growing up and figuring it all out, we learn some valuable life lessons. one of the best ones i've come to know as a really really good one is "don't burn any bridges." i've never been one to hold grudges. i watched my grandmother get so mad a various people in her life that she'd never speak to them again (usually over something really stupid)...one of which was her daughter. i can't imagine bringing a child into the world and then never speaking to them again! it's absurd really. so i think from seeing her do this to herself, i learned i never wanted to be that person.
don't get me wrong, if someone really gets to me, i have no problem weeding them out of the immediate circle. no need to spend time and stress over someone that is a crappy friend. BUT, let me stress that not burning bridges over the years has proven much more stress-free in the long haul. latest example... my old roommate josh. we lived together for 5 years in LA. 5 years!! that's a long time to spend with one person, knowing each other as intimately as you can without actually ever taking clothes off. the end of our journey together was not great. many fights ensued, complete with arguments over money to washing the dishes to criticisms over how we each choose to live our lives. the eventual "break-up" could have been bad, but we took the friendly path. i wasn't sure if we'd stay in touch, but how could you not after all those years?
today proved to be a good sign of doing the right thing in not burning that bridge. i saw josh in ichat and started a little conversation. we got right into what we always talked about...relationships. he had some great advice (surprisingly enough...guess i should have listened to him more in the past). AND, he's not giving me grief about the money he owes me! thought that would take more prodding. i'm gonna see him and the cat we got together this weekend. and i'm actually looking forward to it. who knew?
other excellent examples have been work situations. every single job that i've hated and left, has always been on a good note. and you know what... most all of those former employers have either given me great recommendations or gotten me my next job.
just goes to show.
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
i love LA...
but i have no desire to move back any time soon. it was a little trippy going back after 3 months and not having my own home to go to. but it felt like the same old familiar place i've known so intimately for the last 7 or so years. kinda like getting reacquainted with an old boyfriend. you know all his special secrets and feel really comfortable, but you really don't want to get back together. i've decided that for the time being, LA is a great place to visit. it's got all my old favorite spots and restaurants that i'm so fond of, and it's got all my favorite people that know me best. but on this trip, i've discovered that i'm really excited to go back to my new home. i don't have that familiarity there. it's all a bit of a crap shoot. i look forward to getting back to my little apartment with only 10 boxes worth of my stuff. to my new acquaintances, that i look forward to getting to know better. and to new discoveries. familiarity can be good, but newness is what's on my mind for 2004.
highlights of the weekend in LA include...time spent with wanna, dinner at alegria (do miss that mexican food!), soundlessons patio and running into the old club buddies, brunch and walk on the beach with ariel, andreas, wanna and richard, treating myself to a korean spa "goddess massage," dinner at taix, and breakfast this morning at tropical. got all my favorite restaurants in. and a good chunk of my favorite people.
today was dealing with my storage space. met my dad at the place, loaded up the truck, then down to fallbrook where we had to make 7+ trips in a pick-up to deliver the shit from big truck to the garage up the windy hill. pain in ass, but it all went much more smoothly than i had anticipated. i had less stuff than i remembered and most of it was crap. why did i hold on to that shitty furniture? gotta get rid of it. i don't miss any of it. only my records, stereo, books and photos. would love to have that stuff with me in NY, but i don't think it's going to happen. maybe the stereo. we'll see. just glad it's done. now i can focus on fun and NYE which is shaping up to be quite promising. all my favorite people in a nature-y place i've never been. no expectations either. perfect.
highlights of the weekend in LA include...time spent with wanna, dinner at alegria (do miss that mexican food!), soundlessons patio and running into the old club buddies, brunch and walk on the beach with ariel, andreas, wanna and richard, treating myself to a korean spa "goddess massage," dinner at taix, and breakfast this morning at tropical. got all my favorite restaurants in. and a good chunk of my favorite people.
today was dealing with my storage space. met my dad at the place, loaded up the truck, then down to fallbrook where we had to make 7+ trips in a pick-up to deliver the shit from big truck to the garage up the windy hill. pain in ass, but it all went much more smoothly than i had anticipated. i had less stuff than i remembered and most of it was crap. why did i hold on to that shitty furniture? gotta get rid of it. i don't miss any of it. only my records, stereo, books and photos. would love to have that stuff with me in NY, but i don't think it's going to happen. maybe the stereo. we'll see. just glad it's done. now i can focus on fun and NYE which is shaping up to be quite promising. all my favorite people in a nature-y place i've never been. no expectations either. perfect.
Friday, December 26, 2003
smallbrook christmas
sitting here in my mom's living room, getting my fill of mtv. nice! i love cable at my mom's. feels like a real vacation.
arrived in LA xmas eve. mom, aunt barb and uncle bob picked me up and we drove down to fallbrook. had my first xmas ever with the two separated families together (that hadn't happened since i was about 4 years old). i had a bad feeling about it...thought it might be really weird. my family has definitely gone through ups and downs, getting along sometimes and not at all other times. apparently my grandmother (dad's mom) was thrilled that my mother suggested the two families getting together for the holiday. that was a good sign. sometimes, she's just the worst to my mom's family.
my mom was stressed out, trying to make sure everyone was getting along. the crowd consisted of me, mom's side: mom, aunt, uncle and dad's side: dad, grandma and dad's ex-wife/sort of partner (don't ask). surprisingly, everyone was in very good spirits. the dinner was great. got some good prezzies. even got a little tipsy. being the only child of the entire family is always joyous (i'm talking sarcasm here). and now that i'm not around as much, they had to make it an especially big deal that i was home and the light in all of their lives. it's nice, don't get me wrong...but can be a little tiresome.
my grandmother even brought every postcard i've ever written her over the years and made me recite them to everyone. so embarrassing. a sweet gesture, but come on now.
all in all, it was a nice day. i was happy to be with and see everyone and it was especially nice not to have to break up the day...going from one families' house to the other. very thankful for that!
