3M Corporation is building the World's Largest Pink Ribbon; in Times Square for breast cancer awareness month in October. For every person who clicks on this link and signs up, Post-It will donate $1 to breast cancer research and place a Post-It in their name on the billboard. Please sign up and pass along! go to:
www.3m.com
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Monday, August 23, 2004
stealing a new york minute...
Still in New York (I know, it was a busy week last week and you barely heard from me... it had to do with too much gin, Gidleigh and Todi)... and now here I am writing from my final day in New York, just bursting with stories to tell, many of which I am not allowed to tell (what happens in the Pugh, stays in the Pugh).
I will report loads and loads when I get back to LA, but am happy to say I have had too much fun! So good seeing friends and playing wildly. I love that the city never sleeps... but I must confess, I need to...
Tonight it is off to the China Club for a private concert with that Gavin character I am always talking about. Dreading the early morning departure tomorrow only to arrive glassy-eyed into work and summon the strength to be fabulous for Neal's gallery opening. YIKES!
Off to some bakery right now for the world's best non-South Beach cupcake...
oxoxo
I will report loads and loads when I get back to LA, but am happy to say I have had too much fun! So good seeing friends and playing wildly. I love that the city never sleeps... but I must confess, I need to...
Tonight it is off to the China Club for a private concert with that Gavin character I am always talking about. Dreading the early morning departure tomorrow only to arrive glassy-eyed into work and summon the strength to be fabulous for Neal's gallery opening. YIKES!
Off to some bakery right now for the world's best non-South Beach cupcake...
oxoxo
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
a moment of silence...
I am so sad. So so so sad. Phil was crying. Mirna was crying. I was blubbering like a baby. I think even my cat was crying.
I think Charla should have her own show... and it should be a non stop eating contest... I could watch her stuff her face all day... I have no idea why...
THERAPY!!!
Monday, August 16, 2004
Who Am I To Be Blue?
I was having coffee tonight with my new friend after work. He moved here about a year ago from Ohio. Somehow we got onto the topic of life and our journeys. More specifically, how we spend so much time comparing ours to everyone else's. As I drove away, my brain began racing with the questions that constantly plague me. I am 30, what are other 30 year olds doing? I began comparing the material things. What kind of cars are other people my age driving? There are other people my age buying houses, why am I still renting? Other people are using their college degrees towards successful and financially rewarding careers. Why didn't I go to college? Why am I still searching for a career? I began comparing my emotional needs. There are other people my age not only married, but expecting their first, sometimes second child. Why am I not even dating? I believe in God, but I don't congregate in church every week. Will I still be let into heaven like my friends who participate every Sunday?
Oh yeah, the thoughts were heavy this evening.
Coincidentally, after I got home, another friend, completely out of nowhere, called to ask me what would really excite me. What event or thing would really stimulate and excite me. He wanted to be a part of the first great moment of my 30's. Most importantly, he wanted me to be happy. His dinner companion arrived and we hung up. I didn't get to tell him what would excite me. An hour later, I still don't know the answer.
Living in Los Angeles, is different than any other city in the world. No one is from here. There is no pride in community because there is no community. Everyone has moved here for a reason, for their own purpose. With that said, everyone here has an agenda. Maybe to write a screenplay, maybe to be famous, maybe to be rich, maybe to be able to say that they eat at the same restaurant as Robert DeNiro. It is never because they love the sun, the hikes in the Hollywood Hills, or the pool of reliable friends from which they can swim. Those are all things overlooked.
Imagine trying to date in this environment. Imagine trying to not only survive, but thrive in this environment while still trying to own your soul and stay authentic to who you are. Most people aren't that strong and get swept up in the greed, swallowed by the loneliness and spit out soul less and hollow. I don't want to be one of these people.
I don't want to feel like a failure because other people my age own a house and I rent. I don't want to feel like a failure because my friends are married and I am not dating. I don't want to feel like a failure because my friends make millions of dollars a year and I scrape by on what is now considered poor middle class.
I want to learn to embrace my journey as my own. To not compare mine to others. Instead to compare to where I am from, where I have been, where I am, who I am, who I am continuously becoming. To instead tap into my soul and know who I am and envision who I want to be and living my life for me. Owning my mistakes and flaws along the way. I want to know what excites and stimulates me when my friends ask.
I want to remember how excited I used to be watching a Bette Midler concert in my living room. The adrenaline that coursed through my body when Madonna would release a new album. The alive feeling I felt when I would run around the Hollywood Reservoir with the Hollywood sign watching over me, welcoming me to it's gates. The overwhelming disbelief the first time I set foot on a movie set with Morgan Freeman delivering a White House Press Conference as the president of the United States, as I stood silently, convinced I had walked into someone else's shoes. The breathlessness I felt when Erin brought Joe into this world and the love I not only felt, but knew when I was invited to witness. The pride I felt the day I graduated High School. Accomplishment filled with wide-eyed possibility of the world ahead of me. I walked across the field that day, not worried about who was beating me on my journey or who who was winning. At that point, I never considered life as a race. I walked across that field that day knowing I was going to leave my mark and I couldn't wait to get started. When did my mind switch gears and decide that life wasn't to be lived and savored, but to be sped through with fear of being the last man standing.
A favorite quote of mine from Lily Tomlin is, "the trouble with winning the rat race is that even if you win, you are still a rat". I need to stop racing and fearing that I am going to be last to cross the finish line. Life isn't a race, it is a constant circle. An endless journey. I need to go back to that focus of who I am and how I want to be remembered. I want to be in control of how I am remembered as people cross my footprints on their journey. Not to compare themselves, but to find inspiration to keep living. To want to leave their own mark.
It is time to go back to living my life for me, not worrying about how I measure up to everyone else.
It is amazing what meeting someone new can do for your memory. Self-reflection can be a healthy study in oneself to discover who you are and what you want to be.
Much heavier than I anticipated. Hoping it doesn't haunt me down the road that I am sharing it in my blog instead of my private diary...
Oh yeah, the thoughts were heavy this evening.
Coincidentally, after I got home, another friend, completely out of nowhere, called to ask me what would really excite me. What event or thing would really stimulate and excite me. He wanted to be a part of the first great moment of my 30's. Most importantly, he wanted me to be happy. His dinner companion arrived and we hung up. I didn't get to tell him what would excite me. An hour later, I still don't know the answer.
Living in Los Angeles, is different than any other city in the world. No one is from here. There is no pride in community because there is no community. Everyone has moved here for a reason, for their own purpose. With that said, everyone here has an agenda. Maybe to write a screenplay, maybe to be famous, maybe to be rich, maybe to be able to say that they eat at the same restaurant as Robert DeNiro. It is never because they love the sun, the hikes in the Hollywood Hills, or the pool of reliable friends from which they can swim. Those are all things overlooked.
Imagine trying to date in this environment. Imagine trying to not only survive, but thrive in this environment while still trying to own your soul and stay authentic to who you are. Most people aren't that strong and get swept up in the greed, swallowed by the loneliness and spit out soul less and hollow. I don't want to be one of these people.
I don't want to feel like a failure because other people my age own a house and I rent. I don't want to feel like a failure because my friends are married and I am not dating. I don't want to feel like a failure because my friends make millions of dollars a year and I scrape by on what is now considered poor middle class.
I want to learn to embrace my journey as my own. To not compare mine to others. Instead to compare to where I am from, where I have been, where I am, who I am, who I am continuously becoming. To instead tap into my soul and know who I am and envision who I want to be and living my life for me. Owning my mistakes and flaws along the way. I want to know what excites and stimulates me when my friends ask.
