I liiiiiiiive! Again. Life's been either supremely boring or really distracting lately.

X-Files rewatch continues! We've finished season six now. Dear lord, I loved that season. How the Ghosts Stole Christmas? Triangle? Arcadia? The Unnatural? SO MUCH LOVE. (I had Jesse L. Martin's rendition of "Come and Go With Me To That Land" stuck in my head earlier) Also, after rewatching "Tithonus," I get curious again about how Scully is supposedly going to live forever. So, do any of my equally-nerdy X-Files friends know of any fic that has Scully dealing with that? 'Cause that would be fascinating. And sad. Angsty fic opportunity, right there! Also as part of my X-Files kick, I gave Mulder and Scully some colored pencil love.

I'm picking up on the running a bit! Been doing speed work over the summer, and I can definitely feel my endurance picking up. I'm gonna get myself registered for some of the fall races at Disney and get into the swing of it!

The World continues... they took PAC away from Frontierland. :( Main Street does it all now. And they suck at it. Oh well. Splash has been quiet. Mad props to the CM who put together a GIANT coloring book and brought it in with colored pencils and put it in the break room. It's like going back to kindergarten and it's awesome. I've been training a lot, although for the next couple of weeks I'm just in rotation. Sadly, no guest!win or guest!fail really sticks out in my mind this time around. :( I did get to Star Wars Weekends once and OMG LOVE. Darth Vader dancing to "Can't Touch This"? EPIC WIN. Photos from that here

Birding has tapered off for the season, alas, because the evil mosquitoes of doom have arrived. Oh, and it's a wee bit warm. Details. I've gotten a couple of trips in lately, though...

( Shingle Creek Trail 5/10/09 )

( Canaveral National Seashore 6/02/09 )

I also went back to Shingle Creek earlier this week, but more just to sit and chill than anything. I did see a procession of turkeys walking around - with their babies! It was adorable! I got pics, but I'm still going through them. For the record, baby turkeys rival baby sandhill cranes for cutest birdie fuzzballs around here.

And books! ( May 2009 books )

You know what makes me happy about spring and summer in Orlando? The epic thunderstorms. Listening to one right now. I absolutely love just sitting here and listening to them go. This is a good one, too, a strike every 5-10 seconds. And we're under a tornado watch. I'm looking at the roof of the next building, and it's raining so hard that the gutters can't keep up - it's overflowing everywhere. Florida during storm season: I love you. (And as I typed that, lightning totally just hit within 100 yards)

Two weeks of getting to work at 6:30 am every day, 6 days a week? *drops dead* I'm sooo glad the craziest week is over. It'll still be busy this week, and then next week is back to peace and quiet until summer! Although Space Mountain closes for long-term refurb on the 19th, so the morning Extra Magic Hours are moving to Frontierland. BOO. I'm training two CPs next week being sent over from Space... and with the earlier open on Thursday, we start at 5:30 am (instead of the usual 6:30). *dies again* But I got my one-year service pin! Yaaaay! My first year of selling my soul finally has something to show for it! XDD

But sana_chan, richiied, and Dustin came to visit! YAAAAAY! It was so awesome to see them again, 'cause it's been like 3 freakin' years! So much playing in the parks happened! I FINALLY got all my pictures for the last month uploaded yesterday, you can see them here.

Went to GameStop and traded in some video games! I picked up the new Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Good game! The missions really aren't very difficult. But the best feature? Walking into a scratch card shop, buying a scratch card, and actually using the stylus to scratch it off. It's a new level of addicting. XD I also got Picross, which is a nonogram puzzle game. So far, it's all a bit too easy, so hopefully they'll get more challenging.

The X-Files rewatch continues! We're up to the last few episodes of season 3, and about to start the season 4 awesomeness.

I also continue to run once a week or so. Usually about 3-4 miles, which I can do in relative comfort, keeping up a 10-11 min/mile pace. Yay! I also reward myself with Taco Bell when I'm done. :P Less than 9 months until race day! I might also do the Everest 5k Challenge and/or Tower of Terror 13k to get a little practice beforehand.

I've been trying to get myself drawing a lot, too. I've got a big giraffe colored pencil piece I'm working on now, and a couple of others I'm playing around with. I'm trying to find ways to make myself finish stuff, because no matter how excited I am about a piece, I tend to get lazy and not finish it. So I'm thinking I might start posting "work in progress" pieces in the scraps section of DA. Maybe that will help keep me motivated to finish things.

And books! ( Errrr..book! )

And this week we have some guest!fail!

(man and his huge party approaches me with a GAC card at the Splash exit)
Me: Actually, sir, with this card you're going to go right through our FastPass line.
Man: Oh, no I'm not! We're coming through here.
Me: Sir, the people who have these cards go through the FastPass line.
Man: We've been doing this for 16 years. We're coming through here.
Me: I'm sorry, sir, but all of those Guest Assistance Cards go through the FastPass line.
Man: Then you need to call a supervisor immediately, because you're in way over your head. You have no idea what you're dealing with.

