ZombieNight...

ZombieDay, more like.

First thing that I learned: liquid latex is cold and smells funny, and when it dries it pulls your skin tight and makes it difficult to move normally. I was given a wicked looking burn on my neck, and the range of motion in my neck was cut down by about a third! But it looked cool. It actually freaked some people out when it was fresh -- they said it looked like I'd actually been burned.

Beautiful, isn't it? Kirsten, the artist who did my make-up, was very thorough
(and no, she did not use a 2 x 4 to give me that bruise. Just paint, brushes, and sponges).

Second thing that I learned: wearing shredded, stained clothes and being covered in dirt and fake blood, bruises, burns, stab wounds, bullet holes, and other various injuries really brings people together. Barriers broken, people. So funny that friendships were started by people comparing their wounds and making up stories as to how they got them. Because when everyone looks like crap, it's really easy to fit in!

(side thing that I learned: it is much less awkward to have your clothes ripped apart by a woman than it is to have them shredded by a man -- that was weird)

Third thing that I learned: acting like a zombie takes more energy than a person might think, because pretending not to have control of your body takes a lot of control (I'm a bit sore today, actually -- kinda out of shape much?). Otherwise, you'll trip and face plant in the gravel. And then you'd actually be bruised and dirty and bloody. Funnily enough, I never tripped while being a zombie. Walking normally, yeah, I tripped a couple of times. Weird.

Got this during a narrow escape -- you should see how the other guy looks.

Fourth thing that I learned (or, in this case, was reinforced): filming for a movie is boring. I already knew that, but as I've never been part of a project like this, I didn't realize how boring it truly is. Take after take of doing the exact same thing, each take split up by the crew having to re-position cameras, light adjusters and filters, set pieces -- the other extras that had arrived at 7am and I took it upon ourselves to shout "BACK TO ONE!!!" before the camera crew could do so. It happened so often that we just began to expect it. Hearing "THAT'S A WRAP" on a take was the best moment ever. SHADE! And WATER! Not to mention we could sit down and talk to each other before we were called back to set again.

Fifth thing that I learned: no matter where I go, people I have never met before will tell me their life stories and ask me for advice. And random little children will come sit by me and talk to me about everything (one little zombie child brought a plate of Doritos over to the wall I was sitting against and plopped herself down next to me, then proceeded to tell me all about her school, her zombie costume that she wears at home for a dress-up, how she is "five now. I used to be four, but I'm not anymore," and that she wants a curly slide in her back yard, not a straight one), even though I don't even know their names.

I'm actually kind of surprised that the children on set weren't scared by the way us zombie grown-ups looked. When I was a child, I probably would have been terrified. Then again, Lassie Come Home gave me nightmares, so. Yeah.

Sixth thing that I learned: holding a baby is the best thing in the world. It's the only place that I feel really safe and peaceful. I spent several minutes holding Parker's baby niece, and I didn't want to give her back. She's such a precious little thing -- and for a little while, all was right in my world.

Seventh thing that I learned: don't wait until you're desperate to call someone for help. Just do it (thank you to friends who picked up -- you know who you are).

Remarkably, this all came off pretty easily. Two or three gentle washes with shampoo and presto! Gone.

Eighth thing that I learned: don't tug on the latex (yeah, don't do it) when trying to get it off. Just roll it off and it won't hurt as much (blah).

My zombie time has come to a close. There were good bits and bad bits, and I never quite got used to seeing people walking around with oozing cuts and gashes. But it was overall pretty fun and very different.

You're next.

Wrap it up and send it to a baby on Christmas, folks! This sequence of production is DONE!

day 55...

a picture of the last movie that I saw in theaters...

Last week my family and I went to see The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on the special release night. We saw all of them, every Tuesday for the last three weeks. Man, it was incredible! I'd never seen any of the films on the big screen, and wow. Just wow...they really were meant to be watched on the big screen.

