A Gramps So Great...

This is just a small tribute to a great man in my life.

11:15 p.m. last night.

Gramps wrote the last sentence of his life.

Dotted his "i"s.
Crossed his "t"s.

Ended with a period.

The End.

He told me 2 hours before he was gone... Bye Cath. I kissed him and rubbed his hair.

How much I love him, I hope he knew. I'm sure he did.

So here's to you Gramps, my biggest fan, my favorite Christmas day partner in crime, my egg mcmuffin bringer, my drive-thru car wash hero, my swimming instructor, my great "philosopher" and teacher... the list goes on and on.

I love you. I miss you. I'll always remember the lessons you've taught me. I carry your legacy.

Forever.

Peter Raymond Bingley

December 23, 1928 - August 29, 2008

Gramps's Girl.

TGIF!

Hope all you Bloggers have a Blast this weekend!! And I hope to hear about it here on bloggerworld (o:

(Remember... Sunday is your last chance to wear white!) (If you follow that sort of nonsense! ha ha ha)





The Weekend Queen!

Can We Say WOW???

....My Name's Hidden Meaning....

What Catherine Means

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. (ugh) You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. (yay me!) Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. (YIKES!) You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. (yep) You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. (I hope so!) You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. (OY VEY!) You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

the QUEEN!

Making Faces

The kiss of death compliment seems to be, "You have such an interesting face...".

Interesting: (en-tu`-resting) adj. meaning- not beautiful, nor exotic, uncute, dispretty, strange, or facinatingly ugly.
(yes, I make up my own words from time to time --- dispretty?? ha ha ha)


So here's my predicament. I've been told to start making faces. I need an interesting face. So does this mean I am starting out with a pretty face? Or just plain jane? Or am I ugly in a non-interesting way? I don't know and I don't think I have the guts to want to know the answer. One thing is for sure. I have to work harder on my ugly faces.

Or so I'm told by the director of the kids show.

I got an email yesterday specifically to remind me to work with a mirror and come up with some ugly/interesting faces. I'm accused of smiling all the time. Where's the crime in that?! Apparently it's a crime of the third-degree where film is concerned. Ugh.

So if you see me doing this:





















Don't worry, it's my job!!



Tootles!
The "interesting" looking Queen

LIghts, Camera, Action!

Last Saturday, I went and shot my screen test for the kids show I'm working on. I had two simple introductory scenes, one song to sing and an interview... (sounds like a piece of cake right? HA!)

I had to be there at 11:00 a.m. and managed to be only 5 minutes late! (which is pretty good for me, I'm usually at a 10 minute late status)

Luckily the director was pulling up behind me, who is notoriously late, so I didn't sweat it.....

And I got to bring my sister Deb along to do my hair and makeup. Which is awesome, because she knows my face and hair better than anyone, so she'd know what would work best for me and won't make me look like a Country Western Singer, Hilary Clinton or Shirley Temple, just to name a few.

There is so much work involved in film. We had to check the lighting, the sound, the green screen, the outside noise level, the outfits, the script, the choreography, etc.... and all this with my head full of curlers! (nope, didn't get any pictures of me in curlers!)

(The "Scripts")

Finally, Deb did my hair and we went out to get the "approval" from the director.

He didn't like it.

(the tech guy thought it looked great... but he doesn't get a vote...)

Back to the drawing board.

4 more times.


Finally! We got the look right and now it's on to makeup. Nothing heavy, just some concealer, foundation and a touch of brightener pencil at the corners of my eyes. Oh, and a dab of Dr. Pepper lip gloss.

(you'll have to read Deb's blog post to hear about our makeup buying fiasco.)

Voile`! I'm ready to rock this thing!

(Ready for my close up!)

Five Hours and Fifty Takes Later....

Whew... all done. For now.

Five hours of work for about 6 minutes of film.

That just boggles my mind.

(Blinding Stage Lights)

Luckily Deb was there to run lines with me, que me, dab me, do my makeup, fix my hair, take pictures, dress me, and make faces at me from behind the director. Yes she sure did. She made faces at me. Yep. What a Brat! No really, she helped a lot. But afterward, she couldn't run fast enough to the car... "it's too long!" she says. Oy Vey, did I just lose my makeup, hair, que, dabber, face maker, dresser, fixer upper person?! I sure hope not! (This is not a public plea Deb, I promise!)

All in all, even though I literally stood for 5 hours under those blinding stage lights, forgot my lines, sweated my upper lip off and started off looking more like the tin man than loosy goosey (tin man- bad, loosy goosey - good), I had an absolute blast and can't wait to do it again!!

(Finally finishing up with my interview...)

