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2.28.2005

BnB: The Aftermath

So, almost 48 hours after the most stressful weekend of my life, I can finally breathe and count my blessings that I didn't lose my mind, my money, or any major body parts.

I slept until 2 pm on Sunday, went bridesmaid dress shopping for Daysun's wedding, got home, went for a massage, and then went right back to bed. I am ready to deal with *MY* life again. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff coming up - getting back in shape, reorg at work, GMATs - but at least there's only one person to deal with. I can handle stress. I can handle lots to do. What I can't handle are people, with all their egos and emotions and childhood traumas.

Hey, I never said I was a people person.

Waking up this morning was blissful. The sun was shining, and it was a completely gorgeous day - at least in San Jose. I sat out in the sun for lunch, and tackled my job, which I've been neglecting for so long, with renewed vigor. Plus, I got on the scale this morning and realized that I've lost 5 lbs - probably because I didn't eaten a real meal or sleep for a week.

After work, I went to the
MINI dealer in SF to check out a car. Mini of San Francisco is the only dealer in the Bay Area with an automatic in stock, so even though I wasn't keen on getting a brand new car, I thought I'd test drive one. Turned out to be my lucky day! They just got a 2002 factory car in stock, i.e., one of the cars execs drive around until they're bored with it. Its an automatic, fully loaded, and only has 2,500 miles! I put a deposit on it so that they'll hold it until I can test drive it on Saturday. Cross fingers - if it works out, I'll finally have a new car!

It feels so good to be home and not using my brain or working on
09:Babies stuff! Of course, Club Six is coming up right around the corner, but Miriam and Wiggins are taking the lead on that, so I don't have to do much beyond design the flyers. Martha called tonight and told me that she was detoxing from alcohol. Well, I've decided to detox from people for a while. God bless television.

BnB Part 2: The Brawl

Saturday night's show went considerably smoother, as we didn't have any power outages, missing dancers, or people entering from 8 different places. Actually - correction. We didn't have anyone entering from the wrong wings because I pulled every single group aside and made it super clear that they were only to enter in from one wing. Michelle and Angel also got the lighting down pat, and we agreed from the beginning that they would only turned the lights on when I asked them to.

But Saturday... well, Saturday could be titled The Brawl. There were brawls amongst the dancers, brawls amongst the staff, brawls amongst the ticket buyers, brawls between the seated and the standed. We thought we had a clear idea of how many seats were actually in the theatre and how much standing room was available, but somehow, we ended up with an entirely packed house. Logistically speaking, getting people in to the theatre was much more organized - we had a wait list and standing room tickets set up. But we sold paid tickets at 8:15, and Heather almost got beat up by a couple of people that we tried to refund money to.

The theatre was completely packed. There were people on top of people, under people, everywhere. I had to actually get up on stage *before* the show started and kick kids or standing room people out of seats so that those who paid for seats could actually sit in a chair! One woman pulled the most outrageous attitude. I give myself credit for actually not escorting her out of the show.

It was a fire hazard if I'd ever seen one. The MCs cautioned the audience NOT to go to the bathroom, or do anything bad. It was so packed that it was completely boiling in the theatre. During intermission, we actually ran out of water at the snack stand, and we almost had a riot. Luckily, Fernando ran out to get more.

Michelle and I of course got into a complete screaming match in the middle of the lobby. Snippets:

Serena (yelling): Why did you do that without letting me know bitch!
Michelle (yelling): Stop talking to me like that bitch!
Serena (yelling): Stop yelling in front of all these people, bitch!
Michelle (yelling): You're yelling too bitch!
Serena (yelling): F-you bitch!


In retrospect - i.e., sitting in a taqueria eating Mexican food after the show, it was pretty damn hilarious - Michelle and I had a good laugh over it.

But from the show perspective, it went fabulously. The dancers were ON and the crowd was totally into it. The show was a smash! Plus, we made almost $2000 for the American Red Cross. Go us!

2.27.2005

BnB Part 1: The Chaos

I'm still rather in disbelief that we actually pulled off the show! Both nights were completely sold out... in fact, we were worried that there were going to be brawls over who got to go in, and who didn't!

Friday night can be summed up in one word: CHAOS. First, I was running late because there were 40 messages on our line asking for tickets. By the time I got there, the tech rehersal was in full swing. On top of which, the dancers were all in the
theatre for call.

