SHORT STORY LIFE

Oh honey.

2011-10-03T17:08:00.000-04:00

Cold sores suck. I have been fighting the good fight since I was a wee lass, and have tried all kinds of funky things to try and get rid of the damn things. They are tricky, and since they aren't deadly killers, science seems to be kinda MEH on finding a cure, or even something that actually works awesomely to alleviate the pain and crustiness and blerg of a cold sore outbreak.

Lysine worked for a good many years, but somehow just quit being effective at all. Then a friend told me to try the Abreva, but you know what, that crap gave me a rebound cold sore bigger than the one it had maybe, possibly made one day shorter. Honestly, that possible, maybe one day doesn't really make a heap of difference when the other days are still painful and crusty.

So, I was trolling the interwebz one day, looking for some kind of natural relief, and I found that there are a bunch of people touting honey as the miracle cold sore remedy. Simple, bee-made honey. There is no freakin' way this is gonna work, I thought to myself. Honey? Really??

Unlike many cold sore sufferers, I rarely get that tingly warning sign that an outbreak is coming, so I gotta be vigilant. Constantly on the lookout for the next attack. And the first time I sensed a crusty one coming on, I grabbed the bottle of honey sitting on my desk and put it on my lips a la lip gloss. Put it on about every two hours, and made sure I got some on before I went to bed, and what do you know, I never did get an outbreak.

I was shocked, to say the least. Of course, it probably was a false alarm, I thought. No way honey, that stuff I've putting on toast and spinning into my tea all these years, could stop a cold sore dead in its tracks. But ever since that day, every single time I do the honey trick, that potential cold sore never arises! For reals!

I don't know, but if stopping a cold sore is that easy, why is no one shouting this from the rooftops? I'll let you know if one sneaks though.

10 Weeks In... I Don't Need No 'Poo!

2011-03-08T19:34:00.000-05:00

No shampoo, that is!

My current great experiment in life is to see if going the no shampoo route would work for me. Ten weeks in and everything is going quite well. There have been exactly zero people who have run from me in horror due to weird smells emanating from my head. Nice!

The past year or two has been one discovery after another, culminating in the repeated crushing of the conventional wisdom of our day, and a lovely layer of simplicity threaded through my daily existence. Now I can eschew the chemical laden shampoo for good if I want, and it is awesome.

Not that it was easy at first, but I have been heading for this for years (ha!). I have dry, naturally curly hair, and some time during college was told by a girlfriend that washing my hair every day was 'crazy', and that I should try every other day, or even every third day. I immediately began every other day, with just running water through my hair during the shower. A nice warm water rinse, and conditioning the ends. The result was so positive that I quickly went to washing my locks only two or three times a week.

A few years later I had a stylist tell me that I washed my hair too much. It was getting all dried out and broken, so she told me to refrain from the suds to once a week at the most. When my Hispanic girlfriends whom I worked with found out, they applauded my new membership in the 'Stinky Head Club.' My hair was easier to manage, and the breakage problem corrected itself quite quickly. Even before my recent stoppage of shampooing, my stylists stopped mentioning my split ends, because I barely had them anymore! Even through sun and wind and shoulder length hair, my hair was easily healthier than it had ever been.

Now I am two and a half months without shampooing, and my hair is soft and smells nice. I rinse it in the shower a couple times a week, and still put conditioner on the ends, and no one is the wiser. Until now. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would for my hair and scalp to adjust, and the very few days of extreme oiliness was easily masked by headbands and ponytails. I even recently discovered that I could still lighten my hair while in this 'dirty' state. Hooray! I wonder what my stylist will say the next time I walk in her salon. I have come this far, I am pretty sure I am not going back to the routine of shampoo.

Holy Cow! aka - What Have I Done?

2010-11-15T15:36:00.000-05:00

So I have decided to participate in the official National Novel Writing Month this November, and it is much harder than when my friend Jess and I did it for fun, on our own, back in March. Maybe it's because I have no earthly idea how this one is gonna end, or that I actually have some semblance of a life going on, as opposed to the sheltered life I was living back in the nascent springtime. Regardless, I spent a significant amount of time this Sunday trying to play catch up with my word count, and am still woefully behind. I have my word count widget posted here on my sidebar, and I am gonna do my best to become a first time NaNoWriMo winner!!! Wish me luck.

PS - I am writing a post-apocalyptic love story... what was I thinking?!
PPS - If you have taken on this 50,000/30 day extravaganza like I have, may I share two of my favorite sites to help with the writers block and desperate decision making?

Self-induced harassment to keep writing: Write or Die

When you can't make another decision about your stupid ass characters: Mystical Smoking Head of Bob

Rochester: A Year Later

2010-10-14T10:16:00.000-04:00

It has been a whole freakin' year! since I was unceremoniously booted out of Brooklyn by the crappy economy and moved back to what I consider my hometown, Rochester, NY. Rarely do I say this, but time surely does fly.

A recent visit by my friend Fran opened my eyes to what was around me, and gave me that little burst of appreciation of the city that I needed. This really is a lovely place to have been booted to. And not for nothin', but the neighborhood I ended up in isn't too shabby. Plus, after YEARS of living with someone, I finally can afford my own place. Heading home to a quiet little apartment all my own is super nice.

Yes, Rochester isn't as cosmopolitan as other, bigger cities, but I am close enough to many bars and restaurants that I can get my drink on like a New Yorker, and walk my drunken ass home, while enjoying bunnies, deer and wild turkeys wandering around in my backyard. Best of both worlds!

Having a car for the first time in 12 years has been an adjustment. I have to remind myself about things like gas, oil changes and I seem to have acquired a lead foot in all those car-less years. Not to mention I have had to carve out time for reading, something that consumed much of my commute time back in Brooklyn. It was quite the shock to realize how much reading I was doing on the subways, and how little I have been doing since I've moved here. I have a huge stack of books to be read mocking me from the corner of my bedroom. In New York, it seemed like there was never enough to read.

Another benefit of having a car and being so close to the country is roadside stands. Oh my, nothing like stopping on the way home for some freshly picked blackberries, eggs freshly laid that day, or spry and crunchy lettuce cut an hour earlier. Plus, Mom had some fantastic tomatoes and gigantic garlic that busted out of her garden this year, and I got to enjoy some. Along with lush bunches of basil and mint! Next on the list is to find a good dairy that isn't afraid of raw milk and cheese. Mmmmm...

So, yeah, there certainly isn't the same immediacy here, and there are days where I miss NYC terribly, but Rochester has a lot going for it, and I am getting used to the vibe once again.

Moonchild

2010-04-29T21:21:00.000-04:00

You know how they say that womenfolk's cycles sync up when they live together? I am prone to believe that, having lived with various amounts of ladies over the years. Have you also heard about a woman's cycle syncing up with the phases of the moon? Because I think I am experiencing this phenomenon right now, and it's kinda cool. More fun than marking the first day of my period on a calendar with a red dot (someone I know used to do that), that's for sure.

Pros: I tend to gaze at the night time sky no matter what. It would be great to be looking skyward and be all, "Oh look. The moon is waxing past it's half moon phase, I shall be proving I am a woman within a week. Off to prepare!"

Cons: Ask anyone who works in an ER, the full moon is when all the crazies come out. Adding me and my PMS crazies to the mix may not be in the best interest to the general population. I mean, PMS brain and the cuckoo banana-ness of the Full Moon? A little scary.

Regardless, who am I to mess with Mother Nature? If I truly am cycling with the moon, then what a great way to stay grounded in this world and universe. Truly spiritual.

Things I Miss...

2010-04-25T19:57:00.002-04:00

I left my beloved Brooklyn a few months ago, and I wanted to make a list of the things I will miss about living there. More than anything, it is a celebration of the 12 years I have spent in Brooklyn in that little apartment on 17th st. That picture above is of a free beer I enjoyed at Steinhof during last years Sound of Music Sing-A-Long. One of the many things I will miss.

Here's my list, in no particular order:

Celebrity tag - Whenever one of us see a celebrity in their natural habitat, we text each other regarding the sighting. I think the most sited celebs would be Robert DeNiro, Bebe Neuwirth and Alec Baldwin. Fun for the whole family. Now that I am in a relatively celeb-free city, my participation will be limited.

Reading on the commute - A guaranteed hour or two a day of reading on the subway ride into the city. Also a great way to ignore the the crazy of public transportation.

The crazy - Whether on the subway or walking down the street, I have seen all kinds of crazy. Some very entertaining, some very scary, but all right in your face. A variety that always appealed to me.

Cute boys! - The city is crawling with cute boys. Unfortunately, many of the hottest are gay, but that didn't stop me from admiring the view. Honestly, you could find them everywhere.

The seasons - Spring and Fall are amazing in New York City. These are my favorite seasons in general, but the change is always welcome from the dirty dreariness of winter, or from the sweaty heat of the summer.

Impromptu drinks at Steinhof - Many a night I would get a call from one of my neighborhood friends to meet them at Steinhof for a drink. I love that place, christened by me and Fran after 9/11.

Delivery! - Basically every restaurant, cafe, deli, diner and market will deliver pretty much anything you want, including a cup of coffee or a cup of soup. An especially awesome thing when you are home alone and sick as a dog.

Seeing the Statue of Liberty every day - Something very comforting about seeing her out there. A good view from down the block, a even better view from the Smith & 9th elevated subway stop.

Being a New York City snob - I know everyone outside of the city hates it, but being a NYC snob is fun. Can't help it, I loved being one sometimes.

Pizza & bagels - An extension of the above. NYC has ruined me for pizza and bagels anywhere else. There are good bagels and pizza in other cities, but I honestly feel like there really isn't any comparison.

The neighborhood - From the deli guys to the crew at my favorite coffee shop, they all greet me with a smile and a quick conversation.

Hanging out with Joanne - The awesomest roommate ever! We bonded over our love of television and Yankees baseball, and spent many an evening drinking booze, watching TV and generally having a good time. I will especially miss watching baseball, Big Brother, Lost, BSG, The Amazing Race, Survivor, Buffy (over and over) and all those stupid but hilarious movies together.

Babysitting/walking Maggie - Rhonda and Paul put their trust in me to take care of their doggie more than once. The best doggie ever, and one of the only dogs I think I could ever actually live with.

I am fine with where I am living now. There are plenty of lovely things here, and a great group of friends too, but I still get a pang every time I see a movie or TV show that shoots in New York. It was a huge part of my growing into the woman I am right now, and I will always have a big ol' spot for it in my heart.

Eat your veggies.. with fat!

2010-04-20T11:57:00.000-04:00

I recently learned that some of the most important and healthful anti-oxidants (Vitamins E, D, A, etc.) are fat soluble! This means that they need fat to be absorbed through the intestines, or as I like to think - ride on the fat - to do us any good.

So, my question is, how do all the low-fat people out there expect to get their beta-carotene and their retinol? Eating your veggies without fat is literally pissing your anti-oxidants away. I suppose you could just cram down extra servings of veggies, or pop copious amounts of supplements and hope for the best. But I have a better idea: cook your veggies in butter!! Or, if that's too scary, how about frying them up in bacon fat? YUM.

Honestly guys, the more I read, the more I am sure that animal based saturated fats are the way to go in this life. Yet another reason to cook those yummy veggies in tasty, tasty butter!

Right Now, I HATE The Salvation Army...

2009-10-03T21:59:00.001-04:00

HA HA HA HA HA!!! Now that is a funny picture (thanks GilRuiz1 over on photobucket). Normally, I have nothing against The Salvation Army, and what happened to me was probably my fault, but still, it was one of those things that made me so mad...

I recently moved outta Brooklyn, and had a lot of good crap to hand over to The Salvation Army. The night before I was gonna go to the SA, I got out my roommates old lady cart and packed it up with about 40 books, two bags of clothes, a bag of shoes and some other odds 'n' ends. The first load of what I expected to be another two or three trips. I got up the next day all ready to get rid of all this stuff that has been cluttering up my place for years, and I drag the full cart down the stairs from our second floor apartment and head down 6th ave towards Flatbush, where the closest SA was, about 20 blocks away.

After blocks and blocks, dragging the old lady cart through intersections and over uneven sidewalks, breaking a pretty good sweat for September, I finally get there, and find out that they have closed that store and moved to Quincy St. WHERE THE FUCK IS QUINCY ST????

I was SOOOOO pissed. If that cart was mine, I would have left the damn thing right there on the sidewalk. I seriously was thisclose to ditching the damn thing and walking home. So, after cursing a bunch, I turn around and start wheeling the damn thing back home. I was definitely one of the mumbling people on my walk back. I honestly considered leaving bags and books randomly in front of buildings on the way home. No one would know where it came from, but it would be free stuff for everyone! Then I considered leaving it in the park for anyone to have. Maybe the homeless and downtrodden would like my free crap. Then I got all guilty about leaving my crap strewn all over my neighborhood, and didn't do any of that.

When I got home, I knew I wouldn't be able to drag that heavy cart back up all those stairs, so I took out all the bags and unloaded the books onto the front stoop, reloaded the cart, and pulled it back up into the entryway. I left it there and headed back out to grab some groceries and a coffee, things I was planning on doing on the way back with an EMPTY CART! By the time I got back home I had cooled down and got pro-active on the interwebs. I found a thrift store on 5th ave & 16th that will take everything. After all of that, I was only four blocks away from a thrift store that would take all my crap!!!!!!! And, the kicker is, the stuff they didn't want for the store, they would donate to... wait for it... The Salvation Army! Arrrggghhhhhhhh....

But good news in the end, I suppose. Sometimes it's hard to be good. *sigh*

Jericho: Season Three!

2009-07-29T00:57:00.000-04:00

OOOoooOOooOoOoooOOOooooooo, Jericho comic!

The news isn't that new, but the Jericho panel at last weeks Comic Con in San Diego got me all excited for the new Jericho comic. According to this article over on CBR, the Jericho comic will be a continuation of the story, and has been dubbed 'Season Three' by Devil's Due Publishing, the comapany publishing and distributing the comic. They will pick up the story from the season two finale, and is sheparded by many of the original writers of the TV show. The other cool news is that the number of issues have been increased from four to six issues, giving us two more books of Jake/Hawkins/Stanley/Mimi/Beck/Heather, etc. goodness!

I was a casual comic book reader when I was a kid, mainly reading friends comics, but never was really a big fan. I got back on the comic train when a friend handed me 'The Watchmen' in the summer of 1990 (thanks, Mark & Rob!), and I was blown away. Someone turned me on to the X-Files comics at one point. My latest comic fun has been the Buffy and Firefly comics, a natural (for me) extension of my Joss love. So I am familiar with the joy of comics, and I am really excited to have a reason to go into my local comic book store and ask for Jericho.

BTW, if you think there isn't a comic store near you, I bet there is, and you can find it using the ComicShopLocator.

Some awesome quotes from the Comic Con panel (via CBR):

Dan Shotz looked to the audience and impassionedly said “Thank you for this!” He later enthusiastically said of the "Jericho" fans “You guys are the greatest marketing team in the world…you brought a major corporation to its knees and
made them bring back the show…you guys are the reason there is a Season Two, you guys are the reason for a Season Three in the comic book, and we have a lot more
to come because of you.”

Regarding the plot of the new series, Steinberg said “I think the show has been leading to a civil war, and rather than avoid it we decided to do it. So it’s a great big, giant war”. {Oh YAY!! - me]

Asked if we will we see a return of the Ravenwood paramilitary organization, Steinberg answered “Nobody’s off the table; they were our favorite villains”. [YAY! again - me]

Regarding acquiring the rights to do the comics, Zreik said “We couldn’t do this comic without the cast being on board, because we are using their images, and they all signed off and are excited."

Everyone May Hate Me For This....

2009-07-23T20:41:00.001-04:00

Look at the cute baby. They are soooooooooo cute! But I have a silly problem going on, and many of you may hate me for this, but that is a risk I am willing to take. Because I am sick of all the babies being 'so smart!'. How many stupid people do you know? There is no way that every one's baby is 'so smart!'.

I totally and completely understand the power of The Baby. I don't seem to have a Biological Clock tick-tick-tickin' away, but put me in the presence of a cute little baby, and I am toast. I rarely fall into baby talk, but I will make faces and generally act like a love sick puppy. But I draw the line when I start hearing the "S/He is so smart!".

My take, is that we, as adults, have a hard time believing that kids are probably more advanced than we assume. We think that because they are little, they couldn't possibly know anything. But kids are insanely intuitive and observant. I am sure it is inherent survival skill as they don't have the social skills or the physical strength that we as adults rely on.

Children are sponges, right? We all know you just have to say 'fuck' once in front of one for them to run with it - much to the embarrassment of their parents. So there is definitely the 'teaching' factor to contend with. Kids with parents who engage and stimulate their kids will have more precocious babies on their hands, and maybe they seem smarter because they have been challenged. But I think that we, in general, tend to underestimate the smaller ones among us. And that is why I cringe every time someone coos, "S/He's so smart!"

LazyBones (and other things)

2009-05-26T21:26:00.002-04:00

Lazy. Bored. Uninspired. Coasting. Extreme procrastination... all those words apply here. I came over here to see what was in my Drafts, and was shocked! to see that I hadn't posted anything here since the beginning of the year!! Those of you who know me, know that I have had plenty of free time lately, so I will not bore you with my excuses (even though I got plenty of 'em!!). I am not a proficient blogger at.all., but over four months??! Really, that's lazy, yo.

Not that I haven't had stuff running through my brain. There are a few drafts here with potential, just seems that follow through has vanished the last few months. So, to my faithful readers (all three of you!), I am, once again gonna try and get it going. No, really.

TELEVISION

First of all, I would like to mention that NBC made my shit list this year by cancelling Life. I know, I know, NBC gave it a second season, even after it's so-so first season ratings, a season that was cut short after the writer's strike. It just seems that NBC gave up on it, constantly switching up time slots and giving it very little promotion. Smart, fun and sexy, with a great streak of revenge and redemption running through the sunny streets of LA, it was what all other cop/procedural shows aren't, and that was why I loved it so much. So, we lose a great show like Life, and get bombarded, once again, by more cop/medical/procedural shows that bore me to tears... *sigh* I want to love my television shows. Unfortunately, the ones I love seem to get the ax over and over. Maybe it's me? NBC also unceremoniously axed My Name Is Earl (on a cliffhanger no less!). Oh the pain. They did let Chuck squeak by, and I am glad, but dammit! bore-fests like Law & Order drone on for yet another season.

Fox cancelled Terminator (boo!!), but renewed Fringe and Dollhouse (YAY!); NBC cancelled Medium (boo!!) but CBS snatched it from the jaws of death (YAY!); ABC killed Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money months ago (boo!!), but are at least showing the unaired episodes on Saturdays this summer (YAY!); The CW cancelled Reaper (boo!!) and picked up the Melrose Place reboot (double boo!!); ABC is renewing Scrubs (ugh, so over that show). There are plenty of new shows to talk about, but I am all tuckered out with the end of the TV season, and much too invested with baseball to think about those right now. There will be another time for that.

BASEBALL

TeeHeeHee! This kinda stuff makes me so happy. Something about loving a team so many people despise is very appealing to me for some reason...

