http://greasy.com/mellowdee/index.html mellowdee's Blog en-us © 2008 Greasy.com All rights reserved. Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:59:57 GMT 30 http://greasy.com/mellowdee/picture_says_words_part_trois.html Okay, so let's pick up where we left off, shall we? Interlaken, SwitzerlandAh, Interlaken.... my idea of Heaven. Switzerland was easily our favourite country - which means we took a million pictures. The views were incredible. The alpine air smelled fresh and sweet (probably due to the bakery just outside of the train station). And everything is unbeliveably quaint. Although I couldn't help but wonder if the city was naturally quaint, or just made to look that way, as every single building ... Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:43:36 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/picture_says_words_part_2.html So after getting married in Salzburg, we set off to explore all that Italy had to offer (or at least what we could glean in just a couple days - ha.) Venice  It was raining like mad when we got there, so our first souvenirs were two cheap plastic ponchos and an umbrella. Finally it cleared up for a very brief bit -- just long enough for J to have his picture taken next to the gondolas which it was too wet and cold to go on.... And for me to have my picture taken next to one of the many in ... Thu, 9 Oct 2008 23:56:05 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/picture_says_words_part.html And we have 1060 of 'em! (Don't worry... I won't bore you with all of them.)But honestly, since I have no idea where on earth to begin, I figure the easiest way is to start with some pictures. Ready? Here we go...Vienna Vienna is apparently famous for all its cafes... there seems to be one on every corner -- and then some. It seems that pretty much every building is just super elaborate. (At least in the neighbourhoods that we were wandering. We were only there for a day n' a half.) An ama ... Thu, 9 Oct 2008 18:00:31 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/hello_october.html Okay, I'm back after what has easily been the BEST weddingmoon of a lifetime!!! Really... it was sooo amazing. Neither of us could have imagined doing it any other way. We have enough wonderful memories to last the rest of our lives, and enough photos to last us ten lifetimes. We figure that we have easily over 1000 photos between the 700 we took, our 300 wedding photos, and the 60 taken of us when we were paragliding off the Alps.(Oh yes... we went paragliding and it was AWESOME!! Of cour ... Sun, 5 Oct 2008 16:50:53 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/good_morning_september.html ... were the first thoughts that popped to mind when I crawled out of bed on Monday. September... sheesh. Where does the time go? I even started a blog on Monday, but didn't have time to finish it. These are busy days around the Mellowdee & J household. My parents were due to arrive at 3:00 this afternoon, but naturally they missed their flight. Construction kept them in a stop and go motion for about 40 minutes longer than expected. However, construction aside, I can't say that I'm surpri ... Wed, 3 Sep 2008 23:18:51 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/sherry_niles.html In just about every episode of Fraiser, at some point you'll hear Fraiser say, "Sherry, Niles?" Well, yesterday J n' I went to pick up a bottle of wine, and we were wandering around the store looking for something new... not that it matters much, because I have no real palate to appreciate the subtleties found in vino. Actually I was on a wine tour a few months ago, and the guide asked me if I eat a lot of spicy food -- which I do -- and he said that is why I can't pick up on all the compl ... Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:29:09 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/writercoaster.html So the other day after watching the movie trailer that has a few similar plot points as our script, we contacted the main producer we've been speaking with to get her perspective. She was floored and agreed that we would absolutely have to change certain aspects of our script to avoid comparison with this big Hollywood film. For the most part, J n' I are ready to comply; however, J is *really* hanging on to our time capsule scene, and has been investing all his time and energy into rationa ... Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:12:01 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/sleeping_better.html Over the last week or so I've found myself lying awake in bed for hours fretting over the STUPIDEST stuff. Ugh. I've been driving myself crazy! I won't bore you with the details, but basically my list of remaining to-dos just keeps circling through my mind again and again and again. I wish I could spit it out like a stale piece of gum, and just be done with it. I get sick of listening to myself pour over every little thing... and yet they continue to keep me awake like a monotonous car ala ... Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:24:53 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/1219600434.html So for the last couple of years as J n' I have plugged away on our script, one of our subconscious fears is that someone else will come up with an idea similar to ours, and get their film made first. After all, it happens all the time. (You can see a bunch of examples here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:ProhibitOnions/List_of_films_with_similar_themes_and_release_dates) There seems to be a collective conscience of ideas floating around out there, and when you're busy writing away, you ... Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:53:54 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/day_time.html Only a week ago I found myself becoming overwhelmed with everything we had left to do before we head out on our weddingmoon. So much to do, so little time. But instead I tried to put those Nervous Nelly thoughts out of my head, and instead focus on what I could accomplish day by day. It's been a productive week, and this Saturday I'm finding myself in a much better space than I was last Saturday. Last Saturday -- I started by ordering our reception favours online. I purchased a few disposa ... Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:49:41 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/says_says.html Well, granny-sitting is as entertaining as always. J's grandma is a real firecracker, and because she doesn't get out of the house, all her time is spent watching trash TV... so she's totally in the know of all the Hollywood drama, and forming her own opinions all along the way. "That Li-Lo, what a little bee-atch!" Oh, and watching Opera with her yesterday was a hoot, as granny starting spouting off her own sex advice. Gawd, did J ever cringe! I know she embarrasses the hell out of him, b ... Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:02:28 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/august.html Well, I certainly wasn't kidding myself when I looked at my calendar for August and realized that it would be a busy month. I've barely had time to make the rounds here at Greasy at all. In fact, on more than one occasion, I've actually found myself wondering what everyone has been up to, wishing for a spare moment when I could lurk around and check out all your blogs. It's funny how people you've never met can actually have that kind of impact. Anyhow, aside from our new life working on t ... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:28:11 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/girls_gotta_do_girls_gotta.html Yesterday VP got back to me in regards to my contract proposal. While he's always sooo professional, there was a serious undertone of frustration and tension in his voice. VP sighed before an awkward beginning... "Well... um, well, I guess I will just have to be direct and straight-forward with you..." CEO instructed VP to pass the message along to me that they are refusing to negotiate. What they offered was their only and final offer. In fact, I got the impression that it actually ticked ... Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:54:04 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/unbelievable.html Just a few unbelievable things I wanted to mention... 1. Wednesday our co-workers held us a nice little good-bye lunch at Moxie's. There was a big turn out -- even folks who left the company years ago. We were both unbelievably surprised and flattered. 2. Payroll really wanted to attend our special lunch yesterday, but she decided to pass because she felt that her time would be better spent having a conference call with HR about our pending contracts. Payroll has been so sweet and proactiv ... Fri, 8 Aug 2008 02:06:26 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/breakin.html Hmm... where to begin? I have a bunch of random notes, so maybe I'll just break it all down. The Offer -- As always, leaving every little detail until the very last minute, work made me an offer late Friday afternoon... which I very nicely disputed. Actually, I was kinda insulted, but was calm about it, "Sorry, I don't mean to be difficult, but that is not what I'm expecting to be paid." I hate playing hardball, but I won't be able to forgive myself if I don't at least try. I explained my ... Wed, 6 Aug 2008 17:32:44 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/invited_wedding.html Ah yes, the age-old battle that every bride n' groom must face... the damn guest list. So, last night J had a little chat with his mom. She asked him the same question that she had asked me only a few days earlier, innocently pretending that she didn't know the answer. Maybe she was hoping to get a different one, I don't know... I was sitting beside J at the time, and I could hear her voice sweetly question him through the phone, "So which of your relatives did you invite to the reception? ... Fri, 1 Aug 2008 16:14:42 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/contract_cheers_contract_chaos.html Well, we just wrapped up the remainder of paperwork today for our funding. I was getting a little nervous since we were originally expecting to have it done by the 16th, but it was all tied up with the lawyers... of course. I was having second thoughts that perhaps J n' I had jumped the gun by giving our notice here at work, but fortunately everything fell into place just like it was supposed to. YAY!!! Wow... it's so hard to believe that our dream is *this* close to becoming a reality! Fo ... Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:35:55 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/better_living_design.html When I have a little time to kill, or just need to take my eyes off my work for a few moments, I often like to check out this blog called Better Living Through Design. Someone passed the link along to me a few years ago, and while many of the featured items are pretentiously over-priced, they do feature some pretty funky stuff from time to time. For example, check out these lace drains for your sink.... only $100 a pop. Ha. They're pretty cute though... but I just can't justify spend ... Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:24:29 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/alternate_universe_live_lake.html I often like to imagine what my life might be like in an alternate universe. I remember reading a book about quantum physics and it said that hypothetically, every decision we make or every possibility that exists is actualized in a parallel world... It's funny, but I take some comfort in believing that. Like when there is something I don't get to do, I reassure myself that at least parallel Melodie will get to experience it. I like to think that in one life I took a path where I'm an art ... Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:48:11 GMT http://greasy.com/mellowdee/want_weekend_back.html So, the other day I wrote about how we had our squeaky brakes checked out by Crappy Tire, and after they were finished "fixing" them, our breaks started to fail and smoke. At that time I mentioned that we attended a birthday party later that evening… which I said was another story in itself. So I’ll elaborate a little more on that before I get to the rest of the nonsense that happened this weekend. First, I’ll be upfront and say that neither J nor I really wanted to go to this party. ... Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:52:31 GMT