25 Random Things- straight from facebook to blogger to you!

1. Approximately 83% of teachers first call me Lay-ah. After I correct them, about 64% still call me Lay-ah. I've given up in my classes, I'll be Lay-ah.
2. I don't like feet.
3. I love my room, maybe a little too much.
4. I think the best year of my life so far was 2006-2007 while I was living in NYC, even though 2 of my roommates were alarm-clock challenged.
5. I finally feel like an American, make fun if you want, but I finally do.
6. I work at Starbucks, I also can't stand the taste of coffee. It taste like dirt. I get paid because people will spend 1.75 on on dirt water.
7. Dream job would be to dance and sing on Broadway.
8. I'd rather have it dark than light...and that's not because I'm depressed or anything, the light always gives off a glare. Cara...
9. My car breaks probably should have been fixed a couple of months ago.
10. I've been wearing scarves a little too much lately, and even when it is summer I will probably still continue to wear them too much.
11. Favorite drink is lemonade.
12. When I try to retell stories, I tend to botch them up to a point where they are no longer entertaining.
13. I'm a professional napper.
14. I don't think I have any talents and I definitely can't whistle. Jorelle...
15. I don't think I am as sarcastic and cynical as people think I am, if I was, I would probably be funnier.
16. I am very proud to be Jewish, even though I am a horrible Jew and don't know enough about it.
17. Wish I took more pictures of myself when I was skinny...
18. I like Scottish accents, but when I can actually understand them, then I love Scottish accents.
19. I will not subject myself to ridiculous scary movies anymore.
20. I was a Buddha baby, but a freakin' adorable toddler.
21. Best kind of cupcake and ice cream: Yellow cupcake and chocolate frosting. Cookie coffee dream (but since that is a specialty flavor at Fentons, then I'll go with rocky road... but to play it safe I'll say cookies and cream)
22. I have problems deciding on things.
23. I hate awkwardness. I mean I HATE IT. This is a problem because there is awkward moments, hugs, conversation, silences etc everywhere. I have to get over this.
24. I am a plant murderer. Don't ask me to take care of your plants on vacation. Even with my best intentions, I'll still probably over/under water them. Maybe they don't like me because I don't care about photosynthesis, even though our lives depend on it.
25. I am Pacific Islander and white and kind of Japanese and I look Mexican and the only Spanish I can remember is colors and when living in California Mexican people always ask me for directions and I can never help/understand them and then I look dumb...

Caitlin Crosby - "Still Have My Heart"

I watched this 3 times in a row. I think its cute, and it makes me smile.

You talkin to me?

Is it really worth it for TV commercials to hire celeb voice overs?

• Verizon and Jim from the office?
• State Farm and McDreamy?
• Some sort of pet food and sex addict David Duchovny?
• Kaiser Hospital and Allison Janny?

Found this web site

I wonder if people actually buy the item because they just feel comfortable with the voice...
Every time I hear a voice over now I guess if it's a celebrity's and why they would hire that person.

...And this is what I do with my life

Blocks Heads Over Bush

I'm sure everyone is watching the real thing today, so when the day is over check out how the block people celebrate.

Change

Love and Hate

LOVE: Watching 'How I Met Your Mother' on DVD

HATE: Transferring clothes from washer to the dryer and sox and underwear fall on the floor.

Can't Sleep List

Leah's Top 5 Disney Movies

5. Mulan
4. Beauty and the Beast
3. Little Mermaid
2. Lion King
1. Aladdin

I picked Aladdin because all the songs are awesome and throughout the movie Disney included material adults would find entertaining while still being age appropriate. The movie is hilarious and it was made at a time when Robin Williams was still funny. Lion King is a classic... I mean it's Hamlet right? Every girl loves the Little Mermaid. And if you don't, you probably suck at life. Beauty and the Beast was nominated for Best Picture. Were you aware of that? Sad it lost to Silence of the Lambs. And I know many might not agree with Mulan. But that's probably because you guys are racist against Asians. Get over it. Mulan was great! Correction: is great! You don't meet a girl like that every dynasty.

I Wish My Life Was a Musical

I love musicals. I mean I love them. If I was talented my dream would be to sing and dance on Broadway. My problem is I can't sing to save my life and I have two left feet. I choose to blame my parents for this. Although they were supportive by enrolling my sister and I in "creative arts" programs, their genetics passed to us didn't really help in performing arts. If I were auditioning for American Idol I would be one of the bloopers edited into some horrible montage in the first week of the series. Not to say I haven't tried improving my performing 'skills'... kind of. About 4 years ago I tried tap dancing... FAIL. When I was 7 I had the courage to perform in two elementary school musicals Harlequin and Burning Rice Fields. I played an angel in one and a kite runner/log carrier in the other. Then puberty hit and that was the end of my acting career. So performing isn't my calling. But I can't help it, I love musicals and I want to be in them, but it's not going to happen.