Anyhoo, baseball has started, and so far so good. The Yankees had a shaky April, but they seem to have gelled as a team, and May has been lots of fun. Mark Teixeira has become a rock star on the field, and now that A-Rod is back, a hitting machine as well. CC Sabathia has gotten his pitching groove back, and Nick Swisher, while slumping at the moment, is a delight to watch. I haven't been to the new stadium yet, but from what I hear it is awesome. Can't wait to go (even though I will miss the old place - lots of memories there). So, once we get Jorge off the DL, and the bullpen really settles (although the bull pen rarely ever really settles, IMO), we should have a fun season watching those boys run around in their tight pants. Now, if we can just beat those darn Red Sox!

That's all at the moment. There are more things rattling around in my head, and I will do my best to get them out here, hopefully in an entertaining way. :D

WTH??!!

2009-01-31T15:44:00.005-05:00

You're telling me there are still whites-only country clubs in this day and age? Really???! It's 2009! What.The.Hell.

You'd think this guy would have helped end that ridiculousness years ago.

WoooHooooo!!!!

2009-01-20T13:26:00.009-05:00

I can't believe this day is finally here. I've never had a better reason to have a glass of champagne at noon.

Amazing, the amount of people who showed up. I hope they continue to show up in the days to come.

Every one is so freakin' happy!

You tell 'em, Mr, President!

It must be said, our new President is handsome!

OMG, they are so damn cute!

Thanks to The Huffington Post for letting me pilfer these pictures from their site.

The Eww! of the Apocalypse

2008-11-21T20:48:00.005-05:00

**WARNING: If you don't like even thinking of a woman's menstrual cycle, let alone like reading about it, then this post is not for you. If you keep reading, you may find yourself in the middle of a bloody mess. Heh. **

What would you do if you were a woman who was still menstruating, and an apocalypse of some form hit?

As some of you may know, I am a fan of the show Jericho. No really, I am (hee!). So, as a consequence of my love for this show, I have been exposed to some lovely people who consider themselves Survivalists, and it got me really thinking about what a person would need to survive if some horrible, The-Shit-Hits-The-Fan scenario happened. Since I live in a city, my best bet is to get the hell out of Dodge ASAP, but what then? Stashes of canned food, water and medicine are the things we all think of. Conserving, growing your own food, basic sewing and handyman skills would be helpful. Those of us living here in New York City were encouraged to assemble a Go Bag after 9/11 filled with things like ID, money, solar radio, and stuff like that.

Then one day, my roommate and I were talking about what we would do in that kind of a scenario, and it dawned on us, what about our periods? Should we start stockpiling maxi pads and tampons, just in case? If we're hustling outta town, how big of a pack would you need to carry your freakin' feminine hygiene products?!! It was a dilemma that gave me pause, and a subject I hadn't seen discussed in my limited exposure to my Survivalist friends (maybe because most of them are either men, or post-menopausal women).

Imagine my glee, when the greenies over at Grist decided to do a test drive of the eco-friendly fem products out there for us planet friendly types. Turns out, there is an answer to my dilemma, and it doesn't include carrying a heeee-oooooge bag full of Seventh Generation Maxi Pads (Although those suckers are completely awesome! Really, give them a shot, you will LOVE them).

All right ladies (and curious gents), time to suck it up, this is where is gets a little dicey for you squeamish types.

The first option? The Keeper. A reusable menstrual cup that would replace your tampon. It is made of latex (they have a silicone one too for the latex allergic), and you just empty that sucker, rinse it out, and reinsert. The maker says they last for ten years. Plenty long enough to get you through a pretty hearty apocalypse, IMO.

For those of you like me, who have a hard time with those applicator free tampons, and the thought of using a diaphragm makes you kinda uncomfortable, there is the second option, the Lunapad. A washable maxi that comes in pretty colors and many different sizes, to accommodate our varying levels of the crimson tide.

Both of these options would fit nicely in your Go Bag, and with all the stress of a potential apocalypse, the last thing you would want is to have to worry about finding a non-looted stash of disposable Lady products when the inevitable time-of-the-month rolls around.

If you'd like to read up on the brave testers comments on these and other green-like Lady products, you can find the results on Grist here (pads), and here (cups and tampons).

My advice? If you have even the slightest hint of the paranoia I have, get yourself one of these doo-dads just in case, and throw it in with your extra ID and protein bars. Plenty of women are using them as we speak. Me, I have not gotten so green that I am ready to make the leap, but I have switched to a healthier disposable, and that is better than nothin'.

It's Finally Here!

2008-11-04T14:43:00.009-05:00

After weeks and months of chomping at the bit, I finally got to vote today! Any of you who have even glanced at this blog know who I voted for, but today, that is beside the point (mostly). Because today, there was voting!

I have been voting at my polling place for over eleven years, and I have never seen anything like what I saw today. I went at 11:30, right before lunch, and there were lines and crowds all over the place. And my fellow neighbors were pretty cheery about the whole thing (the bake sale out front may have helped with that. I bought a brownie!).

After voting, and running some errands in my neighborhood, I stopped at the local liquor store to get a bottle of wine for the election party I am going to. The guy behind the counter told me it was the busiest Tuesday he had ever seen. We both figured there would be a lot of celebrating this evening. The woman in front of me was buying bottles of champagne. I happen to live in an extremely blue neighborhood in very blue city in solidly blue state, so there is much hope here.

Even though it looks good for my guy to win, I am actually really and truly impressed in the amount of Americans voting this election. I was raised to believe that voting was important, and I hope that we now have a whole new group of people, young and old, who feel like their voices do matter. That maybe, we can have a say in how and where our government takes us. I am an optimist at heart, so I can't help myself.

So, I hope all of you get out there and vote. And keep voting in years to come. Okay, I can't help myself, I gotta post this pic! Looks like fun!

UPDATE! 1:14am November 4th, 2008: Hooray!! President Barack Obama, our 44th President of the United States of America. I am thrilled.

ENOUGH!!!

2008-09-24T20:37:00.010-04:00

Today's flailing about of the McCain campaign has lead me to this. I wasn't gonna go on an angry rant over politics this year. I have made it clear that I am a Democrat, and I am supporting Obama whole-heartedly, but this ridiculousness is really just too much.

Have I shown my hand too early? Too bad. I am sick and tired of the lies and shenanigans going on with the McCain/Palin camp. Today, we heard McCain suddenly claim that things were so bad, so dire, that he, and only he, could go to Washington and save us all! In that shocking moment, he also told us he was suspending his campaign, and asked that Friday's debate be postponed. Because he can't do more than one thing at a time? Or is it because today's polls show him sinking? And now.... NOW, the McCain camp is saying that they want to delay the VP debate as well. I am shocked! (end sarcasm).

I would like to just inject a personal feeling here (I know, why start now?). In all this craziness with Wall Street, McCain is coming off as desperate, while the calm and thoughtful remarks from Obama seem much more Presidential. Obama hasn't been running amok changing, day to day, what he thinks is the next best idea.

And don't even get me started on the continuous lies that Palin has been spewing, over and over on the campaign trail. Selling that plane on e-Bay (lie), saying 'Thanks, but no thanks' on that bridge to nowhere (lie), and her now well known penchant for banning books and her extreme Pro-Life positions that make most of us blanch. Her extreme notions are apparent in how she runs Alaska as well, as this New York Times article spells out nicely.

As things have gone along, we've seen McCain repeat the Palin lies over and over. Is this because he doesn't know any better? Or because he just doesn't care? Either way, it makes him look bad in my eyes.

So that brings me back to today. McCain cancelled a scheduled appearance on the David Letterman show, citing he was needed immediately in DC, but was caught, by Letterman, recording an interview with Katie Couric instead. In fact, McCain isn't going to DC until tomorrow (Thursday), because he is appearing at the Clinton Foundation event here in New York City tonight. Wow, another lie... are we still surprized by this? Here is David Letterman's reaction to McCain's cancellation, hot off the YouTube presses (Letterman is pissed...).

Honestly people, I can't take much more of this. I'd like to quote one of my favorite lines, one that I say to myself regularly these days: Dear Republicans, I am so sick of your shit!

In closing, I will post this picture, which is currently my beloved wallpaper on this very computer. Vote Obama/Biden!!!!!

BlackJack Fairgrounds - Jericho Roadshow

2008-09-01T11:59:00.015-04:00

Welcome to the September Blog Carnival, Jericho Roadshow Edition! This months theme is 'Jericho Minstrels: Fan Fiction, Videos, Poems and Songs'. And we have a lot of fun stuff to get to, all thanks to the passion of the fans who love their show, Jericho. Many thanks to all the creative Rangers out there who help keep the spirit of Jericho alive!

First off, Fan Fiction! Those of us familiar with fandoms in general know all about fan fiction. We have several Rangers who have put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and taken us on some fun journeys through their stories. KrzyKat has given us the adventures of The JLA Squad (Jericho Liberation Alliance), out saving Jake, and helping keep Jericho safe from mysterious strangers. Xtemeroswellia over on LiveJournal has a nice little Jake/Heather story called "Worth The Wait" for all those Jeather fans out there (very satisfying!), and another LJ fan, Revelininsanity, has written a story about Gail Green finding out about Jake being held captive and a peek into her life away from Jericho called "The Sun Moving". Fascinating. Jericho Fan Fiction, a site I must admit I didn't even know existed (much to my dismay... what kind of Ranger am I?), is chock full of stories for all you fan fiction junkies. Fantasy_cat has written a post-Bonnie-death piece with Stanley and Mimi called "Surprise You". Also, there is Stephensmat's response to the Songfic challenge over on Jericho Fan Fiction, a story about Eric and Mary's beginnings called "Eyes On Me". Stephensmat also has some Dale/Skylar fic to check out. Heck, there is plenty over there to keep you busy. Check it all out, you will be pleased, I'm sure.

A poem! Raycheetah has channelled his inner Shakespeare and regaled us with a sonnet to accompany flowers to Nina Tassler called "Transmission From Jericho", reminding her that we are still here, and still thinking of her. Lovely!

Video? Have we got videos for you! As most of you know, our Rangers are prolific video makers (just type 'Jericho' into the YouTube search and you'll see what I mean), and we have some great submissions this month.

Bombwatcher, maker of all those awesome siggies over on the CBS boards, has given us a video in tribute to all the great actors on Jericho called Some Gave All. Stanley and Mimi are the sweet subjects of Ldyoutlw's Between Your Heart and Mine. Xwarp has taken a silly look at our favorite deputies Jimmy and Bill with Cops In Jericho, and Ka4ist gives us Robert Hawkins: CBA(Certified Bad Ass), which is a hoot! And finally, Gwen has found these sweet vids of Pamela Reed (Mamma Green) reading the children's story "Stellaluna", Part One and Part Two. Very cute.

Larissa has started up a Jericho podcast! It's called Future Traditions, and she has various other Jericho related tidbits for you to chew on.

Maybei has pointed to the The Nut House over at Radio Free Jericho with some fun stuff going on, including a screencap story called Emily Bakes A Cake. A little gentle ribbing of our favorite blonde bombshell of Jericho. Also over at RFJ is a spiffy stationary design by Jojocat1 to use for sending your letters to CBS/Paramount, and they also have some fun Jericho e-cards to send to your friends for Halloween, or just because (including some of the motivators made by me!).

As you can see, we have a great depth of creative Rangers out there on the Internet, entertaining us with their stories and songs and pictures. I hope that this sample has inspired you to sit down at your own computer and share your love for Jericho with everyone!

Honestly people, if this face doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will!

Special thanks to Gwen over at Jericho-Kansas, Inc. for all her hard work and keeping the Blog Carnival going. Thank you so much for letting me host this month. It was my pleasure. October's edition of BlackJack Fairgrounds will be Cast and Crew interviews, and I know there is a great treasure chest full of them across the Internet. For info on past and future hosts, you can go here.

I Am Infected With National Pride*

2008-08-12T21:34:00.002-04:00

Oh the Olympics, how I love you so!

Just wanted to make a quick post about the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing. Regardless of how I feel about China, they did a bang up job with the Opening Ceremonies, and Michael Phelps has been kickin' ass so far. So much fun.

I grew up in a pro-Olympics household, and every four years we would gather around the TV for all the spectacle and fun of the Summer and Winter Games. I have very fond memories of all those Olympics, and now as an adult, I get all excited whenever Olympic time rolls around.

Badminton? Yes. Track and Field? Oh, yes. Swimming, gymnastics, diving, equestrian, table tennis, volleyball, handball, tennis, rowing, baseball?! More and more. I will watch just about any sport they put in front of me, and I cheer and yell from my couch.

Just think, in two years we get the Winter Games! So great. Okay, enough of this, I gotta get back to the games!

*Thanks to the guy at the wine store, who when I asked him if he had 'Olympic Fever', he responded with "I am infected with national pride!", inspiring this post, and giving me a kick-ass title. Hee!!

A Tale of Two Cities

2008-08-10T22:17:00.006-04:00

I recently took a trip to Rochester, NY, my hometown, and Toronto, Canada, Rochester's sister city on the other side of Lake Ontario. They were both to visit friends, and I had a great time in both cities.

First up, Rochester! (Isn't it pretty?)

I headed out to Western New York via JFK and JetBlue to attend my good friend Deanna's wedding celebration. After having to get up at some ungodly hour, I landed in Rochester on a Friday morning and was greeted by my lovely Mother. We got in the car and headed to Honeoye Falls to hang out and chill.

I had plans to meet Don and his fiancee Kelly for dinner. So I got in the car and drove to Rochester, pulling up in front of a house I did not recognize! Look at it, it looks so pretty! Good job, Kelly. After some hanging out and such, we went off to Beale Street for dinner and it was yummy! I had a pulled chicken dinner and stuffed myself good. Then out for a drink or two at the bar before I had to call it a night. I always have so much fun hanging out with these two. Thanks for dinner guys!!

Saturday was Deanna and Tom's party. They threw a nice soiree in their backyard, and it was catered by Dinosaur Barbeque! Barbeque two nights in a row! w00t!! This was great. I got to see some of my oldest friends at this party, and we all kinda fell right back into that comfy, homey kinda vibe you can only feel with people you've known FOREVER.

Look! It's Deanna and Karla! YAY! Needless to say, as usual, I didn't take many pictures, because I was too busy chatting and having a good time. But Karla got her hands on my camera phone and took a few pics. Heh.

Karla's lovely husband Wes, and Deanna's younger brother John.

Paulie... posing. Heh.

John's lovely daughter Juliana (isn't she cute?) (OMG, John is a daddy?... weird).

Me in mid-whatever. Thanks Karla...

No pictures of Deanna's older brother Mark, but we had a nice conversation or two, and it was great to see him as well. It was crazy hot and humid, but the party was a great success. I finally left after it got dark and the air was thick with mosquitoes. Thanks Deanna and Tom for such a great time, and a fun trip down memory lane.

I started out Sunday with a visit to Heather and her awesome girls, Jada and Kara. Looks like the tooth fairy has been VERY busy here. We took off to go blueberry picking, but Mother Nature let loose with a big ol' rain storm, so we went to Dunkin' Donuts instead. Hee. That's where I got this awesome picture. After donuts and goofiness, we headed back to Heather's and commenced the weaving of tote bags. It was supposed to be a crafty project that the girls would help us with, but it soon became clear that Heather and I were way more interested than the girls in this project, so we wove and chatted while the girls hung out with us. I always love getting crafty with Heather. Hmmm, I wonder how those totes turned out.

After my visit with Heather, I met my brother Zach over at the Brewery to say hi to Jane and some her friends before we headed off to a Red Wing game at Frontier Field . This was my first visit to Frontier, and it is a great little ballpark. We got some Zweigles and beer and sat down for some baseball! (honestly, Zweigles white hots may be the best.hotdogs.ever!) It was great to hang out with Zach, something I don't get to do often enough, until Mother Nature once again made an appearance and the rain came a pouring down. We decided to cut the game short since we weren't decked out in rain gear, and headed home.

Monday I went down to Dad's office (after having my 40 year old eyes examined on Saturday), to drop off my glasses and have lunch with Dad, Zach and Jane. Nothing like a good meal at Critic's! Hee. So, everyone went back to work and I went back to Mom and Dad's to pack and try not to freak out about getting on a plane. It was a quick little trip, but I got to see everyone and I had a really good time. Rochester in the summer is so pretty. I'm glad I went.

I got this rockin' shot of the falls on my camera phone! Yay for me.

Two weeks later I got back on a plane (eesh), and headed out for my first international flight to Toronto. I finally got to use my passport!

Thank you random user of photobucket for this great picture of Toronto. Isn't it pretty?

First of all, I would just like to say, I hate to fly, and my experience flying out of LaGuardia on American Airlines didn't help. I swear to god, I will never fly with this carrier ever again. They were horrible. But once we got over the lake (which really is huge, thus being a Great Lake, I suppose), seeing Toronto out the window made the hassles okay. Plus, I had the great pleasure of sitting next to a very chatty Afghani woman who constantly was being yelled at by the flight attendant for not following ANY of the rules, and for telling me some interesting stories about her recent visit to Afghanistan. She was very sad about the state of her home country, and thought it may be another 20 years before she goes back. Very sad.

So, I went to Toronto to vist Fran, who is on tour there with Avenue Q. Plus, I love Toronto. The picture above is the hotel from the mezzanine level. It was very nice, and apparently Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton stayed there back in the day. Fancy!

After my $60 cab ride from the airport (!!), I hung out in the hotel until it was time to meet Fran for dinner. It feels like forever since I had seen her, and it was good to just hang out and have a yummy meal (I had a veggie bowl at the aptly named Fran's Diner). After dinner Fran went to work and I went back to the hotel and just chilled. We met at the hotel bar for a few drinks after work (the suggestively named Consort Bar) and then headed up to the room to hang out and watch some The West Wing. Awwww, just like old times!

Saturday Fran had to work two shows, so while she was at the theater, I hoofed it around Toronto. I checked out Yonge St., where there was a kickin' little Turkish festival going on, and stumbled into the Gay section of town, which was, of course, very cute. After another yummy dinner at Fran's Diner, Fran went back to work and I continued walking around the neighborhoods. I discovered Front St. which had their weekend street market going, and I met a really nice local woman sitting in a park and we chatted about all kinds of stuff for an hour or so. After work Fran and I did the same thing. Drink at the bar (this time with some of her fellow Avenue Q-ers), and up to the room for more The West Wing (yes, we are old, and like to hang out and watch old TV shows. Deal with it).

Sunday, Fran only had one show, and I had promised (okay, insisted) to take her out for a belated birthday dinner. Literally, I found this place last minute, and it was PERFECT! (yes, I stole this picture straight from Fran's blog.. thanks Fran!). Jamie Kennedy's Wine Bar was awesome. Exactly what I wanted, and the food was yummy squared. I highly recommend it to anyone heading to Toronto.

The rest of Sunday was kinda a blur, as there was much drinking and meandering about the city. Otherwise known as FUN! Oh wait! We went to the CN Tower!! As the sun went down, we took the elevator up, up ,up and took in the views. We could see the soft glow of Rochester on the other side of the Lake. Pretty. The CN Tower is an obvious touristy thing to do, and well worth it, in my opinion (and I will not put a picture here, as I did not take one, and most of you know what the place looks like).

