French Funnies

I just thought I'd share some funny political cartoons my French friend, Mathilde, translated for me. They certainly made me laugh! They're a few months old now but our news hasn't changed much.

Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

On the Economic Crisis

On Obama's Election

And... I've finally finished my paper! Now all I have is two end of the year parties/classes and a heinous holistic grading session and I'm done for the semester.

I will soon post pictures of Christopher Columbus' Nina because they have been sitting on my laptop, taking up room for far too long now!

Mackenzie's Momma -- Those actually sound really good! LOL :D

Evil Cookies and Randomness

I learned a very valuable lesson today.

Yesterday was my last day of class, and it's high time I set to work on my final paper for California Literature. I've already tracked down a dozen journal articles to read and digest and either agree or disagree with in my paper about Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona, however the idea of filling so many blank pages with rhetoric always makes me cringe.

The other night I was hungry, so I looked up cookie recipes online, and found several good ones, including one that claimed it was the best sugar cookie recipe ever. The accompanying pictures of cute frosted Christmas tree cookies were too tempting. I knew I had to try them.

So instead of delving right into my research, I decided to indulge and procrastinate by testing out the recipe with a small batch. I'd then use the rest of the afternoon to do research and begin my paper. It was such a neat little plan. Only that I'd forgotten that I'm retarded.

While reading the recipe, my often-numerically-dyslexic mind reversed two key ingredients, making me read:

4 cups of sugar
2 eggs

Instead of what it really was:

2 cups of sugar
4 eggs

Yes, I mixed in the full 4 cups of sugar, waiting for it to turn "creamy" before I realized my mistake. I felt like crying. I'd ruined it! On top of my university having to cut a bunch of our classes, my state being in a 40 BILLION dollar hole, the auto bailout failing, and some asshole in the Illinois senate threatening to bring Obama down with his despicable behavior, I had ruined my batch of cookies. Enya's And Winter Came playing in the background seemed a lament for my mistakes...

I calmed down and looked miserably to Teyla, who just looked like she thought I was a freak. I realized that I had three options... be a wasteful wasichu and dump the butter and way too much sugar and start again, try to salvage the dough by turning it into another cookie recipe or... double all the other ingredients and make a ginormous batch of cookies I'd never tried. I went for the latter.

Then, of course, my retardation kicked in again, and I realized I was spooning baking soda into the batter when I needed baking poweder. What the hell is the difference between those two, anyway?

I was using our largest mixing bowl, yet dough was flying all over. My Sirius Black shirt and my face were already covered with flour, so I dumped all the dough into a huge salad bowl and continued to try to mix it. When it required chilling, I roughly shoved the thing into the freezer since the refrigerator was full.

The fatty bowl of dough

Luckily, the dough was easy to work with, and rolled out well. Still, cutting out the bastards took me all afternoon, and the cookies became progressively thicker as I attempted to be rid of the dough sooner.


Needing to get out my frustration, I took a run and the sky after sunset was beautiful.



But then it was back to work, slaving away over the cookies. At least they're pretty and taste yummy! But what will I do with them all? Uh... I know my professors said to not bring any food to contribute to their end of the year dinners/parties, but I'm coming with cookies, and am going to pretend that I made them to bring because I'm nice.

Look at them all!

...and even more

I think this was all a roundabout way to teach me not to procrastinate! After I finish this entry I'll begin my research again, just in case!

Here's some random news:

I'm soon going to be able to add "published photographer" to my list of accomplishments! One of my photos was accepted by the literary journal REED. :)

And... I love Stuart Townsend.

Stuart Townsend

Why? He's talented, he's Irish (and doing what he can to save the beautiful and sacred Hill of Tara), he has an awesome voice, alluring dark brown eyes, and he was a way sexier Vampire than Edward could ever dream to be. And I've never even seen Queen of the Damned.

