the bonus of unemployment...celeb sightings

The funny thing about not working is that you have plenty of time to blog. Yet you have nothing to blog about. I have discovered (or reconfirmed) that I am not cut out for a life of leisure. I get bored, I get antsy, and I don't have a hobby that lends itself to alone time. My hubby loves playing music, writing, etc. and all of that means that he loves time off work and doesn't mind being home alone. I'm pretty much the opposite.

The plus side is that when you go to lunch or happy hour or brunch with your other unemployed friends on a weekday, you see lots of actors. I've been seeing lots of really minor character actors but those are my favorites. The other day I saw Rachel Griffiths crossing the street. Then I was picking up some take-out and this random guy from Carnivale was in there. But best yet, I was getting brunch and standing in line next to Tory from Battlestar Galactica. I wanted to geek out but I maintained my composure.

veronica and kenneth

Latest celeb sighting was one I particularly enjoyed. Outside the wine bar (Marah talking too loudly and oblivious to it all)...Veronica Mars sitting with her boyfriend Dax, and they were joined by Kenneth the NBC Page from "30 Rock". I almost asked him why his show sucked so bad now but I held back. I'm sure he's hoping for a Golden Globe win tomorrow but I say "NO".

sighted in the wild

5:00pm today. Sitting in traffic on Cahuenga. Stopped. Me on the passenger side. Car pulls up alongside us and parks on the curb. Out jumps fairly hot male driver. "Wow", I say, "that guy is hot. Maybe he's famous. Turn around guy." He does. It's Ashton Kutcher. Looking way too hot for Ashton Kutcher. "Damn", I think, "is he with Demi?" Turn to look at who is getting out of the passenger side. It's Demi Moore. "Holy shit. She looks gorgeous. Younger and hotter than any of my twenty something friends. She has an amazing surgeon/trainer/face cream/diet. What a bitch."

The end.

previously unreported sighting

Thursday night, sitting two tables away from me... William Shatner having dinner with ice skating extraordinaire, Scott Hamilton. An odd pairing to be sure.

And then at the table next to me, an annoying "LA" girl. Seemed silly, talking too loud, and my biggest pet peeve, wearing sunglasses on top of her head even though it was an extremely dark restaurant and it was 11pm. After I made fun of her, she stood up to go to the bathroom and I thought to myself, 'huh, that looks like Kelly Kapowski from "Saved by the Bell". Turns out, it was Ms. Thiessen and I was more than thrilled that she definitely had a "curvy" body. Yay! Someone who isn't anoxeric-thin. Good times. Then I went back to eating.

sighting

Saw this woman again today at a restaurant. It's just not fair. 44 years old, not a stitch of make-up, and she looked just beautiful. Damn her.

pop quiz

Which was more memorable? Seeing Pirates of the Caribbean or seeing Paris Hilton as I walked out of Pirates of the Caribbean?

Easy answer.

six degrees

This is Marah. After 2 1/2 drinks i promised to blog about our dinner because hey, that's what people do nowadays. Last night, with the hazy head, I really wanted to start my post with this picture. But now, as clearer thoughts are prevailing, I have decided not to. Sort of.

Anyways, M and I have good luck with celebrity sightings. One of our most recent meals was in the middle of Portland in an empty restaurant at 3pm. That's when Sean Penn sat down next to us. Cut to last night where we're sitting all cramped in a tiny little room...the type where the tables are right in a row and you are basically sitting next to strangers and listening to their every word. That's when Kevin Bacon sits down next to M. M doesn't notice, perhaps because she doesn't turn her head all the way to the right. But, I notice because I can't help but see him when I'm staring at M. About 30 seconds after he sits down, I make a lame tipsy move of crashing my plates together and causing a clatter. Of course, I'm embarassed because I assume the Bacon thinks that I am so flustered in his presence that I can't control my bread plate and my salad plate. Meanwhile, M's had two cocktails and is oblivious to the Bacon so she just thinks I'm a nutcase. When she finally noticed him though, her reaction was pretty sweet. Probably because about 2 minutes before he sat down, she was going on about how botox-ed and terrible Kyra Sedgwick looked at the GGs. Yeah, that's his wife. That would not have been good because he would have heard. I guess we should be more sensitive when bagging on famous people.