Tootles!
The Screen Queen!

Carrying The Olympic Torch

So it seems that like the majority of the nation,

I have developed Olympic Fever...

It started with randomly catching a swim match here, a volleyball set there, a parallel bars competition and some other random events. Then I moved on to my favorite sport, basketball.

I watched team USA slaughter China (boo hoo for Yao Ming).

It was cool to see the President sitting in the stands and the sheer pandimonium when Kobe entered the arena. Go USA!

I could feel the fever rising yesterday morning as I gleefully sat through a weight lifting competition. I thought to myself, "Would I normally sit and watch this?" No. But something about the Olympics just adds that touch of magic to even the boringest of events. Ha ha ha. I just couldn't tear myself away.

Then, last night, after a long day, a lengthy service at church, and a late night outing afterwards to El Torito (where I ate waaaay too much), I got home, got ready for bed, and turned on the Olympics.

Swimming. Cool!

I watched Katie Hoff lose the Gold and end up with the Silver Medal. Awww bummer. Well at least it's a step up from the Bronze she won the day before. (How do I know these things?! The fever has taken over it seems.)

Then it was time for the Men's Four 100 Freestyle Relay. I perked up when I heard that Michael Phelps was in the relay and that France had been talking trash about the U.S., saying that they would smash us.

Hmmmm, interesting. (Now during this time, I'm laying in bed, comfy and kind of lethargic.)

And they're off!

The U.S. was strong at the start, taking control of the lead... but halfway through it, here came France. France maintained the lead for the rest of the relay. Now they are down to the last man on the team, Jason Lezak, the team's captain. He was a good distance behind France and the announcers were talking about the U.S. team getting the silver medal.

But wait, what's this? Here comes Lezak, somehow gaining on France. The place is going crazy, the announcers are yelling almost incoherently. I find myself sitting up and yelling, GO GO GO GO! (Remember, it's 11:30 at night, and the whole house was asleep.) I'm bouncing up and down on the bed, holding my breath. The race is over. Who won? It's too close to tell.

France is anxiously looking up at the scoreboard. Lezak, Weber-Gale, Jones and Phelps all have hope on their faces. It only took a split second to reveal the Gold Medal Winners, but that split second felt like eternity.

We Won.

There I was, in my P.J.s, more than half a day away from this live event and I was yelling and clapping my hands as if I were right there and these were my best friends, not even realizing the ruckus I was making.

Wow. How exciting!

See I told you, Olympic Fever.

So how here I am at work... (yes, I blog at work! Isn't that horrible of me!?) and I'm going to find a live feed so I can watch/listen to the Olympics as I work.

AND - I'm trying to think of a way to hold my own Olympics with my family and friends. (hmmmm, pie eating contest anyone?)

So hats off to all you USA Athlete's.

May your time in Beijing be GOLDEN!

~The Gold Queen~

08.08.08

It's that special day again... three identical consecutive numbers.

This year it's 08.08.08!

To commemorate this "momentous" occasion here are 8 things I'd rather be doing today....

~

The Countdown:

~

8. Walking around Disneyland with my favorite people

7. Chilling in Tahoe

6. On a cruise ship heading to Alaska

5. On a soundstage somewhere in L.A. working

4. In the recording studio

3. Moving into my new house

2. On my honeymoon

and #1? .....

1. Walking Streets of Gold!!

What 8 things would you rather be doing on 08.08.08?

Happy Friday!

The Queen

p.s. Congratulations to my cousin Emilie Hanlon who is actually getting married tonight in Las Vegas. Congrats to Emilie and Blake!!! much love and best wishes......

A Day To Remember

Today, I reflect back to a shy, stubborn 11 year old girl... at summer camp in San Diego.

Sitting in the chapel for the evening service, I was wound up tight knowing that this was the last service before camp ended.

Every other night at the end of the service I always found some excuse not to go pray like all the other kids did. It wasn't that I didn't want to, because inside I was burning with the desire to know Jesus, but I was embarrassed and nervous and afraid of the unknown.

The end of the service neared and I made up my mind that if someone asked me to go down to the front to pray, I'd go. I could feel the tears in my throat as I anticipated what would happen next.

How I got to the altar is a blur to me now, but there I was, tears streaming down my face, my hands in the air, pouring my heart out to God. After praying for a little while, I started to feel that determination rise up in me. I wasn't going to leave that altar until I got what I needed. My cousin Eileen was crying her eyes out... she knew that this was an enormous step for me, the shy, timid one.

