I uploaded the pictures from our Huntington Beach Anniversary Weekend Super Vacation. You can click on the badass pelican to see them!

Also… I’m listening to Roughing It by Mark Twain, and my insatiable appetite for his writings has been reignited! I’m thinking The Innocents Abroad (The New Pilgrims’ Progress) is next up.

Mark Twain is also a god.

Cloverfield, LOST, Star Trek, Fringe… Let me count the ways I love thee! Just watching the trailer for Super 8 gives me chills. It’s very reminiscent of the Cloverfield trailer, but also very unique. Except for the whole “this is pretty much E.T.” thing. But hey… that’s what he was going for! And that’s why he enlisted Steven Spielberg to help him out! Oh god this movie is going to be so good!

Anyway. We just saw Hello Dolly and it was fabulous. I cried a lot. Damn you, Wall-e! We watched Wall-e last night. I cried a lot. We’re going to watch Up tomorrow. I’m going to cry a lot.

I love you, Pixar. So much.

Oh look… an interview!

Besides being a fellow Disneyland fanatic… who are you?
I’m Nicole Mojan Pirshafiey and I’m totally not worthy to be interviewed by you! I feel like a rock star…which I most certainly am I not. There’s a host of labels that apply to me (see: writer, geek, cackler, adventurer, LGBT ally, Tina Fey wannabe, Lea Michele doppelganger, Whedon acolyte, singing Disney Princess when in the Cone of Silence that is my car and/or shower…), but rock star’s not one of them. Well, maybe Rock Band star applies. I can shred some skins and axes as long as they’re linked to my precious 360.

You semi-recently moved from the worst state in America to Southern California… why?
Because I’m not a masochistic! Honestly, I found myself getting too comfortable in the stability of my life in Phoenix, and when I realized there was nothing tying me down to stop me from returning to my home state, I did. I’d been dying to move back to California for a plethora of reasons: to pursue a career in writing, to get out of the toxic political situation in Phoenix, to be close to my family, and mostly because I’m head over heels in love with southern California. The biggest factor that justified the move were our career goals, though; my boyfriend Donnie and I are aspiring television writers, and we knew that if we stayed in Phoenix we’d never be able to break in. So, we saved up and gave ourselves a year to get ready for the move, and now we’re thrilled to be CA residents.

What’s your favorite part of living in California so far?
Ah, finally an easy question: PROXIMITY TO DISNEYLAND! I’m less than 30 minutes away from D-Land…same with the beach, downtown LA (with traffic!), Hollywood, and mountains that are literally covered in snow right now, it’s amazing. Honorable mentions go to the following nominees: the diversity of the residents here, the overwhelming variety of arts and cultural events in my new town, not needing an air conditioner, and constantly meeting amazing writers and actors who are fightin’ the good creative fight with me.

Besides answering silly interview questions, what kind of writing do you enjoy most?
I don’t care if I’m writing a blog, a script, or a rent check as long as I get to infuse it with some kind of comedy (which is hilarious considering I’ve been hired to write a gritty, tawdry pilot that’s heavy on the drama and lean on the chuckles). That being said, I’m happiest when I’m writing relationship-based comedic screenplays. Not necessarily rom-coms, mind you…I’m working on an adventure comedy about two sisters right now that’s kind of my favorite thing ever.

I know this is mean, but… Han Solo or Indiana Jones?
Answering this question is going to turn this computer into a horcrux because it’s going to split my soul asunder. It’s like the sequel to Sophie’s Choice, I hate this! Okay, if I HAVE to pick, I’d go with Indy, but only because I could never steal Leia’s man.

Thank you. I understand how difficult that question must have been for you. Moving on to someone a little less sexy… what is your honest opinion of the tween sensation, Justin Bieber?
Honestly, up until last night I blew him off as a fad we’re all just waiting to pass…but then I saw a preview of his movie, it was footage of him as a toddler laying some preternaturally amazing beats on a kitchen chair, and I was impressed enough to Google him, which only impressed me more. He’s a friggin’ prodigy, this kid! I’m way impressed by his ear for music, even though I find his voice and persona completely ridiculous.

Politics! Mubarak just stepped down. How do you feel about that?
I’m extremely interested to see how the citizens of Egypt step up and how the different factions will deal with the power play that’s bound to start now. It’s like they threw the political basketball up in the air and we’re not sure which team is going to get possession. I’m nervous because a similar scenario was established when the Shah stepped down and I’d hate to see the wrong party come to power the way it did in Iran. Although, if they hadn’t come to power, my dad wouldn’t have moved to the US and I never would have been born, so silver lining: Iranian turmoil is justified because I’m alive. EGOGASM!

What’s your favorite thing to eat at Disneyland?
EVERYTHING. Once I enter the park, I have insatiable hunger and I want to shove churros and corn dogs and pineapple whips down my gullet. Top favorite, though? I’ll have to go with the gumbo at the Cafe Orleans if I’m at D-Land, or candy corn if I’m at DCA. Weird, right?

