The Book File No. 1: Are we there yet?

(the quick visual list of books. Don't worry, we're almost there!)






Time feels as if it were lingering on the last few days of a year that will never be experienced again. Unless Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure proves to be grounded in more scientific research than we thought, adventure and excitement for those stuck waiting for the ball to drop might need some encouragement.

If a trip with Keanu back to 1989 doesn't sound good, try these books fit for the most competent of explorers:


Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Explore the Regency Era! Okay, that might not make most people bubble but, reading Pride and Prejudice is akin to perfect skies and smooth sailing. At the core of this novel is the absolutely modern and engaging love affair between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. If love isn't in your future for this New Year's eve, then pick up a copy & experience the wonder and truth of their love affair. It's something that every modern girl is striving to find!

P.S.I loved the 2005 Film adaptation of this novel. I felt that they created a true portrait of the provincial nature of the Bennet Family.



Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration As Told by Fergus Fleming
Don't listen to me, listen to the publisher:
Tales of Endurance and Exploration offers 45 gripping accounts of some of the most amazing feats in the history of exploration. The tales are divided between three 'ages of exploration', each of which is prefaced by a lively essay introducing key aspects of the age in question and identifying themes that will be developed in greater detail in the stories that follow. Taken together, tales and introductions amount to nothing less than a complete, uniquely accessible, and supremely entertaining history of exploration.

From the Renaissance golden age of Columbus, da Gama and Magellan to the 20th-century heroics of polar explorers such as Peary, Scott and Amundsen, Cassell's Tales of Endurance and Exploration offers the reader an unforgettable and unputdownable collection of stories.

BRING IT ON!



Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
Exploration doesn't have to begin at LAX or John Wayne Airport! No, march right into the kitchen and pick up this tale of a fellow blogger ready to battle all of the great recipes of Julia Child! In Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, & Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living (yes, that was the acutal title-wow) by Julie Powell is the action packed fight of sister versus sister! Who will win?! I'll just take a seat next to the great culinary bake-off and eat all the toils of war! Napkin please...


The Elements of Style Illustrated by William Strunk, E. B. White, William Strunk Jr., Maira Kalman (Illustrator)
Where are my manners? How can I have style if I'm endorsing a great bake off against Julia Child? Maybe I should just make my point! The classic book on grammar by William S. Strunk has been updated to treat the modern day palette to a feast of wonderful watercolors and images. Who knew that Maira Kalman, Illustrator, could make grammar as sexy as she did?! More importantly, it can make the most of any drab afternoon or tea party.


The March of the Penguins by Luc Jacquet, Jerome Maison (Photographer), Donnali Fifield (Translator)
If the movie didn't capture your heart the first time, with those soft voice narrations and shots of icebergs, then may I make a suggestion? Luc Jacquet's book is a great retreat into the life cycle of an Emperor Penguin. Love and Survival does prevail within the pages of this book. And get this...you can even stay warm while cruising the Antarctica! Bogus! Whoops bad reminder of my opening hook! I'll get it right the next time-I swear!


So don't sit alone this winter! Head over to Barnes & Noble.com where all of these titles are readily available. (Damn, that just sounded like a commercial! Burr..)

THE BRUNETTE CONFIDENTIAL ROSETTA STONE

Several plans are in place to update the Brunette Confidential Blog for 2006. The general structure of blog entry's will give readers the opportunity to locate information based on a few new general topics. Shh..Here's the code to the stone:


MONTHLY WANTED LIST


Steal a glance at the Monthly Most Wanted List! Carry a loaded gun of ideas out into the field by getting first hand information on hot objects d'intrigue. Need I say more?

CASE STUDIES


Welcome to the Brunette Confidential Fiction Zone. Short entries will be based on Miss Brunette and other agents of adventure dealing with high-stakes games, mysteries, society, love scandals, and more in Orange County, California. In the future, new style agents will have the opportunity to lend stories to the cause of good fiction.


THE STYLE FILE

The style file is based on the need of the fashion and body-conscious quick fix. Score privileged information on fitness, beauty, fashion designers or, more often than not, the best place to get the perfect t-shirt. It is Southern California after all!


THE BOOK FILE


The body needs resistance in order to grow. Likewise, an agent's mind needs resistance to develop all of the finest abilities to outwit the wicked. The Book File will be akin in scope to the greatness of the ancient Alexandria Library. Okay, maybe I'm pushing it....