Then, my life changed forever. I could feel the burden lifting off of me, (even at 11 years old, I knew that I was a sinner and that I needed salvation) I could feel a wave of peace and relief and joy sweep over me. People were clapping and rejoicing, I couldn't stop praying, it was incredible. God filled me with His spirit that night, August 6, 1987. I could hear myself speaking in a heavenly language and a part of me stepped back and felt in awe of this momentous occasion.

Later that night at the snack bar, hanging out with my friends, and trying to catch my summer camp boy crush's eye (lol), my mind was somewhere else, I couldn't stop smiling. I did it. I finally did it. No more cringing when the wave of conviction would come over me. No more trying to disappear when I knew someone would ask me to pray. I crossed over to the "other side" ... that's how I viewed it.

The next day, the buses all headed out to take us home. Back to Orange County (about a 2 1/2 hour drive). All the way there, I plotted on how I'd tell my parents. I knew that this was something they had wanted for me for a long time. They never pushed me, but I still knew that this was their biggest wish for me. My dad came to pick Eileen and I up at the church and all of a sudden I got shy. How do I tell him? Do I blurt it out? Do I say GUESS WHAT?! I was at a loss for words. Luckily, Eileen has never been shy to speak up, so she started telling my dad and prodded me to tell him my big news. My dad's face lit up with the biggest grin. Luckily, since we were around a lot of people, he spared me any other bursts of emotion. Whew, one down, one to go.

My mom.

Oh boy. I didn't want any more emotional outbursts. I was emotional enough still from my experience. I was at that age where emotion made me uncomfortable. But I knew my mom wouldn't be able to help herself. I got home and walked in the house. My mom was doing dishes in the kitchen and I walked in, deciding to just get it over with.. ha ha ha (I was the kind of 11 year old that embarrassed easily!)

My mom literally threw her dish towel down and danced around the whole kitchen. (I'm talking a dance-like-David-danced type of dance) She managed to use up the whole kitchen floor as her dance floor.

Of course I was embarrassed, but also, I felt so good that my parents understood just how wonderful this was for me. My mom cried and called me her baby and hugged and kissed me until I had had enough.

Three days later at our church I was baptized in Jesus name, and I haven't looked back since.

Despite my ups and downs, mountain tops and valleys, this is the best life I could possibly have. 21 years of living for and with God... and this is just the beginning....

Happy Birthday to Me! and Thank You Jesus!!!

The Queen...

Head Shots & Screen Tests

Okay here's the quick backstory... I am in the early stages of shooting a kids show for either TV or DVD (not sure what the producers have decided yet). Not only am I the host of the show, I also get writer and producer credits which is kind of neat. The show is Bible based and will basically bring Sunday School into homes across America and beyond.

It's a long tedious process and has taken months and months of preparation and hard work.

But I know it's gonna be worth it in the end. And even with the work, it has been a blast so far to be a part of the process.

Okay.. so all that to say....

This week the goal is to shoot my screen test for the show. Even though I've already done some screen work on it, I guess they need an "official" screen test to include in the "package". I don't know all the lingo quite yet... ha ha ha...

So today I get an email from the producer with a video clip that I had made about 2 years ago that was a kind of commercial for the upcoming show (see I told you it was a long process!!). So I hesitantly open it up and cringe as I watch myself on the screen.

UGH.
How come I've never notice how I tilt my head to one side almost constantly?? Jeez, can't I at least hold my own head up for a few seconds?

And what's with the dark circles under my eyes?

And how come I can't seem to pronounce my words without sounding like a valley girl teenager? Okay, that may be a bit extreme, but I did notice that I don't like the way I pronounce my words, or the sound of my own voice.

And this is who they want to front their new show? Oy Vey!

And on top of that they need me to go get my head shots done. Eeek. I'm not feeling that at all. My thinking is, I don't want some big close up of me sitting in different files where people can pull it out and examine my flaws at will.

Then I have to remind myself, I will be on TV screens in many homes where people will see my face in 30 minute increments.

Now that you put it that way... RUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN! What am I thinking?! Plus they say the camera adds 5 pounds. In my case I bet you can add a zero to that......

See, this is what happens when you dwell on yourself instead of the cause.

So I've resigned myself to obey God's call, swallow my pride and try to do my best. If I don't have to watch myself on film, I just might make it.

And if this changes a child's life. I'll not only make it, I'll have WON!

Stay Tuned....
Queen Cat

The Jane Austen - O - Meter

Have I never spoken of Jane Austen on this blog? For shame! Thanks to my good Blog Buddy Becky (say that three times fast!), I have discovered that I am more like her character(s) than I thought. Besides sharing the name Bingley with the affluent family in Pride & Prejudice that is...

So who are you most like? Take the quiz yourself...

As for me:

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

Take the Quiz here!

~Happy Friday~

Queen Cat