Wicked in LA

They finally announced the cast for the LA production of Wicked. It's Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty for the role of Elphaba and Glinda!

I am sooooooo happy!!! They're my favorite pair. I've seen them perform together twice on Broadway earlier this year.

I was waiting for the casting news before buying tickets to the show. I was hoping it was going to be both of them or even just Eden. So, naturally, after I heard who was in the cast, off I go to buy tickets. :) Hubby and I are going to watch Wicked in LA on my birthday next year. That's 7 months from now (opening night February 10, 2007) but I couldn't risk not having tickets or not having good seats for the show. Anyways, I managed to get 10th row left of center orchestra. I am soooo stoked. This it that one birthday that I am actually looking forward to. heheheh.....

Anyways, I managed to find video clips of Eden and Megan singing at Universal citywalk today when they announced the LA cast. Stephen Schwartz (composer) is accompanying them on the piano. Can't get better than this! Enjoy!

Eden - Wizard and I
Umm... need I say more? She's awesome!

Megan - Popular
She's hilarious. She's definitely Glinda in the flesh. Love her!

Eden and Megan - For Good
Awww... the end of this video is just so sweet. They both actually look happy singing this song together. The first time I watched Wicked and I heard the two of them sing this during the show, I was crying.

TV Weekend (End)

My TV marathon weekend is coming to a close.

I may not have watched as much TV as I hoped I would, however, I think I did pretty well. So far, I've done 5 episodes of Grey's Anatomy and 12 episodes of Nip/Tuck all weekend long. Not bad. I wish I was able to finish the entire season of Nip/Tuck. However, Arvin wanted to watch it too so I can only watch it at night with him.

As for my promise not to vpn into work, well.... I broke down and vpn-ed in today. I know, I know, I shouldn't have done it but what can I do? I'm a workaholic and I needed my fix.

TV Weekend (Day 1)

So far I have not left the couch ever since I planted my butt on it this morning, well, maybe except to go to the bathroom and let the dog out. So I feel like I am making progress on my TV weekend.

The TV series for this weekend is Nip/Tuck. I am so getting hooked to it now. It's a bummer that I could not start with season 1 -- tried looking for the season 1 DVD today and I just couldn't find them anywhere so I'm starting off with season 2. I had to ask a co-worker of mine today if I would understand season 2 if I didn't watch season 1 and she said it was okay and I can just watch season 1 some other time.

Lesson for today is : "When you start aging, gravity will be your enemy and the plastic surgeon is your best bet in defying gravity."

TV Weekend

I attempted to have my TV week about a month or so ago and it never happened. So instead of having a TV week, I decided to do a 4 day TV weekend instead. Realistically, at the rate I am going, what are the chances that I would actually take a week off from work? Probably will not happen before the end of the year.

I decided to take tomorrow and Monday off in hopes that I would actually be able to catch up on my TV watching. I intend to stay seated on the couch and glued to the TV screen for the next 4 days and will be incommunicado with work if I could help it.

I've officially started my TV weekend tonight. I've finally caught up on Grey's Anatomy season 3. I'm loving it so far. I was a little bit upset that my husband "accidentally" cancelled the recording of last week's GA episode when I was in Dallas. So off to the Internet I went looking for last week's episode. I was so close to buying the episode off iTunes when I found out that ABC has full episodes of some of their shows on their website for free. Check out ABC's Full Episode Player.

Tomorrow, I need to get cracking on Battlestar Galactica Season 2. I think I left it off at episode 12. I'm probably going to go and try to find DVD's of Nip Tuck tomorrow. A co-worker of mine suggested that I should try and watch it and see if I like it.

Breaking Point

For the first time in years working for my company, I reached my breaking point yesterday. I'm notorious in my group for being a workaholic and working long hours and well, sort of patient in dealing with a lot of things. I work in IT operations and my job is all about proactively preventing problems, fixing problems and trying to figure out how to make things better for the user community.

This week has been hell for me. Yesterday, I just could not bear hearing another complaint from anyone especially from people in my group. Each time someone from my group approached my desk, I would ask them if they were going to complain and if they had complaints, go take a number or get in line because I just could not deal with it.

