siri-ously

Couples counseling. Turns out there's an app for that.

'night before christmas - drunk history style

Drunk History Christmas with Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey and Eva Mendes from Ryan Gosling

let it snow

What's more festive than a snow globe? That's right... a homemade snow globe -- in a jar. But any good writer knows you need a twist. That's when it hit us -- movie themed snow globes. And what better movies to commemorate the holiday season than Rudy and Star Wars?

Here's what you need:

jar (we used Mason jars)

super glue 

glycerin (can be found in baking aisle)

distilled water

glitter

movie character

First you glue your character to the inside lid of the jar (gorilla glue worked best -- Yoda found out the hard way the first time around -- turns out he's not such a good swimmer). 

Next pour the water and a dash of glycerin almost to the top of the jar. Then add as much glitter as you want. Will Rudy be playing in a blizzard or a light flurry? Finally, secure the lid tightly and shake it like a polaroid picture. 

Get ready for hours of enjoyment. Seriously.

'tis the season

There's barely a week left to enjoy the Christmas season, so I spent last night baking an assortment of Christmas cookies instead of working on my feature (not a tough decision since I've fallen into the dark hole that is writer’s block -- which means I'd pretty much use any excuse to avoid putting fingers to computer keys). 
 

With the soft (not so melodic) hum of Christmas carols in the background (no amount of pleading would get Ronee to stop "singing"), I mixed, stirred, screamed, chilled, swore, cried and kneaded the night away.

It was about three batches of undercooked, overcooked, and just plain burnt sugar cookies into my Christmas baking experience that I decided I really should stop procrastinating and get back to my writing.

Was the flour in my hair and the 2-3 lbs that likely went straight to my ass worth it? Yes. I learned that with enough sanding sugar and icing you can pretty much save anything in this world... Hopefully, that also includes my third act. 

aniseh is a poser

Our friend Hilde (who also went with us to USC and now lives in Norway) came back for a visit. So the natural thing to do was throw a party in her honor. Here are a few select shots (mostly just showing how awkward Aniseh gets when a camera is pointed on her). Enjoy!

Sorry Aniseh. You're welcome everybody else.

new girl - season 1, episode 1 (pilot)

Pilot – Devastated to catch her boyfriend cheating on her, Jess finds a new place to live.

A Story – Jess moves in so she can move on.

B Story – Schmidt wants to go to the Wild Wild West Cherokee Party.

C Story – Nick confronts his unresolved emotions about his not so recent breakup.

Cold Open –  
1. (A) Jess goes to her boyfriend’s house in nothing but a trench coat to surprise him, but finds him there with another woman. We pull back to see she’s been telling this to the guys she might rent an apartment from.

Act 1 –
2. (A) Jess tries to convince the guys to let her move in. 
3. (C) Nick says he's over his breakup (but we see via flashback that he had a hard time accepting it).
4. (A) While Jess is telling the guys about herself she lets it slip that her friends are models.
5. (A) The guys debate about whether or not to let Jess live there. Schmidt makes executive decision to let Jess move in.
6. (A) The guys watch as Jess lays on the sofa balling to Dirty Dancing and wonder if they made a mistake by letting her move in.
 

Act 2 –
7. (B,C) Schmidt tells Nick he needs to call Caroline (his ex) to get them into Wild West Party. Nick refuses.
8. (A) The guys have finally had enough with Jess' wallowing. Schmidt invites her out with them with the intention of finding her a rebound dude. She agrees.
9. (B,C) Schmidt again tries to convince Nick to call his ex. Nick refuses.
10. Coach and Jess share a roomie moment - he tells her he's bad at talking to girls. She gives him a mini-lesson.
11. (A) Schmidt coaches Jess on picking up a dude at the bar. She crashes and burns.
12. (B) Schmidt's friends ask him if he's coming to the party. He tries to play like it's no big deal, but now he's even more intent on getting on the list.
13. (B,C) Schmidt begs Nick to call Caroline. Again Nick says no.
14 (A,C) Jess and Nick bond over their respective breakups.
15. (B,C) Nick tells Schmidt (in front of Schmidt's douchey friend) that he sent a text to Caroline and they are going to the party.
16. (A) Jess scores a date for tomorrow night. 

Act 3 –
17. (A) Schmidt tries to impress Cece but it's not happening. 
18. (A) Cece convinces Jess to go on the date and trades clothes with her so she looks hot. 
19. (A) The guys soften when they see how beautiful Jess looks in her dress. 
20. (C) Nick confronts his ex outside the party about why she dumped him. He seems to be OK with her answer that she didn't realize he cared. She asks him if he wants to have a drink. He's psyched.
21. (A,B,C) The guys run into Jess' date outside the party and realize she's been stood up. Nick chooses Jess over his ex and leaves the party to go help out his new friend. Coach follows suit. Schmidt is the last to decide, but ultimately chooses Jess over the party too.
22. (A) The guys arrive at the restaurant to find Jess at the table alone. They cheer her up by singing "I've had the time of my life" from Dirty Dancing.

Tag –
23. (A) Jess and the guys watch Dirty Dancing together on the sofa.

wright stuff iii

Last night we went to a triple billing at the New Beverly Cinema. It was programmed by Edgar Wright (Director of such films as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead). He showed us three movies he'd never seen before and brought along his friends Greg Mottola (Director of Superbad) and Robert B. Weide (Producer for Curb Your Enthusiasm) for a little Q & A.  We got to see Steamboat Bill Jr. (with Buster Keaton), Modern Times (with Charlie Chaplin) and The Bank Dick (with W.C. Fields). 

I'm a little ashamed to say I'd never seen a full film with any of these comedy greats, but in a little over 5 hours I was able to check off three from my list. Modern Times was by far my favorite. I totally get the fuss about Charlie Chaplin now. His physical comedy -- bad ass. Seinfeld's Kramer has nothing on Chaplin.