Wow, it's Monday and I'm still really sick from Tuesday. Today I got to work and was surprised to find that I could hardly speak! That was no fun, stupid defective trachea. Hopefully I'll finally start really getting better tomorrow.

Anyway, true to my word I saw The Animation Show on Friday! The show was really great, and being there on the first night was even more fabulous - open chat w/ Don Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge was great. Sold out show. I went to grab a drink from the lobby w/ Pete's-bro-Sean, and as I was walking back to my seat, realized that I had just passed Don H in the lobby! "We just walked by Don," I says to Sean. "Oh. Really?" "Yeah. That was totally him. You'll see when he comes out." Thus marked my third encounter with an animator I've recognized in person, and my second time not introducing myself to one.

Don's new film was really incredible. I think the first scene was the best shot of the whole film, the way the animation is warped so slightly, and the title comes in perfectly! I suppose it's on par with the ridiculously time-consuming-to-make 'space' scenes towards the end, which were really beautiful. I felt the timing was off a little though, and the entire piece really didn't justify four years, but I guess expectations are set super high after that long =). Sorry DH, I really enjoyed it though. Every single other film on there worthy of its own obsession - every one was outstanding. I'm really looking forward to getting my grubby paws on the DVD.

My favorite bit from the audience Q+A was the question "Don - why? After four years, why would you still work on this one film?" His answer, cut short, amounted to "It just has to come out. After all that time I only took about a week off from animating, and have already started on my next film. I've got a minute and a half shot already."

The audience was a little scary. It was about 50% young geek (teens to 20s) and about 50% aged geek (30s to 50s, 60s). One group of people brought their own homemade giant spoons and had their picture taken - to some applause. Whoa. The craziest thing is that the night afterwards I was at Yuññi Bubble Tea on the Ave, right by the theatre it was at, and I found the following (written on both sides of a Jenga block):

"Oh my God, I met Don Hertzfeldt tonight! I am so fangirling out! 1-25-05" (apparently they thought this was January)

"Tonight I met Don Hertzfeldt. I touched the hand of an animation God!"

I'm pretty into it but I stay clear of 'fangirling out' and coveting people's hands.

That's been my whole week really - that show and being sick. And some quality time w/ the folks at Pandas Love To Riot - the production group putting on the student short I'm working on.

Some of you may recall the day I bought 6lbs 10oz of water chestnuts for a low, low price, trying to maximize on value. Well, they're all gone. I was unable to successfully eat all 6lbs 10oz of water chestnuts - instead, about 4lbs of them went to waste (whenever I'd bring them from the freezer to the fridge I'd never use them in time... mold mold mold in the tupperwarity). Makes me sad.

Andrea showed me this today - pee-mail is a hootin' good time!

I’ve discovered that I really like to hear a good accordion. The Magnetic Fields, Devotchka, and The Circus Contraption Band would make a great accordion mix.