Getting Engaged!

On September 22nd, 2013 I got engaged.  Here are the details:

  Highway 9 is special for us.  After our 5 year sabbatical of interacting with the each other, the first thing we did was go for a motorcycle ride on Highway 9.  Vista points are always the perfect place to stop and stretch our legs during a long ride and we have used the very one where Ryan popped the question on many rides.

       So it only made sense that Ryan would ask such an important question on a road we travel together so much.  He had it all planned out, we would camp at Sanborn park for the weekend, on Saturday evening we would picnic at our favorite vista spot and he would ask me a question he already knew the answer to.  

At the Highway 9 vista point, moments before Ryan proposed.

        The weather and my back (recovering from a recent injury) had other ideas and we ended up leaving Sanborn park Saturday morning after an epic night of rainfall.  We packed up just in time to avoid being drenched as the rain started again and Ryan had to scratch his sunset proposal idea, as the rain continued all day long.  

         Sunday morning was beautiful and we went to the Campbell farmers market for picnic foods.  Since the weather was so nice we went for a drive up Highway 9, had our picnic at the vista point and walked out on the trail where I took the picture above.  Then Ryan surprised me more than anyone ever has before, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  After I came out of my speechless stupor, I said YES!  And here we are planning our lives together.  

         A long and complicated story, I know, but all good things take time!

It's been a long, long time...

Well hello out there!

 It's been ages since I've written a thing and for that, I apologize.  I have been insanely busy though, and life got a bit hectic there for a while.  I am happy to report that I finally have things under control.

By under control, I mean that in the past 2 years I have made enormous changes in myself and the direction of my future.  There was a period of complete unsureness (yes, I am making that a word as of right now).  I feel as though I have gone through a loooong tunnel and come out on the other side to a landscape which I recognize so fully that I am more confident in myself than I ever have been before.  Seeing the future is absolutely grand, and by that I don't mean that I am psychic or something, but rather that I can see a penciled sketch of my future drawn out in front of me.  The vague idea that I know where I am going is the most fantastic feeling and a real adrenaline rush.

So for those of you only slightly aware of me as an actual person instead of a blogger, here are the changes that have occurred since my last post in 2011:
-I moved home to my mom's house and became single.
-I started looking for jobs where I would actually have health insurance and could make enough money to pay off my student  loans.
-I made a habit of walking my dog before my looong drive to Santa Cruz everyday.
-I had several dismal and disappointing interviews.
-I went for a motorcycle ride and found the man that I would, eventually, fall in love with.
-I had a few more promising interviews.
-I landed a job as an administrative assistant for a land developer in Santa Clara.
-My commute went from an hour to half an hour each way.
-I got health benefits!!!!!!
-My boyfriend and I found a house to rent in Sunnyvale with Cooper and BJ. (These pseudonyms will come up over and over as I blog again I am sure, so you will become more familiar with the guys behind the fun names, as I have)
-I floated through several months of financial stability going on camping trips on weekends, riding around on the back of a motorcycle, and generally living life more fully and happily.
-I got a promotion!  Woo Development!
-I pulled my back out again... I was bed-ridden for a week >:-(
-Ryan proposed!

Ok, that was a few too many exclamation points at the end there, but that's how I feel about it all.  It's as though I am manic all the time.  This extreme rush of joy takes over when I think about the state of things and look back at how I got here.  That is the super duper condensed version and I have so very much more to share.  I've been writing a script and taking mapping classes.  I'm going to try not to get ahead of myself here; there is a whole lifetime to share the details of what I'm currently and recently up to.  Things are looking way up like never-ending-elevator-to-the-sky up!

And now I'll just occasionally blog as if you all know everything about me.

<3
Cassiebird
Let me know what you've been up to, life changing, or not, I'd love to hear about it!