LA tomorrow. YAY!
arrived in LA xmas eve. mom, aunt barb and uncle bob picked me up and we drove down to fallbrook. had my first xmas ever with the two separated families together (that hadn't happened since i was about 4 years old). i had a bad feeling about it...thought it might be really weird. my family has definitely gone through ups and downs, getting along sometimes and not at all other times. apparently my grandmother (dad's mom) was thrilled that my mother suggested the two families getting together for the holiday. that was a good sign. sometimes, she's just the worst to my mom's family.
my mom was stressed out, trying to make sure everyone was getting along. the crowd consisted of me, mom's side: mom, aunt, uncle and dad's side: dad, grandma and dad's ex-wife/sort of partner (don't ask). surprisingly, everyone was in very good spirits. the dinner was great. got some good prezzies. even got a little tipsy. being the only child of the entire family is always joyous (i'm talking sarcasm here). and now that i'm not around as much, they had to make it an especially big deal that i was home and the light in all of their lives. it's nice, don't get me wrong...but can be a little tiresome.
my grandmother even brought every postcard i've ever written her over the years and made me recite them to everyone. so embarrassing. a sweet gesture, but come on now.
all in all, it was a nice day. i was happy to be with and see everyone and it was especially nice not to have to break up the day...going from one families' house to the other. very thankful for that!
LA tomorrow. YAY!
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
screw it
just wrote the longest post ever.
of course i closed the window on accident.
par for the freakin course today. i can't talk about it anymore.
mercury in retrograde has completely taken over!
fuck.
of course i closed the window on accident.
par for the freakin course today. i can't talk about it anymore.
mercury in retrograde has completely taken over!
fuck.
weekend = great, today = not so much
i honestly don't have much to complain about at this point in my life.
things are going remarkably well for me here. my new life change has brought good things. i feel like i'm still learning everyday.
i'm still in exploration mode. of course i don't have it all figured out yet. i'm just feeling it all out, making decisions at will and good karma or something has made most all of it a-ok. i must remind myself of these things.
my weekend couldn't have been better. except for the fact that i was in procrastination mode with my work (which weighed a little on me). but besides that i had a fantastic time. here's the gist:
friday night was the continuation of the LOTR trilogy. my friend matt towers organized the whole thing. got us tickets for the 2 fridays prior to the opening of the return of the kind...they were showing the extended versions of FOTR and TT each consecutive friday. we sat right next to michael moore! i gave him props in a pretty lame way. but i had to say something.
saturday met up with amy's old dear friend (and my new friend) danny. he told me about this play thing...kids ages 9 to 11 wrote short plays that adults acted out. sounded like a cool idea. i rode the elevator up to the 4th floor with martha plimpton who mentioned she had to hurry because she was in the play. i couldn't help but look at her and think "that bitch got to fuck river." just so happened that she was one of the best actors in the plays. super funny. the whole thing was a hoot. loved watching those kids see their plays put on. it got me all choked up.
we had some time to kill and decided to brave the crowds and go to macys. we were on a flask mission. it was total holiday insanity. pretty amusing actually, when you didn't really have to buy anything. made our way up to santa's village, to see "the real santa" as advertised. took some funny pics of each other posing with the elves and santa himself.
next was what danny and i deemed "the boombox parade." read all about it here. it was freezing outside but super fun and christmasy. it was awesome and i liked it.
then it was off to williamsburg to this. it was weird, but kinda hysterical. only in NY man. that show would have never happened in LA. i can guarantee.
sunday was some work and preparations for jessica's friends' holiday party. great food (turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, all the fixins), nice new people, a christmas tree in the living room, secret santa prezzies, the whole nine. good times.
monday, got an email from "crush boy." got v. excited. hadn't heard from him for a bit as he was out of town. we made plans for today which got me all a-twitter. i haven't been stoked on a dude in so long. i'm sure i've built some fantasy thing in my head...but i do feel something for this one eventhough i don't know him so well. call it a gut instinct (and that's what worries me...i'm jinxing it). anyway, i had a bit of my nervous stomach thing and a pretty sleepless night thinking about the meeting. and what do you know...
got the call this morning. he's bed-ridden. so so ill. poor guy sounded awful. but of course it made me feel awful. this sounds so fucking stupid, but i feel like i've miraculously contracted his illness as i started to feel a little shitty later on. HA! i'm sure it's a combo of being bummed and over-tired. i'll get over it. just being dramatic i think.
the way i did make the crappy day ok though was i ordered myself my xmas/business write-off prezzie. a new G4 12" powerbook w/superdrive! so stoked!!
there's an upside to everything i suppose.
things are going remarkably well for me here. my new life change has brought good things. i feel like i'm still learning everyday.
i'm still in exploration mode. of course i don't have it all figured out yet. i'm just feeling it all out, making decisions at will and good karma or something has made most all of it a-ok. i must remind myself of these things.
my weekend couldn't have been better. except for the fact that i was in procrastination mode with my work (which weighed a little on me). but besides that i had a fantastic time. here's the gist:
friday night was the continuation of the LOTR trilogy. my friend matt towers organized the whole thing. got us tickets for the 2 fridays prior to the opening of the return of the kind...they were showing the extended versions of FOTR and TT each consecutive friday. we sat right next to michael moore! i gave him props in a pretty lame way. but i had to say something.
saturday met up with amy's old dear friend (and my new friend) danny. he told me about this play thing...kids ages 9 to 11 wrote short plays that adults acted out. sounded like a cool idea. i rode the elevator up to the 4th floor with martha plimpton who mentioned she had to hurry because she was in the play. i couldn't help but look at her and think "that bitch got to fuck river." just so happened that she was one of the best actors in the plays. super funny. the whole thing was a hoot. loved watching those kids see their plays put on. it got me all choked up.
we had some time to kill and decided to brave the crowds and go to macys. we were on a flask mission. it was total holiday insanity. pretty amusing actually, when you didn't really have to buy anything. made our way up to santa's village, to see "the real santa" as advertised. took some funny pics of each other posing with the elves and santa himself.
next was what danny and i deemed "the boombox parade." read all about it here. it was freezing outside but super fun and christmasy. it was awesome and i liked it.
then it was off to williamsburg to this. it was weird, but kinda hysterical. only in NY man. that show would have never happened in LA. i can guarantee.
