30 January 2010

fudge is made

If you follow me on Twitter or you are my friend on FB you will know that I want NOTHING to do with the new iPad. It seems like a useless piece of old technology. Besides, Apple lost me with the iPhone, it's not even a good phone! But apparently Pee Wee Herman doesn't feel the same way...



*One thing that made me laugh out loud is about 1:50 in... I tweeted the exact same thing yesterday - aaahhhh, 8 year old humor! ;-)

29 January 2010

gashlycrumb tinies



These are my maternal grandparents. How cute are they!? My sister posted these on FB and the family has been re-posting them. There have been comments about how so and so looks like Grandma or this cousin looks like Grandpa. I have been neither so and so nor this cousin. I do not resemble my mother's side of the family. That kind of makes me feel left out. My younger sisters are twins so they've got that going for them. But they also look like Grandma. As does my Mom. And they all 3 share a middle name. I am the green kangaroo. I am different. I suppose that is good but it is also sad.

I am not feeling sorry for myself. I like who I am. I am my father's daughter through and through. His mother was a beautiful piano player and his father is endlessly caring. They are beautiful, my father's side, and I too feel beautiful on days because I am one of them.

Don't really know where this post is going but it came from this sweet picture of the cutest 2 kids who met, fell in love and created a life without which I would not exist. So I guess I'll end it there.

28 January 2010

simply complicated lemonade

Usually videos get passed around the internet for a couple of generations before my family catches on to the phenomenon that they are (sorry family). So I was surprised when one of my uncles sent me an email with this beauty attached as it was new to me. Enjoy.



This video shows the winner of 2009’s “ Ukraine ’s Got Talent," Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent is mesmeric to watch.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about $75,000.

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.

It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.

She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine , resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

An art critic said: "I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there’s surely no bigger compliment."

27 January 2010

today i will tug


Do you watch Bored To Death? It really is a great show. Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis are very funny. But you know who steals the show? Ted Danson. He's amazing. I never really gave him a second thought until this show. Now I want to get a big dog and name him Ted Danson. Wouldn't that be just super great? Problem is with big dogs comes big appetites and big poops! Besides, with 3 smaller animals in the house a large dog might be dangerous.

My Heart and I started looking at the local shelters for a new addition to our family but we haven't found the right one just yet. I however, have been looking at some local rescue websites and I think I might have found a few contenders! Tell me what you think of these guys (all their photos are links to their webpages if you just click)...




Moose aka Ted Danson












Hedwig aka Ted Danson




















Salt aka Ted Danson

















Tobasco aka Ted Danson



















Mustard aka Ted Danson




















Sprout aka Ted Danson

















Polly Pocket aka Ted Danson












Tao aka Ted Danson









I think anyone of these might be a good fit in our home. If you're looking to add a new member to your family I suggest the local shelter or rescue organization. With so many people out of work these days the first to go is oftentimes the family pet.

25 January 2010

melted ice caps

Grrrrr

That's the sound I make whenever someone mentions Ticketmaster.

Last year we bought tickets to see a revival of PeeWee's Playhouse on stage at a small venue here in LA. It was a very limited engagement and a very intimate location. Then we got an email from the evil that is Ticketmaster saying they were changing dates and venue. We were supposed to be able to call a phone number at a certain time on a certain date to exchange our tickets. Of course that was a fiasco and I was so angry that I ended up just getting a refund instead.

Cut to 3 months later when the show is now running and everyone I know is going to see it. They're loving it but at this point I'm still too angry to care.

Then my friend JC IMs me that if you exchanged your tickets from the old show you get to have a meet and greet with PeeWee after the new show. Anger level rises.

Then PeeWee posts a video of part of the show on his facebook page.

I'm still angry but now I'm feeling a tinge of regret.

And then PeeWee shows up on Conan:



That was when I set my anger aside. I gave in and immediately started looking for tickets. I was able to secure 5th row center for last Friday night's show. And it was totally worth it.

I felt like a kid again, couldn't stop smiling and laughing. Everyone really did a great job. Everything you remember from the original show and more. It was so much fun and really very lively, keeping the audience tuned in the entire time. The set was spot on and so was Paul Reubens. I could have cried it was so perfect.

I only wish that I had originally done the exchange so we could have gone to the meet and greet afterward. But what really do I have to ask PeeWee Herman? So all is forgiven. At least as far as PeeWee is concerned. Ticketmaster, now that is a different story.