...WTF? Aside from being a prick, the guy sounded like a cliche supervillain. If I didn't care about my job, I would have made a snappy comeback to that...

And, also, a guest!fail award to the guy at FastPass Return who called me a "Nazi" because I made them wait until their time on the FastPass. Again, if I didn't care about my job, I might have saluted him...

And a big collective guest!win award to all the guests who brought their patience this week, and remained cheery and friendly despite standing in line for hours. Those whom I joked around with... you were a huge relief!

...OMG, a real update!! One with a lot of randomness.

We had our Frontierland trainer outing last week, which rocked. First they fed us all breakfast at Splash. Then we went to DAK, and rode a Safari truck from storage out to the attraction, got our own ride through the safari, and then rode back. We got a free lunch, did a big scavenger hunt, then got a tour of Dinosaur's tower and got backdoored. So much win! And we got paid for all that. XD

The parks are PACKED. Holy crap. I think Disney was caught unawares by this year's Spring Break rush. Recession? What recession? They've had to extend park hours and/or add extra Spectros this week almost every day. Oh! And I finally saw Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It!... and LOVED it. It's everything that the new day parade should have been. I have way too much fun with it. I got lots of pics, I just need to get around to uploading them. I also finally met the fairies! Tink was AWESOME. She was afraid of leprechauns. XD I got pics of all that too that I need to get up.

Character audition... as thought, back in the pool! They combined it with a CP audition, so there were like 300 people there. I didn't get out til like 8, and I was one of the first ones there. But I'm back in the pool... yet again. (They also turned away HORDES of CPs... if they took any, it wasn't much)

Swallow-tail kites are back for the summer! Eee! I've seen them twice in the last week, right in front of my apartment complex.

And at the same time - the rains are finally back! There's been showers on and off today. We need it badly. Hasn't done anything to stop the fires up in Volusia, though. Yesterday the park smelled strongly of smoke, and when I did the morning ride-through, everything at the top of C-lift (that tied-up Brer Rabbit) was really hazy. And we're a long way away!

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is out... I totally need to go to GameStop and trade in some stuff and get it. :P And DDR: Disney Groove for the Wii comes out on the 2nd! WOO!

And OMG HULU.COM FINISHED ADDING ALL THE SEASON ONE FLIPPER EPISODES. That totally made my day. XDDDD

I totally got my roommates hooked on X-Files. We've started at the beginning and are watching the whole series beginning to end, 2-3 episodes a night. :D Half of the episodes I'd totally forgotten because I saw them once and never again. :P

Also... Free Willy 4. No joke. Bindi Irwin and Beau Bridges. XDDD

And in a last note, recent Guest!win quotes:
"Why does the water smell bad?"
(kid gets off, soaking wet) "I took a HUGE dump!"

HAPPY FUN WEEKEND TIMEZ!!! XD

...not that I did much this week. I got pulled to do requals the entire week! Hooray for requals!! XD (When we change something in the OG, we have to bring each CM in, one by one, and explain the changes to them. It rocks.) I pretty much kicked back in the training room and took turns with the other trainers going out to bump people out of rotation. And I got trainer pay for it. WIN.

I also helped teach an evacuation class this week. HAH, we ROCKED it. First, our new batch of CPs kicked some ass and did really well. Second, we trainers planned out our ideal class and executed nicely. Third... you can't go wrong when you get to play the totally loony guest in the log. XD ("My log has PIXIE DUST ON IT!" "The mean voice told me to keep my feet inside the log! I was just trying to be like that frog!") Or when you show the trainees how to trackwalk after an evac by marching them through the mountain singing Christmas carols. And the Rocky theme as you run up the 99 stairs up C-lift. XDDD ...or "hand-check!" CMs on ride-through. HEE! (Sadly, that's the only time I've ever been the one evac'ed off any ride... and it was all planned!)

In Guest!Win this week... the one that puked off the chicken bridge onto a log filled with guests below. You made my day, in such a sick-but-hilarious way. XD

And god help me, the music from "Celebrate a Dream Come True" is growing on me. It's catchy. Anyone got a rehearsal CD? XDDDD (...what's even more sad is that I've already picked up half the routine for a couple of units, including the show stop :P) I also really need to go to MK and see "Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It!" in person, because I watched it on YouTube and it looks like everything that the new day parade SHOULD have been. And 'cause I wanna get my ass out in the street and shake my tailfeather. XD (sana_chan... MUST DO IT. XDDD)
(PS... how do I learn stiltwalking? Because that looks WAY too fun.)
(PPS... anyone got a rehearsal CD for that one? ;))

But YAY for trainer outings! (the first in like 2 years, apparently) Yay for getting paid for a day of playing next week! I'm psyched. They haven't told us where we're going yet (they want it to be a surprise) but they did say we're allowed to dress casually (tank tops, jeans, sandals even!).