I want to remember how excited I used to be watching a Bette Midler concert in my living room. The adrenaline that coursed through my body when Madonna would release a new album. The alive feeling I felt when I would run around the Hollywood Reservoir with the Hollywood sign watching over me, welcoming me to it's gates. The overwhelming disbelief the first time I set foot on a movie set with Morgan Freeman delivering a White House Press Conference as the president of the United States, as I stood silently, convinced I had walked into someone else's shoes. The breathlessness I felt when Erin brought Joe into this world and the love I not only felt, but knew when I was invited to witness. The pride I felt the day I graduated High School. Accomplishment filled with wide-eyed possibility of the world ahead of me. I walked across the field that day, not worried about who was beating me on my journey or who who was winning. At that point, I never considered life as a race. I walked across that field that day knowing I was going to leave my mark and I couldn't wait to get started. When did my mind switch gears and decide that life wasn't to be lived and savored, but to be sped through with fear of being the last man standing.
A favorite quote of mine from Lily Tomlin is, "the trouble with winning the rat race is that even if you win, you are still a rat". I need to stop racing and fearing that I am going to be last to cross the finish line. Life isn't a race, it is a constant circle. An endless journey. I need to go back to that focus of who I am and how I want to be remembered. I want to be in control of how I am remembered as people cross my footprints on their journey. Not to compare themselves, but to find inspiration to keep living. To want to leave their own mark.
It is time to go back to living my life for me, not worrying about how I measure up to everyone else.
It is amazing what meeting someone new can do for your memory. Self-reflection can be a healthy study in oneself to discover who you are and what you want to be.
Much heavier than I anticipated. Hoping it doesn't haunt me down the road that I am sharing it in my blog instead of my private diary...
Friday, August 13, 2004
Such pressure
OOOH! It is Friday the 13th... isn't that supposed to be lucky??? Or is it the night I get stabbed by a dead guy in a hockey mask?? I am getting ready to leave and start my weekend, but I thought I would say hi. I am feeling pressure to be more interesting because I am obsessed with Zach Braff's blog. So tonight I am going out with Kyle, Mikala and Lindsey and getting blotto on tequila and hoping I can come up with some interesting adventure to share.
Next week I am going to New York, so if I can't come up with anything before then, I will be sure to make something happen there!
Have you gone to the left and registered to vote yet?? (By left, I mean the contents on the left, not have you gone all liberal Democrat on me... but have you?)
So sad that Julia Childs died today... I loved her... I can remember her from my childhood... my grandmother loved her and loved to cook, so I always associated them together... I hate getting old. I hate for the party to end and I hate to be the last one at the party. Life should be stuck in the constant crescendo of the party. Right when everyone is having the most fun on the dance floor. They are slightly buzzed but not drunk enough to be an asshole and every smile you see is your friend. Wouldn't it be great if life was always like that???
But I guess the good news is, there is always another party around the corner... more smiles to fall in love with, more dance moves to bust out...
I sound drunk already... I am out.
Next week I am going to New York, so if I can't come up with anything before then, I will be sure to make something happen there!
Have you gone to the left and registered to vote yet?? (By left, I mean the contents on the left, not have you gone all liberal Democrat on me... but have you?)
So sad that Julia Childs died today... I loved her... I can remember her from my childhood... my grandmother loved her and loved to cook, so I always associated them together... I hate getting old. I hate for the party to end and I hate to be the last one at the party. Life should be stuck in the constant crescendo of the party. Right when everyone is having the most fun on the dance floor. They are slightly buzzed but not drunk enough to be an asshole and every smile you see is your friend. Wouldn't it be great if life was always like that???
But I guess the good news is, there is always another party around the corner... more smiles to fall in love with, more dance moves to bust out...
I sound drunk already... I am out.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Vote Baby Vote
Who you vote for is up to you. It is your inalienable right. So use it. I have added a link to the left, just click on it and make sure you are registered to vote, and when it comes time, make sure to go out and do it. A change is gonna come...
I was born by the river in a little tent
And just like that river
I've been running ever since
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will
It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
Cos I don't know what's out there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will
And then I go to see my brother
And I ask him to help me please
And he just winds up knockin' me
Back down on my knees
There were times when I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will
- Sam Cooke
a scary dream and endless thoughts...
I had the most bizarre and intense dream last night. I dreamt that Los Angeles was being bombed. I was on top of a hill looking out across the valley and there were bombs going off that looked like mini atom bombs. I was terrified and began to run up the hill and into the woods when I realized that the woods were peppered with terrorists. I could hear other people running and screaming as well. So I laid behind a rock making sure not to move. Then I saw a man in a black mask with his gun pointed at me. Before I could scream, he shot me. The dream was so vivid, that I could feel the bullet enter and pass through my left shoulder blade. I could feel the chill of the blood leaving my body. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital in Mexico. I was a lucky survivor, but most people hadn't survived. They dropped me at the border, but it was up to me to get back home. I kept telling people Heidi's phone number. Ben was at the border as well. He was uninjured and just trying to get back home also, but couldn't help me. Shortly after, the radio woke me.
Have I been reading too much news lately? Has it finally entered into my psyche? I have never had a dream like that before. So terrifying, so vivid. It definitely had me shaken up this morning. I was relieved when I realized that my shoulder wasn't paralyzed.
I saw the new movie GARDEN STATE last night. Loved it. I really did. The last 2 minutes I probably would have made a little different, but up until that moment, it was brilliantly rich and colorful with it's characters and story arch. Who knew Zach Braff had it in him? Coincidentally, I stumbled upon his "blog" yesterday and he was promoting one Gavin DeGraw on his website. Great minds think alike. Now if only he thought as much of me when I accidentally accosted him last Halloween at the Skybar. (A tale for another day)
Also had dinner with my brother last night. He is moving here in two weeks. Should prove adventuresome to say the least.
Was listening to the Backstreet Boys on the radio yesterday and was perplexed. We all know they had a hit song called, "I Want It That Way" but then I realized they had a song called "More Than That". They kept singing, "I can love you more than that". Here's what I want to know, in both songs, what does the word "that" refer to? It makes no sense to me and is incredibly vague.
Did you know that Fijian Rum has no proof? One Mai Tai and you may as well be shooting heroin. Thanks always to Paddy for inspiring such inebriation...
Neal's art gets hung at the gallery today. Must send out reminder Evite so that everyone turns out for the opening. Saw the pieces yesterday... there is some very good stuff in there, but don't tell him I said so...
Started back up officially on South Beach yesterday. Mustn't eat sugars and certainly no Fijian Rum! Feel free to rip any bread or dessert you see going anywhere near my mouth from my hands.
The Hemming's are in labor right now. The office is abuzz with excitement over a new baby to ogle. Exciting times.
Off to call therapist now about disturbingly frightful dream...
Have I been reading too much news lately? Has it finally entered into my psyche? I have never had a dream like that before. So terrifying, so vivid. It definitely had me shaken up this morning. I was relieved when I realized that my shoulder wasn't paralyzed.
I saw the new movie GARDEN STATE last night. Loved it. I really did. The last 2 minutes I probably would have made a little different, but up until that moment, it was brilliantly rich and colorful with it's characters and story arch. Who knew Zach Braff had it in him? Coincidentally, I stumbled upon his "blog" yesterday and he was promoting one Gavin DeGraw on his website. Great minds think alike. Now if only he thought as much of me when I accidentally accosted him last Halloween at the Skybar. (A tale for another day)
Also had dinner with my brother last night. He is moving here in two weeks. Should prove adventuresome to say the least.
Was listening to the Backstreet Boys on the radio yesterday and was perplexed. We all know they had a hit song called, "I Want It That Way" but then I realized they had a song called "More Than That". They kept singing, "I can love you more than that". Here's what I want to know, in both songs, what does the word "that" refer to? It makes no sense to me and is incredibly vague.
Did you know that Fijian Rum has no proof? One Mai Tai and you may as well be shooting heroin. Thanks always to Paddy for inspiring such inebriation...
Neal's art gets hung at the gallery today. Must send out reminder Evite so that everyone turns out for the opening. Saw the pieces yesterday... there is some very good stuff in there, but don't tell him I said so...
Started back up officially on South Beach yesterday. Mustn't eat sugars and certainly no Fijian Rum! Feel free to rip any bread or dessert you see going anywhere near my mouth from my hands.