Not.

Bottom line, Bacon looks good. Real good. Insanely young. And the voice of 'Footloose' was pretty sweet in person. Penn, Bacon...who's next?

recent sightings

who... The Pocahantas girl from "A New World". (turns out her name is Q'Orianka)
where... on set
the scoop... I noticed our director slobbering all over someone so I knew she had to be an actress. I recognized her but couldn't figure out why she would be visiting our set. Turns out that her little brother was an extra in the scene. Damn crazy coincidence. But she just looks like a normal 17 would look. I heard her say that she was 14 when she made "A New World". I'm sure Colin Farrell still tried to get in her pants.

who... Kristy Swanson from the Buffy movie and, more recently, "Skating with Celebrities".
where... on set, in our lunch room.
the scoop... I was minding my own business eating lunch when I look up and she's seated across from me. I first noticed her because she's 8 months pregnant and looks ready to pop. She was cute but it's hard to judge because she was so pregnant. A not so nice male member of the crew said that she looked pretty worn and needed to "maintain" more. Lovely.

who... Rachel Weisz
where... New York City, in a theater, outside the women's restroom
the scoop... This woman is absolutely adorable. Over the holidays I was in NYC and saw a new play on Broadway. As I walked through the downstairs lobby to use the restroom, there she was. So cute and not at all scary celebrity-thin. Sadly she was not with her husband Darren Aronofsky but it was still an enjoyable sighting nonetheless.

who... Your favorite and mine, Paul Haggis. The man who brought you one of my favorite movies, "Crash".
where... New York City, same Broadway theater.
the scoop... I'm pretty sure out of the entire audience I was the only one who recognized this writer/director. (Which is equally pathetic and awesome.) I had brief thoughts of approaching him because, hey, don't non-famous people like to be approached because it's flattering? But then I remembered that I'd have to punch him for "Crash" so I settled on staring at the back of his head for a few minutes, trying to will my disdain for "Crash" into his brain. I don't know if it worked.

"I taped Larry Lester's buns together."

Emilio Estevez is a pretty big deal in my life. Well, in my childhood memories which is also a big deal. You see, I think I've seen The Breakfast Club at least 50 times. I can recite most of the dialogue. So last week when I saw Emilio in person, all I could do was think of Andrew Clark, the wrestler who was just trying to win the approval of his dad. (That and, DAMN he's short! Shocking I know.) But he wasn't talking about that movie nor did he mention Molly Ringwald or the brat pack. He was introducing a screening of Bobby which is the new movie he wrote and directed. I don't know if you've seen another film written and directed by him called Men at Work, but it is a serious guilty pleasure for me. I knew Bobby couldn't live up to those standards but I was hoping to enjoy it.

Here's the thing...all feelings about the film aside, I'm just happy for Emilio. You can't help but be. He gave this heartfelt speech before the movie and you can just tell that he CARES so much about this movie. He's so earnest. He's worked thousands of hours writing it, shooting it, and editing it. He really believes that this is an important film and that the death of Bobby Kennedy changed this country forever. He is MOVED. He CRIES on talk shows. I mean, how can you not root for this guy? The problem is that the movie isn't that good. In some ways it reminds me of Crash with all of the different characters and storylines and the racism aspect, etc. But as much as I disliked that movie, at least I would admit that it was well done. The cinematography was excellent, the acting (for the most part) was good, etc. Bobby was not really well done and I'd say it was really uneven. Emilio may be earnest but I'm not sure he has, let's say, an artistic eye for direction. It's a little clumsy sometimes. The cast is insane in that every single cast member is well known. But that doesn't mean it's good. While some actors were excellent (aka Anthony Hopkins, Shia Lebeouf, Lawrence Fishbourne, Martin Sheen, Freddy Rodriguez), others looked downright bad next to them (aka Christian Slater, Heather Graham, Nick Cannon and Emilio himself).

