val via Ryka:

What is your One True Pairing?
This is a difficult question since there are many pairings that I ship. Movie wise I’d go with Celine/Jesse from the Before Sunrise/Sunset movies. Book wise I’d go with Lyra/Will from His Dark Materials. As for TV, there have been so many. A favorite is Jackie/Hyde from That 70′s Show. Overall though, I have to go with Michael/Maria from Roswell. I’m still shipping that couple… their love story was passionate, funny, emotional, real, and so sweet to watch. I can’t get enough even now. I still read and write fan fiction… plus now that the show is on DVD, I can rewatch my favorite scenes whenever I need an escape.

What is your “guilty pleasure” pairing?
Obi-Wan/Padme. I know it’s not something that will ever happen in the movies but I’ve read some fan fiction that is really well done. I like the idea of this pairing even if I know it’s not logical.

What is one pairing you absolutely refuse to ship?
Pacey/Joey from Dawson’s Creek, Rory/Jess from Gilmore Girls, and Felicity/Noel from Felicity. Oh, and Angela/Brian from My So-Called Life. The series finale of Dawson’s Creek does not exist to me. That show ruined characters when it started off so promising. Gilmore Girls did the same with Dean, the writers completely ignoring the character they wrote in season 1. It’s still painful to see what they have done since then. I never bought into Felicity being with anyone but Ben. And Angela had no sparks with Brian. Ever. It was all about Jordan Catalano.

What is one pairing you’re interested in, but don’t ship?
Maybe John/Aeryn from Farscape since Val has talked them up so much. Or maybe Buffy/Spike. I was always intrigued by that but never really watched Buffy much.

What is one pairing you used to ship, but don’t any more?
Okay, I’m dating myself with this one but have to go with Brenda/Dylan from 90210. I liked them a lot at first. But then Kelly and Dylan’s romance came along and changed everything. Otherwise, I can’t really think of any couple I used to love and don’t anymore. Even till the bitter end, no matter how messed up the writers made the show, I still loved Dawson/Joey. Season 1 of Dawson’s Creek is the only season that really matters.

What is one pairing you could be convinced to ship if it was done properly?
Possibly Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione from Harry Potter. The thought of both couples bores me completely. I’m much more interested in a Harry/Hermione pairing especially in the movies where they have such chemistry. But right now, the obvious pairings just seem too predictable and boring to me. Plus I’m not really a big fan of Ginny or Ron.