The Hemming's are in labor right now. The office is abuzz with excitement over a new baby to ogle. Exciting times.
Off to call therapist now about disturbingly frightful dream...
Friday, August 06, 2004
A Service worth promoting...
My friend Brandi forwarded this to me this afternoon... you know I love a good cocktail, so it is only fair and smart that I should support such a clever service... It started in London and has just recently launched stateside (and you know what an Anglophile I am)...
In the last month, 2 friends have driven themselves home too tipsy and / or too tired.
One friend drove into a parked car and woke up with his face in an airbag, lights flashing, smashed windshield -- his car totaled. amazingly he was not hurt, nor was anyone else.
Another friend thought she was sober enough to drive home, but her judgment was off, and she hit a curb and crashed into a street lamp. thankfully only her car was damaged.
We are all thanking our lucky stars that these drivers weren't hurt and they didn't hurt any other friends or family members riding around town that night.
If the cops had been around, both friends would have been busted for driving with alcohol in their system. I know someone who got a DUI a few years back -- he had to pay $2,000 just to get a lawyer to talk to him, had his drivers license suspended, and had to ride his bike to work for 6 months. There were 200,000 DUIs in California last year. Average cost: $10,000.
CONSIDER THIS NEW SERVICE: www.HomeJames.com
Call Home James and a personal chauffeur will drive you home in your own car -- then ride away on a specially designed fold-up scooter that is carried in your trunk.
You won't have to worry about where you left your car, overnight parking fees, theft of vandalism, and you don't have to waste your time the next day, waiting for another cab or a friend to tak eyou back. Best of all you can relax, enjoy yourself and not stress about drinking and driving.
Home James is a Members Only service. We need your permission to drive your vehicles and are required by law to have you authorize our drivers to drive for you.
Join now and receive a 1 year membership for free.
Email us at: promotions@homejamesusa.com
Our prices are very competitive. They are less than a return taxi cab fare. More to the point, you and your car are home safe. At the same time. What price is peace of mind?
$30 for 0-5 miles
$45 for 5.1-10 miles
$60 for 10.1 - 15 miles
contact Home James for prices on further distances.
In the last month, 2 friends have driven themselves home too tipsy and / or too tired.
One friend drove into a parked car and woke up with his face in an airbag, lights flashing, smashed windshield -- his car totaled. amazingly he was not hurt, nor was anyone else.
Another friend thought she was sober enough to drive home, but her judgment was off, and she hit a curb and crashed into a street lamp. thankfully only her car was damaged.
We are all thanking our lucky stars that these drivers weren't hurt and they didn't hurt any other friends or family members riding around town that night.
If the cops had been around, both friends would have been busted for driving with alcohol in their system. I know someone who got a DUI a few years back -- he had to pay $2,000 just to get a lawyer to talk to him, had his drivers license suspended, and had to ride his bike to work for 6 months. There were 200,000 DUIs in California last year. Average cost: $10,000.
CONSIDER THIS NEW SERVICE: www.HomeJames.com
Call Home James and a personal chauffeur will drive you home in your own car -- then ride away on a specially designed fold-up scooter that is carried in your trunk.
You won't have to worry about where you left your car, overnight parking fees, theft of vandalism, and you don't have to waste your time the next day, waiting for another cab or a friend to tak eyou back. Best of all you can relax, enjoy yourself and not stress about drinking and driving.
Home James is a Members Only service. We need your permission to drive your vehicles and are required by law to have you authorize our drivers to drive for you.
Join now and receive a 1 year membership for free.
Email us at: promotions@homejamesusa.com
Our prices are very competitive. They are less than a return taxi cab fare. More to the point, you and your car are home safe. At the same time. What price is peace of mind?
$30 for 0-5 miles
$45 for 5.1-10 miles
$60 for 10.1 - 15 miles
contact Home James for prices on further distances.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Friend won't back off on pushing her political beliefs
Feeling overwhelmed by the endless political email forwards your friends keep sending you? I thought Tuesday's Dear Abby was very appropriate and topical. It is one thing for people to click on Michael Moore's website on their own free will, it is another to copy and paste his views and solicit them to their friend's as their own. Politics and religion should only be discussed when invited and when two people are willing to "discuss" (meaning to talk as well as listen to each other's opinions). I don't think it is fair to bombard your friends with your unsolicited views, certainly not in these chaotic times. Send me a joke, send me pics of hot men. Know your audience, but leave the politics and religion for my own digestion and consideration.
Aug. 3, 2004, 10:05PM
DEAR ABBY
Universal Press Syndicate
Dear Abby: A woman I have known for 10 years has different political beliefs from mine. I haven't viewed this as a reason to end the friendship; I just don't bring up the subject of politics with her. She, on the other hand, constantly "slams" my beliefs, in person and via e-mail.
I have recently received several offensive letters from her. I didn't respond and she keeps prodding me for a reaction. Believe me, she doesn't want to hear what I have to say about her behavior. I have asked her to stop pushing her opinions on me and still she persists.
I feel that her antics are extremely disrespectful, and I'm to the point of ending communication with her altogether. What have you to say on this issue?
— Harassed in Houston
Dear Harassed: Tell her that the subject of politics is verboten until after the election. There's a reason for that old warning, "Don't discuss sex, religion or politics" — it can end friendships. She's not going to change your views, and you aren't going to change hers. Although she may be doing this to get a rise out of you, it's disrespectful and a touch malicious.
and since it is my website, have you visited Michael Moore's lately????
Aug. 3, 2004, 10:05PM
DEAR ABBY
Universal Press Syndicate
Dear Abby: A woman I have known for 10 years has different political beliefs from mine. I haven't viewed this as a reason to end the friendship; I just don't bring up the subject of politics with her. She, on the other hand, constantly "slams" my beliefs, in person and via e-mail.
I have recently received several offensive letters from her. I didn't respond and she keeps prodding me for a reaction. Believe me, she doesn't want to hear what I have to say about her behavior. I have asked her to stop pushing her opinions on me and still she persists.
I feel that her antics are extremely disrespectful, and I'm to the point of ending communication with her altogether. What have you to say on this issue?
— Harassed in Houston
Dear Harassed: Tell her that the subject of politics is verboten until after the election. There's a reason for that old warning, "Don't discuss sex, religion or politics" — it can end friendships. She's not going to change your views, and you aren't going to change hers. Although she may be doing this to get a rise out of you, it's disrespectful and a touch malicious.
and since it is my website, have you visited Michael Moore's lately????
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Mirna and Schmirna
Is anyone else watching the Amazing Race this season? I am completely obsessed with cousins Charla and Mirna (otherwise known to the other teams as Mirna and Schmirna). My heart swelled when Charla hopped on that horse and drug the camel across the desert. I loved Mirna being freaked out about sending Charla in the well, while Charla pretty much sang her way down and back up. My favorite moment however, was them sneaking away from the other team members while they slept in the airport. It also kills me how obsessed Mirna is at the end of each episode when she sees the host with how she looks and smells. She always has to give him a hug. I can't help but think she is going to lay the biggest kiss on him the night of their final episode... It is good TV. But who do you think will ultimately win????
I have also been watching Arrested Development on Sunday nights. Jo and Peter have been swearing by it all year, and laughing at their inside phrases. I now officially know what a nevernude is. I will be making my cutoffs in the morning... I recommend you start recording it on Sunday nights. The LA Times last week reported that this show is reinventing the sitcom (something that needs doing).
Clara is taking her dog to begin acupuncture tomorrow. Lola survived last year's surgery, but is apparently now tending to any minor pain that may be residual. I want Lola's life! Aye aye aye!
I am off to read The Hours now. I didn't feel that A Home At The End Of The World destroyed me enough last week, so I am tackling Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel for a final punch in the stomach!