I wish I could say this was a great movie but it really wasn't. I do think it's probably worth seeing but don't go rushing out to get in line. Instead, go rent Men At Work or The Breakfast Club.

there's nothing like a movie about genocide for a fun saturday night

i haven't posted in a while and i was going to come back with a vengeance and talk about all of the people i saw at work and at the mall last weekend. janice dickinson (america's first "supermodel", the drunk lady from 'the office' (actually very small in person - of course), danny devito (not just short, midget-short), judd nelson (being extremely nice to an assistant), and arsenio hall (looking old and drunk). but now i can't post about celebrities. not after the movie i saw.

saturday night we saw "the last king of scotland", a new movie with forest whitaker about Idi Amin in Uganda. not the lightest fare for a saturday night but we heard it was good. what an interesting movie. everything about it was well done... the acting was incredible, the music was perfect...some of the best i've heard in a movie, the lighting, cinematography was beautiful. it was just great. the movie starts out harmless enough and builds to this intensity that creeps up on you. without knowing it, you're hiding your eyes and quietly screaming inside. my scarf came in handy as i covered my mouth (and sometimes my eyes) with it during the last act. suddenly the movie was over and i was upset. not a little upset, but really freaking upset. this is an upsetting movie. it's not a movie you cry through, but afterwards i was so shaken that i was scared i was going to burst into tears for no reason. the long dark walk to the car by myself seemed like it was going to be too much for me so i ducked into a shoe pavilion to mellow out. so sue me.

grey days

last night should have been a great night. you see, my favorite show in the world was finally coming back to television, 'grey's anatomy'. you know the show. LA has billboards plastered on every block just to remind people to watch it and it's popularity is bigger than ever. unfortunately that apparently translated to a shitty premiere. there, i said it. last night's premiere wasn't awesome. and not only was it not awesome, i'm not even sure it was good. it was like the creator got too caught up in the hype and was over-thinking the entire episode. thinking about emmys, thinking about fan sites, thinking about the press. i don't know what it was, but the episode was a mess. i'm hoping next week it will redeem itself. cross your fingers.

just a quick note on my recent sightings. yesterday, this girl came into the office. her name is molly sims and luckily she was not wearing that outfit. but she was wearing a skirt and high heels and was probably the most striking woman i've ever seen in person. tall, tan, gorgeous, perfect skin, perfect body. it was actually a little weird talking to her. must be so hard to go through life like that.

the other girl in the office was steve tyler's other daughter she's known for being a plus-sized model but i'll tell you what was depressing as hell. she was not that big. granted, she has to compete with molly sims, but truly, she was really pretty and normal sized. plus nice as hell. so that's the lesson of the day.

sighting

this girl came into the office today. you know, the noxzema girl... the girl that married dylan mckay on 9-Oh. and i think she's done many movies since then. i am happy to report that she looked prettier in person, was a healthy skinny not a disgusting skinny, and seemed nice.

burn victim

i feel the need to post just to get the huge pictures below out of the way. but what to post about... hmm... well, there was two days ago when i drove past the cast and crew of "entourage". then there was yesterday when i busted open a parking structure door to the sidewalk and hit tim meadows from saturday night live. he was nice about it though. oh, and there's the fact that i got a dark tan on my vacation but parts of my arm are peeling so i have white splotches all over and i look like a burn victim. which is a horrible thing to say because i've met real burn victims and i'm a bitch for comparing myself to them. oh well. at least my office is 50 degrees so i'm forced to wear long sleeves.

in the meantime, i look forward to an EXCELLENT weekend with speakmemory. if she can survive the 90 degree heat, zero air conditioning, and extremely loud ghetto blasting stereos in my neighborhood, you'll know that she's a trouper.

