it's kate's birthday!

happy birthday katherine anne barry!
i hope that out impromptu 2am skype birthday celebration showed you just how excited i am that you are the big 2-0. this time last year we were midnight bike-riding to castle island and playing on the playground together. and this time next year we will most likely be taking shots of tequila at white horse... let's be honest. OKAY WELL I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU AND CAN'T WAIT UNTIL WE ARE TOGETHER AGAIN! i'm going to wear my birthday hat all day today in your honor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love you.

living in your letters.

skywalker makes her first appearance on the blog!

today is a happy day. i got home from work to find 4 count 'em 4 pieces of mail waiting for me!!!!!! a letter from lilah, a letter from townsend, a package of books from my momma, and the pants i ordered online from urban. i did a happy dance in the hall! note: here at PLB when we get packages the couriers take our god-forsaken slower-than-your great-grandmother-drives-on-tranquilizers elevators all the way up to your floor and then they drop 'em right at our door. it's pretty ballin'. okay, back to the point- so that was a pretty great suprise. townsend and lilah's letters are now hanging up in my closet so that i can read them every day and remember that out there somewhere there are a few people that love me. and all of this excitement inspired me to get working on my mailings, which is also very fun.

work was pretty good today- and it's a night off from urban so that's another +. i've been contemplating jumping into a new series now that i've finalled finished The L Word, so i have to decide between dexter, entourage, or true blood. i'm leaning towards dexter, but my roommate has been berating me to get into entourage for the past month. decisions, decisions.

grandma pat had her operation today and i'm happy to say everything went well, so here's a little shout-out to g-ma pat, love ya.

in other news, i think i'm in love with somebody that doesn't know how to let himself be loved.

well, that's all for now.

puddle dive: always on my mind

puddle jump: always on my mind

paint it black.

oh my goodness another blogging break!

a lot has happened since my last post. i turned down my first real hollywood job, i got a fall internship, i dyed my hair dark, i touched michael rapaport in the wiener area, and i planned a 2 week trip home to PA in august! that doesn't sound like as much as it really was, but whatever.

anywho, leanne and katie were each away for the weekend so i just balled out in the apartment alone- it was actually really nice and i'm glad i got a little alone time. i spent most of the weekend working at the urbs, but also did a little joy-riding in leanne's car that she left for me. love love LOVE my bike... but i'm kind of looking forward to the day when i'm 4 wheelin' again. and since my new internship is going to be in culver city, i will definitely be needing a car for the fall. too early to start stressing about that though- maybe when i'm home in august i can start the hunt.

my movie blog is up and off to a pretty sluggish start. i'm already a few flicks behind, but i think i'll be able to catch up this week since it's back to the office tomorrow.

let's see what else what else- i can't believe my brother gets back from morocco next weekend- that month flew by so fast- and that means i've already been in LA for over a month! weiiirddd! i feel like i just got here but it's been a good 5 weeks now. before i know it it will be back to boston for a cold, grey winter. gross.

i guess i should explain the michael rapaport reference now- he came into work today while i was in the fitting room and as i let him into his room i accidentally smacked him in the lower abdomen. i said wiener because that's funny, but really i was lying. it was his stomach.

i hate when i get to this point in the post where i'm struggling to bring up more topics to write about so i think i'll just stop here, and write when inspired. i think that's the new rule for this blog. okay, toodles.

puddle dive: tonight was my last night of automobiling, tomorrow it's back to bicycling in the HEAT

puddle jump: my mom sent me my bike ihome so pretty soon i'll be cruisin to all the hottest beats

come a little closer.

i had to be quiet because it's all fancy shmancy up there.

so, i take back all of the bad things i said about california weather yesterday. today it's sunny and warm and i just want to gallavant all over town. alas, i am in the office... reading a 780 page novel. oh, the glamour of it all!

i finally got my movie blog up and running- it's and you should support it by telling me whether or not you think i'm an idiot.

tonight i have another night off from urban (how spoiled am i?) so i think i'm going to watch some delicious visual stimulation and eat a lot of spinach. i know, i know, i should really tone it down.