Monday was Fran's only full day off, so we started off with a wonderful breakfast at Over Easy on Yonge St. A great breakfast place that filled us up good! And then off to the Toronto Islands (check out the old-school pic I found online). Monday happened to be a civic holiday in Toronto, so we and several others waited in line for the ferry's to the islands on a hot, cement slab, all sweaty and cranky. Once on the ferry (we went to Ward Island, initially), the cool lake breeze cheered us up, and once we landed, we were greeted by an island full of adorable cottages and a sweet boardwalk.

It was yet another gorgeous Canadian day, and, being New Yorkers and used to walking forever, we walked all the way to Centre Island where we found a wee amusement park and farm with chickens and horses and pigs. Fun for the city folk!

As much fun as we were having, and as lovely as a day it was, we finally had to catch the ferry back, because we had tickets for a Blue Jays game! We got there a little early, so we got to see them open the dome! After a quick nosh, we got our seats and waited for another Avenue Q-er to show up, Annika. Fran and I had on our Yankees caps, and Annika showed up with he Red Sox hat, and we settled in for a Roy Halladay pitch-fest. Normally, as a Yankee fan, it is my duty to root against Roy Halladay, and to not mingle with Red Sox fans, but we were in Canada, and we cheered and chatted and had a good ol' time. Thanks Annika, for all the good Canadian beer and popcorn!

Thanks to Fran for getting us great first base line seats, and the Blue Jays kicked the A's butts, 6-1. The A's fans sitting in front of us moved away pretty quickly after the game started. Hee.

Tuesday was my last full day in Toronto, and Fran and I made the most of it. We went to the Toronto Necropolis, one of the oldest historic cementaries in Canada. Coooooool. I would like to thank the completely hot concierge at Fran's hotel for finding this cementary, and printing out a map for us. Seriously guys, Brandon was smokin', and he was kind enough to flirt with me every time I saw him after that. And then we hopped in a cab and went over to the Redpath sugar museum. Very cheesy. It was in a little shack out behind the factory, and we giggled our way to it. A self-guided tour, we learned a little about sugar (Paris lumps?), and killed some time. Hey, not every tour is a slam bang, people!

Fran had to go off to work, so I spent my last evening hanging out at the hotel, where I found this little gem in the room mini-bar (okay, I found it a few days earlier, but didn't get a pic until the last night):

TeeHeeHee!! Now, I ask you, would you ever find something like that in a fancy-ass hotel in America? No sir, you would not! I'm not sure if this is good news or bad, just a little window into the differences between our two countries.

So, it was time to go. I hopped on the Toronto subway to get to the airport after making a sleepy goodbye to Fran. After passporting my way back into America, I got on an Air Canada flight home.

Here, I must give props to the lovely Air Canada crew. Like my experience with American Airlines, there were some bumps along the way to getting on board and off the ground, but very much unlike AA, the Air Canada people were so kind and cheery, it barely felt like a problem. Customer service is everything, I tell ya'.

I happened to be the only person sitting in the Emergency Exit row, so the flight attendant came over and gave me the drill. Telling me, in the case of an emergency landing, how to look out the window to make sure the door was clear of fire or wreckage (!!), and how to open the door and toss it out the plane. She told me I could then exit the plane, unless I felt like being a Hero, and helping others off. The whole time she was looking at me like, if we land in an emergency, chances are, all this would be moot, as I freaked out a little in my head, embellishing the already horrifying thoughts of a plane crash in my head. Thanks Air Canada flight attendant lady!

Toronto and Rochester. Two really nice little cities on opposite sides of a Great Lake. Who wins in the nice-a-thon? Gotta give it to Toronto, where even the people begging for change are polite and well spoken (and decidedly way less crazy than your typical New York City change beggars). Although after visiting Rochester, I don't have a wallet weighed down with all that crazy Loonie and Toonie Canuck change!

Fun in The Slope!

2008-06-19T16:39:00.008-04:00

Last weekend we saw a couple of fun fun fun things going on here in Park Slope. The annual Seventh Heaven street fair happened, even though we were dodging raindrops (ok, downpours) for the bulk of the morning, lots of people showed up to join the festivities. There were artists and crafters, t-shirt and baubles sellers, lots of different food vendors and music. The fun of a good street fair here in New York City is the diversity of goods. From the schlockey tables of discount goods, to the cheezy t-shirts, to some really astounding jewelery and art. Everyone loves to walk 7th Avenue and hang out with their neighbors, buy some stuff and eat some good food. I am glad that the weather clamed down and let us enjoy the day.

Then, over on 5th Avenue, I stumbled across the latest public performances of the Artichoke Dance Company. They had four locations along the avenue that were marked by colorfully knit markers, like this one on the railings leading into Ozzie's coffee shop. Once I went inside (to get an iced coffee), I realized that there was a perrformance going on right then! Two women at one of the tables performing a piece silently. Seems that if i had known about this beforehand, I could have gone to their website and downloaded the music to my iPod, and listened along. It is a brilliant idea, giving everyone a peek into their dance project, but not bothering those who weren't interested by blasting music into their day.

Once I realized what was going on, I went back up the avenue to see the other spots where performances were going on. One was in the display window of a clothing boutique, and the other was inside The Gate, a local watering hole that I used to frequent in my younger days (it is a bit of a haul from my apartment).

After checking out their website, I see they are gonna be out this Sunday once again. I may just have to check them out!

One of my favorite things about living here is stumbling upon random stuff like this. And this weekend is the Gay Pride parade here in Brooklyn. Now that is always a kicker!

Sick Of It!

2008-06-05T22:23:00.006-04:00

The Hillary bashing continues...

Ms. Clinton has said she will suspend her campaign on Saturday, endorse Mr. Obama, and ask for party unity, but the television pundits are still kicking her. Today her camp issued this statement: 'Hillary is not seeking out the Vice President slot', but I have heard many TV pundits snarkily say, 'But she will take it if it's offered.'

DUH! And what the hell is wrong with that?!!

This goes back to when she ran for Senate here in New York State. All they could say was, 'She just wants to be President.' SO WHAT?

When Mr. Obama ran for Senate, did people whine about how he wanted to be President? When any number of of men have run for public office, did anyone ever say, 'He just wants to be President?' For the love of God people, what the hell is wrong with wanting to be President? It must be because she, as a woman, has the audacity to have some ambition. I say it again.... What The Hell Is Wrong With That?!!!!?????

This campaign has opened my eyes to a level of misogyny in this country that I had been blind to, and I am angry. Don't get me wrong, I will back Mr. Obama all the way. Anything is better than another four years of a Republican in the White House, as far as I'm concerned, but back the hell off Hillary. When you look at the numbers, she got just as many votes as Obama. She freakin' won one of the very last primaries. Just because people fell madly in love with Mr. Obama, that means that the woman should should just bow down and give up?

Can you tell I'm pissed? Because I am. It's like until Hillary lies down and shuts up, these people will not be happy. And that offends me to my core.

I am still hoping that somehow, Hillary can get the VP nod. I think she would be a great asset to an Obama White House. But we are several weeks away from any such decision, and ultimately I will back Mr. Obama on whomever he chooses. But for the love of God, back off my gal Hillary!!!

*Motivator courtesy of ZenLizzy from the TWoP boards

Black Jack Fairgrounds Blog Carnival

2008-05-15T11:27:00.001-04:00

Far be it from me to turn down a reason to post a picture of Skeet (aka Jake Green in Jericho). Welcome to this week's Black Jack Fairgrounds. I am Erika, and I will be your host.

Those old crones Margie & Edna have posted a little something about where to watch Jericho, on a typically circuitous route, through the strawberry patch. Thanks ladies for pitching in!

Jane has renamed the Famous JerichoMonster blog to simply The Monster, commenting on all television, and the frustrating practices the networks employ to decide on our favorite shows fates. Here she comments on the latest Jericho fan nutty protest, shelling Nielsen with two palettes of nuts, protesting their antiquated ratings system. This latest protest was orchestrated by Jericho message board regular NorsU, and the effort has gotten some media attention as seen here and here. Jon over at El Noticiero de Alvarez Galloso has given his take on the annoying Nielsen system: Jericho’s Nutty Fans Protest Nielsen’s Ratings System. When will they learn, we will not go down quietly?

Also, the letter writing campaign to CBS Paramount continues. Info here and here for the two of you who may not have the addresses memorized by now (hee!).

Radio Free Jericho has got all kinds of fun stuff going on to keep the fans happy and motivated. Check out the silly Emily Bakes saga in the Nut House or hone your survival skills at the recently revamped Survival of the Fittest section to prepare for the next who-knows-what. Schumi's Useless Fact of the Day culls fascinating and funny tidbits from her very large brain, and Clare Carey, aka Mary Bailey, owner of Jericho's favorite watering hole, Bailey's, answers
fan questions here. Thanks, maybei, for helpfully pointing out the going's on over there.

Outlaw, one of our more creative Rangers, has started up his own online series that is a companion to the goings on in Jericho, called Grapevine, TX. He has posted his awesome trailer, along with another great promo by the equally creative Darthleland over on YouTube. Looking forward to seeing the show guys.

Jeritopia, chat room extraordinaire, is still hosting several weekly chats, including the Great Jericho ReWatch chat on Tuesdays, and the Monthly Birthday Bash, this month celebrating May birthdays on Sunday, May 18th at 9pm ET. Come on over and join the fun! No really! I was never a chat room type, but this place is loads of fun.

RubberPoultry has been keeping every one's spirits up with his graphic skillz, most recently with his Jericho Linen collection. He also just posted a quick note from Karim Zreik, giving us all hope that there is still some kind of life yet for Jericho.

Whew! Hows about that folks? The Jericho Rangers are a busy bunch. Thanks to all for submitting your stuff. Extra special thanks to Amy Vernon over at Remote Access for being such a great Jericho fan and for asking me to host this week. It was fun. And don't forget to keep your eye out for more Jericho goodness in the next few weeks, and here is where you can submit your posts!. Gwen over at Jericho-Kansas.com is our next host on May 29th. C'mon guys, give her some love!

Sometimes It's Just Junk

2008-05-12T17:48:00.004-04:00

This table has been sitting on the curb for two days. TWO DAYS!

Those of you who live here in NYC know that people put their junk out on the curb all the time. Everything from shoes and toys to computers and toilets. Usually, the stuff disappears within hours. I have stuff in this apartment that I have scavenged from the curb, and I have left stuff for others to take. But if your crappy table has been sitting out on the side of the road for two days, then it was probably a good idea to get rid of it in the first place.

Poor, lonely, piece of junk table...

See The Sites!

2008-05-06T22:01:00.001-04:00

I need to practice my linking skillz, so here are some of my favorite sites, and some silly ones I have just discovered.

Thanks to a shout out on Digg, I found this place: Bad Spock Drawings is just a bunch of... bad drawings of Mr. Spock. Hilarious. May the owner of this place Live Long and Prosper.

Anyone who has lived with a kitty knows they can be pretty funny. LOL Cats has funny pics of cats and a lot of them are subtitled with silly little things. I like to go there and just hit Random over and over. Excellent time killer.

Overheard in New York is popular with my New York pals, but they have stuff overheard from all over the country. Beware: This site is very much full of dirty words and racy comments. Not for the squeamish or easily offended! Here's the link to the Current Favorites, voted by the readers of the site.

I am a big ol' fan of Three Thieves wine. My favorite is the Pinot Grigio that comes in a one liter box. The stuff flies out of the two wine stores in my neighborhood that carry it, and the site has some funny videos about the winery and their wine. I'm pretty sure you can buy the stuff from their site, so give it a try!

Lastly, here is a silly video I found on YouTube, Guys Jumping Into Jeans. YouTube is fun, isn't it?

So Far, So OK

2008-05-02T21:17:00.002-04:00

I am writing this on my Dad's birthday, which is fitting, since he is one of the reasons I love baseball. Happy Birthday Dad!

The first month of baseball is over, and the Yankees are hovering right around the .500 mark. Considering everything, not too shabby. We have a new Manager in Joe Girardi, whom I love. He was the regular catcher back in the 90s when Jorge Posada was first coming up, and Joe taught him and helped make him into the great player he is today. It is also nice to have someone in the dugout who not only used to play with some of these guys, but who shows some emotion. As much as I loved Torre, he always had that dead-eyed look, no matter what the team was doing. Girardi has how he's feeling written all over his face. I like it.

Much like last year, we have a plethora of injuries to contend with. Jorge with his tendinitis, A-Rod with his strained quad, Brian Bruney with his busted ankle, and add in the less than stellar outings from the newbie pitchers Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes (who is now on the DL with a cracked rib!). There is also the major slumps of Giambi and Robinson Cano, two players who can't seem to get their batting averages off the Interstate. With all of that, I will take .500.

The good news for the Yankees? Johnny Damon is healthy as a horse. I forgot how that man can run! Oh, can he run.... Add in the ever reliable Hideki Matsui, Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreau, and the team is doing just fine. I am already sick of the NY press writing the team off. It's been one month people! Take a freakin' chill pill.

As for other baseball stuff? Eh, it's early, so I haven't gotten into all the standings much. It is shocking to have The Tampa Bay Rays doing so well (did the name change really fix what was wrong with the team?). Peeking over at Joe Torre's new team, I see that the Dodgers are holding their own against the dreaded Diamondbacks. I am definitely rooting for someone to take them down, it might as well be the Dodgers.

Holy smokes, can you believe I got through a whole baseball post without putting up a picture of Jeter? Sometimes I amaze even myself.

Boston is Wicked Awesome!

2008-03-30T17:27:00.000-04:00

It had been a long while since I had been to Boston. The last time I was there I was a wee lass of 16, and I was with my high school choir competing in the Hartford Music Festival (we won a Gold Medal!). I loved the city way back then, being enamored of all things historical, and it still has a great heartbeat bolstered by all that juicy history. This picture here is what teenagers looked like waaaaaay back in 1985 (and no, I'm not in this one, because I was taking the picture, and yes, that is Deanna being all sexy *waves at Deanna*). Aaah, so young, so fresh.

Anyway, Fran was in Boston with Avenue Q, and one of my Jericho friends, Kendra, also lives there, so I got on the train to go see some pals. Kendra was kind enough to pick me up at the train station, and took me to her home where her Mom had saved a plate of corn beef and cabbage for me to eat. It was my first experience with this particular Irish dish, and it was yum-my!

After sitting around and chatting with Kendra and her family, we went down to her place and sat around and shot the shot for some time. It was great to just sit and get to know Kendra in person. We talked a lot about her pregnancy, and of course, drooled a little over the thought of Skeet (who, apparently, is the actual father of those twin babies! Hee!)

I had a really nice time with Kendra. Her family was also very welcoming, including all those doggies! Yet another awesome experience simply because of a little show called Jericho. Kendra and I had planned to watch Jericho together later in the week, but she came down with a migraine, so we had to cancel. Disappointing, but I am glad we got the time together we did. I didn't get any pictures of Kendra or her family (because I always forget about such things), but i did get a picture of some of those doggies! The first one is Archie, and the second is Bruschi (that's Kendra's hand holding him still). Bruschi is a big ol' puppy, and he liked putting that big ol' head on his on my lap, which was hilarious.

So, it was time to leave Kendra and company, so we got back in the Crown Vic and she drove me to Fran's hotel downtown. Thanks again, Kendra! That was so nice of you!

I walked into Fran's room, and Jaki was there, with a large buffet of chocolate, nuts and various other food stuffs spread around her. Hugs all around, and the three of us giggled and chatted like we had known each other forever (this was my first real meeting of the famously awesome Jaki). Once Jak had her fill of junk, she headed off to her room, while Fran and I stayed up a bit and watched Run Fatboy Run, which Jaki had brought for our viewing pleasure. That flick was hysterical! I highly recommend it.

The next day the three of us drove up to Salem, to get our fill of witches and crones and all that good stuff. It was a glorious day for us, and we had a lot of fun exploring the town. We went to the cheez-a-licious Salem Witch Museum, and spent some time at the memorial for the victims of the Salem Witch Trials. It was a U-shaped stone wall with stone seats sticking out of it, with each victim's name and date of hanging carved on each seat. I hadn't realized how many men were hanged during that time (although there were mostly women put to the noose). Sometimes, people really really suck. Pic of John Proctor's memorial stone (the light at the time made his the most compelling pic - although some would say his supposed good looks are what drew me to it - bah!)

As we wandered around the village, Jaki kept pointing out the old crones, and then we decided that we were probably old crones as well, so we stopped judging... heh. We had so much fun just doodly-doing around the place we missed the few museums that were open, including Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables (we did do a drive by), so we finally decided to head back to Boston. Unfortunately, we got way-layed in a vortex of evil know as the town of Lynn. If you ever find yourself headed toward this town, do whatever you can to avoid it. We drove around looking for route 1A for what seemed forever, coming way to close to several accidents and coming dangerously close to the brain dead residents of this place. Seriously, the place is scary. The sense of relief when we finally turned a corner and saw the sign for 1A was palpable.

After some recovery time back at the hotel, we headed out for dinner at Legal Seafood. All the raves you have heard about this restaurant are warranted. The food was excellent, and the wait staff was cordial, helpful and on it. Another meal full of YUM.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and hung around Fran's room chatting and being silly girls. I learned what the word 'fanny' means in Scotland (it is NOT good, people), and Jaki practiced her running a bit. Jaki finally pooped out (she is a morning person, I am told), so Fran took me over to the Intermission Room, a bar owned by one of the local theater guys. It happened to be St. Patrick's day, but by now everyone had pretty much partied themselves out (having had the parade the day before), so it was pretty chill at the bar.

Until.... a couple of young'un college boys walked in. One of them was cranky and rude, and he quickly left, then came back, and then got tossed by the bartender for being a jerk and not tipping (ladies and gents, ALWAYS tip your bartender!). But his friend Scully stuck around, and so did another young man, who was all bright eyed and bushy tailed about getting into producing. He sat down and absorbed all the experience Fran had to impart, and was just the cutest thing. Fran and I agreed that if we were 21, we would have been all over him (hee!). Meanwhile, Scully tried to convince me he was CIA (HA!), and then tried to pick me up in the most hilarious way. When I told him I was 39, he said, "Well, then, why aren't you throwing me round the room by now?" He was funny, and so not getting any from me! Bless him.

The next day we headed over to Cambridge looking for some Irish goodies, to no avail. A nice little place, though. If we had had more time, we would have most certainly explored that area some more.

Then it was time for Jaki to go home, so she dropped me and Fran off at Fenway Park for our tour of the stadium. After a moment of thinking our tour would be full of annoying teenagers (whew!), our tour guide Maury greeted us, outed Fran and me as Yankee fans, and promised to talk slow so we could follow him (heh, damn Red Sox fans).

Oh Fenway! What a great place. My baseball heart was all a-flutter walking around that place. We started up in the Media room and after some fascinating history of the Red Sox, we made our way to the different levels of the place. You can seriously feel all the history there, and Maury was awesome. We didn't get to see everything people normally get to see on the tour because they were furiously renovating, trying to get ready for Opening Day. I hope they make it, there seemed to be a lot for them to do. Pics from the Media room and various other levels of the park.