I'm a problem solver. I have a one track mind when it comes to solving issues that my group is dealing with. If there is a problem, I fix it period. I have lost count of the number of times that I was told by the higher-ups to just go and take care of the problem -- just make it disappear. They don't care how I would do it as long as the end all is the problem has been resolved. One of our users told me today that I am the "super" problem solver that's why they come to me to take care of things. Maybe I do have some sort of super hero complex after all...

Travelling Again

I'm at SFO International Airport again right now. I'm off to Dallas this week for a few days for work. I hope it's not going to be too busy that I'll never see anything else except the hotel, the office and whichever restaurant I decide to eat at.

During my last trip, I was hoping to get to the mothership (Neiman Marcus flagship store) but I never did. I NEED, NEED, NEED to visit that store. I'm planning on taking off early today just to go and see it.

50th Post

Yipey! I've made it to my 50th post. I never thought I would actually make it this far. Remember, I never had a diary in my entire life before this blog. I've always been afraid of shooting myself in the foot that's why I've kept things to myself. Anyways, I am proud of myself for getting this far and no, I don't think I will stop blogging. I've realized that in a lot of cases, this is really the only way that my friends figure out what's happening to me.

Cleaning

Is it just me? Or is there anyone else out there who does not profess their love for cleaning the house? Ever since I was little, I have been taught that it is a woman's job to clean the house and you take great pleasure in making your home clean.

Okay, I must've lost that gene that takes pleasure in cleaning. I hate, hate, hate cleaning. Sure, I love a clean house. Who doesn't? However, cleaning is one of those chores that I could do without but unfortunately, it's not something that I really could do without since I refuse to live in a pigsty.

I am a great believer of automation. That's why I love the Roomba. Why vacuum the floors yourself when you can have something (or someone) do it for you? Unfortunately, I cannot bribe my husband enough to clean the house. The dog won't do it either. So I am stuck with this chore.

Is there such a thing as a self-cleaning house? If there is, I want one! Or maybe, I should just call the Merry Maids and schedule an appointment for them to come in and clean the house for me...

Eden's Last

Today was Eden Espinosa's last performance in the role of Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway. I'm so sad that she's leaving the show and I'm definitely going to miss seeing her on stage and listening ot her perform in Wicked. I wish, I wish, I wish I got to see her perform on her last show however, I'm here in SF. The reviews are starting to come out and it seems like she gave one heck of a phenomenal performance tonight and sang notes that went straight out of this world and blew the top off the Gershwin. Anyways, I'm thankful I got to see her perform 4 times.

Wishing you the best in whatever you do after Wicked, Eden! I feel so lucky having the privilege of seeing you perform. I admire you for always giving it your all on stage and will cherish the memories I have of each of your performance that I've seen. You're the best! :)

Random Things/Thoughts

Ipod Nano
I picked up a new ipod nano (black 8gb) today. It's so teeny tiny! I'm a gadget freak and hearing someone tell me that my ipod is huge freaked me out. Hehehehehe....

Air Soft Guns
Arvin (hubby) and his friends are into these airsoft gas powered guns. The bullets are plastic pellets that probably hurt still if and when you get hit. I've never held a real gun in my life -- this is probably the closest that I'd ever hold a gun. Been doing target practice the past few days. I suck. However, I am very competetive so I'll probably keep on practicing until I get a lot better at it.

9 Ball Billiards
It's been a while since I last played billiards. When we were living in Walnut Creek, Arvin and I used to go and play often at Masses Billiards hall. Anyways, we decided to go out and play 9 ball billiards this afternoon. I think I did pretty well. I was telling Arvin that I really do not mind losing as long as I don't get zeroed out on the score. I feel like I played a decent game today. 2 games to 4.

Working at Home this Weekend
For the first time in a long time, I actually didn't work from home this weekend. Sure, I VPN-ed into the network tonight to check on something but I wouldn't consider it as working. I guess I was a lot more tired than I though tI was from my recent trip to Houston. If not for my new ipod which I needed to synchronize with my files, I probably would not have used my computer at all today. Well, okay... I'm using it to write this blog.

