Photo Journal - July 18, 2008

I'm really not digging this 4-day workweek concept. It is a very nice concept if you are the type of person who holds a 9-5 Admin job. When you work in Events and Operations, it is required that you're on at obscure dates and times. The ideal workweek would be to work 4 days straight with 3 days off. It's great if you have the ability to work from home, but alas I don't. It is true that my gasoline has lasted 3 extra days but I don't think it's worth it if you're going to be EXHAUSTED by the end of the week, or even midweek at this fact.

After a long week (not hard, just long), I decided to treat myself to some Panera Bread breakfast before my 8:30am Chiropractor appointment. Panera is just one of those places that really makes me happy. It has that flair of elegance while leaving their food items so simple and comforting. Not to mention it makes me feel like I'm eating healthy, even if it's not true. I'm usually a sucker for their French Onion soup, Chicken Salad sandwiches, or Asiago Roast Beef. Of course, you can't forget their special potato chips with a side of ice cold lemonade. It's making me feel good already. Breakfast at Panera was a new concept for me so I went with the Whole Grain toasted bagel, side of Honey Walnut Spread, and Orange Juice. Healthy? The bagel is whole grain and I only used half of the spread!

Fort Lauderdale Children's Theater had their last performance at Parker Playhouse. I drove over to help out before the show and as the show started, some shady clouds (no pun intended) began to move in right over us. Peter and Tate, who grew up in Texas and Kansas spotted some spinning in the clouds. So we did the only smart thing we knew what to do, we went outside and pretended to be tornado meteorologists. It was actually very eerily beautiful watching the clouds move in and out and over the area. Luckily, the clouds never picked up enough speed and moved East in a time period of 10 to 15 minutes. It was still very exciting!

The following picture describes the crazy weather in Florida. As you can see, It is completely dark but you can clearly see the outline where the "good" weather is at the time. The clouds just swept in that direction and covered the whole sky grey within minutes!

I can truly say that I LOVE the Parker Playhouse. It is an old theater with many needed improvements and yet I can call it "my house." If you've never seen this theater, I recommend you come and see it when it's live. As an avid theatre fan, this is how a theatre should be built. I'm always disappointed at these new contemporary galleries they call "Performing Arts Center." Where is the love? Theatre is supposed to embrace you and welcome you. Parker Playhouse definitely has that quality. These are outdoor shots with the storming clouds overhead. Come see our house, our staff will make you feel right at home. You'll want to come back over and over again.

For those OCD spellers, I know that I spelled "theatre." That, ladies and gentlemen, is closer to the Greek spelling where THEATRE originated. So, no, I will not and/or never spell it "theater." Thank you very much, have a nice day! :)

I'll finish off the entry by saying that I have HOT shoes. That is all:

Photo Journal - July 13, 2008

Three blogs written and I've already been slacking in the journalism department. I have to work on that. I guess the week hasn't been as exciting and I've been finding it very challenging to find the excitement in the little things of life. Perhaps that is why I've had nothing to write. There have been a few things that caught my attention here and there but I failed to find the excitement in them. However, I am writing tonight :)

I had to open Parker Playhouse this week for summer camp. While sitting at Shelly and Peter's desk, I realized that next to the computer there was a box of popcorn, a can of peanut brittle, and box of animal crackers. Funny thing is that I knew that they have been there all the time, but I never realized how these things related to each other. These are all items that we all enjoyed at some point when we were younger, even better was when we were able to enjoy these three items all at once, whether at the fair or for a well-received treat for a job well-done. Good times!

Sunday morning didn't start bad at all. I wanted to take a few pictures of my dog but I didn't like the angle on how some of the pictures were coming up. So I decided to drop to the floor and take some of him laying on his oversized green pillow. I was about to snap the first picture, when he decided that he wanted to come over and greet me as opposed to sit and pose. Puqui, my dog, is 13 years old so his vision keeps fading, as you can see in his eyes. As stubborn and paranoid as he is, I still love the pal. He's a good dog.

Later in the afternoon, the family decided to have "Linner," a combination of lunch and dinner, or "Dunch" (You pick!). We went to Bubba Gump's as it is an all-time favorite for everyone in the household. It's always a great time and you're guaranteed quality food every time you go. I am a little biased, though, as Forrest Gump is one of my favorite movies and I always enjoy stumping the servers at Gump Trivia. Yeah, I'm that good! Anyway, the pictures below show how bad it began to pour as we arrived at the restaurant. I've never seen Fort Lauderdale Beach that empty before in my life.

