Bloggin' on the etc

www.FierceAndNerdy.com

2008-09-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

'Tis official, Bloggin' on the etc is now Fierce and Nerdy.

I hope you like and enjoy the new site, as it's much more clever.

To go to the new blog click here. See you there!

Gummi Gummi Yummi Yummi

2008-09-05T00:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, if you've been following my updates on Facebook, you probably know that I've completely let my sweet tooth out of its cage, and I have been indulging it like crazy lately.

It did not help that we visited Cybele from Candyblog and her husband on Sunday, and were treated to like the hugest gummi bear ever. I can't even describe it, but lucky for you, she did with pictures in her review. Read about it here. You'll want to click through for the picture of the decapitated gummi bear alone.

But in my opin, the real gummi winner of the night were these little Haribo pineapple gummis, that I pretty much polished off all by myself. Cybele did you do a review of these, too? If so could you post the link in the comments?

Anyway, all the gummi goodness was followed up with gummi worms from Vons on Monday. And tonight the hubby bought home more Haribo gummi things from Cost Plus World Market.

If you don't have a Cost Plus World Market near where you live, I feel sorry for you. You know there are starving children in developing nations who will have suffer to efffects of extreme poverty for the rest of their lives. And I feel worse for you. Because these Haribo Tropifruttis are em-effin bomb, though CH preferred the sugar-coated Haribo Fruit Salad -- which I liked as well. Not as much as the Tropifruttis, but still I doubt that either bag will survive the night.

Anyway, this is all to say, check out Cybele's Candyblog. Really, you'll love the picture (if you're a little sick like me). Also I will probably weigh 20 more pounds than the last time you saw me if I don't get back on the wagon soon.

Oh, and 3 more days to Fierce And Nerdy. 3...

TV's Back In School PT. 2 - Bones and 90210

2008-09-04T00:14:00.000-07:00

So I have mixed feelings about watching the 3rd season of Bones. On one hand it's not bad, but on the other it's not necessarily good. For instance, I played 3 games of Word Twist (my latest Facebook App Obsession) and started this blog during the season premiere without missing a beat. Also, I have a terrible track record of falling asleep about 15 minutes into episodes of this program when I don't have the web to distract me. In other words, it's no House.

But at least it's improving from season to season. I'd say that this series started out fairly mediocre, and now it's a little more than mediocre. So, progress. However, I'd trade it in for another season of Angel any day of the week.

Oh, and if you're a Torchwood fan, one of the chycks from the original team is in the season premiere which is set in London.

BT-dubs, I also tried to watch the new 90210 the other day, and it was pretty bad. Sooooo boring. Like even more boring than the season premiere of Gossip Girl, which I didn't even think was possible. Also, I just felt sorry for Tristan Wilds (aka The Adopted Black Kid), as I can't imagine going from meaty Wire scripts to this useless drivel -- not that I have anything against useless drivel (I mean I do watch America's Next Top Model). But if you're going to be useless, don't also be boring, that's just a waste of time.

However, Rob Thomas is the Executive Producer, and I miss Veronica Mars just enough to give him and the series a few more episodes before I give up on them. But it's definitely on the DVR Bubble.

Have I mentioned that I'm soooo happy that TV's back? Seriously, I'm not sure how I survived the summer. Thank God for Doctor Who.

One more thing, not sure if I've mentioned this, but Fierce And Nerdy is launching on Sunday, September 7th. That's only 3 days away. 3...

TV's Back In School

2008-09-03T00:55:00.000-07:00

So a couple of summers ago, CH and I did the math about how much HBO and Showtime cost (around $240 a year) vs. how many programs we watched on both channels. (4--7) and figured that the expense wasn't worth watching things in real time, and that we could just wait for all our favorite shows to come out on DVD.

Practical conclusion, but man was I hurting when that last season of The Wire came around. And for a while there, I couldn't bear that I was going to miss the new Alan Ball series, True Blood. What you say? Vampires + The Executive Producer of Six Feet Under? It was like HBO launched this series to punish me for quitting them. But then I saw the trailer, and it seems like they might have a great idea/poor execution + Kiwi Anna Paquin w/ a hard-to-believe Southern accent problem. See what I mean below, and let me know what you think if you have HBO and watch it.

On the brighter side, I discovered Skins (picture to the right) on BBC America about 3 weeks ago, which is basically a middle-class version of 90210 meets The Wire and so much better and diverse than any high school dramedy that we have on the air that I feel embarrassed for America whenever I watch it. Also, there's not a ton of soap opera involved and it's really easy to jump right into to it. So seek it out if you're looking for something good to replace Gossip Girl, which I watched last night, and have now redubbed Rich And Somehow Incredibly Boring Teenagers.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of things you should seek out, 4 more days until the Fierce And Nerdy launch. 4...

Karma Karma Karma Cornelious

2008-09-02T00:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, as many of you know, b/c I've talked about it on this blog and Facebook a couple of times, our cat, Cornelious, though incredibly cute, also

a) was slightly feral when we got him,

b) won't let us pet him and runs away whenever we come anywhere near him, yet

c) insists on following us everywhere in the house, and

d) staring at us like a stalker, which is why

e) we recently acquired two new cats (we meant to adopt just one, but stuff happened) -- to offset his general creepiness.

Well, lo and behold, over 6 months after bringing him into our home, he suddenly decided to start loving on us out of the total blue. He pushes our laptops out of the way, climbs over our shoulders, launching himself at us at a run -- he'll basically do whatever it takes to get petted. And has made an almost complete switch to being an aggressively lovey-dovey cat.

We've applied Occum's Razor, and decided that he's either been

a) Having deep, philosophical conversations with his new older brother, Brian about the benefits of human companionship (now that Brian is on the mend, we're finding out the hard way, that he is also aggressively affectionate -- he obviously went out of his way to hide this trait when he wooed us at the shelter). OR

b) Cornelious has been taken over my a body snatcher.

I'm leaning towards "B," becasue in Stephenie Meyer's The Host, the body snatching alien parasites start with the bees and observe us for some time, before taking over the humans.

So keep your eye on CH and me. If we start be way nicer than we used to be, you know what happened.

BTW, 5 more days until the Fierce And Nerdy launch. Can't wait! Can't wait! 5...

See CH Break 2 Bones Pt. 6 of 6 - Saturday

2008-09-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

This was definitely the worst week of my and CH's relationship so far. And of course, as with all "worst" things, it was also one of the best.

I don't wish broken bones on any couple, but I do believe that the "in sickness" part reveals a lot about your relationship. It's easy to love someone when things are going well, but in many ways, it's even easier to love someone when they're down. When you're tired and addled with guilty pinch of annoyed and put-out, what I can only describe as this weird back-up generator of Love kicks in and does the work for you. So in a truly loving relationship, it's okay if you lose all of your poetry for a little bit, that generator has your back.

At least that's how it went with us.

I feel a little silly, now that I'm wrapping this series up, because of course it is in CH's words every time someone tries to fuss over him, "just a broken shoulder and hand bone." And maybe that is all it is for him. He'll probably look back at this time negatively - after all, he's the one who had to go completely against his nature and depend on someone else for almost a complete week. He might remember that his wife, who never yells, got quite stern and/or passive aggressive with him on several occasions when he tried to do something he shouldn't by himself, gave her directions that she didn't need, asked her to do something without saying please.

The interesting thing about relationships is that there are these constant discoveries. Over the last few months CH has found out that I used to have a Saturday radio show in college; that I'm not the fastest runner, but I'm definitely faster than probably 80% of my female friends; and that I am a stickler for "please" -- really it just drives me crazy when people don't say please.

And I've found out that CH is even more stoic, patient, agreeable and DIY than I was giving him credit for -- and you have to understand he already had a high-credit limit with me for those things before the accident. Now, I've got to upgrade him to a Black Amex card.

Anyway this is all to say, it was a crazy week, I hope that all of you get or have gotten the chance to have one of your own.

That's all,

etc

See CH Break 2 Bones Pt. 5 of 6 - Friday

2008-09-01T08:31:00.001-07:00

On Friday, Manny was kind of enough to drive CH to an appointment with the hand specialist that he had been referred to while I attended a recording session at work.

I met him at the doctor's office, which just so happened to be in the same building as another specialist that I'm seeing right now (more on that maybe later), and one of the nurses led me to an examination room where the doctor was putting a neat little half cast on CH.

As it turned out, CH's hand was broken -- not his finger. The ER doc hadn't told us that, but I'm assuming that why he had put CH in the cast, and no, CH probably shouldn't have been using only a finger brace for three days now.

But the new, slicker, lighter, MPIH cast was much better and allowed CH to move his fingers and perhaps more importantly "wipe my butt." Like I said, CH was a great patient, but he had his limits.

Plus as soon as he got cleared from the shoulder doctor, he could start driving, "Just to work and back," he assured me.

The shoulder doctor wasn't quite as lovely as the other MPIH cast -- I mean crew. It took forever for them to usher us in to an examination room, then forever for the doctor to actually see us, only to find out that he wanted CH to get a cat scan at St. Joseph's.

So we went to St. Joseph's and that took awhile, and by the time we were done, we were both hungry and cranky.

However, in the X-Ray/cat scan waiting room, there was an older woman reading a book. I wondered who she was waiting for, but about 15 minutes later they wheeled a woman on a hospital cot. She laid on her side, obviously weak or in pain, and the woman immediately went over to her cot, took her hand, and started bantering with her. Within 5 minutes, the sick woman had perked up and even laughed weakly at a few things the other woman said.

Oh, it must be her mom, I thought to myself. But after several minutes of eavesdropping on their conversation (I'm a writer, it wouldn't even occur to me not to eavesdrop, sue me), I realized that this wasn't her mother or even relative. She was a friend. And she was there for her friend in her time of need. And her friend was feeling better because of it.

I know I was tired and worn out, but I love people. They never cease to surprise, impress and touch me. And I know terrible things happen, I know we do terrible things to one another, but I think we're all beautiful at the end of the day. I hope you know that.

The cat scan wouldn't be available for hours. "I can pick them up before Janice's bridal shower tomorrow," I said, just so we could get out of there.

As many of you know, I have the worse sense of direction. But my friend Debra was hosting the shower at her apartment, and when I first moved to Los Angeles, I stayed on Debra's and Janice's (she was Debra's roommate back then) couch for ten days, so I knew it was close by.

What's strange is that I never asked her for this favor. I came to L.A. on a vague visit with my grad school program, which provided a hotel for 3 days, and then I would be on my own. I still remember Debra, who had graduated from the Dramatic Writing the year before me, sitting beside me on a bench at the Alumnae Welcome Picnic for the new grads and asking me if I needed a place to stay while I found an apartment. It was the first in a Series of Fortunate Events.

Like I said, people are wonderful.

See CH Break 2 Bones Pt. 4 of 6 - Thursday

2008-09-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

I spent Thursday, catching up at work. I was tired, starting to feel rundown. I switched back to caffeinated coffee in the morning. And that was only helping a little bit.

I think life is a series of discoveries about your own character. Some things you fight against (I'm constantly on a vigilante quest against laziness, pride, fear, low self-esteem, and a host of other traits that I'd rather not harbor), and some things you learn to accept over time. I'm never going to be a tidy person who thinks before she speaks and watches PBS documentaries before going to bed at the same reasonable time every night. And though I wouldn't describe myself as selfish (most days), I am not a natural caretaker at all.

I found it difficult to arrange my time around someone else's schedules and needs. I found myself trying to fit everything in and therefore getting nothing done particularly well. Also, my famously short attention span did not lend itself well to care taking. I kept forgetting to buckle CH in and let him out. And I was becoming increasingly addled. For instance I said, "Thank you" when I meant to say "Love you" several times to CH. I don't know why.

But we didn't have any doctor's appointments or must-dos on Thursday, so I took a nap. And I immediately felt better.

Naps are good.

And highly recommended.

See CH Break 2 Bones Pt. 3 of 6 - Wednesday

2008-08-31T09:38:00.000-07:00

Oh, I did I mention that Brian is also sick?

CH took him to the hospital the Saturday before the accident, and he was diagnosed with some respiratory illness and tongue ulcers. He was on a steady diet of meds, but by Tuesday night, he was still refusing to eat and had started wheezing through his mouth on top of everything else, even after we cleaned out his gunked-up nose. Plus, he smelled horrible, because he was unable to clean himself. Poor Brian.

So Wednesday morning, I got up early and took him to the Gateway Animal Clinic, which though first come, first serve, was still way faster and efficient than any human medical center I have ever visited. I actually found myself thinking, "Lucky dog."

The vet, who I had never met before (CH usu. handles the vet visits) was really lovely. He petted Brian, even though he smelled horribly, all through the consultation. And I felt reassured after he took Brian away to get rehydrated and told me to pick him up at 5pm.

When I came back out to the lobby, there was a family, waiting there: A mom, a dad and two small daughters. The mom's eyes were red from crying, and the youngest daughter was being comforted by her father. The oldest daughter (she was about 7) though spent a few minutes trying to peek into my cat carrier, until finally she asked, "What's in there."

"It used to be my cat," I answered, "But he's inside get fixed up. He's sick."

She nodded and sat back in her seat. A few minutes later, the mom asked her if she wanted to go back and say goodbye to their cat before they put her to sleep. "It's your cat," the daughter answered. The mom nodded and didn't say anything else.

I know kids are what they are, and most of the things they say cannot be held against them. But I wish that little girl had been nicer. My actual Alec Baldwinesque, sleep-deprived thought was, "You're a little shit, and I can already see that you lack compassion, that you're going to become one of those horrible adults that lack compassion."

I was tired. I hope that isn't true. I hope she grows up into a perfectly nice woman who doesn't remember saying to her mother, "It's your cat." Just like I don't remember half the mean stuff I said to my mother. It's easier that way. Cycle of life and all that.

I was reassured by my visit the doctor's office, but overwhelmed. I already had to go home, get CH showered and dressed, drive him to work, get the rest of my work done and then get back over to Atwater to pick up Brian.

I thought I appreciated everything CH did beforehand, but much like my love after he nearly got hit by that car, my appreciation of his efforts seemed to super-quantify* that day.

I didn't understand how I had managed by myself all that time before him. I didn't understand how single mothers do what they do.

This is one of the many reasons I am such an avid supporter of gay marriage. Some of us are naturally independent, but most of us need another person in our lives, to help, to love, to balance us out -- to pick up the slack when the other one falls.

Pairing up is a basic human right. And I seriously don't see how any of us could deny that right to any other human being. It's the equivalent to saying, "It's your cat" to your crying mother. That's all.

*yeah, i'm not sure this remotely means what i want it to mean in that sentence. but it sounds so perfect. please forgive.

See CH Break 2 Bones Pt. 2 of 6 - Tuesday

2008-08-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

So the good news is that Monday's blog was by far the longest installment. The bad news was that it was just one of 6.

Here's goes Tuesday:

There are some people who suffer nobly, gritting their teeth against pain, silently suffering through the inconvenience of it all. But as many of you know, I'm not like that.

Not only do I tend towards noisy, hyperbolic language the one time of the year that I come down with a 4 day flu or lately, a sinus infection, but I also like to put it out there (I think reasonably) that I might be dying. I sprained my ankle once back when I was still playing with the Derby Doll. I still refer to the two weeks that I was on crutches as The Dark Times. And though, I've never actually broken anything on my upper body, I know that not being able to write with both of my hands would probably send me into an incredibly whiny cycle of complete and utter despair.

So in many ways I don't feel I deserve a husband who is the complete opposite of me when it comes to whining.

The first day he was in a lot of pain, but he insisted that I drive him to work, because "he could still point."

What annoyed him most was not being able to do anything for himself. And when I came back later to drive him to his doctor's appointment, the JKL paramedic had taken off the bulky arm cast and replaced it with a much more efficient finger brace and wrap.

A paramedic is not a doctor, and I would've been annoyed, but it was CH. Really, it just goes against his nature to stay that incapacitated if he felt he didn't have, too. And at least he was a little sheepish as he got into the car.

Tuesday was also the day that I found out that people who are on the Motion Picture Health Plan are luckier than the rest of us.

I've heard that most government workers get crazy-nice insurance that covers everything, and this isn't quite that. But the MPHP offices in Toluca Lake seemed nicer and more efficient than any medical office that I had ever visited. There are black and white pictures of old Hollywood stars lining the walls, and people in the waiting room range from actors to crew to agents. The doctors were smilier, more capable and reassuring -- just like the actors that play doctors on TV, but you know, with actual medical degrees.

