Gucci Buddhist

FYI

2007-04-30T23:19:00.000-04:00

This blog will no longer be updated...

That's What Hippie Mantras Are For

2007-04-27T22:44:00.000-04:00

I've been letting all of my frustrations with life out lately. Unfairly for the people around me, it's come out it in the foulest of foul moods. And it's just stupid. Being all Queen Bitch isn't gonna get me anywhere and it's just makes my mood worse in the end. Because then I just end up feeling bad. Whether or not my peeps understand my stress, it's still no reason to bring them down. That's hard to remember when you're feeling so crappy... you're like "wtf? why isn't everyone feeling like this?"

The reality of it is, they probably are in their own way & about their own things. Everyone's almost always got something to feel crappy about - relationships, family, work, money - whatever. What's good to remember is that most people mean well... I'm certainly not all pissy because I don't give a shit about anything or anyone. But it's still no excuse. I think things just get misinterpreted most of the time. You think someone doesn't understand you or where you're coming from and, 9 times out of 10, that person probably feels the same way. And it's totally possible that you're both right. But like I said before, being a bitch isn't gonna help.

So, as I was trying to chill out on my couch earlier, I decided to just suck it up & deal. Get out of my little funk and put on a happy face. I mean, I'll never be all sunshiny & bright, that's just not me. But I can be pretty outwardly chill... even about things I'm internally freaked by. And that's what I have a hippie mantra for, right? It's never as bad as it seems. And it usually all works out, one way or another, in the end. At least in my experience. So, if you see me in a corner with my eyes closed talking to myself... I haven't gone crazy. In fact, I'm trying very hard not to lose whatever sanity I started with. I'll just be thinking:

It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together

Plus, I have some good outlets... vodka & tequila. HAHAHA... Just kidding!! I mean great friends who seem to be ever so patient hearing about my life stresses. I hope I'm as equally helpful for them.

Oh, and I have a little bundle of cuteness who can almost always make me smile. Even when he's just laying around, bringing the stink....

Oh, the Cuteness!!

2007-04-27T22:31:00.000-04:00

Out & About

2007-04-21T10:13:00.000-04:00

So, lest anyone start to think I don't leave my house at all since Goyle arrived... last night I finally got out and saw a movie. Yea! I saw "The Namesake," which I thought was really beautiful. I liked it so much that I feel bad that it didn't get the money I spent on the movie. They accidentally gave me a ticket for 300 instead. Even after finding the website, I still have no idea what that movie is... but I did get to see the right movie in the end and thats really all that matters.

This, of course, means that G-dog was left all alone for 2.5 hours. Damn, if it's not heartbreaking everytime I put him in his room. I've read that Boston Terriers by nature do not like to be alone and he knows already when I'm coaxing him into the room it means alone time for him. So, he runs upstairs or "hides" on the arm of my old couch. And then, once I get him in there and manage to get myself out and close the door, this is what I have to look at:

Do ya see him there in the corner looking all sad and tragic... like being left alone with some toys, a nice bed and fresh food & water is some kind of puppy torture. (sigh) I'm thinking of starting to put him in there for about an hour a day to see if he gets used to it more... plus I might try revamping it a bit. I know he's still a lttle puppy and just not used to being alone but it doesn't make it easier for me. And I HAVE to get away every once in awhile... for sanity's sake.

Speaking of puppy being alone & revamping... I have to run out and get a few things because I'm gonna work on my patio today. Clean it up, rip out the dumb plants, plant some grass, put together my table and that should make a world of difference right there. I am also working on an idea to make it a little more private, too. For those who don't know, it's basically in my neighbor's driveway with only a stupid short fence seperating us - not the best view for sure - plus, since it's basically a museum for addicts, there are always people around (except at night - it's nice and quiet on that side of the house at night as no one actually lives there). Now, they are all very nice as far as I've noticed. But I am, by nature, not one who likes to be bothered by a lot of different people who I don't know. Especially ones who like to talk. A lot. And only about their little museum. Anywho - hopefully the privacy part will be easy enough & cheap enough for me to pull off. We will see how it turns out... I've been dreaming of a little outdoor space since I moved out of my mom's house. And now I have something and even if it's not my ideal, I'm gonna make it work. Because I love love love hanging out outside when it's nice... reading, chilling with friends, napping. Ah... see? I'm relaxing already.