sunday was some work and preparations for jessica's friends' holiday party. great food (turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, all the fixins), nice new people, a christmas tree in the living room, secret santa prezzies, the whole nine. good times.
monday, got an email from "crush boy." got v. excited. hadn't heard from him for a bit as he was out of town. we made plans for today which got me all a-twitter. i haven't been stoked on a dude in so long. i'm sure i've built some fantasy thing in my head...but i do feel something for this one eventhough i don't know him so well. call it a gut instinct (and that's what worries me...i'm jinxing it). anyway, i had a bit of my nervous stomach thing and a pretty sleepless night thinking about the meeting. and what do you know...
got the call this morning. he's bed-ridden. so so ill. poor guy sounded awful. but of course it made me feel awful. this sounds so fucking stupid, but i feel like i've miraculously contracted his illness as i started to feel a little shitty later on. HA! i'm sure it's a combo of being bummed and over-tired. i'll get over it. just being dramatic i think.
the way i did make the crappy day ok though was i ordered myself my xmas/business write-off prezzie. a new G4 12" powerbook w/superdrive! so stoked!!
there's an upside to everything i suppose.
Thursday, December 11, 2003
hangovers suck!
yesterday was a complete waste because of my stupidity the night before.
i honestly don't know how it happened, but i managed to get trolleyed (as my british friend lucy likes to call it).
i met with her to go to rude movements to see dj jazzy jeff play.
it was packed and so much fun! he played all the classics, seamlessly woven together. very nice!
ended up talking to and dancing with some nice guy. had some drinks. more talking. more dancing. more drinks. and so on.
i didn't even realize i was so buzzed until i went outside with mr. nice guy.
he offered to give me a ride home, which i gladly expected. no cab fee sounded good to me at that point.
went outside, only to find his car had been towed. second time i'd seen that in the meat packing district. bastards.
felt sorry for the guy, so i let him crash at my pad. and honestly, not a whole lot happened because i was too out of it to deal (and have had someone else on my mind--let's just call him "crush boy").
i was planning on waking up early the next day to get going on my new project but it didn't happen.
the whole day was shot to shit.
greg poth came over and we had a nice vietnamese dinner. watched some bad tv and called it a night.
fucking booze man.
NY city will do it to you.
i didn't want to believe the hype, but it's looking like the longer you live here, the more you drink.
i honestly don't know how it happened, but i managed to get trolleyed (as my british friend lucy likes to call it).
i met with her to go to rude movements to see dj jazzy jeff play.
it was packed and so much fun! he played all the classics, seamlessly woven together. very nice!
ended up talking to and dancing with some nice guy. had some drinks. more talking. more dancing. more drinks. and so on.
i didn't even realize i was so buzzed until i went outside with mr. nice guy.
he offered to give me a ride home, which i gladly expected. no cab fee sounded good to me at that point.
went outside, only to find his car had been towed. second time i'd seen that in the meat packing district. bastards.
felt sorry for the guy, so i let him crash at my pad. and honestly, not a whole lot happened because i was too out of it to deal (and have had someone else on my mind--let's just call him "crush boy").
i was planning on waking up early the next day to get going on my new project but it didn't happen.
the whole day was shot to shit.
greg poth came over and we had a nice vietnamese dinner. watched some bad tv and called it a night.
fucking booze man.
NY city will do it to you.
i didn't want to believe the hype, but it's looking like the longer you live here, the more you drink.
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
happy day
today was a good day. nope, a great day.
first, i got a call from the director of a new film that is going to the Sundance Film Festival.
i met with him last week to talk about creating a website for his film. i watched the movie and it's actually pretty good. stars joe pantoliano (from "the sapranos" and "memento") and jennifer tilley. anyway, i sent him the proposal yesterday and got the "go ahead" call today! YES!!! he apparently loved my proposal. i think i'm finally getting good at this stuff. it's all about practice, persistence and confidence (oh, and encouragement from your friends when you're not feeling so confident... big thanks goes to amy for her help yesterday!!).
i just got back from a brainstorming lunch session with the m. night movie marketing people in rockafellar center. that was rad. i feel so damn legit, it's weird. approval for a new cool project and a "power lunch" uptown. HA! new york city baby. i'm doing it. and loving it. let's hope i can keep up with this crazy pace.
first, i got a call from the director of a new film that is going to the Sundance Film Festival.
i met with him last week to talk about creating a website for his film. i watched the movie and it's actually pretty good. stars joe pantoliano (from "the sapranos" and "memento") and jennifer tilley. anyway, i sent him the proposal yesterday and got the "go ahead" call today! YES!!! he apparently loved my proposal. i think i'm finally getting good at this stuff. it's all about practice, persistence and confidence (oh, and encouragement from your friends when you're not feeling so confident... big thanks goes to amy for her help yesterday!!).
i just got back from a brainstorming lunch session with the m. night movie marketing people in rockafellar center. that was rad. i feel so damn legit, it's weird. approval for a new cool project and a "power lunch" uptown. HA! new york city baby. i'm doing it. and loving it. let's hope i can keep up with this crazy pace.
Saturday, December 06, 2003
out of curiousity
i'm wondering how many of you are actually reading this here blog?
i'd love to get some sort of head count...as i'm still wondering if i should shell out the dough for a fancy blog situation (i'm starting to detest this ugly ass blog template).
please email me and let me know!
i'd love to get some sort of head count...as i'm still wondering if i should shell out the dough for a fancy blog situation (i'm starting to detest this ugly ass blog template).
please email me and let me know!
new pics
hey friends...
i just uploaded some a fresh batch in the photo section.
i know it's still ghetto (no slide show). i'm still pondering whether or not i should go full out and get some real blogging software (complete with photo slide show screens).
until i decide, you're gonna have to deal with the ghetto version.
be sure to check the "snow" folder (pics i took yesterday and last night of our crazy little snow storm going on here).
there are also a few new ones in "friends," "me," and "home" if you're interested.
enjoy!
new pics
i just uploaded some a fresh batch in the photo section.
i know it's still ghetto (no slide show). i'm still pondering whether or not i should go full out and get some real blogging software (complete with photo slide show screens).