So I'm considering auditioning for the Encore Cast Choir show this summer. However, since I haven't done any form of singing audition since middle school (runner up for the solo... GRRR!) I'm a bit intimidated and lost by the process. :P Still not even really sure how to pick a good audition song or 16-bar segment.

I also saw Coraline with ariellen last week! It was really good, but I think if I'd been a little kid I would have been scared shitless. It was much creepier than Nightmare Before Christmas or Corpse Bride.

The roomies and I watched ESB last night... and found a Hidden Mickey on Cloud City. "NEEERD!" (And what looks like an Ugnaught orally pleasuring Han Solo. Just sayin'.)

Aaaaand books! ( February 2008 books! )

Merry Christmas!!

Work is done, presents are opened, and now it's time to kick back!

The parks have, of course, been insane. I had log wash yesterday morning, thus was out of rotation from 6:45 to 9:45... went into rotation until 10:45, when I got my parade bump out. Yay for only one hour in rotation! Yaaaay for double day parades! I then nearly lost my voice doing parade, screaming "stay to your right!" And eventually, "...hold up this hand! It makes an 'L'! That's your left! Hold up the other hand! It doesn't make an 'L'! That's your right! Stay to your right!!" ...and of course, because people still didn't listen, there was such a bad traffic jam at the crosswalk that we had to start turning people back mid-crossing, practically shoving them off the street as the parade started.

Also, there are 37 elves in the Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. Just sayin'.

Today was crazy... we had about a 100 minute wait at Splash. But for all the waiting, few people were cranky about it. Most were very cheery, and I had some great conversations with guests who'd already been in line over an hour.

Oh, and for lulz, Sunday morning while picking logs, we found an empty 99 Oranges mini-bottle in a log. Party on Splash Mountain, yo! ;) We had it proudly on display in the break room until a coordinator got cranky about it and threw it out. :p

And through it all, nature gave me a cold for Christmas. I've blown my nose so much that I got a bloody nose. Yippee!

And of course, the Christmas presents today! This year's haul so far:
-4 GB Compact Flash card
-Spare camera battery
-1.4x tele-extender for my 400mm lens (methinks next week I should go out to Merritt Island to play with it...)
-"The Beauty of the Beasts" by Ralph Helfer
-"Steve and Me" by Terri Irwin
-"Alex and Me" by Irene Pepperberg
-Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass, for DS
-Super Smash Brothers Brawl, for Wii
-"How to Draw Disney-Pixar Characters" (those books, while simplistic, have some AWESOME reference info)
-"The Book of Animal Ignorance" by John Mitchinson and John Lloyd
-Mad About You season 2 DVDs
-Lenox Mickey Mouse ears ornament
-Mickey Mouse ornament
-Polar fleece pullover

Still got a bit more to come, too! :D

Other than that, I'm just relaxing. Slowly moving stuff over to my new apartment, which now is getting some furniture thanks to my new roomie's awesome mom! Also trying to draw a bit - did this one the day. Also feeling the need to do some Enchanted sketches. And I'm totally hooked on this year's Tokyo Disneyland Christmas parade music, "Mickey's Jolly Christmas Snowtime." Seriously, everything they write is so freakin' catchy! Got my last two Candelight shows tomorrow night, too!

Everyone have a happy holiday!

It's December, holy crap. I should probably think about Christmas shopping. :P

I had Custodial training yesterday - I can now clean up protein spills. Go me! Yeah, had to do that one for Tom Sawyer Island. I finally got my TSI/Bears training scheduled for next week. My days off are a bit screwy because of it, but it should be an easy week, so that rocks.

It was all stormy yesterday! We haven't had weather like that in months! I was excited. We even had a tornado warning at the park - apparently someone saw one touch down over in Celebration.

X-Files DVD tomorrow EEEEEEEEEE!! Totally running to Best Buy to get it. Three-disc special edition, baby!!!

Thinking of going birding tomorrow if I can get off my lazy butt. Might hit a couple of spots down in Kissimmee. Or maybe Brinson Park this evening. You know... if I get un-lazy. /still hasn't even showered yet

And I really need to draw today, I got a lot of projects to work on...

*keels over and falls asleep*

Okay, I'm pooped. Busy week! I went to bed at 6 pm last night.