I read Sean Astin's book There And Back Again about his experience with Lord of the Rings, and his passages about Stuart (who was originally cast as Aragorn then let go the day before filming began because they suddeny decided he was too young for the role) are beautifully hilarious. The poor man probably doesn't realize his own homoeroticism when describing his would-be co-star.

So here's a video of him as Anne Rice's Lestat. I haven't seen the film, since I avoid Vampire media in general for the sake of maintaing my own vision of Vampires since I met one in a dream once and would like to write about him, but this music video is lovely!

Mackenzie's Momma -- Thanks for the link! I checked it out... sounds like you had a great time, and I can't believe Hewlett teased you like that! You poor thing. ;)
Tracie -- Thanks! And I have sad news. The kitty in the pictures, Jack, sadly passed away yesterday. :(

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

Look at this freak!

Wow, I can't believe it was only a week ago! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

We went to my aunt and uncle's house. In celebration of my screenwriting award, I brought a yummy treat to the dinner. Check it out!

See's Candies sure are pretty!

We also swung by this rich house my uncle and brother are working on. It was neat to see how the more luxurious live! Though on the way back... I stuck my head out the window and impersonated Daniel Radcliffe.

Yes, one of the women I shouted at raised her fist and shook it in agreement before she even heard what I'd said!

Part of the annual threat to my poor aunt and uncle who live down the road.


This is their sweet kitty who is slowly leaving this world. Isn't she pretty?

Jack Jack

My family has the tradition of going for a "Money Walk" after Thanksgiving dinner, in which coins mysteriously rain from the sky and the kids get a bit of spare change. Or at least it started out that way. Now it's become an annual celebration of capitalism where the most ruthless gets the coin.

On the Walk, posing as Lucy and Carol, two of our fictional characters who work in an office and like to take tourist pictures. Lucy's eyes are always closed and she always has a weird hand contortion. Carol usually smiles hugely with a peace sign.

Though during the Money Walk, Alex took one of the best pictures of me that I've ever seen. Seriously. It's beautiful.



The dessert spread.



And here's the delicious and beautiful cheesecake pumpkin pie that Alex made.




And the apple pie my mommy made.


And... how much pie I attempted to eat. Unsuccessfully.


Saturday after Thanksgiving, we once more gathered together for the annual festivity of murdering a Douglas Fir Tree.


This year the Toot came along to help us pick.


I have no idea why I look like the evil giant in the Ewok movie, Caravan for Courage, other than, well, I must always.

Sisters!

Teyla Toot!

Bigfoot!

Bigfoot turned into an alien!

The victim!

Well, I need to go running now, but knew I also needed to post so I could get these pictures off my laptop!

Today's song is "One More Day" by Sinéad O'Connor. Enjoy!

"One More Day"

Mackenzie's Momma -- LOL yes, please do send me the link! :D

theincrediblemo -- You're almost there!

Layers and Shopping

I'm supposed to be finishing a new script right now, but instead I'm taking a brief moment to post. Why? I got my hair cut! Like, really, this time you can tell. Actually, I got it cut a week ago but I'm lazy and only just now took some decent pictures of it. Or tried to. As you can see, I never have much of an idea of what I'm doing when I'm trying to photograph myself.

Uh... yeah

I either turn out like a hag or a... well, I'll let you decide.

A cross-eyed fish

I tried the classic MySpace technique of photographing my reflection. I won't tell you how long it took for me to try to figure out how to get myself in the shot with everything being reversed in the mirror...

Anyway, the shortest layer is at my boob -- half the length of what it used to be! It's then layered down the back.

Picture from when I first got home after getting it cut. Yes, it's still pretty long in the back, but I swear it feels lighter now!

I haven't had my hair boob length since I was a toddler! The floor of the hair salon looked like a small, brown-red woolly mammoth had been shaved.

I wasn't going to get my hair cut since times are tough and haircuts are expensive, but I did it in part of my celebration for winning that award.

