It was a great week for me, personally.  If you’re my friend on Facebook, you know that I’ve brought the sexy back this week.  When it rains, it pours!  It’s been fun.

And my co-worker/friend/running guru Sheryl has been kicking my butt and helping me really get in gear for the half marathon I’m going to run.  My favorite thing this week was running on the treadmill (boring) while watching Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune (yes, I yelled answers at the tv).

What?  I didn’t tell you?  Yeah, I’m gonna run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Los Angeles in October.  Whew!  That’s 13.1 miles, y’all!

Now I’m off to do some chores, hit the gym, and then time with my junior high kids tonight!

OH!  Chuck premieres its third season on SUNDAY on NBC.  Watch it, y’all!  It’s no more Mr. Nice Spy.

I’ve been laughed at, mocked, ridiculed, and smacked upside the head, but I’ve held firm.

When, tell me WHEN, in the entire history of Lost, has a dead body ever really been dead?  Unless that body is dead and buried (i.e. Nikki and Paulo – thank goodness), you’re not really dead.

And someone agrees with me.

Don Gaile over at TVGuide.com, while recapping Monday night’s 3D epiosde of Chuck, mentioned that he, too, doesn’t think Charlie Pace is really dead.  (Dominic Monaghan plays – yes, plays – Charlie Pace on Lost and he was a guest star on Monday night’s episode of Chuck.)

Gaile writes, “At Buy More, Emmett Milbarge’s best friend Tyler Martin, a famous rock-n-roller, is coming to sign autographs. Tyler may look familiar to those of you who have seen ABC’s Lost where Dominic Monaghan plays English rocker Charlie Pace. He plays rather than played Charlie because dead on Lost is never really dead. But that’s a whole other discussion. Anyway, it seems that Dominic has somewhat reprised that same role on Chuck.”

So see?  Charlie’s not really dead, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Ever since I first met Zachary Levi last year, I’ve wanted just one thing from our relationship: for him to know my name without looking at my nametag.  (Yes, I wear a nametag.)

Today was a slow day at work, which means that while the lot was busy, we didn’t have that many tour guests.  So I ended up only giving two tours today, which was very nice.

In between my tours, I was assigned to help escort tour groups into soundstages.  I was stationed at stages 17 and 19 (stages for Chuck and Pushing Daisies, respectively) and for the first 45 minutes, no one came.

Finally a group called for an escort, and I went out to our main drive to meet them.  While standing there, I noticed the Nerd Herd golf cart (the one Zac drives) down the street.  Sure enough, Zac comes speeding up the street (he drives really fast), kinda stops at the stop sign, sees me and says, (as he drives off) “Hi, Em!”

Yes!  Zachary Levi knows my name and actually made up a nickname for me.  Come on, none of you have thought of that one.

But my day didn’t end there.

A few minutes later, while I was escorting a different group into stage 17 (where the Buy More set is for Chuck), I walked out of the stage and just kind of jokingly flung the door open (hey, I was a little bored). And there was Zac, talking to another guide Dean.

“Zac… stop following me!  You stalker!”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.  I can’t help it!”

More joking followed, then the group came out of the stage.  Zac talked with them (they were fans of the show), and then the group left.

Dean, Zac and I chatted some more (about the weather, the weekend, Chuck being picked up for a full season), and then Zac says, “Hey, I’m gonna run over to Jamba Juice.  You guys want anything from there?  Some Starbucks?”

Dean said he was fine with his water.

“Zac, bring me just a cup of water.  Then I can tell all my friends you bought me a drink,” I said.

“Really?  Water?  All you want is water?”

“Well, since you’re insisting… I’ll take a Jamba.”

“Ok, what do you want?”

“Anything with strawberries.  But no bananas.”

“Got it.  Strawberries, no bananas.”

“Definitely no bananas.”

Zac leaves to fetch me my drink.

Dean turns to me and says, “Wow.  You actually just had him get you a drink.  You know, most stars like him will have a P.A. (industry-speak for production assistant) go get their coffee.  But you, you send STARS to get yours.”

A few minutes go by, and Zac finally returns with my drink.

“Hey Zac, can I get a picture of you giving me my drink?”

“Of course!”

“I knew you’d do it!”

Dean took a picture of Zac presenting me, the demanding diva, with my Strawberry Surf Rider drink from Jamba Juice.

Here’s the best part:

I turned to Zac to say thanks, totally over the moon with my drink and proof that he bought it for me, when (pay attention here) HE pulled me in for a full-frontal hug (not one of those “gee-you’re-a-good-friend side hug things) and he kissed me on my right cheek.

Yes, Zachary Levi kissed me.  And bought me a drink.  I think that counts as a date.