Had my birthday on Thursday! Woo! I got someone to take my shift, so I played in the parks. I started at Animal Kingdom, where I wandered around a lot, met characters, look at animals, ran into salukfan, and took lots of wild bird photos. :D Oh, and I got free cake at Pizzafari. Win! XD I also found an uber-cute World Wildlife Fund t-shirt (it's a little cartoon panda with bamboo that says "Chillin' Wit' My Boo") and a wildlife book ("Becoming a Tiger") to use my 50% cast discount on. :D

After that, I headed over to Magic Kingdom! I went to say hi to the rest of the Splash Trash, then watched some Dream Along With Mickey and the Christmas castle lighting show, Cinderella's Holiday Wish. Then ariellen joined me for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party! It was a blast!! Mickey's Twas the Night Before Christmas has TOTALLY changed since my CP, so that was cool to see! Holiday Wishes was great, Celebrate the Season still rocks (is it just me, or did they remove the winter wonderland segment? Or did I just totally block that out?), and the Once Upon a Christmastime Parade is still poo compared to the old Very Merry Christmas Parade.

I got tons of pics from the day: Animal Kingdom photos here, and Christmas party photos here!

Then on Friday night I went and saw Bolt in 3-D with vinsaneboy! The movie ROCKED. Funny, cute, and moving in all the right places. Rhino the hamster is my hero! :D

I also had my last Candlelight Processional rehearsal this week... now it's just the shows next month!!!

In other random news:
-Our scheduler continues to show her idiocy, and only scheduled me four days next week. *headdesk*
-This article made me laugh. Really? You're THAT stupid? Because it's cute, you think you can just go HUG it and it will be okay with that?! Somewhere, Darwin is cursing your survival.
-I finished reading Twilight last night. Holy Mary Sue story, Batman! Was still impossible to put down, though.
-I got a nice new field guide to Florida birds, and it makes me happy.

4-day weekends FOR THE WIN.

Been a busy week, running errands, Candlelight rehearsal, etc. I am POOPED, and so excited that I get 4 days to relax.

I'm getting trained at Country Bears and Tom Sawyer Island in December. Woo! It'll be nice to have quiet attractions to work.

Christmas decorations at the parks are going up! They had the Christmas lights on the castle on one morning this week when I got to work. PRETTTTTYYYYY. Christmas parade rehearsals have been going on... they're blaring the rehearsal music so loud that I could clearly hear it from Splash FastPass Return today. Um, bad show much? But their cast preview is this coming Saturday. WOO! Another late night! :P

It's been freakin' COLD too. Like, 40s in the mornings. Shut up. For Florida, that's cold. I had my jacket on at work, and gloves, and hat... and still froze. It doesn't help that they can't turn off the A/C at the queue's merge point, either. (They say it's tied into the A/C on the ride, so shutting it off at merge shuts it off on the ride, which they can't do.)

Aaaaand, it's time for the reading wrap-up! ( October's books under the cut! )

So... "Professor Layton and the Curious Village"? One of the most addicting games EVAR. I keep running my DS battery out playing it. As soon as I get back to the tunnels after work I whip out my DS and start playing. It's like crack! I'm almost to the end, though, I think. I'm in one of the top levels of the tower, and am MASSIVELY stuck on a puzzle.

On a side DS note... finally, a GTA for DS? SO MUCH WIN.

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party happened this week! WOO! I went on Tuesday night with vinsaneboy. After a last-minute annoyance at not being able to find my boots (I think I left them in Seattle) I borrowed a pair and wore my Elizabeth Swann costume. We hit up lots of character spots! Cindy, Belle, Aurora, Ariel, Abu, Genie, Aladdin, Jasmine, Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters, and more. Saw the parade of course, and I finally got a ROCKIN' shot of the Headless Horseman (I got smart and brought along my 50mm f/1.8 lens for the parade). And of course we got plenty of candy. I came away with a bag and a half (even though Captain Tightpants at the Fantasyland treat station gave me only ONE PIECE) and am chowing down. :P LOVED the makeup on the HM CMs, too. :D Full pics here!

So I've had a bitch of a migraine all afternoon. So bad that I had to sleep through my lunch break because I couldn't sit up, then take 4 ibuprofen just to make it bearable when I went out to parade. And this is the second time this week that I've had one that bad. SUCK. :( (On Sunday, I had to call a coordinator to come relieve me for a few minutes because I felt like I might collapse) *sigh* 4 ibuprofen and 2 Excedrin Migraine later, I'm at least drugged up enough that I can deal.

Gas is back down! WOO! It hasn't been this cheap here since February. I filled up yesterday for $2.81/gal.

My copy of "A Lion Among Men" arrived, and I finished it already! The weakest of the Wicked trilogy so far, but still very enjoyable!

Seahawks were PATHETIC. I miss Matt Hasselbeck. :( At least I got to see the game on TV, though.

Cast Holiday discount starts in 3 days! WOO! And I heard rumor today that our merchandise discount has actually been changed to 50%, to encourage spending in tight times. Only heard it from one person so far, though. I hope it's true.