HOUSE HIT LIST

The House Hit List is the vital source for 2006 home design. Be prepared to build your hide-out based on the Brunette Confidential undercover resource list.

MONTHLY COMMUNITY HERO BULLETIN


Hero's come in all shapes & forms. Often times these Heroes are shaped as an office building housing a not-for-profit organization or charity. Brunette Confidential wants to highlight heroes in the community fighting to create a brightly lit world.

Case Study No.1: Get Dressed

I had followed him in the car to South Coast Plaza.

His wife had left information that he would visit South Coast. It holds 2.8 million square feet of retail space and holds the highest records for sales at $800 per square foot. The vicinity was an easy location in which any person could easily blend. I kept pace behind him. Silently following him across the bridge. His white shirt and jean profile would be easy to loose in the holiday crowd.

He paid two women at the The Formosa Lounge to get inside the Christmas Eve party being held by the Waltons. I watched him walk in and greet a gentleman I had seen only in photographs. I wasn't expecting the event to be formal. The white lights, crystal chandeliers, and disco balls lent to the festive atmosphere. I stood inside the shop where I had been watching him. I promptly pulled the dress from the closest rack and changed in the dressing room.

The holiday music from the event was circulating into the dressing room. I heard the sound of a man walking down the marble hall. I was in the lingerie department and felt that the steps were too measured to be that of a grumpy husband or a perplexed boyfriend. I went to my handbag and found the small silver gun that I was licensed to use. Through the shutter dressing room door I held the gun at point blank. The man was standing on the other side of the door.

A voice called out to me, "It's Mr. Walton. My wife has told me everything. He's in the party. I can take you to him."

I knew that my suspect was gone. Mr. Walton wasn't aware that his wife had hired my suspect to kill him. He couldn't have remained calm knowing that his wife had an affair with this contracted killer. She had traveled down this road so that she could get the attention from her husband that she felt was long overdue. His death was meant to happen on Christmas Eve until his wife had called Brunette Confidential. She gave us all the details in order to keep him alive.

"Get dressed." Mr. Walton said.



The store was empty and I felt the instincts crawl inside me. I had Mr. Walton hide behind the marble register stand. The first shot came from the entrance to the store. The second had been closer. I yelled at him to drop his weapon. The third shot struck the marble counter where Mr. Walton hid.

In the reflection of a mirror I could see my suspect walking boldly down the aisle. I also had the opportunity to watch two men apprehend my suspect. I was a hired investigator. There was nothing else I could do. My suspect was being taken away.

Mr. and Mrs. Walton spent their Christmas Eve on a sail boat headed from Newport Harbor to Catalina. The wind was cold and not that of a summer boat ride, but they were alone with only the flight pattern of John Wayne Airport and the north star to guide them.

I returned to my agency and closed my first case. I wondered if this had only been a holiday gift? Could all my work be so simple? I kept the small corner table lamp on and I locked the door. It was nice to have a good ending.

Moleskinerie.com SPIES DISCOVERED!!!

Who hasn't heard of Moleskinerie.com? Lovely mouths and fingers have been gabbing and writing about the ongoing Wandering Moleskine Project. (For those absent that day: Several Moleskine notebooks have been marked & sent out into the world for people to draw, doodle, write, & anything else that can be put on a single leaf of paper. If you still don't get it: click here)

Or, maybe it was while you were standing in line for coffee that you pulled the arts section from the New York Times & had a read about the whole Wandering Moleskine Project? C'mon confess, are you an insider or an outsider to the whole affair?

I'll confess to you. I'll tell you that once I had read that NY Times article I was enamored by the whole project (because, yes, I was one of the outsiders who hadn't heard about it until then. I was in the midst of some deep undercover action in the OC. How many cases can a girl handle?) In fact, I loved the concept so much that I took that article home to my computer & did some research. I found a waiting list of men, women, and children that were in line to receive one of the several moleskine that were traveling the world. I couldn't sign up fast enough. & Sniff- Sniff! I got a sad little email telling me that the list was in fact closed and I wouldn't be participating in the project. My hopes of getting involved with Moleskinerie.com were over....