while we're on that topic- let me just say that the reason i'm not going wild and crazy in LA right now is because i am burrrroke. like, we're talking, IN THE RED. i have dubbed this summer the summer of saving so that i can wile out in the fall. it's kind of sad and embarrassing when i talk to people about being out here and they ask me about all of the fancy things i've done and i have to tell them that i'm just riding the struggle bus and living minimally. although i've gotten to go to some cool screenings and free events so at least it's not dull being broke.

this morning i met an cheerful little asian man outside of my building and he asked me about 35 questions about my bike and then he told me i was beautiful. he told me his name but i can't remember. i hope that i see him again.

welp time to go back to work. will maybe write more later.

puddle dive: i am wearing an inappropriate top and it's making me pretty self-conscious

puddle jump: this book i'm reading doesn't suck

i light my own fires now.

i struggled to think of an interesting and relevant picture to my day today so i grabbed the closest prop. who doesn't love coke? well, me, for one, but that's besides the point.

oh my gosh i've been slacking meracking on the updates but now that i have my very first follower my blogging zest has been restored! hey, kate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love you!

well i'll just start off by letting the world know that in my not posting for the past few days... nobody has missed much. in fact, you'll be able to get a quick recap if you just go to urbanoutfitters.com, put in the newest kanye CD and pump the volume up really loud, and turn on an episode of the hills. yup, that about sums it up. urban pretty much owns my life, but i can't complain coz i gotta get that papah.

so i think it's time for me to finally share my thoughts on LA thus far. most of this has come through working at the urban on melrose, but also a bit from my internships in hollywood and also just putzing around in general:

-most people are generally friendlier out here, and definitely more laid-back. the rule is that people are nice and the exception is snobbery... whereas where i come from it's the opposite.

- the gays are taking over and it's pretty rad.

- the weather is actually not what everyone tried to convince me it'd be. my first week out here it was sunny and warm everyday and now it's just a whole bunch of strange. it will be sunny and warm for a few hours and then completely cloud up and drizzle a bit. also, somebody told me it never rained and it's rained 4 or 5 times since i've been here. idk if i brought this weather with me or what, but sunny california has not been as sunny as i was lead to believe it was. everybody calls it "june gloom" but i call it "june suck" and/or "this isn't how california was described to me." i am supposed to be getting sunburnt, damnit.

- LA is not really what everybody expects as far as "everyone is beautiful there" and "it's so expensive and full of rich people." hollywood, maybe, but LA is really just a city like any other, meaning that it has more than its fair share of "normal" people. i feel like the glamour that everyone associates with LA is just a projection- hollywood and beverly hills are like that, but mostly everywhere else is just regular people living their regular lives. this does not apply to night life, however, because the supermodels definitely come out of hiding when the lights go down.

- thai food does not taste like east coast thai food. i'm undecided as to whether i approve.

- mexican food. lots of it.

- i'm getting tired of these bullet points but i just wanted to share a few as they were on my mind. more as they come to me.

in the same grain, overall, i like LA so far. i'm still getting used to it because it's such a different place than any of the east coast cities i'm used to, but i welcome the change. yesterday i decided that i don't really miss boston, but i definitely miss the people there. shout-out to my bostonian lovers. i also miss doylestown a little bit, but only because of a select few.

tonight is a night off which is BITCHIN'. i think i'm going to sit on my arse and watch instant netflix and/or finish up the last season of the L word. okay i'm tired of writing, bye.

puddle dive: rode all the way to work this morning before realizing i forgot my u-lock and had to turn around.

puddle jump: no urban tonight which means i get to relax!

one of those days.

the good thing about having a blog with no followers is that you can miss a day and it doesn't even matter because nobody is there to notice! here i am holding down the fort at reception- sheBANG. (she bangs?)