Those are the old, original seats. Very uncomfortable, but actually good seats. They are definitely made for the smaller version of people from back in the late 1800's. If you are a baseball fan, and you haven't made it to Fenway, I highly recommend it. The only thing that would have made the visit better is if we could have been there for a game.

That was all for the day, as Fran had to go to work. But the next day, I got to see the show. Avenue Q was just as funny as advertised. I was worried that a Wednesday matinee in Boston might be full of deaf, old people, but the place was packed, and full of every kind of person. By the end, the audience leapt to their feet, screaming and cheering. It really was that good.

Before the show I got to hang out with Fran backstage, meet some of the puppets, and see her wrangling said puppets. Pretty funny. She was worried because she was gonna be washing the bear puppets that night, and she didn't want anything to go wrong. From what I hear, the bears are doing fine and are now April fresh! Pic of Treky, taking it easy before he goes on stage, Fran's awesome road box, and Fran hard at work.

After the show, we went and ate at Boston's oldest German food restaurant, which was yummy, and then it was time for me go. As always, it was great to visit Fran. It's a good excuse to get the hell out of New York City for a little bit, and I always have such a great time. This visit had the extra added bonus of getting to know Kendra and Jaki, both really awesome people, y'all.

Don't Say It's Over!

2008-03-28T00:17:00.001-04:00

Is it really time to eulogize Jericho? I, for one, am not ready. So please excuse the randomness of this post, I am still working through the grieving process, and I'm not sure which stage I am actually working through yet.

Season Two as a whole: Wow! Given the truncated season, and the slashed budget and a shortened shooting schedule, they really gave us something to behold. Not only did they pick up and run with a compelling storyline, but they gave us action, thrills, tears and satisfying character growth. Jake grew up, Stanley was deeper and more layered than we had ever seen, Heather showed us her steely side, and even Stupid Ol' Eric grew a pair and showed us that he is Johnston's son after all.

The writers and producers gave us a tight, focused seven episodes, and had us on the edge of our seats for an hour every Tuesday night for almost two months. It was a great ride, and highly satisfying.

The impact of Jericho: This show had an enormous impact on me. If someone had told me a year ago that a TV show would lead me to a rousing SOS campaign, and introduce me to a great bunch of folks, I would have rolled my eyes and shook my head. As I've said before, I was a cynical bastard when it came to believing in people, but I have a new group of pals that are kind and thoughtful and actually do their best to help each other. Just like those crazy Jerichoians. Looking back, I shouldn't be that suprized that a show that touted loyalty, family, and stepping up when times are tough would attract exactly those kind of people. Schmaltzy and starry-eyed? Maybe. But really, I have met some awesome souls, and I don't care how cheezy it sounds, it is the truth, and I love it!

Why was no one watching this show??!!!!: Honestly, such a great show. My friends and I would shake our heads at the end of each episode of season two, knowing the ratings, and declare this statement time and time again. I understand the people who were scared off by the beginning of the first season, the show took some time to get its legs. But once things got rolling, it was smart and asked very interesting questions of how people react to great adversity. I am a fan of the history of our country. HBO is airing an excellent take on the American Revolution right now, putting David McCullough's awesome book 'John Adams' the TV as a lovely mini-series (no really, check it out, it's gooooood). After watching the first two installments, I thought to myself, Jericho has stolen some of these stories, and retold them in a modern and interesting way. Watching characters struggle with making the tough choices while doing their best to keep their humanity is good stuff. One of the only things that makes me truly happy, is the knowledge that people are still discovering this show, and most of them, no matter how cranky and fight-y they are about it at the beginning, eventually find themselves cheering and getting sucked in like the rest of us Nuts. That is most satisfying, indeed.

No, really, why weren't people watching this show?: Please take the Nielsen numbers with a big, fat, grain of salt. Because for some reason, this show appealed to the Internet types. Jericho has had good numbers on iTunes, Unbox and various other alternate viewing platforms. The numbers of streaming episodes on CBS.com were high. Two weeks ago or so, Jericho was #15 in the Top 20 of all shows DVRd (that's what my Entertainment Weekly told me!). So first of all, the numbers were generally higher than the old-fashioned, creaky Nielsen numbers would tell us.

But other than that, why didn't this show have higher 'live' numbers? I mostly blame CBS. The show was actually doing pretty well in its first season before a poorly-timed hiatus, and practically ignored return, against American Idol, killed the ratings. I know plenty of people who thought it had been cancelled, or who just plain forgot it was back on. And while the show got lots of press after the Nuts Campaign brought it back, and the bloggers made some noise when it returned, CBS waited much too long to air Season Two in a bleak, writer's strike induced wasteland. They promoted the shit out of it on their own network, but we didn't see ANY magazine covers, billboards, talk show visits or blitz of any kind trumpeting its return. If you weren't a regular viewer of CBS (kinda like me), you probably didn't know it was on.

Some are lamenting the viewing audience as a whole. Saying that your average TV viewer just wasn't interested. Hmmmm... I'm not buying that. One of the most complex, interesting, genre-busting shows on TV has a huge audience, and its name is Lost. That show has numbers that networks kill for. It has a passionate, loyal base, and is a complicated, conspiracy driven serial. I used to get mad at people comparing Lost to Jericho, but they do have some similarities, and somehow, ABC figured out how to not only market the show effectively, but engage that rabid fan base and expand upon it. Personally, I think the real problem, is that CBS was fat and happy as the ratings leader, and didn't have a stake in nurturing a newbie, no matter how promising it was. They already had all the money, while ABC was struggling when Lost came along, saw the gem they had, and busted their asses to make it work.

What's next?: There are still a lot of Jericho fans (me included), who aren't ready to give up hope. Many of the fan built message boards, and the CBS boards, are full of motivated, passionate fans throwing out any idea to try and save the show again, hoping something will stick. I love it. It makes me happy that so many are still moved by this show. I am getting out my snail mail to Paramount, letting them know that I will follow this show, and to give the producers the option to take the show somewhere else. Executive Producer Carol Barbee has said that she is shopping the show, and there is some interest out there. Maybe a long shot, but Jericho was all about hope, in my opinion, so I am on board. If you'd like to voice your opinion, send your cards and letters to:

CBS-Paramount Network Television

4024 Radford Ave.
Studio City, CA 91604

Final thoughts: It's always nice to have a show that you adore. I am lucky enough to have a few of them. But I am a TV junkie. It is always sad to have a show you adore not given its due. The years are littered with shows I loved that never got a chance. This is the first time I was engaged enough to participate in a SOS campaign. Glad I did. No matter what happens next, I have learned some stuff, I have seen some amazing acts of love because of this show, and I have the ability to always say, I was part of that. Yes, it's just a TV show. But it is also a bunch of people. The fans, the cast and crew, the bloggers, the cheerleaders. Even the people who hated the show, even the people who attacked my friends, all of them affected me, and many others, and being affected by anyone in this world is important and a great part of life. It helps you put a focus on what you want your life to be, and that should be an ever evolving thing. That is what I got from Jericho. Pretty cool, yo.

Just because I can, a little quick trip to the shallow end, because even though I like to think I am above all the fluff of the world, sometimes the shallow end makes us all feel better. Hee!

What's Goin' On

2008-02-11T23:05:00.000-05:00

So, there are all kinds of things running through my head tonight. Many of them spurred on by, what else, television.

Tomorrow is the season premiere of Jericho. I am beyond excited. The past year has been a really interesting ride for me. I jumped on the SaveJericho train almost right from the beginning, and I have found a whole community of passionate and humble fans. They have encouraged me and commiserated with me, and I can truly say that I have made some new friends because of all of this. Everyone worked so hard to save the show, and then continued with great ideas for promoting and getting the word out. The fans voices have been loud and strong, and we have been rewarded with not only seven new episodes, but the pleasure of cast and crew members reaching out to us through message boards and chat rooms. It is a great feeling, and I can't wait for it all to start.

This weekend I spent watching Band of Brothers on The History Channel. This was a ten part mini-series originally shown on HBO back in 2001. I caught a few installments back then, but never really had a chance to see them all. This season, I became a fan of the show Life, which stars Damian Lewis, who also had a major role in BoB as Captain Dick Winters. Yes, I wanted to check it out because of him. Yes, he is one of my new TV boyfriends (what?), and he was great. But I gotta say, once I got rolling on this series, the thing that really stood out was the whole story. WWII is an amazing time in our history, and the story of Easy Company is remarkable. I can't really shake what I got from this show. And I spent a good chunk of today thinking of our soldiers over in Iraq and Afghanistan. How anyone who has been to war can come home and get on with some semblance of a normal life is beyond me. I have a deeper respect for anyone who has been in a combat situation. War is horrifying and numbing, and to run into the fire is nothing more than heroic. Forget the politics, forget the reason they are there, these kids deserve everything we can give them, both on the front, and here back at home.

Don't these two make a nice pair?

I am not shy in letting people know that I am a proud Democrat, and a fervent Hillary Clinton supporter. Not that I rhave anything against Barack Obama, but I feel like Ms. Clinton is the best choice. Regardless of how this all turns out, we will get a quality candidate. But I gotta say, I thought sexism was more dead than it really is. Day after day I see and hear things about Ms. Clinton that is insanely offensive to me. The misogyny that is running rampant in this camapign is intolerable, and the fact that no one with a big voice is up on a soapbox denouncing this is disheartening. Someone told me that she was talking to some female coworkers of hers about it, and they said, 'That's just the way it is, it's never gonna change.' I was agast to hear this. There is plenty to do about it, starting with just talking about it. It's pretty eye opening to someone like me, who on a day to day basis doesn't feel the sting of sexism, but now I realize that it is boiling under the surface, and it frustrates me.

Anyway, that is what's rolling around in my head today. Wonder what will be there next.

Jericho! ... And other TV stuff

2008-01-14T20:50:00.000-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Jericho returns February 12th at 10pm! We are all very very excited. I hope you all tune in and see what all the hub-bub was about. CBS still has all of season one streaming on their site, or you can Netflix or rent or even buy the season one DVDs (they're so pretty!). If you don't have that kind of time or patience, CBS made a nice little promo to help you catch up. And if you still need some motivation, check out the extended season two promo full of Jericho goodness! C'mon, that promo is hot! Please join us in seven episodes of post-apocalyptic fun.

Now, on to other TV stuff...

This season gave us some good TV. The new standouts for me were Journeyman, Life, Reaper, Chuck and Dirty Sexy Money.

I gave up on cop shows after Homicide: Life on the Street went off the air. But Life has given a new turn of the old hat procedurals with a detective exonerated from a life sentence who has taken on the notion of Zen while trying to track down the bastards who framed him. Another smart, character driven show that uses the LAPD as it's backdrop, and stars one of my new TV boyfriends, Damian Lewis, who makes his troubled, vengeance driven character interesting and compelling. The supporting cast is excellent, and we care about them way before we find out any of the details of the conspiracy that drives the plot. In reality, this is not a cop show, but a show about two people who have been to hell and back, and now in recovery, doing their best to choose good. I adore this show and was thrilled to hear that NBC gave it a full season pick-up even though the ratings were a bit shaky. If you have got some time on your hands, NBC has all 13 episodes streaming on its site.

And then there is the dark horse, Journeyman. A new take on the time travel idea that was compared to Quantum Leap (even by me at the beginning), but carved a very different path in its 13 episodes. This is one of those shows that would have surely been pulled if it hadn't been for the writer's strike, and while it passed its official renewal date, NBC has yet to make that cancellation official. I dare hope that this strike just may give it another chance. There is the now requisite SaveJourneyman campaign, and NBC has just released all 13 episodes on their website. It is a smart and thought provoking hour and I highly recommend you giving it a look (especially the later episodes), before it disappears forever. If nothing else, it has a kicky little theme song and an Actual Opening Credit sequence! You know I love that.

I must also mention 30 Rock here. I enjoyed all my favorite returning shows this season, but 30 Rock kicked up a notch or two and is, dare I say, the funniest sit-com on TV right now. Tina Fey has got some crazy, hilarious characters inhabiting this world, especially the much lauded Alec Baldwin as NBC Exec Jack Donaghy. A show that is well worth a half hour of your time every week.

And now for the ugly stuff, the writer's strike.

I have been having a hard time writing about this because I am so pro-union, and so anti-world-wide-conglomerate I was afraid that I would come off as a ranting loon. But just let me say this: the creative minds behind so many of my favorite shows should be getting money for their work. If the studios and networks are making money off of selling ads online, then so should the writers (and everyone else who worked on these projects). It seems so obvious, it makes these huge corporations look like greedy scum.

If you are still not sure what the writers are asking for, here's a video that explains it all. Then there are the execs, bragging about all the money they will make off the internet, while claiming to the writers they have no idea if the internet is feasible.

If you'd like to see what's going on with the strike, please go over to United Hollywood and look around. Thanks!

P.S. Before someone scolds me for linking to the network sites and encouraging people to stream episodes, let me say this: I am all for boycotting the sites as long as the writers aren't getting residuals for online content, but I adore some of these shows, and feel like if they get some activity online, maybe someone will notice that they are worth while and will keep them around. Does this conflict with what I just said about the money-grubbers? Yes, but we all know that the world isn't black and white, and this is my gray area.

Pundits and Pollsters and Matthews, Oh My!

2008-01-09T19:18:00.000-05:00

After a few years off of politics, I have been sucked back in! I spent a good portion of this past Tuesday night watching the results in the New Hampshire primaries. It was great, dramatic television.

We had heard for days that Obama was the new frontrunner, and that he was going to run away with the primaries. The pundits were reading the polls and speculating based on the Iowa caucuses. But the problem with speculation, is that it is just that, speculation.

I think there were a couple of factors working towards Clinton's win. First of all, the 'moment of emotion' that hit all the papers and was played ad naseum on the news channels, making some true emotion look like some kind of cataclismic event. A moment that I feel like was blown way out of proportion, simply because it happened to a woman. I hate to play the gender card here, but the penises out there seem to be really intimidated by a strong smart woman, and I feel like the scrutiny on her every move, her every fashion choice, her every expression is ridiculous and, quite frankly, made me want to run for President, just so I could tell everyone to shove it.

The other factor was most likely the crankiness of the population of New Hampshire. They, like me, hate to be told what the outcome will be, and I think they decided to take all of the blah blah, and go ahead and make up their own minds. And let's face it, this was a close race. One of the reasons it seemed like such a great victory, is that all those talking heads had decided that Clinton was done. They were in such a hurry to predict what was going to happen, they forgot how seriously the Live Free or Die-ers took their votes. The New Hampshire-ites listened to all the candidates had to say, and gave their votes, I'm sure, in a calm and well thought out fashion.

Now don't get me wrong, I think both Obama and Clinton make good candidates for my party, and I am a long-time Edwards supporter, so I would be happy with any of them making it to the end, but I am so excited that we seem to have an actual race on our hands. Even what's going on with the Republicans is interesting to watch. To have such a wide open race on both sides makes this years election that much more compelling. For all of us to have an actual choice this year can only be good for the country. I am thrilled that Cheney has chosen not to run.

So I watched Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman on MSNBC all night long, mainly because they have the faces I like; Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams and so on. Matthews made it very clear most of the night, without saying it out loud, that he did not want Clinton to win. He was sure she was done. During the Iowa caucuses it was very obvious that he was rooting for Obama. His remarks prompted me to say, over and over, 'Chirs Matthews has lost his mind!'. Olberman was doing a fine job all night balancing out Matthews' very slanted commentary. It ended up making my roommate and I, who hadn't really decided who we would vote for, begin rooting for Hillary. Every time the results fell further to her favor, we whooped it up. It made for a fun evening that could have been another boring night of politics. It re-lit my political fire, and I am looking forward to a spirited campaign from both sides. Hopefully, it has lit a fire under other Americans too.

Digg For Jericho

2007-10-27T00:29:00.000-04:00

One of my fellow Jericho fans has designated Sunday, October 28th as Digg Day for Jericho. What's a Digg? Glad you asked. Digg is a website that posts articles from blogs all over the web. You may have seen the 'Digg' icons on some of your favorite sites. It takes you to the site where you can click and add your Digg. The sites with the most Diggs get put up on the sites top ten articles and get more exposure. You can search for top articles in different categories, or see what's new on the front page. During the Nuts for Jericho campaign, blog posts got hundreds of Diggs, helping keep the story in the forefront of the news. Now, we would like to make a little noise about how we feel about CBS' handling of the DVD release and when we will get to see the new seven episodes. More on Digg here or here

Digg-ing is easy and can be fun. You do need to register, like just about everything online these days, but they will never spam you. It's kind of a power to the people site. If you want to join in the fun, here is the link to the Digg sites.

So, what is going on in the world of Jericho? Beats me. CBS and Nina Tassler told the fans they needed to get more people to watch the show when it came back, a task that we have been happy to take on. BUT. And this is a BIG BUT. We do feel like a multi-million dollar corporation like CBS has much more to do themselves. They had an opportunity to made a big noise when the DVDs were released. I only saw a little side banner ad in my Entertainment Weekly. It was a whisper, when it could have been a boom. They have a whole network at their disposal. Hell, even the Sci Fi network had an exclusive online video interviewing cast members and producers at the DVD release party. THE SCI FI NETWORK! Maybe they should take the show.

As most of you know, I am also a huge fan of 24. They do not debut until January 13th. You know what FOX just did? They had a world wide tah-da, debuting the trailer for the seventh season this past Wednesday. They put it up on the jumbotron in Times Square! Now, I know that 24 is a huge, moneymaking extravaganza for FOX, but Jericho is hopefully due to debut in January. All the episodes have been shot. CBS could totally make a big noise, starting right now, and ramp up the excitement, feeding off the good will they got from the successful fan campaign. But we still don't even know when the show will be back on the air. How are we supposed to drum up viewers when we can't even tell them when to tune in?

The other potential stick in the plan is the looming writer's strike. CBS had said that as soon as one of their new shows tanked, Jericho was first in line to replace it. But when Viva Laughlin bit it after two episodes, they announced The Amazing Race would take it's place. Being a fan of that show, I am fine with that decision. It will run into the holiday season, and putting a show with many Emmy's and an established fan base is the smart move. Some have speculated that CBS will hold Jericho if the strike happens, and will be one of the few networks that has new, scripted shows to debut. 24 is debuting in January, Lost is debuting in February. There is still time to get us all a-buzz over Jericho. I hope that CBS doesn't drop the ball on this. There is only so much we can do.

Here's the video they showed at Comic-Con to thank the fans. Please enjoy! For The Fans

Sing A Song

2007-10-17T19:37:00.000-04:00

I have always loved a well done TV theme song. The theme to The Dick Van Dyke Show stands out immediately as I think about them. Over the years, some of my favorite shows had theme songs that immediately got me into the mood for the show. In college, my good friend Rhonda had a cassette of Mike Post theme songs (LA Law, Remington Steele, NYPD Blue, The A-Team, Magnum, P.I., et.al.) and would put it on her stereo and blast it out the dorm room window out into the quad. Aaah, good times.....

A while back TV shows stopped with the pesky theme song, what with more commercials and less time to tell a story, that precious minute or two was used to start the actual story, leaving time for a title card after the teaser, and credits would run at the bottom of the screen once the action started. It made sense financially, but I missed the theme songs and opening title sequences.