Alex and I started out Christmas shopping this weekend, since Mervyn's is going bankrupt. :( There were some great sales. We then went to Pacific Sunware to see if some dresses we liked a month or so ago were still around. We called them "Teyla Dresses" because, for some reason, the first thing that came to mind when we saw them was "Rachel Luttrell would look so cute in this!" Celebrities usually never come to mind while shopping, but hey Rachel, you're welcome to come with us any time!

We decided to be "cool" and take a picture in the dressing room. Check out the dresses we got on sale for $9.99 each!


We were gonna just buy the dress I'm wearing and share it, to be economical, then realized that all the fighting that would ensue over who got to wear it when wasn't worth the $10 we'd save.

And here's a clip just because it reminds me of a fun day with my sister:

And for music today I offer a piece that I would often listen to while working on my script, Andromache. It would be great in the film.

Lisa Gerrard -- Sanvean

Mackenzie's Momma -- So how was the con? Did your dress have fun? I've never been to a con before and am eager to know how it went!

theincrediblemo -- Thanks! Isn't it gorgeous? Every other award I have is paper (or money, which means it's now gone!) and this is definitely the best! But don't tell that to my soccer and little league trophies... Almost at the finals finish line?

Tracie -- Thanks, love! :)

Werewolves and Loyalty!

I am so Hollywood. Look at my rich lady jewels.

First off, a huge thank you to all who sent me their well-wishes and congratulations -- thank you!

The award came in the mail today. Check it out!

My Rosebud Award

"Rosebud! Rosebud!" Yeah, I don't get why Citizen Kane is the "best movie ever," either.

Saturday night we went out to a local Chinese place to celebrate, which was excuse enough for me to bust out the top-I'd-bought-on-sale-but-never-wore-because-it's-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-wash.

Attempting to channel my heroine -- Andromache, Queen of Troy (actually, I was pretending to be Lucius Malfoy)

The nights are certainly getting colder. I have to go out to run at 4pm now, otherwise darkness falls and I freeze. As it is, I'm still usually numb and sniffly at this earlier hour! And last Thursday I learned a lesson. A very valuable lesson.

Never read the entire Wikipedia entry for "Werewolf" at 2 am.

Normally that sort of thing doesn't scare me. Normally normal stuff scares me. Like the guitar that sat in the hall closet for years. I would get scared while in the shower, knowing that it was resting against the opposite side of the wall. That guitar curiously looks like Zalenka...

Anyway, I read the entire entry and was really creeped out by the explanation that Werewolves were Medieval people's rationale for explaining serial killers, and by the historical accounts -- the Beast of Gévauda. Scary!

Unnerved, I tried piled my bed with stuffed animals and tried to sleep... only it was a full moon and the bright moonlight was cascading in through my window and making the world outside vibrant. I tossed and turned and got hot with all those stuffies, so I cracked open my window then climbed back into bed. Every once in a while the wind would gust, howling past my window. Coyotes would yap and howl, as they do every night.

Full moon. Howling. Trees tossing about in the wind. I was relieved when morning came! Oh, the curses of an untamed imagination...

Moonlight!

The days getting shorter has been just one of the many obstacles in the way of completing our new SGA fan film, but given that Alex had Veteran's Day off last week, we were finally able to finish!

If this picture doesn't terrify you, there's something seriously wrong with you.

I hope you enjoy!

Stargate Atlantis: Loyalty

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Mackenzie's momma -- Bless your heart, thanks! :) And best of luck on your final projects! And hey, even if those classes you're taking don't count towards a degree, you'll still learn from them so they'll count for life! And I'm so excited for you coming down my way for your trip. I hope you have a blast! :D

theincrediblemo -- Thank you, sweetie! I'm definitely trying to work on being more confident in my own accomplishments and hopes for the future, so thank you for that extra boost! :) And I'm looking forward to the pictures, whenever you get the chance!