And since I have a lot to do today... I better get started on it all.

Movies! Stress! Just another Friday night...

2007-04-06T21:51:00.000-04:00

I just finished watching The US vs. John Lennon, another awesome documentary. I had really wanted to see it when it was in the theater but as usual with any sort of independent/documantary film, I didn't want to drive to Cleveland and then it was in Akron one week but I didn't notice until it was too late. Anyway - it's another movie I would recommend if you are at all a fan of John Lennon or just interested in seeing another example of abuse of power by a bunch of idiots, aka the US government. It's just amazing how not much has changed in 30-some years.

Speaking of movies, there haven't been many new ones catching my eyes these days. But I'm thinking of ditching Goyle in his room (yes, his room) for a couple of hours this weekend and going to see The Namesake. I'm sure puppyhead will not be overly thrilled with that but I'm one stressed out chick these days and chilling in a theater is always something that helps me relax. And I have heard good things about this movie... but we will see if it actually happens.

So what is it about stress? It just infects you and won't let go... And it always seems to hit you from all directions at the exact same time. I'm one of those people who just ingests it and has a really hard time letting it go. Blah. It's my insane sense of responsibility that brings it on the most, I think. I always wonder if I am doing enough, holding up my end of it all, etc. And sometimes I'll just get so frustrated that I give up completely in a situation. But I think that just stresses me out more. It's quite often that my stress is a reaction to other people's actions and how those actions might fuck with others (and yes, honestly, myself). I don't know, maybe that's how it is for everybody... and it's not that I don't have my own issues, they are there and I am aware. But, like, there are things that are just about you and you can deal with that kind of stress a million different ways. And then there are things that affect a lot of people around you and I guess I find that people don't take that into consideration a lot. But maybe I don't either. Maybe I'm just being a giant baby.

But all the causes of stress aside... what do you even do about it? With me, I always just think I need to suck it up and deal with it on my own. Lord forbid, I involve anyone else... If I do, I just end up feeling so much worse. Like, other people have their own shit to deal with, right? And so, if it gets worse... what then? How much can one person really handle? I've seen so many people around me just stop dealing with it... either by stuffing certain things in more (no problem here! {just not healthy}) or by passing it off to other people (just not cool). And I really don't want to go either of those ways... I like to deal with things and move on. But who really knows how the fuck to do that all the time?

Meanwhile, Snickerbutt is super adorable but his little helpless puppyness is it's own brand of stress. Because he is totally relying on me... and I've got to step up and be all responsible for him. But I do know I can handle this... so that's one thing, at least.

Speaking of dealing with stress, I hear sleep can help... so I'm gonna go try that out. A nice long weekend with lots of sleep and all my problems will go away, right? HA! Whatever...

Goyle & FUTK...

2007-03-25T22:00:00.000-04:00

This is a sweet little picture I took this morning in bed. Goyle participating in his favorite activity... chewing. Chewing on his toys. Chewing on blankets. Chewing on me.... today he actually bit one of my boobs. Ow. Lack of sleep, lack of me time, lack of allergy pills... it's not for the faint of heart this pet parenthood thing. But it is all worth it. Right now, he's asleep (in my lap, of course) and having a dream of some sort. It's so f'in cute, I could die.

While he sleeps, I'm watching the Dixie Chicks documentary Shut Up & Sing. I would recommend it even if you are not a fan. I, personally, am not ashamed to admit that I am a fan. I own all the Dixie Chicks cd's. Their latest is in my car - still on heavy rotation almost a year later (I choose my country very carefully, I can maybe stand like < .5% of it because... well, let's just say... Fuck You Toby Keith). Anywho - the movie sort of bounces back and forth from the crazyness of the response to Natalie Maines' concert remarks to how it impacted the making of their most recent CD, Taking the Long Way. I think it's just a good reminder of how fucking lame it is to just follow and never question. Or maybe that is just my interpretation. It's the "rousing" part of my personality, I might follow you but you better give me a damn good reason (I learned that from taking the Jasper test on Monster).

So, inspired by the Dixie Chicks, that's my Sunday night advice: Always question your leaders. If you don't like their answers... bring the noise.