Apul and Adam go to White Castle
Last night after work, I went with my friend Greg to see "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle"... I have a strong suspicion that the movie would be funnier if you were stoned while watching it. Alas, I was only two gin martinis in. The funny part was that sitting in our exact row, were Apul and Adam. Apul is my 5'2" Puerto Rican friend with very limited English. He has asked me to mention to any eligible lady friends out there that he has long flowing back hair. Again, his english is limited, but based on the hair on his knuckles, he may be telling the truth. Adam is a homosexual friend of mine who works for a local latin TV station. Adam is worried about his anonymity, so from now on, he would like me to address him as Frankie Avalon in any future blogs. I would think that since Frankie speaks Spanish, he would know that Apul likes "the ladies" but the way Adam kept putting his arm around him during the show, maybe Apul's Spanish is as broken as his English.
Greg and I enjoyed the movie, but watching Apul squirm while Frankie put on the moves was far funnier. Of course, writing this blog has been the highlight of the entire experience.
A similar likeness to Apul for any interested ladies (again, similar, not exact... imagine more hair):
Greg and I enjoyed the movie, but watching Apul squirm while Frankie put on the moves was far funnier. Of course, writing this blog has been the highlight of the entire experience.
A similar likeness to Apul for any interested ladies (again, similar, not exact... imagine more hair):
**Some reputations and psyches were harmed in the writing of this blog.
On a more serious note about the movie....
A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM ACTORS KAL PENN AND JOHN CHO. PLEASE FORWARD TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW! IF YOU HAVE A WEBSITE OR BLOG SITE, PLEASE POST! IF YOU HAVE A PUBLICATION - PLEASE PRINT THIS WEEK!
July 24, 2004
Dear Friends, Fans, Haters, Players, and True Money Makers,
Hey! This is Kal Penn (aka Kalpen Modi) and John Cho writing to encourage you to go see our upcoming comedy from New Line Cinema, "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," opening nationwide on July 30th. This film marks the first time a major studio is releasing a project with two Asian American males as the leads. We don't have stereotypical accents, we don't passively tread through the story, we're not asexual or hypersexual, there are no martial arts scenes, one-dimensional cab driver segments. We play a couple of all-American guys who happen to be of Indian and Korean descent. Our characters (Harold and Kumar) are post-collegiate buddies who ge t the munchies and end up going on the adventure of their lives as they set out to satisfy a spontaneous craving for White Castle burgers. Ebert and Roeper just gave our movie "Two Thumbs Up"! We hope you will too. Read on.
The opening weekend for any film is extremely important. Studio executives (the people who make big decisions about movies) track the numbers from that first weekend's ticket sales and make all kinds of decisions based on that data. They decide if they will add more screens to show a film, if they will spend more money in promoting it, if they will start investing in a sequel... but most importantly, they decide if elements of the film work and whether they should do it again. In our case, that means they will be asking, "Will a strong script and story succeed or fail with 2 Asian American guys in non-stereotypical roles?". We personally think it will succeed, but we need your help! This film is our chance to prove that realistic, non-stereotypical depictions can make an aud ience have a blast, and take in enough money to make this happen in the future.
By buying a ticket to "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle", you aren't just gonna get to see a really funny movie with two dudes who look like you. Nope. You're also going to be saying to media outlets, "I support accurate representation of Asian Americans and would like to see more." You have the power to change things simply by buying a ticket to a film that we believe you'll have fun watching anyway!
Please go to the theaters next weekend and watch "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle". We look at this awesome opportunity like we do voting in an election. Every movie ticket someone buys is a VOTE, and the cool part is, you're allowed to vote as many times as you want. With your support of the film, we will show decision-makers in Hollywood that supporting movies like these is not only the right thing to do, but is also good business. We'll also show YOU what it's like to ride a cheetah, hang glide off a cliff, pick up a hitchhiking Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser), tell off a bunch of ignorant punks, get love interests, and sing Wilson Phillips at the top of our lungs.
So just hold on for one more... week, and check out the website at www.HaroldandKumar.com. This film opens the weekend of July 30th! Send this email to all of your friends. Throw parties. Order food. Make a night (or weekend) out of it and go see "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle"! This is a landmark opportunity for the Asian American community, and we are proud to be the faces involved. With your support and the success of this film, we hope that it's only the beginning of many more Asian Americans on screen...
Enjoy the movie,
Kal Penn and John Cho
"Kumar" and "Harold"
New Line Cinema's "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle"
Monday, August 02, 2004
I've got one hand In my pocket and the other one is reaching for a Barenaked Ladies CD...
I never sat down to write my poem, but am keeping it on my list of things to do.
Have only had one flare up of Ants since the day I set the traps. Thank you for your concern.
With that out of the way... let me tell you about my newest obsession...
My friends for years and years have been trying to force the music of the Barenaked Ladies into my ears. I have fought it and resisted. I could pick out their songs on the radio and if forced to listen to them in a car, I could sing along. But I could never wrap my mind around what kind of band they were. A little "Weird Al" parody or an uptempo James Taylor? Either way, I had no desire to take the time to find out and would just deal with them as they came to me. This was also how I approached them last Friday night at the Greek Theater when they opened for Alanis Morissette.
First off, Alanis I love. Alanis saves me buckets and buckets of money in therapy. There is this strange synergy I feel with her. She came into my life in 1995 as my heart was being cheated on and bludgeoned. She sang "You Oughtta Know" and I screamed along with her. I remember my trip to Los Angeles shortly thereafter where I heard her songs full blast at BB King's during The Simpson's Christmas party. She sang "All I Really Want" and I knew I wanted it too. That was the same day I made the decision I would move to L.A. I remember being in El Centro, California on Three Kings, alone driving in the desert listening to Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. I was lonely, uncertain about life and all that was going on around me. In a nutshell, I was miserable. The ironic part (some pun intended) is that on paper, I should have been on top of the world. My movie career was thriving. I ended each day playing basketball with George Clooney. I was living my life above and beyond expectation. Alanis wrote SFIJ after the success of Jagged Little Pill with the same confused heart. She was on top of the world and sold one of the biggest selling albums of all time, yet she wasn't happy. The album couldn't have consoled me at a better time.
In 2002, she released Under Rug Swept. Once again, her lyrics were a snapshot of where I was. "I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful". She wrote a song wondering about an almost run-in with the guy she wrote "You Oughtta Know" about. She wrote about her fears, insecurities and forgiveness. Things I was learning simultaneously with my "YOK" subject. "21 Things I Want in a Lover". I could come up with more, but the 21 listed would create, by my standards, the perfect man. The whole album was an inward reflection that I happened to be taking and there is solace when you realize that someone else, regardless of fame and celebrity, is going through the same thing. One of my brother-in-law Mike's favorite memories of me is on Christmas morning when I made him watch my Alanis DVD and I sang along full volume. Needless to say, I really love Alanis... and seeing her live is always an epiphany laden experience. Paddy gets her the same way I do, so it just enhances the evening.
She and I were neither excited nor tormented by the idea of the Barenaked Ladies opening the concert. Our bigger concern was whether BNL would open for Alanis or the other way around as traffic had us running late. We arrived as BNL's set began with "Brian Wilson". Paddy bought me a beer and she indulged in a margarita. Our seats were remarkable, 4th row on the right (thank you Denise!). The boys on stage were fun. They were funny. They were talented musicians. Their harmonies rivaled Crosby, Stills and Nash. Ed Robertson kept looking in our general direction and to say that he had beautiful blue eyes with depth for swimming in is an understatement. I was enraptured by their performance and towards the end of their set, we were all on our feet dancing and singing along.
Have only had one flare up of Ants since the day I set the traps. Thank you for your concern.
With that out of the way... let me tell you about my newest obsession...
My friends for years and years have been trying to force the music of the Barenaked Ladies into my ears. I have fought it and resisted. I could pick out their songs on the radio and if forced to listen to them in a car, I could sing along. But I could never wrap my mind around what kind of band they were. A little "Weird Al" parody or an uptempo James Taylor? Either way, I had no desire to take the time to find out and would just deal with them as they came to me. This was also how I approached them last Friday night at the Greek Theater when they opened for Alanis Morissette.
