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Friday, December 31, 2010

New Years Schmew years.

All I can say is THANK goodness this year is over.

Hallelujah! Joy! Happiness! Cheers! It's over! Gone! Kaput!

It was a year of too much loss, but also new friendships, and family connections.

So, I guess it wasn't all bad.

May 2011 bring the joy I need and the comfort for all those IN need!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

mmm...chrisem

Although, Christmas is not my favorite holiday, it makes me smile. I love going downtown by myself and watching all the families laugh and play. I enjoy the company of friends and a quiet evening in. Fun times with family and watching the favorites: White Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Holiday Inn and so many more.

I have to say the best part about Christmas is watching my sister get all giddy about decorating, baking and getting presents ready.  She gives with all her heart.  Her big smile always makes me giggle and I love it!

Happy Holidays. Please enjoy the fun of the season and spend it with those you love.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Sci-fi gizmo request.

Dear Inventors/developers: 

The first definition of cleaning listed at dictionary.reference.com is:

clean·ing  [klee-ning] 

–noun

an act or instance of making clean: Give the house a good cleaning.


I hate cleaning. Well, that is I hate cleaning my own house. It is the worst task anyone can ever give me. I will wait until the house gets so bad I'm embarrassed to let anyone in. Luckily, I have my sister living with me. She helps me to the nth degree.  Not only does she do most of the work, but encourages me in just the right way to get me to keep the house in working order.

You probably wondering why I'm writing you. Well...I think we need to get those gadgets and gizmos they have on science fiction shows, invented. I know they already have the roomba, but it's too expensive for my taste. Besides, my sister LOVES vacuuming. OOh, I do too, but only when it's a Dyson. My friends have one that they let me use when I'm over.

Picture courtesy of wikipedia.org

Some ideas to mull-over:
  • Self-mopping floor.
  • A mechanical laundry folder (I can do the sorting on my own...for now)
  • (speaking of sorting) a dish-put-awayer. (trademark on name pending)

That's all I have for now.  Wait one more thing; not only do they need to be invented, but made inexpensive. There, that's my idea. Please inventors and developers get on it! 

Sincerely,
Your favorite geek; Psyfygirl.  (please if you don't realize this is a joke, then you need some serious help)

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Crafty

My bother started talking to me one day about knitting. My brother...He's so funny, he starts doing anything creative, whether it be domestic or technical and he totally geeks out. I guess we're the same in that geek-out way.  

Anyway, he tells me about his sekrit projects, but he can't keep it a sekrit...he's making us all scarves for Christmas; hence the geek-out. So, because he's just had a baby, and we're all pretty poor, he comes up with the idea for us to; either get really cheap presents for the family, or do a homemade thingamajig.  I decided to make my new nephew (the first brand-new baby in the family since myself), a nice name plate-type thing. Now, we all use www.ravelry.com to share our fun projects and one-up each other (really just my sister and brother do the one-upping, I sit back and try to keep up).

I love the idea of this. I feel so much more productive and accomplished when doing these types of things. Plus, I get to use my sisters immense knowledge of all things crafts. Oh the joy of having a creative mother and witty father.

Speaking of crafts; my friend has also started a new crafty blog, which I'm excited to follow. AND, we get to share crafty tasks together.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

The Inn show.

I did it! It wasn't by myself; it was with the entire cast and crew, but I did it and loved it! 

An Evening in Canterbury was the name of the show. The director took 4 of Geoffrey Chaucer's tales and edited them for time purposes. The 4 tales came from the Knight, the Wife of Bath, the Pardoner and the Miller.  The actors pantomimed the tales on stage while the storytellers orated the tales in the house.

My role was Innkeeper's Wife and I was to improv with the audience and the other cast members while they enjoyed their meal. It was so exhilarating and, like I told a friend, it was a giant ball of fun-stress. I can't wait for more...

Here are some promo stills of the show:
Love these girlies.

Me 'usband

Scene from Miller's Tale.

Almost the full cast. It was also the pic in City Weekly

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween pics.

As Promised:
My version of Carol Burnett's Scalet O'hara.

Hoop skirts can be a problem when sitting down.

I love my Mama.

Henna-style Cookies.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Happy Halloween!

Yay for Halloween, best time of the year. Especially because I think my costume is rockin' the cat box (I know it's casbah, but cat box is funnier, and because I always get song lyrics wrong, it fits). This costume has to be one of the best, if not THE best, costumes I've ever created. Of course, pictures will be coming tomorrow.