Thankfully, Becky and Miriam were able to deal with the ticketing, so I ran off to deal with everything else. That was mistake number one. I should have been there for the final tech rehersals, because it wasn't clear to some of the dancers how they needed to get on and off stage. I had originally told them that they could enter in from both wings - a comment I later regretted.

At 6:45, the House Manager told us that the studio was actually vacant early, so thankfully we were able to move people up earlier than expected. After running around a bit more, I went out to check on the lobby situation, which was a mess. People were desperate for tickets. One woman actually drove up all the way from San Diego without buying a ticket! I ended up pulling more seating out of my a**, and selling tickets for standing room only.

We started the show at about 8:20, and it went ok for the first couple of acts. WHAT and IMPACT are absolutely adorable, and crowd pleasers. But in the middle of
Alliance Streetdance's performance, the power blew. At first, we had no clue what was going on - they just told me that the music shut off. We moved them offstage, and while Fernando ran up to the tech booth to figure out what happened, I had to deal with some super-pissed off dancers.

We got through the crisis by having our lovely MCs explaining what happened, and letting Alliance redo their piece at the beginning of the 2nd act. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the drums group totally didn't show at all. Beyond that, we had lighting that didn't go on and off as we needed - lights would go on before people were ready to take a bow; a group that decided to enter offstage, but didn't bother to tell me - so I ended up spending like 2 minutes wondering where the hell they were; not one, but two groups entering in from the wrong wings (and these were supposedly the "professional" dancers); a group who wasn't ready and didn't show up until 2 minutes before they were on; and dancers that were on stage while another group was trying to take their bow. All this because people didn't know that they had to enter the stage from the right wing.

But the night ended, the dancers were amazing, and we were able to cover the gaps for the most part. Kim came up with a fabulous idea when the group wasn't ready in time - we got people on stage for a freestyle, that was a real crowd pleaser. In particular, I thought Funkanometry SF, WHAT/IMPACT, and Freeplay really pulled it out, so everyone enjoyed the show beyond the snafu's.



As for me, I was ready just to go to bed - I hadn't slept for 5 days, or eaten since 11am that morning, and was running on pure adrenaline and caffeine. As Scarlett says, "Tomorrow will be another day."


2.24.2005

btw, the best advertising i have ever seen

An email that went out from Michelle, my partner in crime. Seriously made my day :-)

I am tired! I have only eatten three meals in the last three days !Last night, I nearly died of slight anorism! I have turned to thebottle! And if that hasn't gotten your pity vote, please considerthis...

All the blood (literally), sweat and tears I have shed these pastcouple weeks will all be dedicated to raising money for the AmericanRed Cross and the Tsunami Relief Efforts. If you are free Friday orSaturday, please come out and support the show.

If you have told me already that you can't make, please tell a friend
...and yes, I love you all...so please come

************* SPREAD THE LOVE - AND FORWARD ME **************

frazzle razzle me

Well, I guess no one said it was going to be easy...

So we're less than 24 hours away from opening night of the show, and holy mother of God - I swear I'm never doing this again. Tech Rehersal last night ran late (of course), and I felt really bad because I wasn't able to give Mind Over Matter a real tech. But the House Manager at MCC was hovering over me starting at 9:50, telling me every single minute that it was 10:30 already. What a nightmare.

We've arranged to have the theatre and additional hour for tech on Saturday, and some of the ppl are coming in tomorrow to redo their tech. Tomorrow is going to be a serious zoo... we're packed so tightly with the staff, I don't know how we'll all manage. Of course, things never go as planned either. I guess the Project Manager in me is finally realizing that performances and talent don't run on a schedule.

On top of it all, I was told this morning that my department is being rolled up to another one at work, and that I need to be here tomorrow at 10 am so that I can meet my new manager, and find out what my job is. I was really hoping to sleep in tomorrow, too, because I know I'm going to be up all night. I mean, its already 7:45 and I'm still in San Jose photocopying programs!

On the bright side, we're selling tickets hot and fast. We're averaging about 25+ tickets a day, which is excellent. Hopefully, we'll sell out and be able to donate a bunch of money to the ARC.

I love you, Michelle and Fernando - but after this show, I seriously never want to see either of you again.

2.23.2005

my car is such a piece of SH*T

I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!

Not even a month ago, I was stranded on the side of the road because my right back tire completely busted. Which turned out to be ok, because I met Rey Rey, who is totally cool, performing in the
Breaks 'n Beats show this weekend, and is potentially hooking us up with some big house DJs. But now, my LEFT BACK TIRE is totally ripped up too! I somehow made it to work without totally ruining my tire and almost getting killed again, but this is seriously ridiculous.