Until, my "Top 5 Undercover Gifts" caught their eye. Yes, Moleskinerie.com gave a nod & a post to Brunette Confidential for GIFT PICK NUMBER 3: The Moleskine Reporter Notebook a.k.a. Recruit an Agent

What can I say, I might not get the opportunity to write a secret file into one of the wandering moleskine notebooks, but at least I can have the satisfaction of knowing that good taste can bring people together. If it weren't for the moleskinerie.com and their moleskine spies, this sweet rendez-vous between blogs would never have happened. I feel like I've just been kissed!

Top 5 Undercover Gifts

Tis the season & like most people, there are gifts that still need to be given. Here is a top 5 list of stuff for stockings, work parties, or maybe a guilty little something for you!

1. Wrap the Keys to the Yachet...

Although, if you are like most people & can't buy this little yacht floating in Greece, chances are you'll need to audition for this TV show. & that's totally free!!!!!!

Heck, I actually learned to single & double water ski on a boat that a friend of mine won off the Price is Right.

Brunette Confidential rule # 1: Anything is possible.

2. Role Play

If you can't afford the yacht, chances are you can just play the part. This sweet little raincoat makes even the worst holiday moment a little less washed up.

Sailor Pet Outfit

3. Recruit an Agent.

Essential to following any scheme. Vital to cracking any code. Great at quickly writing down some hottie's phone number. The moleskine reporter notebook is the only way to truly recruit new agents or deconstruct a vixen's plan.

4. I've Got Your Back!

The art of seduction is the best way to keep the game on. Let Club Monaco help to keep the mystery alive and surprises jaw dropping.

5. Smile to Kill

That doesn't sound very festive, I know. But, remember that a beautiful smile will get you anywhere you want. It'll get you aboard yachts, smoozing puppy loves, writing down secrets, seducing strangers, and looking good for photo opts from now to New's Year. So, just remember to brush your teeth and spend time smiling at strangers and kissing love ones! Because that, darling, is priceless.

Brunette Confidential Listed In Top 6 MSN Search!

Just in.....

Brunette Confidential has been listed as a top six MSN search for results listed as "im to old to get hired." If you're found this blog, let me be the first to tell you:

No! You aren't too old to get a job! There are always lame jobs to be had! Cheer up, folks, it's never that bad!

Here's the link so you can check it for yourself:

im to old to get hired

For the broke and the booming, the old and young, please keep visiting Brunette Confidential. Agents are currently in operation to make the world a place in which we can all dream and live the life we seek. Some of those agents are currently on coffee breaks as well....

ADVICE: Don't hate your job, Talk to the Owner About It

Wait... Is that really sound advice? Well, it was, indeed, the sound advice given to me today. And at that point I realized I had completely misjudged my co-worker and put my foot in my mouth.

On the other hand, I had the best fortune I've had yet at this interior design job-- A Field Trip! It almost didn't happen but, indeed my co-worker and I set about convincing the project manager that it would be essential to review some of the competition's work and steal ideas (not lamps or terry cloth robes from the model homes because those things are glued down). So you might understand how I felt like my co-worker and I were on the same wave. Yet, as it happened, the moment played out in the midst of Santa Ana (say San-Tana if you're in) and across from the romantic Santa Ana Train depot. We had been stuck in traffic when I blew my cover about, well, hating my job. She had the good graces of have her step-father introduce her to the owner of the company and therefore, side-stepping, the whole interior design assistant world. But, after a much promised blog concerning the secret report and lifestyle of such a position, I have to say that it sucks. Image such an antiquarian system such as handwriting receipts for furniture purchases for two full eight-hour days. It kind of grows old in the wee hours of the afternoon or when your hand cramps and you can't control the little seizures that cause your fingers and forearm to tremble. I'm not a fool (not completely or at least only 5/16th of the time) and I understand as much as the next underdog that a girl has to pay her dues but, after a month and a half of this same sort of tedious work, I hate it. In fact, I've already researched ten different restaurants to serve, bartend or clean freaking dishes at-when I realized my cell phone was dead. I couldn't even fool myself about getting a different job that day. & I couldn't even call to limo to whisk me away! I'd have to stay in order to take the train back home.