There are tons of other perks, including access to alternative medicines, and a clear set path into an MPHP retirement home if you work enough hours. It makes you mad at regular insurance. I mean, if government and the entertainment industry can come up with such wonderful programs for themselves, why can't we come up with a good national healthcare option?

Anyway, here's hoping that we're all lucky enough to see a day when every one in America has access to great health care, not just our government and entertainment industry workers.

8:12 and I Am Still Crying

2008-08-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

I have almost never been one to lay my political feelings out on this blog. I privately believe myself to be an optimist, but in writing, I am most often cynical and sarcastic. But I need to say this:

There has never been anything I thought I couldn't do because I am a woman. The most successful, dynamic, and beautiful people I know are women. And I will tell you on any day and on any occasion that I am a feminist, not because I wish to be equal to men, but because I love women, and want us all to know that we are worthy of, that we are capable of, that we have to ability to achieve EVERYTHING. If anything, I expect more of myself because I am a woman.

But I need to tell you this, guys. I need to tell you this: There have been so many things that I have thought that I could not do, because I am black.

And that stopped tonight. I never thought that I would see this moment. I never thought that I could believe in a country the way I believe in America tonight.

I feel like a child again, and I realize that I still have my whole life ahead of me, that my future children still have their whole lives in front of them.

You do, too. And we can do anything. All of us. We can do anything. And we can do it together.

I will always remember how I felt right now. And no matter what happens, I will try to hold on to it.

I am so sad that my mother couldn't have been here to see this. "Not in our lifetime," she answered with a practical shrug when I asked her if there would ever be a black president.

She would have loved this. She almost never cried, but I believe she would have done so tonight.

This is so important to everyone that ever thought that there was something about themselves that would hold them back forever. It can't and hopefully it won't.

It is 8:36 and I have finally stopped crying.

Now, I'm just smiling. Obama '08.

100% Love,

etc

Because no one was hurt...

2008-08-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

No one actually had to walk a plank or anything, so this article about modern-day pirates robbing a party yacht full of rich people is kind of hilarious. They made off with over$180,000 in booty -- I mean cash.

Read the full New York Post story here. I don't actually read the post, but the folks over at Gawker.com do, and they referred me. Just stating that for the record...

Arghhh!

etc

Why Oh Why?

2008-08-27T13:15:00.001-07:00

Why oh why haven't these bands released album on I-Tunes. I don't believe in downloading things illegally, but man, part of the problem with getting music suggestions from Perez Hilton, is that half the stuff isn't available in the States. Here are songs that I love, which haven't actually gotten a Stateside release yet. Ranh.

Adam Tensta - "My Cool": Who knew Swedish hip-hop was so much fun?

My Cool - Adam Tensta

Dragonette - I don't understand why can I find deep cuts from Nickelback on I-Tunes -- but only one soundtrack song from this (actually good) Canadian band. Anyway, download "I Get Around" if you haven't already, and check out their super-cheeky song, "Competition" below:

Competition - Dragonette

Also, Madison! How much do I love this California blonde take on Lil Wayne's "Lollipop?" It's so bad girl.
lollipop.mp3 - Madison

And perhaps, most egregious. "We've Got Some Breaking Up To Do" by the Danish group, Private. This song is perfectly 80's and unfortunately, perfectly unavailable in The States. Check out the awesome video below:

October 13, 2008

2008-08-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

So the more I listen to this new Keane single, "Spiralling," the more that I can't frickin' wait until their new album comes out on October 13th. I just find this track really listenable.

If you haven't heard it yet, check it out below:

Spiralling - Keane

Terrence Ho

2008-08-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Still trying to decide how I feel about this Terrence Howard song. On one hand T-Ho can't really, you know... sing. On the other hand, I like the pretty video, production and lyrics. I aslo like that he's at least coming with something different, which you don't often see from actors-turned-musicians. So cool points for bravery. But then cool points subtracted for actually pretending to conduct the orchestra towards the end -- that was annoying. Anyway, I'm all torn. Feel free to weigh in with your opinions. Here's the vid:

T Howard
by ch1c

Lucky You Guys!

2008-08-27T11:36:00.001-07:00

Just in case you've been dragging your feet about downloading the much hyped about (by me) band, The Black Kids. Get thee over to I-Tunes now, because my favorite track is their Free Single of the Week. Can't beat that price with a stick. Lucky you guys!

I Might Actually Have to Watch This

2008-08-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, as many of you know, I'm kind of resigned to being a fan of America's Next Top Model. Yes, it goes against almost every notion of womanhood and feminism that I believe in. Yes, it panders to the lowest common denominator, and yes, Tyra, is bat-shit ridiculous (in a really-smart-laughing-all-the-way-to-the-bank sort of way). But what can I say...

Two or three girls
Has he
That he likes as well as me
But I love him
I dont know why I should
He isnt true
He beats me, too
What can I do?
-- Billie Holliday, "My Man"

Anyway, this all to say, that the obvious ratings bait that is the tranny contestant will probably sucker me in for yet another season. See her intro below. She's cute, but girlfriend needs to work on her ennunciation. I spent much of the 50 seconds, trying to figure out if she had a) braces, b) marbles in her mouth or c) that's just the way she talks.

Start Counting Down to September 7th!

2008-08-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

Haven't forgotten about you, I promise. In fact I have a launch date for Fierce and Nerdy, which I've been working extra hard on for the past few days.

Mark your calendars for September 7th, and think about how cool it will be when I'm turning around blog posts every weekday and in a timely manner. Plus contributors! So many cool people are on board for this. I really can't wait for you guys to see the new site.

In fact, I'm going to try to find one of those ticker widgets, so that I can be just super-obnoxious about counting down to September 7th -- you know how I do.

That all said. A new (probably music) blog post is coming Wednesday. 2 -6 of the immensely popular CH breaking his arm saga will be here by the end of the week -- so stop asking me! :)

Until then, here's your moment of FaN (aka Fierce and Nerdy):

See CH Break 2 Bones Pt. 1 of 6

2008-08-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

So apparently, I was wrong, b/c according to the several email messages, comments, and Facebook Pings that I got following Wednesday's blog, most of you don't "already know all about" CH's bone-breaking accident. So here's a condensed (as I'm capable of writing given my love for the sound of my own typing) version of what happened ... in six parts.

Starting with Monday:

After hitting all my work-related writing goals for the day, I dutifully updated my Facebook status to let everyone know that "Ernessa is getting rehydrated for the bike ride home." Said hydration, led to a quick restroom pit stop before I left for the day, which was fortunate, because when I returned to my office to pick up my pink helmet, the red "message" button was lit up on my phone.

I thought about not answering. Having already talked to my boss several times that day, I couldn't really imagine an emergency that would actually keep me in the office a minute longer, when I had a new audible.com novel waiting for me on my I-Pod -- don't ask me what it was, I'm too embarrassed to tell you.

But as many of you know, I have an almost O.C.-level thing about checking messages, so I pressed the message button. It was CH, saying that he had just missed being hit by a car, braked hard on his bike, and tipped, because he couldn't get his clip-on bike shoes out of the pedals in time to prevent a fall. He thought that he might have broken his arm. He sounded chagrinned.

I called him back in a panic, which immediately stopped when he said that he needed to be taken to the emergency room, but none of the nearby friends he had called were answering their phones. I'm not the best decision maker in the world or even a person that most people would call in a crisis, but one of the side effects of being a (hopefully) good writer, is the ability to disconnect from your emotions and decide What Needs To Happen Next.

I was an hour's bike ride away. Everyone I knew who could give me a ride home had already left for the day -- also it would take to long to get there if CH needed attention now. There was nothing left to do but call down my list of Silverlake-Los Feliz friends. It was 5pm, which would mean most people were just getting off of work in most places. But in L.A. with our constantly changing entertainment work hours, you can usually find someone to help you out in a pinch (as long as it doesn't involve holding the boom mic for your no-budget short) -- one of the many benefits to living in our great city.

I called down my list in order of the people who I had known the longest, lived the closest and who I thought might actually be home. The List for those of you who love the details:

1. Clark from Clarkblog and my CMU programmate, who lives within walking distance in Los Feliz.

2. J.P., my CMU programmate, who also lives within walking distance in Los Feliz.

3. Gudrun, my animator friend from Writing Pad, who lives right around the corner.

4. Janice, my costume designer friend who lived in nearby Glendale.

Clark went to voicemail, but J.P. picked up. I stated the situation. He said he was on it. I called CH back to let him know that J.P. was headed over. CH said, "Okay, thank you."

"Are you in pain?" I asked, b/c he sounded so laidback.

"Yes," he answered in the same tone of voice that someone would say "Of course, my arm is broken, silly."

So unlike me, CH is definitely the kind of person someone would want to call in a crisis, because even under the worst circumstances, he stays like crazy calm.

I hung up and biked home as fast as I could. When I got in the door 37 minutes later, there were two messages: one from J.P., saying that CH was at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital. And a second one from one of CH's best friends, saying that he had gotten CH's message and was now waiting with him at the hospital.

It occurred to me as I drove to the nearby hospital that this was another stage of marriage. You realize just how much you love your husband, when he has a near-accident.

I was incredibly grateful that CH hadn't been hit by that car. Because my mother died much sooner than expected, I have always been generally scared that other people I love would die, too. It's just one of those things. But I would've been destroyed if anything happened to CH. I thought I loved him before the wedding, but boyo, now I knew that I loved him so very, very much now.

I fluttered into the hospital on a gentle wind of love of gratitude that it was only a broken arm -- that wind was pretty much dead by the time we left the hospital almost four mind-numbing hours later. We were both tired, hungry, trying-not-to-crank and ready to go home already.

As it turned out, it was CH's shoulder that broken, not his arm. So he had been given a mostly fabric sort of double-belted sling, which is called (in a rather overdramatic turn, I think) a "Shoulder Immobilizer." CH also had a broken finger. And he was not happy, because the nurse had put a poorly-wrapped bulky cast on his left arm, only to realize that it had to go on his right. "Do I really need all of this," CH asked her. "It's just a broken finger."

"That's what the doctor ordered," the nurse answered flatly. Stepford style.

"This is coming off as soon as we get home," CH muttered as soon as she was out of earshot.

A small argument ensued, at the end of which, I had (barely) convinced him that he needed to leave the cast on until he saw his regular doctor on Tuesday, just in case the E.R. doctor was somehow right about him needing a full arm cast for a broken finger.

Later that night, another small argument bubbled up. CH refused to let me cut him out of his Obama T-shirt, which is his favorite right now, even after I pointed out that we could get him another one. "Remember how long it took to get the first one?" he reminded me.

He had a point. So that's how we learned to get him out of a T-shirt with a broken shoulder.

The E.R. doctor had told CH that he had to sleep on his back, which interestingly enought, is how I started sleeping right after I met CH, but almost never how CH sleeps himself. I felt bad for him as I turned off the light and rolled onto my back on my side of the bed.

I imagine we both stared up into the dark for a bit before we feel asleep.

Tuesday Preview: If you don't work in government, you should be insanely jealous of the Motion Picture Industry Health Care Plan.

So What? I'm Still a Rockstar!

2008-08-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Okay guys, you have GOT to remind me never to skip another weekly music blog. Now I've got so much to tell you about, that I'm having a bit of trouble arranging my thoughts. But here goes...

First of all, embarrassing things that I have downloaded in the past two weeks:

1. "OVERDOSIN" -- Heidi Montag-- and no, it wasn't for work. Every so once awhile I just like something that I absolutely shouldn't for reasons I don't quite understand. Please forgive.

2. "SO WHAT" - Pink. Now this is kind of interesting, b/c I had thought that I was kind of over Pink, as I'm not in my 20's anymore. But then she hit me in both my musical Achilles heels: fucked-up love song mixed with swagger track. Now she's 99 cents richer (less I-Tunes and record company fees) because of me.

3. "FINE LINE" - Little Big Town. Confession: I ADORE Little Big Town. They are a country band I just consistently enjoy. I would probably even go to one of their concerts if given the opportunity. And this is another delightful track. See the typical country video here.

Top 10 Things I've Downloaded Since The Last Time That I Told You About The Top 5 Things That I Recently Downloaded:

ALBUMS:

1. Lykke Li - Youth Novels: Now I know that I've been gushing about Lykke Li for like a couple of months now. You're probably sick of hearing about how awesome, bittersweet, twee, and Swedish she is. In fact, even I expected to be disappointed when her album finally got released Stateside. But guys, I'm so not. If possible, I love her even more -- to the moon and back. This album captures every impossible emotion during my teenage years. And there's even a Black Kids remix of "I'm Good, I'm Gone."

I nearly fainted.

Seriously, download this yesterday. It's FANTASTIC. Key tracks if you must be like that and not get the entire album: "I'm Good, I'm Gone," "Dance, Dance, Dance," "Breaking It Up," and "Everybody But Me."

2. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line: I almost never buy a complete album from somebody I've never heard of, but I like so many of the samples, when I was trying to decided which two tracks to buy, that it just got the whole cow. And man, was it worth it. Dreamy, romantic, airy, and pretty UKish for a band out of Syracuse, NY. Impressive. Makes me want to sway around my office. And remember when I said that Kate Bush was, surprisely, one of the few artists that other artists cover quite well? Wait until you hear their version of "Suspended in Gaffa." Another Ready for Primetime Track: "Can You Tell (Epoch Remix). See the video for "Dying Is Fine" here.

3. Janelle Monae - Metropolis: The Chase Suite: I like Janelle Monae, b/c she has an awesome Afro, which she often puts into awesome and unusual hairstyles. I also like Janelle Monae, b/c she is a black girl from the Midwest and she actually made a concept album about a robot that's forced to flee from her robot society when she falls in love. The only track that I don't like on this album (which is super-cheap if you download it on I-Tunes), was the "Smile" cover. If I never hear that overused song again, I could die happy. I'm talking to YOU, Jimmy Durante (even though you're dead).

WRITING MUSIC:

4. Midnight Juggernauts - "Into the Galaxy" and "Tombstone" - This band makes me feel like I'm writing in outer space -- which is pretty frickin' cool. See the firmly awesome video for "Into The Galaxy" here.

5. Monkey: Journey to the West - OMFG, Damon Albarn, why are you so fricking wicked awesome??? I thought I loved Blur. I thought I loved the Gorillaz. But that was just a grade-school crush, compared to the deep and abiding love I have for Monkey: Journey to the West. It's basically a Electronica Chinese Opera stage adaptation of one of China's oldest and most popular tales. And Damon Albarn was brought in to do the music. Billed as a "circus opera" it premiered in England last summer, and I am so incredibly jealous that it still hasn't made it to the States. What gives? This is maybe the most unfair thing to ever happen on the planet, and my frustration mounts. Anyway, writing to the soundtrack makes you feel ancient and epic at the same time. Key Tracks: "Heavenly Peach Banquet." See the trailer for the most awesome stage work that I haven't seen yet here.

LISTENING MUSIC:

6. Matthew Perryman Jones - "Save You": I bet you 50 bucks that this song will be featured in a Grey's Anatomy episode within the first 3 months of the season. Any takers?

7. The GasLight Anthem - "The '59 Sound": If Bruce Springteen and Johnny Rotten had a female lovechild. This band would propose to her sight unseen. However, the video makes you think less of them. See it here.

8. Accidental Rhythm - "Seventeen": If Justice and Junior Senior had a female love child. This band would yearn for her.

9. Amy Kuney - "Love is Trippy": This single actually seems to feature a Phil Spector "Wall of Sound." Wonderful throwback sound. Current Lyrics. Dynamic voice. Just lovely.

10. Kings of Leon - "Sex on Fire": I somehow both love and hate this song at the same time. It's kind of like when I read Death of a Salesman. Go figure.

Honorable mentions: Shearwater - "Hail, Mary" (thanks for the suggestion Yusef!). I also liked "Century Eyes" and "Whipping Boy."

Man, how long is the blog??? Again flog me if I ever try to skip a week again.

Okay, I was torn about whether to embed a video for "Growing on Me," a great older song from the brilliant-until-they-imploded-in-a-drug-fueled-supernova band that is The Darkness or the cheap(er) Pink Floyd wet dream that is the "Shadows" by today's featured band, Midnight Juggernauts.