until i decide, you're gonna have to deal with the ghetto version.
be sure to check the "snow" folder (pics i took yesterday and last night of our crazy little snow storm going on here).
there are also a few new ones in "friends," "me," and "home" if you're interested.
enjoy!
new pics
Friday, December 05, 2003
cabbage soup
forgot to mention.
last week, with amy here and all the eating out and the beginnings of the holidays, i ate like a fucking pig. pizza, sweets, all that turkey, not to mention the insane amounts of booze i put in my body. let's just say, i felt like a bloated slob. and put on a couple too.
jessica was feeling the same way and suggested we do the famous cabbage soup diet. if you know me, you know i'm really not one for dieting. let along reading the ingredients that goes into the shit i put in my body. if i want it, i eat it. i did do that cleanse once and actually liked it and thought it'd be a good idea to do this before xmas binging.
i'm on day 5 and have to say i feel pretty good. i've fudged a little. instead of tomatoes today, i had peppers and broccoli. instead of skim milk yesterday, i had soy milk. whatever. good thing is i haven't had any bread. the energy level has been really good and i actually lost about 4 pounds! not that i really needed to lose much, but a few pounds never hurt.
when i told my mom i was doing this thing and she exclaimed "the cabbage soup diet! i used to do that. it's been around forever. but it makes you constipated and gives you bad gas." no constipation for me...but she was right about the gas. heh. good thing i work at home.
last week, with amy here and all the eating out and the beginnings of the holidays, i ate like a fucking pig. pizza, sweets, all that turkey, not to mention the insane amounts of booze i put in my body. let's just say, i felt like a bloated slob. and put on a couple too.
jessica was feeling the same way and suggested we do the famous cabbage soup diet. if you know me, you know i'm really not one for dieting. let along reading the ingredients that goes into the shit i put in my body. if i want it, i eat it. i did do that cleanse once and actually liked it and thought it'd be a good idea to do this before xmas binging.
i'm on day 5 and have to say i feel pretty good. i've fudged a little. instead of tomatoes today, i had peppers and broccoli. instead of skim milk yesterday, i had soy milk. whatever. good thing is i haven't had any bread. the energy level has been really good and i actually lost about 4 pounds! not that i really needed to lose much, but a few pounds never hurt.
when i told my mom i was doing this thing and she exclaimed "the cabbage soup diet! i used to do that. it's been around forever. but it makes you constipated and gives you bad gas." no constipation for me...but she was right about the gas. heh. good thing i work at home.
the amazing, the sensational...lypsinka!
jessica had free equity tickets to see some show last night and asked if i wanted to go. "what kind of show?" i asked. when she sent me the link for lypsinka i knew i had to go. come on now, a crazy guy in drag doing song and dance numbers, all lip synced? how could i not? i mean i was the girl who was dying to get on the shows "puttin on the hits" and mtv's "lip service." i LIVE for lip syncing!
so i met jess at the off-broadway theater in the west village. come to think of it, this was the first theatrical show i'd been to since i moved here, so i was kinda excited. the theater was decent sized, but the seats were ridiculously close to each other. poor jessica was pratically spread eagle to fit her long legs in there. the show started in typical drag form...lypsinka came out and did her couple numbers in some fabulous 40s gown, hair and make-up done to a tee. pretty funny. my favorite bits were when she lipped along to these instructional audio records about how to be the perfect woman...what to wear, how to apply make-up, etc. her expressions were so on point! the other good gimmick was she would splice together little bits of dialogue from campy films and would answer a pretend phone, shouting the dialogue to the imaginary person on the other end. man, how i wished i could have named all those references! i got the few obvious ones, like "whatever happened to baby jane" and "mommy dearest" (the gay classics), but there were so many i didn't know. i would have loved to have had a reference list given out. so many great songs i would have loved to have known as well.
the classic that had me in stitches at the end was a version of "the 12 days of christmas" sung by this ridiculously drunk woman...a la lucille ball. by the end it was "...and a bird on a tree with a leafy thing hanging off..." you HAD to hear it! i was laughing so hard i was crying.
so i met jess at the off-broadway theater in the west village. come to think of it, this was the first theatrical show i'd been to since i moved here, so i was kinda excited. the theater was decent sized, but the seats were ridiculously close to each other. poor jessica was pratically spread eagle to fit her long legs in there. the show started in typical drag form...lypsinka came out and did her couple numbers in some fabulous 40s gown, hair and make-up done to a tee. pretty funny. my favorite bits were when she lipped along to these instructional audio records about how to be the perfect woman...what to wear, how to apply make-up, etc. her expressions were so on point! the other good gimmick was she would splice together little bits of dialogue from campy films and would answer a pretend phone, shouting the dialogue to the imaginary person on the other end. man, how i wished i could have named all those references! i got the few obvious ones, like "whatever happened to baby jane" and "mommy dearest" (the gay classics), but there were so many i didn't know. i would have loved to have had a reference list given out. so many great songs i would have loved to have known as well.
the classic that had me in stitches at the end was a version of "the 12 days of christmas" sung by this ridiculously drunk woman...a la lucille ball. by the end it was "...and a bird on a tree with a leafy thing hanging off..." you HAD to hear it! i was laughing so hard i was crying.