Which brings me to my next point, I love the train. I'll swear to you that in my lowly and exciting life that the high points are at the regular interval of about 7:00AM and 6:00PM. I'm en route with the train. It's a cinematic experience everytime and I have yet to stop being fascinated with the whole process of travel. That is even to say when on Tuesday, the bus that was meant to pick me up and take me to that train, failed to stop and pick me up, and left me crying for an hour and a half on the street until I was picked up. But, those tears were more about disliking my job and the current state of my affairs then anything else. Yes, everybody needs a moment of "woe-is-me." However, the sweetest man in the world rescued me from the cold streets of Aliso Viejo. He got my address under my sobs of distress and went on to tell me his the quick version of his life story. In a nut shell, he left the Philippines and his wife and four children and arrived in Irvine. I was alarmed at this point because this street smart girl had seen pick-up lines. Thank goodness, he kept talking. He worked hard so that by the end of the first year he was able to bring his wife to America. The following year, they had both raised enough money to fly their children to Orange County and live by Disneyland. Now, they like to eat sushi buffets as a family. He also was quite impressed that the home that he and his wife bought at $187k are now selling for $547k. He finished his story by saying, "See, now you don't have to cry any more." He followed his advice with a sweet little laugh. I had stopped my tears long ago. Really, I started crying again when this private little shuttle bus pulled up to take me home. I had been standing on cold street, looking at beautiful stars, and wondering where I had gone wrong. My moon is suppose to be in Jupiter! Whatever, that means! But, it's supposed to be a time of good luck. I guess I will just keep waiting for luck to orbit into my universe. But, maybe the bus driver had after all made a point.

Standing with my co-workers and menacing project manager, I fell in love with these sweet lofts that had already sold out. The whole get-up reminded me of my old Chicago days. Who isn't interested in a loft when a sweet little detached home starts at a million in the Orange County area. Maybe I was so heavily romanced by the model homes because I wasn't sitting at my cubicle and stapling receipts to purchase orders!

I looked at my watch and I had to run to catch the train. The mean project manager (or insensitive project manager, I'll let you choose adjective's) said, well, miss brunette, won't you be happy getting home early, wait, what time do you usually get home from work? I said 7:00-7:30. She gasped that it took me an hour and half to get home. Honestly, what OC girl can avoid traffic? I think she was asking these questions so I'd miss my train and have to wait an extra forty minutes. But, I gave them the hand (all the fingers at once) and my most dashing and sincere smile (note my profile shot). I was off and running in no time.

I ran to the station. The romance of the pueblo cantina styled train station had brought me back to the early days of Santa Ana's history. I had one minute left so I dashed through the lobby and out to the tracks. But, something was wrong. Too many people were milling about and the white lights were flashing. A man in a members-only jacket said that the southbound train track had cracked and that only one train track was available. My luck....

You know what....I had a great time listening to the real horror stories of train delays. Trains crashing into cars, people jumping in front of trains, and general train malfunctions. It wasn't the stories that made it great. It was that sense of camaraderie. An epiphany clicked in head. Aha! Camaraderie and common courtesy are some of the very things that any person hopes to experience at work. The train arrived only a few minutes late and I had a total stranger show me how she knits on the train. My final question is: What does it say of a business if a girl finds a better environment in the streets and on public transportation routes than at the office?

My First Freelance Interior Design Client

Well, actually, I've had one other client before but, I've been much more professional this time. So, that's why I consider it my first freelance interior design client. At the moment, I've just completed a 41 page powerpoint presentation with hand-drawn floorplans, furnishings selections, color swatches for wall, fabric, and house accessories, and even some CAD drawings for a wallpaper installation concept. I've been working on it incessantly and my eyeballs are tired at the moment! The most difficult aspect of interior design is locating sources. It is truly half the battle! I don't have my reseller's permit (yet!) and therefore much of what I'm offering to my client will have to be retailed from the web and retail stores. From the last time that I had to pitch a 2,500 sq foot designed house to today, I keep refining my process and learning more. Now if only I could paid something better than a poverty-level wage, I'd be happy!

Mr. Miyagi was the Teacher I Always Wanted.

I was busy writing a quick post on the joys of Thanksgiving when I had to switch gears. Fox 11 News, Good Day LA, announced that Pat Morita aka Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid had passed away. Who wasn't inspired by the Karate Kid? I watched it again recently, hundreds of countless times as a kid, and that movie passes the test of time. It's still good and so simple.