so today, is not my day. i woke up late, then biked all the way to work only to realize once i got there that i forgot my bike lock...(typical).. so i had to go all the way home to get it, making me late... and OF COURSE, somehow, during the time that i hopped off to run upstairs for the lock and came back down to head out... my chain miraculously popped off all by itself. AWESOME. after spending entirely too long trying to get it back on... some hot black man stuck his head out his window and asked me if i needed help. shamefully, i said yes, yes i do.. so he ran downstairs to help me and proceeded to get it up and running in about 1.6 seconds. story of my life. embarrassing. then i get to work and spill and entire water bottle all over myself.... so i'm pretty much just living the dream right now.

and to top it all off.. it's thursday... which means it's annoying asian intern day. honestly, i do NOT have the patience for this dank ass motherfuckin' HO today.

puddle dive: fuck you didn't you fucking read what i just wrote?

puddle jump: .... hot black man lives in my building with strong, able hands- must remember

edit: i made a new movie blog and it's gonna be totally awesome! all of the imaginary people that read this blog should also now read that blog, too!!

the games that play us.

i'm on my 4th cup of tea for the day- i swallow this stuff by the gallon coz i can get it for FREE99. real talk: when you're livin' the struggle, it's the complimentary caffeinated beverages that get you by.

it's day 2 of project make money or die tryin'- another double coming up tonight at urban- woot woot holla holla.

i guess that's all i have to saOH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT FOREIGN OBJECT AT THE BOTTOM OF MY COMPUTER SCREEN? i can't get it out- it's like this little white piece of shmootz that is lodged between the screen and the screen casing and i have no idea what the fuck it is, how long it's been there, or how i'm possibly going to get it out. .... well oops i just got it lodged down there even deeper and now it's out of sight. maybe it will crawl across my screen soon and moon me. or maybe not. shut up.

time for lunch, i'm worthless.

puddle dive: when i say i'm going to lunch, i'm really just going outside to make phone calls, because i'm too broke to eat.

puddle jump: i'm too high on caffeine to be hungry anyway

every night's another story.

shhhhhh leanne is sleeping.

this is what it looks like at nighttime in my room. i just went on a cleaning spree and cleaned the whole apartment because the mess stresses me out. i hate cleaning, but i also like it a lot.

tonight i'm feeling very organized and inspired to stay that way. i just realized that it's the first time in so long i haven't had classes/homework to worry about, so not having the stress of classwork in the back of my mind is extremely uplifting. i realized i haven't been completely free from classes in 2 entire years. wowsa.

there's a million movies that i need to watch, i think i shall start tomorrow.

everything in its right place.

it's almost like i'm nakie!

had a great day at TWC today. gotta pull the double and head to urban in a few minutes... but hopefully it will be a slow monday so i can putz around and roll outta there by 11. i'm not quite used to the 60+ hour work-week yet (where only 20 of the hours are paid) but i'm slowly but surely acclimating. i still miss urbnewbz but i'm starting to make friends at my new store and i have a feeling it will get better as time passes.

so i've definitely been working on my intolerance as of late and i must say i think i've made leaps and bounds... but i've decided that people laughing at things that are 0% funny will never quit irking me. honestly- wow.

fuck why do i always think of things to blog about during the day but when it actually comes time to write i can't think of anything worthwhile?

i miss certain people in doylestown...

puddle dive: i'm broke.

puddle jump: i'm going to see the cubs/dodgers in august!

crash course in polite conversation.

i need to start getting creative with these pictures. props starting tomorrow.

so today i realized that i'm having serious canine withdrawal. 4 adorable dogs came into urban today and i HAD to touch each of them... and it was wonderful. i am so glad that people like to walk their dogs down melrose because then i get to snuggle with them while the owners shop. i need to figure out if there's an spca or animal shelter around here that i can go visit so that i can get my weekly fix.

definitely working at sunday speed all day today- i think i was pretty useless but whatevs. had to help a guy out with a nub and it got me thinking about the way that one ought to appropriately deal with somebody with a nub. part of me feels like the proper thing to do is just act like it's completely normal, but like... another part of me thinks... you only have one hand, that's not normal.... i wish it was okay to just casually be like oh dang what happened? but obviously that would be really rude i guess? it's weird because like i see him come in and all i'm thinking is like okay i really want to make sure he knows i'm not weirded out by it or anything... but then i realized i was over-compensating and being too nice to him... and that's what got me thinking and wondering what the appropriate behavior is because you obviously don't want to stare or be rude but at the same time i felt really goofy because i was like just trying to give him this look like hey man i think it's cool you have a nub and i'm proud of you for living your life one-handed! i will have to revisit this topic upon further reflection...