Well, I am the wife of a lighting designer. So see "Growing on Me" here. And watch "Shadows" below:

Is it sad that I actually want this?

2008-08-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Seriously feel free to gift me with one of these. Public Radio Listener For Life!!! -- unless they're having a pledge drive, in which case I change the channel like every other person on the planet. Dude, I would actually pay more than my usual KPCC yearly donation, just to have the option of NOT having to listen to otherwise awesome radio personalities beg me for money every 3 months.

It's kind of like when you're really good friend, starts taking those cult-like "self-improvement classes," and then she invites you along. Still the same friend, but dude, you don't want to join her cult and it makes you uncomfortable that she keeps on asking to come with her to a class, because she gets a free class if she brings someone along. Wouldn't it be cool, if you could say, "Listen, I'll give you $200 dollar towards your next 'self-improvement class' if you never bring it up or invite me to go to one again."

And in the same vein, imagine how much money your local public radio station(s) would make if they were somehow able to offer the option of paying them like 200 bucks in exchange for you NEVER having to hear a pledge drive for like a whole year. That's more than I currently give, but I'd take that offer, if that was the pay-off.

This is all to say, that I'm officially flaking out on blogging about CH's broken left shoulder and right finger for a couple of reasons:

a) I don't really have time to tell such an epic story. It's at least 2 -- maybe 3 chapters in the memoir I'm planning to write when I'm 80. And...

b) If you've talked to me since Monday, you already know all about it, and I don't want to repeat myself (for once).

Will try to put out a music blog tomorrow. The new (to us) Lykke Li is so beyond frickin' good, you deserve to hear me go on (and on) about it.

100% Love,

etc

etc's Hitting the 2009/2010 Best Sellers List

2008-08-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

I mean, I've been listening to a TON of Lil Wayne, while working on the new girl gang novel. And according to Stereohyped (by way of Hip-Hop DX), Lil Wayne is the Wheaties of Champions:

Michael Phelps listens to Lil Wayne before he competes, with a little Young Jeezy and Jay-Z thrown in. Jamaican track star Dwight Thomas has added Lil Wayne to his pre-race rotation after finding out Phelps secret.

Hoo-yah! Watch out New York Times Best Seller Trade Fiction List! I make it rain -- if by "rain" you mean "cringing while I slip a couple of dollars under a male stripper's greasy thong, and then saying 'please go focus on someone else now. I'm really not into this'." -- which I'm sure is exactly what Lil Wayne intended with that line. Umbrella, baby!

Sesame Street Soap Opera

2008-08-18T02:09:00.000-07:00

Now ya'll know how I feel about Sesame Street, so how tickled was I to find this backstage romance in this week's NYT Vows column. Especially since it reads like a soap opera:

THE letter “D” is for Divorce. “P” is for Pining Away, and “R” is for Remarriage.

Don’t look for those alphabet mnemonics anytime soon on “Sesame Street,” although they are story elements in the backstage romance between Annie Evans and Martin P. Robinson...

Mr. Robinson, 54, is a puppeteer who plays Snuffy, Telly and Slimey the Worm on “Sesame Street,” where he’s worked since 1981.

When he met Ms. Evans, though, Mr. Robinson was mired in creating his own puppet extravaganza, which depicted, he said, “the entire creation of the universe, protons up to sentient beings, and its destruction.”

Days before its premiere at the O’Neill, the project was a shambles. “Puppeteers are notorious for getting lost in making their puppets, sets and costumes, but forgetting to write a strong story,” Ms. Evans said. “Marty, who I’d just met, clearly needed my help, big time.”

Over countless hours of argument and revisions, a mutual admiration blossomed. Mr. Robinson remembered being struck by her intelligence and ability to quickly unearth the core emotional truth of a scene. “Annie jumped right in, without any judgment,” he said. “I thought, ‘This is really an excellent girl.’ ”

Mr. Robinson conceded that he had been prone to mixing business with pleasure. When he met Ms. Evans, in fact, he was involved with a woman he had begun seeing during a stage production of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

“Encountering someone cold, maybe at a bar, then dating? I wouldn’t know how to do that,” he said. “But in the pressure cooker of theatrical work — all the tension, laughter and intense emotions — you get to know someone really well, and can segue that into a relationship.”

Though she, too, was smitten by his energy and sense of humor, Ms. Evans said, when she learned that Mr. Robinson was seeing another woman, she “slammed the door” to her heart. “We could be friends,” she said. “Nothing more.”

Dunh-dunh-dunh!!! See how the Sesame Street Saga turned out here.

Preview: my previously stated belief that writers will date (and perhaps marry) anyone who claims to be a huge fan of their writing turns out to be true. We're compliment slutty that way.

Bad-Ass Davie Jones

2008-08-17T15:11:00.001-07:00

So today I'm on the hunt for an Afro wig and a good place to run into the setting sun.

Don't ask. All will soon be revealed.

Til then, here's your moment of Lauryn:

Friday Night Kiefer

2008-08-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Sooo... I'm going to dinner and what looks like an extremely scary movie (Mirrors) with my friend Stephanie tonight. Looking forward to dinner, but kind of fearing the movie, as I haven't seen a horror film in quite awhile. What are you up to?

I Spy With My Little Eye

2008-08-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

So apparently, my friend Kyle from Frank's Wild Lunch spotted me yesterday morning on my bike. Or as he put it, "in your pink helmet." I love when stuff like that happens!

Google Google Reader Ya'll!!!

2008-08-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

So I'm seriously trying to figure out how I lived so long without The Google Reader.

I finally joined up last week, and not only is it a lovely way to keep all the blogs I read and love organized all in one place, but it also allows me to procrastinate much more efficiently and (perhaps more important) lazily. Nice, right? If you're as behind the curve as me, get on board here.

Home Alone

2008-08-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

So, the New York Times has this interesting article about when children should be left at home alone. Interesting, because, my parents started leaving me at home alone when I was eight years old, and growing up, I always found the whole babysitter thing a little hard to fathom for kids over the age of 9. And one would think in this age of cell phones that it would be even easier to step out for an hour or two without worry.

However, when I posed the question of when our hypothetical future children should be left at home alone to CH, he answered, "12 or 13 at least, depending on how responsible they are." Then as a narrow-eyed afterthought, "Why? When do you think you they should be left at home alone?"

I decided not to press my eight-years-old theory, since apparently it doesn't really fly outside wild and wooly 80's. But read about all the parents struggling with this decision themselves here.

The Unbearable Cuteness of Steve

2008-08-14T01:09:00.000-07:00

Okay...

We meant to get one cat, but we ended up getting two. Here's what happened. We went to get a nice older lap cat, who could also be a companion for our (literally) scaredy-cat, Cornelious.

But then as we were walking past a cage with two kittens, one of them pressed himself up so strenously against the bars, that he seemed to be saying, "Hulloo! Come over and talk to me!"

We both immediately agreed that he was a cutie pie, and might need to come home with us, but the problem was that he was only 3 and half months old -- which is not exactly an old lap cat.

Then Brian, who was next door to the kitten, started meowing at us. And he was 2 years old. Not an old lap cat, but close enough.

We asked to see both cats in the cat room, and it turned out that the kitten was extremely affectionate, while Brian was more of a explorer. Also, the kitten, reminded us of our friend Steve Connell, because he was so wildly friendly from go. Furthermore, the Pasadena Humane Society was having an adopt 2 cats special for $85, so how could we not agree to take both of the cats that absolutely did not fit our description of the cat we originally wanted home with us -- and name the kitten Steve?

Anyway, this is all to say, that if you're looking for a cat, but are not sure whether you want one, don't got to the Pasadena Humane Society. Not only is it the nicest shelter that either of us have ever seen, with the most helpful volunteer staff, but the cats are too cute. And if you're anything like us, you will end up taking a 2yo cat home with you, and then coming back three days later to pick up the kitten after he has been altered. Just warning ya...

Along the same vein, skip "Tropic Thunder" if you don't want to laugh. CH and I went to see it last night, and we saw the black guy from "The Office" and Pineapple Express (which we had actually seen the night before!) in the audience. Good sign, right?

Well, I don't want to ruin anything for you, so I won't go into all the ways it was funny, but I will say this. Black people: Robert Downey Jr. is a lot more funny than offensive. Australians, blonds, actors, agents, movie executives, rappers, English people, SFX people, fake memoirists: The movie is a lot more funny than offensive. Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey haters: Totally understand where you're coming from, but this movie might actually make you like them again -- it's that funny.

Is it Friday yet? I'm kind of ready for it to be Friday?

Random Wednesday

2008-08-13T01:45:00.000-07:00

So in the midst of watching the Olympics 24/7, I have managed to collect a few random items to discuss on this blog.

Apparently, that cute-as-a-button little girl that sang at the Olympic Opening Ceremony was a front for a not-so-cute little girl doing the real singing behind the curtain. Having played the informal and ultimately unsuccessful game of "Find An Ugly Chinese Child And Take A Picture Of Him Or Her" with my programmates while in China, I am extremely curious to see what the Chinese consider too ugly to sing in front of cameras, because as far as I know this child doesn't exist. Thanks to MKV for sending me the article about this. Read it here.

Not one, not two, but THREE famous people sightings yesterday. While riding home, I rode past Perez Hilton and his personal trainer (BTW, Perez looks GREAT!!! Apparently, he's really been working out). Now, I'm not one to call out to celebrities -- it's just not done in L.A., but I was on my pink-and-black electric bicycle in my pink helmet and dressed in brown yoga capri pants with a printed yellow top -- in other words, I looked crazy, and probably sounded crazy when I called out, "Love your column!" -- although he has a blog.

Later in the evening, CH and I went to the ArcLight for Every Other Tuesday Date Night (aka Need to Get Out of the House While Housekeeper Is There, So We Might As Well See a Movie and Have Dinner Night), and during the dinner part of our evening, we saw Felicity Huffman and her husband, William H. Macy, who was sporting a pretty sweet stache. Not to make stalkery observations, but they talked non-stop during dinner. And I thought it was pretty sweet that they still have so much to say to each other.

Just finished listening to The Host, the first adult novel by Stephenie Meyers, which had me in full out book thrall. I was particularly impressed, b/c her first book, Twilight, though completely compelling was not very well-written. However, she must've put in boatloads of work on her craft, because The Host kept me on the edge of my bicycle the entire time, but was also really well written. I love that. Also, the story, which is basically Invasion of the Body Snatchers from one gentle alien body snatcher's point of view, was just brilliant. Can't wait for her next adult novel. Highly recommended.

Last but not least, Gawker.com put out this interesting call for pics of people using their Kindle.

THE KINDLE IS THE SASQUATCH OF THE BOOK WORLD: There have been dozens of alleged sightings, but have you or anyone you know actually seen either Bigfoot or a an actual person using Amazon's electronic reader? Yet, Citigroup reports that its sales are "better than expected" and predicts that "Amazon will sell up to 380,000 Kindles in 2008, up from a previous forecast of 190,000." Wishful thinking? Crackpot theory? We need non-faked photographic evidence.

As a Kindle owner, at first I was offended by this theory, but then I realized that I myself had never actually seen anyone other than myself using a Kindle. So for what it's worth, here's me on my awesome, beloved Kindle. Feel free to forward it on to Gawker.

100% Love,

etc

Life of Brian

2008-08-12T01:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, as it turns out, I won't be able to blog about my Beijing memories b/c I'm too busy watching the actual Beijing Olympics. Blogs might be a little light this week.

But just wanted to post a picture of the newest furry member of our little family, Brian.

And just in case you're wondering, yes, Brian is named after our friend and wedding officiant, Brian Viehland, because we did not like his original name (Buddy) and needed to decide on a new name before he got microchipped (basically kitty lojacked).

"How about Brian. He kind of reminds me of Brian," CH said.

Me too, though I still can't quite put my finger on why.

Anyway, he's a complete cutie-pie and though Gibson is still missed and irreplaceable, it's nice to have a cat that's willing to be petted again. As many of you know, our other cat, Cornelious basically stalks us around the house but runs away if we try to touch him. We love him, but he's kind of creepy. Brian balances things out.

Further details coming later in the week.

Til then, here's your moment of Brian:

By Request of CH

2008-08-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

So this week, I'm going to begin every blog with a Beijing side-note in honor of the Olympics, which I'm basically watching non-stop except for a short Venture Brothers break last night -- you gotta make time for the Venture Bros. Go Team Venture!

Anyway...

As many of you know, CH held the Olympic opening ceremony hostage from me, b/c he was working til late on a Friday-Saturday gig, and refused to give the Opening Ceremony anything less than his full and completely intense attention -- he was on the Salt Lake City and Athens lighting team, so he takes these things much more seriously than say, anybody else I know.

Unfortunately, this meant that I, the (self-anointed) queen of pop culture, was forced to say no, time after time, as people asked me if I had seen the apparently spec-frickin-tacular opening ceremonies.

In all fairness to CH, he did tell me that I could watch it alone, but as all people who are partnered up with a lighting designer can tell you, that's not the same.

So, I had to wait til Sunday, to see the opening ceremonies. But man oh man, was it worth the wait. I've never seen anything like it, and though I've never really desired to go back to Beijing, I have never wished more that I could witness an event in person.

It was also good that I waited for CH, b/c I kept asking how all the super-clever light effects worked, and apparently it was all stuff he had seen before, only on a much, much, much bigger scale and done with a ton more human labor.

I found the whole spectacle very inspiring and the next time I have a few million to spare, I'm going to do up our entire house in LED screens. Wait for it...

On another CH note, he requested that I update last week's music blog re: European lighting. Basically, I posted the new(ish) Yelle vid and said it was a great example of how CH says that Europeans do lighting differently, and he says that's not what he meant. Here's the update that I attached to the original blog out of context:

UPDATE: Have been informed by CH that this is not what he meant when he was talking about Europeans and lighting. Apparently, one company owns the patent rights to LED technology here in The States, which makes it prohibitively expensive for our event shows to go all out lighting-wise. Europe doesn't have that patent-problem, so it's relatively cheap for them to go really big. But apparently, the face of American award shows and the like will change as we know it, when the patent runs out in 2010. So wait for it...

Meanwhile here's an example of what CH is talking about when he says the Europeans go there with their lights:

Rancho Cocoa

2008-08-10T09:01:00.000-07:00

So favorite elfin artist and future Fierce and Nerdy contributor, Missy Kulik, has a blog. Who knew!

Check it out like yesterday. She and her BF, Raoul are jedi masters of all things beyond cute and particularly fierce and nerdy.

Click here for the link or go to my blog roll:

Ice Princes and Princesses

2008-08-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

PHOTO CREDIT: Inya

I don't know how the NYT does it, but almost every single week, they manage to find some character that I'd slap if I met them in real life -- and I'm a pacifist.

A couple of weeks ago, it was the Botox Bridezilla, and this week it's the Ice Snob. This is a person, who likes her or his ice a certain way and feels that it's perfectly acceptable to BYOI to a party.

I have never had anyone bring their own ice to a party, unless I called them in a rushed fever of festivity set up and asked that they do so. But if someone did show up with a container of ice, chipped or shaped just so, purely because they couldn't deal with regular ice, I would be like, "Bitch, you is crazy, and we are no longer friends. Get out my house." Even if they were a lifelong friend, I would say it just like that.

Anyway, get the full report on Ice Snobs here.

Though in a bit of a rant reversal, I must say that these Russian-designed tetris-shaped ice trays are beyond brilliant and would make a perfect housewarming present for your favorite Fierce Nerd, if they ever get around to actually marketing them. Oh Russia.

Oh no, America!

2008-08-09T07:27:00.001-07:00

Just woke up and found out that Bernie Mac died. I adored Bernie Mac. He was consistently funny. His signature angry bug-eyes managed to be comic without being minstrel. And, man oh man, how funny was it when he back-handed EVERYBODY as a Vice Presidential candidate in Head of State?

Everybody's been talking about this supposed Dark Knight curse, so does that mean Transformers is cursed, too, since Shia LeBouf like just rolled that car? If Josh Duhamel and Fergie call off their wedding, you heard the "More Than Meets The Eye Curse" theory here first. If Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green break up, though, that's not the curse, just the universe correcting itself. Frankly, I'm shocked that they've lasted this long.

Anyway, this is all to say Rest in Peace, Bernie Mac. You started off with nothing, and you did the damn thing. Did it well.

