2003-11-24 - 10:33 p.m.

Erik is back from Hades (aka Florida)! I�ve missed him so much. And there are only two more days until holiday freedom!

On Friday night I was feeling lonely. Brandis and her husband were nice enough to let me come with them on their date to see the feel-good movie of this holiday season. I�m not sure if I walked away knowing how much life weighs. But I did walk away wondering what�s wrong with Southern Californian movie audiences. They laugh at the weirdest, most inappropriate times. And they yell things. For example, when I saw Pollock: during the crucial moment when Ed Harris was trying to decide if it would be a swell idea to cheat on Marcia Gay Harding with Jennifer Connelly, the guy in the tank top sitting behind me yelled, "Go with the young one!!" And when I saw The Hours: the woman behind me let out a disgusted "Oh my gosh!" during the "lesbian scene." I guess that�s to be expected in Irvine. But we saw 21 Grams in Santa Monica�I dunno�I�m not one of those Mrs Krabappel types who gets peevish at the slightest whispering in a movie theater, but the guy yelling "I have your husband�s penis!" as we walked out of the NuWilshire in stunned silence�why?

Anyhow, go see 21 Grams on Thanksgiving Day. It�s fun for the whole family! Bring the children!

In other great news (I�m switching off the sarcasm now), I had lunch with a friend/old coworker on Saturday (at a scrumptious French caf� with authentic fragrant French waiters), and she asked if I would be interested in several very cool writing jobs with the company where she recently took an editorial position. (Would I be interested?! Hell yes!) The job is writing crafty how-to books; I�ll be paired with an artist who dreams up crafty projects and writing the manuscripts. I shouldn�t say much more about it, or I�ll jinx it. It�s all freelance, but it�s something. Even though I�m gritting my teeth and sticking with my current job, this new development feels like a positive step away from those monsters I work for. Whoo hoo!

I can't say enough about hosting a MYOP (Make Your Own Pizza) party. I attempted a Greek fusion pizza with coaching by John and Brandis. Liliana made something resembling a cheesecake. Team Neal played it safe with meat-n-cheese, which was probably smart of them. My brother actually put Carl Budding ham slivers on his Hawaiian pizza. He's lucky Erik was out of town, as Erik's a cold cut elitist and gets very angry if I even glance at the Carl Budding offering at the grocery store. Now we have a lifetime supply of cheese in our fridge. I'm going to make mulled wine. Whoo hoo x10!

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