New Job!

Hey everybody. I haven't posted in a very long time. I have been busy. This summer I did a lot of traveling back and forth between El Paso and Odessa. But now, I have moved back to Odessa because I now have an actual for-real 40 hour a week with benefits job. I know! Who knew? So I had to move back in with my parents. (I know.) But that's because I can't afford any place of my own. And I have a huuuge credit card debt to get out of. So my parent's house it is.

I got a job writing for the Odessa American, the city paper. I had interviewed at a bunch of advertising agencies in town over the summer but that was a bust. Then I went in to the OA and interviewed for a different position, but they needed writers (or reporters) and I tried that freelance for a few weeks, and then they offered me the full time position. Yay!

My brother was in El Paso until election day in November because he had gotten a job as campaign manager for this woman on the east side who was running for County Commissioner. (Or however you might spell that.) But she was a republican in a democratic town and thus lost. He said he was getting pretty fed up with that job too. Apparently he rarely had volunteers come in when they said they would, they spent way too much on signs and cards, and my brother recently found out when it came to pay, he was getting screwed. So when that was all over, my brother moved back home too! So it's all four of us under the same roof once again. Weird.

Anyway, I've been writing for the paper since October and I'm still getting the swing of things. The training program here is non-existant. I pretty much find out what not to do after I've done it. Other than that, it's going well so far. I do enjoy getting paid. Money! Yay for money! I've haven't had money in a very long time. Sometimes I still act like I don't have any and will think, I can't afford that. Then I remember, Wait, I had a paycheck the other day. Woo hoo!

So that's what I've been up to since summer. I'm still madly in love with Ok Go. They rock. They were on the VMAs to perform their video Here it Goes Again live. It was awesome! And they now have a DVD of videos out. I must have it.

Alright then. Until next time...whenever that might be.

Here's the link to the Odessa American website: OA online

Ok Go on the VH1 Countdown!

The magnificent band that is Ok Go had their new video for the song Here It Goes Again debut on the VH1 Countdown at number 11! I believe it has a lot in part to do with the millions of Ok Go fans from the Juggling Club fan site voting nonstop. If you want to see this video, I have the link on the side bar under music videos. Debuting at 11 is sweet, but we can get them to number one with everyone's help. Vote for Ok Go on VH1. Click and drag their video to the number one box. Just do it!! Now!!!

VH1 Countdown

El Paso Flood

Well the rain has let up here but now it's extremely and uncomfortably humid. It's raining again right now. Hopefully it's just a light shower. Hopefully the full storm passed by yesterday. They mentioned us on the Weather Channel today. Well as I said earlier, I put two videos my brother filmed on YouTube, one of which is below in the last post. Also, here's a couple pics he also took. The first one I sent online to KFOX TV and they showed it on tv yesterday. You should check out this other video someone else in El Paso uploaded. It's here: El Paso Flood

El Paso needs an ark

August 1st: El Paso is swept away...well, almost. You should have seen the crazy amount of rain we just got today. All of today. It was raining when I had to get up at 7:30 am and it was raining till about 4 pm. It was scary, insane rain...the likes of which El Paso has never seen. Simply saying the streets were flooded is a major understatement. Roads became rapids and the interstate that runs through town became a river. I had to drive in the crazy rain early in the morning and thank goodness I wasn't needed to go out in it later because it only got worse after 9 in the morning. Of course the news stations were all saying to just stay home. And El Paso is right on a mountain. Did I mention that? Or did you already know that? Anyway, so there were seriously dangerous flash floods and mudslides too. Cars were swept away and buildings were flooded. I have never seen such rain before in my life! It was ceaseless, unyeilding rain. The kind that makes you go looking for animals and a big boat. And in the beginning of the video, that white lopsidded rectangle in the water is an overturned truck. My brother and his friend filmed this. You can see more of the videos on YouTube.

My Brother's Graduation

My brother graduated this May. This is my mom, my brother, and me outside after the ceremony. It was really bright out. The graduation started at 10 am so this pic was taken at about noon. Doesn't my brother look like Napoleon Dynamite? With his long-ish hair, glasses, and that squint-sneer from the sun? Totally. He said he looked like Napoleon Dynamite. "Gosh! That's flippin awesome."

Diet Coke and Mentos

200 liters of Diet Coke + 500 Mentos mints = one hysterical and spectacular video of a mint-powered version of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas

Ok Go album pic

I was going to post a picture of me with my Ok Go album onto the Juggling Club fan site, but I missed the deadline for that participation. Well fine then, I say. I'll post it here.













That's my Ok Go album, Oh No, and shirt I got at the concert in Odessa. Nice, eh? So anyway.........I luv you Ok Go!!