As for now, I'm making cookies and I'm going to decorate them henna-style, meaning not just frosting and sprinkles but intricate designs.  I got this brilliant idea from my friend who has been letting me apprentice for her.  Said friend and I did this a few weeks ago and had a blast. It's nice to be domestic every-so-often.

And now for something completely different: I'M IN A SHOW!  Happy day. I auditioned a while back (can't remember the date) and then was cast as the Innkeeper's Wife. I get to do improv the entire time. I have to be saucy and flirty.  It's a tad difficult because I'm no where close to being saucy and only sort of flirt. But, hey, I think I can do it, and apparently so do the people that cast me, so w00t!

Okay, blog time over. Have a great Halloween!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Dreams of real life from TV.

It's season/series premier time. I relish September for this reason, and for the changing of the leaves but that's a different story. My life has been so mundane without my shows. Okay, maybe not mundane, it's just been missing something. Right now, I'm thinking, “wow, you're shallow. You're life is missing something because of television?” I know, right? Anyway, I'll be watching some new shows, and mostly shows I already absolutely love. Today's ultimate question: Will I have time for my new found social life? I do have Hulu and a DVR, I think I'll make it. What shows, you ask? Follow me...

There are plenty of new shows but here are some of them I'm thinking about: The William Shatner sit-com, $#*! My Dad Says. Why you ask? DUH! It's William Shatner. Also, Outsourced, looks kind of funny and it's totally art imitating life. I've already checked out the new show Outlaw, and I like it. I'm a Jimmy Smits fan, and he was great in West Wing. I'm hoping for a bit of President Santos to come out in this character.  But, I'll only be watching three new shows because I have so many 'old' shows to be watching.

Speaking of 'old' shows here are some for this season I can't get enough of: There's Glee, with my musical obsession, this just hits the spot each week, and I'm always checking out the extras on Hulu.  Then there's The Good Guys. Bradley Whitford with a porn stache, so comical. I'm sensing a West Wing theme here.  I'm also bringing back the Chuck. A nerdy spy and the hilariously serious Adam Baldwin, need I say more?

All in all, I have my fantasy life (lifes?) back to make up for what I don't have in my real life. Yay for the imagination of others.

Monday, August 23, 2010

HTML coding or Pole Dancing?

I've been trying to re-arrange my blog for a very long time. I spent 4 hours on it last night and 2 this morning, only to realize: I have absolutely NO idea what I'm doing.  I started out with using a blog skin from blogskins.com, which is easy to use, but bothersome to get the way I want it. Then I decided I would try to add widgets, ugh!  Finally I opted to go with the blogger templates and choose a different background, so boring.  Here's the full story:

I've been wanting to change my blog style from the moment I started at blogspot. It's annoying that it's boring, bland and so generic.  I decided to search the web for something, I found blogskins.com. Great images! I really like a lot of them and I decided to add this as my blogskin.  It looked okay but wasn't exactly what I wanted. So, I decided to try editing the HTML which was easy enough to figure out how to add my own links and words, etc.  Still, there were elements missing and I ended up moving on to the next part of my project; Widgets.

GRR! Widgets suck when trying to add them to HTML codes.  Not only did I have to figure out where to put the darn suckers, but also noticed they don't actually capture the same dynamic capability as the widgets offered by blogger.com itself. After playing around with that for a while I gave up and chose to use a generic blog template instead.

How boring are these templates anyway?!  I want to use my own creations as backgrounds and add the blogger widgets with it. But, no, I'm incapable of actually figuring out how, and am frustrated it's taken me this long to decide to stick with the boring stuff.  Maybe I should try something more productive when working on projects, how about pole dancing?

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Missing SyFy, Loving good times.

WAAAAAA!!!! I need my SyFy. Stupid cable company and their lame packages not allowing me to get it. I'm missing out on all the great SyFy movies, and new serials. Are there any new shows on SyFy? I guess I can check out SyFy.com, but it's not the same as being able to watch it on the tube. 

I just hope they're not doing any new vampire shows. Did anyone tell the network guys that some of us are kind of getting sick of the vampires?!  Well not the good vampire shows, just the crappy ones. And the crappy ones shall remain link-less.  Raise of hands on who wants another Jossverse show with a bit more substance than the last one.

On a less whiny note: Yay for happy fun Independence Day times! This weekend is going to be crazy. I don't think I've had this much social interaction since...well ever. w00t for friends and family, why did it take so long for my social bug to kick in. >.<

Oh, and by the way, Mr. Armstrong, I'm over 30 and I will freely use emoticons, I'm a geek and I have a right!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Yay for a family full of geeks.