Thursday, December 04, 2003
over a week
yikes. i just realized it's been over a week since i've written. and in all honesty, it's been due to my busy schedule this week and my visitor last week. both things, good things. amy's visit was fantastic. was really great to have her here. we did it up. dinners, dancing, shopping, and drinking. oh the drinking. i think the highlight of her trip was the night we went out to brooklyn to my new favorite bar. yes, i trekked out to brooklyn to go to a bar. so sue me. i love that place. if i could find a cheap apt. right next door to this place, i think i'd move. it's just got "megan vibe" all over it. started the night at a restaurant with sake and beer. made our way to the bar and got the $5 mojitos. they were so good. the music was so good. our little spot on the couch downstairs was just perfect. a few mojitos later and we were WASTED! the perfect buzz though...just cracking up at ourselves all night. more taking digi pics of each other and laughing uncontrollably at every single one. managed to get off the couch and dance very sloppily on the little dance floor to the latin sounds. so great!
another highlight was thanksgiving of course. a good crew of us made it out to vicki's parents' place in westchester county. so beautiful out there. her family was great and put on the whole spread. after dinner, the musical theater kids did some singing around the piano. i loved that. reminded me of the old days at grandma hill's doing the same thing.
friday night was an antibalas show (and my new friend zak opened for them). that was super fun...love that band. amy and i did our sabada african routine and got a bunch of people in the crowd excited. not to mention the drummer in the band who wanted to put us on the guestlist the next night to come up on stage and perform. that didn't happen, but it was a sweet compliment.
and sunday was board game night with jeffrey, shioban, amy and her old friend danny, who i'd never met. played a little battle of the sexes and cranium. two games which i'd never played and loved both! the boys won battle and the girls won cranium! just proved that we were smarter all around and they were better at the dumb girly questions. haha.
amy left on monday. i got a message to go check out antibalas again for a free show at a book release party right by my house. got talked into going (was thinking i shouldn't because of the 7:30am train to philly i had to be on the next morning). glad i did though. there was free booze a-plenty. started with the red wine. then moved on to the lethal whisky. oh man. the band played. i danced and thoroughly enjoyed myself. once the band finished, craziness ensued. no more details necessary. email me if you want the juicy bits.
basically, getting on that 7:30am train almost killed me. i really wanted to die. the day in philly went OK. now i'm back. so much work to do. a couple little projects on top of the big project and a meeting for another project later today in jersery. i'm a roll.
another highlight was thanksgiving of course. a good crew of us made it out to vicki's parents' place in westchester county. so beautiful out there. her family was great and put on the whole spread. after dinner, the musical theater kids did some singing around the piano. i loved that. reminded me of the old days at grandma hill's doing the same thing.
friday night was an antibalas show (and my new friend zak opened for them). that was super fun...love that band. amy and i did our sabada african routine and got a bunch of people in the crowd excited. not to mention the drummer in the band who wanted to put us on the guestlist the next night to come up on stage and perform. that didn't happen, but it was a sweet compliment.
and sunday was board game night with jeffrey, shioban, amy and her old friend danny, who i'd never met. played a little battle of the sexes and cranium. two games which i'd never played and loved both! the boys won battle and the girls won cranium! just proved that we were smarter all around and they were better at the dumb girly questions. haha.
amy left on monday. i got a message to go check out antibalas again for a free show at a book release party right by my house. got talked into going (was thinking i shouldn't because of the 7:30am train to philly i had to be on the next morning). glad i did though. there was free booze a-plenty. started with the red wine. then moved on to the lethal whisky. oh man. the band played. i danced and thoroughly enjoyed myself. once the band finished, craziness ensued. no more details necessary. email me if you want the juicy bits.
basically, getting on that 7:30am train almost killed me. i really wanted to die. the day in philly went OK. now i'm back. so much work to do. a couple little projects on top of the big project and a meeting for another project later today in jersery. i'm a roll.
Monday, November 24, 2003
sexy ladies
friday night, amy arrived. she and vicki and i went to dinner and got drinks afterwards.
we went to a bar in my hood that was a bit on the yuppie side, but the jukebox and drinks were good.
vicki noticed straight away that one of the dudes in the bar was from this documentary called born rich. she said this guy was a vanderbilt or something and was the heir to the whitney museum among other notable NY landmarks (ah, that's him...josiah hornblower: here). for some reason she wanted to talk to him really bad, i think just to see how messed up he was. he and his croonies looked like complete dorks. i mean all 4 of them were wearing belted pleated pants (a la dockers), button down shirts tucked into the belted pants complete with sockless loafers! all of them! at one point we were standing outside right next to the dorky foursome and vic wouldn't speak up. i didn't give a shit about them, so i interjected:
"HEY, two of you are wearing the exact same loafers. is that on purpose?" that was our "in." they were totally humorless, didn't get my joke at all. do the rich train their offspring to have no sense of humor? jesus. lighten up boys. we attempted to chat and joke with them for a few minutes and decided to go back inside once we realized how far those sticks were up their asses.
the rest of the night consisted of the three of us taking ridiculous digi pics of ourselves. we kept taking bad ones and it became a game...who could take the ugliest pics. so funny!! here is a a little quicktime slide show i made of the best of the pics: sexy ladies. be sure to keep the speakers on, since the song is the best part. enjoy!
we went to a bar in my hood that was a bit on the yuppie side, but the jukebox and drinks were good.
vicki noticed straight away that one of the dudes in the bar was from this documentary called born rich. she said this guy was a vanderbilt or something and was the heir to the whitney museum among other notable NY landmarks (ah, that's him...josiah hornblower: here). for some reason she wanted to talk to him really bad, i think just to see how messed up he was. he and his croonies looked like complete dorks. i mean all 4 of them were wearing belted pleated pants (a la dockers), button down shirts tucked into the belted pants complete with sockless loafers! all of them! at one point we were standing outside right next to the dorky foursome and vic wouldn't speak up. i didn't give a shit about them, so i interjected:
"HEY, two of you are wearing the exact same loafers. is that on purpose?" that was our "in." they were totally humorless, didn't get my joke at all. do the rich train their offspring to have no sense of humor? jesus. lighten up boys. we attempted to chat and joke with them for a few minutes and decided to go back inside once we realized how far those sticks were up their asses.
the rest of the night consisted of the three of us taking ridiculous digi pics of ourselves. we kept taking bad ones and it became a game...who could take the ugliest pics. so funny!! here is a a little quicktime slide show i made of the best of the pics: sexy ladies. be sure to keep the speakers on, since the song is the best part. enjoy!
