Feral In Vegas

30 MORE DAYS TIL KATE&PANSYCON 2004!!!!!
i am very excited about my new cellphone (0ld one was stolen at LAX on way back from bloody new hampshire) - it has a new feature i've never had before - "countdown"... unfortunately the longest amount of countdown time you can do is 99 hours and 99 minutes, but hey, it's still got countdown - which means i am going to have to figure out when our start time for kate&pansycon is likely to be... i am guessing a conservative 9am for the beginning of our trek to temecula... so i'll just take a little time and do a little math and i'll know when to start anticipating our trip with the help of my little blue nokia...
not a whole hell of a lot going on in my life except for the fact that i have put myself firmly back on my no-carb diet... veered off of it horribly over a month and a half ago and i look like hell once again... so it's back to the meat and cheese diet so i don't embarrass myself too very much at mandalay beach... (everybody at glen ivy is lumpy and old so there's no need to worry about looking good there and something tells me that the pool at PVRC isn't a hotspot to hang out and look cute - who knows if they even have a pool?)
in other news i have been to the movies way too much recently, here's a capsule review of what i've just seen:
The Village - despite what many others (including John) may say, i thought this was a pretty good movie... yes, it had problems (where did they get all those clothes and shoes for everybody - are we to believe they have a leather tanning shop and textile mill there? and how did the population manage to get so very large? ... that wedding had a LOT of people at it...) but i think if one just chooses to view it as a fable and accept that you have to suspend some serious disbelief, it works... and the love story was fabulous... and ivy kicked ass!!! shyamalan has almost redeemed himself after the disgusting piece of ick that was "Unbreakable" and the ridiculously stupid waste of film stock that was "Signs"....
Harold & Kumar - i liked this movie because i really liked harold and kumar themselves... it was funny in a sophomoric humor sort of way... i think i have a little crush on Kal Penn - he's supercute!
I, Robot - this movie was SO much fun - the very definition of a big summer blockbuster with crazy special effects - the experience was the equivalent of going to see "independence day" and "men in black" several summers back ... i love will smith and i also love futuristic sci-fi movies ... john also highly disapproves of my love for this movie (despite the fact that he hasn't even seen it!) but i thought it was cool...
The Manchurian Candidate - i kind of surprised myself that i wanted to see this movie... i generally don't go for political/spy/thriller -type movies... and denzel does NOTHING for me... but this turned out to be an awesome movie... super, super, SUPER creepy and way too believable... especially at this time and place in america... i still think liev schreiber is way unattractive (he has yucky skin... it's like chicken flesh - just like my 10th grade french teacher had)
oh and i have a new favorite website, click here to see it! as soon as i can get a digital picture of poopoo she is going up - this site was made for her!!!!
I'M GOING TO SAN DIEGO SOON!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

37 MORE DAYS TIL KATE&PANSYCON 2004!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well I've been to the east coast and those who live there can have it.... as you can imagine my trip to new hampshire was not the cavalacade of fun i was hoping it would be... the flight to detroit wasn't all that bad... managed to nap a bit on that flight... by the time we hit detroit i was wide awake and curious about my destination.... got into manchester airport around 11am, got my luggage and rental car pretty easily and headed off to the hotel... the weather was lovely - not more than 75 degrees and not humid at all... even looked like they'd had a bit of rain before our plane landed... my first "turnpike" experience felt incredibly surreal... it's just all trees - no urban sprawl - and everything was just as green as everybody had described to me... the hotel was nice, pretty corporate-feeling, the sheets were itchy but decent cable, a coffeemaker in the room and it was good-sized....