Got my High School Musical 3 ticket! Midnight tonight, baby!! XD /dork

So my fantasy football team got SPANKED this week, 'cause all my players decided to suck. Gah. At least the Seahawks won, though! :D

Been reading like all the time. Oh, how I've missed doing that! Finished 4 books so far this month, on the way to 5. And my copy of Brisingr arrived from the library today! WOO! That was fast. :D So now I will bury myself in that (and put "Inkspell" on hold again).

Candlelight Processional rehearsals are going well! It's a bit of a challenge... I haven't done choir in years, so I'm slowly getting back into the swing. I'm also really learning it on the fly, since rehearsals go fast. Sight reading was never really my strong point, but I'm really working on it! It doesn't help that I'm an alto, and thus not the melody. :P I've got the rehearsal CD though, so that helps. But it's really fun - rehearsals are a blast. You work hard, but they really want it to be fun for everyone, so they're lively and lighthearted. I also usually have time to kill between the end of work and the start of rehearsal, so I end up hanging around Epcot for a couple of hours. I love to go to that back corner of France, in that garden, and sit down on a bench and read. :D

Splash is going well. The mountain is sort of giving us the finger at this point. She's telling us she's ready for annual refurb by going 101 every 10 minutes. See, every morning when we power up, we hit the "Track Open" button, and Frieda (the computer) tells us "Have a Zippa Dee Doo Dah Day." (No, she literally tells us. Frieda has a voice synthesizer.) And I think, when she says that, that's her way of giving us the finger, for we're usually down within an hour or two. :P

Movie night kinda got rained out. I say kinda because it was supposed to be on Tom Sawyer Island at 9pm... and at 8:58 it opened up and poured. So we hightailed it to the Walt Disney Story Theater on Main Street and watched it there instead. It was National Treasure 2, which is a pretty good one. And there was free pop and candy and ice cream, which is always good. Everyone was disappointed it wasn't on the island, though - we were all looking forward to getting to be on the island late at night more than the movie itself. :P

Hung out with mattore at MK and Epcot this week! YAY! We saw the most crackstastic Dream Along. They were short a Goofy, so they did the opening number, but it had no character voices at all, and Peter and Wendy and Hook and Smee and all the princes and princesses came out and random fireworks shot off. And then they just did a set. Good times! Oh, and the new, updated, sharper-resolution Illuminations globe? WIN. I can actually tell what the images are now! I sat there going "...I never knew that's what that was!"

Wii playing has happened a lot this week. Still chugging away on Lego Indiana Jones - 81.9% now. I'm one artifact shy of having Temple of Doom 100% complete (and thank god, too, 'cause I HATED some of those levels, like Escape from the Mines and Temple of Kali)

New Grey's this week! Finally!! XDDD

Splash is special this week. Yeeeah. Wednesday we opened 1.5 hours late, were down for an hour after a mid-day e-stop evac, and then went down for another half hour in the afternoon. Today we opened two hours late. *pats Splash on the head patronizingly* I think Frieda (the computer) hates us. :P Oh, well. :P Tomorrow and Sunday I'm in at 7:15. I haven't come in that early since training. I hope there's training groups, 'cause I don't know that I remember how to open tower or trackwalk. :P

I've done a lot of PAC this week, too. Day and night parade yesterday, day parade today, and I'll have day parade for the rest of the weekend. Yaaaay parade! I tried to play beach ball with kids yesterday afternoon, but there was a storm coming in (parade stepped off ten minutes early) and the wind kept blowing the ball away. :P I made up for it at night parade, though. We had an AWESOME beach ball game with a bunch of teenagers before the 11pm parade. :P

Oh, and DDCT today? Thanks for the epic pre-parade fail. You should probably start the music BEFORE the grand marshal performers are 50-100 yards down the parade route, so that we can, you know, know it's coming and get out of the way? Just a thought. :P

I was a good girl and finished my Indy drawing! I think I really biffed up his face, but I LOVED shading the horse. Uploaded to DA here!

I've got a Legend of Mythica one in mind next, because that show amazes me. (Video on YouTube starts here with the intro, check the "Related Videos" for the rest of the parts) Tokyo DisneySea, how are you so awesome?