As my co-worker Rahul says, I might as well get a new car since I'm commuting from Egypt. I think its time... I spend more time, money and mental anxiety worrying about my POS Jetta dying on me on the way to work than its worth.

2.22.2005

the things you find on ebay

I went onto eBay today to look for some wholesale pouches. We're putting together these nifty Hook Up Kits to hand out at our Club Six party in March, complete with condoms, lube, aspirin (for the hang over), and Oral B Brush-Ups. So we need a little bag to put them in.





I suppose its a good deal.

gaining momentum...

OMG, sfstation.com just sent out an email blast to 25,000 people in the Bay Area, and the Breaks 'n Beats listing was in it.

On top of that, NiteVibe featured us prominently on their weekly newsletter - and we didn't even submit our event to them. That goes out to 40,000 people.

I can feel it... its gaining momentum.

i heart cingular

After years with Sprint, who is notorious for its poor customer service, I've decided that I'm madly in love with Cingular. I called them this am to upgrade my service to a 7pm night/weekend start time, and they basically backdated it so that it would reflect on my current plan. Which is so seriously huge, considering I've been on the phone every single night regarding the show.

Besides, they have a nifty ringtone starring none other than our California Governor. (Check out "Its Raining Men" - you'll die laughing.) And yes, I did actually choose Cingular because they have Britney's "Toxic" as a ringtone.




I guess love is going around, in any case. I'm also madly in love with Funkanometry - not just the guys, but every single damn dancer in the group. They're almost amazing enough for me to question my undying loyalty to SoulForce. But Micaya's still my idol.

2.21.2005

the nightmare that was saturday

I had bought this elliptical trainer a couple of weeks ago on eBay that was already fully assembled. Got a super deal on it - $400 for a $900 trainer - the only catch was that we needed to pick it up from the East Bay. "No problem," I thought. "I live right near the East Bay. What's saving $500?" Apparently, saving $600 = one nightmarish day that was my Saturday.

First, I had to borrow a truck from Vince, who lives up in San Rafael. As the truck is a stick shift, and I don't know how to drive stick, I recruited Fernando to help me pick up the trainer. His response? "Sure! It'll be fun - we'll make it a day trip." Ha! Little did he know...

After brunching at Sam's Cafe up in Tiburon, where we had the always delicious crab cakes benedict, we headed up to Vince's. Immediately, we got lost. Yahoo maps told us to take the Central San Rafael exit. When he saw a sign claiming "San Rafael Next 5 Exits", Fernando declared that Central San Rafael *must* be the third exit. Of course, it was the first one. He was so hung up on the wrongness of this that we completely missed our street, went through San Rafael, and ended up back on 101 North.

We got more lost for a bit, but finally arrived at Vince's. Vince had kindly left the keys for us, so we got into the truck and... Nothing. The truck was this old Mazda flatbed from 1961 or something older than creation. It sputtered a little bit, coughed politely, and refused to start. We eventually started it, and climbed in. The truck had clearly not been used for the last few years, as it smelled nasty, and had spiderwebs with a mummified spider inside. Feeling slightly icky, we set off. It took us about 2 hours to fight our way from San Rafael to Hayward. Its an hour trip in the best of times, but rain had been pounding the Bay Area for several days, and East Bay traffic was typically horrendous. Since the radio was ancient, we had nothing but conversation to amuse us.

Serena (jokingly acting as a therapist): Tell me about your mother.
Fernando: YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!
Serena: Huh?


This is about how conversation went the whole day. Clearly, the two of us have communication issues.

When we finally get to Hayward and find the damn warehouse, but lo and behold: the supervisor was NOT there. We stood outside the warehouse for about 30 minutes in the pouring rain. Of course, Mr. Rick does not bother to call me and let me know that he had an emergency to deal with (he called me this am). We decided to wait for another half hour, during which I fell asleep in the cramped truck. Eventually, we give up and decide to head to Palo Alto and finish the remainder of our errands.

By this point, we're fed up, stinky, wet, smelly, and tired. It'd been pouring all day, and the overcast sky only made our moods worse. We're totally ready to head back to my house, take a rest, and then return the truck - but somehow, on our way back from Shallow Alto, we ended up not exiting 92 East in time and back on the San Mateo Bridge, which is about 10 miles long. We give up trying to be remotely efficient or in control of the situation, and cruise back up to San Rafael to get his car.