First off, Alanis I love. Alanis saves me buckets and buckets of money in therapy. There is this strange synergy I feel with her. She came into my life in 1995 as my heart was being cheated on and bludgeoned. She sang "You Oughtta Know" and I screamed along with her. I remember my trip to Los Angeles shortly thereafter where I heard her songs full blast at BB King's during The Simpson's Christmas party. She sang "All I Really Want" and I knew I wanted it too. That was the same day I made the decision I would move to L.A. I remember being in El Centro, California on Three Kings, alone driving in the desert listening to Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. I was lonely, uncertain about life and all that was going on around me. In a nutshell, I was miserable. The ironic part (some pun intended) is that on paper, I should have been on top of the world. My movie career was thriving. I ended each day playing basketball with George Clooney. I was living my life above and beyond expectation. Alanis wrote SFIJ after the success of Jagged Little Pill with the same confused heart. She was on top of the world and sold one of the biggest selling albums of all time, yet she wasn't happy. The album couldn't have consoled me at a better time.
In 2002, she released Under Rug Swept. Once again, her lyrics were a snapshot of where I was. "I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful". She wrote a song wondering about an almost run-in with the guy she wrote "You Oughtta Know" about. She wrote about her fears, insecurities and forgiveness. Things I was learning simultaneously with my "YOK" subject. "21 Things I Want in a Lover". I could come up with more, but the 21 listed would create, by my standards, the perfect man. The whole album was an inward reflection that I happened to be taking and there is solace when you realize that someone else, regardless of fame and celebrity, is going through the same thing. One of my brother-in-law Mike's favorite memories of me is on Christmas morning when I made him watch my Alanis DVD and I sang along full volume. Needless to say, I really love Alanis... and seeing her live is always an epiphany laden experience. Paddy gets her the same way I do, so it just enhances the evening.
She and I were neither excited nor tormented by the idea of the Barenaked Ladies opening the concert. Our bigger concern was whether BNL would open for Alanis or the other way around as traffic had us running late. We arrived as BNL's set began with "Brian Wilson". Paddy bought me a beer and she indulged in a margarita. Our seats were remarkable, 4th row on the right (thank you Denise!). The boys on stage were fun. They were funny. They were talented musicians. Their harmonies rivaled Crosby, Stills and Nash. Ed Robertson kept looking in our general direction and to say that he had beautiful blue eyes with depth for swimming in is an understatement. I was enraptured by their performance and towards the end of their set, we were all on our feet dancing and singing along.
Alanis snuck out during "Call and Answer" and turned it into a duet with them. Any ideas who stood in their seat crying?
A night that already had high expectations for one performer, ended with an elated heart full of new music and a new appreciation for all things barenaked, exceeding and raising the bar of all expectation.
Perhaps this will help me resolve my own issues with being a "Nevernude". But I will save that topic for another day...
Today it is all about BNL... Does anyone know how I can see a copy of Jason Priestley's documentary "Barenaked in America"? I had no idea that it had no American distribution, theatrical or video. I am officially a converted BNL fan...
Sunday, August 01, 2004
I am throwing another party!
Where: Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica, CA
Phone: (310) 829-5854
I can't belieive it, but I am already throwing another event! On August 24th, please join me at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica as Neal Breton AKA "Country Neal" premiere's his first ever Gallery Art opening. He has been painting away for months to showcase his talents in his first ever exhibit... There will be beverages and nibbly things as well... it is an excellent opportunity to impress your friends and show your highbrow society side by going to an art opening...
What is Bergamot Station?
Santa Monica's sprawling fine arts complex is fast becoming the cultural epicenter for contemporary art.
The History:
Once a train depot for the now-defunct Red Line trolley, this warehouse complex houses more than 30 art galleries and the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Converted into an art gallery enclave in the '90s, it now stands as L.A.'s most stylish cultural center, frequented by local artists, designers, collectors and tourists.
Who is Country Neal?
More Info: http://www.countryneal.com
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
A Home At The End Of The World With No Ants
I already tried this once today, but the power went out at the office and I am now forced to start over from scratch... I am apologizing in advance for my wandering dribble... I have many thoughts running through my mind today, so I will just share them as I fumble across them...
First off, today I finished one of the best books I have read in quite awhile. It is called "A Home At The End Of The World" by Michael Cunningham. For some reason it echoed through me. My past, my present, my decisions, my flaws. My yearning for love, to be loved, to have a lover. It was a really great book that I picked up on a whim and couldn't have expected to devour like I did. Aren't those the best books to stumble upon?
Since the movie is in limited release in NY and LA, I drug Ben and Adam to it. I didn't cry like I did this morning as I finished the book in bed, but I am happy to say that Colin Farrell did a superb job in a very chewy character. It was also fun to see Wendy Crewson grace the screen with her magic. I still recommend the book before the movie...
The ant saga has taken a turn. I had an anonymous person post on here yesterday! I was beginning to wonder if anyone was reading, but I have made no nevermind and have continued to post away without regard. My poster sent me to the RAID site where I was schooled in the various ants and different treatments to remove them. When I got in last night, I was armed finally with proper Ant disposal. I had bought spray, traps and an electric sonar repeller. I placed traps on the new masses that were coming out of my kitchen sink and bath tub (oh yes, I had a double attack last night!), dropping them on the crowds like the house landing on the Wicked Witch of the East. It took such will power to just let them roam as I went to bed, but the box promised that they would take the bait back to the nest and they would be killed at the source.
Sure enough, tonight, there were only a small smattering around the kitchen sink and this morning when I woke up, the shower was indeed ant free. I am suddenly religious. Pray with me that this will be the last of the ant posts!
Gavin re-released his solo album today with a second disc of all the songs in a stripped and redone version. Not to be missed is the bonus track, the Sam Cooke classic "A Change Is Gonna Come". I know, I know... Gavin! Gavin! Gavin!
Have I mentioned Neal's Art Show is coming up on August 24th??
Last Saturday I was in San Diego for what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend by the pool with cocktails. Instead, I was dropped in the middle of Nerdville (a term to be used in an endearing form) as it happened to be Comi-Con, the world's largest comic book convention. You have heard of the intensity with which people attend a Star Trek convention? Imagine having the fans of every genre of comic and science fiction in a 1x1 mile radius. Storm Troopers walked the streets freely as well as aliens, spidermen and Romulans (see, even I know a thing or two about Star Trek. When not punching kitties, Rory taught us that Romulan Ale is illegal in the Federation. Yes, it was that kind of weekend). And of course, I ended up at dinner with Hayden Christensen, also known as the young Anakan Skywalker, or more commonly known as Darth Vader. I may as well have been in downtown Rome eating pizza with the pope. The whole thing got me to thinking how bizarre this person's life must be. To want to be an actor and to seek such a coveted role, and to step into the shoes of one of pop cultures most famous villains. Will he ever be taken as a serious actor or has rising to the absolute top on the first time out be the best beginning and the saddest end? As even the busboys were having their picture taken with him, I knew I needed to get out of Nerdville and return to the sanctuary of my home.
Last night I watched Bill Clinton speak at the Democratic Convention. Oh it made me ache for a new leader. It reminds me of a metaphor a gal by the name of Better Midler used recently. She spoke of how we are currently in a bit of a cloud. Fear and uncertainty run rampant in these trying times. Everyone has an opinion. Some have become afraid to share them, some should just keep their mouths shut, but we are each entitled. The majority of us don't want to talk about it for the fear of talking about it might make all of the fear a reality. But underneath all of the fear and chaos, there is hope. Hope in knowing that in time we are going to be okay. That we are in the need and want of change. That we will endure and come out the other side okay. With hope and faith grows courage and change. Sort of like when "in the Spring, the seed under the snow, grows and becomes the rose"...
I warned you my thoughts today were random...