And dammit, I got hooked on Ikariam now! I blame it joesmom92 and droops. So now I immediately check that in the morning, as well as my two Travian servers. :P

Oh, and I totally blame ariellen for spurring on my favorite new crack!pairing: Jack Sparrow/Giselle. Because it just brings the lulz. :P

And on the Wii front...
LEGO Star Wars Complete Saga: 85%
LEGO Indiana Jones Original Adventures: 72%

It's my weekend! Finally! And a TWO DAY weekend! I'm back to 6 days next week again, but still only 47 hours. And I have parade 3 days this week - one Spectro and two day PAC. And I have morning trackwalker shifts all next weekend, which should be interesting... I haven't walked track since I trained. I hope I can remember where everything is. :P Yesterday was MK's Gay Day, which ROCKED. It's amazing - the folks in the redshirts were so wonderful. They're friendly, fun, can listen and follow directions, and don't whine to us about everything. Someone at Splash put it best: we were treated like HUMANS. So to everyone who attended Gay Day: THANK YOU! You guys rock. I just wish I could have seen the 1pm show insanity at Bears - I hear it's hilarious. XD (The line about that time stretched to the Haunted Mansion. For the COUNTRY BEARS.)

Went to DAK on Monday! I wandered for awhile, and stopped to see princealia at work. (I'll eat cake next time, I swear! XD) And salukfan happened to be there, too, so I hung out with them for a bit and we watched the parade. Tried to go see Nemo, but got in, sat down... and then they cancelled the show. Doh! So I went on Everest, front row. Not bad, but it was raining and that rain HURT at high speeds! Saw Festival of the Lion King (that show is always sheer awesome), did Maharajah Jungle Trek (Southeast Asian mammals! <3), saw the baby siamang and baby white cheek, did Kilimanjaro. Lots of fun! Pics up here.

Then... Pirate and Princess Party on Wednesday night!! WHEE! OMG, it was SO much fun. ( The P&P recap! Pirates! Princesses! Fangirling! Kirsten in costume! )

Of course, I picked up Lego Indiana Jones last week! Been playing it like crazy, and have finished Raiders of the Lost Ark and most of Temple of Doom so far. ( Lego Indiana Jones review! )

And in the random news:

Publix's Buy One Get One is WIN. Easy Mac AND Thomas bagels on that sale? I totally stocked up.

Andrew Stanton + John Carter of Mars = EPIC WIN.

Got my yellow ID this week! Wiiiiiiin!

Still trying to get back into the habit of drawing daily. I'd like to beef up my portfolio a bit and maybe start taking commissions here and there. I'm bout halfway done coloring the Indy drawing, and have an idea for a Legend of Mythica piece.

Splash had a 101 party today. It was great. We went 101 5 minutes after opening, and were down for 2 hours. Then a couple of hours after we reopened, we went down again for another hour. Yaaaaaay for sitting around all day! Apparently Paris Hilton was in the park, and visited Thunder while we were down the second time.

Toy Story Midway Mania cast previews were this weekend! I thought I wasn't gonna get to go because I was working the whole time, but I found out they extended the hours today, so I stopped by after work! Here's my thoughts... ( Not much to spoil, but under a cut anyways... )

I ended up going to Studios for a bit on Monday night to photograph Fantasmic. It was fun to try out my 400mm at a Disney park finally! Got some nifty closeups. It was also a dragon-less show. I'd never seen one of those before, in all the bajillion times I've seen Fantasmic at both parks. But really, it's done very well. If you didn't know there was supposed to be a big dragon there, you'd probably never know the difference. Pics from the night are up here!

Grey's this week? Addison Montgomery, how are you so awesome? Seriously.

Operation "Beat LEGO Star Wars So I Can Buy LEGO Indiana Jones Next Month With A Clear Conscience" progresses! I'm at 40% now after 25 hours of gameplay. I've beaten everything on story mode, and I'm going through everything in free play mode now to get all the True Jedis and red bricks and minikits. I bought Ghost Yoda, and he kicks ass. Ghost Ben Kenobi is up next, because Yoda is too damn slow when he walks and that annoys me. :P

And speaking of things Indy... AFHLALKGJKSLHK JUST OVER TWO WEEKS TO GO. Seriously. I'm SO psyched. I keep hoping to see Downtown Disney AMC theater announce a midnight showing, but they haven't done it yet. It's SO weird to see Indy tie-ins being pushed everywhere now. And new theatrical trailer out!! LOVE it. And you can pre-order the soundtrack at Amazon for $10. I already did! Is it May 22 yet?

I'M BACK AT DISNEY, BABY.

I had Disney brainwashing Traditions on Tuesday! Lots of snore-inducing policy stuff, and a few sweet videos... but then I got my ID! WOO! FREE ADMISSION BRINGS THE WIN. Oh, and their sexual harassment video is TOTALLY the same one we watched at Half Price Books. XD And I got my work location... *drumroll* SPLASH MOUNTAIN! WOOOOOOOO!!!! I was totally excited, that's like my favorite ride in the park.