the real problems began for me at the wedding, it was a lovely wedding and jennifer looked beautiful but i was totally unprepared for how painful my first wedding since my divorce would be... i kept reliving my wedding day and i felt terribly alone and lonely there... nothing but engaged and married couples all happily twittering away together... i felt like a big ugly single lump.... i left the wedding around 11pm and went out to my rental car and found the battery dead(!) because i'd left the lights on.... had to find somebody at the inn to jump me and didn't happen easily because of the way the engine and battery were laid out... finally after 1/2 an hour of tense "will i get home?" feelings the car was started and i was on my way to the turnpike... bloody, buggery turnpike! i took a wrong turn and managed to get myself off the turnpike and VERY lost in the woods... and that's all they have in new hampshire - WOODS to get lost in... of course my LA mindset had me thinking that if i just keep driving i will eventually hit a freeway... nope, A. there are no freeways and B. if you just keep driving you end up even further out in the woods & even more lost.... i kept up this practice for nearly an hour before i happened upon a fire station and wept like an idiot til a nice fireman came out to inquire as to what was wrong with me... he gave me confusing directions back to the turnpike which eventually did get me on the the stupid, pointless thing - trouble was i didn't know what exit to take to get me back to the hotel or even what to do after i took the exit... so i just got off at a sign that said "nashua" and got mildly lost again... i was overjoyed to see whatever their version of 7-11 is and went in to find out how to get back to the hotel... the lady there looked at me like i was a freak (people in new hampshire don' have a lot of tattoos or facial piercings, it seems) and i managed to find my way back... the next day was my free day and i HAD been planning to go sight-seeing on my own... needless to say, the previous night's experience put short work to that idea... there was no WAY i was leaving my hotel so i could wind up lost in the woodsagain... so i spent the following day eating chocolate, watching tons of vh-1 and napping and missing LA and poopoolala desperately - just wanted to come home... which i happily did the next morning - got up at 3am local time and didn't wind up at my own home til i had toured the nastiest parts of LA on the metro (1 shuttle and 4 bloody train changes later!) at 5pm ... poopoo was overjoyed to see me and we took a good nap together that evening....

do i have any desire to ever hit the east coast again? NO. NO THANK YOU. i belong here in LA... and don't even get me started on those stupid "exact change" toll roads.... that's just bizarre...

the next evening i went for my fourth tattoo and kat did an amazing job... she's at a new shop, "true tattoo" in hollywood... unfortunately for all of you out there hoping to get in to see her, she's not accepting new clients unless it's an unusual piece that really interests her... she's just gotten TOO famous! which is fabulous for her! i'm just glad she's still working with me!

end of last week we finally moved offices and my new office is an absolute oasis - it's roomy, i have gorgeous new furniture, i have brought in my fountain and plants and pictures of my and my friends' pets... it makes coming to work 80% easier... it's cool and quiet and i have privacy....

so now i am gearing up for san diego and vegas - which both promise to be SPECTACULAR... i won't get lost, i'll be with my favorite people in the world and i KNOW i'll have a fabulous time in both!!!!

yes i am a lazy, lazy, lazy girl... i haven't blogged in an age and i have driven dear kate to serenade me with wham songs.... we know it's gotten bad...

getting on an airplane at 12:40am tonight to fly to new hampshire... am going to experience my very first layover ever in detroit... i land there like 8am local time (it'll be 5am to me though!)... john, of course, has admonished me not to leave the terminal as anything can happen to you in detroit... i will admit i harbor secret fears about detroit as well... i get the sense that it's all just large mobs moving angrily through the city, setting cars alight and looting and hitting people over the head with bottles as they crowd past groups of motown singers inside record studios recording music that i hate and huge car assembly factories burping out teamsters after a hard shift.... i'm sure there must be more to detroit but i'll be damned if i can imagine it anyway else... needless to say, i have only an hour layover and i have no other plans than maybe eating a little something, having some coffee and taking a little nap until i get on another flight to manchester, new hampshire...
which is a good thing as for over a month now i suffered under the delusion that i had a second layover in new york... now i admit i was a bit excited about the idea of spending some time in new york, even if it was only an hour or two in the airport... now as far as i am concerned everywhere you go in new york you will find jerry orbach standing over a dead body with sam waterston on his cell phone, you go into a coffee shop where you'll find jerry, elaine, kramer and george... oh and don't forget the huge choruses of singing and dancing people let loose from their shows on broadway whooping it up in the streets... but i'm not going to new york so oh well.... someday, right?
now new hampshire to me is people standing by fences talking about the weather... staying at the crowne plaza nashua which looks quite lovely... i should be at the hotel and taking a nice nap by 12:30 or 1pm...  why am i going to new hampshire?  my dear friend, jen, is getting married on sunday... i'll have monday all to myself - not sure what i'll do... might toodle around new hampshire, visit mount washington, see the local beauty spots... more than likely i'll probably lay around the hotel, ordering up room service, taking naps, reading and watching movies... i have to be on a flight tuesday morning that leaves at 6:15am!  and then it's back home (with another layover in detroit!) and back to bloody work next wednesday....
and i am doing it all alone! it"s all so terribly exciting and glamourous...