There and Back

           I finally got away to the Happiest Place on Earth and Anthony and I had an amazing time.  We left friday at 9 am and arrived at 4:45 thanks to Los Angeles traffic.  After dropping our stuff in the hotel room, we took the 10 minute walk to Downtown Disney and wondered around stores after buying tickets for the park and making reservations at Rainforest Cafe.  It was so much fun eating what we wanted and having fun alchy drinks to boot.  Also we were seated right below this gorilla that kept judging us for laughing too much while eating :-)  We went to bed not too late and got up at 8 am Saturday to make sure we got maximum park time.  We did discover by trying to make a reservation at the blue bayou that Pirates of the Caribbean is closed until Thanksgiving, so that was kinda sad.  We still had a great time and went on Space Mountain 3 times, Star Tours 4 times (we got the death star twice), and Indiana Jones 2 times.  Great food every night and wondering around the park together was so much fun, and coincidentally it was the first time Anthony and I have gone on a vacation together without a group.  It was sweet and romantic, a great way to celebrate 2 years together.
             Also, I introduced Anthony to Dole whip!  Its one of my favorite things about the park and if you haven't seen the stand by the Tiki Room, you should definitely check it out.  So needless to say, he loved it as much as I do and we had for breakfast both days we were in the park.  We bought the last Hooter doll in the Star Tours store.  If you are unfamiliar with Hooter, he is a character from Captain EO that our friends lovingly decided is like Anthony.
           OMG I almost forgot the best thing about Disney on the particular days we were there, it was Anaheim gay days.  People dressed in red shirts in support of the gay community and the park was flooded with people who believe in equality.  I don't think I've ever seen so many happy couples of all gender combinations.  It was remarkable and so wonderful to see people showing support for equality and having a great time doing it.  I guess it is a tradition to all hop on the steamboat at Disney at the same time and we got this video of the first trip on the steamboat (there were so many people that they had to make 3 trips for everyone to get on the boat).  It was wonderful and made the trip so much more fun because alot of people had personalized their red shirts with such fun lines as: "He's gay"(with an arrow pointing to one side), his friend wore a shirt that said "don't let him fool you, he's gay too", it was alot of fun being around so many people who were out and proud, or strongly in support of the gay community.  It was encouraging to see that kind of support.
          Oh and because it was October the park and several rides were Halloween themed.  Haunted Mansion was of course Nightmare Before Christmas themed, Space Mountain was Ghost Galaxy, and the entrance had these way cool characters on top of the entrance and throughout the park.   They lit up at night and it was so cool.  Overall Disneyland at the holidays it way fun and Anthony is amazing for coming with me and making me feel like a princess at Disneyland.  
                                           

                                                 

A Much Needed Vacation

It's been an amazing summer, filming weddings and finally getting more responsibilities at work.  But alas I desperately need to take a break.  My favorite vacation destination is, of course, DISNEYLAND and boy do I miss the happiest place on earth.  So thankfully there is time at the beginning of the year to get away to my very favorite place.  I have been spending alot of time on the Disneyland blog, which has different fun facts and info about the parks.  It gives me a little fix of fun stuff to keep me patiently waiting until we can leave on the 30th of this month.  I'm really excited because I haven't really seen the park in Halloween mode, so it will be a different experience than I've had in the past.  I'll definitely post pictures when we're back!

And please let me know if you know any fun secrets about the park or have any suggestions of where to go or what to do!

Patience is a virtue...but not mine.

I tend to do things as quickly as possible.  That's not to say that I rush to complete things, but I like to think of myself as efficient.  I know that this is not the way that everyone operates and I try to remain focused on my goals, even as I see other things not happening quickly.  Right now though, I am in the midst of a waiting game that might just drive me crazy... Some friends and I have entered a contest on POPTENT together and the results are not announced until the 24th of August.  So in the meantime, all I can do is fantasize about a much needed Disneyland vacation with no real way of being able to go without the much needed windfall of this prize money (it is a very good chunk of change).

A related personal problem of mine is that I tend to think about all incomplete tasks at once.  Shooting weddings, working full time, and doing poptent commercials on the side tends to get my head spinning a little bit at times.  Fantasizing about Disneyland is a nice way to calm myself; there have been studies that show that one of the most relaxing things about a vacation is the anticipation of going.  However, that only serves to remind me that there are 170 entries and ours is but 1.  I think it is pretty good, especially considering some people didn't even use the proper end slate, or the correct font.  Which isn't really a big deal, but when its a contest with rules and you are trying to represent a brand these things alone can disqualify your entry.  Also, introducing a brand to a group that has absolutely no idea about it is also no easy feat.  So here is our ad for netflix.  Please take the time to like our video or comment on it.  We would really appreciate the attention.  Netflix will ultimately pick 5 videos to award 8000 dollars each, which we would split between the people who helped us make the video.