I go through my day and need so many different things, such as something to sing and my geek-dom of whatever thing I'm squee'ing about that day. I've come to realize that I need these things because of the influences of others in my life, most notably my family.

When I was about 12 my brother's decided to join a Star Trek club. I thought they were so cool. So, I joined too. This started my love for most things sci-fi. Star Wars, Star Trek, MST3K, the list goes on and on. So, this has been with me nearly 20 years. Thanks Tim and Mark for making my life so geeky. Oh, and this leads to my brother Mark and his wife, Gemma, helping me to go to San Diego for a Smallville Con. Hello?!! There is no level 3, people!

Since before I can remember my Dad has had a computer of some type. He was always getting new things for it, too. Like a 300 baud modem, or whatever size it was, or a new computer screen that could be connected to the VCR. My Dad got me stuck on computers. I was on BBS's (bulletin board systems), which led to forums, which led to chat rooms, which led to the worldwide web, which led to here. Thanks Daddy for making me a computer geek.  Thanks also, for the Shakespeare Festival and getting the Bard in my blood.

Around 10 years old my Mother decided we would watch Hello Dolly! Not only did that get me ape-crazy over musicals, but also Babs. True story, I love Babs in all of her nasally glory! I also have a propensity to recite lines from old musicals when watching them, which bothers anyone I'm watching it with. As such, I have to watch them alone a lot of the time. Thanks Mama for helping me to become the most annoying car-singer there is.  Plus, you help me enjoy crafting, and loving creativity.

And now, because of my sister I'm addicted to B-movies, or C, or D-movies. Now, MST3K may have had something to do with it, but the movies my sister and I have watched, are...Oh so awesome! Have you seen Raptor??? Best Eric Roberts movie EVER!!! I really need those movies to help me get out of those not so pleasant moments. Thank you Brenda for being the bestest sister ever and helping me to love lame-as-ever movies.

So now, with all of my families influence, I have to be one of the most geeky people I know. w00t for geekiness.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Loss and reflection.

Death is the most vile villain that has ever existed. It's necessary to help with the circle of life. Although, I wish I could be the super-hero and take away everyone's pain when a loved one passes. If I had that super-power it would be awesome, but then where would all of that pain go? Pain belongs in the dumpster, where people throw their waste and only remember it when it lingers. Then the pain is taken to the compost heap and used to grow into the most astonishing and exquisite flowers.

I miss everyone I've lost. My grandparents, my cousin Cindy, my friend's son, Andy, and now my Aunt Susan (and so many others). Losing someone let's us reflect on what we have and want to cherish forever. I love them and hope, beyond all hopes, they are in a better place.

It is now time for me to reflect on my sublime life and all it has to offer. I worship the people in my life and long for everyone to know how much I care for them.

Monday, May 31, 2010

OMB



I really decided to do this a little sloshed. How could I refuse? I do the dumbest things when I'm sloshed, go me!
Hopefully there won't be too many mistakes or spelling errors. If there are, then it will take me 15 minutes to write something that is three sentences long. LOL
Today my sis, a friend and I went to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

It was AWESOME! I enjoy going birding and the light exercise wasn't bad. The only two things that were irritating were the sore bottom and the midges. Midges?, you ask. I thought that was a nickname for Margaret.



Nope, they're little flies that like to get stuck in my hair when on a bike going however fast they go. I probably inhaled several thousand unknowingly. OMG 151 tastes like a$$, not that I've ever tasted a$$. Anyway...My sister just said “pull yours out” HA!!!! Well, let's get back to the outing. I saw my two favorite things: Red-Faced Ibis and White Pelicans. If you want to know what those look like, go to Wiki, or the Audubon society. Non-flying was a marmot, skunk, two dead snakes, and carp.
It was 12 miles of absolute bliss for me. I wait every year for spring/summer so I can go up there. Last year they closed it down during the summer and I had no idea. This year I saw they would close it on the 1st of june so I went today. I was so happy, and I have my yearly birding expedition out of the way. There was the trip for the day. YAY.
And now for random crap. Speaking of random crap, I want to win a bag of crap from woot.com I wish I was fast enough, or knew someone at woot that could give me the in. Whoa, I think the room is spinning. Nope, just the 151. Yay for drunkenness. Good thing I have spell check on this thing. :-D



Ooh, 2 minutes left. I love my cast, especially my 15 year old cat Mosa (the siamese looking one). She's adorable.