Tracie -- You're still here! LOL Now I wonder who all those other readers are! People keep telling me that the first Twilight book gets really good, but then the series goes downhill. I'll check out the movie, but from what I've read of the books... I can't get into a story if I have to edit the writing in my head as I read. It's the curse of being an MFA student! So when I read something published, I like to not cringe. That sounds horribly elitist of me, but so be it!

I Win!

I am now officially an award-winning screenwriter. Andromache won the 2008 CSU Media Festival's Rosebud Award for a feature screenplay and the Best Screenplay Award from my university in one sweep, earning me a glass award, checks, a t-shirt, and much pride and praise from my university. This is wonderful news and I am so very proud. However I was very hesitant to post this information publicly. Why?

I'm shy about sharing this big news because I don't want to be a braggart, I don't want to appear to think too highly of myself, I don't want to seem "better than" anyone else. And so I almost didn't share this news. If you've noticed, in the past, I have made the deflective attempt to hide the news of my successes as muttered sentences at the ends of posts, like this one, and in humorous musings, like this one.

But then last night I came across this article in Bitch Magazine, called "The Ambition Condition: Women Writing and the Problem of Success." So yes, here I am, no longer falling into the trap of disparaging my work and/or accomplishments before I even share them. I am so proud of my script and my success, and, um, hell yes I have ambition with my writing.

Yesterday I came to meet with my screenwriting professor to talk about my current script, but instead he was so happy that I'd won that he wanted to talk about my award. He looked it up on the festival's website and grinned. "I think you're more excited about this than I am!" I joked.

"You don't realize what a big deal this is," he replied. "I feel like we should have people carrying you around on a chair. This is the Day of Kellie Rice!" Bless his heart! True to his word, he suddenly said, "You know what? Come with me."

I followed him out of his office with a laugh. "Where are we going?"

"I'm going to show you off."

We made our way through the building and he introduced me to the department chair who said that they were going to put my name up on the marquee, and that she was so proud. "I'm proud to make you proud," I answered. We then cut across campus to see the dean, stopping to introduce me to any of the other screenwriting professors or people my teacher knew along the way, then checked with the secretary and went in to see the dean. He was also very happy and took my picture a few times for the school's website. Apparently no one just walks in to see the dean, but my teacher often needs to run production issues by him so his co-workers are jealous of his privileges.

After the parade, we went back to his office and discussed the game plan for using the momentum of both of these wins to seriously secure the attention of an agent. In a moment I need to go rewrite my query letter to send out again with the information on these new awards I've earned.

The attention and praise has been delightful yet overwhelming! Here's to hoping that it's just the start of Andromache's success! This is the first time anyone from our university has won, and it was a good year for our school -- most of the other finalists were also from my university, along with the film that won the Audience Choice Award!

To change topics back to what I was discussing last week about the unfairness of Prop 8, check out this eloquent, heartfelt commentary by NBC's Keith Olberman, whose political criticism has always inspired me with its candor and passion.



On yet another side note... I've recently set sitemeter up on this blog. That means that I can see how many hits and visits Moldy Pumpkin gets, how long people stay, etc. I have two regular commenters (yay!) and several friends who also follow this blog (then make fun of me to my face rather than leaving comments!) however... there is no way that I have enough friends for this blog to be averaging 17 visits per day and 117 visits this week.

Which leads me to my question of.... who are you people?!

And just to be even more random, check out our new video poking fun at the insane teenaged fans of the Stephenie Meyer series, Twilight:

Breaking Afternoon: What Twilight Fans Look Like to Everyone Else

And in case you're thinking this video is a little extreme... trust me. It's tame in comparison to reality. Seriously. Just... wow. And apparently this is happening wherever this poor guy goes. I hope he gets a secret service contingent! Someone might shoot garlic at him or something one of these days.

And here's today's music selection. Lately I've been into Evanescence's early music, such as this beautiful song, "Before the Dawn."