I think tomorrow I will write a poem...
for now, it is time for bed...
First off, today I finished one of the best books I have read in quite awhile. It is called "A Home At The End Of The World" by Michael Cunningham. For some reason it echoed through me. My past, my present, my decisions, my flaws. My yearning for love, to be loved, to have a lover. It was a really great book that I picked up on a whim and couldn't have expected to devour like I did. Aren't those the best books to stumble upon?
Since the movie is in limited release in NY and LA, I drug Ben and Adam to it. I didn't cry like I did this morning as I finished the book in bed, but I am happy to say that Colin Farrell did a superb job in a very chewy character. It was also fun to see Wendy Crewson grace the screen with her magic. I still recommend the book before the movie...
The ant saga has taken a turn. I had an anonymous person post on here yesterday! I was beginning to wonder if anyone was reading, but I have made no nevermind and have continued to post away without regard. My poster sent me to the RAID site where I was schooled in the various ants and different treatments to remove them. When I got in last night, I was armed finally with proper Ant disposal. I had bought spray, traps and an electric sonar repeller. I placed traps on the new masses that were coming out of my kitchen sink and bath tub (oh yes, I had a double attack last night!), dropping them on the crowds like the house landing on the Wicked Witch of the East. It took such will power to just let them roam as I went to bed, but the box promised that they would take the bait back to the nest and they would be killed at the source.
Sure enough, tonight, there were only a small smattering around the kitchen sink and this morning when I woke up, the shower was indeed ant free. I am suddenly religious. Pray with me that this will be the last of the ant posts!
Gavin re-released his solo album today with a second disc of all the songs in a stripped and redone version. Not to be missed is the bonus track, the Sam Cooke classic "A Change Is Gonna Come". I know, I know... Gavin! Gavin! Gavin!
Have I mentioned Neal's Art Show is coming up on August 24th??
Last Saturday I was in San Diego for what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend by the pool with cocktails. Instead, I was dropped in the middle of Nerdville (a term to be used in an endearing form) as it happened to be Comi-Con, the world's largest comic book convention. You have heard of the intensity with which people attend a Star Trek convention? Imagine having the fans of every genre of comic and science fiction in a 1x1 mile radius. Storm Troopers walked the streets freely as well as aliens, spidermen and Romulans (see, even I know a thing or two about Star Trek. When not punching kitties, Rory taught us that Romulan Ale is illegal in the Federation. Yes, it was that kind of weekend). And of course, I ended up at dinner with Hayden Christensen, also known as the young Anakan Skywalker, or more commonly known as Darth Vader. I may as well have been in downtown Rome eating pizza with the pope. The whole thing got me to thinking how bizarre this person's life must be. To want to be an actor and to seek such a coveted role, and to step into the shoes of one of pop cultures most famous villains. Will he ever be taken as a serious actor or has rising to the absolute top on the first time out be the best beginning and the saddest end? As even the busboys were having their picture taken with him, I knew I needed to get out of Nerdville and return to the sanctuary of my home.
Last night I watched Bill Clinton speak at the Democratic Convention. Oh it made me ache for a new leader. It reminds me of a metaphor a gal by the name of Better Midler used recently. She spoke of how we are currently in a bit of a cloud. Fear and uncertainty run rampant in these trying times. Everyone has an opinion. Some have become afraid to share them, some should just keep their mouths shut, but we are each entitled. The majority of us don't want to talk about it for the fear of talking about it might make all of the fear a reality. But underneath all of the fear and chaos, there is hope. Hope in knowing that in time we are going to be okay. That we are in the need and want of change. That we will endure and come out the other side okay. With hope and faith grows courage and change. Sort of like when "in the Spring, the seed under the snow, grows and becomes the rose"...
I warned you my thoughts today were random...
I think tomorrow I will write a poem...
for now, it is time for bed...
Sunday, July 25, 2004
They are taking over the world. But I refuse to let them win.
Yesterday morning, I woke up to another invasion of ants in the kitchen. I am beginning to feel like a war vet with all of the flashbacks I have during the day of the countless ant bodies I have killed. The endless lines of corpses that I have had to spray down with cleaning agent and wipe up with a paper towel. The several Ant Bunker's I have flooded. Which by the way, if you think that hosing them out of their holes is mean, don't! They don't drown! Instead they mock me, turn it into the Olympics and perform synchronized swim routines (and I swear, if you put your head close enough, you could hear that it was Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me" they were performing to).
I was supposed to leave yesterday morning at 7 for San Diego. By the time I cleaned up yet another attack of the resilient ants, it was 8:00am. Knowing that I would be gone for the weekend, I decided it best to apply some precaution to my kitchen so that I didn't return home Sunday night to find everything in my kitchen removed by the ants (I had a scary vision of them carting Sophie out the door during a copa-cabana-conga-line with Sophie on her back with her legs in the air. You know how drunk she is by the afternoon. She would have just thought she was at a Pearl Jam concert).
So I took the advice from that website I posted yesterday and sprinkled red pepper flakes all over the counter. As I was sprinkling, there were already ants scouting out the area. But, I left them thinking they would hate the pepper flakes and run home to their friends and say, "turn back, he is on to us! Pepper flakes everywhere! We'll never make it!". That thought left my mind when I watched one of the ants walk up to a flake, and throw it on his back. I could hear him laughing at me. I decided I must've read the website wrong and got out the cayenne pepper. I generously sprinkled it everywhere. On the counters. Along the trim. It is a good thing Sophie doesn't climb on the counters.
My kitchen looked like the surface photos of Mars. But I didn't care, because I had faith, that they would get the message and go.
I returned early from San Diego. I think my ants are either Mexican or Italian because they seem to love the spicy food. That is what I deducted when I saw them dancing on my counter top at what appeared to be a mini-rave when I walked in. Again, my head was close enough and I could hear a techno remix of Lionel Richie's "Running With the Night". They were treating the pepper concoction like you would sawdust at a carnival. I couldn't grab the Windex fast enough.
My counter is now a muddy mixture of kitchen cleaner, raving ant bodies, cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes. The scene is grim. My patience is thin. I needed to vent because now I have to clean up the grossest mess to hit my kitchen since the time I made tomato soup in my cuisinart and the lid came off.
I have to go and clean my kitchen now. I will keep you posted on any further ant developments. And please, if you have any ant stories or remedies of your own, all you have to do is click below this post where it says 0 comments. You can submit an anonymous post (just include your name in the box) and you won't have to join the blogger. Help me Obie-won, you are my only hope!
I was supposed to leave yesterday morning at 7 for San Diego. By the time I cleaned up yet another attack of the resilient ants, it was 8:00am. Knowing that I would be gone for the weekend, I decided it best to apply some precaution to my kitchen so that I didn't return home Sunday night to find everything in my kitchen removed by the ants (I had a scary vision of them carting Sophie out the door during a copa-cabana-conga-line with Sophie on her back with her legs in the air. You know how drunk she is by the afternoon. She would have just thought she was at a Pearl Jam concert).
So I took the advice from that website I posted yesterday and sprinkled red pepper flakes all over the counter. As I was sprinkling, there were already ants scouting out the area. But, I left them thinking they would hate the pepper flakes and run home to their friends and say, "turn back, he is on to us! Pepper flakes everywhere! We'll never make it!". That thought left my mind when I watched one of the ants walk up to a flake, and throw it on his back. I could hear him laughing at me. I decided I must've read the website wrong and got out the cayenne pepper. I generously sprinkled it everywhere. On the counters. Along the trim. It is a good thing Sophie doesn't climb on the counters.
My kitchen looked like the surface photos of Mars. But I didn't care, because I had faith, that they would get the message and go.
I returned early from San Diego. I think my ants are either Mexican or Italian because they seem to love the spicy food. That is what I deducted when I saw them dancing on my counter top at what appeared to be a mini-rave when I walked in. Again, my head was close enough and I could hear a techno remix of Lionel Richie's "Running With the Night". They were treating the pepper concoction like you would sawdust at a carnival. I couldn't grab the Windex fast enough.