Puppy Love

2007-03-21T22:08:00.000-04:00

Goyle is officially his name. It suits him, I think. He is a pretty spoiled pup so far... going to work with me and getting all sorts of extra love there. Tonight I HAD to go to Target and since I had no where else to put him, he went to puppy jail...

I don't think he appreciated it much. But I did come home with some treats for him. Including a little sweater so he won't freeze his butt off outside and a little piggy toy.

Plus, ge got some actual dog treats. The X-small sweater is still huge on him. In fact, it looks like he'll just pee on the sweater. Oh well... I also got him a cute bed, which I hope will one day be used. Right now, he's only happy sleeping on people's laps. Like now, I'm sitting on the floor and guess where he is... my ass is like super asleep and I can't move. But he's freaking adorable so I allow it...

Check it Out...

2007-03-20T20:34:00.000-04:00

I got a puppy!

Now what do I do?

No, really. I'm already having mommy guilt. His name was Brody but after hanging with him for a few hours, I'm leaning back towards Truman. Or Linus. Or maybe something else. Yeah... I'm in trouble. He's so cute & sweet, I'd hate for him to have the wrong name.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

2007-03-11T13:11:00.000-04:00

Last night I was chillin' - watching a movie - when it occured to me that I have a tattoo. It's weird, forgetting something like that but I do it all the time. When I was getting my tattoo, I specifically put it out of my line of sight so that if I was to ever regret it I wouldn't have to see it all the time. Obviously, my idea was a good one... I probably won't even get around to regretting it since I barely remember it's there. But last night had me wondering how it's doing back there. Since it's a pain in the neck (literally) to look at your lower back in a mirror, I thought I'd take a picture. Which in and of itself is as not nearly as easy as I thought. I got a lot of shots with just one wing in & none of the shots is in focus but it gives me (and you) an idea...

And there you have it... my tattoo. Hmmmm, this is where I should send people when they ask to see it. Hehehe.

Almost Spring...

2007-03-11T03:21:00.000-04:00

And my toes are all ready to go:

But Wait There's More!

2007-03-08T22:33:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty much addicted to magazines. And UK fashion & shelter magazines totally rock. Plus, they attach the greatest & most random free things to them. I've gotten coasters, cds, etc. But this is the best yet:

That's right, bitches! Free UMBRELLA with purchase of March's Marie Claire UK edition. And it's funny because I was in dire need of a new umbrella. My last one was very nice indeed... a Monet water lilies umbrella that I had been coveting in some catalog. And I got it FREE from the lost & found at Bob Evans. But it's all broken and sad now. Lately, I've been seeing many pretty ones on various online stores. But I have a certain uncomfortableness with paying more than $10 for something that's gonna break with one strong gust of wind. So, this was perfect... $7 and I got a new adorable umbrella & a fun magazine!

Contemplation...

2007-03-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

My friends & I checked out pound puppies this afternoon. There were so many cuties there and it made me sad that I couldn't save them ALL. I'm undecided if any of them was the one for me but now I'm even more hooked on the idea of getting a dog. It won't be long now, I'm sure. So I bought a book to prepare.

Hoodwinked...

2007-03-06T22:23:00.001-05:00

Goodnight, John Boy

2007-03-06T20:44:00.000-05:00

OK, John Boy is really waving hello to you all out there... also, he wants to know where his fucking overalls are. Anybody?

Seriously?

2007-03-02T21:46:00.000-05:00

so you're having an ok friday... your work decides to let you drink during the friday meeting and so you get to get your buzz on early. the meeting ends and you chill at the office for a little bit before driving home. you drink a little water and you're good to go. next thing, you're home and ready to start your weekend for which you have many plans of being productive. you make a little dinner (whole wheat mac & cheese, baked chicken nuggets, chocolate milk). then you start to settle in for the evening with grand plans of watching a bad lindsay lohan movie (just my luck) followed by a good indie flick (thumbsucker). suddenly you start to feel a little chilly so you turn up the heat and grab yourself a blanket. then you start to feel a little more chilly so you put on your giant fluffy robe. then your head starts to hurt a bit and you get a bad feeling about all this. so you go upstairs and search for your thermometer. which you can't find anywhere. and your search isn't helped by the fact that you're full on shaking now. and you know that even if you find your tylenol, it wouldn't help to take it now. so you go back downstairs with your shaky cold achy body and you plop down on the couch with as many blankets as you can find. you might as well try to get comfy because your sick ass is gonna be there all weekend. sigh.

cleavage monster

2007-03-02T17:16:00.000-05:00

Why Are These People So Orange?