UPDATE: So far I like the Gawker.com obit the best -- even though it doesn't specifically mention him backhanding everybody in Head of State. Read it here.

Notice Anything Different?

2008-08-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

That's right, I got a dress that you probably haven't seen before. Handmade by this lovely woman who has a stand at the Silverlake Farmer's market every Saturday.

And yes, we added some bookshelves -- 3 huge floor-to-ceiling cases. It's SO nice having a proper set, now we just have to fill them up. Yeah, that's going to be kinda hard now that I have the Kindle, but I'm trying to be diligent about buying used books and plays --

What's that you say? What happened to my hair? I cut it all off! Did I not mention this before? Well, as many of probably didn't know, CH (by request) cut off my dreads on Sunday. For the first few days, I felt very, very naked -- I had forgotten how face dependent short hairstyles are. Bad face days are really bad face days. Also, I've gained weight since the last time I had a natural, and I looked so much like my mother, that I actually startled myself a few times when I caught myself in the mirror. But then I got my hair put into twists on Thursday, so eerie ghost problem solved.

Read about my long decision process in making this big change here.

The really exciting thing about this new look, is that this is just the first of several hairstyles that I plan to try out as I grow out my natural into a full-blown bodacious afro (which will take years). Next up, a braided-at-the-sides fauxhawk??? We'll see...

How Much Do I Love Thee?

2008-08-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

So much, that I'm posting a blog, even though I really have no time to do so.

But I wanted to let you know that I'm posting a hair blog tomorrow, because everyone (read: two people) has been asking what I decided to do, and fielding all (read: both) of the requests has become tiresome.

XM has dedicated an entire channel to Coldplay for the entire month of August. I guess they feel that this band is just not getting enough radio play. Check out XM Channel 51 if you feel the same.

If you're in the Los Angeles area, check out 100.3 The Sound in the mornings. One of my particularly awesome former co-workers, Larry Morgan, is the morning DJ and he's not lame, plays lots of music, and is (as I mentioned before) particularly awesome.

I'm trying to shake off a sinus cold, which means I haven't been able to ride my bike into work since Monday. So not only am I suffering, but I also miss my bike, and I STILL don't know what's happened in the last few chapters of the edge-of-my-seat audiobook that I've been listening to during my bike commute. Alas.

Yes, I did decide that transitions are not necessarily necessary today. Why do you ask?

That all randomly said, here's a clever little comic remix that CH sent me courtesy of Boing Boing. It's funny b/c it's Steve Jobs, and b/c there does seem to be a formula to all the Pixar movies -- though obviously that formula works gangbusters. Click here to see it bigger and give Boing Boing some (more) web traffic.

De Ce Doux Jeu D'amants

2008-08-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

So did you notice it's Wednesday? Guess that means it's time for another music purge:

1. Still in love with "Viva La Vida," though it's given a spin every single time I'm in the car, often 2 or 3 times, it's like the radio gods want me to start hating it. Hopefully, I'll be able to resist their evil machinations. Meanwhile, was disappointed to find that the video was super boring, basically an extension of the I-Tunes ad with absolutely nothing added. See what I mean here.

2. I tried to pre-order the Lykke Li album which streets on August 19th last Friday, only to find out that I had already put in a pre-order. Obviously, I can't wait for this record. At least I have "Dance Dance Dance" and my absolute favorite social anxiety ditty "Everybody But Me" to tide me over. See the super-cute, super-Swedish video for "Dance Dance Dance" here.

3. Nearly dropped dead of shock when I heard the new single, "Sprialling" by Keane (aka that English band you like b/c they sound a lot like Coldplay, but who aren't in fact Coldplay). Very 80's, it sounds nothing like Coldplay this time, and I have completely fallen in love with it. Also, it's available for free at their website until 11 am on August 11th. Download it here.

4. If you like country, I-Tunes free song of the week, "In Color" by Jamey Johnson is pretty good.

5. But their other free song of the week, that's kind of hidden at the bottom of the page is much better. It's called "Infinite Night," and it's by Carrie Rodriguez.

That all said, without further ado, here are the Top 5 Things I've Downloaded since the last time I told you about the top 5 things I downloaded:

ALBUMS:

1. The Brazillian Girls - New York City:The Brazillian Girls are great writing music. In fact I'm listening to them while I write this blog!

2. The Faint - Fasciinatiion: I'd never heard of this band before, but I liked so many of their samples that I decided to download their entire album, since it was only $7.99. Also, very good writing music. In fact, I'm listening to them while I write this blog -- yes, I just abruptly switched from The Brazillian Girls, but you know what I mean. Anyway, this album is cool, because it makes me feel like I'm in a movie writing montage of feverish creativity while i'm at my computer.

SONGS:

3. Marching Band - "For Your Love," "Gorgeous Behavior," "Don't Go" - I know you're not supposed to judge a band by its brightly colored album cover, but I confess that I only clicked on this band's music, b/c I have the sensibilities of a bird. However, the package matched the music. These three songs are just gorgeous and I think I might complete the album next Tuesday.

4. Airborne Toxic Event - "Sometime Around Midnight" - I kept hearing this song on Indie 103 and KROQ, and kept trying to hear the name of the band, but no dice. Then, lo and behold, I stumbled across them on I-Tunes, because they also had an intriguing album cover. What a pleasant surprise! Fucked up love song. I love fucked up love songs.

5. Group1Crew - "Keys to the Kingdom" - as many of you know, I'm not a fan of most Christian rock. The old black lady in me much prefers gospel standards like "His Eye Is On The Sparrow." But this is actually pretty good, in that it's somehow awful and wonderful at the same time. It's like Evanescence meets Linkin Park, and the band looks like a We Are the World ad.

And last but not least. Today's youtube honors goes to Yelle's fabu new video for "Ce Jeu." I'm not sure if it's possible at this point for me to love her any more than I already do. CH is always going on about how absolutely brilliant the Europeans are with lights, and I think this video proves him right. Enjoy the oh-so-Frenchie-French brilliance below:

Meanwhile here's an example of what CH is talking about when he says the Europeans go there with their lights:

I'm Confused

2008-08-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

So the nice thing about being a dark skinned woman, who's lived her life as a dark-skinned woman, not-so-privately policed the portrayal of dark skinned women in entertainment, and even wrote her college thesis on dark skinned women (in African American literature), is that I always form a quick (and completely right, I'm sure) opin on all matters of skin tone.

But I have no idea what to make of this Tyra Banks as Michelle Obama photospread in Harper's Bazaar. Usually, I would be annoyed that once again, they've chosen to use a light-skinned model to portray a dark-skinned woman -- anyone who's ever heard me talk at length about the pointedly dark-skinned literary character of Shug Avery being replaced by a light-skinned actress in the movie version of The Color Purple, knows how I feel about this. But then they gave Tyra's Michelle dark-skinned daughters -- in an industry where you rarely, rarely see dark-skinned little girls.

Were conversations had behind the scene? I can't imagine that Harper's Bazaar is that enlightened. Maybe they just thought the kids were cutie-pies -- which they are. Maybe they were inspired by this month's circulation-dream: Italian Vogue.

We may never know, but I can't decide whether to be happy that they put dark-skinned little girls in the spotlight (for once) or to be annoyed that HB seems to think any old black people will do to play the potential first family, and that none of the family (save Obama himself) was cast from the right color spectrum. Sigh.

But on a funnier note, go here to see the hilarious take on crazy Tyra Banks playing the completely awesome Michelle Obama on Stereohyped. They also have more pictures.

One more thing: I hate to be like this, but how dope is Tyra's dress in this picture?

Afraid to Love Again

2008-08-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

So supposedly the BlackBerry Bold is on track to launch in September, and it's going to just kill the I-Phone sales wise.

Though, it is my personal belief that each new relationship should be greeted with a heart wide open, after the July Heartbreak, I'm still feeling a little raw, a little afraid to trust again.

However, it helps that my telephone contract runs out in September, so Blackberry actually saved me money by postponing, so I wouldn't have to break my contract with the evil, evil Sprint, in a fit of new gadget lust. So I might have recovered from the Blackberry Bold letting me down earlier this summer.

Just a little update, because I know that most of you were super-concerned about when my Blackberry Bold dreams would be achieved.

Trying to Stay Strong,

etc

The Nigerian Soccer Team

2008-08-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

So as many of you know, I've been thinking of cutting off my dreads for a while now. There are several pros to this:

1) No more hair getting in my way. Once your hair gets as long as mine, it becomes more like a wily animal that you always have to be conscious of, so that accidents don't happen.
2) More current. Here's what's sad. I remember when dreadlocks where hip and trendy -- you know 11 years ago, when I first got them. Lately, I've been feeling like I'm settled down Elvira-style with the same hairstyle for the rest of my life.
3) More environmental. Though, I only have to wash my dreads every other week, it takes a ton of time and water to do. And though I love the overhead spray function on our newish shower, I've taken to turning off the water in between rinse-offs, because I feel so guilty about all the water it takes to wash my hair-- something I know I won't be able to do in the winters, as I can't bear being cold.
4) The ability to change up hairstyles. This goes back to #2. I don't want to be one of those people who finds a look at 23 and then sticks with it for the rest of her life.
5) Meta Reason: I got my dreads the year after my mom died. And I believe like many, that we store a lot of our history and past emotions in our hair. Maybe it's time to let go of those dark times.

But there are also a ton of cons:

1)You have to cut dreads out. I did a short natural for 3 years, and got dreads because I was sick of that hairstyle. It would take quite a while to grow out my hair again. And I kind of want a big, bodacious afro like yesterday.
2) More salon time. I was over an hour late to my own wedding, b/c my hairdresser had such poor time management. Black Salon Time -- having to spend all day someplace in order to get your hair done -- is a huge pet peeve of mine. I don't have the time or patience to spend all day on my hair, and part of the reason that I love my dreads so is that I can maintain them myself. So it would technically be a lot more time and money for me to switch now.
3) More maintenance: Once, every 2 weeks, It takes me 30 minutes to wash my hair, an hour and a half to retwist, and one night in curlers, if I want it curly. Every other hairstyle, from what I understand, needs to be maintained every single day, and yes, I may have become too damn lazy to actually run a comb through my hair every morning.
4) Compliments: I'm still averaging 2-3 compliments from strangers on my locks per month, which ain't bad. Not to be vain, but it's kind of hard to get rid of a hairstyle that literally has people stopping you on the street.
5) Meta Reason: Like I said, I got my locks put in right after my mom died, and they're infused with the memories and discoveries of the last 10 years. Do I really want to let that go?

Anyway, this is all to say that after going back and forth with myself all week, I've finally made my decision. I'll let you know what it is sometime this week.

Also, I wanted to point you to this Yahoo! Sports article. Apparently, the male Nigerian Olympic Soccer team is spending too much time on their hair, according to their coach, and he wants to make all of them cut off their locks.

Nigeria’s Olympic football coach Samson Siasia has warned his players that he expects short hair and correct clothing for the Beijing Games, a federation spokesman said on Friday.

Siasia, known as a stickler for discipline, believes that his players are devoting too much time to their elaborate hairstyles, time which he believes could be better used in fine-tuning their performances.

And the coach goes as far as to claim that players with short hair are more aerodynamic and so find it easier to find their rhythm on the pitch.

How quick would this coach get shouted down if it were the Women's Nigerian Olympic Soccer Team? These players need to fight for he right to wear their hair however they want too. Read the full article here.

Despite this, I'm getting really excited for the Olympics. What a way to break the summer TV drought.

Fierce Vegetables

2008-08-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

After loads of thought and consideration, I have decided to start eating my vegetables -- even if they're ones I don't like, like broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, cucumbers... I'll stop here. The list is just too long.

I got a Lemon Pepper salmon and mixed veggie bowl today from this place called Samurai Fusion (sadly, the servers don't even pretend to be Samurais -- that would have been so much fun!) across the street today. The salmon and the rice were banging. The vegetables, which somehow ALL managed to be ones I don't like, had to be choked down. How do you people eat this stuff???

Anyway, this is obviously all to say that I'm having a hard time figuring out which header I like best for the new Fierce and Nerdy site.

I know what you're thinking: "Ernessa, how has somebody who has as many problems making a decision as you do gotten this far in life?"

Answer: No idea, dude.

Still, please weigh in with your thoughts on the below in the comment section.

Thanks and love!
etc

a.

b.

c.

How About a Nice Firm Handshake?

2008-07-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

Listen...

3 of my Top 5 movies are gritty to the bone...

My name before and after I got married was Ernessa T. Carter...

I went to a feminist college...

My next book revolves around an all-woman gang...

And I only have four words to say about the upcoming Disney movie which features the mouse's first ever black princess:

I. Can't. Fucking. Wait.

Check it out the teaser trailer:

Not sure about the toothless firefly, but...

I just love that it's 2-D. It’s like they’re going back in time and giving us the black Disney Princess that we actually wanted when we were kids. Also, Annika Noni Rose is beyond perfect voice casting as the princess. And I adore the Randy Newman song, the situation, and “how about a nice firm handshake?” Am already thinking about putting together a field trip, so that I can go see it with all of my girlfriends. Can 2009 get here like yesterday?

Also, many thanks to Kyle for letting me know that my favorite black industrial trance navel-gazers, TV on the Radio, will be hitting The Wiltern in Los Angeles and November. And guess what! Guess what! Guess what!

The band also has announced details on the follow-up to 2006’s Return to
Cookie Mountain. Released by Interscope, the new album will be entitled Dear
Science, and will be available Sept. 23.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! My heart is screaming like a little girl at a Jonas Brothers concert. September 23rd needs to come like super-soon. Sooner than soon. Oh, why do I even bother to try to come up with something new? You guys know what I really want to say: September 23rd needs to come YESTERDAY. See the track listing here. Calling that the "Love Dog" track will be brilliant.

I think I'm going to put on my favorite Randy Newman song, "I Love L.A." to celebrate all of this good news.

I'm Da Biggest Boss Dat Ya Seen Thus Far

2008-07-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

So, I've been jotting down every thought I've had about music since Monday, and the list is getting way long, so I better do a big purge now:

1. A new Whitney Houston track got leaked on line, and it's actually halfway decent. Listen to "Like I Never Left" here.

2. Wham might reunite. My 8 year old heart skips a beat. Read about the current rumors here.

3. Apparently, when Rick Ross claimed to have trafficked cocaine, he meant prisoners.

4. I put in a request for a Let's Go Sailing concert at Eventful two months ago, and apparently only 7 other agree that they should play a show here -- even though they're based here. Sad for me. But watch the underwhelming and chesty (in a weird way) video for my favorite LGS song "Sideways" here.

5. Everybody's raving about "Gamma Ray" from Beck's new album, Modern Age, but I actually think that "Walls" is the best song in the set. Let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments.

6. My favorite French Singer (for now) Yelle threw up some live tracks that she recorded at some festival in London on I-Tunes, and they're just as cutie-pie as she is.

7. For the second frickin' week in a row, the I-Tunes free song of the week was something that I already had. Last week, it was Kerli's "Walking on Air," which I liked at first, but had to stop listening to after 10 plays -- it's like cotton that way, great at first, but you get sick of it fast. And today's was "One, Two, Three, Go!" from my favorite Mexican synth-pop group (for now), Belanova. Highly recommended. So go download it as soon as you finish reading this entry.

8. Top 5 Things that I've DownLoaded since the last time I wrote about the stuff I downloaded.

a. Michael Franti & Spearhead "Say Hey (I Love You)" - not as good as many of their past efforts, but to know Spearhead is the love them -- in a hippie sort of way.
b. "Love Is Noise" - The Verve: Reunited and calmed way the frick down. This is no "Bittersweet Symphony," but my aggressive nostalgia makes up for anything that the actual single lacks.
c. "Cookie Jar" - Gym Class Heroes f/ The Dream - Many of you know how I feel about cheating -- totally heinous and unacceptable, but this is actually a really good song about it, and the Dream chorus is killer. I like girls, and they like me... they look so good... in they're Seven jeans...
d. "Don't Call Me Baby" - Kreesha Turner - I'll admit that I actually love most of Perez Hilton's music suggestions. He suggested this black Canadian singer. And once again, I like the song a lot. Though, I'm not exactly sure why...
e. S.A.M.S.P.A.R.R.O. - Sam Sparro - electronica kid with a newish vibe out of England. I downloaded this b/c I liked another song of his "Black Gold" so very much. Think "Gold" might also have been a Perez Hilton suggestion -- what! he has good taste!