So, I'll be thinking about you, Mr. Miyagi as I go about my holiday shopping and left-over eating. I hope that everybody had a great holiday and remember, WAX ON-WAX OFF!!!!!!

Listen, Babies, the good stuff shall be delivered!

I'm completely exhausted at the moment. My sister and nephew left the state of Hawaii behind to go trick-n-treating in the OC. Whoah! I'm still recovering from that gambit. Yes, I do have some strange & bizarre Halloween stories on the unkindly Beach & Newport Coast Home front. But, people are strange everywhere not just in orange county. Back to my sleepiness...I won't bore you, I promise. Here is a quick list of the things I don't have time to elaborate but might at a more convent point:

1. Taking the metro & a bus in Orange County

2. Realizing that I have a stalker on the metro train. Freaky-dikky. I attract them I swear. This is how this little blog came into being. Though perhaps the word stalking is a bit much. But, when I tell you the story, you may just choose the same word.

3. I'm working on finishing a novel by December 31, 2005. (Stinky Cheeseman, I hope your website or other creative project is doing well-please refer to old blog: http://paperwriting.blogspot.com/...Just please, people, don't let the any strange-types in on the brunette scene, let's keep this undercover..merci beaucoup!

4. I'm in the national trailer for the new Jennifer Aniston & Clive Owen film, Derailed, released today. Yes, I was hanging with Xzbit on set, Clive was giving me the eye, and Jennifer was such a mess about her personal life she had people help her walk around-remember the film was shot in November of last year-none of that naughty Brad & Jolie stuff then. Check it out:



5. After writing my novel on the train, I've been heading up to my creative room & working on guess what? More design! I have my second interior design-related client & I'm redoing most of their home. Here is one of my casual sketches posted at the top of this blog. I try to do one in the morning or at night before I go to bed. Its a fun way to keep the mind sharp.

6. I want to continued my pilates, yoga & budokon workout. With my current schedule, I had to wake up at 5:00am in order to have time to workout. It turns out that by ten o'clock of that same morning, I get a bit cranky and I can hardly believe that I was doing karate-like chops in the living room. The work-outs haven't really been happening.

7. No surprise, no love life, which is fine. Holidays make things awkward as it is. At the OC interior design firm, one lovely & sweet girl has been a zombie for half the week because her boyfriend has informed her that there is a no boyfriend/girlfriend rule during the holidays. What? Girl, do you really want to marry into that? Turns out her boyfriend & his family is headed to NYC to chill for the passing of old saint nick. Want to know what adds even more tension? The mother of this girl's boyfriend works at the interior design firm and is actually the person that introduced the two little love birds. Bit of a cold wind swirling in the office corridors.

8. Okay, you get the point. I've been busy but I shall to attempt to micromange my life so that I can devote some time to the workings of a interior design firm because lord knows that I'm interested in learning about the game & I'm only three weeks in.


Good night to all of you lovely bloggers and readers!

P.S. Will write soon

Week One: The Business

On Sunday, I was ready to leave for Africa or Europe to travel and live the life. Yes, I had the day before a new job blues. Sunday was a mixture of excitement and melancholy. My old schedules had ended, like sleeping in late and jumping on the internet to look at pictures of rhinos or of French men wearing berets. I knew that I had to redirect some of my enegry to waking up before the sun and attempting to drink tea in one of those travel mugs that keeps the tea at 180 degrees for like four hours. Yes, Sunday was really about setting up my team-orientate, optimistic, all hard-work and no pay attitude for my new job.

Except this time, there were a few changes. I was looking forward to starting a new job. So here are a few highlights from my first week:

-Collating purchase orders in the one of the worst built business record systems. Information architecture? No, this is manual entry without the crack. Its like asking for a receipt for your espresso in Paris.
-Xeroxing receipts and furniture pictures while staring at a white wall. It gets kinda of boring. Many times I stare at the neighboring refrigerate, so that I can stare at a UPS magnet that allows you to choose four different "attitudes" ie: relaxed, confident, or powerful.
-Eating lunch next to a table full of "undercover" cops that spent their time eating big sandwiches while talking about the difficulty of gathering DNA from a rotting corpse with maggots. Were they telling these stories just for me? I would have thought so but there was a woman sitting with them-but she looked like one of the boys. Ambush make-over! If you know what I mean!
-Smiling and appearing to be pleasant to my new co-workers. If any person looks back to the start of any job that they ever had, no matter how bad the job is, was, or would be, a nice & friendly attitude always has to be "put" on to meet the other workers! Hey. It doesn't really kill you after all....
-Talking to the other new hire 4:30pm on Friday about all of the flaws of the company. Find out Monday at 10:00 that your talk might have really affected her because she called into to quit. Her reason for quitting...She told the owner the business was unstructured like the purchase order system..Ah, did I mention that to her while Xeroxing? Damn, I think I broke the new worker attitude rule.

In the end, I smuggled out some of these images of truly beautiful furniture pieces from the Virginian manufacturer, Stanley. Not only is the business environmentally conscious, the furniture is so lovely-did I already say that? I think I've found my first in-office crush! So help me lord, that I can ride this job just a bit longer... Until the day comes that I find that dream job I've always been looking for!

I'm Hired!

After my initial interview with the recruiting agent and being left with a 2500 square foot blueprint to design, after experiencing that fear of not knowing how an interior designer gives presentations on anything, after waking up in the middle of the night one too many times, I knew I had to do something. I had one week to get something together. As part of my Lie, Cheat, and Steal plan, my first stop was Amazon.com. I've learned that anything you might need to know has been written and published in a book. As a starving artist in Chicago, I got a book from the Harold Washington Library on how to bake bread (by Amy's Bread in NYC which is wonderful but out-of-print) and it literally nourished my body and soul. I knew that there had to be a book on how interior designers communicate designs to clients. Part of my dilemma was that I had experience as a home & fashion stylist but, working on films or for print is ghetto. I've no better way to describe that process. I learned how to pick colors and textures for sets. I understood how to make a room & its merchandise pop for the camera but learning interior design seems a bit more proper. I had one week to read every book that I could afford or at least get my hands on.



The Monday Interview
Last Monday in the OC, the skies were filled with layer upon layer of grey clouds and sheets of rain. The sporadic rain lifted the oil from the streets and made the conditions of the road unpredictable. Mind you that I tossed my morning shower aside (not a great idea for meeting of any sort when you need to "look good and respectable") in order to finish up the materials for my presentation. Let me also add that I had no idea what I was going to say once I got to the table and I had to present. So I finished printing out the last image of what the master bedroom would look like and I gathered all of my materials and I threw it in the car. The rain was falling and I made a small prayer that I would actually make it to my interview on time.

The windshield wipers were squeaking as the rain drops hit my car. I knew I had to drive like a maniac in order to get to the interview in time. Okay, you can skip a shower but you can't be late to an interview. As I passed a local park and I was pulled out of my dilemma by the beauty of the sky and the wet grass, I actually said a prayer that I get to the interview safe and on time. An act of faith totally not common to me, perhaps I had an initiated of the events that lie ahead of me.

The c-shaped on ramps common to Orange County are like little joyrides at high speed. In the wet weather conditions, they are dangerous turns that need to be respected. I listened to the rain hit my car. I had forgot to turn the radio on because I was concentrating on driving. And in an instant, these events happened before me.

The turn straightened out and it was time to merge onto the freeway. All I saw was a small navy-blue Datsun truck, two cars in front of me, merge onto the freeway and into a semi-truck that was going at least 65 mph. The truck fanned out and towards the car in front of me. We all slammed our brakes on as fast and as hard as we could. In an instant the momentum of the freeway and the turn ended. It was all still except the falling rain. I heard my blinker clicking. The semi-truck was stopped. There was steam rising from the hood of the Datsun. I could see a large Newfoundland dog standing in the little jump seat of the truck; He was panting and shaking but seemed untouched by the collision with the semi-truck. There was a couple inside the car in front of me. They jumped out of their car and ran up to the truck. How strange it is to see humans run on the freeway. Our bodies are not made for these places. The frailty of our skin and our bones need the protection of the car. They came to the Datsun truck. The man and the woman were speaking to the driver that I could not see. I knew what they were saying to the driver. I heard them say the things that I would have said: Everything will be fine. Help is on the way. What I didn't expect is that the couple would begin to cry as they spoke to the man. Strangers from the moment that they came to the Datsun truck to the moment that they made a call for help.