Soooo, had Wednesday off and took advantage of the new ID and played at MK! :D ( Kirsten's first play day back at the Magic Kingdom! )

I had my MK orientation yesterday, and got out to my work area in the afternoon! It was like a day of getting paid to go on rides. (Two at MK orientation, and then Big Thunder and Splash as part of my Frontierland orientation) And holy crap, they've moved EVERYTHING around at MK! It's like having to relearn backstage! Entertainment costuming moved, labor operations moved into Ent. costuming's old space, the Adventureland/Frontierland base doesn't exist anymore, Property Control has a real building now instead of the ghetto tent, main costuming has ITS OWN FREAKIN' BUILDING now out at West Clock, and you can actually take your costumes home from MK now. At least the locker room, Mouseketeria, and Frontierland haven't moved! XD It's all coming back to me, though - it's much easier getting around when I already know my way around the tunnels and won't get hopelessly lost again. ;) (although now there is a map on the wall down there like every 50 feet so people don't get lost anymore, LOL)

I was gonna go to the Block Party Bash cast preview last night, but it was POURING, so I stayed home 'cause I figured it'd get canceled anyways. But I'm really curious how WDW's version is going to compare to DL's, and what they've had to change to fit within all the Actor's Equity Association regs here. I'll have to check it out once it opens! (I think a bunch of days at Studios coming up are blocked out to CMs, though, because of the holiday and the new show)

Sunday morning I start training at Splash! Eep! And what's more... according to CDS, I'm working mandatory 7 days next week. ILU, DOUBLE-TIME! XD I've never gotten double-time before because they NEVER let us get it on my CP. So I'm psyched. XD

(And apologies, to those who weren't on my f-list five years ago and who aren't CMs, if I lapse into Cast Member speak and acronyms. Old habits die hard. ;))

And one a totally random note: White killer whale! too cool! Reminds me a bit of Chimo. (Was Chimo a full albino? I don't THINK so, but I don't recall for sure)

So my squee got totally harshed last week. Brining my car home from the repair shop, I got into an accident and totaled it. *headdesk* I'm okay, just had a big bump to the head for a couple of days, the other driver seemed to be okay. So I'm totally thankful for that. But I had to spend the rest of the week dealing with the insurance and car shopping and everything. But as of tonight, I have bought a replacement car! Another Saturn, because my old Saturn was Made of Awesome. So I got a 2000 Saturn SL 1, and hopefully it shall live a good, long, happy Saturn life. (Also? Saturn customer service is win. "Courtesy" Toyota? Not so much. Yay, buying from Saturn dealers!)

So, I try to put that behind me, TRADITIONS TOMORROW! EEEE! I AM SO EXCITED. It's actually 8 hours long when you're a regular CM! As opposed to 4 hours for CPs. Prease to have twice the Disney brainwashing? XD

Hung out with princealia last night! OMG WE WENT AND SAW FANTASMIC AND I SCREAMED AND CHEERED. It felt WONDERFUL to get back into the parks again. When did they change the Fantasmic set's backdrop from the cargo netting stuff to the trees? And did the change the finale fireworks? I reveal my utter Fantasmic dorkiness, but I noticed this straight off last night... the thee shots in a row in the middle of Sorcerer Mickey's routine used to be more like flares (~3:12), but they changed them to be more like DL's (~3:06). And I noticed the difference immediately. Prease to have dork points? Then OMG WE WENT AND SAW ILLUMINATIONS. That show is still SO DAMN AWESOME. We had a great spot, right along the rail in the International Gateway area. And we totally were trying to have a rave to the pre-show music. But with no glow sticks, it was sad. D: Also, when did the first shot of Illuminations start coming from America instead of Canada? I was looking to the right, when all of a sudden it comes out directly in front of me! :P Stupid changes, throwing off my groove. :P

We got pizza and apple juice and went back to princeami_m_fan's hotel room and watched TV for hours. OMG, Stacey? The chick on the WDW Top Seven channel? GIRL NEEDS TO STOP AND TAKE CHILL PILLS. She's ADHD in the extreme. XD And her 40-year-old DVC Channel counterpart is equally creepy, but in a more toned-down way. :P We watched Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla. Cheesy Japanese movie. But dubbed into Spanish. I tell you, it's damn entertaining when you make up your own dialogue and plot points because you don't speak Spanish. XD Also had the craziest IM-and-phone relay conversations with ariellen and salukfan. You guys totally need to hurry up and get here, because the fun will be EPIC. XD

And eeeee! Amy Adams hosting SNL this week! I'm sooo excited for that. She's gonna rock! :D

Also? *points to current music* I am SO in love with this song right now. It's the soundtrack to my life right now.

Because having to take my car in for repairs this morning bummed me out, good things had to happen...

First of all... this totally just made me pee my pants laughing. SO MUCH WIN.