Anyway, this is all to say that I'm still pretty much completely obsessed with The Black Kids Partie Traumatic album, and this is just what I've been listening to when I can bear to turn it off for a few minutes.

But dudes, how sad am I that I only discovered Superaquello like a few weeks ago? They are beyond awesome, and if my friend Gudrun was Latina, could sing dreamily, and liked to clap a lot, she would be this band's lead singer. See the cheap but fun and creative video below:

R.I.P. Scrabulous

2008-07-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Alas, our favorite procrastination tool, Scrabulous, has been removed from FaceBook. Why is life so cruel? We may never know... I wipe away an existentialist tear.

Read about its death by the terrible hands of corporate greed here.

etc

HASTY UPDATE: I just added the Scrabble Beta Application to my FaceBook about 5 minutes after writing this. Is that wrong? Oh, it ISwrong, isn't it? I am the Harvey Dent of the Scrabulous vs. Scrabble debate. But I couldn't help myself. It's so pretty. I mean look at it!

How could I resist?

The Apparently Not Very Loyal,

etc

When Licking Gets Decidely Unsexy

2008-07-28T05:50:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from my only-in-my-head autobiographical play, Scenes from the Non-Cliche Culture Clashes of an Interracial Couple.

AT RISE: CH and etc watch CNN's special "Black in America" - which etc privately feels should be called "The Most Negative and Poor Aspects of Being Black In America"

HAVARD PROFESSOR TALKING HEAD: Well, I found a picture of a white slave trader licking the arm of a slave, and at first I was confused, but then I realized that the slave trader was probably checking the future slave for salt content. Basically, if the slave was salty, that meant he had high salt content, which meant that he could probably withstand a boat ride across the Atlantic Ocean. But unfortunately, that might be the same factor that makes Black Americans more susceptible to hypertension.

etc frowns and licks her skin.

etc: My skin IS salty. Wow.

CH: What?

etc: Lick my skin.

CH licks the back of her wrist.

CH: It doesn't seem that salty.

etc: Yes it is, it's so salty. Let me lick your wrist.

etc licks the back of his wrist.

etc: You're not salty at all.

CH licks his own wrist, then etc's.

CH: You ARE salty. Wow... that's why you need to eat your vegetables, honey.

CH actually looks worried. etc purses her lips and brings out her computer to blog about it, doubting that even the threat of hypertension could get her to eat broccoli or (ugh!) brussel sprouts.

Bridezilla Botox

2008-07-27T00:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, as many of you know, I nearly got into a knock-down dragout with my sister, because she didn't want to get her makeup professionally done at MAC for my wedding. Emotions ran high, threats were made, and at one point, we were both crying. Hard. Eventually, she caved, as she should've since I was the bride in this situation, and if she ever wants me to look crazy in self-applied make-up at her wedding, then I will be fine with that.

However, if anyone ever asked me to get Botox in order to be in their wedding party, I would be like, "Bitch, please. You have obviously lost your damn mind, and we are no longer friends." That would be my answer, I don't care if I was 70 -- I'd answer just like that.

But apparently, there are currently brides who are actually pulling this shit on their bridesmaids and getting away with it. Read about the trend here, and please note that none of the people featured in this article are black.

A professionally made-up but un-Botoxed MKV and Liz at my wedding.

Out for the Weekend

2008-07-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

Huh-loo Darlings,

With great plans, come great heaps of work, and I'm starting to get extremely anxious about everything that needs to be done over the next few months. So I've decided to put my nose to the grindstone and suspend weekend blogging until further notice.

But while I'm gone, read this article about a new overbearing breed of sleep away camp parents. Apparently, these people have taken to trying to get their kids' bunks reassigned, making ridiculous requests, giving their kids secret cellphones, and even visiting their kids at camp.

From ages 7 to 14, my mother sent both my sister and me away to 2-week sleep-away camp every single summer. And every summer, without fail, she scheduled her summer vacation days for while we were away at camp.

So I can't even fathom this type of parent.

Do we think parents are becoming too overbearing, or is it the right of every parent to be this fiercely protective of their children? Also, don't parents need breaks from their children anymore? Has family time-off gone out of fashion?

Read about the clingy camp parents here.

Macs used to Crash

2008-07-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, while I was collating scripts for the show, I realized something about the rest of my life.

Here are a list of the jobs that I have held so far:

1. Office volunteer at the American Red Cross (12-13)

2. Candy Striper - Barnes Hospital (14-15)

3. Retail Clerk - Blockbuster Music [yes, children, Blockbuster used to have a music store chain, back in the early 90's when they were still with Viacom. This is where I first heard the word "synergy" -- if only it had been the last...](17-19)

4. Computer Lab Assistant (all through undergrad-- yes, I was that sullen chyck, that always acted like you were bothering her, when you needed help with your Eudora. And also the one that told you to double-check that you weren't over your mailbox size limit before she would lift a finger to help you. But in all fairness, that was usually the problem, and I was quick to unjam printers, put in new toner with a smile. And when your PC froze or your Mac crashed [yes, children, back in the 90's Macs used to do that. A lot! And for no reason!] and the mid-term essay you had spent several last-minute hours working on disappeared, I was appropriately sympathetic -- even though there were signs all over the labs, urging you to back up your work often on floppy disks, so that you wouldn't be shit out of luck when this happened. Just saying...)

5. English Teacher - Japan (22-23)

6. Temp and freelancer (the pre-grad school Pittsburgh year)

7. Office Slave(the post grad school years)

8. Executive Writer (American Top 40 w/ Ryan Seacrest)(now)

So 8 - 10 jobs so far, not including internships, and only one of them (Blockbuster Music) didn't require the collating of paper.

I realized yesterday that I will probably be collating shit until the day I die. And so will you. Think about it.

Anyway, rest in peace, Randy Pausch:

Fun (but perhaps not appropriate) Fact: This is the same auditorium where I first saw (and fell in love with) Hedwig and the Angry Inch (the movie).

My New Hyperbolic Statement For The Week

2008-07-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm angry, I mean pissed-off, like Christian Bale at a family reunion. Bah-dum-dum.

Too soon?

BTW, I love that Sesame Street tapped Neil Patrick Harris, one of my favorite people right now, to play a shoe fairy -- that's funny, not offensive (I think). Still, I couldn't help but notice that while everyone else got cute and/or clever shoes, Maria, the Latina mom, was given "shoes that make you mop." Nice, Sesame Street. Watch the vid here.

Also, I wanted to give you an update on my Cheese Situation. Go here for the background on that one. I got lots of great advice concerning this terrible problem.

Here's the advice, I forewent b/c I was afraid that it would get me sued:

a. A jar that would deliver a shock every time someone tried to open it to get at my cheese -- Cybele.

b. A set mouse trap inside the bag of string cheese -- Sebrina.

c. Inserting a non-toxic chemical into the cheese that would turn the eaters pee blue -- Brian's mom (who, yes, used to be a chemical engineer).

Here's the advice that I forewent, b/c it was too much work:

a. Getting a refrigerator for my office -- CH and Monique

b. Writing an angry note and taping it to the bag of cheese -- Don't Remember Who

And here's the advice that I actually took:

Putting the cheese in a brown paper bag -- CH and Someone Else (I think maybe Debra???)

I'll let you know if this tactic works out.

That all said, here's a picture of a 2AD bust that looks like Elvis. Courtesy of boing boing. Freaky, right! Click on the pic for the full link.

More Black Kids

2008-07-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

So luckily, CH reads this blog or he might not have let me know that The Black Kids are performing at Jimmy Kimmel Live next Tuesday. Then I might have found out after the fact, and that would have been a relationship-tester.

Looking really forward to seeing them next week.

As long as we're on the subject of TV, I'm watching this newish A&E show, The Cleaner as we speak, and it's not quite as bad as all the critics are saying, but it is just okay-- wait Benjamin Bratt just had another obviously expository conversation with God. Okay it is that bad, and BB's cheekbones and Grace Park's presence just aren't enough to make up for it. Skip it.

But if you're looking for a series to rent. Just started watching the first season of Burn Notice, which is really fun, and just terrifically cast. Could Sharon Gless get any more perfect? Nip/Tuck Build-A-Bear Killer and now Hypochondriac Ex-Spy Mom. Wunderbar.

Anyway, here's that Black Kids video that I promised you:

Top 5 Things I Recently Downloaded

2008-07-22T18:18:00.001-07:00

I'm going to try to talk about the music I've been downloading more regularly, because I had this meta feeling that you wanted me to tell you about my favorite new music -- plus, I like forcing my opinions on others, so allow me to do so now.

ALBUMS:

1. The Black Kids - Partie Traumatic -- a young East Coast alterna-cute outfit made of two black siblings and three of their white friends. None of them are too cool for school, but they are angsty to the nth degree. Plus... the singer is too frickin' awesome -- think Kele Okereke from Bloc Party* -- but a lot more cute and precocious. Like many black fronted alternative acts, apparently they're insanely more popular in the U.K. than they are over here. Sigh.

If you just want to sample try in this order: "I'm Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You"** and "I'm Making Eyes At You." Warning: You may be bowled over with how charming both songs are.

2. !Forward, Russia! - Life Processes -- they're not out of Russia, but out of England. And funnily enough, the lead singer also reminds me of Kele Okereke from Bloc Party-- if he were on the straight brink of suicide. Amazing lyricism, but I actually wouldn't recommend listening to the entire album straight through, as it all becomes a little too much after awhile. Sample lyric from my favorite song, "Breaking Standing":

When it weighs too much
think of it as seven times the weight
But when
it cost too much
consider it
but don't come to me for aid

See the annoyingly overwrought, yet somehow still boring video here.

INDIVIDUAL SONGS:

3. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - "Buriedfed" -- Black Bob Dylan -- even more impressive because I don't really like Dylan all that much, but I love this song. Most of his debut album is pretty strong, but apparently he's happy and mentally healthy now, so I suspect that the next one will suck. Hard. Ah well...

4. Nas f/ Keri Hilson - "Hero" - somehow all the N-word contro had made me forget just what an amazing rapper this man is. Plus, I've been watching Keri Hilson work it behind-the-scenes as a writer for a while now. And I find her very exciting. Totally worth the download. Also, whatever side of the N-word as album name debate you stand on, try not to have a moment of breathless pause when he delivers this line about the record company forcing him to change the name of his album to Untitled:

Nas the only true rebel since the beginning... Still in musical prison... in jail for the flow... Try telling Bob Dylan, Bruce, or Billy Joel... They can't sing what's in their soul... So untitled it is"

5. Fucked Up - "Year of the Pig (Japan Edit)" - Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am in a weird mood today! How did you know?

And just barely missing the Top 5:

Tricky - "Council Estate" - Despite the hours that I've logged watching British movies and TV shows, I never did figure out the dealy with council housing. I think it's supposed to be like affordable housing over here, but not quite the projects. And unfortunately, I don't have the attention span to really read the Wikipedia explanation, but maybe you can get through it.

You might remember Tricky as the bandmate who broke Lyn's heart on "Girlfriends" -- back when it was still good (and on the air). He's kind of got this intriguing so-ugly-he's-beautiful thing going on. Anyway, though he's made tons of money as a world-and-critically-acclaimed artist, apparently he still represents for The Councils ( mayhap b/c it's more lucrative than representing for the mansions). Check him keeping it real in the video below:

*If you don't know who Bloc Party is, slap yourself. Then slap me for being friends with you. That's awful. Get thee to an I-Tunes store and download "Hunting For Witches" yesterday.

**YES! I'm aware that The Black Kids Video for this song is super-cute. Don't worry, I'll post it tomorrow.

Fierce And Nerdy

2008-07-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm SO excited. I mean like Patti-LaBelle-on-speed-at-a-singing-chipmunks-convention level excited.

Check this out:

Yes, that's actually the holder page for the much-fabled Fierce and Nerdy blogsite, which I've been trying to put together for about a century now (give or take 99 years). Click on the pic to see the actual holder page at www.FierceAndNerdy.com.

That all said here are the Frequently Asked Questions, that you haven't actually thought to ask yet.

So what's going to be different about this site?
Well, for one, it will have contributors, so no more having to put up with 24/7 me all the time.

Also, More of the technology, music, news, literature and all the other stuff my fellow fierce and nerdy chycks are interested in and less diary -- though we'll see how close I can stick to that promise. I mean, if somebody steals my cheese from the work refrigerator, how can I NOT bring that problem to The People???

I've already talked to many of you about contributing, and I'll be reaching out to a lot more of you over the weeks to come. But if you're interesting in contributing, drop me a line. If you were with me for the wild after-Japan, pre-grad school days of CoolChyck, this is a lot like that, but with word limits.

That holder page is dope, but when is Fierce And Nerdy actually coming?
Mid to late August. But don't worry, as we get closer, I'll be blogging more and more about it. Trust me, you won't miss it -- because I won't let you. Stalker eyes.

But Ernessa, does that mean you won't be begging us to come out to all of your Filly Film Cult events? You know we can't live without experimental short film festivals! It's the air we BREATHE!
Oh yes, darlings, I know, I know. But no worries. Filly Film Cult will have its very own page on the Fierce And Nerdy site. Also, keep your eyes here, because there are some behind-the-scenes busy-elf stuff things going down, and I'm hoping to make a big FFC announcement fairly soonish.

Hey Ernessa, your male fans here -- both of them. This site is kind of sounding like it's just for chycks. Will we feel shut out?
Um, I hope not. I mean I've seen every Bond film that's come out within my lifetime, watched a bunch of Monty Python, and I also got about a quarter of the way through Blazing Saddles, so hopefully I've built up enough crossover credit myself, that you'll stick with me on this new venture. Though, the site will specifically target Fierce and Nerdy chycks, I'd like to believe that there'll be something there for everyone.

And how about that novel that you've supposedly been writing almost as long as you've had this blog? Will we ever get to see that? Or is that just something you pretend to do, so that you can seem a lot cooler than you actually are at parties?
Though, I'm not above trying to appear a lot cooler than I actually am at parties, there is definitely an (almost ready) novel in the works. So expect to see a print and audio first chapter and a book trailer on the new site before the end of the year. Also, I'll be logging in a weekly writing blog as I walk the road from having written to (hopefully) getting published.

So where do we come in? How can we help out with developing Fierce and Nerdy? Glad you asked. In the weeks to come, if you read something you like, let me know. That way I can do more of it when I switch over to Fierce and Nerdy.

Anyway, that's your update. Regular blogging resumes on Tuesday - though unfortunately no more 2-a-days. I have a little too much behind-the-scenes work to pull that off. But looking really forward to the next phase.

100% Love,
etc

Your Favorite Narcissist

2008-07-20T09:26:00.001-07:00

Your favorite narcissist may just be a jerk or really self-confident, according to today's NY Times. Often real narcissists can't function in society -- so if you're friends with someone, chances are they don't need that label. Also, the celebs that are accused of being narcissists are not so much that, but products of being catered to all of the time. And in the cases of athlete attitude -- well that's what happens when you're better at something than almost everybody else and get a lot of money and attention for it.

If you live in L.A. or New York, you'll probably find this article especially interesting. And if you're a self-described narcissist, have fun trying to figure out whether you're really self-confident or a jerk. Either way, download the full article here. Cheers!

P.S. - My favorite "narcissist" right now is Imani Coppola from Little Jackie. So if you haven't downloaded her hit (if Ernessa ruled the world and determined what was a hit) "The Whole World Should Revolve Around Me" yet, do so yesterday. Also, the Little Jackie album, The Stoop, is totally worth a full download. Love, love, love this act. Other songs worth downloading if you don't want to commit to the entire album: "Liked You Better Before" and "28 Butts."

Dude, really?

2008-07-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

You still haven't seen "Dr. Horrible's Super Sing-A-Long"** yet??? Why oh why?!?! Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, that bowl-cut guy from "Big Bang Theory," an exceedingly well-written and fresh take on the superhero-villian-sweet girl love triangle -- and c'mon it's a musical!!! How have you not already watched this ish like 3 times yesterday?

BT-dubs, the whole thing will no longer be available for free as of Sunday, July 20th, so don't procrastinate. Click the picture to watch.

**SPECIAL THANKS to Karen F. for sending me the link to the brilliance.

Decisions, Decisions

2008-07-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, as many of you know, I'm a little beyond bad at making real-world decisions.