This picture is a sequence of shots of Faramir and Eowyn in the last film. This couple makes me giggle and smile because they are so cute. Really. They're just adorable. I love them. I mean, both of them are awesome characters, dedicated to their friends and families, their countries and their freedoms. They fight for what they believe in, and each of them has a very important part in the outcome of the war against Sauron. I'm glad that they cross paths, and that they find so much happiness together! It makes me smile so big that it hurts my face a little.

and then it went to pot...

I worked the evening shift today. One of the girls texted me and asked if I would cover for her. I didn’t want to…I wasn’t feeling well and just wanted to stay in bed. Buuuuuuut, I figured it would be good to get out of the house, and heaven knows I can use the money. After about two hours, though, I decided that it would have been a very, very good day to just stay in bed. I was just so freakin' clumsy.

First, I dropped an open cooler on the grass and tried to catch it, succeeding only in having the lid slam down on my hand. Which is now bruised. EW. And ouch.

Second, I poured strawberry flavoring into the tiger's blood container, realized my mistake, and tried to pour the liquid back into the right bottle. While trying to do that, I lost my balance and spilled the red juice all over my left hand and arm. That hand is currently dyed pink.

Third, I sprayed myself in the face with a jet of shaved ice because I didn't raise the cup up fast enough. That was in front of a cute guy who was talking to me and asking me questions and stuff and I totally iced my face.

Fourth…I don’t know how it happened but the mango and orange-pineapple flavors went AWOL right at the same time and just like, jumped off of the shelf. Juice everywhere, including on me.

Fifth, while I was refilling the cherry flavor, the flavor mix bubbled up and sprayed all over my pants.

Sixth, I tripped on a cooler and went flying into the cash register, pushing the "total" button and making the receipt spit out like crazy.

Seventh, I smacked the back of my head on the ice chest out back while pulling out another cooler full of ice. Then the lid of the ice chest slammed shut on my back, and I lost my grip on the cooler and dropped it. As it fell, it took half of me with it. I’m sure that the people sitting at the table eating their snow cones enjoyed my impromptu slapstick routine. It probably would have been better if I’d had two more days to rehearse.

By the end of the shift I was freaking embarrassed and wondering what was wrong with me. I just felt sick and disoriented and tired and dizzy, and then everything attacked me.

I must have magic powers or something. I destroy things just by looking at them. And yes. All of this really did happen. Truth is stranger than fiction, friends. I would know. I live truth. My life, no matter what I want, will never be fictional. Which is sad. I really could use an editor to fix my mistakes before they're published for the world (or at least my friends and family) to see.

Anyway. It was definitely an interesting shift. Makes me sooooo excited for Monday.

plot hole...

Do you have any idea how frustrated I am right now? Probably not, and what's even MORE frustrating is that I cannot vent in detail about why I am frustrated because most of the world has not yet seen or heard details about the new Pirates movie.

Can you say plot hole? No...more like can you SHOUT plot hole.

At least to me there was a plot hole. A SERIOUS plot hole. Involving (quite possibly) THE HOTTEST couple Disney has EVER created.

I'm freakin' out. Either I missed something, or I missed something, because I sure missed SOMETHING. My question (or the shortened version of the question to avoid spoiling it for you):

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FREAKIN' MERMAID?!?!?!?
Other than that, it was a pretty good movie. Fun, rollercoaster ride of emotion and adventure, clever, outlandish and impossible deeds done by the infamous Jack Sparrow (who does come up with all of that stuff? it's really impossible), very fun. And slightly scary at some parts. Oh, and one scene? HOT. Like, seriously. It should be illegal to have a moment (or in this case, multiple moments) that hot in a Disney film. And it wasn't even like, BAD. It was just hot. You've been warned.

But seriously. Freakin'...gah. I wish there was a way to type out a Rapunzel pitched scream of frustration, but there's not. So just imagine me screaming in a very high pitched squeakish sort of way and you'll have it.

A HUGE thank you to my friend Julia for making it possible for me to go see the movie tonight, and another thank you to all of my wonderful LDC friends who let me go with them. It was so great to see everybody. We really can't stay away from each other...we're all addicts, I guess.