Although some shows are better than others, there is nothing like being entertained for 2 hours with catchy songs and huge dance scenes. Living in NYC I had time to win lottery tickets where the seats would only be 25 dollars. My luck was amazing for these shows. I won the Wicked tickets my first weekend there, some strangers offered us the Phantom tickets for FREE, and the fact that I got to see the others made my year. I got to see:
Hairspray (Loved it!)
Chicago (Just okay)
Ave Q (Hilarious)
Putnum Annual Spelling Bee (perhaps my favorite of all, so original and funny)
Phantom of the Opera (played out)
Rent (ehhhh)
Drowsey Chaperone (not worth the money)
Chorus Line (ehhhhh x2)
Wicked (liked it)

So the fact that I'm living in Morgan Hill kind of sucks. Unfortunately, American Musical Theater of San Jose just closed down about a month ago (I really wanted to intern there.) So there hasn't been too much musical influence in my life lately. I still try to keep up with The Great White Way. I would love to see Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys, South Pacific, Lion King and Little Mermaid (ya, I'm a Disney fan). But for now here is just a bit of musical fun that made me smile.

Also I loved this as well. I can't help but smile watching it. Life should be like this:

A Room Without A View

I love my current room. I fixed it up when I moved back from NYC two years ago. It used to be a crazy under the sea theme with midnight blue on two walls and grasshopper green on the others. I picked out these colors when I was 12 and going through a not-using-my-brain phase. The room was furnished with a bed frame that my Nana got me when I was 3 and there were key chains hanging from the wall and a fake parrot from the high ceiling. This was most definitely not a room I wanted to come back to. With my helpful painting skills I picked up from City Year I am glad to say that my room is now a beautiful shade of straw hat yellow with a chair and ottoman in the corner, finally a bed that is larger than a twin size, and drapery, bedding and furniture to match. I love my room.

However, one thing I do wish I had was my NY roomies keeping me company. While living in New York City I shared a studio with some amazing gals. I'll avoid the disastrous losers we had along the way in order to pick up some rent money. But these ladies made my year there a great one, even if our studio was small and had no view of the beautiful city whatsoever (unless you count the apt across the ally). And seeing as I am horrible keeping in touch with them unless via texting or facebook, I thought I'd also give them a little recognition on this blog and mention why they are so great. (In no particular order)

#1 Lindsay Sablan:
This girl was my friend right from the start. Being an islander herself and a fanatic of musicals she understood me right from the beginning. Although it took her a little while to move in with us, it was destined for her to become a Gold St Girl. This girl is 'fiercely loyal' (her words, but I do agree 100%.) She also is talented like no other. EVERYBODY LOOOOOOVES LINDSAY. For real, sometimes she can be too nice for her own good. But she does have an amazing family and plenty of friends to support her. Sometimes you wish you were Lindsay, but if you were then you wouldn't have her for a friend. Not to mention she let me use her food stamps for the summer. Clearly two female, islander, twenty somethings always look alike and therefore there is no need to question whose food stamps belong to who. So thank you Lindsay for providing me with free pizza bagles and wine for over a month. Anywhoo, when she gets married she has promised me that I get a bridesmaid spot. Score! And despite the picture on the right, she is ridiculously photogenic.

#2 Sara Lepori:
Ohhhh, Lepori. She and I have one thing in common that most people don't think about anymore. But I won't mention what that is. If you want to know what kind of person she is, just look to her parents. They are the most welcoming people, and I definitely took advantage of their cooking skills. Sara is such a fun person. She is so outgoing and willing to be adventurous. I think that is what I like about her most. She is also the queen of traveling, in my opinion. If I had to travel around the world with anyone for days on end I would pick Sara. The girl is funny and makes a great Broadway lottery buddy. (By the way, Drowsy Chaperon is so not worth it, we learned that the hard way.) On the other hand she has waaaaay more energy than I do and sometimes I don't think I could keep up with her. But she always tries to include everyone and make others happy. She is a great friend and I miss our LOST nights at the gym. Oh, and speaking of bridesmaids, this girl has been to so many weddings. She either has a lot of really close friends or is the ultimate wedding crasher. And FYI, our faces are now stuck like that.

#3 Sarah Smethie:
Smethie. Poor Smethie. There were so many Sara(h)s that year that she was forced to become Smethie. But I wouldn't want to know her any other way. Smethie is the epitome of nice. Really, she is so kind to everyone. Smethie always seems to have everything under control. She has such a good heart and head on her shoulders. She takes responsibility for more than she needs to, she is most definitely a giver. The first time I met her on the subway she was so easy to talk to and get along with. The girl is so humble about how smart and talented she is, but if you get to know her she is also gut-bustingly (I don't think that's a real word) funny. However, there is one thing about Smethie that is deceiving: If that girl gets drunk she turns into a profanity spewing machine. It is hilarious! She could cuss out a pirate if she was hammered... but then of course she would then fall asleep on the poop deck. The girl gets tired. If I am ever in a bad mood, I look at this picture and it makes me smile.