22 January 2010

the spiral climbs up

We all look at the world a little differently I suppose. Kinda like when I used to look in the mirror and see fat but would then see a photo of myself and realize I wasn't in comparison to most (funny how now it's the opposite).

In the past vacation has either meant going to see the family or venturing off to a place exciting and unknown. Then we got old. Don't get me wrong, I love vacation as much as the next guy but you know what I really value in a vacation that never used to even cross my mind? Relaxation.


Last year during a Labor Day weekend getaway I learned how important true relaxation is to the soul. We rented a house in Northern California in a little known place called Irish Beach. It was just us, Friends S & B and our dogs. Perfect. Little cell phone reception, no internet, no cable TV and barely a town to speak of.













We ate cheese and drank wine














We laughed and carried on.




(if you look closely you will see that The Captain is sticking out his tongue!)



We soaked in the hot tub and we strolled the beach.














We read books and sought out space to sit and be with ourselves.














The peace and quiet, the breath taking beauty seeped in and we began to relax.














It's amazing the power of the ocean, really it's mother nature in general.Something greater than all of us like a stoic grandmother hard as nails hugging you to her breast. Embrace her, let her into your life and she really can tame the beast.



A few links from our trip:

Irish Beach

Surf Perch

Mendocino

La Petite Rive

My Additional Photo Gallery

21 January 2010

we sleep in a pile

ooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!


That feeling of energetic angst. Wanting to be noticed while you're hiding in your secret cave. Running around seemingly carefree until the dreaded return to reality. Remember what it's like to be 10?

Let the wild rumpus start!

I loved the movie by the way, Where The Wild Things Are. I had a very emotional reaction to it. I know people thought it was slow and too dark for children but since I have no children I'm not so concerned with how dark it was and I didn't find it slow. It reminded me the pain of growing up. It reminded me the joy of being a kid. It was whimsical and fun but really exposed the raw emotions of being human, especially through the characters of the wild things.

I cried. A lot.

And so when I saw this in Urban Outfitters I fell in love. My Heart and I picked it up and will probably hang it in our bedroom (eventually).

Is that appropriate for a 30 something couple with no kids to do?

What about this?

(Found courtesy of Blog - This Next)

20 January 2010

the beat i guess

Is it selfish that I don't feel like using my blog for good today? That I just want to curl up with a hot cup of tea and good book?

Should I feel guilty for not doing the busy work or organizing the office while things are slow? That I'd rather read your blog and take care of some personal stuff?

I know things suck in Haiti. I know the rain in LA is forcing people from their homes. I know Brandy needs some help raising money for MMRF in her boyfriend's name. And it's not that I don't care because really I do. But today just doesn't feel like that day for me.

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, trying to get back to me. Part of that is writing (yay!). But I'm also running again and trying to get our house together and slowly ramping up to actually finish a campaign or two. It feels like so much werk right now. Plus I wanna pick up the camera (don't I always) and take that sewing machine out of it's box finally. Ugh.

I'm gonna blame my lack of interest on depression and call it a day.

I do have a couple of things that are making me happy so far in 2010 and so I'll share them with you...

1. Like this Ke$ha song that reminds me of Amanda from Ugly Betty:


2. And roasted brussel sprouts

3. My boots (but I can't find a picture of them)

4. Always this guy:







(photo courtesy of my lil sis)



5. Getting to experience some cold winter days

6. Friend S (who I already miss after less than a week)

7. My Heart and his efforts (especially when he makes me laugh so hard i cry. like last night. but not so much when he almost burns down the entire house! like this morning when he went to werk and left his egg pan on the stove - burner still on, nothing in the pan. we're lucky i was still home.)


And so it goes on...

19 January 2010

amiss with ms. jones

Do you think the rain and the wind will wash away what we don't want to see? Will it make this place feel clean again? Here's to hoping...

It's so easy to lose yourself in the holidays. Family, food, parties, gifts, travel. So much to occupy the time you can forget who you are, get a little lost if you will.

Now begins again the search for new but also old. January's are for new beginnings right? But how many of us really change? The gyms fill up, the house cleaners are booked solid, Nicorette is sold out. But that's just January.

I'm already facing February. The time when I get back to what I was doing before all the hubub.
Here I am, getting back to it.