OH i am a happy happy happy kitten! I get to stay at The Bahia in San Diego!!!!!! I have wanted to stay at The Bahia since just about forever.... it is THE coolest place in the world! they have a riverboat cocktail cruise... they have this cool bar that my parents used to drink like fish at... you can rent seadoos and paddleboats there... it's like this cool old tiki looking place... i am beyond thrilled about this...
I am also really really excited about going to the Whaley House ... if you add up all the hours i must have spent in old town san diego growing up it would probably come to like a year and i have NEVER been inside the whaley house, can you believe it? but THIS TIME i'm going! SO excited!!!

ok... life got really really really REALLY bad for a while and now it has suddenly gotten a whole lot better... why? i'm about to tell you...
i have three, count 'em 3 vacations coming up!!! and trust me, i need 3 vacations from this goddamn joint!
first, from july 24 to july 27 i am going to new hampshire to my friend jen's wedding! i am very excited about this! first of all, because it is my dear friend's wedding, but second of all because i've never been to the east coast and this is quite an adventure for me... picturesque new hampshire... dunkin' donuts! mt. washington... i have monday all to myself and i intend to do some touristing... i'm very excited to be travelling alone and having a hotel room all to myself... quite thrilling all of it...
then in august i go to san diego with john from august 22 to the 25... we haven't picked where we're going to stay yet but i know we are going to sea world and i LOVE sea world!) and we'll go to old town (and i LOVE old town!) and maybe the wild animal park and maybe have tea at the u.s. grant and just generally toodle around san diego like i used to do every summer of my life growing up... i'm just looking forward to being away from here and in the bracing air down there...
and then in september, never fear, Kate&PansyConIV comes forth! I thought the whole thing had gone down in flames but it just ran off whimpering behind a rock for awhile but now it has returned stronger than ever and I hope all you kids out there are ready for a bigger and better Kate&PansyCon!!! Here's the new itinerary:
Sunday, September 12: Leave L.A. for Glen Ivy Day Spa, once there we'll drink their plonk champagne, play in the mud & sulfur pools, visit the grotto, i might get scrubbed, kate might get waxed, and just generally lounge around like the princesses we are... that evening we'll be checking into the Country Inn by Ayres where we hope to hook up the laptop we intend to beg, borrow or steal and begin our on-the-road blogging in the room... we'll be watching in-room porn and drinking like fish in preparation for the next day's adventures in beautiful Primm!
Monday, September 13: Depart Temecula for exciting Primm! Check into Primm Valley Resort & Casino. Marvel at the clientele around us. Eat some cheap food. Have a few drinks in preparation for a long day of shopping. Head on over to Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas where there is not only a neiman marcus last call but an old navy and a claire's outlet!!!! the motherships have landed and they are calling me home!!! then it's back to freaky PVR&C where we'll be drinking, playing really loose slots, eating super-cheap prime rib, i may be playing some craps, riding the roller coaster and paying tribute to clyde's death shirt and just generally observing the dregs of humanity take in all that PVR&C has to offer... we'll retire for the evening to our room where there might be porn but i doubt there will be internet access so blogging will have to wait for one night....
Tuesday, September 14: It's an early morning for us cos we need to GET THE FUCK OUT OF PRIMM AND SOMETHING TELLS ME WE'LL BE READY TO!!! We'll rise and shine and hit the strip for an early breakfast and a trip to the newly acquired Las Vegas Hilton where we'll be assimilated by The Borg and I will be a great big dork and buy a bunch of geeky merchandise. Then it's time to go from rags straight to riches and check into THEhotel at Mandalay Bay where over the course of the next three days we'll be sampling THEbathouse, THEinternet access and THE 24 hour cafe available only to guests of THEhotel.... pretty exciting, eh? and yes, we're still on for all those other exciting side trips listed below (lotus of siam, luv-it frozen custard, double down saloon)...
so yes, i am a happy kitten today.... finally!