My heart went pitter-pat and inside I said, “I do!”

He totally made my day.

Sorry for the blurry pic – my camera phone is cheap and the lens is scratched, but still, it’s us!

Three MAJOR connection points happened today.  One, I can’t tell you about.  At least, not yet.  The other two… they’re great stories!

The Dark Knight opens in theaters everywhere on Friday.  So, true to Warner Brothers Studios tradition, this whole week there are screenings on the lot of the movie.  Last night was a hoity-toity affair for the execs and their guests (open bar!), and this afternoon’s screening was also invite-only.  But tonight… ah, tonight the masses came.

Whenever there is a screening on the lot, employees are allowed to bring one guest.  Lines usually form around 5:00 or so for the movie (the theater holds 600 or so, and seats are first-come, first-serve).  The Sex and the City screening was a little crazy, and I knew this one was going to be even crazier.

So I was a little stressed about getting in line in time (thanks, boss lady Dianna, for letting me take off early!!), and also about getting TWO of my cousins in to the movie.  Luckily, one of my co-workers on a whim decided to go to the movie, so he was able to take in one of my cousins as his guest.  Yay!  So both Nate and Melanie got to see the movie with me.  (More on the movie later, too tired and overwhelmed to write a true review now.)

The movie was good, the company great.  Connection point number one.  Seeing a movie like The Dark Knight at a movie studio days before its public release?  A few bucks.  Seeing said movie with two cousins who love movies just as much as you do and totally relish the history and awesomeness of such a screening?  Priceless.

Connection point number two.

As we were leaving the studio, I took us by soundstages 17, 18, and 19.  (Chuck and Pushing Daisies stages).  I figured, as Nate and Mel both watch Chuck and Pushing Daisies, we’ll see if we can peek at the sets and maybe see an actor loitering around somewhere.

Stage 18 had the elephant door wide open, lights blazing, so we stopped to peek inside.  As we resumed our walk to the car, I saw Zachary Levi turning around the corner in his little Nerd Herd golf cart.  It was dark, there were a TON of people walking around, and production trucks and crew littered the street.  So Zach had to kinda weave his way around.  Because it was dark, he had his headlights on.  I saw him coming, said to my cousins, “Hey, wanna meet Zach Levi?”

Before they could even react, I was standing in his path, faking like he was about to hit me.

Of course he stopped, claiming he wasn’t gonna hit me.

I reintroduced myself (hey, the man meets thousands of people a year – he can’t really be expected to remember one cute, blonde tour guide, can he?), then introduced my cousins.

We ended up chatting for about five minutes (if you want the play-by-play, email me) about the movie, church, working with Tony Hale(!!), and then we said our goodbyes (his to me was “See you tomorrow!”), and left.

My cousins, meanwhile, said nothing.  Nate eeked out a few phrases of agreement (yes, the movie was awesome; yes, we’re Arrested Development fans), but Mel was truly star-struck.

Seeing The Dark Knight on a studio lot days before its public release?  Gas money and time.  Meeting and chatting with the star of your favorite new tv show?  Priceless.

It was a good day.

Ann Waldron writes “Writers do behave oddly. They can be monomaniacal about their work, obsessional about rewriting, insecure about any success they might have, paranoid about editors and publishers, riddled with anxiety about their talent. They are often nonconformists.” (Special to The Washington Post – March 14, 1989, pp. 13-15 (c) The Washington Post)

And if you think about it, writers also hear voices.  Voices in their heads, in sounds, in shadows.  And, admit it, they talk to those voices.  All in the name of the art though.

I’m a writer.

Writers do not generally like to admit that they are crazy, that they hear voices and talk to those voices.  Denial or rationalization are thin excuses for the craziness.

I’m a writer.

I bought a cat.  I figure that I can talk to a cat, and no one will think I’m crazy.  They might think it kind of strange, but talking to a cat is also kind of endearing.  Even now, a smile is on your face and you just get it.  You get how talking to a cat, sounding out dialogue, asking rhetorical questions, seeking plot advice from a cat is kind of cute!

So I talk to Chuck.  The great thing is, she can’t tell me how dumb my ideas are or how boring my story is.

She does, however, hurt my feelings when she leaves the room in the middle of our conversation.

That’s the kind of insult only a cat could give.

The Mad Hatter had it right. Every day should be a celebration. We should at least celebrate half-birthdays. My half-birthday is next weekend, by the way. No pressure or anything, just if anyone wants to spread some love or something, I can email you my mailing address (I love snail mail!).