Almost done! Who are some of your favorite television and/or movie writers?
JOSSSSSSSSS WHEEEEEEEDON! Scout’s honor, I fully intended to go to law school until I saw his movies and tv shows, he’s an inspiration. The man is a master of storytelling, dialogue, characters, the whole shabang. I’m in lesbians with him. He’s also a huge feminist and atheist, what’s not to love? His whole crew of writers are fabulous: any show that has writing credits by Jane Espenson, David Fury, Marti Noxon, Drew Greenburg, Drew Goddard, David Greenwalt, Stephen S. DeKnight, any of those guys? Watch it immediately.

I’m also a ginormous fan of Bryan Fuller (Wonderfalls/Pushing Daisies), Tina Fey (duh), and Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant. I also love anything Orci & Kurtzman touch, and Aaron Sorkin is a genius. My all time favorite screenwriter is William Goldman, the man is a legend and I’m obsessed with him. To be able to deliver the best fairyrtale adventure film (Princess Bride) AND the best western of all time (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) is amazing. He’s legen…wait for it…DARY. LEGENDARY.

How’d you feel about the ending of LOST?
I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. What I’m most impressed with is that they didn’t give us any straight answers, that all our theorizing and interpretations can still work because they never came out and said,”okay, this is what so and so meant when he said this, or this is what X was a metaphor for.” We all wanted answers, but we would have been way more pissed if we’d gotten them. My 25 page research paper I wrote about Lost during season 2? Still holds up, all things considered. So, brava, Lost writers. Bravissima!

Last question: What is your favorite Pixar movie?
The Incredibles! I know, strange choice, but it’s seriously one of my favorite movies ever. The art design is so dreamy and the dialogue is so sassy. Any movie with super heroes, a 60s spy movie vibe, and Edna Mode can do no wrong. But no capes. NO CAPES.

And that’s the video she wanted me to share. I must say… it’s fabulous. Good choice.

Would you like to know more about Nicole? You can (and should) follow her on Twitter. She’s also got a fantastic blog that is infinitely better than this one.

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Also, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the LOST finale. I loved it. So much. It wasn’t at all what I expected, but that’s what so fucking beautiful about the show. I’ll have more to say, for sure.

Speaking of someday… I can’t wait to get our debt paid down to an acceptable level. I can’t even imagine what it will be like to be debt free, but I’m sure it’s magical and glorious! If there are any younger folks reading this… please… don’t fuck yourself over with credit card debt. Sure, it’s fun and awesome for a little while, but I promise you… it’s not worth it.

You know what else is not worth it… Monster Cables. Please… for the love of god… do not buy them. They were spawned by Satan himself in a fit of rage. Let’s say you want a 6 foot HDMI cable. You go to the store and there are two choices. They both do exactly the same thing, but one is $80 and one is $5. Which one do you choose? Well… due to pushy Best Buy sales people and super flashy and exciting packaging, a lot of people choose the 80 dollar cable. Now go look on Amazon. You can find a 10 foot HDMI cable that has a higher rating than any Monster cable you’ll ever find for a few bucks. The truth is… you cannot make an HDMI cable better than it already is. No matter how many features and benefits Monster claims to have thrown onto it’s cables, it won’t make a lick of difference in the quality. Same with audio cables… check this out:

Via Engadget HD:

We’ve always believed that the perceived quality boost that comes from using high-end cables is really just a trick of the mind (read: justifying the ridiculous cost of premium cables to yourself) — if you’ve dropped enough cash, you can probably hear anything you want. Still, our belief is one thing — cold hard proof is another, and it looks like a group of 12 self-professed “audiophiles” recently couldn’t tell the difference between Monster 1000 speaker cables and plain old coat hangers. Yeah, coat hangers. The group was A-Bing different cables, and unbeknownst to them, the engineer running the test swapped out a set of cables for coat hangers with soldered-on speaker connections. Not a single one was then able to tell the difference between the Monster Cable and the hangers, and all agreed that the hangers sounded excellent. No wonder Monster has to rig HD displays.

Screw you, Monster.

Also… can’t wait to finally watch the LOST series finale… I’ll probably write down some thoughts about it sometime soon in a post. Man… no more LOST… weird…

I know I’m a bit late for bandwagon, but I’m really diggin Vampire Weekend. I’ve owned their albums for a while, but I’ve only recently had em on heavy rotation on my iPhone. Good stuff. Very relaxed and yet upbeat. Obviously, they sound a lot like Paul Simon, but that’s okay. Paul Simon rocks. Also, I love this music video so damn much. Jake Gyllenhaal is one sexy hunk of a man. Look!

Also… look at this truffle that’s being sold at Marceline’s Confectionery in Downtown Disney. Do want! Come on now… Double Hazelnut Caramel or Pineapple Ginger Macadamia Nut… wow. Kinda wish I had a place close to Disneyland right about now. Well… I wish I was living near Disneyland just about every second of every day. Maybe some day… TRUFFLE!

Also… LOST. Whoa. Haven’t cried that hard since Desmond and Penny were reunited on the boat. Oh man… and Hurley crying? Too much. Way too intense. Can’t handle it. I was shaking. I love you, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

Also, happy Star Wars day! May the Fourth be with you!