***** TOTAL TRAVEL TIME: 7 Hours *****

Miraculously, it was at this point that our luck turned. The weather completely cleared up, and despite the accident reports on 740 am, traffic was light. We made it up to San Rafael in a matter of 45 minutes, and happily hop into his car. At first sight of his little Jetta, Fernando lets out a moan of "Hi baby!" I can't say I blame him. After being in that stupid truck for 5 hours, with everything on top of my lap, the Jetta was the happiest thing I had ever seen.

Again, we're completely ready just to head back to SF and crash, but we spot this little Puerto Rican restaurant called Sol Food on a random corner in San Rafael. Seriously, this restaurant is about the size of my bathroom, and when we walked in, there was barely standing room, much less seating. But poor Fernando had his heart set on some homemade food, and the specials looked delicious, so the owner made space for us behind the cash register on two stools.

And it turned out to be a good decision. The food was amazing and hit the spot; the atmosphere was warm and cheery, with pink and green decor and a mellow salsa playing in the background. By the time we left (a mere 15 mins later, as we inhaled our food!), we were revitalized enough to run around the parking lot a few times.

All in all, it turned out to be an ok day. Despite the weather, the truck, the stupid stupid warehouse supervisor, and sheer exhaustion, we ended it on a good note. Besides, now I'm getting my elliptical trainer delivered free of charge on Tuesday, which means I don't have to worry about lugging a 300 pound machine up two flights of stairs. Sometimes there really are silver linings.

2.18.2005

ikea is evil

This afternoon, I went to Ikea today to pick up a $60 bookshelf, and somehow I ended up buying $700 worth of furniture. I don't know what happened, but while I was walking around, I decided that I hated the way my house looked. Or maybe its because Ikea is such a rat maze. Everytime I'm finished there, I feel the need for a piece of cheese.

It took me and two burly Ikea helpers 45 minutes to load up my car. Its bad enough when you're not prepared to buy furniture, but my poor little Jetta was loaded was so much junk - I still have those 4 garbage bags worth of stuff for Goodwill. I ended up driving up the 101 with a palm tree sticking out of my sunroof.

But I got a plant - yay! I'm going to name her Joey.

only one week to go...

... before the Breaks 'n Beats show! Holy schiess! I'm still in a daze that this is happening at all...

Today we scored a couple of really sweet deals. I talked to
sfstation.com and they generously upgraded our listing from just an event to one that's posted on the main section pages - free of charge! Now we're listed on the main Performance Arts page, as well as the Clubs page. I hope that it drives ticket sales, but in any case, their generosity really warmed me.

We also sold our first program ad today! Thank you,
Rhythm & Motion.

Besides the usual frenzy of the week before any event, I'm extremely pleased with the way things are going. We've got a good number of ticket sales going on, and its still my hope that we'll sell out *cross fingers*. In addition, we've finally finished producing all the materials for the show. I swear, if I never have to walk into another Kinko's in my entire life, I would be one happy gal. Its really sad that the only man I see regularly is the Assistant Manager there.

i'm a born-again

I did something last night that I haven't done for, oh... years. I got home, read a book and fell asleep, comfy and cozy, at 9:30 pm. It was seriously wonderful. Didn't work, do 09:babies stuff, or even turn on my computer. If and when I ever recover from this show, I'm going to take a looooooooong vacation, filled with books and no contact with the outside world.

This morning, a butterfly flew into my windshield :-( I wonder if that's good or bad luck. In any case, it was icky.

2.16.2005

note to self: close sunroof when raining outside

I realized after I got into my car this evening that I had left the sunroof of my car completely open. Of course, it rained. So I drove for 1.5 hours with a wet bottom. Now I have a diaper rash.

i hate drivers day

Maybe I'm just dumb, or East Coast, or something, but WHY are stupid people allowed to operate a 2 ton vehicle?

#1: The I-Coast-in-the-Left-Lane Driver. Today I sat behind a BMW 7-series that was going exactly 65 miles an hour for 10 miles, in the left most lane. Granted, this guy was your stereotypical fat computer slob, complete with long greasy hair, glasses, talking on his cell phone while munching a donut.

Dood, I can understand why you can't walk very fast, but there's a reason you have a car. There are even signs to remind you:


My mommy always told me that if I went to school, studied hard, and did well, I'd be able to have a good job and buy a nice car one day. Clearly, being able to read has nothing to do with owning a nice car.