Batman Begins MTV spoof

Jimmy Fallon is so great. Watch this MTV movie awards spoof of Batman Begins. "Holy awkward moment, Batman."

I Met OK GO!!

To recap quickly, the awesome band that is OK GO was at Dos Amigos in Odessa, TX this last Wednesday, May, 3rd. I drove in just to see them. And after seeing them live and in person, they are even more awesome and I love them even more! Oh, and did I mention, I touched two rock stars!! Yea baby!

Here are my two autographs and pictures. The other two did not make an appearance. See, I managed to catch them as they stepped outside the private cabin for bands on the side of Dos Amigos. And so, I got my picture taken with two real live rock stars. And, I actually spoke with them. Well, Timothy more than Damian. But I had an actual conversation with them! Here's the proof:


Damian Kulash - Lead singer

His autograph is on the left. My pen wasn't a thick marker unfortunately, but you can still see it.
























Timothy Nordwind - Bass























And here are some concert pics:














































And this is the band that went on before them. They're called The Lashes. They were pretty good. I didn't stay around for the third band, She Wants Revenge. I actually had never heard of SWR until the concert. I heard them from outside while I was talking to Damian and Timothy.

Ok Go in Odessa, TX!!!

The awesome band that is Ok Go is going to be performing at Dos Amigos in Odessa, Texas; my hometown!! I'm gonna get the chance to see them live! Maybe they'll autograph my CD. I can't wait! They're also going to be performing with She Wants Revenge and the Lashes. I haven't heard of the other two bands, but hopefully they'll be really good too.

Choice Quotes

"It's a very dangerous thing to do exactly what you want because you cannot know yourself or what you'd really do with all your power."

- The Flaming Lips
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song

Memorial for Sebastian

It is with a heavy and sad heart that I inform you that our dearly beloved pet fish, Sebastian, has passed away on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 at the age of about one year and two months. He was discovered in his bowl upside down...well, let's not think on how he was last seen.

He was a colorful betta fish of blues, greens, and purples. He was a mellow fish and was fond of his favorite hiding place within the fake leaves. Sebastian was a picky eater, much like his owner, and would only eat the freeze dried bloodworms.

Sebastian's passing was not entirely a surprise. He had possibly been suffering from a recent injury. He had been rather spastic of late and refused to eat. But whatever the case, his time has come and we hope his passing was painless as possible.

The services were held the same night. Sebastian was given a proper viking funeral out to sea. Sebastian was a wonderful pet fish and he will be greatly missed.

SNL: Harry Caray - Space The Infinite Frontier

Photo Show and Tell

I haven't posted any photos on my blog yet. Well, there was the one with the flying monkeys, but no real photos. And so, thanks to my shiny new scanner, I can share my photos like every other blogger. Let the show and tell begin!















I graduated from The University of Texas at El Paso, December 2005. It's obvious that I'm the one in the middle since I'm the only one looking up and in focus. We're filing into the auditorium at the start of the ceremony here.















This is me in my parents' home in Odessa, TX. There's me and my friend Audra and her two-year-old son, Connor. We've been friends since highschool.

This is Halloween 2005. I dressed as my favorite childhood cartoon character, Rainbow Brite. Rainbow Brite, in case you're not an 80s child, was...well, from the 1980s. Rainbow Brite is the best, most awesome cartoon ever! And other 80s cartoons are back for a new generation including My Little Pony, Thundercats, Ninja Turtles, and Strawberry Shortcake. But it makes me very mad to see that Strawberry chick everywhere in new dolls and DVDs and not Rainbow Brite. Where's her due?? She gives the world color!! The small photo is me in 1985 dressed as RB. My mom made it by hand. She always made me and my brother our costumes. She rules.














This picture was in a time capsule my first grade teacher had everyone in class make for themselves because she knew that we were going to be the high school graduating class of 2000. And in that time capsule, was an original My Little Pony. This is me at age 7. Aren't I the cutest in that little dress? According to the back of the photo, my mom wrote that this is March 15, 1989 and I'm receiving the Citizen of the Month award.














I spent my second semester of college on the Disney college program. I spent the spring semester in Orlando and worked in EPCOT. And I know the photo here isn't of EPCOT but of the Magic Kingdom. My EPCOT pictures weren't as good as this one. It was THE college experience for me because I didn't really do much of anything in El Paso. It was the best 5 months. I got to go into any park whenever I wanted while I worked there, for free of course! I still stay in contact with a guy I dated then, he's now a friend.

















This is him. Name's Jimmy. And he had those glasses before they became all popular.