My counter is now a muddy mixture of kitchen cleaner, raving ant bodies, cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes. The scene is grim. My patience is thin. I needed to vent because now I have to clean up the grossest mess to hit my kitchen since the time I made tomato soup in my cuisinart and the lid came off.
I have to go and clean my kitchen now. I will keep you posted on any further ant developments. And please, if you have any ant stories or remedies of your own, all you have to do is click below this post where it says 0 comments. You can submit an anonymous post (just include your name in the box) and you won't have to join the blogger. Help me Obie-won, you are my only hope!
Friday, July 23, 2004
Ants Marching
So apparently my one entry regarding the mosquito eater was not enough for the insect community this week. It turns out the ants have wanted their moment in the spotlight.
I hate ants. I absolutely hate them. They are everywhere in my house right now. It seems to be ant season. They do this to me every summer, and I swear this one is the absolute worst.
On Tuesday night when I came home from work, they were forming a conga line around Sophie's cat food and partying like it was 1999 inside the dish. It was no wonder she wouldn't stop screaming when I got home. They were coming down from the ceiling (your guess is as good as mine, and yes they were walking upside down on the ceiling like a Lionel Richie song), along the wall and all over my kitchen floor. So I got out my kitchen cleaner (because do we ever actually own ant spray? in the bathroom, you use hair spray, in the kitchen, it is counter or window cleaner... generally whatever spraying substance is closest at hand (and don't try to tell me you do it differently)). I had to immerse Sophie's entire dish in the sink full of water to drown their party while I sprayed and sprayed the floor, wall and ceiling. I cleaned my mess and cooked some dinner in my freshly cleaned kitchen. Happened to turn on a rerun of Ellen and I swear to God, she was complaining about an ant problem that she had.
Her story was very similar to mine and the whackiest thing is that she talked about the ants love for the cat food! Her advice (and please feel free to pass this on): place the cat's dishes in pie tins filled with water. BRILLIANT. They can't swim to the food when it is on an isolated island in the middle of a tin!
They can however form a newer and longer line from the same entry point in the ceiling and wrap around the entire perimeter of the kitchen to find the cat food that is now in the trash, soapy, sprayed with cleaner and littered with dead ant bodies. It was the longest black line when I arrived home the following night (Sophie's cat food perfectly ant free, she just has to strain a little to get her face in the middle of the bowl). Again, out came the window cleaner (I am almost out) and the ceiling of my kitchen now has an evenly designed peppered border of any bodies. Oh yes, this is wonderful imagery. I have to actually look at it. Be thankful I haven't taken pics and posted them.
So today is day number three and I was once again cleaning them this morning, because while I was sleeping, guess who was busy at work? Ants, ants, everywhere ants. They are in my shower every morning (where they get sprayed down the drain). I am probably sleeping with them and I don't even know it.
They are a rotten creature. Ellen joked that they are actually just there to help us clean. After a dinner party, "oh, don't worry about the dishes, the ants will take care of it". Real funny, if there wasn't such truth to it.
I have often wondered what Richard Gere does. I know he is not "Ant Free" no matter how good his Buddhist kharma is. But if he believes that by killing any living creature is bad, what does he do when his cat's food is being devoured by ants? Does he relocate them? Does he play Lionel Richie in the front yard and hope that they take their party there?
If I can do anything to help you as I continue to battle the battle (because I am convinced they are trying to take over the world), I am more than happy to help. I have just come across this fantastic website with various alternatives to getting rid of ants... if we ban together, they can not take over our lives!!!
http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/health/ants.html
and on a similar note, I don't think it is an accident that DreamWorks made a movie about annoying creatures (ants) and voiced them with some of Hollywood's most annoying personalities (Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone and Woody Allen). The name of the film: ANTS.
I hate ants. I absolutely hate them. They are everywhere in my house right now. It seems to be ant season. They do this to me every summer, and I swear this one is the absolute worst.
On Tuesday night when I came home from work, they were forming a conga line around Sophie's cat food and partying like it was 1999 inside the dish. It was no wonder she wouldn't stop screaming when I got home. They were coming down from the ceiling (your guess is as good as mine, and yes they were walking upside down on the ceiling like a Lionel Richie song), along the wall and all over my kitchen floor. So I got out my kitchen cleaner (because do we ever actually own ant spray? in the bathroom, you use hair spray, in the kitchen, it is counter or window cleaner... generally whatever spraying substance is closest at hand (and don't try to tell me you do it differently)). I had to immerse Sophie's entire dish in the sink full of water to drown their party while I sprayed and sprayed the floor, wall and ceiling. I cleaned my mess and cooked some dinner in my freshly cleaned kitchen. Happened to turn on a rerun of Ellen and I swear to God, she was complaining about an ant problem that she had.
Her story was very similar to mine and the whackiest thing is that she talked about the ants love for the cat food! Her advice (and please feel free to pass this on): place the cat's dishes in pie tins filled with water. BRILLIANT. They can't swim to the food when it is on an isolated island in the middle of a tin!
They can however form a newer and longer line from the same entry point in the ceiling and wrap around the entire perimeter of the kitchen to find the cat food that is now in the trash, soapy, sprayed with cleaner and littered with dead ant bodies. It was the longest black line when I arrived home the following night (Sophie's cat food perfectly ant free, she just has to strain a little to get her face in the middle of the bowl). Again, out came the window cleaner (I am almost out) and the ceiling of my kitchen now has an evenly designed peppered border of any bodies. Oh yes, this is wonderful imagery. I have to actually look at it. Be thankful I haven't taken pics and posted them.
So today is day number three and I was once again cleaning them this morning, because while I was sleeping, guess who was busy at work? Ants, ants, everywhere ants. They are in my shower every morning (where they get sprayed down the drain). I am probably sleeping with them and I don't even know it.
They are a rotten creature. Ellen joked that they are actually just there to help us clean. After a dinner party, "oh, don't worry about the dishes, the ants will take care of it". Real funny, if there wasn't such truth to it.
I have often wondered what Richard Gere does. I know he is not "Ant Free" no matter how good his Buddhist kharma is. But if he believes that by killing any living creature is bad, what does he do when his cat's food is being devoured by ants? Does he relocate them? Does he play Lionel Richie in the front yard and hope that they take their party there?
If I can do anything to help you as I continue to battle the battle (because I am convinced they are trying to take over the world), I am more than happy to help. I have just come across this fantastic website with various alternatives to getting rid of ants... if we ban together, they can not take over our lives!!!
http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/health/ants.html
and on a similar note, I don't think it is an accident that DreamWorks made a movie about annoying creatures (ants) and voiced them with some of Hollywood's most annoying personalities (Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone and Woody Allen). The name of the film: ANTS.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
You are what you eat...
There is a Mosiquito Eater flying around my house. I am less intrigued on how he (or she) got in here (all the windows are screened) and more curious about the fact that he (or she) is defined by what they eat. What if, instead of calling me Bob, I was known simply as "Tomato Eater"?
It would probably be a good way to keep me on a diet. "Tomato Eater" sounds somewhat acceptable... but "Whopper Eater", "Hot Fudge Sundae Eater" or "Chicken Fried Steak Eater", would each likely land me in therapy.
It would probably be a good way to keep me on a diet. "Tomato Eater" sounds somewhat acceptable... but "Whopper Eater", "Hot Fudge Sundae Eater" or "Chicken Fried Steak Eater", would each likely land me in therapy.
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Please insert one quarter
Yesterday I was watching my friends 9 year old son play video games. He was playing Harry Potter on the Sony Playstation and as a spectator, it was like watching a movie. The graphics and the motion are so realistic and so far advanced from when I was 9 years old. To me, Donkey Kong, Frogger and Ms. Pac-Man were revolutionary. I owned a Vic 20 Computer which was the ugly step sister to the Commodore 64... the precursor to the MAC and PC. (side note: Ugly stepsister syndrome has followed me my whole life as proved by the fact that in the mid-nineties when everyone began driving VW Jetta's, I was driving a VW Fox. "What is a Fox?", people would ask. What is a Vic 20? I owned one and I still don't know.) It was essentially a keyboard you could hook up to any TV and turn it into a computer. But I doubt you could actually type an online journal or print anything. You certainly couldn't have a website.