2007-02-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

So the Oscars... some thoughts... besides the obvious... which is BOR-RING:

When watching the Oscars it is very important to have your remote handy for one reason: Mute. Trust me on this one.

For starters, is it my TV or is everybody at the Oscars really fucking orange? Wait! That Little Miss Sunshine girl is white as a sheet so it is these people. Who in the makeup department did that to Leonardo Dicaprio?

The commercials during the Oscars are worse than the show itself... that one with Callisaurus Rex from Grey's Anatomy was just... zzzzzzz. I mean, she's a pretty hot chick, why wasn't she in the shower with the new Dove shower gel? No, instead, she's introducing the commercial that some random person made... it's like I made the commercial.

HOLY SHIT! What is with Jack Nicholson... he's all BALD and shit.

Ugh, why do they let Cameron Diaz on these shows? I wouldn't mind so much if she was dancing in her underwear but I kinda hate listening to her speak. And I'm not even sure she could get away with the dancing in her underwear thing anymore... girl is looking worn out. Wait, I just realized... first Britney. Now Cameron. It's the Timberlake doing this! Damn you, Timberlake!

Oh the banter. Horrible. Tom Hanks... what's the last movie he was in?

Some dude is complaining about there being no place to set down the OSCAR he just won. They should immediately take it away from him and bludgeon him with it.

OH, it's my favorite commercial! The American Express one with Wes Anderson!!! I totally have a crush on Wes Anderson. Make another movie soon, Wes! And don't forget to put Bill Murray in it, please!

Bleck, it's followed by an ode to Oprah... mood ruined.

Anne Hathaway seems to have ran into a bird on the red carpet. What is that on the front of her dress? It's looks like a furry bow. No, I'm going with bird. OOOH! Go Marie Antoinette!! Awesome! Less awesome is what the costume designer is wearing...

GAG... mute! I have no interest in any words that come out of Tom Crazy's mouth... unless they are "I am crazy and I brainwashed Katie." OMG... is he sucking on that woman's ear?

Double Ha! Ellen just dissed Beyonce to talk to Clint. Nobody loves Beyonce.

Hmmm... Gwyneth's dress... I can't decide on it. I like it but feel that her boobs are ruining it. She needs to perk those up with a good bra or something and the dress would totally achieve hotness.

OK, every time someone gets orchestraed off stage, I could swear they're playing a lullaby.

God damn, that Kfed commercial is not half bad. Way to go Britney. Your antics have made this guy look not half bad. Yes, I blame you for this, you skank. And I expect an apology when you get to that step. Or should I say, if you get to that step.

MMMMMM... Robert Downey, Jr is still hot. And Naomi Watts is so totally pregnant. There is no denying it now, honey. But she's totally adorable with her bump.

More hot people... Clive Owen & Cate Blanchett. Cate is all sparkly. Clive is yummy in all black. Oh btw... if you hadn't noticed, I'm not actually going to tell you who's winning unless I care if they won. And I don't care about 96% of these awards.

It's Clooney Grant... I'm a little over him and his need to be the new Cary Grant. Good god... mute. That American Idol chick just won. And she's cryer...

Windows Vista commercial. My take? WOW! This operating system sucks! WOW! (I'm still feeling bitter about nine failed Firefox installs... it's probably a user error but it's a lot more fun to blame microsoft)

Jerry Seinfeld has a lot of money and use to be on a really funny show. Other than that... why is he on the Oscars? Will somebody please tell me why Nicholson has no hair?? An Inconvenient Truth just won. Guess they didn't pray enough at Jesus Camp. Also, I'd like to thank Al Gore for inventing the interweb so that I could be blogging & watching the Oscars at the same time.