But with the new television season, I have noticed that more shows are going back to theme songs and opening credits, although most of them are instrumentals. A lot of them are wonderful little ditties. As expected, sit-coms have perky, sing-songy tunes that make you want to sing along. Notable ones are from The Office, 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother. The dramas have some nice ones two, my current favorite being "A Place In Time" which opens The 4400. Other notables are Ugly Betty, Journeyman, Chuck and Bionic Woman, in all it's cheesiness. The CSI franchise has given The Who a nice little boost as well.

Not all shows have added the theme songs back (my favorite, Jericho, has a bleak, morse code title card that seems appropriate for the show), but it's a nice little trend that I hope continues.

Go West!

2007-09-30T19:48:00.000-04:00

My oh my. The first trip out to the west coast in 12 years. The occasion? Grandma Northup's 90th birthday. I mean, how can you not go?

Many of you know I am not a great flier, so of course I spent months worrying about this trip. The funniest thing of all? I was all ready to fly away on Friday, but when I called JetBlue to get my confirmation number, I found out the flight wasn't until Saturday. I laughed and laughed at my mistake. It turned out to be for the best, as I had a full day off to get ready and pack and whatnot. Hee.

I had forgotten how beautiful this country is from 35,000 feet. Especially the southwest, which is all reds and oranges and purples. I could see wind farms over Arizona, parts of the Grand Canyon, and once we got to the mountains in California, we could see a forest fire and a plane dropping that red flame-retardant stuff. Beside the fear of falling out of the sky in a fiery ball, flying is cool.

We landed in Long Beach, CA. This was my first time at the Long Beach airport, and it is awesome. It's tiny and cute, and the baggage claim is outside. You stand there in the sunshine while soft rock is piped out for your amusement. It made me feel like I was travelling in the early 60s, and was a nice entry to a state I have very mixed feelings about. Also, I think the facade of the airport was the double for the airport in Sunnydale in Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. Very cool.

After we got our bags, Mom, Dad, my brother Zach and I loaded up the rental and headed north up to Santa Barbara. A beautiful coastal town that has Mom's Alma mater, UCSB. The drive through LA brought back memories of living in that city. Ick. I hated it there.

This is the cute little motel we stayed at. Once again I felt like we had been transported back in time. It screamed early 60s surfer to me. I had the pleasure of sharing a room with Mom and Dad, while Zach took off to stay with Tom, a good friend of his from high school that has taken up residence with his lovely wife in this little town. I spent two relatively sleepless nights listening to my parents snoring, and woke up with a backache after lying on that crappy mattress. Yeah, so, motel not so cute after that.

After a nice meal at a sweet little Italian restaurant, and a bad night's sleep on that terrible bed, we got up on our first morning in SB and went down to the beach. I always marvel at how different the Pacific looks to the Atlantic ocean, and the color of the sky is totally different by the beach. We happened to be there on the day that war veterans set up a beach version of Arlington cemetery in protest of the Iraqi war. It was very powerful and solemn. The vets there had lots of information about the war and were friendly and in good spirits. We thanked them for what they were doing, and spent some time reading the various stats about the war. The picture I took with my cell phone is kinda bad (all the pictures in this blog are from my phone), so I hope you can get a sense of what it looked like. Each one of the crosses in the sand represents a soldier that has died in the war.

After that we walked along the pier, and then headed over to State Street, the main drag of SB, full of shops and bars and restaurants. It is very obvious that the college has made this area a bit of a party destination. The whole place is gorgeous.

We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and outside on the patio was Noah Wylie with his family. Mom hilariously reminded me to send my Celebrity Tag texts (thanks, Ma). I did not take a picture, because I'm cool like that. Let me tell you, Noah Wylie is tall and adorable in person. His two kids are cutie-pies, and his wife is very normal pretty, not that crazy Hollywood pretty, which made me like Noah even more.

Speaking of cute. I had forgotten how tall and cute California boys are. Wow. The place was crawling with them, and unlike in NYC, they were friendly and happily flirted with me. I will say it again. What is wrong with the men in New York? Sheesh.

Anyway, that evening we went to visit some friends of my Mom. First, was Eric, a scientist with a lovely new bride and a nice home in the hills. We had drinks and hors-d'oeuvres and chatted away. After ward, we went over to Susan and Charles home. A gorgeous house with a stellar hillside view of the ocean and full of beautiful furniture and art. Susan is an artist, and she graciously showed me her studio and what she is currently working on. They fed us flank steak and asparagus grilled outside and some wonderful crunchy bread. Turned out to be one of the best meals of the trip. These people know how to live. Unfortunately, because of the Yankees/Red Sox game and the wine and food, I totally forgot to take pictures of any of it. Sorry guys.

We got up Monday, met Zach and Tom out for a yummy breakfast, and drove out of town off to Central California to see Grandma and Grandpa Kissack, and Aunt Kay. The drive took forever, driving through desolate, god-forsaken country. The most distressing thing to me was all the people living in these ugly towns, in the middle of land that doesn't have water and hardly any vegetation. There is a lot of farming going on out there, which is crazy. The amount of water piped out there must be enormous to support all that. Plus, the land is so dry right now, it looks like if you breathe too hard the whole place will go up in flames in a second. The mountains are pretty, though.

After a stop at an In-N-Out Burger for lunch (oh.yeah! Awesome burgers), we ended our days driving at our destination, Visalia. A boring little city, really. Lots of strip malls and gas stations. But the street Grandma and Grandpa live on is cute, and they have themselves a cute little house, with a really nice great room. It's astounding to me that people living in such a dry part of the country still insist on having lawns. Once again, crazy.

This is the part of the trip when eating became a bit of a sport. There was a lot of eating. Grandma found out I love Mexican food as much as she does, so we had three Mexican meals. Let me tell you, I have missed good Mexican food. There are good Mexican restaurants in NYC, but it's not real Mexican. This stuff was yummy, especially the chile relleno I had for lunch the second day. Yes!

I had made a promise to myself to get out for a walk everyday while on this trip. I am used to walking everyday, and when I don't get to do it, my head gets a little cuckoo. The second day there I decided to go take a walk in the park a block away that has a trail that runs along the river. I just forgot that a river in California rarely has any water in it.

I had to finally turn around and go back, because this trail headed out into a treeless field, and it was getting hot and I was getting a little sun sick. I'm so delicate.

We spent most of our time in Visalia sitting around and telling stories of the family. On the third day, Zach and I decided to go and check out the main drag. Kinda strip mall-y, but it had shops and bars that looked kinda funky. We ended up at the Visalia Brewing Company and had a beer and met some of the local flavor. As usual, everyone was very friendly, and once again, Zach and I were mistaken for a couple (a phenomenon that has occurred since we were kids). The woman sitting next to Zach was VERY happy to hear we were brother and sister. Hee. We also played the poor-man's version of MegaTouch, and got the top ten score on the picture search game as ZEK. Not as good as the 50 million Fran and I got in Honeoye Falls, but respectable nevertheless.

On Thursday we got up and headed back down to the beach communities south of LA. The drive was much shorter, thankfully, and we head straight over to Grandma Northup's home to see her and Aunt Ginger, Uncle Felix and our cousin Talia. These are some of my favorite people in the family, they are unique and smart and a lot of fun.

I lived with Grandma for the first six months or so of my time in LA, and her home hasn't changed much. There are, however, many more giant, multi-million homes surrounding her. It's a little odd, but I love Hermosa Beach very much. It's kinda young and funky with lots of cute little restaurants and shops. After a bit of visiting Zach and I decided to walk down to the beach and check the place out. They had rebuilt the pier since I had lived there, and there are lots of bars and restaurants right down at the strand. We wandered into the Hermosa General Store, a dark store full of t-shirts and hoodies and flip-flops and other various beachy things. The owner was an old hippie and told us all kinds of funny stories from back when they started the place in the 60s. I have a feeling that there are still bongs in that back room. He was very proud of his daughter who was doing great at UCSB, and he sold me an awesome hoodie, that later in the trip covered my skin and clothes in blue dye (it needed to be washed first. Whoops!).

Here's the beautiful pier, taken a few days later when we went down with Dad (that's him on the right). You can see the dark clouds out over the ocean, which came in later that night and they got their first measurable rain in almost a year. It was cool.

We went over to my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Janet's home to meet them for dinner. They have a very nice house close to the ocean in Redondo Beach. It's a small, beachy styled place that is homey and sweet. Here's the view from the front door, looking out over their front deck. Nice view, eh?

The food orgy continued when Wayne and Janet took us a few blocks away to eat at the Chicago Rib joint. The food was good and I'm suprized none of us keeled over from a heart attack afterwards.

Once dinner was over, Mom and Dad took Zach and I over to my Cousin Craig's home, where we were staying. We met Craig's very cool wife Marlo, their charming six year old son Clyde and their awesome 13 year old daughter Alex. Clyde gave up his room and Alex let us share her bathroom with no complaints. The place was gorgeous. After sleeping on a skinny little cot up in Visalia, the twin bed in the guest bedroom was the biggest, most comfortable bed I had ever slept in. Like most places in highly populated areas, the backyard was small, but it had something I had never seen, sprouted coconuts. I had to take a picture.

Our first morning we woke up and Zach and I were on our own to get breakfast. Marlo was nice enough to set up the coffee maker, so after a cup, we decided to go for a walk and see if we could find a breakfast joint. We walked two blocks and stumbled across the Cozy Cafe. It was perfect.

It was just a counter, with barely enough room to make your way around, and seating for about eight people (there was a patio out back for 'overflow'). George, the owner came out and asked us where we were from, and then proceeded to tell us his story about his one trip to NYC. He took our orders, and we quickly got our plates piled full of eggs and potatoes, way too much food to ever consider finishing. It was very tasty. There was not a lot of space, the toasters were placed in various spots around the place, and our fellow breakfasters were friendly and chatty. Excellent food and local flavor. My kinda place.

We then decided to take a walk along the beach, which is very different than Hermosa, with lots of beach side condos, and a pier that is huge, and hard to find your way off of when you don't know where you're going. This was obviously a wealthier looking area, although I'm sure any place within the beach communities is crazy expensive.

Another lunch, another Mexican meal (yum) and after bailing out on helping at Grandma's getting ready for the party, we headed out for another dinner with Janet and Wayne. They took us to Tony's, a seafood restaurant on the Redondo pier. This place was Old.School. It had a spanning view of the ocean, and booths with high backs, and a guy playing the piano at the bar. I swear it could have been 1955 walking in there. I had a Caesar seafood salad and some New England Clam chowder. It tasted great, but I woke up at midnight and had to make a trip to the bathroom to unwillingly get rid of the meal. Ick. I suppose that is the risk you take with seafood.

Saturday we took Alex and Clyde and headed over to Janet and Wayne's to bake for the party. Grandma has requested a carrot cake, and Mom also came up with apple spice muffins and mini Whoopie cakes to ad to the impending sugar high. Alex took the reins and was a rock star helping Mom and I cook. She was a trooper, and was determined to get to the finish line. Meanwhile, Clyde put on a leash and made Zach walk him around the house like a dog. He was a cute little doggy, and Zach's reaction to having to do this was hilarious.

I selfishly took off with Dad and Zach to walk around Hollywood Riviera, a little area of shops and restaurants a few blocks from Cooking Central, and had lunch (uugh, even more food), and then I felt guilty, and headed back to help finish with the baking. My cousin Curtis and his family showed up, and we finally met his wife Lynne and their kids Kelsea and Christopher. Once the baking and frosting making was done, Zach and I went to dinner with our cousins and their wives at a fabulous little pasta place over in Hermosa Beach. As we were leaving, we ran into Aunt Ginger, Uncle Felix, Talia and our cousins Jessica and Julia who had flown in that day. They were headed for ice cream, so we joined them and walked out on the pier and chatted. It was the first time in I don't know when when almost all the cousins had been together. I am terribly not used to large gatherings of family, so it was fun.

Whew! This is a long one, isn't it? Hey, just a reminder: Jericho is available on DVD October 2nd! Go out and get it, or NetFlix it. C'mon, you know you want to! Hee Hee.

Sunday was the day of the Big Party. But first! My second roommate here in NYC, the lovely Dana, lives in Long Beach, and she drove up to meet me for lunch. We walked down to the Catalina Brew Company, a cute little coffee house a block from the beach. It was so nice to see her again, and after a nice lunch of sandwiches we took a long walk and caught up. Hopefully I will get back out there again soon and I can meet her two boys, but it was nice to have a ladies only lunch.

I got back just in time to catch a ride over to Grandma's for the festivities. The place was packed with family, friends and neighbors. There was a lot of food, and the cake and goodies Mom and Alex toiled over were so yummy. Grandma seemed happy, if a little overwhelmed. I met long heard about distant relatives, and met some of her square dancing and old Barbershop pals. She is also popular with the neighbors, which makes me happy knowing they are there for her. I think the party was a huge success! Here's a picture of Grandma opening presents. She's so cute.

If that wasn't enough, Rhonda and Paul happened to be in LA this weekend, so they came down Sunday night with our friend Paul, from college, and Zach and I took them out to Heromosa Beach. We hit a couple of bars and walked out to the ocean. It was a lovely, chilly evening, and nice to spend some time with some good friends. A nice end to a long and fun family adventure.

As stressful as the flying was, and as frustrating family can sometimes be, I am really glad I made this trip. I got to reacquaint myself with family and enjoyed most of my time in California. Hanging out with all those family members made me feel like a little kid again, which was kind of disconcerting seeing how I am very much a grown-up in my day to day life. But one thing I know for sure, I really don't want to live in California again. It's nice, but sooooo not me.

In the tradition of Fran's Travel Blog, here's some extra pics:

The rental! A blue Chrysler Pacifica. Very roomy and nice, especially when you've got six adults to take to dinner.

More of those dry but beautiful California mountains

The Santa Barbara shoreline taken from the pier. Beautiful!

The art fair in Santa Barbara and Dad, showing off my excellent picture taking skills (yes, that's my finger there at the bottom).

The local flavor at the Visalia Brewing Company.

Grandma and Grandpa Kissack in olden times. Cool picture, but they don't look too happy, do they? Maybe it was taken by one of those cameras where you have to sit there forever before the picture is taken. I, of course, forgot to ask.
I had forgotten you can get your booze at the grocery store in California. One of the few reasons to consider living there.

The Open

2007-09-09T18:57:00.000-04:00

I am a lazy tennis fan. I love the game, and spent many afternoons as a kid watching with the family, but I rarely get very excited each season until the quarters of Wimbledon. My good friend Rhonda is an active tennis fan. Once the Australian Open begins, she is off and running, and thankfully keeps me updated on what is going on. If I can get it together, I sometimes catch a few matches of the French Open, but usually completely space until things get rolling at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club.

The 2007 US Open has ended. It was a blast this year, even though Roger Federer wins again (will anyone ever beat this guy? Sheesh!). I was worried that after Andre Agassi retired last year, I wouldn't be as excited about tennis this year, but there are plenty of great tennis players out there, and there was lots of great tennis played at the Open. Tommy Haas, James Blake, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick showed up and played amazing, fun matches. There were some good ladies matches too (hmm, do you notice a bias towards cute boys here?).

Due to all the rain last year, and a very generous Cousin this year, I was able to go three times the first week. I finally got to see Venus and Nadal play (and Jim and I were stalked by a Praying Mantis during our visit to Ashe). Rhonda clued me in to Djokovic and Santoro, and we got to see both of them play the day we went. They both played matches later in the tournament that made me happy I had seen them in person. They are both very entertaining in their own ways.

This week at work I had a guy tell me he turned down free tickets to go to the Open because he wasn't really a tennis fan. I tell you all right now. If you have any appreciation for sports, and you get a chance to go, DO NOT TURN IT DOWN. The US Open is a celebration of the solo athlete, and makes us New Yorkers very proud. It is not a snooty, exclusive experience. The USTA has made it fairly accessible to just about everyone, and even if you end up in the nosebleeds in Ashe, or get grounds passes, you get to see lots of great tennis and experience a friendly and communal atmosphere. They even let the Day Session people stick around and watch the evening matches on the big screens. Trust me on this, there are all kinds who show up for the fun.

I very much missed my comrade in arms, Fran, during my visits to the Open this year. Fran, I hope you know how much I missed you this year. And hopefully, last year was not our last time trolling the grounds for the hottest, AHEM, I mean, the most talented players we can find. Two of our current favorites:

As Rhonda would say: America, F*** Yeah! (Hee!!)

Tooting of the horn...

I would like to publicly thank Amy over at Remote Access for asking me to do a recap of Jericho, episode One If By Land, and for liking my South Park Jack Bauer enough to post it on her 24 site, Blogs4Bauer. She is a big fan of television, and two of my favorite shows, 24 and Jericho.

Well, Hello Ladies...

2007-08-26T01:10:00.000-04:00

Let me start this off by saying this is all conjecture. I don't have any hard stats on any of this.

I am suprized by all the female fans of Jericho. Hm, maybe suprized is not the right word. Let's go back.

I am suprized by all the female fans of 24. Hey, this is a show that is marketed towards men in that juicy 18-49 year old demo. There is lots of fighting and blowing stuff up and driving around in big cars and shooting bad guys. But most of my female friends love 24. I mean, when you mention 24, their eyes get dilated and you can see them get all excited. I have had this experience with all fans of 24, they can't wait to talk about how much they love (or, in some cases after season 6, how much they are disappointed by) the show. At first, with the Ladies, I thought it was the hotness factor. 24 is never short on men that are easy on the eye. But once you get past the 'Kiefer is so my TV boyfriend' conversation, these Ladies are real and actual fans of The Show. My favorite TV related internet site has just as many women, if not more women than men, posting on the 24 forums. I found this curious, but never really thought about it much.

Then came Jericho. And then went Jericho. And then came the Save Jericho campaign. I met a lot of wonderful fans on the Jericho message boards that have popped up on the Interwebs (man, I wish I knew who first used this word, I love it), and it slowly dawned on me that most of the people I had gotten to know were women. So now, I started to wonder if this is maybe just an internet thing. Maybe women are just more likely to post on the internet message boards, being the chatty, social creatures that we are. But then CBS started running the reruns of Jericho on Friday nights, and I took notice of the commercials running during the show (yes, I am watching the re-runs; does this suprize any of you?). Among the expected ads for cars and electronics, there were ads for make-up and kitchen-related stuff that was clearly meant for the Ladies of the household. Veerrry interesting. Because while Jericho isn't as obviously an action-adventure type show as 24, it is still very male skewed in a traditional, stereotypical sense. Apparently I am not the only one who noticed the large female fan base, and female appeal of the show (lovely looking actors, once again, not being the only reason to tune in).

Obviously, 24 is not on the air right now (and who knows if it will ever make it back hearing about all those stops and starts of production), so I can't look in on their ads. I seem to recall the shows being heavy on Big Freakin' Car ads, though.

Anyway, I find all of this very interesting. After spending years deflecting odd looks when I confessed to liking action movies and being accused of being a Sci-Fi nerd because I've seen Star Wars a bajillion times and own at least four versions of the trilogy, looks like I am not a 'weird girl' after all. Looks like I have lots of female counterparts out there who like the rough and tumble stuff just as much as the boys. So maaaaybe, just maybe, we are all slowly inching away from the stereotypes and assumptions that we all have.