Running
I'm trying to get back to my running schedule. I haven't been running for over a month since I've just been so busy.

Vacation
What's that? I was supposed to be on vacation last week but I ended up going back to Houston. I haven't taken a real vacation this year and from the way things look right now at work, I don't think I'll be able to squeeze in any vacation days. Well, I guess, I should look at the bright side of things. I'm going to have a lot of vacation days next year!

TV Week
See vacation. I never got to take this. I haven't finished watching the second season of BattleStar Galactica. I think I'm only halfway through. I don't think I'll be able to finish before th new season starts. Oh well...

Reading
I have not been reading at all for the past 2 weeks. So my to be read pile has not shrunk at all. Need to really catch up on my reading. I feel like my mind is turning into mush when I don't read.

Sleeping
I always have a hard time sleeping when I am travelling. No matter how plush and expensive the hotel room is, I have trouble sleeping. This weekend was all about catching up with my sleep. Hubby knows better than to wake me up early.

It's Been a Blur...

I’ve gone through a series of déjà vu’s lately. If you go through my past blogs, you’ll find the word AGAIN, over and over. I was going to title this blog as Houston again.

I was back in Houston again this week. At the time of writing of this blog, I’m on an airplane, on my way home. The past 2 weeks of my life has been as about the Houston office set-up. Working late nights, not having enough sleep, getting on an airplane and flying back and forth between SF and Houston have consumed my time for the past 2 weeks. Although I did manage to squeeze in going to Disneyland in between my 2 trips to Houston. Time just flew for me these past 2 weeks. Everything that happened seems so hazy and just went quickly past before my eyes.

I probably would’ve hated doing this office setup just because I needed to think of all the aspects of integrating their system with ours and because of the fact that it just takes a lot of time and there’s a lot of things that need to be done. Thank goodness, the people there were very nice so it made things a lot easier.

Disneyland

I was a little bit skeptical when I first stepped into Disneyland this morning. I was worried the allure of the happiest place on earth is gone for me because I have decided to grow up. I can no longer remember how many times we’ve visited Disneyland. I expected that my husband and I were going to be bored since it’s the same-o same-o rides and we’ve been on them in the past.

I actually had fun today. I think Arvin did too. I can’t say that it took me back to my childhood since the first time I ever visited Disneyland was when I was 24. Sure, the characters were all familiar and part of my childhood.

The rides were great. I was screaming my head off on the rides and I must’ve gotten Arvin temporarily deaf from all that screaming. I’ve been always afraid of rides that drop but he had me get on those. My favorite rides were the Tower of Terror, California Screamin and Space Mountain.

** I never got to post this. Wrote this while we were in Anaheim last week (Sept. 17th), never got to finish it. I really wanted to finish it and post it so here it is.

Disneyland Half Marathon

I'm supposed to be running the Disneyland half marathon in a couple of hours -- but I am not. I am too exhausted to even think about running it at this point. Actually make that I'm too exhausted to even think, PERIOD. My week has been pretty crazy and it just wore me out. Running a half marathon is not my idea of fun right now. Fun is screaming my head off riding that rollercoaster.... :D

Another Airport... Another Plane Ride...

I’m at San Francisco International Airport right now waiting for my flight to Houston. Yep, I seem to be a regular at SFO this year.

Never been to Houston before. I’ll be there for 3 days. I’m not too sure if I will actually get to see anything in Houston. I’m setting up another office there for the company I work for. So it’s another office and another server room...

Harlan Coben

I've been reading a lot lately. Been going through an average of 3 books a week. It makes you wonder where I find the time to read, right?

I've recently stumbled upon books written by Harlan Coben. He writes mystery novels which I really love. Well... right after the chickie flicks that I consider as my guilty pleasure. Oh sorry, I meant women's fiction (tongue in cheek). :D

His books are such pages turners. I've been staying up late just to finish his books. So far I've read Tell No One and One False Move. I'm currently in the first few pages of Drop Shot. I would compare his books to the early books written by Sidney Sheldon. It's pretty darn good.

Ok, I have to go back to my reading. :)