Second... DISNEY JUST CALLED AND OFFERED ME FULL TIME ATTRACTIONS! XDDDD I go in Thursday morning to fill out my new hire paperwork! I'll be in Frontierland attractions! WOOOOO! I LOVE that area!!! *jumps around in excited circles*

You know when you need to go to the dentist, and you dread it but tell yourself you're stupid for that? Well, maybe instinct is better to be followed. :P I went in yesterday for a regular cleaning. They found a couple of small cavities they want to fill, no biggie. I spent the whole appointment looking at the clock, hoping I'd be done in time to rush over the freeway to the movie theater to catch the 1:10 showing of Pirates. And just as they're finishing up? I feel a little pop, and the hygenist says, "...oh." o_O And suddenly there's a big gap on one of my teeth. Apparently, while she was flossing, she popped out one of my old fillings. They rushed to put a temporary filling in there, while I stared and the clock and crossed my fingers. Seriously, I have my priorities!

When they were done, I made an appointment to come back this morning to have a permanent one put back in, and rushed out the door. I had 10 minutes to get to the theater. I made it - in ten minutes I got through the Intersection of Doom (although, admittedly, that intersection isn't as bad as it was before the road widening a few years ago), got to the theater, bought my ticket, bought snacks, and got in to the theater just as the previews started. Woo! It was fun to see again, and be able to notice the little stuff that I was too worked up to notice the first time.

But no zoo today. :( I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn and go get my filling replaced instead (and get one new one done on top of that). It was quick and easy, though. Only took one Friends episode (I <3 technology) and they were done with both, and I was almost completely un-numb by the time I got home.

Not as many books this month, 'cause I started re-reading the "His Dark Materials" trilogy in anticipation of the movie! Didn't include those here, 'cause they're already on my all-time favorites list.
( May 2007 Books! )

And because I'm in a big Disney theme parks mood this week, here's a few nifty videos I've found:
( Look under the cut for links and descriptions! )

I finished reading the new Atlantis novel "Exogenesis" a couple of nights ago. Gotta give it a little pimping here - if you haven't read it yet, DO SO. Fantastic characterization, all the characters get good story time, some not-so-subtle Sparky moments (and, in my mind, a few heavy moments of angry eyesex), and marine life! XD

Did my taxes today, and they made me happy. I'm looking at getting a long lens now for my camera! Been looking at the Sigma 50-500mm... that would really give me a lot more power on bird photos. I'd really like to get back into birding now that the weather's going to be warming up soon and migrations coming through. Being in Seattle now, rather than San Diego, opens up a lot of different species to see... and to photograph! :D I got myself a couple of nice bird journals - one more geared towards keeping life-lists and to go with the accompanying field guide that I use and highly recommend, and the other more geared towards individual trip lists.

( Walt Disney World rambling! )

Here it is, as promised. This is my complete listing of theme park show videos. If there's something here you'd like to request that I capture, just leave me a note and I'll add it to my to-do list! This list includes the date and details of each video as well as links to the entries where they've been uploaded (if applicable).

( Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, and Disneyland videos... )

Okay!! It's time for another WDW video! I'm trying to get caught up on these, 'cause there's a whole bunch of them I wanted to get uploaded. This week's edition, in honor of the latest changes to the parade:

Share a Dream Come True Parade


This is the full, original version of the parade, shot September 26, 2002. It includes the show stop, it includes the full princess float. This particular video includes virtually EVERYTHING in the parade: the pre-parade segment featuring the marching band and the grand marshalls, the 100 Years of Magic introduction with Julie Andrews, the complete parade (including the princess unit show stop), and the closing music. There was even a clip of my friend Jason with his Glow Cart of Awesome before the show, but that didn't make the final cut in this video. ;)

For those that are unaware, the parade was designed as a part of the "100 Years of Magic" celebration in 2001, honoring 100 years since Walt Disney's birth. Unfortunately, it has been neutered in recent years: after a tragic accident in early 2004, the show stops were removed, and the princess float was removed and replaced with an ugly, theme-killing float that had been used in past parades. I've hated what I've seen of this version, although I do understand their reasoning - removing show stops takes the "kids on the street" chaos element out, and the princess float was proven to be dangerous in its configuration. It just LOOKS crappy. Anyways, the latest round of changes, currently underway, removes the snowglobes from the floats (to which those who had to perform inside the A/C-less globes each afternoon heave a big, cool-breezy sigh of relief) and changes the music to be an English version of Tokyo Disneyland's "Dreams on Parade."

So, in honor of that, here's the links! No YouTube this time - I've applied for a Director account allowing me to upload videos longer than 10 minutes. If that goes through, I can start posting full shows on YouTube rather than segments. In compensation, I made a small, WMV version of the whole show to upload as well. (same vid, just a different encode)

640x480, AVI, 117 MB, 17:32
320x240, WMV, 29 MB, 17:32

I also have a full list of stuff that I have on video, but I'm putting that in a separate post for quick reference, and I will do so shortly.