nplove Land

My friends got together again this past weekend, to celebrate the Chinese New Year. :)

We meet at someone's house once a month to eat and talk, getting away from the doldrums of life. Next month - 50's.

Coming in June will be my turn. Hmmmm, wonder what my theme will be? ;)

I found out, too late, that there was to be an alumni basketball game this past Friday night. Argh! I would have SO played if I'd have known. I was on the phone with Dell after work on Friday and at 5:31 pm Jennifer (co-worker and fellow alumni) called to say the women's game began at 5:30! Sheesh!! I finished my phone call (ordering my new hardrive and new RAM) around 6:00, rushed home, picked up the kid and the mom, and arrived in the middle of the 3rd quarter to watch the game. A bunch of young girls...only one my age. They won, and so did the alumni guys. Maybe next year!

Saturday morning we woke up early to participate at the city of Calexico's annual walk and run-a-thon. Speed walk more like it. :) Kayla and I got 3rd place in our respective age group, and my mom pulled in a 2nd place trophy! :)

We had a hobby night at my church this past Sunday. Different church members displayed their various hobbies on tables: coins, shells, angels, paintings, thimbles, and gems. I took a laptop and showed off some of my websites, photoshop pics, and little videos. 'Twas fun. :)

I'll add pictures later. :)

The kid, the sis, and I spend some of the weekend in Palm Springs Film Festival to watch the US premiere of Gerry's film, "Beowulf & Grendel."

Friday: didn't make it to lunch (had to put in a couple of hours at work) and we were late to the theater, so I'm so bummed I couldn't hang out with the other fans at the restaurant or in line. Boohoo! I couldn't even make it to dinner that night since the kid had a softball tourney all day Saturday.

But what a great movie! I agree with a lot of the fan comments: Gerry was great, the cinematography was amazing, some of the dialogue a little hard to understand, Polley flat. Great adaptation of the old epic poem - action, humor, and moral code. Awesome!

I saw another fan, Bermos, outside the theater, trying to strike a deal with the festival peeps to score a movie poster. I stood by to offer moral support (okay, to score one too) when the festival lady said, "you'll have to ask the director for a poster" when I turned around, there he was, Sturla Gunnarsson! We stopped him and Bermos let him know how many Tarts were there in support of the film. I mentioned that my little girl was there too, then mumbled something about her not being so little anymore. Sturla looked at me and said, "Mine neither. Don't they grow up so fast!" Kayla had just walked out to get a new straw, so I called her over and she got to meet and shake hands with him. What a doll! (both of them)

Saturday: arrived at the gym at 7 am....and didn't leave until almost 8!!! Sheesh! The tournament was held at Meadows school (off of Evan Hews Highway and Bowker Road) from 8:30 to 4:30 pm. Long day. The girls first game was at 8:45 versus McCabe. We lost, about 8 to 0. Their pitcher was just too fast. Our girls couldn't get a hit. :( They played later agains Meadows (and won like 12 to 4), then later lost toFrank Wright of Imperial (again, fast pitcher). But, Kayla said she had fun, so that's what matters, right? :) We got home about 5 pm and she went to sleep......until 8 the next morning. She was soo tired, poor kid. Skipped dinner. LOL Pics here.

Sunday: left for Palm Springs again around 10:30 am. Made it to lunch at Las Casuelas, (a little late, couldn't find the restaurant). Met Mark (the only Tartan there?), Punkin and daughter gave us buttons (thanks SOO much, it meant a lot to my sis!), Tarts from Nevada (can't remember your names). Got to see Tamara's scrapbook (someday I hope to do one), and to hear everyone laughing and talking. We had a great time!

Sylvia and Kayla walked over to the theater (while I sped-walked to the car before it got towed) - they decided I'd have to get the car since they hadn't brought "walking shoes." We stood in line with the other Tarts - and some other people who had no idea what all the crowd, laughter, and general HOOPLA was all about. When the line started moving, my daughter looks at me and says, "I forgot my sweater. It's gonna be cold..." Arrgh!! So I ran off, back to the car, to get her sweater..... ran. I couldn't run back...out of breath....construction guys looking..... By the time I made it back to the theater, everyone was gone...but Sturla had just arrived. He looked over at me, leaned over, out of breath, and smiled and waved. Funny!

Sturla was very gracious and did a Q & A before and after the film at both showings. There were members of the press, some English teachers, and of course, the fans. They asked about the landscape, the search for a distributor, the adaptation and Christian themes, and how did Gerry behave on set. :) During both showings, we Tarts whooped it up, the whole audience laughed out loud, groaned, cheered at the appropriate times. At Sunday's Q & A, the festival guy who introduced Sturla said "look at all these women staring up at you." Sturla later replied, "I feel like Mick Jagger's roadie!" LOL Here's a link to a blog at the Desert Sun, Palm Spring's news, "Beowulf director is quite the ladies man." Scoll down :)

So, here are my pictures at Flickr. I'll be working on a few, to make a collage, a panaromic of the line, and to fix the dark ones of Sturla. Enjoy!!

Yeah, it was confirmed today that my hardrive is forever gone. *sniff, sniff* Diagnosis? Not a virus. Hardware malfunction. Now I have to call Dell and let them know so that they can send me a new one.

Grrrr!

Of all times for that to happen! What are the odds? Go figure...there I was, being a good daughter/granddaughter, making a collage, then BAM! Gone, just like that. I wonder which of my cousins pictures cursed the whole project? Hmmm... ;)

I made this quick photo-llage to use during my goofing off time at my Gerry and Prince fan sites.