puddle dive: something's rattling on my bike

puddle jump: i made moneys!

your heart is an empty room.

tonight is a pretty ENHHHH sort of night. i started listening to deathcab and got all moody.

today was good, though. went to the cine gear expo at the paramount lot and saw lots of exciting nerd toys! even wore a steadycam and felt pretty baller. suffering from some lingering back pain because of that one, though.

blah, i don't feel like writing about any of the things that are actually on my mind tonight because nobody likes an emo blogging butthole.

puddle dive: hopelessly devoted

puddle jump: i'm pursuing the right dream

somewhere, a clock is ticking.

i'm not very sure when today happened. am i delusional?

i think i'm going to do this picture thing everyday. whenever i'm speaking to someone online or reading something they've written, i always have this desire to see their face as they type the words. i love silent video chats, partly because i'm a creeper, but partly because i think it's so interesting how we can paint our personalities all over the internet with our little fingers- and you don't have to use your face to back any of it up. i don't know, it's weird, but i like to have a visual. i've also got this weird thing about knowing where somebody is when they sit at their computer- like, when i visit somebody's pad for the first time, i always like to check out their command center so that the next time i talk to them online i can picture where they're at. okay, i'm rambling again- how did i even get into this? right- daily pictures. so, anyways, i think i will put up a picture everytime i post because i think it's nice to attach a visual to the words.

today i had a good conversation with a new friend that made me excited about our recent connection. it's refreshing to realize that my tendancies towards misanthropy do not come from a deference to inter-personal relationships but rather just a disenchantment with the rarity of genuity. it gets me thinking about how hard my shell has become in the past few years, and how, sometimes, i wish i could just go back to loving everyone and everything. i'm not sure if i'm going through a phase or i've just changed, but i am so grateful to be going through whatever it is i'm going through with an acute awareness and consciousness. i don't know how or why i'm able to have so much perspective on some of these things... but i think it's a good thing. for now, at least.

puddle dive of the day: woke up at 2pm

puddle jump: i can still feel

i've got dreams to remember.

[insert some witty metaphor about how i'm feeling awfully "under the gun" at my internship]

actually, though, i don't feel too pressured at all. i'm getting used to ballin' out here at in my cubicle... really can't complain.

today i finally read a script that i liked and actually made me LOL..and i don't do that often. i even teared up at the end, which was hella awkward to contain because my supervisor knows i definitely don't have a cold. i'm not embarrassed by it- i just think it's too early in the game to reveal myself as the easy-crier i am. okay actually yes, i am totally embarrassed by it.

so.. um... i decided to start this blog. i don't really know why. i wish that i had some cool theme so that each post had a particular purpose.. but for now it's just going to be... me. maybe i will be able to come up with some cool theme and then take it from there but i couldn't think of anything interesting enough so i think i'm just gonna go ahead and do this bitch xanga style. rip. heartpenguinheart

or maybe i should make this a FRAN'S SUMMER IN LA blog? although i'm not allowed to blog about my internship so i think that theme would just lead me into bad places and before i knew it harvey weinstein would be suing my ass. yes, i think i'll just stick to my own emo musings. oh man i'm so lame. at least i've got my puddle dives/jumps to offer some structure:

today's puddle dive: got my purple dress stuck in my chain. again.

puddle jump: made some friends at the office!

between order and randomness.

blog ther-a-py (blŏg ther-uh-pee)
n.
1. a method of treatment for the illness of consciousness and/or disease of living by means of writing entries in, adding material to, or maintaining a blog
2. the practice of using a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a web page for its curative power and quality
3. fran's newest act, hobby, task, program, etc., to relieve daily tension

welcome to my daily puddle dives!

*fR