#2: The Let's-Lock-Someone-In Driver. Of course, the obvious thing to do would have just to go around him, pass him, whatever, right? I was foiled by BMW-slob's counterpart - the woman driving in the lane right next to me, who was going exactly the same speed. Was there anyone in front of her? Nope. Was there anyone to the lane right of her? Nope. So why did it not occur to her that I might be locked in? Might have something to do with the fact that she was checking her makeup the entire time she was driving.

#3: The I'm-Just-Plain-Stupid Driver. Sometimes, there's no other classification for a driver beyond just stupid. Yesterday, as I was trying to pull out of the parking lot by my house (no spaces), some little Asian homie in an Integra pulls up right in front of me, completely blocking me from exiting. I couldn't get around him, because, of course, he's in the center of the exit. So I tap my horn a couple of times - first, politely, and then not so politely. And dood guy is honking back, but not moving! Finally, he has the audacity to roll down his window and ask, "Why are you blocking the entrance, b****?"

I kindly informed him that his car was preventing me from moving further into the street, and that if I went back into the parking lot, there would be no room for either of us to get out. I then helpfully suggested that he stop playing with his tiny little penis, and move out of my way.

2.15.2005

i'm blog-retarded

Sorry to everyone I invited to my blog and then uninvited. Obviously, reading directions is not one of my strong suits.

One of these days, I will be able to send out an email less than three times. *Sheepish grin*

yuck.

Traffic is just horrendous today. It took me an hour and 15 minutes to go 25 miles, then I finally turned around and decided to work from home for the rest of the day. Apparently the Bay Area has gotten 1.5 inches of rain since midnight!

Ah. And here's the reason why:

SAN FRANCISCO: SB 280 BEFORE ALEMANY BLVD ... 10 CARS INVOLVED...BLOCKING LEFT LANE AND FAR RIGHT LANE....TRAFFIC MAY BE BACKING UP AT LEAST A HALF MILE....7:54am (courtesy KPIX.com).

Thank goodness the hot guy at the oil change place conned me into buying a snazzy new pair of wipers and some windshield treatment. Sheds water like a duck now.

2.14.2005

a happy valentine's day

I had serious doubts about how Valentine's Day was going to turn out this year. The weather was nasty, I'd been teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown for the last week. Even the freaky pro-abstinence folks decided to use V-day to make a statement this year.

After fighting with some pretty ugly traffic, I made a mad dash into the shower and went to pick up my hot Valentine's date - Martha! Martha and I have agreed - we're both the best dates each of us have had in years - so I was excited to spend my V-day with her. Even though we barely made our 7:45 reservations at Andalu's, it was well worth the rush: We snacked on tiny ahi tuna tacos in crisp tortilla shells, a wonderful white fish in a light hoisin-like sauce, and topped it off with a decadent chocolate molten cake accompanied by homemade banana ice cream. We even got little heart cookies with our bill!





*** Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cowbrains ***

span >The best part about my day was realizing just how completely incredible my girlfriends are. Yeah, guys have their buds, and I adore my guy friends, but any Desperate Housewives fan can tell you - there ain't nothin' like a great girlfriend. Martha, Miriam, Michelle - I couldn't do it without you. *Big hug*


All in all: Good hair + great food + amazing friends = one very happy Valentine's Day.

woe is the life...

As I do every year, I gave up meat for Lent this year. Sometimes, I think its a sacrifice more horrible than death... such as when I am scrounging the eBay cafeteria for something meat-free to eat, and end up with a cheese and lettuce sandwich. *sigh*

On a brighter note, I did have the most *amazing* vegan dish yesterday... a vegan smoked tea duck, in a sourdough sandwich, no less!
Gene, my fabulous and super-nice hair stylist, picked me up a sandwich from Love 'n Haight Deli while I was cooking under the heat lamp yesterday. Yummm. If all vegan food tasted like this, I would be a happy camper for the next 1.5 months.

the power of good hair

Never underestimate the power of good hair. After torturing myself for almost 4 months trying to grow out my damn hair, I finally chopped it all off (and dyed it red, of course). I feel like a normal human being again. And am all inspired to work out, be social, be productive... you know, all the things that you can't do when you're limited by a perpetual bad hair day.

2.13.2005

my first pony!

After eating at a horrible, pretentious restaurant by the name of Frisson, I was inspired to start a blog to warn the general public - or at least my friends - away from any place that serves slimy cowbrain ravioli in a salty froth. Fernando did manage to convince himself that he liked it enough to eat an entire ravioli, but just a bite was enough for me.

So I'm going to start rating restaurants on a scale of 1 - 5 cowbrains.

But I'm excited about my first blog. Its like getting a pony... but far less smelly.

 

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