Some More Celeb Sightings!

In the past few months, the celebrity sightings have been down at work... They all must be on exotic vacations or something...

Well, late last week, I was running around like a fool tripped up on WAY too much caffeine, and saw a line building up at our secondary registers - with a great lack of people working that day to staff it. So I ran in, and decided to help the people waiting there. I looked up and saw Scott Bakula and two adorable little children surrounding him! He didn't say much, but his children were very nice, chatting with me about their new CD's!

About five minutes later, I was helping out in the cafe (=MORE CAFFEINE) when I saw someone who looked somewhat familiar to me, and then he spoke. His voice sounded like that of Nicholas Cage - but it clearly was not him. It was then that I remembered Plaster City, a blog that John has been reading/listening to by Christopher Coppola, Nick's brother! Listen to any of the audio blogs, and you'll see what I mean! He was really very nice, considering I became the biggest klutz in the world and kept dropping the things he was buying and probably looked like a big idiot. I was pretty excited about it, but no one at work knew what I was talking about!

Proud to be a Californian...

Governor Schwarnegger (god, it feels weird even to type that), fed up with Democrats and the whole budget ordeal, resorted to petty insults.

Read the article here.

That's right, he called Democrats "girlie men."

And he's not sorry, and he's not taking it back.

WHAT?!?!?!

The funniest part of this is that the term "girlie men" came from Saturday Night Live, from everyone's favorite mockery of Schwarzenegger-esque Austrian bodybuilders, Hans and Franz.

I'm still up for moving to Canada if anyone wants to come with me.... 

I got me a cool flippy phone.... I feel very Hollywood! 

Wil Wheaton in Hollywood!

So after meeting Wil Wheaton at the SENT opening downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night, I am super excited about his appearance at Borders Hollywood. He was SO thrilled that I have planned to have him come in for a reading/signing. He even mentioned it on his site! "I have confirmed...for August 15 at Borders in Hollywood (on Sunset and Vine! Cool!)"

I really feel so good about this. It was so incredibly cool to have met him and been able to talk about the event - although briefly - with him. I even explained to him that we had Michael Madsen in for a book signing/reading last week, and that he was a total jerk and really didn't seem to care about being there. It made us all look forward to having Wil in the store and really care about spreading the word on his book! We even decided to order double the number of books we had for Mr. Blonde...

So if you're in the LA area, or love Wil Wheaton enough to come to the LA area, he'll be here August 15 at 2pm. He's a super nice guy, and it should be a really great event. I finally finished Dancing Barefoot, and it's a great book. I can't wait to check out Just a Geek!

Preparations Have Begun!

U.S. officials are now getting plans in order to have the ability to "indefinitely suspend" election day in the event of terrorist activity.

This article on CNN discusses the possibilities and varying opinions from both parties of suspending election day. Apparently there has been information that al Qaeda is planning an attack on or around Election Day to disrupt the democratic process. Isn't "indefinitely suspending" the election DISRUPTING THE FREAKING PROCESS!!!

The Dynamic Duo

When I have days off from work, I am detached from all of the news in the world. I didn't know that Marlon Brando had passed away until I got to work for a closing shift, and read through the daily communications sent down by the corporate office!

So I have been off since Sunday afternoon... I have tried to make an effort to watch a bit of the 6 o'clock news every few days - as depressing and infuriating as the news can be everyday - and I heard that John Kerry would be announcing his running mate in the next day or two. I was intrigued, as I'd like to think of myself as a fairly vocal Kerry supporter, and I would really like to believe that he could do a quality job as our next president, supported by the right side-kick.

So I forgot about it. I usually try to check JohnKerry.com every so often, and I wandered on over, and saw the news!

John Kerry and John Edwards is our Democratic Dynamic Duo for 2004!

Conservative Cannes

As one of many responses to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 the American Film Renaissance Institute has planned a film festival which "is the first major forum in the country where conservative filmmakers will be able to present, and filmgoers will be able to view, movies dedicated to celebrating pro-American values, messages and themes."

The Film Festival will feature some two dozen films, including "Michael Moore Hates America." The film festival will be in Dallas, Texas this upcoming September 9, 10, and 11.

SERENITY NOW!

Or maybe April 2005....

Serenity is the movie based on the FOX sci-fi/western "Firefly" that was cancelled through no fault of it's own. John convinced me to watch it, and although I was skeptical, I would recommend this show to ANYONE! It is really smart and fun and original, and I was bummed that when the DVD's were done that we wouldn't see our friends on the Firefly for a long while....

Sure, it's still nine months from now, but I really can't wait. Check out the Serenity: The Official Movie Website for the lowdown, and make sure you add the TV series to your Netflix queue, or pick it up at your nearest video store!

You won't be sorry, it really is a gem.

A renewed faith...

I have come away from this ass-kicking, long, hard week of work with a renewed faith... I can once again believe that good things come to those who wait. And work hard. And take shit from their boss for nine straight months....

Yesterday as I was checking the job postings throughout the California region for Borders stores, I noticed a posting for a new store in Arcadia, CA. For those of you not familiar with the Southern California landscape, Arcadia is about 5 miles east of Pasadena, which is about 15 miles east of Hollywood. A good half hour drive from my humble home, but this excited me! Arcadia promises to house the newest incarnation of the "Store of the Future" design that has made my current store on Sunset and Vine unique - as when it opened, it was one of only four stores in the company.

There have been rumors that when this new store became ready to open, my direct manager (and one of the best bosses I have ever had) would apply to be the General Manager. This poses some interesting options for me, as his position, the next logical chapter of my career at Borders, would be available both in Hollywood, and in Arcadia.

Tonight as my boss (David) and I were getting ready to close up shop for the night, we started talking about our current General Manager, and all the problems we and others have with the way he is running things. David said that he thought he'd be moving on soon (being very ambiguous about where he would go) and I said, "You know, you should get your own store, and I should work for you."

"You are more than welcome anytime," he said to me.

So I have renewed faith, that if you put your time in, work your ass off, and get your cafe to #2 in sales for all of Southern California (that's 39 stores in all!!), someday someone will notice and it will pay off.

Hopefully. :)