To add insult to the ugly step sister syndrome, I would get these gaming magazines that would have pages and pages of codes that you could type into your computer (it was MS DOS based) and when you would "run" the program, you could create actual moving graphics. By graphics of course, I mean flying commas and asterisks... but still after three hours of data input, at least I had something to watch and feel accomplished. They also had a few actual games that you could build... those could take up to 6 hours to input. And in the end you were thrilled if it appeared to be as advanced as "Pong". Two bars on each side of the screen that moved up and down while a ball (again the asterisk) bounced between it. Think of it as a very slow, poor man's, air hockey. I often wonder why I gave up... I could've been Bill Gates had I continued to learn computer codes. Now I know my computer lingo about as well as that three years of German I took (nicht gut).
My relationship to video games always came in specific spurts of obsession. I have never been a "gamer", but when they were around, it was always hard to look away. I would spend hours at the quik mart down at the corner watching others spend their paper route money plunking in one quarter after another just so they could be knighted "High Scorer" in the neighborhood. People would line their quarters up on the front of the machine to determine they were next in line. Sometimes there would be up to 5 quarters up there and I would wonder, "how would you know which one was yours"? I remember a boy on my little league team, Todd Albu, owned an Atari AND an Intelevision. Going over to his house may as well have been going to Disneyland for the amount of excitement I felt. In 1988, my friend Matt had a Nintendo. Weeks would come and go of us playing Super Mario Brothers. I never cared much for the fighting games or blowing things up, but mazes and jumping and flying I could do for days. Case in point when Stephanie got "Super Mario World" for her birthday (which I still think was more for Joe than her) in the summer of '93. We were so determined to get to the next level you would have thought we were curing world peace if we actually made it to the end.
At a friend's house a few months ago, I discovered Karaoke Revolution on Playstation 2. You sing into a headset and your tone and pitch determines how well your character dances and performs on screen. It is sheer genius. A couple of Christmas' ago, I received a Playstation, my very first machine I have ever owned. It came with all of these hip new games with graphics similar to the Harry Potter game. I was too confused and ran out to the store immediately and for $9.99 I bought an Atari disc. On it were Frogger, Ms. Pac-Man, Asteroids, Centipede and the original Donkey Kong. They called it a retro bundle. I don't play them often, but when I get in the mood... watch out! There is just no beating the originals no matter how great Hermione, Ron and Harry look fending off Lord Voldemort.
Eating all of those dots before you get eaten by Pinkie the Ghost. Or getting your frog across the high paced lanes of traffic and onto the logs that are rapidly floating down the river. Poor Mario jumping over those logs that the damn monkey won't stop lobbing at him. Call me sentimental, but with time going by so quickly forward, it is nice to escape into a video game that takes me so quickly back to my youth... and that's not always a bad thing. I just wonder what it will be like in 20 years when kids are able to play the next wave of video games and the Harry Potter game is considered primitive and "retro"... Will they even know who Pac-Man was? Perhaps if I become more anxious to find out, time will actually slow down and I will have more time for playing Centipede...
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
You are bright and witty
Today at lunch I received a fortune in my fortune cookie that read, "You are bright and witty". Of course I thought, "I know" and, "what a dumb fortune". Then after I tossed it aside, I got to thinking... what if I were some boring and slow person? Because we all know people who are... I am not talking about the people who are slow to get a joke (it sometimes can take me up to 24 hours to laugh at a joke)... I am referring to the people who are generally crabby... they understand a joke, but don't laugh at it... maybe they are just a little slow on the social uptake... What goes through their head when they open a fortune like that? Do they think to themselves, "yeah, I am bright and witty" or are they actually aware of their shortcomings and think, "I wish I were... if only my mother had loved me more and kids in school had teased me less"... really all this is proving to me is that I shouldn't eat Chinese food for lunch!
Happy birthday yesterday to Annie Friedman and Peggy Harris and tomorrow to little Stephanie Jones, who at 29, is seeming a lot less little... wasn't it just yesterday that we were teenagers playing at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in our red underwear?
Happy birthday yesterday to Annie Friedman and Peggy Harris and tomorrow to little Stephanie Jones, who at 29, is seeming a lot less little... wasn't it just yesterday that we were teenagers playing at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in our red underwear?
Sunday, July 11, 2004
I did a lot of crying this afternoon...
I feel so vulnerable this evening. A little lost. A little sad. A little angry. A little disgusted. Extremely frustrated. I don't want to get on a soapbox and turn anyone off. We all have opinions. The greatest news is that we live in the home of the free and the land of the brave, so we are allowed to share and express them. We don't have to agree with them, but we are allowed the freedom to share them. And when someone has a good one worth sharing, I am so thankful they feel the confidence to share. Because a good opinion can spark a good conversation. And dialogue can be a magical thing.
Today I sat in a theater and cried off and on during the duration of the new film Fahrenheit 9/11. My opinion that I want to share with you is this: go and see it. No matter what you feel about Bush, or the war, or Michael Moore. No matter what you already know or think you know or know you don't know. If you are adamant about not wanting to put another 10 cents into Michael Moore's pocket (again, because you are entitled to your own opinion), pay to see White Chicks and then sneak into F9/11. And if you want, email me and I will send you a synopsis of White Chicks or you can just pay and go see it again (think of it as keeping me employed).
Again, I am not going to get on my soap box and tell you the "whys" and reviews and reasons you have to see this movie. Personally, I pulled a lot of information out of the movie that is currently affecting my core. And no, before you judge without having seen it, it is not propaganda being lobbed by Moore. The footage speaks for itself, with or without Moore's narration.
We live in a pretty great and amazing place here in the US... Shouldn't we be using our wealth and celebrity as a country to help our neighbors and friends who are less fortunate, instead of stepping on them and keeping them down just to make ourselves feel more powerful?
Again, me just having my own free opinions and questions...
p.s. I will be dropping a check in the mail tomorrow for $20 to the Democratic National Fund. It is the least I can do.
p.s.s. If you have seen the movie and are filled with questions and need for more dialogue, I found some really great things on Michael Moore's website. Also, if you click here to the right where it says comments, you too can share your voice and let me know what you think either about the movie or what I have written...
Today I sat in a theater and cried off and on during the duration of the new film Fahrenheit 9/11. My opinion that I want to share with you is this: go and see it. No matter what you feel about Bush, or the war, or Michael Moore. No matter what you already know or think you know or know you don't know. If you are adamant about not wanting to put another 10 cents into Michael Moore's pocket (again, because you are entitled to your own opinion), pay to see White Chicks and then sneak into F9/11. And if you want, email me and I will send you a synopsis of White Chicks or you can just pay and go see it again (think of it as keeping me employed).
Again, I am not going to get on my soap box and tell you the "whys" and reviews and reasons you have to see this movie. Personally, I pulled a lot of information out of the movie that is currently affecting my core. And no, before you judge without having seen it, it is not propaganda being lobbed by Moore. The footage speaks for itself, with or without Moore's narration.
We live in a pretty great and amazing place here in the US... Shouldn't we be using our wealth and celebrity as a country to help our neighbors and friends who are less fortunate, instead of stepping on them and keeping them down just to make ourselves feel more powerful?
Again, me just having my own free opinions and questions...
p.s. I will be dropping a check in the mail tomorrow for $20 to the Democratic National Fund. It is the least I can do.
p.s.s. If you have seen the movie and are filled with questions and need for more dialogue, I found some really great things on Michael Moore's website. Also, if you click here to the right where it says comments, you too can share your voice and let me know what you think either about the movie or what I have written...
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