Happy Post-Thanksgiving!

I have survived the following:

1 22lb turkey
1 dropped tray of stuffed mushrooms
1 oven burn
1 sliced finger (with a serving spoon - WHO DOES THAT???)
1 viewing of THE WIZ

On Sunday, Mike took me on a little getaway up the coast, to Cambria/San Simeon. We stayed at this awesome hotel right on the beach, with a huge balcony, in-room fireplace and robes! Call me cheesy, but I love free hotel robes. They always make me do the free robe dance.

We also went up to Hearst Castle again...this time, we saw it in the sunlight. #1 - Hearst was INSANE. #2 - I want his swimming pool.

And a little shout out - to my NEWLY ENGAGED FRIENDS! I promised I wouldn't tell anyone yet...but no one said anything about anonymously blogging it! If you are really curious, I'll give you two hints about who they are: She is a girl. He is a boy. Can you guess?

And to begin: 26 shopping days 'til Christmas. Still have no money. Hope ya'll like homemade gifts!

Today I would like to talk about Friendster. Friendster was introduced to me by a coworker about a year ago, and I resisted the temptation to join for almost the entire year. It seemed to me like more of a status tracker than a networking website - the person with the most friends is clearly the most popular...

But, an old friend from college reached out to me and asked me to join, so I did, and found a number of people I've been curious about.

Why am I mentioning all this? Because sometime, I question people's judgement on Friendster.

Two days ago, I received a friend request from a person whose name I can't mention, but I will say that his initials are DM. For the uninitiated, a friend request is when someone wants to add you to their network of friends, but you have to accept it first.

Well, this request came from someone who, shall I say, was not a very good friend in real life. Without getting into a lot of detail, he was a very very good friend who took the word of someone against mine, and decided I wasn't worth being friends with. It was a betrayal, in most senses of the word.

Of all the people in the world, this person's backstabbing and badmouthing hurt more than most romantic heartbreaks I've had.

And I get the impression that he has no idea - no idea that that our friendship didn't just 'dissolve' from the distance, but that he chose to end it. No idea that I had to deal with the repercussions of what happened for more than five years afterwards. And that I know, I KNOW, that the person whose side he took over mine is not even in his life now.

Why am I dwelling on this? I know most people would say - Jaime, let the past go...just move on.

But things are different today. Today, I am directionless and floundering. Does it make sense to to just write off the past what I can't even fathom the future?

ps. I'm looking for a job. Does anyone know of a job for someone with the following qualifications:

Good at rolling calls
scheduling
travel planning
multi-tasking
Problem-solving

Not good at:

Taking s**t from someone just because they make movies for a living and think they are somehow better than everyone else.

HARRY POTTER WAS FRICKIN' AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

There's not much else I really have to say on this Saturday after I quit my job. Nothing except that Goblet of Fire far exceeded my expectations - I left so utterly satisfied, I will be seeing it again tonight! Even the non-HP crowd liked it...Gaff was raving all night.

It's a nice reminder of why I'm out here to begin with. There is such a lack of passion for movies in Hollywood, that to see one so good, so involving really brought me back to my initial reason for being here.

Bottom line: 2 THUMBS UP!

I would like to send a little shout-out to everyone who has been very very supportive during the last 2 months.

For those that haven't heard, I was forced to leave my new job at DreamWorks. The personality differences between me and my boss were too significant to overcome. In other words, her personality was coarse and abusive, and mine wasn't weak and yielding. And if anyone comes at me cursing and calling me a (bleeping) idiot, I'm going to stand up for myself.

This is an odd time. Do I believe what she said, that I am inexperienced and just not very smart, or do I trust myself and know that she is just a poor manager?

I know the answer, but it's still hard not to question. How can someone think that being rude and disrespectful, abusive and unforgiving is an acceptable way to be? I've been told that this business is full of people like that. Well, screw that. If I can't go back to New Jersey and face my grandparents because I've begun treating people like that, then I've ruined my life. I refuse that.

I am in a really bad head space right now. How on earth can another person make me feel this way? Is it because I let her?

I know that things will work out eventually - but I just can't understand the process...

...And slams shut again...

9 days 13 hours....GOF!!!

Okay, I'm obsessed.

SO SUE ME!!!

THINGS I HATE:

Running out of toilet paper and not knowing about it until it's TOO LATE!

Guys in cars drinking beers. (yes, beers - saw it last night with my very own eyes)

My alarm clock. (However, I will say this - it has lasted me since the 1st grade. What used to be hot pink is now kinda beige...but it has gone 20 long years!)

THINGS I LIKE:

Old assistants taking you out for drinks to give you the full rundown of your new job.

Friends I can finally see now that I work near where they live.

Chocolate.

Day 15

Flying under my new boss's radar - gotta be a good sign. Drama lately though...her new puppy, a 3 month old Cockapoo, who is our new office mascot, got caught in a door last week - rushed off to Puppy E.R. Tonight, drinks with her old assistant. Expecting some good gossip...

Spent a lovely Friday evening at Jeff Allen's fancy shmancy new pad...doing pretty well for himself with his girlfriend Erin - who, by the way, I LOVE HER! Awesome girl - way to go, Jeff!

Got recipes? Since airfares are utterly redonkulous right now, I am hosting LA Thanksgiving '05! If anyone has any good recipes you can recommend, pass 'em on...

And making a return:

THINGS I HATE:

My upstairs neighbor.

She vaccuums. All the time. 7am-11pm. Vaccuuming. With her big giant feet pounding the floor all day and all night. Does she work? I don't think so. Does she sleep? I don't think so. So, you ask, what does she do? She vaccuums.

Who knew Bigfoot had OCD?

Other things I hate this week:

Home prices. Looked at a 2 bedroom house yesterday. 1350 square feet. $815,000.

I don't even need to comment on that.

THINGS I RECOMMEND:

Get a survival kit together. Hurricanes, Floods, Fires, Blackouts, Tornadoes....Nature is trying to tell us something, people! Go to REI, get yourselves a water purifier, a camp stove, and some dried food packages. Trust me on this.

And finally: 12 days, 6 hours and 29 minutes until Harry Potter comes out! YAY HARRY POTTER!