I drove my car between the fender and the debris of the accident. As I came around the Datsun truck, I had a view of the other side. The entire driver side of the truck had been smashed into the passenger side of the truck. I thought I saw the outline of an old man's body woven between the metal and the glass. I'm not certain. Perhaps, my mind was inventing the things that I could not see. I prayed twice that day. I prayed that the driver had only had only lost his legs. I never considered how morbid my prayer was but the accident seemed worst.

As I traveled down the road and after I had made my call to the emergency line, I had the accident play over and again in my mind. I was only two cars from the accident. Could that have been me if I had left sooner? Serendipitous thoughts came and went in my thinking. The analytical side to my thoughts believed that the driver of the Datsun truck had his rear-view mirror blocked by his dog and maybe this one time he didn't take the time to turn and glance at the road to the side of him. What would I say in my presentation? Is this event foreboding to my career? How does this accident relate to my life?

I was getting worked up and closer to my interview. As I was riding the 73 tollroad, a car pulled up next to me. The car next to me was pacing at my speed and so I turned and looked. It was a clown driving the car. The clown turned and looked at me, smiled, and then drove off. I was speechless. What a maddening drive to my interview. At the same moment, I think life had reassured me. I felt aware of some harmony and balance in the world. The smiling clown had reminded me to laugh.

At The Table
I conquered a fear of speaking. I knew that I couldn't fool anybody and I'd just deliver all my design plans as best I could. It turned out that I did all the best things that I could. The owner of the interior design firm told me at the end of the interview: I like you. What better way to end an interview? I had to represent my presentation to two project managers. I all I couldn't believe I would do as well as I did. I had experienced so many things on the way to this interview that my fears fell wayward. I wasn't worried if I was had chosen the wrong fabric or a bad wall color. I had done my best and that sort of satisfaction is all that one can strive to obtain. I got a call on Friday that I was hired. My life was begining to switch gears.

Lover in the Jungle

Every girl needs a break from all the duties that she must perform each day. As a new fan of the National Geographic Channel, I flopped in the couch and clicked the remote. For the following hour I was dialed into the story of a female rhino named Natalie. Sweeping panoramic shots of India were accompanied with the wise and elderly voice of a narrator. The man spoke of the complex rhino etiquette and the difficulty that Natalie had performing it. In the end, Natalie was abandoned by the pack to wander the fields and rivers of India for close to three years alone. I wouldn't described her three year journey as completely isolated. She had three white birds that followed her to every river, tree, and patch of tall grass that she came upon. The birds were like deities that protected her and nurtured her. Then, it was her time: She went to a magnificent Indian version of the magnolia tree, with brilliant pink blossoms that floated down in the soft winds, and Natalie left a scent for the males to follow. In three days, Natalie was met by a male rhino and well, the rest, as they say, is history.

That documentary has been stuck in my head. I've been driving around Orange County and thinking about the different aspect of Natalie's life in terms of survival, isolation, and attraction. Hey, I can relate to leaving the pack, leaving my family moving to a city, feeling isolated in a city, but, I haven't quite made it to spraying a tree in order to meet a guy. Or have I?

A few days ago, I couldn't help but notice the Orange County version of the jungle. The canopy of trees, shrubs, and flowers that surrounded the Sak's Fifth entrance had that aura of river in a desert. Inside Sak's, I was feeding off the posters of woman in leopard prints, men with rough stubble beards, and large trees with couples embraced and bottle of perfume in the foreground. Hmmm....A new bottle of perfume and a sexy new dress can feel like a hot stranger might just part the tall grasses to find me lounging under a tree. Not a single designer, marketing agency, or corporation can remove that primitive need for survival and reproduction. In fact, it's the successful companies that play into all of the primitive desires and fears that we have. Unfortunately, it works like a charm everytime I hit the old watering hole. I buy the bottle of perfume and the dress in the hope that maybe this time it might work. Well if rhino etiquette is complex, we can all image what string of words that narrator might use to describe humanities complex system of etiquette. For now, I wish Natalie well and I'm a bit envious that she had to only wait three years in order to meet Mr. Right. As for now, a girl must keep dreaming....And shopping to continue the good ol' fashion attraction ritual.