On June 29th, I’ll be 25 and a half. Gosh, that’s old. What have I achieved in my quarter-century of life? Well, I did finally finish one of my spec scripts. It’s the first script I’ve ever finished. Here’s hoping it’s one of many more to come, and the same goes for my half-birthday.

By the way, Chuck now weighs 7 pounds, 13 ounces. She’s not even a year old yet!

Well, I didn’t have to wait long.

Today I talked to Zachary Levi. I was a little embarrassed that only one kid on my entire cart has watched the show, but they all were glad to meet him and promised to watch the show. And Zachary? Well, now that he’s shaving again and got a haircut… it’s enough to make this girl’s heart go pitter-pat.

Also got to chat with John Stamos a bit. He’ll always be Uncle Jesse to me (and to my cart full of 16-year-old kids from Riverside, CA). Also spotted Scott Grimes and Josh Gomez on the lot today. What those two lack in stature, they make up in totally rockin’ hairdos (not being sarcastic at all – I love their hair! My beloved brothers Cam and Carter, observe and copy their hairstyles). Okay, I just looked up Grimes and Gomez on imdb.com and well, the haircuts in the pics on there are pretty bad. But the ones they’ve been getting from Hair & Make-up here on the lot are a lot better. So come take a tour and see the new hairdos in person.

But the most exciting part of my day? Standing next to Robert Duncan McNeill (aka Tom Paris from Star Trek: Voyager) while he planned a scene for Chuck. He looks exactly the same as he did ten years ago, only now he has a little bit of facial hair. Totally cute in person though! So yeah, two Star Trek meet-and-greets in one week?!? I love my job.
Yesterday was cloudy, today was very rainy (stupid people who come take outdoor tours in the rain!). But if yesterday’s temperature was red-hot, then today’s was totally sizzling!

Now if only I could find my Jeeves…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I did write a nice long post last weekend about the movie Independence Day, but something happened and that post disappeared. (Did anyone get a chance to read it before it disappeared?)

So now, where to begin? So much to talk about and no real way to string it all together. Thus, my list, after the jump.

• Independence Day. The movie came out in 1996 and stars the usual suspects (Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Will Smith), but the movie also stars Adam Baldwin (“Jayne” from the Firefly/Serenity series and “John Casey” in Chuck), Mary McDonnell (“President Laura Roslin” in Battlestar Galactica), Brett Spiner (uh, hello? He’s Data!), Harry Connick Jr (okay actor, GREAT jazz musician and singer), and Wayne Wilderson (also known as the WaMu man).
• Two new episodes of Chuck aired tonight on NBC. Here in LA it was being advertised as a “Chuck” sandwich. Which means that one episode aired at 8 p.m. and the second aired at 10 p.m., with an episode of Celebrity Apprentice airing in between. Both episodes were pretty awesome (yes, Awesome) and watching them made me miss seeing the cast on the lot. They haven’t been on the lot since the first week of December, and I miss them! “I am now a lonely piece of meat.”
• The current situation between the WGA and the AMPTP seems to be progressing. At least, both sides are back in informal discussions. Here’s hoping both sides come to an agreement soon – I want my shows back!!
• Lost. Lost returns. In one week. I. Can’t. Wait.
• La lluvia. It has been raining absolute buckets here in sunny southern California. It has rained, hailed, and even been windy enough for Them to issue a tornado warning. My roommate Aimee and I have decided that in the event of a real tornado, our building’s laundry room is the best place to go.
• Heath Ledger. SO sad and truly tragic. He’s the James Dean of my generation, and he will be truly missed. His passing is also definitely going to have an effect on The Dark Night. The way it is advertised, the way viewers see the role of the joker, and Ledger’s death will definitely affect the end result of the film. My heart aches for his two-year-old girl who will now grow up without her father.

So that’s the latest from me.

What’s going on with you? Staying dry in the rain (if you’re in Cali)? Shocked to hear about Heath Ledger? Excited for Lost?

The TV show, I mean.

And only for two episodes.

Chuck will be airing on NBC on Thursday, January 24th, from 8:00-9:00 PM and again the same night from 10:00-11:00 PM.  Two new episodes, flanking The Apprentice: Celebrity Edition.

So check your TiVos and DVRs and make sure they can handle the time and day change.  (I know I barely can – Thank goodness for smart technology!)

And just a mini clue here: Casey gets a flashback.  And a love interest.  No, you’re not accidentally watching Lost, but the scenes I saw being edited felt an awful lot like a Lost flashback and I can’t help but wonder if it was done just a little bit on purpose to be a shout-out to Lost.  (And for you Lost fans, I don’t think Charlie’s really dead.)

So stay tuned for the two new episodes of Chuck!!

And in the meantime, for you Terminator fans, the first and second episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles are this Sunday and Monday!