Friday, November 21, 2003
validation
my hard work has paid off. so far.
mr producer just emailed this: "the site is STUPENDOUS! I am so excited!" sweet!
i didn't think it was THAT good, but i'm happy he's happy.
i actually have a whole day now to slack off. nice.
amy gets here tonight. we're going to dinner with vicki which will be great. then to drinks somewhere. could get crazy. excited for girl time.
my favorite.
i think i'll watch a couple more episodes of the office, which i just got from netflix. i LOVE netflix. such a great investment. and the 3 episodes i've seen of the office have been great. such a sucker for british humor. the main character is soooo good though! his "comedy" and laughing at his own lame jokes kills me!
that is all for now.
mr producer just emailed this: "the site is STUPENDOUS! I am so excited!" sweet!
i didn't think it was THAT good, but i'm happy he's happy.
i actually have a whole day now to slack off. nice.
amy gets here tonight. we're going to dinner with vicki which will be great. then to drinks somewhere. could get crazy. excited for girl time.
my favorite.
i think i'll watch a couple more episodes of the office, which i just got from netflix. i LOVE netflix. such a great investment. and the 3 episodes i've seen of the office have been great. such a sucker for british humor. the main character is soooo good though! his "comedy" and laughing at his own lame jokes kills me!
that is all for now.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
trippy trip
so i suppose i haven't clued you all into what this "cool project" of mine is exactly. i've signed my life away to a confidentiality agreement, so i can't say much. BUT, i can say that the oh-so-secret project is a documentary about m. night shyamalan. i have a small role in designing a portion of it and honestly can't say much more than that at the moment.
yesterday was the big business trip. i got another paid train ride down to Philly to meet with mr. producer of "the documentary" and the big wigs on night's new film called the village. mr. producer is being ultra cool about the whole thing, bringing me in as this "top designer" so i feel all legit with the fancy people and shit (i'm usually totally intimidated in those situations). so it's great! anyway, i got picked up from the station and got wisked away to the oh-so-secret closed set of the village. it was literally in the middle of nowhere in pennsylvania. couldn't even tell you where we were...just some creepy-looking ultra rural woodsy area with a smattering of trees, a couple horses and a big stone house. the security was intense! when driving up to the main entrance, there were about 5 guards asking who we were, then a checklist, then a call on the walkie to the production trailer and finally the OK. insane! made our way to trailer village, which consisted of literally about 50 trailers: the production office, the make-up and wardrobe trailers, the camera, lighting, gaffing, and transpo trucks, wardrobe, huge bathroom trailers, not to mention the stars' fancy motorhomes (i mean just check the cast line-up here--DANG!).
i was taken in to meet night's righthand man and the PR people for the "documentary." we had a great hour long meeting, with ideas flying around. so nice to be amongst people with good, smart ideas! didn't feel hollywoodish at all. i hate to say it, but i think the difference between LA and NY is that people in the production world actually have intellect, not just hot air in their brains. that's been my experience so far. it was refreshing to be in a group of people sharing clever thoughts. i also realized that i LOVE the research process of a project...and these PR people had really done their research and i was on the same page with them. something to think about (always great to discover what you actually like and are good at!).
so the most bizarre part about this whole job is the small world aspect that came up. i knew my old roommate, josh was working on a film in pennsylvania, but i had no idea what it was. i mean, how many big budget films can be shooting in penn. anyway? turns out, he is on the village. how random is that? so night's righthand man loved this and asked if i wanted to see josh. of course i did. so he called him down from set to come into the office. he opens the door and there i am! it was great! we caught up for a bit and he had to run back to set. while i was chatting to josh, i missed my opportunity to meet night himself. oh well. hopefully i'll be back to the set before they wrap. i know, i know, i keep saying i wanted to get away from hollywood bullshit, but this was a really positive experience (besides all the "hush-hush"-ness of it). i guess it's just about knowing the right people and feeling legit about the job you are doing. ah, aging...gotta love it.
yesterday was the big business trip. i got another paid train ride down to Philly to meet with mr. producer of "the documentary" and the big wigs on night's new film called the village. mr. producer is being ultra cool about the whole thing, bringing me in as this "top designer" so i feel all legit with the fancy people and shit (i'm usually totally intimidated in those situations). so it's great! anyway, i got picked up from the station and got wisked away to the oh-so-secret closed set of the village. it was literally in the middle of nowhere in pennsylvania. couldn't even tell you where we were...just some creepy-looking ultra rural woodsy area with a smattering of trees, a couple horses and a big stone house. the security was intense! when driving up to the main entrance, there were about 5 guards asking who we were, then a checklist, then a call on the walkie to the production trailer and finally the OK. insane! made our way to trailer village, which consisted of literally about 50 trailers: the production office, the make-up and wardrobe trailers, the camera, lighting, gaffing, and transpo trucks, wardrobe, huge bathroom trailers, not to mention the stars' fancy motorhomes (i mean just check the cast line-up here--DANG!).
i was taken in to meet night's righthand man and the PR people for the "documentary." we had a great hour long meeting, with ideas flying around. so nice to be amongst people with good, smart ideas! didn't feel hollywoodish at all. i hate to say it, but i think the difference between LA and NY is that people in the production world actually have intellect, not just hot air in their brains. that's been my experience so far. it was refreshing to be in a group of people sharing clever thoughts. i also realized that i LOVE the research process of a project...and these PR people had really done their research and i was on the same page with them. something to think about (always great to discover what you actually like and are good at!).
so the most bizarre part about this whole job is the small world aspect that came up. i knew my old roommate, josh was working on a film in pennsylvania, but i had no idea what it was. i mean, how many big budget films can be shooting in penn. anyway? turns out, he is on the village. how random is that? so night's righthand man loved this and asked if i wanted to see josh. of course i did. so he called him down from set to come into the office. he opens the door and there i am! it was great! we caught up for a bit and he had to run back to set. while i was chatting to josh, i missed my opportunity to meet night himself. oh well. hopefully i'll be back to the set before they wrap. i know, i know, i keep saying i wanted to get away from hollywood bullshit, but this was a really positive experience (besides all the "hush-hush"-ness of it). i guess it's just about knowing the right people and feeling legit about the job you are doing. ah, aging...gotta love it.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
back to life, back to reality
monday night. reality tv at it's best. i thought my move to NY would "change" me...
i thought that moving here would allow me to expand my creative horizons and get away from the hollywood bullshit i was so tired of.
i thought i'd be less interested in celebrity's lives and about which new film was coming out.
