An Illuminating Weekend

This posting is falling into the "A Week in Recap" heading. So many little and big things happened this weekend- all wondrously good!

First off, for those who are not aware of my nocturnal volunteering habits-- I work and run a storyboarding workshop for Women in Animation every third Thursday of the month here in Los Angeles. I took over this post on last October (gawd, I can't believe i've been doing it for a year already!) and have enjoyed it immensely since. Our last meeting was my most ambitious workshop so far, with a record turnout of guests and audience members alike. Usually I struggle every month looking for a guest artist who's interested in volunteering their time for the event. Last month, miraculously, I got an email from Melissa Wolfe who's a developer with Frederator Studios and currently working on Oh Yeah! Cartoons. She offered herself, Eric Homan (another developer), and their entire crew of in-house artists from this season's Oh Yeah! for our workshop needs (including Andrew Dickman- "Ivan the Unbearable", Kyle Carrozza- "MooBeard the Cow Pirate", Adam Henry- "Krunch and the Kid", Aliki Theophilopoulos- "Yaki and Yumi", Dana Galin and Diane Kredensor- "Call Me Bessie"). I was flabbergasted. And then I read the email again-- and was giddy. There was a lot I had to do behind the scenes to make the night go smoothly, but it was SO worth it to see close to 60 people learn, appreciate, and network in that electric environment at Nick Studios. And what's more, we had quite the surprise when Fred Seibert, owner of Frederator Studios and once president of Hanna-Barbera, as well as Larry Huber the co-creator of Chalk Zone and exec. producer of Oh Yeah! stop by and join in the panel (moderated by me! Ack!). What a thrill! Afterwards, my animated friends and I went out for some late-night dining at our 24 hour diner of choice, Coral's Cafe (I never seem to eat dinner in between work and the event, and consequently when we've wrapped up around 10:30 I'm STARVING). Having nights like these, mingling with friends and enjoying art fill me with inspiration and make me realize that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

So after that exhausting Thursday night, I kept Friday night pretty simple. On Saturday Danielle, the other half of my brain, and I got together for a rousing bit of shopping. We realized we hadn't spent time together, just the two of us, in almost 2 months. Far too long, and we're working on remedying that. The shopping was fun and silly and productive-- just what girly shopping should be. She got outfits for her new job she starts on Monday (hooray!), and I picked up one peasant-style skirt which is so "la mode" right now (gag). I couldn't help it, it was cuuute! Anyhoo, I came home and got myself together to go see Everything is Illuminated (with Elijah Wood, directed by Liev Schreiber) with Mike and Amanda. I have a deep appreciation (okay, some may call it an obsession) for Mr. Schreiber. He is a brilliant actor, and now I find an astonishingly gifted director and screenwriter. The movie was heartfelt, poignant, comedic, and gripping-- the characters (including their worlds) were so well developed. It was beyond satisfying to see a movie cross so many genre boundaries and come out on the other side gleaming and pure and different. I highly recommend it, and won't say a thing more because I really had no idea what the story was about before seeing it, and I appreciated it more looking at it with few preconceptions.

Sunday, Mike and I remained productive and pulled together our new entertainment unit (thanks be to my bosses for wanting to renovate and give away the old cabinetry- hooray for free furniture!). I am so proud of him-- he's created a surround system to rival IMAX in our 2 bedroom apartment. Never having put together something like this before, he researched and questioned until he got his answers and built the system of his dreams (well, the dream within reach). My little techie! Other items checked off the seemingly never-ending list of things to do: towel ring in bathroom installed, computers hooked up, and bed frame bought and assembled. Do I hear any huzzahs in the house?

Yes sir, everything is coming along just dandy.