"Before the Dawn"

theincrediblemo -- I need to check out those pictures, I'm sure they're awesome! :D

mackenzie's momma -- Wow. Your "friend" was probably just responding to an immediate emotional reaction of disappointment, but um, as you said, being a grown-up means not acting on those feelings, even if you have them. I'm sorry. That's really lame. And you have every right to be elated. This truly is an historic dawn.

Welcome, Autumn!

Fall is certainly here! And since we had a drought this year and didn't have rain since April, it felt like a six month summer. Some might be envious, but any who read this blog in the summer knows the danger the perpetual sun brought. Fire. Fire. Fire. Let's hope the rainy season marks the end of scary wildfires for a long while! I don't mind them when they're burning forests -- as sad as I am to see the trees go, I know it's actually healthier for them to burn. But what I do mind is worrying about our home and animals being in danger.

Take a look at some of these pictures from a walk my mom, Toot and I took in a local national park.

Poison oak and berry bushes

Teyla's a good girl

Pretty meadow
Um... path

Yellowing leaves

Golden canopy

My mom's been working with Teyla a lot and this day, she would have made Cesar Milan proud as punch!

Leafy path

Yes, that's horse poop. Road apples!

The pond

Cattails

Neato!

I love how you can only see the trees in the reflection



Pond

Ethereal forest!

I have to admit, with the election over, it's great to no longer receive 10 e-mails a day from various Democratic organizations. Though I do like the e-mails from Barack Obama. I know they're mass generated but it still makes me feel special.

There's a neat Newsweek interview with First Lady Michelle Obama here, and, to provide stark contrast and much hilarity, check out the dirt on Sarah Palin. Her reps say these are all lies, but some of them are so outrageous that I'm inclined to believe that they're true. Like Palin being confused over the fact that Africa is a continent, not a country. It's shocking how many people make that mistake!

And mackenzie's momma -- I apologize for using your comment that turns out to have had nothing to do with same sex marriage as a "Joe the Plumber," but I was looking for an excuse to articulate some views on the subject.

Despite the vast majority of people being overjoyed by the results of the Presidential election, I know that some are disappointed, including friends of mine. These people always really stand out in contrast to the happiness everyone else is exuding. I've tried to be supportive and understand how they must feel as they gripe over how America is going to turn into a "socialist" country. I listen and nod but I actually don't care. They're wrong and I'm right. Barack Obama and Democrats are not socialists. Believe me, I should know. I have a socialist cat, remember?

Me and the Commie. Shut up. I already know my red & blue undies are made of awesome.

Today's song (btw, does anyone actually listen to these?) is "Boy in a Rock and Roll Band" by The Pierces. Why? Because I love them and am in a good mood and love this song. Pay no attention to the pictures in the video -- I'm not secretly a Jonas Brothers fan.

"Boy in a Rock and Roll Band"

mackenzie's momma -- I'm sorry, but I just have to laugh over the mix up! Oh, the power of a comma! I had a feeling that I was misinterpreting your comment (and this was also after 2 night classes on my end so I was probably just as fried as you!) out of context, but intended to share more thoughts about Prop 8 anyway, and used that as a springboard. And I think you're approach to your roleplay is wise... Imagine Padfoot and I with our 5 universes. And though it began as Harry Potter-ish, it is now so very far from it. And Stargate characters pop in and out all the time. In fact, Kristie (Reece Witherspoon) is now engaged to John Sheppard (um, you know who he is) so if Reece and Joe Flannigan randomly hook up, we'll know why!

theincrediblemo -- I definitely agree! And it may reassure you to know that there's a large movement already organizing to overturn Prop 8. I'm just so sick of this always being an issue. Government is dictating whom you can marry, just like inter-racial marriages were illegal in some states in the past. It's ludicrous! But apparently, very American, given the example I just cited. And I want to see your snow pictures! Death gliding sounds so fun, but be careful!