A Lady can dream, right?

Random

2007-08-10T23:26:00.000-04:00

I know I am usually late to the party with things like this, and you all may already know about this site, but I made the South Park version of me, and that is it above. South Park Erika, freakin' hilarious...

Look, it's South Park Jack Bauer!

Weird toe... The other day I was walking to the subway after work, and I saw the weirdest thing. You know how some of us, including me, have their second toe longer than their big toe? Well, I saw a lady wearing flip-flops and her second toe was shorter that her third toe! It was totally freaky! She was walking right in front of me, and I really really wanted to get a pic (that's what camera phones are for, right?), but being New Yorkers, we were all walking too fast and I couldn't get a shot. To her credit, she was completely comfortable with her freaky little toes, as her piggies were well manicured and painted a brilliant red.

South Park Buffy and Angel, hee!

Being sick... Last week I was sick. Some kind of random, summer flu. I had a fever of 101, achey, very tired, and eating was just not pleasant. But I wasn't pukey, and I didn't have a sore throat or the sniffles or anything like that. It was so hot that I didn't even realize that I had a fever the first day until after 5pm, when it started cooling down outside, and I was still burning hot. By the time the fever broke on friday, I was so weak from not eating anything more than a couple pieces of toast, that I didn't get to work at all. I walked a block and a half to get a plain slice of pizza, and needed a nap by the time I got home.

As awful as it was to be sick, I realized on my way home from work today, that I was so very happy to be feeling healthy again. In fact, even though I am in the middle of serious PMS, I was all cheery and smirky because I just felt so good. So, being sick is a really cool way to be grateful for how good I really do have it here on this planet. Hopefully the next time I am ailing away on the couch, I can look forward to being well instead of wishing I was dead.

Oh my god, I really am having a good time with this South Park thingy.

You all know I can't do a random post without mentioning Jericho. This is South Park Jake Green (played by the lovely Skeet Ulrich). Looks like even though the summer re-run ratings for Jericho are "better than expected", as Nina Tassler of CBS says, they are only pulling about 3 million viewers. The really good news? About 2/3 of the viewers are new watchers. I am taking that as a positive.

Hey! The Yankees are on a tear! Kickin' ass and takin' names. This last half of the season is gonna be so much fun! Hmmm, let's see if I can get me a South Park Derek Jeter...

As some of you already know, we had one hell of a storm here in New York City on Wednesday. We even had a tornado right here in Brooklyn. I woke up at 5am to one of the scariest thunderstorms I have experienced in a long time. The subways flooded, and it took me over three hours to get to work. Maybe I've been watching too much Jericho (not possible!), but I thought, if something really horrible happens in this city, sticking around is probably a bad idea. Too many people in a small area. So, my new plan. If something catastrophic happens here, and I happen to live through it, the first order of business is to run like hell! I will not be one of those jack-asses who decides to stay and 'defend my home'. It may take a couple of days, but I am so outta here.

One last one. Fran sent me her version. I give you South Park Fran:

Okay, this post was really just an excuse to play with the South Park character maker. You should really go and play.

What's Happening to the Citrus??

2007-06-29T18:59:00.000-04:00

The Tea Lounge, a local coffe/tea/lounge-y type place here in my neighborhood, has had a sign in their window all week that says: Now Serving Lemon-Aid.

?????? wha????

It bugs me everytime I walk by. Does every single person who works there not know how to spell lemonade?

Or maybe there is some kind of massive citrus holocaust going on, and the tea lounge has taken on the aiding of the lemons....

Corporate A-Tired

2007-06-27T21:37:00.000-04:00

Heh. What's up with the bad puns lately? Sorry about that (Look, it's a non-Jericho post!).

I have been living in the corporate world for a while now, and I am not a fan. Being one of those seemingly rare individuals who isn't really motivated by money, I find the whole thing full of stinky, preposterous wind.

Let's take The Uniform. Men: Dress pants, dress shirt (usually either white, blue or pink) and a tie (boring, monochromatic or duo-chromatic stripey aberrations). There are very few I find this look intriguing on. Jack Bauer and Fox Mulder come to mind, but they both look great in a t-shirt and jeans, so maybe that's not a fair comparison. The point is, it's boring and dull and all it reminds me of is lemmings, not successful, powerful businessmen.

Women: Slacks of some sort (black, brown and gray), knit top or female version of the dress shirt, closed-toe shoe, occasional skirt. To be fair, the women get a little more leeway with their clothing options, and we don't have to deal with the ridiculousness of the tie, but we are expected to be in some sort of heel, which means for a lot of women, carrying some kind of flat shoe to actually walk home in, and the ridiculous, but not nearly as common, pantyhose (even at the most conservative of places, I see women shunning the evil pantyhose more and more, regardless of what the Official Dress Code is).

I come from a background of casualness. I have spent a good part of my life wearing jeans (nice ones) and t-shirts (good ones) to work. Even after a good year or more of working in this conservative type world, I am still regularly flummoxed as to what exactly is appropriate. And although it is nice to have more options because I am a woman, sometimes the idea of the pants/shirt/tie combo sounds easy and virtuous.

But here's the thing. I have never in my life been impressed by someone simply because they are wearing some semblance of a suit. In fact, my bias tends to lean the other way, as I have found the suit wearing public to be judgemental and snooty in a way that completely turns me off. Just because you look nice does not mean you are in any way smart, cunning or reliable. Some of the brainiest, most interesting and loyal types that I have known probably look like homeless people to the suit crowd. Mean, incompetent jerkwads come in all manner of clothing. Genius does not (necessarily) wear Armani.

I'm not saying that we should all become a nation of sweatpants wearing slobs. But the idea that only a suit, instead of a well put together jean and top ensemble means that a person is more worthy or more capable than the other is simply ridiculous and beyond what is really important in this world. Being comfortable, causal and well put together do not make a person less, just like a frackin tie doesn't necessarily make you someone I should be doing business with.

The NUTS-Team / Official Save Jericho Campaign

2007-06-15T21:20:00.001-04:00

I know it's time for another post, but it's the weekend and I'M TIRED. So I will continue the current theme of Jericho and add one of the funniest SaveJericho videos out there. Thanks, robjens, for your tribute.

Hooray For Our Side!

2007-06-07T17:20:00.000-04:00

Well, that was fun!

After three weeks of nuts and emails and cards, CBS relented and gave us our show back, even if it is only on a trial basis. Fan-tastic!! (oh god, please ignore my silly pun...)

There is still much work to be done if we want to keep our show around, but now is the time to celebrate!

If you'd like to play catch up and see what all the fuss is about, you can check out all the episodes from season one on CBS.com!

Or, if watching TV on your computer isn't your thang, CBS will be re-running season one all summer long (starting July 6th at 9pm), and last, but not least, check out iTunes and buy yourself the season (DVDs available October 2nd, for all you 'extras' junkies).

Obviously, this is a show that I adore, and I think this summer is the perfect time to catch up and get ready for season two. Someone over on YouTube has already taken the first step, and cut together their own Season Two promo. Enjoy!

Dear CBS...

2007-06-02T15:53:00.001-04:00

It was bound to happen, especially after starting on my TV is FUN!! post. Enjoy this fun video from LisiBee, and then read my previous post to hear what I've got to say.

I've Become a Fangirl

2007-06-01T12:03:00.000-04:00

"Heartbreaking!" "I'm DEVASTATED" ""WHAT??!!!" Just some of the comments I heard from my fellow fans of Jericho after learning the show was unceremoniously cancelled.

As some of you know, I have been a diligent watcher (and sometime participant) of the campaign to help save one of my favorite TV shows of this past season, Jericho. For the past couple of weeks, in my spare time at work (which there is plenty of, by the way), I have been watching the Jericho Rangers trying to save The Show. As of this posting, there have been over 34,000lbs of nuts sent to CBS in protest, we broke the 100,000 mark on the online petition, and over $10,000 has been raised to help the town of Greensburg, Kansas after being obliterated by a F5 tornado a couple of weeks ago. Pretty impressive for a show that one CBS Executive described as "losing steam" as a reason for cancellation.

Unfortunately for CBS, after promoting the show extensively online and making the show available on CBS.com for free, selling it on iTunes, and making it available on xBox and various cable On-Demand platforms, they forgot to count a large chunk of their audience. Now, that audience is rebelling. It's a beautiful thing.

For those of you who never watched Jericho, or for those who started and then lost track during the long hiatus (some even thinking it was cancelled way back in November), this is a show with tons of heart. Being a new show, it struggled creatively a bit in the middle of the season, but found it's footing soon after the hiatus was over, and ended strongly with the last four or five episodes. A show that may have scared some people who thought it was too depressing, considering it's post apocalyptic setting, became a testament to the strength of community
within that world.

After spending lots of time on the CBS boards, I have learned that not only did this show have lots of uncounted fans in this country, but in countries all over this world. There have been posts from people in Canada, Turkey, Israel, Brazil, France, England and many others. Not only that, but it turns out this was a show that a lot of families watched together. Posts from Mom's and Dad's who said this was the only time in the week when their teens would sit down with them and watch as a family. It's astounding to me that a show that can appeal to people from teenagers to baby boomers could be treated so poorly.

Some have brought up the idea that if this many people can rally for a TV show, what about rallying for things like politics or the environment? This is what I think. CBS, like all the other networks, are targeting the 18-49 year old demo, and it seems like they got a lot more of this demo than they knew of because of the online community. This is a group of people that have grown up feeling like they have no say, and nothing they do will make any kind of difference in the world. But what if, after an experience like this, they see that maybe when they join together for one cause, they CAN make a difference? Maybe this victory (and it is a victory, no matter what the outcome for the show), will inspire them to have faith in other parts of their lives. Something like this can change a lot of minds. The last Presidential election showed that the Internet had an influence and a voice, maybe this is the next step in people feeling like they do have some power in their world. What kind of world do you want?

Listen, this show has some interesting things to say. But don't get me wrong, Jericho is a pleasure to watch. It is full of action and intrigue, with some romance and just the right amount of laughter. From what I've seen, this show appeals to men and women across the board. You've got your family values, you've got your mysteries, you've got your action!sequences, and you've got SuperSkeet! How can anyone go wrong!

I don't know how many of you out there happened to watch Jericho. I hope that I have piqued the interest of some of you. If you have the time and the inclination, check out the pilot episode over on CBS.com: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/jericho/videos.php. C'mon! What else do you have to do tonight?

If you would like to donate to the Nuts protest to CBS, buy a t-shirt or mug, donate to Greensburg, KS, or just check out what all the hoopla is about, go here: http://www.nutsonline.com/jericho

You can sign the online petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?09272006

Or visit the main rallying sites, where everyone is getting together to protest the cancellation of their beloved show, Jericho:http://www.jericholives.com/

http://www.jerichorallypoint.com/

http://jerichoboard.cbs.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=CBSMBJericho

Or just go to CBS and let them know that the viewing audience has changed, and everyone should be counted:http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.shtml

I've had a lot of fun with this. A lot of the cast members of the show have posted on the CBS boards to thank everyone for their support. It really is heartwarming to see everyone join together.

This is one of my favorite Save Jericho videos on YouTube right now (and I am too impatient to deal with embedding this video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8TJeOzCBX0&NR=1

Go on, join us! You know you want to!

TV is FUN!!

2007-05-29T22:51:00.000-04:00

Those of you who know me, know I love my TV. When people ask me what my hobbies are, I always want to tell them, "TV!" but I usually don't. There's a general acceptance that TV is bad, so I normally keep that to myself. But no more! I am coming out of the television closet.

So now that all the networks have blown their collectives wads, I felt like it was time to comment on my TV addiction. An addiction that I love to feed. Let's see what I thought of this seasons offerings.

THE GOOD STUFF
Reality TV:

Survivor - This season we started off with one team living with luxuries, and the other living with nothing. After a few episodes it got really, really uncomfortable. It was looking like one of the most depressing seasons ever. But then, the teams merged, and everything was taken away except fire, a machete and a pot. Surprize! The ensuing scheming and strategy ramped up and it became an exciting show. By the end, as usual, the person who played the best game didn't have a chance in hell of winning, but it ended as one of the best seasons yet! Tune in for the fall season, when they will be living in China (and maybe Jeff will wear that lavender shirt I like so much). Good times...

The Amazing Race - One of my all-time favorite shows. A game that rewards skill and clear thinking, while sometimes dooming teams to incredible bad luck (anyone who has travelled knows the pain of missing a flight or suffering an incompetent cabbie). If you've seen the show, you know how much fun it is, without all the silly crap of lesser reality fare (I'm looking at you, The Real World). The next season has not been officially scheduled yet, adding to my current grumblings towards CBS, but chances are we will get to see Phil eliminate teams all around the world sometime mid-season.

Sit-Coms:

How I Met Your Mother - This one is smart and charming, and Neil Patrick Harris steals the show time and time again. A light, cute show that I always would forget about, but thanks to my trusty DVR, one I never missed.

My Name Is Earl - This is one of those quirky shows that consistently has outstanding writing and brilliant comedic actors. Also, it regularly ends with a touching moral that is never trite and frequently brings a tear to my eye. Extra special credit goes to Jaime Pressly for her awesome portrayal of Earl's ex-wife, Joy. Hilarious.

30 Rock - A new show this year that started off okay, but really found it's way by mid-season. The chemistry between Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin was perfect, and by the end of the season, became one of the funniest shows on TV. A much better depiction of life behind the scenes of a late night sketch show than the flailing and now cancelled Studio 60. Here's hoping Alec returns as network exec Jack Donaghy next season.

The Office - Hands down one of the funniest sit-coms ever made. Steve Carrell is brilliant as the wildly embarrassing Michael Scott, and every single actor has fleshed out their characters nicely. Of course I breathlessly followed the Jim and Pam storyline this season, but am consistently amused by Dwight Schrute, and all the other Regular Joe's just trying to get through a work day, surrounded by a boss who is always impeding their work. This show has evolved into its own, after taking the ball and running from the British original, brilliantly conceived by the hilarious Ricky Gervais.

Dramas (hold on, this could take a while):

Heroes - Holy comic book Batman! A fun, exciting new series that captured the imagination of many, and proved that serial dramas can work if it has compelling characters and a clever story. Some have criticized this show as being poorly written and badly directed. Well, I'm not an expert on such things, I just know what I like, SuperHeroes! We spent the season getting to know an unsuspecting group of ordinary people, discovering they have extraordinary powers, while coming together to help save the world. Right up my alley, folks. We got everything from mind-readers and time-benders to an indestructible cheerleader and an evilly good villain. Even though I was mildly disappointed by the season finale, this show racked up enough good credit throughout the season to keep me interested to see what happens next!

24 - Speaking of racking up credit. For those of us who have been series long fans of the show, this year came dangerously close to riding right off the rails. An amazing beginning of the season winded down into a messy tangle of poorly thought out story lines and characters that were hard to care about (one of the most compelling parts of the show in the past). But we had Kiefer Sutherland and his outstanding (and Emmy winning) acting to keep me interested enough to hold on, and I felt I was rewarded at the end with an emotional plea from Jack Bauer, and the hope for something better for him next season. 24, you're not getting rid of me that easy!

Lost - There has been much bitching about the third season of Lost. A lot of fans became bitter during season two of this castaway drama, and the beginning of this season didn't help. But after the loooong and inexcusable three months off, the show came back guns blazing (that's for you Paul), and rolled crazily to the best season finale of the whole TV season. Some find the fact that this show breaks it's own rules regularly, and that the story is too slow to unfold to be maddening. But the meat of this show, the characters and their own struggles with their past while trying to fight for their lives, is as compelling as the first day it aired. To anyone who insists on trotting out the tired 'They never answer any questions', should re-watch the two part Pilot. We have come a long way. The decision to announce a specific end date for the series is a brave move for a money hungry network, and a boon to the creative process for the writers. Looking forward to season four immensely.

The Sopranos - This show is in it's last throes, and David Chase and company are giving us a humdinger of a season. A beautiful balance of introspection and terrifying violence, every episode is full of HBO goodness. There are two episodes left, and we have no idea how this story will end. A great cap to a ground-breaking series.

Battlestar Galactica - I was late on this train, but finally jumped on board this season. Immediately intriguing, and made awesome by the stellar work of Edward James Olmos, James Callas and Mary McDonnell (go Fredonia!). This is an amazing show in both its visuals and storytelling.

Planet Earth - I am putting this under dramas, because it was sooooo dramatic! Shown on the Discovery channel, a ten part series that explored every corner of this planet. We got to see things we've never seen, in ways we've never seen them. A stunning look at the world we live in, but rarely ever see. Everyone I convinced to watch this was in as much awe as I was. Makes the current environmental movement seem much more relevant and necessary. It is now available on DVD, so NetFlix it, buy it at Amazon, do whatever you can to watch it. It's good. And beautiful. And amazing.

Jericho - As some of you know, the cancellation of this series was a heart breaker. The show started out, by all accounts, as a freshman hit. But just as it was trying to really get a feel for what kind of show it wanted to be, CBS pulled it for an extended hiatus (a mistake several networks made this season with similar, serialized shows), and brought it back against the American Idol juggernaut. It still held fairly solid ratings against the beast that is AI, and there was not unwarranted hope for a second season. Unfortunately, the show was pulled. The last third of the season was solid, compelling and exciting. Great performances by Skeet Ulrich (I had no idea how well this boy could act), Lennie James and Gerald McRaney. A rare feat of giving us a cast of characters that we actually cared about, regularly giving us scary insight to the possibilities of a post apocalyptic world, while reminding us of how important we all can be to each other. There is currently a campaign from the fans to get the show back on the air. My mildly cynical heart feels we may not get our show back (business is business), but the effort of the fans has been almost as compelling a story. If you happened to love this as much as I did, visit http://jericholives.com/ to see what's going on, or see http://www.nutsonline.com/jericho, to send some nuts to the CBS executives. An awesome grassroots movement that is fun to watch (oh yeah, and the episodes are still up on CBS is you wanna play catch up http://www.cbs.com/primetime/jericho/).

Honorable Mentions:

Bones, Medium & Numb3rs - This is how procedurals should be done. Clever, smart and interesting characters, if you like that kind of stuff.

THE BAD STUFF
Reality TV:

America's Next Top Model - I think I watched this season out of some kind of sick loyalty. It was fairly boring, and The Soup and Best Week Ever did the job mercilessly skewering this shows season. I think I may be done with this one.

Top Design, Shear Genius, Top Chef - Running on the massive goodwill of Project Runway, Bravo inundated us with these knock off shows. Boring, boring and mostly boring. I don't know why Project Runway works so well and these shows didn't. I guess one size fits all concepts don't work.

American Idol - This show for me has always been about Simon Cowell. I love him. But this season was wildly uneven due to the insistence of having an even amount of boys and girls to start it out. The fact that Blake made it to the final, when Melinda and LaKisha were miles above him talent wise was close to ending this show for me. Seeing that the finale had the balls to run nine minutes over, thus cheating us who DVR'd the show from seeing who won, may have been the final straw. The fact that Jordin rightly beat Blake to win did not placate me. At this moment, I have no interest in next season.

Sit-Coms:

Scrubs - At one time, this was one of my favorite comedies on the schedule. Now, it is tired and played. I couldn't even muster enough interest to find out if it was renewed for another season. Enough said.