I really like the picture below. I always order a Speckled Lemonade, which is a Strawberry Lemonade in other restaurants, except, this drink has REAL strawberries muddled into the drink. YUM! Anyway, the "server sign" was angled perfectly behind the drink and I enjoy the contrast of colors between both objects. "RUN, FORREST, RUN!"

As it is typical of Florida, after a huge storm passes through, it is tradition for the sky to clear up with a beautiful array of celestial colors. This picture was taken on the way back home on Sunrise Blvd and SR7.

Photo Journal - July 7, 2008

I can already see the effects of summer at work. Plenty of rental inquiries are coming in but there is no guarantee yet that they will book. So the conversation on the phone begins the same: "Tell me about your event;" "Have you produced shows before;" "Our fees consist of..." The job at the moment has become very task-oriented. I can't wait until the Fall begins when we'll be able to have real events to manage.

Our catering manager bought a puppy this weekend. Surprisingly enough, the dog looked very much like my dog when we first bought him 13 years ago; except, Sadie, the manager's puppy, is a girl. At four months old, she's an extremely sweet dog and very mellow for a poodle. Our dog was, and is, still crazy and paranoid.

One real current event comes to mind at work: The Miss Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant. The once in a lifetime opportunity for a lucky girl (and I do mean girl, not women) to win $50,000 in cash. According to Deco Drive, the pageant is all about "looks, personality and brains. Pretty much a bubbly personality." Hmmm, right. I only hope they can remember to omit their stripper names and they are able find their way off the stage once roll call has been done. Oy! Good luck ladies! May the breast, er, I mean, best participant win!!

Finally, I got home and my dad was explaining to us how he was able to evade a car accident on I-95 this morning. He was fine. His truck was fine. He was only a little shaken from thinking what could have happened. Anyway, I thought it was pretty funny how he began to visually describe the moment. Notice the real life resemblance of the highway lanes (knives) and the cars (shotglass). Uncanny!! :-)

Photo Journal - July 6, 2008

Today marks the first day of my photo journey in the attempt to capture my most excitingly-mundane aspects of life.

After sleeping in until about 11am (Heaven knows how long it's been since I've done that), Sunday routine calls for straightening up the room and organizing my week via scheduling and any outstanding bills that need to be paid.

As I organized my room, I noticed how many playbills I own. This picture captures one of my most prized (and probably invaluable) possessions. I have in my room framed playbills of all the Broadway shows I've seen since the beginning of college. It is tradition when seeing a show to capture cellphone pic of the stage and to bring this prizeless memento home to be put up as a trophy of the moment. You can't see them all but you'll have an idea of how many I own at this moment. It starts with Rent in 2002 and ends with Jesus Christ Superstar in 2008.

The Google Calendar application is an amazing tool if you are an OCD/Anal Retentive individual like myself. It basically takes the Outlook function and makes it "fun"! Being an avid Google fan, I decided to give this application a try and let technology organize my life. It is a wonderful tool. I recommend using this tool if you like to keep your tasks organized.

I found this very amusing. I was surfing through MySpace and found this ad for someone who's running for Congress. This guy name is David Dillon. Why is that funny you ask? Mainly because the name of our Front of House Manager is David Dillon. This guy looks nothing like our David Dillon. He's "thinking about the next generation...not the next election." Nice!

Photo Journal - July 5, 2008

This is a new routine initiated and inspired by one of my former co-workers. I have been meaning to get into photography for a while now but never seemed to find the time or place to do it. Jody, whom I worked with at the Cultural Division, has a blog of her own and uses it to archive the exciting and, what she calls, "mundane" moments of her life.

I couldn't think of a perfect way to get into this hobby then by photographing the "mundane." After all, it is those little unscripted everyday moments that may have the most impact in our lives. Regardless, the goal of this project is to stop, look at life and capture these moments that are often missed in life.

This will not be a daily blog but will try to update as often as possible and will only describe these photo moments in every day life.

Hope you enjoy!

PS - Ok, so there was no picture here but I promise I'll have some up soon :)