jerry o'connell hangover

last night i had too much to drink. sports bars have been bringing that out in me lately. and with $3 happy hour drinks (instead of $6!) the deal was too good to pass up. of course the alcohol totally exaggerated my reaction to my celeb sighting of this guy. sadly, i have had a crush on him for a long time and have gotten a lot of shit for it for a long time. i guess it's my weakness for big frat boys who just look like they like to kick back with some brews and watch sports. well, guess what? he DOES like to do that. awesome. and he looked totally slimmed down and sans the alcoholic bloat. of course, while he was only three feet from me, i made it clear to my table that i thought he was hot and had a crush on him. this being the table that included my husband. the man that i love. and the man that i would never leave for little ol' jerry oc.

;)

quick observations and notes

i've been swamped at my new job which is good, but i've had these tiny things i've been meaning to blog about. and of course each tiny thing doesn't constitute a whole blog post (or does it?) but if you COMBINE them, wow. you've got something.

i was in walgreens pharmacy the other day and saw that they were selling this tube of something called "the pimple eraser". catchy name. the ad below it made the incredible claim that the "pimple disappears after just 5 days of use!!" um, excuse me? anyone that's had a pimple knows that it will usually disappear on it's own after 5 days! 5 days is an eternity. yet some dumbass was paying $20 for this miracle cream.

last night i had a dream about snakes. i guess it was a nightmare. and not the little slithery snakes. like huge ass anacondas that can swallow you whole. i escaped one of them in the parking lot by ripping it open with my car key. it was nice. and gory. i couldn't figure out why i was dreaming about snakes. but then i remembered what john and i were joking about before i went to bed. Snakes on a Plane starring Samuel L. Jackson. seriously. This is the plot description: On board a flight over the Pacific Ocean, an assassin, bent on killing a passenger who's a witness in protective custody, let loose a crate full of deadly snakes. i couldn't make this shit up.

seen some sweet c and d list celebrities lately. we've got casting sessions going on in our office so they come in everyday. for those who liked 40-year old virgin we've got the fat kid from the e-bay store who was buying go-go boots as well as elizabeth banks who played the kinky girl in the bathtub. other notables? jessica biel (i wanted to call her the female maverick but i held back), piper perabo (i almost told her all about my own coyote ugly experience), and claire from 90210 (i wanted to play her my cell phone ring of the show's theme but i was too embarassed).

My aching body

The past week hasn’t been so great on the ol’ body. I’ve decided it’s better just to leave it alone and let it take care of itself. I think bodies appreciate being independent and self-sufficient and we shouldn’t meddle too much.

It started on Saturday when I went to get my first ever pedicure. Just to do it and get the first time out of the way. And to have a girly afternoon and see if it was something I wanted/needed for my wedding day. Wweelllll…it was okay. At least, it was good to spend an afternoon with the girls. But I don’t think I ever need to do it again. People touching your feet? Not that cool. This place was like a factory with rows of big chairs and two people working on every person. They sit you in this huge massage chairs but, of course, I couldn’t relax because two guys with suspiciously long fingernails were touching my feet. And my callouses. All I could think was, “you have the worst job in the world!” Of course, I only ordered a pedicure but turns out they thought a ordered a manicure so before I knew it they were doing my nails. I tried to say ‘no’ but the guy didn’t speak English so I gave up. I could tell the two guys were making fun of me in their foreign language so I just stared across the room at lori petty who seemed to be having a worse time than me. or maybe it was just the aged frowning face, fading tattoos, and hooded sweatshirt. either way, i was thrilled when they were done with my feet. though sitting at the drying table listening to dumb bitches talk about their new fabulous $300 jeans was also painful. just in a different way.

today has proved no better as my entire left arm is in severe pain. who knew that having blood taken was so painful? i'm one of those wimps who never gives blood. and, before today, i hadn't had a doctor check up in over twelve years. so there i was on the doctor's table when some nurse who looked 20 years old shoved a needle into my vein. the needle and the consequently bleeding was painful but i was so proud of myself when she said she was done. "that wasn't so bad" i thought. then the pain shot through my arm. felt like i was suddenly bruised and my arm was so sore. still is sore. can't really bend it. oh, the pain.