Honorable Mention Tiffany Hamill:
I wish she was our roommate that year. Sadly Tiff lived all the way up in Harlem, so I had to convince her to stay at our place a couple of nights to hang out. I needed Tiffany that year for one particular thing: to hold my hand in extremely awkward moments. And trust me, there were many! Tiffany is so sweet and I had so much fun with her on weekends going to Young Heroes and out at night. Just the two of us use to hit up the town and I could always trust her to take care of me and vice versa. I could just walk around the city forever with this girl. I miss our trips to the Great Lawn. We were queens of napping and tanning. She was the other half to my black and white cookie. Which I have yet to find here in California by the way, what's up with that? I miss this girl... Oh, and she can wear heels for hours like nobodies business.

And so, to conclude this blog: As much as I love my current room with its privacy, and bigger bed, and bigger bathroom, and closet, and chair and ottoman, AND CABLE!! (trust me I spend a lot of time in here so I really do love it) I really do miss my old roomies and that Gold St apt. They made life exciting, and made me happy.
Oh, and as for Rex (Darren the liar) and Maggie (the lush) who both had no idea how to work an alarm clock, as Tina Fey said, you guys can SUCK IT.

In the beginning...

I feel like a hypocrite creating a blog. I think it's a bit pretentious to think that people will actually want to look at this site and see what I am up to. But I guess I am falling in with the times, or at least trying to keep myself occupied from going into the kitchen and eating brownies.

So who am I?

My name is Leah. Not like the princess or asian last name. Pronounced LEE-ah. You would be surprised how many times people get that wrong even after I correct them politely, a-many-a-times. In fact it was about one week from finals when my TV Production teacher (who I have been working with for over 3 months) called me Lee. How nice it is to know that I leave a lasting impression...

If you haven't met me before let me tell you a bit about myself: First of all I'm surprised that you are still reading. I never really find myself that interesting unless I'm around people who get me. One of those people is my sister Cara. Pronounced CAR-ah. Mispronouciation goes hand in hand with Cara's name. Our parents were big on short names. She is my twin. Perhaps the smarter of the two of us, she is going to be a teacher... if anyone hires her. CALLING ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS- MY SISTER CARA CAN TEACH CLASSES FROM K-6TH GRADE.

As for me my life has taken a bit of a turn. I got through my parents divorce, loss of a half-sister, evil stepmother (and by evil I mean Mormon), high school, spending a ridiculous amount of my life in a car, encephalitis, being super thin...then not, New York City and ended up in Morgan Hill. Yay my life! (sarcasm) I'll probably include that every now and then. Don't get me wrong, I have lived a very privliaged life and I know that I am very lucky.

If by chance I offend anyone reading this I apologize, but I also suggest you don't continue reading seeing as at times I am considered "sarcastic" or "cynical" or "too fond of stereotypes." I also make myself laugh quite easily. I am a nice person, really. In fact I try to make people like me... One thing I dislike most is tension and any type of awkwardness. Not only do I get embarrassed for myself but others too. It's something I'm trying to get over. But again, I stick with people who understand me. But don't most people do that anyway?
*Update: I couldn't hold back and I went to get myself a brownie...corner piece. In fact I could really love one of these:


Morgan Hill is a small 3 highway exit city with the population of conservatives and Mexicans. Take that how you wish. I work at a Starbucks and pretend I know details about coffee when people ask for my opinion. My opinion is coffee taste like dirt. Or "earthy" I have learned. I go to Gavilan Community College in Gilroy. I found that community college is a great self esteem booster. There are a lot of dumb people there. And not that I am brilliant, or talented, or amazing in any sense, but there are a lot of dumb people there. I hope to transfer to San Jose State next year and enter their Film/Radio/Television major. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with my life career wise, but I hope to make some type of impact. Lately I have been thinking about writing, although I don't really know too much about it and I don't think it comes easily for me... so maybe not. However, lately I have been having strange dreams and have woken up thinking that they would be interesting films. And then of course I would forget what happened. But those subconcious thoughts remind me I have some creativity in me, even if I am only sleeping.

Lets end this post seeing as it's running long. I'll end by explaining the title. "Tiger Power." A bit obscure, but the story behind it is from my father. When my sister and I used to go bike riding in Oakland, whenever we got tired trying to ride up a big hill our dad would start yelling 'tiger power, tiger power.' It usually didn't pump us up like it was suppose to, but I remember it from my childhood as something that was funny and made me smile. Hopefully this blog won't be full of bitching and complaining, instead random thoughts and things I find funny and make me smile.

Here's to 2009. Thanks for reading.