Two and A Half Men, The World According to Jim, et al - This is the kind of pandering, low-brow stuff that gives TV a bad name. Blech.

Dramas:

Law & Order, CSI, et al - All versions of these shows are being clumped here. For people who like procedurals, I know these are well liked, but it is beginning to get a little thick. These shows are fine for what they are, but there are a plethora of them, and a little more creativity and originality would be welcome in TV land. It's shows like these that kill the chance for more interesting stories to be told, but they make the networks TONS of money, so I don't see them ending anytime soon...

WHAT's NEXT?

The 4400 - A compelling little show that will be starting it's fourth summer season on USA. I have been with this show since the beginning, a little different twist on the SuperHero type sci-fi fare. It's a fun, summer distraction, and surprizingly well done for a low-budget, cable produced show.

Big Brother - A prime example of a trashy, lowest common denominator reality show. But I love it unabashedly, and have no intention of missing it this season. Please don't judge me.

Baseball - Yankee fans have had a tough go of it this season, and it's not really looking up (I'm watching the Blue Jays beat them AGAIN). But I am life long fan of baseball, and these are my boys, so bring it!

Tennis - I never really get rolling on tennis until Wimbledon, but thanks to my good friend Rhonda, I may get back to it sooner this year (The French Open just started!). Looking forward to heading out to Flushing Meadows for the US Open, something that is becoming a seasonal tradition, and it's always lots of fun.

Good god, people! That's a lot of TV (do the last two count as TV? Hmmm). To be honest, as much as I love my TV, this year has been exhausting. Lots of entertaining goodness this year, but I am looking forward to a little reprieve. Although, my roommate and I have started watching The X-Files on DVD. It is so nice to have Mulder and Scully back in my living room! There's gotta be something to keep us entertained.

PS - Thanks to Paul Preston for his always entertaining, seasonal movie rants, which inspired my own TV rant.

Nighty-nite

2007-05-16T22:07:00.000-04:00

The epic struggles of a true blue, genetically coded night owl... it's rough, yo.

Every work day I struggle with the veil of sleepiness that is wrapped so tightly around me, it makes it almost impossible for me to wriggle out of my warm, snuggly, enchanting bed. I do get up and out. I am a responsible type, who knows I must get to work to pay the bills and keep myself fed. That is my only motivation to get up at such evil times of the day. And I know others get up earlier, some even prefer the early morning hours. The quiet, the fresh aroma of a brand new sunrise. Me? It just feels wrong to be up that early. I feel the oddness in my bones.

There are some that think that getting up early is virtuous. I think that's bullshit. That idea was obviously planted by a morning person, most likely back in the days before electricity. Oh my god, I can't imagine how hard it would have been for me in the days when rising with the sun was the norm. Someone would have probably accused me of being a witch for keeping such late hours.

For me, the later in the day the better. I had a manager who once introduced me to a new employee, and then went around the corner and told her that no one spoke to be before 10. Hilarious, because it's true. When I get a stretch of being able to get up whenever I want, I adjust to a very regular schedule. Stay up until 2-3am, sleep a good nine hours, and get up around 11-12pm. Aaah, now that's the way to live!

Once the day begins to wane, I feel myself relax and settle into the day. Then the moon rises and it gets dark, and I feel free. Really, that's how it feels. The coolness of the night, the quiet (yes, it does get quiet at night here in Brooklyn), and all is well. I love to gaze up into the night sky and pick out the stars. One of the disappointments of my recent trip home was that it was overcast most of the time, so I missed out on quality star time. The night is when I feel creative, make plans, and usually start projects. I can spend the whole day knowing I need to clean the apartment, but I just can't seem get to it until late afternoon. I have spent many evenings in the seven o'clock hour cleaning the tub and toilet.

I love it when people tell me that I just have to get used to getting up in the morning. I got up at 6am every day for high school. That never got easy. Never. Mom told me that I was a night person right out of the womb. I was born around 2pm, and stayed up late right out of the gate. I remember being six years old and being mad that I wasn't allowed to stay up and watch The Tonight Show, so I snuck down a couple of times anyway.

The first seven years or so that I lived here I worked nights. Ah, the 3-11pm shift. A night owl's dream schedule. I had enough time in the day to take care of errands, and I got to work when my brain was running at optimum capacity. Not to mention riding the subway was much more pleasant. Now I am back working 9-6, and I gotta tell ya, this gal is not productive at.all. It's quite frustrating.

My therapist once told me that I was the night owl-iest night owl she had ever met. When I switched my appointments from noon to 6pm she was shocked at the difference in my energy (I think she doubted my insistence at being a lady of the dark before then). It's always nice to be proven right. Especially to a doubting therapist.

10 Days at the Homestead

2007-05-12T20:33:00.000-04:00

First of all, props to to Fran for letting me use her pictures, ones you have already seen if you've read her Rochester entry in her blog (except for the one of the infamous Honeoye Falls, above).

I love the little village of Honeoye Falls, NY, the town I spent a good chunk of my growin' up years back in the 80s. It is about 20 minutes south of Rochester, and even though it has been built up a bit over the years, the village has been able to stay mostly intact, and keep it's Norman Rockwellian charm. Mom and Dad built a home in the village a few years back, and even though it wasn't the house I grew up in, I still feel like I'm at home every time I go back.

I usually only get to go home at Christmas, so when Fran told me her show was gonna hit Rochester this spring, we both thought it would be a chance to see each other and enjoy the loveliness of the Greater Rochester area. My mom came up with the fabulous idea of having both Fran and I stay with them, and even though I gave Fran the awesome bed in the guest room, and I slept on the air mattress in the basement (damn, I wish I had a picture of my little cubby), it is always nice to stay at Kasa de Kissack (heh).

But first! I got to town the weekend before Fran arrived, and it gave me a chance to drive the two hours east to visit my dear friend Karla, her lovely husband Wes, and see their doggies, Max and Grace. They live in a little cabin about an hour east of Syracuse, out in the boonies. Serious boonies, people. Wild turkeys and deer are common sights here. I was woken up in the morning to the sound of a woodpecker drilling holes in a near-by tree.

I had met the husband (Wes), I had met Max, but this was my first meeting of Grace. She is a four year old Great Dane/St. Bernard mix. A huge horse of a dog. I was told to bring old clothes that I didn't mind getting slobber on, and was ushered into the guest bedroom to change before I met the big dog. As soon as I came out, I was handed a towel, "Trust me, you'll need this" and Grace was set free. She came bounding towards me like a long lost friend, and immediately slimed me. Grace has what Karla and Wes call 'slingers'. Long strings of saliva that hang off her jowls, and when she puts her head on her lap, or on the table (an easy feat for her), leaves a trail of slime behind her. And watch out when she shakes her head, because this is when the 'slingers' fly. Karla had told me stories of Grace's saliva, but it is something that needs to be seen to be believed. Remember 'Turner and Hooch'? Like that, but right there in your lap.

It was so nice to finally hang out at Karla's home, and we spent an amazing Sunday afternoon sitting on the deck, grilling some awesome chicken, and getting my first sunburn of the year. The stupidest, worse-than-farmer's tan sunburn. I got burned from wrist to 2/3 up my forearm, and it is now starting to peel. Lovely. But I had a great time out in the middle of nowhere with my friends, drinking wine and eating good food and playing with the giant doggies. Karla, you are a great host.

I got in the car to drive home. Driving is the one thing I really miss about living here in New York. I mean the long stretch driving, not city driving. I got some good driving in while home. Mom and Dad let me use the Subaru, a great car to drive. In the past, Mom and Dad wouldn't let me drive the 'new' car, relegated to the older car, probably because of my short history of car crashes. But apparently, I have gone from the daughter who wrecks cars, to the daughter whose life is worth saving (that's a joke Mom and Dad).

I went to bed early Sunday night, because I needed to get up early to go pick up Fran at the Auditorium Theater. A theater that everyone hates, by the way. We were close to the house on Edmonds St., where I spent a lot of time living while dating one of my dearest friends, Don Bush. I decided to do a drive by to show Fran my old stomping grounds, and she had the brilliant idea of waking up Don. It was around 9:30 in the morning, and Don works nights tending bar, and regularly stays up until four or five in the morning. Needless to say, he was a little cranky and sleepy, but he made some coffee and set up some chairs in the driveway so we could all sit and chat and enjoy the lovely morning weather. This is a picture of me and Morning Don.
Monday and Tuesday was basically hanging out with Fran and my parents. Fran had to work like a mad woman, and I enjoyed having a few days to just be. I watched some baseball with Dad and chatted with Mom. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great, but I can enjoy the rainy stuff as well as the sunny stuff.

Wednesday was The Eye Exam. Dad has examined the eyes of most of my friends and boyfriends over the years. I think he really likes it, and he is always very generous with his time, teaching them stuff they never knew about their eyes. And everyone at the office was charming and funny as usual.

We were also supposed to catch a Red Wings game on Wednesday, but it was rainy and cold, so we improvised. Fran had never seen the wonder of Wegmans, one of the top three tourist destinations in Rochester (no joke, everyone loves this supermarket, and I miss it terribly). So we got in the car and drove out to the biggest, baddest Weggies, in Pittsford. They had even more there than I had remembered. The produce! The beauty products! The bakery! (which carries my most favorite bread ever, San Francisco style sourdough.. yummy). We also ate at a great restaurant next door called Tastings, and then we went over to Shear Ego salon and got our eyebrows waxed. Finally, after all these years, my eyebrows match. My wax lady was funny and she did a great job while telling me she had just learned how to do a Brazilian wax (eeek!). I chose not to see if she knew what she was doing in that area, yo.

On the way home we took a quick detour to my old high school. The place was swarming with kids as classes had just ended for the day, and us two old broads walked around freely. That place is so much smaller than I remember. The hallway where my locker was always seemed so long, but it really is just a quick walk. Funny. This is me at my old locker, feeling all nostalgic.

That evening I went over to Heather's home for dinner. Heather, my awesome roommate at Fredonia, now living with her family in the village I grew up in, which I think is cool. We played with her twin girls Jada and Kara, who are funny and charming gals (just like their momma), and then she made yummy meatloaf and mac 'n' cheese for dinner. Her husband Bob was also at the table, and I enjoyed eating and talking with everyone. Then it was time to put the girls to bed, and Heather invited me into the bed and she read us girls a couple of bedtime stories. It's always nice to visit Heather, she's good people.

Wednesday was also Fran's first experience at the busiest Honeoye Falls tavern, Cosmo's. Back in the day it was called TJ's Lounge, and it has changed a bit since I was 21, but it has cheap cocktails, a nice bartender, and Fran's favorite bar time killer, MegaTouch. I have played this game in several cities with Fran, and we always have a good time. Her skill at the music trivia is unmatched, and she got her all time high score, 54,526,852!! This game is a pure money sucker, and we emptied our wallets of ones and quarters as we closed the bar.

Thursday was Dinosaur BBQ. Those of you from Rochester and Syracuse know this place well. We had a booth overlooking the muddy Genessee River and filled our bellies with chicken and ribs. Then Fran had conspired with the sound guys to let me sit in their booth and watch Spamalot, a much better seat than having to sit in those terrible seats at the Aud. The show is based on my all-time favorite Monty Python Movie, The Holy Grail, and I laughed through the whole thing. It's a great show if you love Python's humor.

After the show Fran and I high-tailed it over to meet Don at his bar, and we drank ourselves silly with him and his friend Lynelle. As a rule, I don't do shots anymore. My old self can't handle the repercussions anymore, but Don has invented one called Sunday Morning, which tastes like a sugared grapefruit, and goes down easy. I was sure I would be sorry in the morning. After hanging out at Acme Bar for most of the evening, we went across the street to the Avenue Pub, a chill gay bar, for last call, and spent some more money on their MegaTouch game. Luckily, Don outfitted an empty room in his home with a place for us to sleep, and we stumbled back and crashed for the night. It's always fun to hang out with Don. He's the man. Here's Don playing us the ever popular 'Huevos'.

Waking up on Friday was better than expected. Just a little woozy feeling instead of full on hangover, thank god! After rousing Don and saying our goodbye's, we got in the car to head back to HF for Fran's follow-up eye exam. As we got off the expressway Dad called and implored us to get to the office since it was closed and he wanted to go home. Her new glasses were ready, and Dad took pictures of her retina's. I love the retina camera, it's always so cool to see those pictures. And then Dad took us to lunch at Critic's Family Restaurant, the local diner. We had breakfast, he had the Friday fish fry. I always forget about the Friday fish fry.

We had passed a church rummage sale on the way to Dad's, so after lunch we went back to check it out. It was called a Super Sale, and there certainly was a lot of stuff, but I'm thinking 'Super' was a little misleading. But I love a bargain, and I found a couple of t-shirts for $1 each.

Friday night was another night at Cosmo's, only this time it was finally time for Deanna and Fran to meet. Two of my favorite people in the whole wide world. After all this time, they had never met! That's crazy. I met Deanna at the bar before Fran got there, and Todd, a guy I had graduated high school with, was sitting at the bar with his wife. It was interesting hearing his stories about people we had gone to school with, and Deanna and I finally found out what group everyone else in school had put us in, a question that we had never been able to figure out the answer to. Todd informed us that we were the Good Girls. Which is hilarious and so obvious, I can't believe we hadn't figured it out ourselves.

Fran arrived, and my two friends hugged and chatted and I am so happy that these two finally have a glimpse at what the other is like. All my people are so great, it is important to me that they know each other. I want everyone to love each other as much as I love them! So far, so good. Unfortunately, Todd stuck around a little too long, and monopolized the conversation, and Fran and Deanna and I didn't get to really talk as much as I would have liked, but I think it was a successful meeting anyway.

Saturday Karla was supposed to come to town and catch the Spamalot matinee and join us for a between show meal. She never made it due to some kind of evil stomach bug. Poor Karla! I went over to meet Don at his other job, working at the gay porn store. Funny stuff. I walked over to get Fran, swung back and got Don, and we went out for mexican food at Selena's. Their mole sauce is hard to beat. YUM. After the food and some goodbye's, I dropped Fran back at the theater, and I took my opportunity of being alone and having a car and drove around while listening to the Yankees/Red Sox game that Rhonda just happened to be attending (jealous). I drove all over, revisiting all the places we used to go, and the places I used to live, and had a really nice afternoon, even if it was cold and rainy (again).

Sunday I met Deanna at her sweet little home. On the way there, I passed the Presbyterian church and wondered what was going on, the place was swamped with cars and people were everywhere. Then it dawned on me, church was going on at church! Sometimes I am so stupid.

I got to Deanna's and we went for a walk on the canal trail into Pittsford and had lunch at Aladdin's. I ordered the falafel salad, as usual. We walked back and then spent a little time sitting on the driveway drinking Fresca's and chatting. As is usual when I get to spend time with a friend I never get to see, just hanging out and catching up and talking about all the little stuff is enormously satisfying. I have the best friends (have I said this before?).

I had a late flight home on Monday, so I went down to Dad's office and had lunch with him and Jane and my brother, Zach, at Critic's. I finally got to just hang with my brother. He's so funny. When will you come and visit again, Zach? I was nervous about flying, as always, but a relaxing lunch helped.

The flight back to NYC was quick (jetBlue is so great for a nervous flier like me, the TVs make it all better), and I got a funny, new cabbie to take me home. We were both sketchy on how to get to Brooklyn (I am terrible about directions from JFK after all this time), and he was nice enough to knock ten dollars off my fare because we did such a poor job of navigating our way.

I was so darned happy to be back in Brooklyn. But I had such a good time in Rochester. It really is a nice place to live, and there is a part of me that misses the small town life I had there. But I was walking around my neighborhood today, and I really, really love it here. Maybe one day I will be able to have both. My city and my small town. Hmm, sounds like a good long-term goal...

The Rocket!

2007-05-06T18:31:00.000-04:00

Yes, Yankee fans, The Rocket, Roger Clemens is back in pinstripes! And I couldn't be happier.

As a life long Yankee fan, I am not usually a fan of the gross display of money and power George Steinbrenner is so fond of. I was not thrilled when we got A-Rod (although I am eating my words this season - YAY!), and was pretty disgusted with the acquisition of Randy Johnson (and good riddance). Back in the late 90's, when the Yankees won all those World Series, it was a team of great players who were not necessarily marquee names. The teams that have won since have been similar in the fact the they were just a great combination of players that had chemistry and talent that burned brightly. Steinbrenner's insistence on spending huge amounts of money have not resulted in anymore rings, and I feel like that approach is not really the best idea.

But this season has been different for me. We started out with pitching that looked great on paper, and I was really excited about the teams prospects. Finally, we had pitching that gave us a great shot at the post-season. Then the pitchers began to fall. Hamstrings, sore elbows, and last week a broken leg! The bullpen was being run into the ground and baby pitchers were being pulled up from the Minors left and right.

So today I'm watching a great game, a shut-out pitched by Rasner, Matsui got his 2000th career hit, and during the seventh inning stretch, Roger Clemens stands up in the owners box and tells everyone he is a Yankee again. I was stunned. And then, extremely excited! I had no idea I would feel that way. Roger said he hoped to be pitching by early June, and I certainly can't wait!

Visions of Huddles and Butt Smacking

2007-05-02T17:46:00.000-04:00

Woo hoo!! Football!!

When my temp agency called and told me I was going to be working at the NFL I totally laughed. I had visions of manly men walking around saying "You the man!" to each other all day. I was only partly wrong.

I was the Executive Assistant to the President and CEO of the NFL (look him up, I'm not dropping this name). The only person higher on the food chain was Commissioner Goodell, and he was just down the hall. I also was assisting the COO, a lovely, smart woman who was beyond helpful and required almost no assistance.

The NFL is very corporate. My wardrobe is very corporate-lite, so I felt under dressed most of the time. But everyone was so nice. As each person came by the desk, I was welcomed with a smile and a handshake. It was very evident that the people who work for this organization are happy and satisfied with the work they get to do, which is such a nice and refreshing change from some of the pits of doom I have been working at.

As nice as everyone was, there was also an underlying look of concern. Chris, the guy who trained me and was nominated to be my baby sitter, was very precise and made sure I knew exactly what was expected of me. The way he was tip-toeing around made me very aware of the intimidation factor the Boss had with these people. His LA assistant, Kim, called and emailed me regularly, and made sure I knew to not take anything He said personally. Funny thing is, I am not easily intimidated, and I found all this concern fairly amusing. Yes, the Boss is high up in the company, Yes, he is a VIP, but he's just another person. He wasn't scary at all to me.

I had asked Chris how to talk to the Boss regarding his phone calls. Do I run into his office to tell him who was on the line, do I yell from my desk. Chris said he usually yelled, and he had seen past assistants do the same, so I followed his lead. After a half a day of yelling to Him, he said, "You have an intercom, use it." Chris didn't know how to use it, so we pushed buttons and tried to figure it out. Turned out to be pretty easy, just hold the TALK button and talk. So I began to faithfully use the intercom, and He continued to yell at me from his office.

