Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 Premiere

I landed in New York midmorning and rushed to Aunt Sharon and Uncle Larry's apartment in order to get some sleep. After a little food, i spent a good hour and a half deciding what to wear. Luckily the hair was already curly. Got dress, walked over to 6th and caught a cab to the Ziegfeld Theater. We were guests of Debra Martin Chase, Sharon's good friend who got me this job.

The theater itself was nice. Caught sight of a lot of the crew members. Amy Johnson, publicist, and always with a camera on set. Phil Caruso, still photographer. David Allen, property master. Ruth DiPasquele, asst prop master. Michael Kirsten, hair stylist.

The After Party was on top of the Rooftop Garden. It was so much fun. I got to hang out with Sanaa Hamri, director. She looks great btw, changed her hair. Richard Patrick, 1st asst director. He's got a new HBO series starting filming soon, "In The Ninth" or something. Mariana Hellmund, script supervisor. It was great to see her because she did so much work for the film. She helped keep the story together which was NOT an easy job at all. Chris Sacani, exec producer. Gaylyn Fraiche, co-producer.

Funny thing happened. We ate first. We ended up sitting at this table with this woman and her daughter. And we're chatting about the movie and the books, and the film industry in general. She gets up to leave and shakes my hand. I ask her her name.... She says "Oh. I'm Ann Moore, president of Time, Inc." .... Aunt Sharon and Lori were stunned! Completely. Well they ARE lawyers. They are start saying "Get her back, get her back!"

And of course, I hung out with my men. The entire production I was in charge of the leading men and their "1st team production assistant". I had also looked after Blake Lively, but she was being hounded by the girls and their cameras because she had the whole Gossip Girl crew there: Leighton Meeser, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, and Ed Westwick. In a word: craziness. So I had chance to talk to her mother, Elaine. She was always a nice, but strong woman.

Back to my boys. Jesse Williams mostly associates me with Debra. Jesse's been doing Off-Broadway shows and . Still Leo Nam remember me. We spent hours in this house on a hot day without air conditioning and squacking parrots outside. We had the greatest time joking and dancing. He had the best attitude and a wonderful personality. So much fun to work with. I went over and found Tom Wisdom. He vaguely remembered me, but he's the perfect English gentleman. Asked me how I was, what I was doing now, and life in general. We talked about life since filming, about his year-and-a-half-old daughter and the vacation he's taking to spend time with her. Talking to him, I'm reminded how new this fame thing is for some. He's been fairly untouched by the media. He is amazingly sweet and sincere. A great combination. And there is Michael Rady. Michael spent 3 days hanging out with me. He was so funny and nice. He didn't remember me at first, but when I told him my role, he's like "Oh my God! CLAIRE!! I'm sorry I didn't remember you. " He introduced me to his dad, whom I talked to for a long time.

It was the best time. So surreal! And I got to see my name in the credits. It is under "Set Production Assistants", in the middle column under Patrick Bevilaqua. EXCITING!! I'll post the pictures soon.

Southall-Wright Wedding

Pam and Rick's Wedding
Professional pictures here
Personal pictures here

on small and insignificant

"You ever been to the Grand Canyon? Its pretty, but thats not the thing of it. You can sit on the edge of that big ol' thing and those rocks... the cliffs and rocks are so old... it took so long for that thing to get like that... and it ain't done either! It happens right there while your watching it. Its happening right now as we are sitting here in this ugly town. When you sit on the edge of that thing, you realize what a joke we people really are... what big heads we have thinking that what we do is gonna matter all that much... thinking that our time here means didly to those rocks. Just a split second we have been here, the whole lot of us. That's a piece of time so small to even get a name. Those rocks are laughing at me right now, me and my worries... Yeah, its real humorous, that Grand Canyon. Its laughing at me right now. You know what I felt like? I felt like a gnat that lands on the a$$ of a cow chewing his cud on the side of the road that you drive by doing 70 mph."
- Grand Canyon

Happy Birthday to Me

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Ephesians 6:14-16

on learning new things

Optimally, you learn something new every day.
Today's Highlights:
1. Being Puerto Rican can give you an edge
2. The truth about Claire Danes' cellulite and wide hips
3. Forgive the jerks in your life
4. You may be right, but you may have to keep your mouth shut, for now
4. Never go to the hardware store for apples

Great Eulogy Passage from "Crossing Jordan"

"As I stand on a mountaintop as the great bird approaches, she is small in my sight but grows larger on approach, until I am blessed with a full sight of her graceful wings, proud countenance and good company. All too quickly, she grows small again on the horizon and disappears from view. And I call out: There, she's gone! But there are other mountaintops beyond me. And at the precise moment when I note the great bird's departure from my view, I know there are new eyes taking up the sight of her and fresh voices calling out: Here, she comes!"

Missing the Good Ol' Days

Just got back from Jubilate Reunion, celebrating 35 years of alums, worship and fellowship. And I can tell you that I miss them already.

Somewhere close to 150 people showed up. Imagine all of them in the Practice Room.... Squeezed like sardines. From 1973 to 2008, Jubilate has been singing and bringing the word of God to people all over the country. And the scattered flock came back this weekend to reconnect to an organization that has continued to bring people together and changed lies. We had one woman all the way from Hungary.

The music was beautiful. The banquet was long and tiresome. We did have a night of wine and mingling downtown.

I got to connect with Meg for a hot moment while I stayed on her couch. There was also a lot of time spent with Sally, Jordan, and Sarah R. Which was so great because, when I think about it, we were together during an important time in our life. Along with Joey, Janice, Danny, Allison, Alden, and countless others, we grew up together and were there for each other. Even if it didn't feel like it at the time, we were family and could count on each other. And I can still count on them.... We're sisters and brothers. I love them so much. And I can't wait to see them at their weddings.

Next up..... Jordan Redman and Joseph Johnson!