If I'm writing, and I have a main character on top of a building with a posse of robots coming up the stairs after, and score of fighter jets shooting at her from the air -- no problem, I can easily make the decision for her to rappel down the side of the building, steal somebody's shitty car, and lose both robots and air brigade in the subway tunnels of New York. That's easy.

But, real-world decisions almost always stump me . And I can't, for the life of me, come to a firm conclusion, about what kind of New Bein' (get it? Nubian - New Bein' - New Being) hair jewelry to wear, though my best friend Monique introduced me to it a week ago. So instead of obsessively going back in forth with myself, I'm asking you to weigh in.

Which of these bands do you like best?

a. b. c. or d.

And which of these charms do you like best?

a- peacock tail b-scarab c- Om. or d - eye of hera

Leave your opins in the comments section. Thanks!

Fun!

2008-07-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

My iGoogle Widget Fortune for Friday:

"Everything will be just tickety-boo today. "

That's not really turning out to be true so far, but I just love that word "tickety-boo." I'd never heard it before.

The Economics of Love

2008-07-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

So I've always had trouble defining how I feel about love. I wouldn't call myself wildly romantic, or even just plain romantic (though I remain and aspire to always be deeply in love with my husband). On the other hand, I wouldn't call myself completely practical (though I am quite practical when it comes to love) or negative (though I'm sure an ex or two might disagree, to which case I might reply, "I wasn't negative about love, I was negative about you" -- I guess I'm also a little mean when it comes to love.

But today, I read a terrific article by Ben Stein about the Economics of Love in The Grey Lady, and I found myself agreeing with so many of his points, that I've decided to relabel my particular love philosophy as "economical."

Some highlights from the article including the following points:

1. High investment should equal high returns.

2. Don't invest in junk bonds. The returns aren't high enough.

3. Think long-term. Short-term investments don't yield high enough returns.

4. Do your research before making a huge investment.

5. Go in with realistic expectations.

6. Get a dog and/or cat, so that you'll always have an unfailing source of love in your life. Not sure what that has to do with economics, but he follows it up with a Benjamin Franklin quote about dogs, and Benny was pretty economical, so there you go.

We have a cat (though he is not at all affectionate), and this weekend we're hoping to rescue a basset hound. So all in all, I'm thinking that I'm a pretty good little economist.

Check out the full article here.

Random Wednesday

2008-07-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Just for the jolly heck of it. Things that have been making weirdly happy as of late, in no particular order:

1. My new BFF, Kindle.***

2. Tom of Maine's Orange-MangoToothpaste. I now realize how gross all the other flavors were, and will never, ever go back. Plus, no lingering after-taste. Right on!

3. Bumble Bee Lemon & Pepper Tuna Medley. Pretty much the most perfect pre-lunch snack ever. I eat the tuna alone and follow it with the crackers. This is one of those perfect ideas, that you once you've tasted it, you're like, "Why didn't anyone think of this sooner." Especially me, b/c I've been eating plain tuna for awhile now. Now I know how my dad felt, when he first saw technicolor. There's also Italian and Spicy Thai Medleys. Those are tasty, too. But the Lemon and Pepper are the best (in my opin).

4. "Dumb it Down" by Lupe Fiasco. I've had this brilliant album for a few months now, and a few weeks ago, this song just jumped to the forefront. It seems to be one of those freak of nature songs that only gets better the more I listen to it, and I encourage everybody to buy this ish like yesterday. See the just-okay video for this stellar song here.

5. iGoogle Artist Themes: This is basically the trick that got me to change my homepage to iGoogle. Really neat-o if you, like me, much prefer bright, colorful art. If you don't have an iGoogle homepage yet, get on the bandwagon here.

6. Feist on Sesame Street. This one took me by surprise, because before watching it, I didn't think it could be humanly possible for me to love Feist anymore than I already did. But I was wrong about that. So very wrong.

Anyway, if you're having a bad day, watch this, and it will definitely cheer you up. The only thing that could've made this any more perfect is a Count Dracula cameo a-ha-ha-HA!

And as long as we're on the subject of Sesame Street, I'll throw up my other favorite guest singer spot. Do you remember Smokey Robinson and the Letter U? It was funny because it was a large letter "U" and she was sexually harassing him. Check out the vid and Smokey's sweet tache below:

***CORRECTION: I should have said "my new inanimate BFF, Kindle." Monique King-Viehland remains and will always be my animate BFF. Also her son, and my godson, Sekou, is obviously on this list, though of course, that goes without saying since I gushed all over him last weekend.

Kindle Lights My Fire

2008-07-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

So I think CH might be regretting getting me a Kindle, because I became obsessed with it in like zero seconds flat. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly so far:

THE GOOD:

1. Easy to read, navigate, figure out. Very user-friendly. Think they must have tested it out on senior citizens, b/c it's kind of crazy easy to use.

2. Electronic paper. Yes.

3. Light-weight and Convenient. One Kindle as opposed to several books, yea! I can carry it around everywhere.'

4. Tons of books. Most of what I wanted, I've been able to find on here, most often cheaper than it would be at a bookstore or online. From books at the top of the (critical) charts like Junot Diaz's The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, which I'm reading now, to newbie stuff, life fellow CMU Writing program grad, Frank Politio's Band Fags, which I'm reading later.

5. No more having to figure out where you were when you close the book. When you turn the Kindle back on, it remembers were you left off in every book, even if you're reading more than one (like me).

THE BAD:

1. The well-documented too-large page button problem. It's way easy to scroll way past your page if you pick it up while it's on. Also, the buttons are too easy to accidentally hit. Kindle 2.0. definitely needs to shorten the page buttons.

2. No page numbers, so when I accidentally hit the "next page" button to many times, it's hard to find where I was. Also, there are some little dotties going across the bottom of the screen, which I think indicates progress, but I'm still not sure where I am in Oscar Wao. I'm at the bit were the mom gets a job in a Chinese food restaurant. If you've read it, please let me know if that's towards the middle, or if I'm still in the beginning.

3. Only 16 magazines available. And the ones that they do have are a little confusing to navigate. Ranh.

THE UGLY:

Dude, why is it white? Most of you know how I feel about white anything. Slate gray would have been much better for someone like me. I just know it's going to get all mussed up with fingerprints and random stains and pen marks -- like everything white that I've ever owned. And unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a sleeve for the Kindle. Hopefully Belkin will get on board, before I get it too dirty.

FINAL CONCLUSION:

All in all, the good far outweighs the bad and the ugly. So I'm giving The Kindle a huge thumbs up.

Though, if you want a second opionion, click here to see novelist's Christopher Moore's take - although, unlike him, I find reading on the Kindle extremely easy. Don't want to use the "O" word with one of my favorite authors, but it might apply in this case. Sorry, Chris...

And click here for Stephen King's review of the Kindle, which pretty much sent me into a fit of Kindle lust, when I read it back in January.

Did I say back on Monday???

2008-07-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

I meant that I would fall into an unexpected coma at 8:30pm on Monday, only to be awakened when the prince (read: CH) kissed me at 10:30pm and said, "Honey, you need to take out your contacts."

Ah, the new romance. I went right back to sleep after that and didn't wake until 7 this morning. Apparently, I was a little exhausted.

But I'll make it up with the afore-promised Kindle review later on today.

Until then, here's your moment of Len:

No Hellboy III Tease

2008-07-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

So I've been running into a ton of coincidences this weekend:

1. While reading Esquire on the way to New Jersey, I came across an article by Barry Levinson on the Kindle.

2. Also in Esquire, a huge profile of my other political crush, Corey Booker, the mayor of Newark -- which I've quoted quite a bit since getting to Trenton, since my best friend works in government. It's like I unwittingly did advance New Jersey research.

3. Much to the delight of Brian and Monique, apparently the Paranormal Headquarters where Hellboy lives is located in Trenton, New Jersey.

4. Brian's mom brought up all sorts of plants for their garden and CH loves to garden. He was quickly put to work.

5. CH and I both packed our Carnegie Mellon T-shirts and chose to wear them today -- at separate times. We're not one of those couples -- yet.

Anyway, the main point is that my plan to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army today worked. Mainly because Monique read my blog this morning, and asked Brian's parents to babysit. See behind-the-scenes machinations really do work! The more you know...

Hellboy II was not without it's problems, but the visual effects made it beyond worth it. And don't bother waiting through the credits (like we did). No Hellboy III tease. Alas.

Doing Important Work in NJ

2008-07-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

I'm in New Jersey for our godson Sekou's baptism. He is so crazy, crazy cute, it's at a level that can't even be described in words. So I'm posting a pic.

But more important than the cuteness and even the baptism, is that I'm trying to convince Sekou's parents, Brian and Monique, to fob the 3-month-old off on Brian's parents, so that we can see Hellboy II: The Golden Army on Saturday.

I can't wait - I can't wait - I can't wait to see this movie.

So like I said, I'm doing very important work in New Jersey. Some churches might even call it a divine mission.

Anyway, see my friend, fellow blogger, and sometimes wedding DJ, Clark gush hard on Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro here. And wish me luck with Brian and Monique.

BT-DUBS

2008-07-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

I'm headed to New Jersey tomorrow, so not sure how much I'll be able to update. Might not be back up and blogging until Monday.

Until then, here's your moment of Ben:

TV on the Radio

2008-07-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

So, as many of you know, I am obsessed with TV on the Radio, and actually paid money to see them last year and even bought a sweatshirt for 25 bucks afterwards, which is now my favorite sweatshirt of all time, and the answer to the Jeopardy question, "What is Ernessa T. Carter most likely to be seen in on winter weekends when she has no place to go and/or be seen?"

This obsession can be broken down in the following way:

50% because they're a beyond kick-ass band.
25% because they're a mostly black, nerdy glasses-wearing, trip-hop, spaced-out urban phenomenon, that actually produce music as cool as they look.
20% because CH and I saw the teddy-bear-looking one with the the Afro at the ArcLight, and he was both taller and cooler than he looks on camera. So celebrity sighting worth talking about.
And 5% because if I were a man, I really do think that I'd look exactly like the lead singer of this band, Tunde Adebimbe. Well, maybe not exactly like him, but enough, that I harbor serious affection.

Anyway, I finally got around to looking up a lyric from their song "Dreams," which has been troubling me for some time now.

Now I thought the lyrics to the best chorus in the song were:

I know your heart can't beat
What your eyes can't see
But you were my favorite moment
Of the tenth century

I know your heart can't beat
What your eyes can't see
But you were my favorite moment
Of the tenth century

Which while lovely, kind of doesn't make any sense. So almost 2 years later, I looked up the actual lyrics:
I know your heart can't grieve
What your eyes won't see
But you were my favorite moment
Of our dead century

I know your heart can't grieve
What your eyes won't see
But you were my favorite moment
Of our dead century

So that's my TV on the Radio PSA...

See the low-budge and badly-lit-even-if-they're-going-for-effect video below.

A Problem for the Ages

2008-07-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

Somebody at work keeps stealing my cheese. Seriously. I've been buying packages of pepperjack and marble string cheese, which I snack on once or twice a day, along with a cup of Mott's Grandma Smith applesauce -- because it makes me feel French (don't ask).

But someone in the office has been stealing one and sometimes two sticks of cheese from me everyday. I tried putting my name on the package, but it happened again. And today I opened up the refrigerator to find an empty package with no cheese in it. Muy horrible, right?

I feel like I have a mouse problem. And I really hate rodents. Really, really hate them.

Has this ever happened to you???

What should I do? Life isn't worth living without string cheese, but it requires refrigeration. Alas, alack!

Cheeseless,
etc

Huh...

2008-07-09T11:49:00.001-07:00

Today my iGoogle homepage fortune cookie widget read, "You would make an excellent critic."

Okay...

2008-07-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

I rarely catch viruses. Except for RickRolling. That ish is brilliant.

However, the below video made me so weirdly happy today -- I'm a cynical writer, yes, but I was powerless against its "we are the world" zaniest. Anyway, I'm reposting, just in case there's anyone left on this earth who hasn't seen it already.

Learn more about the dancing fool here:

Get The Grey Lady's take and his backstory here:

And watch the video below:

Diving into the Movies

2008-07-07T18:38:00.001-07:00

So, we ended a movie drought, with a full on movie plunge. This is how the week went:

Tuesday: Hancock. I took CH to the ArcLight as one of many anniversary activities and told him that he could pick any movie he wanted. I thought he would choose Mongol, but as it turns out, Ghengis was no match for Will. I L.O.V.E.D the twist that all the critics seemed to hate! I thought it was fresh and fun, and really enjoyed the entire movie. So there.

Friday: Wanted. It was hot as frick in Paso Robles, and it was either go to a movie or melt into a chocolate and vanilla swirl puddle on the sidewalk. Loved the direction. Angelina Jolie is so ridiculously hot and kick-ass in this, and they made the very wise choice of giving her very few lines that had more than 3 words. It was all, "Shoot," "Get Down" and "I'm on it." I think her longest line might have been, "This is a bad idea."

Perhaps this director (same guy that did Nightwatch) realized that she is vastly more appealing as a sexy set piece and action figure than as an actual actress (see all of her serious dramas). I call this the Keanu Reeves School of Perfect Casting. Anyway, if you can totally, totally, totally suspend your disbelief (the most egregious plot device might have been when the main character Wesley Gibson types in his name into Google without quotation marks and gets 0 matches. Yeah, right!), then this is a totally, totally, totally awesome movie.

Saturday: Wall-E. Paso Robles was hot on the second day of our trip as well. As ridiculously cute as everyone says it is. Also, I love Mac products, so it's good to know that in the future, all non-trash compactor robots will look like I-Pods. However, my favorite Pixar film remains Ratatouille. Recognize.

Sunday: Persepolis. We went to an outdoor screening of this film. The black and white animation was just gorgeous against the night sky. Everybody go see this outside as soon as you can. Also, the best usage of "Eye of the Tiger" in a film outside of Rocky, that I've ever seen.

Can you believe...

2008-07-07T18:26:00.001-07:00

I survived a holiday without any internet???

Yeah, I'm shocked that I lived to tell about it, too.

Blew back into town from Paso Robles yesterday, full of wine and good food. Full round-up coming tomorrow (I hope).

On the way back into town, their was a radio station promoting" stay-cations"(get it?) because of gas prices. But I overheard someone at the Justin Winery, saying that business was actually up this year. Box office receipts are also up, which just goes to prove that when the economy gets gloomy, people want to drink and veg out even more.

Though, of course, our wine-tasting trip was purely for educational purposes.

Anyway, this is all to say that three-a-days probably aren't going to happen. Between my 2-hour bike commute and trying to squeeze in more writing time, I think two-a-days are the happy conclusion.

How are you?

Ack! Can't believe I forgot to tell you...

2008-07-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

CH, ever the perfect husband, got me the perfect gift for our Paper Anniversary (which he let me open one day early b/c I was having such a bad Monday): A KINDLE!!!!! I'm soooooooooooooooo excited. I usually go through 2 or 3 books on vacation, so this is going to help me pack lighter. Will definitely blog about it after I use it.

Yes, I said after I use it. You know that it's the week before the holiday and that you are way too stressed and busy when you get an em-effin Kindle on Monday and don't have time to use it until the actual holiday. If I hadn't taken a sick day on Tuesday (on our actual anniversary - so sad), I might have taken a Kindle day -- I'm sure my boss would have understood.

Yeah, I'm a geek. And CH apparently understands that, which is why I love him AND my new Kindle. Just in case I'm not conveying my excitement: Yea!!!!! Double Yea!!!

Braking 2 Electric Bicycloo

2008-07-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

Crazy, crazy week. But I'm fully recovered and even biked into work this morning. Some further observations about the electric bicycle:

1. Man, is it nice to have a little electric engine. I love the extra momentum coming out of stops, and it's also nice for when you want to get across an intersection super-quickly.

2. L.A. needs a better system of bike paths and/or better bike streets. I technically live in a biking neighborhood, with lots of biking lanes. But they don't extend very far, and they're non-existent on my ride to work. I'm aware people have been complaining about how un-bike friendly L.A. is for a while now, but since we're probably going to see more people commuting to work in the gas-price-rising years to come, maybe something will finally be done about it. Anyway, the current biking situation is bullshit.

3. Biking is a great writer's activity. All the repetitive motion. It seems like I come up with 2 or 3 really good plot ideas each way. Which is good, since I'm in the process of starting a new book, which hopefully won't take 3 years to complete.