On my second day, the Boss was unoccupied, and He was wandering around the office, stopping into offices to chat. At one point He stopped right next to my desk and was just standing there. After a beat, I said, "How's it goin'?" He looked at me a little startled, recovered, and said with a smile, "It's goin' good, how's it going with you?" "Just dandy." I replied, and he wandered back into his office. I don't know if he was trying to intimidate me, or if he just happened to end up there, but the ice was broken.

He came out one day and asked me if I knew how to call a car. Those of us who have spent any time here in the city have called a car once or twice. I must have looked at him like he was nuts, and after a few moments he said, "Well?" I told him, "I think I can handle that." and was probably a bit too sarcastic about it, but he was impressed that I took care of it so quickly.

I was temping at the NFL because a new assistant had been hired in LA and was to relocate to NYC, but had run into some personal problems so she was delayed. So Kim, in LA, was doing all the heavy lifting of this job, and I was basically there to answer the phone. The Boss' phone was to be answered at all costs. Absolutely no voicemails allowed. This caused a bit of a problem when I needed to go to the bathroom. People had to be called, schedules rearranged, all so I could go pee. When I asked Kim about the procedure for taking a lunch, she said, "Hmm, no one has ever asked me that before." You know I figured out a lunch schedule, I need my lunch.

My second week at the job, Kim called and told me that the new assistant had come in early, dropped off her security credentials and quit. She asked me if I was interested in temp to perm. My decision caused some controversy among my loved ones. I had spent a lot of time on this job doing nothing. Answered the phone, called a few cars and typed and faxed a letter to the Commissioner of the Pac-Ten. Not rocket science. Apparently, there had been a lot of morons on this job, because I was praised over and over by what a good job I had been doing. People, this was not challenging work. When Kim asked me about staying on, I easily told her I was just interested in temp work. I had had a lot of time to think what it would be like to do this job day after day, and I wasn't liking what I was seeing.

My first clue was the Blackberry charger on the desk. Once I leave I job, I am gone. My time off the clock is my own, and the thought of my boss being able to contact me whenever he wanted gave me visions of prison cells. Add to that the enormous effort it took for me to take any kind of break, bathroom or otherwise. How many bladder infections would I get? How many lunches would I be taking at my desk? Not to mention, even though I didn't really care about this job, I acquired a heeee-uge cold sore my fourth day there. I don't need that kind of stress.

So, I had a little over two weeks of rubbing elbows with the NFL VIPs. My Boss was actually charming and fun. I have no idea why everyone was so intimidated by him. I heard the F-bomb flying out of his and his colleagues mouths on a regular basis during meetings. Kim told me that He was in an amazingly good mood once I got rolling, and she attributed it to me and my competence (crazy how just answering the phone right can impress people so much!). Personally, I think He was in such a good mood because he was getting ready to go out to his home in Beverly Hills, which I think he liked way more than his NY apartment. But I'll take the praise when I can get it.

Cool things I saw:

The Vince Lombardi trophy

Tom Landry's hat (you know I'm a big Cowboys fan)

The Division Championship and Superbowl rings

15 Emmy's, all in my Boss' office

Cool people I talked to:

Joe Theisman (I had to call him on his cell)

Deion Sanders (twice)

Mel Karmazin

Jerry Jones' secretary (what? I said I was a big cowboys fan)

Not bad for 11 days at the desk.

My Formerly Petulant Hair

2007-04-10T22:10:00.000-04:00

Okay, so my hair was never Cousin Itt proportions, but some days it sure felt like it. Travel with me back to the late 80's, when big hair was all the rage. I was in hair heaven. I had big, curly hair, and it was mainly achieved without any product. The girls from Long Island in my dorm were extremely envious. Some of those girls probably still have the same exact hair I had way back when.

Then the 90's got rolling, and fashions changed, like they do. Before I knew it, everyone had sleek, straight, blown-out hair. Women were spending plenty of quality time with their blow dryers. And being the cranky, mildly rebellious sort, I refused to take that kind of time grooming every morning. I had always been a wash and wear kinda gal, and the changing tide wasn't about to sway me. Besides, standing in front of the mirror, fighting my naturally curly hair, actually breaking a sweat, was not how I wanted to spend my time in the morning. If it meant I would lose a half an hour of sleep in the morning (closer to an hour with my frizz bomb), you could count on me passing on that option.

Not to belittle anyone who took the time for such an endeavor. I spied the ladies on the street with that smooth, silky hair, and felt a twinge of envy, knowing I didn't have the dedication to get to that level of shininess. The only time you ever saw me looking like that, was after a haircut, when I would happily let a professional do the work.

I was determined to find a way to let my curl fly free. For a long time I had to improvise. Mousses and hairsprays and and whatever I could find. After a while, I became dejected and kinda let my hair go. I became dry and brittle. Frizzy and limp. I didn't really know what the solution would be. And then the 90's rolled over into a new century, and slowly, product for girls with curly hair started appearing on the shelves. It was a whole new world. My curl wasn't being ignored anymore, but I still couldn't find a stylist who had any idea what to do with my fine but boingy hair.

Enter my mother. A woman who hadn't paid for a haircut in 50 years. After a traumatic hair-cutting fiasco, she swore to never go back and took her hair into her own hands. But after a while, she too was becoming dissatisfied with her thick, straight hair. She had had enough, and decided to go get a real haircut, from a swank, high end salon. And she wanted to take me with her!

To say Donna, of the Eva Scrivo Salon, is a genius would to not even begin explain what she did with my hair. Shanks that insisted on falling into my face were suddenly behaving and laying away from my eyes. Formerly weak waves were transformed into soft, bouncy curls. I was amazed. I was stunned. I had my lovely, curly hair back under control.

The final joyous moment of getting back my curly hair? I was out at a bar a couple of days after Donna's magic, and a totally random guy said, "Can I just tell you, your hair is awesome." My friend Fran and I looked at each other and giggled. Finally, my hair is lovely again.

Who's This Guy?

2007-04-06T20:58:00.000-04:00

Do you recognize this baseball superstar? Oh my God! It's A-Rod, aka Alex Rodriguez, aka The Bane of Yankees Fans Existence. Unbelievable. My new nickname for him is Smiley.

I have caught bits and pieces of the first three Yankee games, and I have seen Alex smile more in those three games than all last season. Maybe all that so-called controversy about his and Jeter's feud really did loosen him up.

By the end of last season my roommate called him Surly. He never looked happy. And the Yankee fans were merciless. This year? He looks lean and happy, and the fans have actually been cheering him (for the most part). No, he hasn't been perfect, but he's been getting hits and RBI's and he looks like he is actually having fun. It's a miracle.

And I just have to add, this picture certainly doesn't look like there is any grief between him and Jeter. Don't ever tell me that they can't get along.

Isn't that sweet?

In other Yankees stuff:

I knew I had missed Andy Pettitte. But I didn't realize how much until I saw him on the mound Wednesday night.

Andy and Jorge love each other..

Randy who?

SMILEY!

Don't Give Up

2007-04-05T19:27:00.000-04:00

Holy god, it's been almost a month since my last post!

I got sick, and then the parents came for a visit, and I totally got off the blogging train. But do not give up on me, I have plenty to say. I hope to catch up this weekend.

Let's see what there is to look forward to:

Baseball season has begun!! - The Yankees won their first game and it was fun fun fun. There will be things to say all season long, I'm sure.

My new hair! - My formerly petulant hair has gained some of it's old composure, I will elaborate.

TV addiction or serious hobby? - You decide.

Temping at the NFL - You know my three weeks with the pigskin will bring a good story or two.

Going home to Rochester - I will be spending a week with the denizens of the Greater Rochester area and my good friend Fran. Plus! We are staying at my parents. Good Times.

I'm rubbing my hands together in anticipation. Thanks to those of you who harass me for more posts. As you know, sometimes I need a swift kick in the ass to get-a-moving.

Time Warner Sucks!!!!

2007-03-14T21:17:00.000-04:00

God damn you Time Warner!!!!

We are in the second week of our Time Warner nightmare. The first week they told us it was an area issue, but now that we've entered the second week, it's suddenly just us. So of course we have to wait a week for anyone to come and tell us it's not working properly. And the chances of them fixing it on the first visit? Almost zero.

How do I know that? Because four months ago we spent two months trying to get the same issue fixed. After changing our DVR three times, we finally got someone who had a clue to what was really going on. Then we had to make sure someone was home downstairs to let the technician into the backyard. Even after all of that, it still took three more visits before they fixed the problem.

I happen to be a big TV person. Anyone who knows me knows I have a huge TV fix to quell each week. I finally got a DVR because I got a roommate who is just as into TV as me, and it just seemed to make sense. Ever since we got the box, it has been nothing but grief.

Yes, Time Warner gave us a credit. Yes, some of the agents I've talked to have been very helpful. Some. But we pay a lot of money every month for this service. Is it so much to ask to send out competent, helpful people who actually fix the damn thing?

I am sick to death of this. I am furious over this.
We are currently looking for another provider of our digital TV and broadband. Until then? We'll be cursing Time Warner every time we turn on our TV.

Eeeeek!

2007-03-08T22:23:00.000-05:00

Don't cross Russia (I hope they don't read this!).
In the past seven years, 14 critics of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, have died. Under 'mysterious' circumstances. The 14th one happened yesterday...

Are we suspicious and scared yet?

Bring On The Crazy...

2007-02-27T23:00:00.000-05:00

I have lived here in NYC for 10(!!) years. It was bound to happen...

I talk to myself while walking down the street. Well, it probably sounds like mumbling to passersby, but I am having chats with myself out loud.

When I first moved here I noticed the people talking to themselves. I tried to ignore them. "That's crazy" I used to say to myself. Quietly. Inside my head. But after all this time, the words are now out loud. There is actual volume.

It started innocently enough a few years ago, when I was walking to the train from work one night. I worked the 3pm-11pm shift. It was raining. I was pissed about something work related, I'm sure, and I caught myself talking out loud under the protection of the night and my umbrella (see: I Miss You, Totes Umbrella.. from June). Once I realized what I was doing I quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard me, and I sheepishly moved along.

As the years have passed, I've caught myself doing it more and more. At first it would be when I was walking after dark, when I thought no one was around. But this being New York, there is always someone around. I'd catch sight of someone sitting on their stoop, or sitting in their car, windows open. Every time I caught someones eye, I would blush, and kinda shrug it off. The more it happened though, the easier it got to ignore the fact that someone might be hearing me. Today, I was doing it while walking down 5th Avenue, during the morning rush to work... and I could have cared less. There I was, one of the mumbling people.

It's not like I have arguments with myself. I'm usually rehashing a conversation I had, or making up what I would have said, what I'd like to say, in a certain situation. Some things need a sounding board, and I like to get things straight in my head. Seems I like to hear them as well.

Now, to be fair to myself, back in the day, when I lived where driving is the only way to get anywhere, I used to talk up a storm by myself in the quiet inner sanctum of my car. If someone saw me, I could just chalk it up to singing with the radio. So apparently, I've always been a self-talker. But now I have joined the ranks of the street mumblers.

Does this make me a real deal, bona-fide New Yorker? Well, just to make myself feel better, I vote YES!

The Media Sucks - Sports Edition

2007-02-21T18:15:00.000-05:00

I should be thrilled. Being a sports gal, and being that my favorite sport is baseball, I should be all excited that the regular season is so close. But the sport press has gotten me angry and annoyed.

Spring training has begun, and while it is as new as a spring chicken, they have decided to pick up the old chestnut of the A-Rod/Jeter fight. Why, it's being sold as an all out controversy! The back pages of the New York tabloids are screaming with ridiculous headlines about what A-Rod said about his friendship (or his faded friendship) with Jeter. The press asked the question, A-Rod answered it in what seemed like an honest and genuine manner: They aren't as close as they once were, but there is no problem on the field, period. The next day the press asks Jeter about what A-Rod said, and he basically no commented them right out of the dug-out.

John Harper of the NY Daily News wrote this regarding Jeter's no-comment attitude on talking about this situation:

[Jeter] repeatedly avoided questions yesterday by saying his relationship with A-Rod had no relevance to the Yankees trying to win a championship, and here is where he was dead wrong.
Of course it matters because it matters to A-Rod, or at least it did for the last three seasons, when A-Rod desperately wanted to restore his old friendship with Jeter, to the point where it may have messed with his head.

Last I looked, A-Rod was a grown up, and Jeter had no obligation to become BFF with someone who he felt had done him wrong. Both of them have said there is no problem on the field, so let's drop this bullshit, please.

A-Rod has been beaten down in the New York sports press the past couple of years. The Yankee fans, known for being hardasses, booed him mercilessly last season. While I was not one of the ones casting aspersions his way, I was frustrated by his inability to be the superstar he had been before coming to town. I could see how upset he was with all of it, and I don't blame Jeter one bit. I blame the media.

As a point of full disclosure: I have been a Yankee fan for over 30 years, and love Jeter in pinstripes. I was never excited about the prospect of A-Rod joining the team, and said so to many of my fellow Yankee fan friends, and watched as their jaws hit the ground. Whatever. I never felt like he was a good fit for the team, but I always wanted him to do well for the sake of 'My' team. So last year, when the boos came raining down on him at Yankee Stadium, I was one of the quiet few rooting for him to prove everyone, including me, wrong (who could have ever predicted that Alex Rodriguez could be portrayed as the underdog?).

Listen, I know we Yankee fans are the most spoiled of fans. We expect our team to get to the World Series every year, and we get upset when a team full of great players can't seal the deal, but I think this story is ridiculous. It is A-Rod's job to figure out his own crap, no one else's, and to put the blame on Jeter's shoulders (no matter how big and handsome and talented they are - hee!) is unfair and childish. Jeter may have a quiet reputation for holding grudges, but he has an outloud reputation for wanting to win and supporting his team. There is a reason he was made Captain. But he is not a psychologist.

This is about selling papers. Pure and simple. Well guess what? I'm not buying this soap opera crap. I want to hear about the game. The team. I want to hear if Carl Pavano is stepping up and pitching the way he was supposed to two years ago. I want to know if Melky is ready for his close-up (I think he is). I want to know who is healthy, who is getting a slow start, who could have a star making year. Which rookie is gonna shine, how does Joe Torre feel about their chances this year, will we ever see Bernie in a uniform again. I want to know about the baseball, not about another episode of The Bold and the Beautiful.

New York press.. grow up!!

TV Guns

2007-02-17T15:48:00.000-05:00

After watching many hours of tv with my roommate she has come up with the theory that I think men with guns are hot.
Jack Bauer - 24 (oh, Jack)

Kellerman & Agent Mahone - Prison Break (yeah, that's just Kellerman)

Jack, Sawyer & Sayid - Lost (being wet and shirtless helps!)
But I was like, no, I just think they have interesting characters...
Then I thought, I never thought Daniel Craig was sexy until he played James Bond (umm, gun...).
Well, last night she was proven right.
I was watching an episode of Angel, and there is a character, Wesley, who I always thought was attractive and smart, but not really hot, per se. Then, while fighting a demon (I know), he pulled out two guns and emptied them. And then, he pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, and I thought to myself.. That's Hot! I totally laughed right out loud. I guess she was right...
What kind of bleeding heart liberal am I?

Such a girl...

I Miss You, Totes Umbrella..

2006-06-07T11:53:00.000-04:00

I do not often misplace things, or lose things, but a few years ago I lost my Totes umbrella, and miss it to this day.

I have a slightly obsessive nature, and everything has it's place. This is one of the reasons why I have never lost a pair of sunglasses or misplaced my wallet or anything of the sort. I thought I lost my Social Security card a few years back, but recently found it in a pile of old bills.

Anyway, when I first moved to this city nine years ago, my parents gave me the Totes umbrella that had been riding around in the back of Dad's car for who knows how many years. They never used it, and figured I would put it to good use living in a 'walking' city. They were right, and I loved the thing. The perfect size, weight and sturdy as hell. It never blew inside out, it was big enough to cover my bubble butt and my messenger bag, but compact enough to fit nicely into said bag. It was black, non-descript, and had a nice, faux wood grain handle that held the metal end thingys when the umbrella was collapsed.

It was a faithful and dutiful friend. No matter how late the evening, how drunk and stumbly, how many cab rides home, trips to friend's homes, doctor's offices, shopping excursions, I always remembered to take it back home with me. Until one fateful night.

I was at a friend's apartment five blocks from mine. It had been raining all day and night. We sat around drinking and watching movies. I called a car to take me home. Even though home was close by, it was after 2am, I was drunk, and there had been suspicous types seen in the neighborhood. I felt it best to pay the five bucks for a safe ride. I wasn't any drunker than any other night, but I must have been distracted by something, because I left my Totes in the back of that car. I failed to realize it was gone until the next night, when it started raining again.

Like most New Yorkers, I have a fairly large and diverse back-up set of umbrellas. Never returned, left behind, last minute seven dollar on the corner umbrellas that will do in a pinch, but we all have a favorite. My favorite took a ride in a TLC car and was never seen again. I hope someone has it and appreciates it as much as I did.

Now that it's been a couple of years, my back-up umbrella stash has dwindled to almost nothing. And on a long, rainy day, I think back to my Totes. I have been reluctant to buy a new one, I have no idea if they make 'em like they used to, but I think it's time to try. I think I am ready.

In General - the subway edition

2006-06-06T12:34:00.000-04:00

Riding the train to work every morning is not my idea of fun. I had the joy of working nights the first eight years or so I lived in this city, so I avoided the nightmare of the morning and evening commute. After a year or so of riding the rails at peak hours, some of my observations...

Most of the time, when a pregnant woman gets on the train, it's a woman who offers her a seat. I don't know when men stopped offering, but I find it a little shitty. At least The Sisterhood is stepping up.

Nothing will stop a person, man or woman, from getting a seat if they really really want one. I have seen people literally crawl over others to get their asses some seat time.

Nothing makes me more angry than the person who refuses to hold on to anything while standing on the train. They usually have a bag of some sort in one hand, and coffee in the other, and stand with their legs wide apart, as if this will keep them steady. Then they proceed to bump and crash into everyone around them as the train stops and starts, and careens around corners. One moring I was so angry at a guy who was participating in this ridiculousness, I had to get off at the next stop so I wouldn't punch him in the face, and then put my hands around his arrogant neck on his way down to the floor.
The next train, a few short minutes later, was blessedly free of any such person.

The other morning I saw this woman wearing flip-flops. She had the second toe longer than the big toe affliction. Something I struggle with myself. But, the right longer second toe was disturbingly longer than the left longer toe. Creepily uneven, and I was fascinated for the extent of our shared ride. I wished at that moment that I had upgraded to a camera phone.

Turns out the F train is just as evil, if not more so, in the morning than in the afternoon/evenings. And why, oh why, has the MTA not figured out that we are crying out for an express train on this line? If the V runs local in Queens, while the F runs express, can't we get the V to run express while the F runs local in Brooklyn? Oh well, at least I'm not trapped on the G train.

One day, on a hot and stalled ride into Manhattan, I started to get all clammy and sweaty. I was sure i was going to pass out, and since there was no where to sit, and barely anywhere to fall, I squatted down and put my head between my knees. After less than a minute, some nice fellow commuter tapped me on the shoulder and offered me their seat. I would love to tell you something about this person, anything, but he/she is just a blur to me. My sweaty, clammy self was beyond grateful for the kindness, and I will always remember that there are nice people in this city, especially when you need them the most.