People think I neglect her because of how much she asks for loves, but I don't. I could pet her for 5 hours straight and she'd still want more. Hmph.And I'm done!!!!,,
So, Ana from Vegan Ana gave me the OMB award (Oh My Blog)

Now because it's an award. I have to do some things, because when you receive distinctions such as this, there are rules:

1. Get really excited that you got the coolest award EVER!
     Check
2. Choose ONE of the following options of accepting the OMB award:

(a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.
     d00d how can I resist?
(b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.
     Okay, I have a TON and it would be impossible to choose just one. (refer to above)
(c) Write a “Soundtrack of your childhood” post.
     I could do this if it was TV series.
(d) Make your next blog a ‘vlog’/video blog. Basically, you’re talking to the camera about whatever.
    Really, no, not yet anyway.

(e) Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, makeup, etc) and post it.
   I look just as bad in the morning as I do at night.
3. Pass this award onto at least 3, but preferably more, awesome bloggers as yourself. Don’t forget to tell them.
I will pass this on to:
   Since I really only know one that hasn't gotten it and I follow, then it will have to be my BFF Erica!

So, next post...in a few minutes will be me blogging for 15 minutes, or probably as long as I can focus! Here's to you Ana.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Transitioning to summer.

Oh summer time, how I love thee. Let me count the ways:

1. Bear River Migratory Bird refuge. Too bad it will be closed for this summer, but it’s okay, I’ll be going up tomorrow, before it closes. Maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to convince my sister that a bike ride would be great around the 12 mile scenic route.

2. Vitamin D. mmm..how the sun hits the skin and splashes the body with wonderful nutrients and great glow, of course, only if I have on sunscreen.

3. Late night star-gazing. Lying out on the lawn and watching the stars, thinking about how small I am, and how great the universe is. Hopefully, I’ll be able to see some cool stuff this summer that I missed last year.

4. The smell of Russian Olive trees. How I love that sweet smell when driving on a highway, or down back roads.

5. Speaking of smell, going to the Great Salt Lake and just relaxing in the stench! Weird, I know but I love to go there and watch the birds (I’m sensing a bird theme here) and listening to the children play in the sand.

6. And finally LONG days. I love having a day that lasts until well after 9 pm and starts well before 6 am. Joyous are the skies in those wee hours.


There you have it, my list of summer loves, but not all.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Holy audition FUBAR, Batman!

This will be a long blog; so grab a snack, a drink and your Snuggie, and nestle up for the long haul.

This story is about acting. 'What?' you say, Brooke is talking about something she obsesses about? No wai!

Since I was about ten years old I've wanted to act in musicals, on stage, in movies or on television. I know, I know; totally weird because I'm so frakkin' shy, but it's true. Anyway, every two or three months I get considerably more obsessed with this idea than usual. So, in February, or around that time, I decided I was really going to do it. I started looking for classes or coaching, or anything that would spark my interest out of my humdrum life. Also, I've been looking for an outlet to push out something different and creative in myself. Lo and behold I found a class at Hale Centre Theatre. It was exactly what I had been looking for. Cheap, local and on Saturdays after work!

The classes were excellent. I learned about so many different things that I never imagined, mostly about me being able to actually memorize lines. I was able to perform monologues, and improvisation (my favorite). It was totally awesome being able to feel the energy in the room with the other attendees, and being able to express myself in a way I never thought possible. I LOVED going to class every Saturday and just having tons of fun!

Well, we were instructed on how to audition for speaking roles: At the end of the 8 week class(last Saturday), we had a mock-audition and performed the monologues we had been working on for so long. At the end of the audition, I was, well...let's say coaxed (commanded is more like it) by one of the fake auditors to try out for the upcoming Hale Centre Theatre stage production of Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert and Sullivan). I could have said no, but there was that small little voice in the back of my head saying, "what could it hurt". ACK!! What could it hurt? Okay, it didn't hurt, but holy Hannah was it not well thought.

As such, I did what I said I would; I called on Monday morning and set up an audition for the following Saturday. w00t. Or w00t is what I thought... I still actually had to do the dang thing. AND, I had to choose a song, who knew that choosing a song to sing was so annoying and hard. Well, I chose We kiss In a Shadow from the King and I. I chose this because it's opera-ish like Gilbert and Sullivan's stuff is.

