On my way to California, I met a Celebrity!

The most amazing thing happened today; you might not believe it.  As some of you know, I’m on vacation to California; right now as I write, I’m still not actually in California, but that hasn’t stopped amazing things from happening. For example, I really thought my vacation was off to a miserable start when the ticket counter guy informed the passenger’s of my flight that there wasn’t enough room on the flight for everyone. In fact, I was called up specifically, and asked if I would be flexible and be able to go on a later flight. I felt pressured into saying “yes” like I normally do, so I said “yes” and they put me on a flight on the next gate over. It took me to Newark, which was never in the plan, but eventually I wound up in Houston Texas; that’s where I am right now.

First of all, because of the grand sacrifice I made, Continental Airlines has given me a 300 dollar gift certificate, which is good for flights anytime this year. My original ticket only cost me 260 dollars to begin with, so this is great news for me. If this little vacation goes well, I could fly out again sometime this year for FREE.

That’s nice in all and I am a little happy about it, but that’s far from the highlight of the day. I saw Richard Simmons walking through the terminal with who may have been his life partner, I don’t know; I’m not exactly sure if he’s gay or not; anyway, I smile at him and he says “You forgot to shave today! Don’t you know that there are fifty-million people at this airport today, and they’re all going to see you like that,” he said this kidding; being nice as can be, and I said grinning back at him “Oh gosh, now I’m embarrassed!” and a quick as flick of the fingers he says “you shouldn’t be embarrassed; you look great!” and I said “Ah, shucks!” at least that’s what I wish I said… I don’t really remember what I said after that. He moved on and left me there in utter shock and awe. What a great guy! He made me feel great! He might not have meant a word, but that doesn’t matter to me.

After that, I sat at the bar of this Airport restaurant and eventually ordered the Catfish platter. This nice cougar-type lady, sat next to me and we talked for an hour about all sorts of things. Politics, Celebrities, drugs, India, and other foreign countries. She was trying to convince me that I should go out of the country and see what the world has to offer. She’d been to India and said she had a love hate relationship with the country; then this other guy sat down and said he didn’t recommend going to India because he worked there and hated it. I kept the conversation going even though I never said that I ever wanted to go to India. It would be nice, but I haven’t thought that much about it to be honest. What was I going to tell him though… they went off on it for a while; I paid the bartender, and told them about my encounter with Richard Simmons before I left. I don’t think she knew who Richard Simmons was but I didn’t want her to feel like an idiot. She started to tell some weird story about some other celebrity she saw today. She said that there was some comedian beeping at people and telling them to move…she thought he was a celebrity comedian or something [she thought when I told my story about Richard Simmons, that he was some comedian because he said something funny to me; she’d been drinking a little] but anyway the guy she thought was a famous comedian was just an airport shuttle driver. I can see how she could get them confused. She was a nice lady though.

 I couldn’t eat all of my Catfish platter; they gave me a lot more than anyone could ever hope to eat, but the restaurant experience was good overall because I had nice people to talk to. Unfortunately, the catfish was really hot and I burnt my mouth all over, but remembering Richard Simmon’s  words took the sting away.

At any rate, I’m about get on my last flight to California. First class actually; cause that how I roll…fly…glide?

Weird Dreams

I had a strange dream last night that I want to share, not because it's symbolic or anything, but because I'm beginning to forget it. I woke up after the dream and told myself that I should remember this. Why? Maybe I was tired and it meant something too me at the time. I know for a fact that it had a emotional impact on me, and I guess I could analyze the dream and see why. Anyway, here's the dream with all the details that I can remember:

I was with a group of people, and we were dressed relatively normal and traveling through various locations, wielding swords. I've seen the main location in my dreams before. It was sort of a creative office[like an advertising agency]/ museum. In a previous dream I was given a tour of the museum aspect and it was kind of like a fun house/ freak show and I was being stalked by something dark. Now, me and the group of adventurers were the hunters. Most of us were good and noble but you could tell there were a few bad-apples in the bunch, and they wore black.

When we fought our enemies, the scene turned into something out of a Japanese Role Playing Game. I've never played one[and haven't played a video game in months], but in a Japanese RPG you are given certain skill points, magical items, and weapons that you are allowed to use when it's your turn in a fight. So, when we battled and it was our enemy's turn, we had to stand still and take their attacks; it went both ways. Some of our allies died in these battles, but could be revived after the battle was won. I don't remember too much about the battles, but I remember the rules. 

The part I told myself to really remember was this: we were in a dungeon now and of course there were treasure chests everywhere and we all went around opening them, and either got gold, potions, weapons, or magical items. I got a bird, a bluebird. I was a little disappointed, but then I read that it would assist me in my battles, and would damage my enemies automatically without wasting my "turn points". So, then I thought it was awesome! I put the bluebird on my shoulder and planned to explore more deeply into the dungeon, but then something happened. One of my "allies" got jealous and grabbed the bluebird off my shoulder and snapped it's neck, then he filleted it and ate the raw meat. I was furious, because I had connected with the bird and I owned it! I didn't kill the man, I just talked to him about it and he eventually asked for my forgiveness, but I didn't trust him. The dream ended with me feeling very negative.

I really don't like when tiny animals get killed, it always makes me upset; especially when it's done on purpose, without reason, or, in other words: maliciously. Sure, he ate the meat, but I think he did it just to make me upset. We had plenty of fruit and turkey legs, so there was no reason why he should cut open my bird and eat it in front of me! I remember asking him over and over "why would you do that?" It didn't make sense then, and it surely doesn't make sense now. 

I'm sure it's all very symbolic; it reminds me of several things in my life where my friendship has been taken advantage of, and a friend goes behind my back and hurts my feelings. However, I didn't know this guy, but I'll remember his face, so when I see him in the future I'll know he can't be trusted. So, maybe it's a warning. I remember the man, more than I remember anything else in the dream. If or when I see him again, I will know not to trust him with my bluebirds.    

Video Project

It's that time of the year again; FHE film festival time! I'm a pretty gifted film editor, and like making stupid little films. This year's project is a little ambitious. For an explanation of what type of effect I want our film to have, listen to the video above and replace the question of "what is best in life?" with this question "Orin! What's the 'take-home' message of your film?" Conan says it how it is and I would like to echo his response: "to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the women"

I'm excited about this project, but it's taking me away from time where I could be working on my main project; my book. Progress has slowed down because I have no discipline. I will no longer allow myself to get caught up in TV shows [except for "24" on Mondays and "The Soup" on Fridays] I will no longer be distracted by video games. I will read more, think more, and create more. All will be well.

The video project happens to be a parody of "Conan" movies, gangsta rap, and possibly Zombie movies too. It's going to be fun; I spent a few hours yesterday working on a script and had a meeting with the "crew" last night. I received some great creative input; now all I have to do is convert that to a product.