We are also less than a week away from Heather’s birthday! Her presents this year are “off the hook”. Yes. They are that good.

Tomorrow is the Apple event. I usually get excited for these as they are fun and interesting to watch, but this year I actually have an Apple product! I’m hoping they announce a new iPhone OS along with this mysterious tablet thingy. No more will I have to be shamed by Heather’s Droid and it’s superior operating system! Huzzah!

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Bah! Anyway. After I post this blog, I am going to tag all of my old posts with tags. The reason? I want to have an epic tag cloud in my sidebar! It’s going to be awesome.

I’m planning a long blog post on my thoughts on the current state of SEO and Social Media. It should be fun. Obviously, I’m no genius at that stuff, but I’ve got a lot to say and I have a blog.

*Not really…

Guess what! LOST Season 6 starts in less than one month! I added a countdown timer to the sidebar for you. You’re welcome.

Big news! There is an Avatar sex scene!!! Obviously, it wasn’t in the theatrical release, but it will be on the DVD release. Yay!

Via The Huffington Post:

James Cameron’s latest blockbuster “Avatar” has already grossed over $1 billion worldwide, and that’s without the benefit of any steamy sex scenes. However, that doesn’t mean that one wasn’t shot.

Actress Zoe Saldana, who played the female lead, the Na’vi alien Neytiri, told a group of reporters that they did indeed shoot a sex scene between her and male lead Sam Worthington, but it was not included in the final product because Cameron felt it would push them past a PG-13 rating.

Zaldana described how the Na’vi do the deed:

If you sync to your banshee and you’re syncing to a tree, why not sync into a person? I almost feel like you’ll have the most amazing orgasm, I guess. It was a very funny scene to shoot because there were so many technical things that sometimes you have to keep in mind that paying attention to all those might disrupt the fluidity of how a scene is supposed to take place.

Lastly, the Almighty Google officially announced the release of it’s Nexus One phone today. Now, I have an iPhone 3GS and love it… but… um… I still want this thing. Don’t worry though! Heather has a Droid, and that means that she will be able to upgrade her phone to the new Android 2.1 release, and that means that I will get to play around with it! Yay! I win! Really though… I love my iPhone. I really do. At the moment, I am really into Gowalla and Foursquare. They are great fun! Huzzah!

First of all… I haven’t posted for a while due to me being in New York. It was okay. That is all. The best part was Heather. By far. Yeah. Pictures will be posted at HaAaTR pretty soon. 

Actually… besides Heather… the VERY BEST part of New York was buying a new Swatch!!! Ok… one sec… I’m going to take a picture of it on my arm right now… one sec…

…

Ok done. Look:

It’s the exact same one as before, buuut… I don’t care! It rocks. I even bought it at the same Swatch store in Times Square that I bought my very first Swatch at in high school. Also… it was 108 bucks. LOST!

Heather and I are almost halfway through season 3 of Lost now. Yay! January 21st… SEASON 5!!!

Really though… I love the watch and all… but all that really matters… is Heather. I have never loved anyone (except for my wittle baby Matilda face!!!) as much as her and there is no reason why I ever will. I don’t believe I have blogged about it before, but I really have a hard time relaying my emotions through words and it really bugs me. I am a super emotional person and I would love to tell everyone exactly how fantastic and perfect I am feeling, but when I try to… it sounds generic and, honestly, kind of fake. I dunno… maybe someday I’ll be a good writer. Anyway… the reason I bring it up is because I wish I could write more about Heather, but I wouldn’t be doing how I feel any justice if I wrote it out here. Bah!

Also… I love where I live. Nothing better than living with the one person you love. Honestly, I missed living at home quite often when I was with her, but I can’t think of a single time I have felt that yet with Heather. 

Shit… the people downstairs are slamming doors and yelling. And there is a baby. I hope I don’t need to call the police. I can’t wait to get a house with Heather. And then move to the East Coast… and then Europe! Seriously… Holland. It is going to happen. 

Well… time to work. Although… I feel like I forgot to talk about hundreds of things. Hm.

I love the 90s.

So I very much LOVE the new Gmail themes. They are fantastic and make me happy. 

Also, I changed the notification sound of my Gmail Notifier to be the audio from the Bad Robot thingy after Lost.

Speaking of Lost! Heather and I are almost done with Season 1. Yay!!! Guys… Where are we?

I am drinking Coke Zero out of a glass Coca-Cola cup… YUM! Yum yum yum yum yum! Yummy!

06/07/08!

Also, no one reads this blog except for you… and you… and maybe you. Why do I do it? I don’t know. I guess I just like reading what was going on in my recent past. Blah. All that shit about Claire kind of sucked. She is out of my life and I could not be happier.

I’m going to lunch with Ashlee on Saturday. Yippie!

Soooo… In my mind… Wallace is kind of like The Island. It is controlling my life. I denied it for years and for that it made my life a living hell. But when I went back there to visit Amanda and Heather it embraced me and put me back in it’s good graces. Thanks Wallace, Thallace.