This is the Boardwalk hotel and casino in Las Vegas. It's the casino we stayed in the last time my family went to Las Vegas. We went for my brother's 21st birthday. When we went for my 21st, we stayed at the Excailbur hotel and casino. The Boardwalk is a great place to stay. It's smaller cuz it's an older casino and you can't get lost amid the slots on the casino floor. Not like the Luxor. But sadly, I hear news that it's gonna be torn down to make way for those time share hotel thingys. Which if you ask me is utterly stupid. This casino is directly on the strip. A casino belongs on the strip. Not time share condos. It's ridiculous.
















This is the Excalibur hotel and casino.





















This is my brother, Dustin, and I. We stopped for a Kodak moment at the Venetian hotel and casino.
















My mom and I went to see the Tom Jones concert at the MGM Grand. Unlike the poster, Tom had a beard when we saw him. My brother and dad went to see the Follies show at the Tropicana.






















My dad, me, and my brother in front of the Bellagio fountain show. My dad carries that old ratty camera bag everywhere. Photography is his hobby and he takes pictures with several different cameras on vacation. The one hanging from the neck strap is a camera that takes 3-D photos.


And thus concludes the show and tell. Hope you enjoyed it. I will no doubt start posting photos from now on. But not like this. It'll prolly just be one or two photos a posting from now on. Anyway, I think this personalizes my blog a lot more. And that was my goal. Goal achieved!

Watch these videos

I found this while surfing thru Metacafe. He has his own website with lots of other videos. I have the link on the side column.


I saw this commercial once on TV then never saw it again. But I found it! It's hilarious!


Laughing Baby


The Japanese are so efficient. Too bad I didn't inherit those traits. (My grandma is Japanese.)

My Yahoo Avatar

Superbowl Commercials

Check out one of the funny commercials from this year's super bowl.
The second one is from a couple years ago. Still funny. To see more, here's the link. Superbowl commercials

Choice Quotes

"If evil were a lesser breed than justice after all these years,
the righteous would have freed the world of sin."

- OkGo
The House Wins

I thought I'd start posting quotes I really liked every week, but let's be realistic. I barely post anything once a week. So I'll just post them whenever. And this quote is a song lyric from an OkGo song. If you have their CD, it's #13.

Ok Go

Another awesome band I've gotten into is OkGo. Their new album OhNo is fantastic. I love their sound and the lead singer's voice. I'm not doing them justice I'm afraid. I can't describe them very well except to say that I love this band. There's a better description on their webpage if you click About OkGo. I hope they tour in El Paso TX soon. I don't go to many concerts cuz I'm usually always strapped for cash. I've only been to a No Doubt concert and an Areosmith concert. So it's really saying something if I want to go to a band's concert. OkGo rocks!

Visit their site. Ok Go

Be sure to watch their music video! It's so great and funny. Damian's sister choreographed their dance. According to an interview with Damian, his sister was a ballroom dancer for years. So be sure to watch it. And if you've seen it already, watch it again!

Flying Monkeys!

Check this out! My first time playing with Adobe Photoshop.

It's the attack of the flying monkeys! Get away! These magic shoes are mine!

Heh heh. Anyway, yeah. I'm learning photoshop and illustrator. This pic isn't the best, but it was my first go at it, so I think it's good. And it's funny. I used my digital camera to insert the pic of, yes that's me, (ugh, bad hair day) and then erased the background and put in the monkeys. Whadaya think? Yeah, I should work on getting rid of the shadows and stuff. Don't know how to yet.

Graduated, now what?

I just graduated from college Dec. 10, 2005. I are a gaduate! Heh heh. Anyway, my internship is now over because it was for college credit. I went home to Odessa for the holidays. Over the break, and I don't really know what brought it up, but I started thinking about careers and such and I suddenly got the idea about going into event planning. It just sounded better than advertising. I want to learn Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and I have been learning, but event planning just sounded better.

See, in advertising, copywriting and all that, I would need to be creative all of the time. I would need to always be working on many different client's needs all at once and so on. Talk about stressful. And I worry about needing to be creative all of the time in order to do copywriting and layout. But with event planning, which I admit might also be stressful in the organizing department (but all jobs are stressful, right?) with event planning I would work with elements that have already been thought up by someone else and I would just work with what I've been given. I would need to organize events and bring together all different aspects of advertising, sponsors, people, etc. but I wouldn't have to come up with it all on my own. I would just organize it. And my boss from my internship said it would be a good move.

But now I have a problem. I have no contacts. No one to call. I'm on my own unless my aunt knows someone in town. And she does seem to know everyone. But I'm gonna start something new I didn't take classes for. And it's really scary, you know? I feel like I have no direction right now. But I do have a plan, sort of, and that's a start. Right?