Now, I haven't actually sung anything, really, since high school, so I don't remember to warm up, or to stop practicing after 1 hour. My throat gives out on the the first night! d'oh. So, I rest it, and then remember the warm-ups and practice as little as I thought was good. I'm not great at singing by myself, but I want to go for it anyway. The entire time, I'm getting more and more nervous, The time I have to wait to get this audition over with is killing me. Again, I continue to get more and more frustrated with myself and my throat starts to go out again on Friday, ugh! (oh yeah, I have that cruddy schedule where I work three graveyard shifts and then two early morning shifts, so I'm going on about 1 hour of sleep)

The day of the audition: I'm doing okay, I'm ready to go. Oh, I forgot, the lady I spoke with on the phone said I needed to have the sheet music ready to go, so I get it and have my 16 bars all set. I greet the person at the table, he tells me to put post-its where my music starts and ends, so I put the post-its right at the beginning of my singing and the end... Big mistake.

I get into the audition room, I swear there was about 100 people in the room, okay more like 10, but still... It's my turn. The piano plays...
 and I stand there...
The piano plays, and I sing from the beginning of the song, not the part I chose...
I'm FREAKING out now!
The wonderful people behind the table were absolutely awesome at NOT showing their disdain or frustration. And me, being the apologetic one says "Sorry, this is my first audition"
Wait.... I did what??? I told them this was my first audition??? Seriously?
Well, they were still absolutely amazing with how gracious they were, and let me start anew. Bless their souls.

Okay, audition is over, I realize by this time, I should have put the post-its 1-2 bars before my queue, and finished the entire ending of the song instead of just sticking to the 16 bars they said I needed...I'm learning. For some strange reason I decide to stick around and wait for them to call the people who are chosen for call-backs. Why, I have no idea, of course I didn't get a call back! So I start chuckling to myself, then go out to the car, and start laughing at myself! Oh, the experience I experienced....

Hopefully I won't be auditioning for any musicals any time soon, and any other roles, will be at really small theaters.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Quirky quirks, and quarks?

From time to time I think about all the weird quirks I have and laugh at myself for them. Now, I've decided to share these quirks and expand on why they're so hilarious. I think I'll start with three things that I think are truly weird.

1. I can't stop apologizing. Even if something is not my fault, I apologize. People may think it's insincere, but it's not, I feel sorrow for the bad things that happen to people. Someone trips, I'm sorry, someone forgets their cell phone I'm sorry. The reason is because I've more than likely been there before. I've felt how it hurts to scrape a knee or forget my cell phone.

2. I am a true and total geek, not nerd, geek. I'm not smart enough to be a nerd, but totally obsessed enough to be a complete geek. Not only am I a geek about anything Sci-fi, but about Broadway musicals and dorky television shows, too. I love B movies, anime, and playing online RPG's. I get geeked out for all of these things and more, which makes me giggle at myself all the time.

3. Lastly, is the belt-it-out-loud singing. Well, when I'm alone or on a road trip, anyway. Oh, and I don't sing wonderfully at all. I do, however, sing loud enough that if I was in an auditorium, I wouldn't need a microphone. I almost forgot, I will Karaoke if I'm sloshed enough, and usually have someone to sing with me. When I'm sitting alone in my car and singing with all my might, I have to stop and laugh, because, DAMN, I suck, but it's too fun to quit.

Well, there you have it, three things I do that make me snicker, and I think are weird. Hopefully, you smiled a bit while reading this.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Science Fiction Women.

I love watching science fiction television series. It's what I do. I like the non-science of it all, including the inane plot points and idiotic humor. I am a sci-fi geek. However, I have an issue with the main female characters; they almost always have to be gorgeous, out-of-this-world (pun intended) knockouts.

As you look through some of the science fiction serials through the year, you start to notice a trend of terrestrial and extraterrestrial as being gorgeous. For the earth example you have: Colonel Wilma Deering from Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century. Total hottie. Yes, people will say they loved the show. But we all know what they're thinking; Erin Gray sure knows how to handle a rocket pistol. On the alien side you have Aeryn Sun.

Furthermore, any woman wanting to become a science fiction maven has to endure all the women who have come before. I mean, I've always wanted to play a science fiction female lead, but they'd have to put me in full body make-up to even get me in the audition. As such, that won't be happening any time soon.

I also understand that most of the 'beauty' comes from make-up, but why can't they put a plain-jane character in sci-fi TV that kicks-ass and takes names? It would be truly awesome if I could go out and play a phaser-wielding Jovian, killing all the Martians I could before they took over Earth, because the Jupiter-Earth alliance was so important for intergalactic travel....I'm getting way ahead of myself. However, I would be excellent comic relief.

Monday, February 15, 2010