i thought i'd be going to art shows and hob-nobbing with ultra hip arty types, talking about the latest gallery openings.
no, not really, but i sure didn't think i'd go back to my reality tv obsession.
here lies the problem. when i first moved in, i didn't turn on the tv at all. i was too pre-occupied with city happenings and meeting new people and getting all my shit together. now that i've settled into my place, it's come full circle. jessica (the roomie) works all day and lately has been coming home after work. the the tellie gets turned on and it's all downhill from there. actually, it hasn't been that bad, but we've both been sick and don't want to go out, and tv is the next best thing. besides, we were all excited to see the britney spears special on abc. i don't know what it is about that girl. she's just got star quality. i want to hate her so bad. i actually kind of do loathe her (and don't really like her music at all), but i CAN'T STOP WATCHING. she had all these big dance production numbers with amazing dancers backing her up. i wanted to check out the other dancers moves, but i couldn't take my eyes of britney. what is it about her? sure, she's got a great bod and those little sexy outfits, but i don't find her all that pretty. she just has a way of performing her ass off and it's appealing to watch the girl work it.
after that, we got sucked into watching the second half of "joe millionaire." very stupid, but very satisfying to watch. those euro girls are bitchy. i hate cat and hope that poor guy does not pick that twat. oh oh, and then...we switched over to watch "average joe." two reality shows with the name "joe" in them. barf! the way those shows are done just keeps you coming back. i just can't help myself. what will the next twist be? who will the girl pick? what will he/she do in THAT situation? i wish i didn't love them, but i just do. i guess you can take the girl out of LA, but you can't take LA out of the girl.
i thought that moving here would allow me to expand my creative horizons and get away from the hollywood bullshit i was so tired of.
i thought i'd be less interested in celebrity's lives and about which new film was coming out.
i thought i'd be going to art shows and hob-nobbing with ultra hip arty types, talking about the latest gallery openings.
no, not really, but i sure didn't think i'd go back to my reality tv obsession.
here lies the problem. when i first moved in, i didn't turn on the tv at all. i was too pre-occupied with city happenings and meeting new people and getting all my shit together. now that i've settled into my place, it's come full circle. jessica (the roomie) works all day and lately has been coming home after work. the the tellie gets turned on and it's all downhill from there. actually, it hasn't been that bad, but we've both been sick and don't want to go out, and tv is the next best thing. besides, we were all excited to see the britney spears special on abc. i don't know what it is about that girl. she's just got star quality. i want to hate her so bad. i actually kind of do loathe her (and don't really like her music at all), but i CAN'T STOP WATCHING. she had all these big dance production numbers with amazing dancers backing her up. i wanted to check out the other dancers moves, but i couldn't take my eyes of britney. what is it about her? sure, she's got a great bod and those little sexy outfits, but i don't find her all that pretty. she just has a way of performing her ass off and it's appealing to watch the girl work it.
after that, we got sucked into watching the second half of "joe millionaire." very stupid, but very satisfying to watch. those euro girls are bitchy. i hate cat and hope that poor guy does not pick that twat. oh oh, and then...we switched over to watch "average joe." two reality shows with the name "joe" in them. barf! the way those shows are done just keeps you coming back. i just can't help myself. what will the next twist be? who will the girl pick? what will he/she do in THAT situation? i wish i didn't love them, but i just do. i guess you can take the girl out of LA, but you can't take LA out of the girl.
Monday, November 17, 2003
friendster saturday night
friendster is a strange thing sometimes. let's add up the different cool things that have happened to me as a result of friendster...1. i got my apartment in NY, 2. i got some hot summer lovin', 3. i found my web programmer that is helping me on my latest project, 4. i made a record nerd friend here that gave me some vinyl, a list of records stores all over the city and free tickets to the bugz in the attic show tomorrow, 5. got reacquainted with some old friends, and 6. made some new friends (duh). the last one was what happened on saturday night. i finally got to meet lisa who had written me on friendster because she had just moved to NY from LA. we started an email friendship...she had moved here in the summer so she was sharing all of her stories about the move, etc. then when i moved here, we were supposed to meet and it just didn't happen at first, but we finally met on saturday night. her friend mark from LA was in town that night, on tour with his band. she really wanted me to meet him when i was still in LA. so it was a good excuse to meet up...i could kill two birds with one stone.
met up with them at lucy's, a sort of divey bar in the east village. it's always kinda weird to meet people from the internet, not knowing what their personality will be like in real life and if you'll get along. but this was cool...lisa was a nice as nice could be. we chatted away. and her friend mark was a looker. i fucked up on that one, not meeting him earlier in LA. cool dude too...we bonded on a mutual love for oingo boingo. the whole group was super fun and it was nice to be out with a whole new crew. the funniest part of the evening was when one of them (we still don't know who exactly) stunk up the entire bar with a vicious indian food fart. hilarity ensued when the placing blame game began. still don't know who, but guessing was fun. love a group who can laugh at their own stench. my kind of people.
met up with them at lucy's, a sort of divey bar in the east village. it's always kinda weird to meet people from the internet, not knowing what their personality will be like in real life and if you'll get along. but this was cool...lisa was a nice as nice could be. we chatted away. and her friend mark was a looker. i fucked up on that one, not meeting him earlier in LA. cool dude too...we bonded on a mutual love for oingo boingo. the whole group was super fun and it was nice to be out with a whole new crew. the funniest part of the evening was when one of them (we still don't know who exactly) stunk up the entire bar with a vicious indian food fart. hilarity ensued when the placing blame game began. still don't know who, but guessing was fun. love a group who can laugh at their own stench. my kind of people.