4. The electric bicycle helps, but won't completely carry you up really steep hills. Ah, nuts. Well I needed to lose a few pounds anyway, and my legs are my hugest trouble spot.

5. Still trying to figure out where to get some kick-ass stickers for my helmet. Might try Wacko's Soap Plantation.

Not Feeling Well

2008-07-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

For reasons that would be WAY too much TMI to explain. Complete bummer, since today is CH's and my Paper Anniversary. Relive the ETCH wedding details here, here, and here (scroll to bottom for last "here").

I'm trying to re-up and get back at you tomorrow, so send good vibes.

Until then, here's your moment of Mayan M&M (ETCH edition):

This Blog Not Brought to you by TMI

2008-06-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Dearest, I am having one of those difficult, difficult days when nothing goes the way it's supposed, and you you already know by noon that, though you don't want it to, this difficult day will spill until tomorrow and maybe into Wednesday if I don't play my cards right.

Though, there is one HUGE bright spot, which I'll tell you about tomorrow.

Tonight, I have to finish up a writing project. And I know I promised 3-a-days, but I don't think that's going to happen until next Monday.

That all confessed, here's your moment of grin:

Gas-X

2008-06-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

I love these series that The Grey Lady has been doing lately, when they present a topic and get a bunch of different people to write and easily-digestable, 200 word or less item on it. It never fails to get me thinking and fire up my imagination.

This week's round-up is on the impact of high gas prices on daily living. Definitely worth reading in full for yourself. But here are the items that I found especially interesting:

1.) The wage gap. Apparently riches are only spending around 2% or less of their income on gas, while the poors are spending around 16%. And, oh did we meniton, that a lot of cities are cutting back on public transportation this year? In the interest of avoiding class warfare, definitely a problem that I think we might want to address. (Fuel for Inequality)

2.) The Green Bubble. The latest investor fill up, but even if this one bursts, it'll most likely leave all sorts of good stuff behind. (What the Green Bubble Will Leave Behind)

3.) The New White Flight. Apparently, people might start abandoning their houses in faraway suburbs for smaller houses or apartments in the city, due to high gas prices. What will become of those abandoned neighborhoods? And, as someone who lives in a walking neighborhood, I'm beginning to worry about urban pile-up. That is, more people in the city. More cars on our narrow streets. People living on top of each other. Ugly, high-rises going up to accommadate more apartment dwellers. Problems to follow. (Ghosts of the Cul De Sac)

4.) The death of road trips. I feel sad when I think about this, but Michael Paterniti makes a pretty convincing argument for why this might be a good thing. (Goodbye to the Great American Road Trip)

5.) Tax credits for not driving. Yes! So agreed that this should happen -- especially now that I'm riding an electric bike. (Tax Brakes)

6.) Driving green. Some simple tips on how to use less gas while tooling around town. (Be the Prius)

7.) Lightening up. I had just about decided to get a Saturn Vue Hybrid vs. a ThinkCity for reasons I'll get into in a future post. But apparently, I might want to wait a little while longer, because Detroit while start using some futuristic materials to make cars lighter and therefore, greener. (The Light Stuff)

8.) Helmet hair. Dreadlocks are immune to helmet hair, but just about every other hairstyle is not. This is a funny reminder, why many women might not switch to a bike-riding lifestyle, no matter how high gas prices get. (Hair-Raiser)

And the bike I rode in on

2008-06-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

As many of you have already been told, I purchased an electric hybrid bicycle* a three weeks ago. The plan was to immediately get it tricked out and start riding it to work as soon as I got it.

But UPS, my Uncle Cornelious' visit, and general business kept me from being able to get it all geared up until today. CH and I got up early this morning, took it to Budget Pro Bicycles, a super-duper awesome bike shop in Eagle Rock, and got it geared up with a comfortable seat, black basket, extra bike light, lock, hot pink Free Agent helmet, and of course an extra hotrod-licious Electra bike bell -- even though I'm probably too polite to ever use it.

The first trip to work immediately began to test my resolve not to give up on things so easily this year. Here's what happened within the first 15 minutes of my ride:

1. I spent ten minutes, trying to get it turned around, so that I could get it out of house. I never appreciated the ability to lift a bike until I got a battery pack that makes my new bike to heavy to lift by myself.

2. I dropped the bike, trying to get it through our gate. And everything in my basket flew out and landed in one of our garden's dirt patches.

3. I had to call CH in order to figure out how to actually turn on the power assist.

4. I got all lost and turned around, even though I drove the route first in order to figure out the safest and most simple way to work.

5. I stupidly left my purse open after consulting with CH, then had the nerve to be surprised when I hit a bump and my phone flew out of my basket and hit the asphalt.

But I did make it into work in one piece, and it was a lovely ride. Very cool to past through gritty Koreatown, DreamHouseville (aka Hancock Park), and the idyllic Mid-Wilshire area all in one go. Will post further thoughts, after a few more rides, but for now here are my initial impressions:

1. Love the color - reminds me of my time with the Derby Dolls.
2. Having a motor is absolutely necessary (for me) in hilly neighboorhoods.
3. I pedalled 10 miles, but with pedal assist I didn't get sweaty at all, which is awesome.
4. Getting through doors is the huge drawback of this bike. The battery makes it hard to negotiate into elevators and what not. And since I'm keeping it in my office, that's going to be an ongoing hassle.
5. I might need to get a Garmin for my bike.
6. I forgotten how bad I look in helmets. I mean just terrible. Still, I think I'll get some stickers for it.

More later.

*If you get an electric bicycle online, DO NOT purchase it from Toys R Us. They sent us the bike without a seat or a battery, then compounded the mistake with the absolute worst customer service, refusing to fix the problem, and saying it wasn't their responsibility. Luckily, the E-Zip manufacturer is in Cali, and they hooked us up with the battery that (we were supposed to get in the first place) no problem. Even if I have kids, I will never, ever shop at this store again. Full of hate.

Random Sorta Problems

2008-06-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

I've taken to writing a lot of (maybe) bad poetry, lately. I don't know why, especially considering that I despise bad poetry. Also, I can't quite figure out if it's bad poetry or bad lyrics.

I once read an article or saw a special -- I can't remember which -- but it seemed to insinuate between the lines that Anthony Kiedis from The Red Hot Chili Peppers was a bad poet and a bad singer and that those two factors combined equalled brilliance. And a trip program mate named Lea from China, who rather spookily hasn't been heard from by any of the other China program people in about 10 years, said the same thing about Jim Morrisson. So maybe by this time next year, I'll be a rock star.

But probably not.

Anyway, I had another of the past/present dreams on Thursday night. This time it was all the black women I knew at Smith. But we were all adults and we were taking a dance lesson at a political rally for Barack Obama. And most of my white conservative friends from now were there, too, and we were all having a good time. And the last thing I remember doing before I woke up, was hugging (now professor) Katrina G. and saying how good it was to see her again. Bizarre, right?

I wouldn't mind this dream series, except that I have no idea why I keep on having the same kind of dream or why it's ramped up to weekly. And quite frankly, I'm weirded out by the dream's benign nature. I think as a rule, that writers tend to have more nightmares due to being generally neurotic -- nightmares I can deal with. But I have no idea what this series means.

On a totally unrelated note, as epic as the new Coldplay album is, and as much as I can tell they worked extra-hard on all the lyricism, I think my favorite line is, "I'm just waiting for the shine to wear off." It's simple and it can be applied to just about every situation. And perversely, I think I prefer most things after the shine has worn off. I guess you could say that I've got a retro soul.

There's Only One Me in the Galaxy...

2008-06-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

The video for Little Jackie's* ba-fuckin-rilliant song, "The Whole World Should Revolve Around Me" is finally here. And really, it should be subtitled: "How Cool Is My Blowout Afro, and Bitch, Did I Mention I Can Do a Handstand In a Miniskirt? What-What???"

Plus there's a Rosie Perez cameo. Is she not, like, aging, or is it just me?

Anyway, check it out below:

*UPDATE: Oops! This just in, Little Jackie is actually a duo, not just one woman with a bodacious Afro. My (completely understandable I think) bad.

I probably won't be watching the new Real Housewives ATL edition* either

2008-06-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

I'm just not down with reality like that. But it is kind of cool that the cast is going to be mostly black. Equal opportunity to see the rich being ridiculous and all that.

And though I have nothing to wear them too, I do want every dress in this picture for my own -- every dress except for the pink one. The pink one's just wrong. But the yellow one is especially fierce, and belongs in my closet.

* The rest of you can watch the The Real Housewives of ATL on Bravo, starting July 30th.

Ah nuts...

2008-06-26T15:57:00.001-07:00

I just found out while reading TV Guide for work (yes, I really have to read TV Guide for work) that The 4400 got cancelled back in December, due to Writers' Strike and ratings issues.

Yes, I know 4400 was a rip-off of the X-Men premise, whose recycled premise was then ripped off itself to much better affect by Heroes (at least for season one). And I also know that 4400 just kept getting lamer and lamer by the season -- but so does The L Word, and I'm still watching that.

I'm going to miss this little program. Plus, I just hate it when shows end things on a cliff-hanger.

Some Tap Water for the Drought

2008-06-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

If you have nothing else to watch (and I know you don't since it's summer), then this new ABC Family series, The Middleman*, is totally okay. Apparently, it's based on a comic book, by fellow CMU alum, Javier Grillo-Marxuach. And if you're like me (or are me), you'll dig that it's about a dry-humored ethnic chyck who likes comic books and ends up in the sidekick business. Think the animated series Daria meets Men In Black.

And if the show manages to solve it pacing, jokes-that-just-don't-work, and a-few-well-drawn-but-completely-miscast-side-character issues; then it just might be worth watching outside of the summer drought.

Anyroad, click on the pic, to watch the first few episodes for free:

*P.S. -- Thanks to Sebrina for hepping me to this show all the way from China. I think you're right about it having "great potential."

UPDATE: You can find an even more in-depth breakdown at Chris's Invincible Super Blog. Preview: He REALLY likes it.

Random Thoughts

2008-06-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

If I had a time machine that only went backwards, I would go back in time in order to meet the following people as kids and/or young adults:

1. My mother
2. My husband
3. My best friend Monique
4. Alice Walker

But, in respective order, I wouldn't tell them that they would

1. Die early
2. Marry Me
3. Become my best friend
4. Write the book that would most influence my life

Who would you meet as a kid and/or young adult if you had the chance?

Nooooo!!!!!!

2008-06-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated (by me most of all) BlackBerry Bold has been delayed until mid-August, probably due to battery problems.

Now I know that there are starving children in Eritrea and everything, but I've been using the same ancient work-issued BlackBerry for almost 2 years now. TWO years!!! It's just not fair. Oh when, oh when will I get my in the sun? When will I get to possess a smartphone with a lovely, well black-lit display window and super-thin casing?

And don't suggest the I-Phone. Outlook is my oxygen -- plus, I don't have the patience for touch-screen.

Double :(

Correction

2008-06-23T23:07:00.000-07:00

So apparently my Uncle Cornelious isn't in his 70's.

I found this out the hard (read: embarrassing) way at dinner at this new restaurant (read: tourist trap) called uWink at Hollywood & Highland.

The gag of uWink is that you order all of your drinks and overly rich food on a touch screen, which you can then use to play games with the other members of your party until said ordered food and drinks come.

Anyway, the concept which is still in the beta phase is really great, especially for tourist families, which are probably way over actually speaking to each other anyways. But the execution leaves something to be desired, in that the games all seemed to be so hard to use, figure out, and/or boring that you end up talking with your family anyway.

Which is how I ended up saying, "You're not the same age as Meatloaf, Uncle Neil."

Don't ask how we got into this conversation, just know that my favorite uncle is now questioning my math skills. "You thought your mama and me were over nine years apart?"

Well, considering that my mom was the oldest sister, and my uncle was the oldest brother of of nine, when he put it that way, it did seem it little crazy that I had just always assumed that he was the same older than my father, who's turning 70 in October.

"I should probably go back on my blog and say you're not 70," I said after a long, embarrassed moment of hasty (as I could) math .

"Yeah, you better do that," said Uncle Cornelious. Then he shook his head, seemingly stunned, bemused, and a little hurt at the same time. "I can't believe you thought I was in my 70s. I'm only 63."

So correction, everybody, Uncle Cornelious is only 63.

Though, my exhausted husband, who's been helping Uncle Neil drywall our downstairs all weekend was relieved. "At least I can stop feeling bad that I couldn't keep up with a guy in his 70s."

Yeah, I too, thought to say that not being able to keep up with a 63-year-old wasn't much better. But, I had already gotten myself into enough trouble.

And to be fair, Uncle Neil does seem to possess an inordinate amount of energy for a man of his years.

Anyway, the point is, don't eat at uWink. It might not be good for the family relations.

Gibson

2008-06-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to figure out how to say this since last Thursday:

Gibson is gone. I won't go into how on this blog. We're very sad. He was a lovely, lovely cat. And we miss him very much.

That's all.

Walker, Texas Ranger

2008-06-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I haven't had the heart to point out to my Uncle Cornelious in my usual disdainful way that Chuck Norris was an avid supporter of the horrible, horrible Mike Huckabee's bid to be the Republican nominee. Or that there are like no black people in old Westerns. Or that it's Facebook -- not HotFace -- but FaceBook.

On the other hand, I adore Woody "I slept with and married my kind of adopted daughter" Allen. I watch and re-watch old Molly Ringwald films -- not a lot black people in those either. And after 6 years, I still refer to Wi-Fi as "magic" and our Airport Express as the "magic plug."

Anyway, this is all to say that I hope I'm a very happy, laidback, and generally awesome person like my Uncle Cornelious when I'm in my 70s*. And I wonder if this is something that just happens like winning the lotto, or something you have to decide on and work at when you're younger, the way we're encouraged to exercise and save towards retirement. Thoughts welcome.

And on a totally unrelated note, we're thinking of getting a basset hound. Apparently, there's a Basset Hound Rescue League out here, and CH and I think it may be time, due to reasons that I'm going to try to discuss on Monday, but if I don't manage to, ask me about it the next time you see me.

Until then, here's your moment of gen:

*My Uncle Cornelious really, really wants you to read my Correction blog. In fact he insists.

Open Your Eyes...

2008-06-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

My Uncle Cornelious is in town. For reference, he was the tall charming-genarian at our wedding, grandfather to the wonder twins, and a major featuree in my first "Visting St. Louis" blog back in 2005.

So I'm trying to figure out if this next dream is one in an angst-related series, or just a response to all the nostalgia that comes along with having your favorite uncle in town:

I am the same age I am now, but somehow back in college. I get invited to a birthday party for Vince P, an awesome guy from my study abroad in China program. I go, but get there too early. Lindsey Lohan and some other people I don't know are setting up bowls of chips and candy on top of tables covered in green tablecloths. Everyone from the China program starts arriving, and they look exactly as they did in China. I'm really happy to see them. But then Kenisha R, Yolanda B, and a bunch of other people from high school start rolling in, and I'm like, "How do you know Vince?"

I never quite get an answer to this question, but then the next thing I know, we're walking down to the beach, because Vince wants to watch the sunset. The thing is, all the party people have been replaced by my California friends. I'm walking arm and arm with my fellow Filly, Kalimba, and we passed a beached whale, and then a series of fantastically colored animals with horns -- which to my limited zoological knowledge, don't actually exist. K and I were impressed and kept on pointing the out to each other.

We eventually make it to a gorgeous white party tent, which has a long glass dinner table set up inside. Vince is there, but everybody else in attendance are people I know from California. We all turn to look up the sky, and watch the sun set.

It's beyond beautiful. Full of striking colors, and replaced by a bright, silvery moon and then movie credits actually start rolling behind it. I turn back around to my friends, but I can't see them, because my eyes are closed. I tell them, "I think I've stared at the sun too long. I think I'm blind. I can't open my eyes." I feel them tapping me on the eyes, trying to help me open them.

Then I woke up and opened my eyes.

So, I have a long history of recurring dreams, but haven't had a new set in over 3 years. But this is the third perfectly-pleasant party dream that I've had with people from two times in my life mixing, so I must assume that it's a new series.

I recently read an article about how some scientists now think that nightmares are our way of processing our fears. So I wonder if these kinds of dreams are my way of processing my life, of looking back at it, now that I feel settled and happy.