guess that's what i get for trying to take care of myself.

the farmer's market is where it's at

mere hours before my trip to prague last week, john and i had dinner at the farmer's market. it was a banner night for celebrities, let me tell you. first up was adam brody and his girlfriend who's also on "the OC". these two indie lovin' rock stars were dining on the same crepe that i was so i appreciated that. though, in my "i like guys with some meat on their bones" way, i thought brody was way too skinny. couldn't have weighed more than 115. yikes. but i did get to witness my first fan encounter in LA. all these years i've never seen a single person go up to a celebrity. but two giggling 14 year olds went up to adam. so awkward.

we clearly saw the "hip" movie at the grove that night because the HUGE celebrities waiting in line with us included paul reiser (oh yeah, that guy), janel maloney (oh yeah, that blonde from "west wing"), and some dude from "strangers with candy" that only john recognized.

the best one had to be timothy olyphant. he's very dreamy. i have a bit of a crush on him from "deadwood". here he is...the one in the middle. ahh, the quiet, brooding cowboy. luckily ali bell wasn't in the vicinity to attack him.

weekend recap

well, it was one hell of a weekend so i thought i'd share some highlights...

8 - approximate number of banana muffins that stacey and i took down at chad's.

2 - number of minutes left in the pistons game when john left early so i could get home for the oscars. (yes, he is the best boyfriend ever).

2 - number of trips to staples center this weekend.

1 - number of free desserts that we got at chad's for celebrating stacey's birthday.

180 - number of miles (roundtrip) that i would drive again for chad's dinner.

6 - number of celebrities i saw at the basketball game - penny marshall, lara flynn boyle, frankie muniz, josh charles, mariel hemingway, and brandy....well, pseudo-celebrities...it was a clippers game.

3 - number of awesome people who drove more than 45 minutes to watch the oscars at my house.

4 - number of times on saturday that i thought to myself, 'damn, this is the greatest day ever.'

2 - pairs of shoes that i bought at the camarillo outlets.

1 - number of gay sales attendants who told me that i just HAD to order the stuffed pork chop at chad's.

0 - number of times i thought, 'i wonder what the boys are doing right now?'

12 - number of times someone uttered, 'man, why does charlize look orange and stoned?'

5 - number of courses eaten at dinner on saturday, plus a bottle of wine.

4 - number of hours i will spend at work today browsing the internet and looking at pictures of dresses from the academy awards.

and last, but not least....

1 - the number of IDENTICAL cream-colored sweaters that stacey and i bought without realizing that each of us had tried it on and loved it. yup, same sweater. out of a thousand items in the store.

the best show you're not watching

okay, by "best" i really mean best like guilty pleasure. but it's still good. Average Joe on NBC. so hysterical. they got this hot chick to go on this show to find her true love but instead of giving her lots of hot, bland guys, they gave her funny, dorky, average looking dudes. but they're so sweet! and she was actually falling for them until the show took a twist last night! they introduced 3 so-called "hot" guys and now she's into them! so sad! anyways, of course this sounds stupid but i promise it's entertaining. besides, i couldn't think of anything else to blog about.

sighting of the day: Andy Garcia...on Ventura Boulevard waiting for the valet to bring his car.

mr. dylan mckay

this morning i had another luke perry sighting. apparently mr. perry (newly divorced) loves lulu's on beverly. this is the second time i've seen him there and this time he came in, said hi to all the workers, and proceeded to spend his whole breakfast chatting with our waiter, meaning that our waiter neglected us. but that's okay. i'd choose dylan over myself any day. the best part of dining with luke perry (okay, not WITH, but you know) is just hearing his very distinctive raspy voice as you chow down on your eggs and fruit. though i must say, he was looking way way too skinny. his nasty knit pants were hanging off of him. though i did like his shaggy hair under his ballcap. well played.