Saturday, November 15, 2003
the cough from hell
so last night was vicki's b-day gathering. i was still feeling pretty shitty, but knew i a) wanted to celebrate her birthday and b) had to get out of the house...it was friday night for crying out loud. i met up with greg poth after work and we walked to the LES to have dinner at this place that he claimed was the best mexican food in NY. i hadn't had mexican since i got here, so i thought i'd see if his claims were true. got the enchiladas, which i was sure would be a true test...enchiladas can either be fantastic or really bad and if they were good, he'd be right and i'd be happy to have found a good place for south of the border eats on the east coast. the food was actually pretty good, i must admit. all white meat in the chicken which made me happy. the tomatillo sauce was pretty good too. the beans and rice, not so much. and the salsa needed some help. but all in all, it was tasty. and pretty cheap. $3.50 piña coladas to boot!
next was the b-day party which happened to be at the bar next to the restaurant. the bar was kind of weird. just a bar, nothing to it really. vic was there with a crew of people i didn't really know, but were all very friendly. started drinking beer, as i wasn't prepared to get hammered in my still-sick state. so i'm talking to people and then the cough comes on strong. i apologize for coughing so much, it's kind of embarrassing. more people show up, more beers, more fun is had. i end up talking to this guy who's all up in my business for coming out with this horrible cough. then he tells me it's the "little italy" cough. you've got it now and it's gonna last all winter! fuck that guy. that actually freaked me out, because i've heard of such things. this is just the start of the cold season and if i've got it this bad already, i'm so freakin screwed. the night wore on and i was about ready to get that cough to bed. my roomie was there and i figured we'd walk home together, but she insisted on staying for another drink. fine. one more. the cough was getting out of control. i think other people in the bar must have been looking at me like i was some freak for being out with that thing. i kept getting "aw!"s from others around me. "i'm usually much more fun at parties" i would laugh off to new people. it was really TIME TO GO! jessica kept lingering and finally, i put my foot down. we said our goodbyes, got the next cab and headed back, coughing uncontrollably all the way. it just got worse at home. i downed my robotusin and headed straight for bed. and guess what? it's still HERE this morning. my throat and lungs hurt! if that guy is right about all winter cough i don't know what i'm going to do...
next was the b-day party which happened to be at the bar next to the restaurant. the bar was kind of weird. just a bar, nothing to it really. vic was there with a crew of people i didn't really know, but were all very friendly. started drinking beer, as i wasn't prepared to get hammered in my still-sick state. so i'm talking to people and then the cough comes on strong. i apologize for coughing so much, it's kind of embarrassing. more people show up, more beers, more fun is had. i end up talking to this guy who's all up in my business for coming out with this horrible cough. then he tells me it's the "little italy" cough. you've got it now and it's gonna last all winter! fuck that guy. that actually freaked me out, because i've heard of such things. this is just the start of the cold season and if i've got it this bad already, i'm so freakin screwed. the night wore on and i was about ready to get that cough to bed. my roomie was there and i figured we'd walk home together, but she insisted on staying for another drink. fine. one more. the cough was getting out of control. i think other people in the bar must have been looking at me like i was some freak for being out with that thing. i kept getting "aw!"s from others around me. "i'm usually much more fun at parties" i would laugh off to new people. it was really TIME TO GO! jessica kept lingering and finally, i put my foot down. we said our goodbyes, got the next cab and headed back, coughing uncontrollably all the way. it just got worse at home. i downed my robotusin and headed straight for bed. and guess what? it's still HERE this morning. my throat and lungs hurt! if that guy is right about all winter cough i don't know what i'm going to do...
Friday, November 14, 2003
friends in high places
no, not low places, high places.
not having a fax machine, or a land line has proven to be a bit of a pain in the ass the last couple weeks. with this web project i'm currently working on, i've had to get contracts and deal memos and 1-9's and W-4's and all kinds of paperwork. friggin film productions man. so annoying. so everytime the apc (assistand production coordinator) calls me, he wants my fax number. at first i tried to act professional about it, saying how i'd just moved into this "office" and hadn't set up my fax yet. likely story. then i graduated to, "well, here is the number you can fax me" which was the staples a few blocks over. turns out staples charges an ungodly ammount to fax a stinkin piece of paper...$3 for 1 sheet and $1 for any more sheets of paper. ridiculous! i had to think of something better than this. my friend greg pothier happens to work at miss sixty about 5 blocks up the street from me and when i went to visit him last, i asked if they had a fax machine. sure enough! so that is my new fax. when the apc called today he asked what number he should fax to. forget lying. i told him flat out "i'm accepting faxes from my friend's workplace. please send my faxes attention: greg. thank you." and just like that, i got my free faxes today. no muss, no fuss.
as for the project, it's going quite well. i've got the basic template done and almost all of the "about" section complete. the rest of the stuff needs to be done by mr. programmer. i'm supposed to MAYBE go down to philly next week to meet with the sci-fi channel higher up's, and possibly mr. night himself. we'll see if that happens or not. but that would be cool! work my charms on the fancy people. but wait...didn't i move to NY to get away from hollywood shit? twisted world man. but at the same time, i'm not complaining.
not having a fax machine, or a land line has proven to be a bit of a pain in the ass the last couple weeks. with this web project i'm currently working on, i've had to get contracts and deal memos and 1-9's and W-4's and all kinds of paperwork. friggin film productions man. so annoying. so everytime the apc (assistand production coordinator) calls me, he wants my fax number. at first i tried to act professional about it, saying how i'd just moved into this "office" and hadn't set up my fax yet. likely story. then i graduated to, "well, here is the number you can fax me" which was the staples a few blocks over. turns out staples charges an ungodly ammount to fax a stinkin piece of paper...$3 for 1 sheet and $1 for any more sheets of paper. ridiculous! i had to think of something better than this. my friend greg pothier happens to work at miss sixty about 5 blocks up the street from me and when i went to visit him last, i asked if they had a fax machine. sure enough! so that is my new fax. when the apc called today he asked what number he should fax to. forget lying. i told him flat out "i'm accepting faxes from my friend's workplace. please send my faxes attention: greg. thank you." and just like that, i got my free faxes today. no muss, no fuss.
as for the project, it's going quite well. i've got the basic template done and almost all of the "about" section complete. the rest of the stuff needs to be done by mr. programmer. i'm supposed to MAYBE go down to philly next week to meet with the sci-fi channel higher up's, and possibly mr. night himself. we'll see if that happens or not. but that would be cool! work my charms on the fancy people. but wait...didn't i move to NY to get away from hollywood shit? twisted world man. but at the same time, i'm not complaining.
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