Until I know what the end result is with Netflix, I will just have to fantasize and try to remain focused at the same time.  All the while hoping and praying that it will all work out.  This is only one of about a million things I am excited for right now so I'm just full to the top with energy right now.  A few of my coworkers have informed me that my excess energy can get a little stressful, so this is something I can work on as well :-).  Enthusiasm is just pumping through my veins right now and I want all the awesome stuff I'm waiting for (including a few unmentioned things) to be well worth the torturous wait.

How do you keep anticipation from killing you?  Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Problems with Female Characters

I recently saw Cowboys and Aliens (midnight showing Bitches!) and I love Jon Favreau's work.  But as I get closer to arriving in LA and hitting the streets to find myself a job on set that I can be proud of, I wonder what the place is for women in Hollywood.  This interview with Olivia Wilde had me stoked on the film and the idea that they were portraying a woman from the time period as the strong and independent woman she would have had to be in order to survive the cowboy old west days.  However (and this is probably because I was unfamiliar with the comic on which the movie is based) I was disappointed in the film when SPOILER ALERT BIG TIME: she was revealed to be an alien.  This is probably written into the comic, as I said, but it still made me sad that the strong bad ass woman was literally from another planet.  ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT: I was also really peeved that for her to save the day she had to martyr herself.  Can a woman save the day?  Yes, if she explodes.
Here is the interview that got me so psyched on the film. Watch it. I don't think the SPOILER ALERT: alieness and martyrdom were things she is really thinking about in this interview, but they are still worth noting.

I saw a post by a friend who is always psyched about comicon on facebook and it was a link to a batgirl who apparently faced quite alot of negativity for questions relating to the inequality of female to male main characters in comic books, as well as in the creative aspects of comics.  Read it.  I was really shocked, as I'm sure "batgirl" herself was, by the clear hostility in the executive's voice when asked about women in DC.  Comics have long been associated with lonely male nerds, but that's simply not by a long shot the whole demographic of people who read comics.  That in itself is an awful stereotype and I think it is a problem that is compounded (when you read the blog interview you will understand) by hostility from the people who are in control of the brand.  Comics can be about women, as well as men.  Comics can be MADE by women, as well as men.  I used to think that this inequality was probably due to less women wanting to be involved in comic books, but after reading this blog, I feel like even though there are fewer women interested in comics it doesn't justify the 1% female creative staff noted by one male fan of the DC universe.

I guess what it boils down to is that women are still "the weaker sex" in movies and comics.  I want to fix this, but it is not something to be done (as some female film theorists would have it) in an alternative art cinema.  Women should be superheroes too; women should be movie heroes too.  I was so excited to see Kickass because of Hitgirl's insane action sequences and strength.  Ultimately though, she was reliant on a male superhero (one less experienced and more beat up throughout the film) to ultimately save her.

Unfortunately, this is how I see things.  Do you have any inspiring female characters not reliant on male companionship?  Did I majorly miss something in my ideas that I should be aware of?  Tell me how you see it because this is one thing I would like to see differently and I know the things I discussed are just the tip of the iceberg.

Paranormals

I was lucky enough to find my niche in college early winter quarter of my freshman year.  FPC has always been my group of friends and collaborators.  This year, we selected and made the film Paranormals.  Watch the epic trailer HERE.  Every year we strive to improve our technical skills and teach people new skills at the same time.  Every year we succeed, but I think this year we deserve to pat ourselves on the backs a little.

We anticipated many of the major problems we have encountered in the past, and this forward thinking allowed us to avoid several disasters (knock on wood).  Even a very delirious incident of dropping the hard-drive containing our footage, and unfortunately a very large amount of Anthony's personal files, did not set us back on our timeline.  

Not only technically did we advance, but (this may just be my bias) this project is hilarious and very fun to watch.  I am proud to have been a part of it and this has been a superb way to end my career as president of this club.  

If you are interested in attending our premiere, you can RSVP HERE.  Please come out tomorrow at 5:30pm to the Media Theater and show your support of all the film students who have worked so hard to make this movie the glorious masterpiece it is!