The Interview

Yes, I'm in the process of attempting to get a career. At this point, we won't talk about what exactly my day job is (I'll let your imagination strike up images of temp agencies, restaurants, garage sales, eBay sales, and that sort of dead broke excitement). Suffice it to say, that depressed on a Saturday night & not feeling too great, as I typed away searches on google for the things I may never afford or get (a villa in Italy, a masarati, and a boyfriend from Wilhemina Models), I checked my "work" cell phone. Ah! There is a message from last Thursday waiting to be heard! How could I have let that slip? As it turned out, I was wanted by an interior design recruiting agency for a job interview. Well! Maybe that villa isn't as far down the road as I thought.

Monday, I completed the telephone interview with success and moved to the next phase: Tuesday interview with a different recruiting agent at the design firm. As expected, the medium sized business was beautiful and set in the rugged hills of Aliso Viejo. Heck of drive to get there and the toll roads aren't cheap at $4.25 each way, no wonder there were only brand new jaguars, range rovers, and BMWs on the road. One other note, the design firm specializes in model home design.

The interview lasted an hour and half. I guess you could say it went well. My eyeballs were super tired by the end. Unfortunaly, I keep my portfolio on the web. Due to the swift interview that was scheduled the following day, I had to stay up till 2:00 am printing my portfolio & putting it into a presentable form. I was up by 7:30 am on Tuesday to finish printing my resume and that sort of fun stuff. The man that interviewed me looked just like the bald guy from CSI and I remember him telling me that he thought I had great energy and stuff like that. Boy, did he know the half of it.

At the end of the interview, it was all on the table. He said, "Well, miss, you aren't a traditional candidate for the design assistant position. You haven't graduated from a design program and your portfolio alone won't get you the job. In order for the company to understand if you have the skill to handle the job, you have to complete a Design Test." He walked out of the room and came back in with an architectural print. He gave it to me and said design this house, create its location and the buyer demographic. In a week, you will be presenting it to the owner of this company and me. He said one last thing to me, "But despite everything, I've got a good feeling about you."

Ahoy...I left the interview with the blueprint of a 2,500sq foot house with 4 bedrooms, living room, dining room, family den, kitchen, master bath, bath no. 2, garage, and all of those lovely hallways. My boat was in danger of sinking. That night as I fell asleep, the Santa Ana Winds returned back to the coast. I woke up to the sound of high winds outside my window and then my brain was awake. I was in a panic sweat for the next two hours on the sort of fabric the living room couch will have, the floors in the master bedroom, the curtain treatment of the family den, kitchen cabinet color, the color story of the entire house, buyer demographic-I was freaking out until I told myself to calm down & go back to sleep. But, by then I had missed that valuable REM sleep. I had "lack of sleep" throb in my head the next morning. Baby steps. & you know what, I'm slowly getting this project done. If I don't get this crummy $13 an hour grunt design assistant job (the interviewer told me specifically that it was grunt work and it includes travel to northern California to install projects-I haven't confessed yet to not knowing the basics of how to dry wall or how to wire chandeliers-Do I have to know this stuff? Shoot!). At this point, I'm just trying to get my foot in the door of any interior design firm. Lie, Cheat, & Steal, I'm going to get the design for that mega mansion done. I'm also learning heck of a lot more about interior design than anything I've learned in a classroom so far! I just need time to catch up on my sleep.

Brunettes don't like Stalkers

First and foremost, I have to admit that since I've returned to the glorious beach sunshine of Orange County my brunette hair has had some changes. I will get to those changes later in order to give the scope of how this blog has come into existence.

I was being stalked on my previous blog. I know it sounds crazy! How can a girl be stalked on a blog? It raises questions at the very core of what a blog means. But, having a person log into my blog over 60 times in 2 weeks, sometimes 10 times in a single day, and time-intervals up to an hour. I started to feel a little bit intruded upon. So I staged my disappearance and vanished from my previous blog. Now I'm confidential and only you that have stumbled upon this blog know of my existence.

Ah, for all those lovely estranged brunettes in Orange County, the sun has inspired me to get highlights (so I can blend in with the all of the locals). A bit of honesty is what I'm really after. This is the Brunette Confidential and the scope of this blog will be extreme (& not just my blonde highlights).