Bay Arcade in Balboa’s “Fun Zone”. I grew up going here in the summer.

Yikes, Monday already. Monday in June. 2008.

Everyone I know is kind of freaking out about the whole “June” thing. I can’t believe it at all, to be honest. But whatever, it’s here and we might as well get used to it.

Had a good weekend and now I am tired out. I went down to San Diego to speak at a conference--sounds cooler than it was, but it was cool--so Whit and I had a good time driving down and hanging out in downtown San Diego.

This is Whit doing a very good impression of her sister. Check out the new sweatshirt. It’s lined and is mighty nice.

It was nice to get out of the city, even if only for a night. We stayed at this very odd resort/convention center named Town and Country and got a good taste of what life must have been like in the 50s. The place was just...old, you know? Just stuck in time. It was interesting to be rushing all around irritated that the year was approaching half over rather quickly then ending up here, which seemed like a movie set..it was just crazy, check out the link for some pics.

Then I had to go to work a table at the gift lobby for the MTV 2008 Movie awards. This was a really strange experience and really, I mean, really, it was a glimpse into the part of the entertainment industry that made me feel just...odd, I guess. Basically, we were one of many tables set up on the roof of this very swank hotel in the middle of West Hollywood. We would hang out to talk about our products (I was inbetween a very cool headset and a neat smart pen) to anyone that would come by. Kinda like a trade show, but if the person coming up to you was wearing a certain necklace, then they were apparently a celebrity and could just take whatever they wanted--as long as we got a picture of the celebrity holding the product. Once the picture was taken, it could be use to market said product.

It's one thing to know about this kind of thing, it's another thing to actually see it in action. Now, let's be clear--I had a fine time, and the people that I did meet were actually very cool about it. I mean, of course they were, right? They were getting all this free stuff for nothing! But still, you could tell the cooler celebs knew just how silly this was, which is why I think they were so nice. Our table was probably the most interesting at the event--we had cool gadgets and stuff that was way more useful than yet another energy drink--so we had some fun conversations and everything, but still...

It's business, right? This is how companies get their products out on the market. They get photos of people using the products in magazines, then the masses will go and get said product. It's just seeing it done so overtly that gave me pause.

Still, it was a good experience--I learned quite a bit just by watching people. The wheels of commerce spinning, right?

The other night, while Whit was with her girlfriends for a Sex and the City party (I love that they had party for a movie and then not go to said movie), I finally got around to watching The Graduate. No, I had never seen it before. Yes, I have been reading all about it in Pictures at a Revolution. And yes, I was totally, completely blown away by it. If you haven't seen it recently, add it to your queue and check it out. From the sound design to the cinematography to Anne Bancroft's insanely great performance (her laughter during their initial flirtation just blew me away, I must have watched that scene five times)...it's just awesome.

I am going to an on camera class tonight, which should be fun. It's good to keep going to different teachers, to work with different people. It's still really slow and I fear that things won't even begin to recover until late this summer. I hope.

My article for ifanboy.com goes up on Wednesday. I'm just writing about comics and life..we'll see how people respond...

talk to you soon.

Tags: san diego, balboa island

I got this amazingly cool print (hi-res version here) hanging my cube from Secret Headquarters, a cool comic book store over in Silver Lake, the neighborhood I should be living in. This is a poster of Scott Campbell's artwork for King of Kong, which you must rent/buy if you haven't seen it. Great movie.

Three day weekend! Ovef! I had a really good one, I must say. Whit was at work pretty much the entire time dealing with the very successful Phoenix landing--click the link, very cool mission so far.

Ugh, I started this earlier this week and wasn't able to post it. Been kind of an odd week, bouncing from "life is great" in the morning and then "argh, life is driving me CRAZY!" just a few hours later. Work is good, but one of the products I am working on is causing people headaches, which gives me a migraine. We'll get to the bottom of the problem, but it's hard to deal with when your email program is hogging up 99% of your CPU usage. Frustrating.

Going surfing again tomorrow morning, which will make it twice in one week. The key is to keep sticking with it, I assume. I am looking forward to it, I just want to actually stand up and drift on down, just to figure out that balance. I'll work on the balance stuff tonight during yoga.

Acting is slow and it's really driving everyone I know crazy. Kind in an irritable mood, so I will just post this now..