Anywho, more about Uncle Cornelious' visit in the days to come.

Moment Of...

2008-06-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

Taking a personal day, but will be back with you on Saturday. And on Monday, we're ramping up to two-a-days. Ooh fun for everybody (I hope).

Til then, here's your moment of Hen:

I Would Go See THE LOVE GURU This Weekend...

2008-06-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

...but why watch Mike Myers officially go the lame way of the Dana Carvey Wooly Mammoth, when I could tool around town on my new electric bicycle or eat a bunch of old paste. Either activity, I'm sure, would be way more funny.

Still, under the new Summer Spending Challenge rules (which I'll blog about later) , CH and I can only see one movie a week. We're still trying to decide what this week's movie should be.

We've already seen...

1) Iron Man - beyond awesome. If you haven't seen it and loved it, then you're probably my agoraphobic grandma, in which case, you're excused, though my pardon doesn't really matter, since you don't have a computer, and if you did, you probably wouldn't read your strange granddaughter's blog. Anyway, this is all to say, everybody's seen it -- except Grandma Annie.

2) Chronicles of Narnia - at the El Capitan, and strangely enough, we became members of the extremely nearby Hollywood United Methodist Church less than a month after seeing it. Were we subliminally brainwashed? We may never know...

3) Indiana Jones - I have no zinger that would appropriately convey the ridiculous hot mess that was the last 30 minutes of this movie. Though, I did like the fire ants. Nice touch.

4) You Don't Mess W/ The Zohan - still trying to decide if this was kinda funny or just really offensive to Israelis, American Jews, Palestinians (as portrayed by John Turturro, Rob Schneider and Emanuelle Chriqui), senior citizens, hacky sackers, hairdressers, gays, black people with dreadlocks, and white C.E.O.'s. I'll let you know when I make my official decision.

Anyway, feel free to send me suggestions for what we should see next.

These Sunglasses Might Not Be Good for your Marriage

2008-06-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, CH is beyond laidback, and it's just not in his nature to ever instruct me on what to wear, say, or do, unless compelled by questions like, "Tell me the truth, does this make my knees look droopy?" -- that's not a joke question, I actually asked him that two weeks ago.

However, as soon as I reached for a pair of yellow sunglasses just like these in a Pasadena store a few weeks ago, he started repeating, "No honey, no honey, no honey" over and over again, all the way through me picking them up, trying them on, and eventually putting them back without even seeing how I looked in the mirror. It was pretty intense.

PSA: If you're thinking of following the Kanye West "Stronger" video trend. Check with your mate first. S/he may have some strong feelings on the subject.

Today's Irrefutable Truth

2008-06-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

It's been pretty much a non-stop news cycle about the fact that Gay Marriage is now officially legal in CA. And I wanted to post something deep and substantial that echoed with the historic nature of this moment.

But to tell you irrefutable truth, my absolute favorite quote of the day about this came from my friend Kyle, who wrote in an email:

"Yay gay marriage! Eat it, haters!"

Funnily enough, after all these years, that seems to sum up my feelings on the matter perfectly.

Next stop Federal.

Aunt Mildred

2008-06-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

2 things about my Aunt Mildred:

If you were at CH's and my wedding, you might remember her as the sassy-genarian who insisted that everybody, including the bride, dance a full 30 minutes before the dancing part of the reception was scheduled to begin. This was because my friend/wedding DJ, Clark, innocently put on "Disco Inferno" after the cake cutting. And because of this, CH and I missed our one opportunity to eat a piece of my wedding cake. I forgave Clark though, because

1.) He deejayed our wedding for free. Hard to complain under those circumstances. Though of course I did a little bit, because I've never met a small act of audacity that I didn't like.

But the other reason I forgave is because...

2.) Clark is white, so he did not know that playing "Disco Inferno" at even a half-black wedding is the equivalent of dropping a dancing H-bomb, in that old black people are powerless to resist its siren call. It's a law of nature, really. But now he knows. Now he knows.

Anywho, Aunt Mildred sent me two pictures of myself on Sunday, one of which was this one of me at age 5. And I wouldn't mention it, except that I haven't seen it in over 11 years and looking at it set off a flood of memories. Here are a few to share:

Me at 5. My pediatrician told me that I was going to be at least 5'7 based on my hand size. I'm only 5'3, I just have weirdly big hands.

This was right before my mother started letting me dress myself -- she got tired of me throwing extreme fits every time she picked something out for me, so she gave me jurisdiction over my clothing choices, which meant I was pretty much a fashion victim from 6 until I finally figured out the art of dressing myself in college. I love that she let me do that, but revisiting this picture, it's a little ironic, because I actually quite like this outfit now and I would totally wear it as an adult.

Also, I should note that the side ponytail is courtesy of a pressing comb, so I got my ears burned to make this picture possible.

Tomorrow: The newborn picture. Hint: There's a mystery afoot.

Stuff I recently downloaded

2008-06-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

I love being introduced to music, and now that I work in Top 40, I've been much more diligent about taking chances and listening to music from bands I don't necessarily know.

Also, I read an article once, that most people stop seeking out new music around their mid-twenties, and then just listen to the same stuff from the first 25 years until they die -- which makes me sad. So in the spirit of holding on to our "big ears" as long as poss, here's a bunch of stuff I recently downloaded -- not all of it is new (to anybody except me). Also, please let me know what (new to you) music you're listening to right now.

1. The Wombats -- "Let's Dance to Joy Division" -- It was the free single of the week on I-Tunes and it has Joy Division in the title, so obviouslyI had to download it. Plus, it's really fun. Definitely recommended.

2. Lights - "The Last Thing on My Mind" -- I've become one of those people who downloads all the songs that I like from commercials. This is from the Old Navy commercial with the girl who's waiting for a call from a guy. He doesn't call, so she goes out dancing with her girls, and ends up hooking up with the bartender. Ah amore!

3. Gavin Rossdale - "Can't Stop the World" -- In an effort to encourage less douche baggery in the music biz, I've made it my personal policy to buy at least one song from all the really nice artists that we interview on the show, and Gavin Rossdale was really nice. Plus this song is a little Peter Gabrielian, very listenable. Especially if you're in a 90's era coffeehouse.

4. Aimee Mann - "Freeway" - Speaking of 90's era coffeehouse. Sadly, this is the only song I liked off her latest album.

5. The Watson Twins -- "How Am I to Be" -- I can't really explain exactly why I love this song. But I do. If you like the Pretenders, you'll probably love the Twins. I think. Like I said, I can't really explain exactly why I like this song.

6. Whitney Duncan -- "When I Said I Would" -- When I get sick of everything I'm currently listening to, I reset by listening to a bunch of country, so I'm always on the lookout for good country -- one day I'll do a blog about "Good Country Music for People Who Don't Necessarily Like Country." This is passable. Plus, it's the I-Tunes Free Single of the Week, so you can't beat the price. Until tomorrow when it goes back to being $0.99.

7. The Puppini Sisters -- "Wuthering Heights" -- Strangely, I've noticed that covers of Kate Bush songs are the exception to the general covers rule, in that they're often quite good. And this one is no exception to the new exception. That is to say, it's really quite good.

8. Smithies skip to the #9. Don't read. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III - His flow is just so sick. It's impossible for me to resist. And you know, how often do you get an album that actually lives up to the hype AND doesn't sound like every other album out there? I stand (sheepishly) by this purchase.

9. Little Jackie -- "The World Should Revolve Around Me" - This artist puts some serious fresh to def into R&B. She is so frickin' dope that I'm actually mad at my boss's boyfriend for not introducing me to her before last Friday. And if you haven't heard this single yet, you will be mad at me for waiting a whole weekend to tell you about it. Download this ish yesterday.

10. Tilly and the Wall -- "Beat Control" -- This doesn't even need an introduction. If you click play, it will become immediately apparent why I downloaded this song before I had even finished watching the video.

If Gywneth Paltrow + Duffy had a lovechild...

2008-06-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

No, this is not yet another cleverly-worded Ernessa diatribe about how Chris Martin and Gywneth Paltrow look so much alike, it really icks me out in a V.C. Andrews sort of way-- though they do.

Here's Chris Martin and her brother Jake Paltrow. You try to figure out which is which.

But on the brighter, non-incesty side, if Gywneth Paltrow ...

+ Duffy had a lovechild...

It would be a young Helen Mirren:

Don't you think?

Sexy Summer Shows

2008-06-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

Man, I love alliteration. Things I did this week re: Sexy Summer Shows

1. Tried to watch Swingtown, the new CBS show about swinging couples in the 70's. Shockingly boring. Turned it off after a few minutes. But if you want to see it, go here.

2. Watched the first two episodes of Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl, starring our old friend Billie Piper from the revamped Dr. Who. Weirdly fascinating. Shocked that this wasn't given a weekend spot, ala Sex And The City. A lot of fun-but-civilized naughtiness, and I've always found British people cursing insanely cute. It made me really wish I had Showtime, but then I'd get nothing done. Still, click here for the first two episodes, then if you're like me, you can wait it out for the DVD release.

Oh, BBC America, why didn't you pick up this series, so that I could watch it on basic cable? It's way better than Hotel Babylon -- though I love that one too.

In other hot summer news, CH and I are spending the weekend moving into our newly remodeled upstairs, which is pretty damn sexy. To us.

Back for the Summer

2008-06-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

So last year around this time, I blogged for 21 days straight up to my wedding, and then managed to keep this blog updated ALL summer.

Well, I finally secured a designer for my new and very much improved blog, which will launch this August, so I thought I should celebrate with a Summer challenge to keep the soon-to-be old blog updated until the new site is ready to go. Plus, I seriously need to get in writing shape for the new blog, since that one is costing me money and I'll definitely need to keep it updated (for tax write-off purposes alone).

And just in case that's not confusing enough, I wanted to kick off my umpteenth comeback with a retell of the strange (though fairly easy to decipher) dream I had last night. I would love to preface this by saying that I hate when people talk about their dreams and assurances that this dream is so special that I had to break my own rule not to be lame. But I can't b/c:

1. I actually love when people tell me about their dreams, as I get a kick out of trying to decipher them. I think I must have been some kind of shaman in a past life or something... And
2. I am lame. Obviously.

Look to the brightside. In the new incarnation of this blog, I'll be able to say things like "read about it after the jump" and then you can scroll down to the next item if you don't feel like reading about last night's dream. Yea for progress.

Anywho, here's the dream:

I go to a New Year's Eve party with all my friends from my all-women's college -- even the ones I no longer see/hangout with/speak to anymore. And they look like the college versions of themselves. I mean we're all wearing girly party dresses, and my friend, Sebrina has her hair in a big Afro, and my friend, Katie G. has long blond curly hair again. When we get inside, there's a great party going on and all my friends from Japan are also there -- again all of them look the way they look in Japan. We all start dancing. There's a really good band led my (for whatever reason -- but I'm absolutely not kidding) Tay Zonday. And we're all having a great time, but a few minutes before midnight, I realize that I'm cold and that I left my jacket at the house.

I run out into the dark and grab the jacket from the house I live in now. I get a little lost and confused, but eventually make my way back to the house with the party. However, when I get inside, I've missed the New Year's Eve countdown, and now the house is filled with my current friends -- mostly the L.A. Smithies, the Fillies, my friends from grad school, my husband, and a few of our mutual friends. They're all standing around and chatting and/or watching a Battlestar Galatica marathon on television. I'm sad I missed the countdown, but happy to be warm again.

I sit down on the couch next to my husband and say, "Ooh, a BSG marathon!"

Then I woke up to discover that I had stolen all the covers from my husband during the night.

Chocolate Rain...

Saturday Quickie -- Oh what a wonderful feeling...

2008-03-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

Having not gotten much sleep over the past few days due to Quickie anticipation, it did occur to me that the actual event itself could be a little anti-climatic and that I should downgrade my expectations. But no can do, the film festival was AMAZING. Such a great hour of shorts. And our 8PM showing was absolutely packed with friends, disappointing porn and laughter -- and isn't that the best combination?

Normally at this point, I would be going through a pretty intense spot of after-project blues, but not just yet. We're having TWO more showings at 6pm and 8pm, tomorrow (Sunday, March 23rd). So you still have a couple of chances to come out cool, in the "be there or be square" equation.

Plus, I'm rocking green toenail polish these days, and I know you want to see that hotness.

Click on the pic for more info and to order your tickets online.

Friday Quickie -- Spring! Spring! Spring!

2008-03-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I like to switch to glasses and straight hair during the brutally cold (I think it got down to 42 degrees in February!) California winter months. I like to look intelligent and practical while whining 24/7 about how it's freezing when the temperature dips below 60. Yes, I know I grew up in Missouri and went to school in the even colder Massachusetts, but it's a California thing, you wouldn't/couldn't understand unless you lived here.

Well, Spring is officially here, so I've shed my glasses and switched to contacts. I've also started curling my hair again, since it actually has a chance of drying within a 24 hour period now.

Come see the new look -- which is actually the old look from before winter if you've seen me since the Holidays and the exact same look as last time if you haven't -- at The Quickie. Click on the pic for more details.

Wed. and Thurs. Double Quickie -- Writing Music

2008-03-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

So one of the main problems with writing for a living is that you really do have to write -- I mean even when you don't feel like it. Getting paid to write is kind of like sex. Usually it's great, but when you're not in the mood, you're really not in the mood, and unfortnately, you can't say, "Not tonight, honey" to a deadline -- though I've certainly thought about trying.

The other problem with writing is that it really does take a a lot of focus. This means my office door stays firmly shut while at work and it also means that I'm constantly on the search for what I call "Writing Music" -- this is basically music that is engaging and energetic but not distracting. Now this is a very hard bill to fill, b/c really, any music that has the first 2 qualities usually can't help but have the third.

But I've found a couple of nice solves for my music problem:

Vitamin String Quartet Tribute albums. This is an outfit that puts out classical string versions of pop faves. So great sound without all the distracting words. This takes some I-Tune sample minutes, b/c your favorite songs don't necessarily make for the best classical tracks. You really have to listen to the classical-fied samples in order to know whether you'll like it or not. But try The Coldplay Tribute. Also, even if you're not a fan of The Darkness (and you're a bad person if you aren't), the Vitamin String version of their first album kills.

My other writing life saver is French music. SO good, but not distracting, because I have no idea what they're talking about. Here's a rundown of some of my recent faves that aren't Daft Punk or Justice. If your favorite French song isn't on my list, let me know in the comments. Like I said, I'm always looking for more writing music.

"Quelqu'un M' A Dit" -- Carla Bruni: Makes me feel like I'm walking in a bittersweet French movie...

"La ballade du mois de juin" -- Benjamin Biolay: Makes me feel wistful.

"Mer Du Japon" -- Air: Makes me feel like I'm in a French writing montage.

"Abesses" -- Birdy Nam Nam: Makes me feel my deadline.

"Solta o Frango" and "Geremia" -- Bonde Do Role: They're actually Brazillian, but these songs make me want to join a French dance crew and breakdance for change and then write about it.

"Adventure" -- Le Peuple de L'Herbe: This song makes me jut my head from side to side while writing -- which is fun.

And guys, if you haven't discovered the glorious brilliance that is Yelle yet. Download "A Cause Des Garcons," "Je veux te voir," and "Ce Jeu" like yesterday. Also, check her out below.

BT-dub, know what else is sorta French -- my film for The Quickie. You'll have to come out to the event THIS weekend, March 22nd and March 23rd, to see what I mean by that. Click on the pic for tickets and more info.

Tuesday Quickie -- The Days Are Getting Longer

2008-03-18T23:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, all the films are in, and my fellow Filly and festival coordinator, Sallie, has reported back that they are AMAZING! Hysterical, wonderful and beyond inventive. Apparently, this really is going to be our best experiment to date.

Normally, I'd be excited about this -- The Fillies knew the concept was festival gold as soon as we came up with it, and it's nice to see that we were right. But now, I'm feeling crazy-impatient, because I really want the weekend to get here. Upsetting but true -- Sallie doesn't allow anyone -- not even the other Fillies -- to see the full final product until game night, and I'm seriously afraid that the anticipation will kill me before Saturday.

But just in case I survive until then, do join us for the big event. We're giving you FOUR chances to see the films with showings at 6pm and 8pm on Saturday, March 22nd and Sunday, March 23rd.

Be there or be icky. Click on the pic for tickets and more details