Things do not appear to be as fatal for Kate&PansyConIV as it previously seemed. There were desperate fears that the whole thing might have to move to September but it looks like, at least for the time being, we are going to shoot for August. I know you are all breathing a HUGE sigh of relief.
Kathy is going to continue hectoring after her little brother for information on the flight situation and she seems willing to chance fighting all those other irish people out of the UK to make it here. Kathy IS an Amazon Warrior Princess and deserves respect for that.
That being said I've found three more interesting things I think this year's K&PCon should investigate:
1. Touring the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory. Am i interested in the cactus/botanical garden? Resounding NO... i did my time in botanical garden hell that year i worked at The Huntington... while K may find the garden tour idea intriguing, i will stay inside the cool factory and eat chocolate... chocolate is a BIG part of K&PCon and i think this would be a nice incorporation should it prove to be something we can fit in... it's only 10 miles from the strip and it might just round out the Las Vegas Outlet Center (formerly the Beltz Outlet) adventure. And speaking of outlets - the one at Primm is looking pretty good too... we just may have to stop there on our way into town for some refreshment and money spending... an awful lot of good shops there...
2. Luv-It Frozen Custard... suddenly everywhere i go i am reading about the magic that is the frozen custard... i'm thinking this place might be necessary more than once!
3. Another place i can't stop reading about: Peppermill's Fireside Lounge... the boys over at cheapovegas rave about this joint and it sounds like something we'd be remiss in not visiting... and seeing as how this place is just a hop, jump and a skip on the strip, well, i don't think we'll come up with a single excuse not to visit it...
In other news the Hilton has been sold to a new company... the new website looks much nicer than the old and apparently they have lots of plans to upgrage the place into more of a resort destination... don't know if any of that upgrading will be done in time for our trip but fingers crossed we might see a classier joint than we have in the past...
But even bigger and more amazing news - MGM-Mirage has moved to acquire Mandalay Resorts Group.. think about it - that is HUGE!!! The entire western side of the Strip would be a monopoly (except for Caesar's!)... it should be exciting to watch what happens next!
So let's hope that we are still on track.... everybody think positive - we can get kathy out of the u.k. in august if we all concentrate hard enough!

i am in a FOUL fuckin' mood today... nothing to do here at work and a need to look semi-busy and fill another 4 hours before i can go home... i loathe all my co-workers except for nikki... spending one more moment in this office with this enormous group of "know-it-alls" and that wormy little dog-creep who wants to eat my ankles is more than i should have to bear... i swear i have reached the end of the internet - or at least all that the internet has to offer that is vaguely interesting... thespark appears to have become nothing more than a giant cliff's notes webpage - what happened to all the fun and interesting science experiments the boys used to do?... i could keep myself amused on that website for hours... oh and then i have to work ALL fucking weekend... argued with myself as to whether or not to blog just because all i will do is bitch, whine and snivel... does my non-existent readership even want to hear it? probably not but i'm here anyway...

AND WORST OF ALL - email from the other half of k&pcon saying that the august trip may be off... this depresses me more than i can begin to write... i understand perfectly the reasoning behind the email but i can't quite get over it... i hate my job, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, HATE IT and the only reason it was tolerable was at least i had aug 22nd-27th to look forward to... now, without that, well, fuck it, i just want to go and consume an ENORMOUS amount of carbs, quit my job and lay in bed for the rest of the summer... who cares how fat i am? i won't need to look good for mandalay beach... i know i am being a rather large baby about this... i don't want kathy to sit in an airport for 3 days... i don't... i thoroughly understand this and it would indeed be a far worse thing to have to cancel at the last minute because the girl can't get out of the u.k.... talk about MAJOR let-down... it's just so frustrating....
another worry should we reschedule k&pconiv - uninvited tag-alongs may try to jump on board our ship... and i refuse to spend my vacation with a woman who turns down the first hotel room offered her just as a matter of course and who has some sort of neurotic need to possess kathy's soul when i am around ... ugh....

should i go across the street, eat a burger WITH BUN and a big old basket of fresh potato chips with del mar sauce and then order some chocolate cake for lunch? goddamn but i want to...the rest of my life sucks so much ass why not?

i love my cat...