Clint Eastwood has a huge smirk on his face, it's like he already knows he's gonna beat Scorsese again. Oh... mute. I don't know what he is blathering on about but Eastwood is old and boring.

And keeping with the mute as none other than Celine Dion is on my TV. I thought we sent her to Vegas permanantly... I'm not sure what is going on with her dress but the panels on the bodice are not as flattering as I think they are meant to be.

OK, maybe I should have been listening because now I'm confused as to why the chick from The Office is in the family balcony of this dude who Eastwood just gave a this award to. Not Pam but the one Jim is dating. In real life she is the daughter of Quincy Jones & Norma from Twin Peaks. Anywho - Quincy and her are sitting up there in the balcony with this dude's wife... why? Oh wait... I don't really care.

I am strangely moved by the robot commercial with the song from the opening scene of Bridget Jones' Diary. I do a great impression of that scene.

Howard Stern is so right about Penelope Cruz, you can not understand a word that comes out of her mouth.

Damn, why don't they start this show a little earlier? It's fucking 11:08 and it just keeps going and going. I've got things to do in the morning, OSCAR!

Mute. President of the Academy. One of the 142 things they could cut from this show so that I can get to bed at a decent hour.

Spiderman & Marie Antoinette!! Do you think Drunkst is ever gonna get her chiclet teeth fixed? Damn, Matthew Broderick wouldn't let the Little Miss Sunshine writer write while being his assistant? Harsh.

I just missed the last 15 minutes but I'm pretty sure I didn't miss anything good so let's pretend it never happened. In that time, I did like 26 things. It's called time management... Oscar needs to learn a thing or two about it.

It's the other white Kate. Kate Winslet. Cate & Kate are very pale chicks.

Here comes the death role call... Awww. Bruno Kirby. Awww. Don Knotts. Awww. A bunch of other people who were cool but who's names I am to tired to type.

Best Actress... that's a good sign. A good sign it's almost over. Helen Mirren... we can just skip the rest of the nominees, I think. And..... yes, I am right.

Reese Witherspoon continues her Tour of Look What You Lost Ryan and looks suitibly hot. But the Fug girls are right about that pointy chin of hers. Oh, best actor... Forrest Whitaker for some movie. Or is it really for his guest spot on ER? You never know w/Oscar.

Oh, they brought out Speilberg, Lucas & Coppola for the best director... how f'd up it would be if Scorsese lost again? Especially to Eastwood. And... YEA! He won! For which movie we will never know, but it's about fucking time. And the place goes wild! No seriously, this is the most awake the peeps in this joint have been all night. I'm pretty sure Cate Blanchett was just doing a happy dance!

I'm so delighted when the gorgeous Diane Keaton is not wearing those stupid gloves. Meanwhile, Jack is on stage and I still don't know why he's bald. Oh, The Departed just won.

And it's over! I'm going to bed.

Vanity & The Art of Relaxation

2007-02-25T00:20:00.000-05:00

I do not relax or deal with stress well, nor do I sleep well. As a result, I am internally a pretty impatient person. Oh, I put on a good front for all the peeps in my life but really I just don't deal well with other people's BS at all. Or even my BS, which is better described as my utter stupidity in trying to figure out many of life's fucked up situations... but that's another blog post.

If I could master the art of stress control or relaxation, it's possible that many of my sleep problems would be solved, too. I think all my stress comes out while I'm sleeping. And now I am developing an angry face. It seems that all my stress manifests itself into one area on my face and that is the space between my eyebrows. Some people have a unibrow, I have a angrybrow. When I do not wake up looking like this, I wake up looking like I did today:

And that is... PISSED OFF. To be perfectly honest, I was rather pissed off when I woke up this morning (about 10 minutes prior to snapping that picture). I was having quite a lovely dream and did not appreciate it being interrupted by sunlight beaming into my eyes. But that is not the case many days. I mean, I'm almost never overjoyed to wake up but it's not that tragic. So I don't know why my face has to be so angry about it.

So while you'd think that all the massive health risks involved with stress and bad sleeping habits would be reason enough for me to learn a thing or two about relaxing... it's more likely pure vanity that will spur me to action. Because I'm just that silly.

It's a Love/Hate Thing

2007-02-25T00:06:00.000-05:00

So you know that new Mac commercial about Windows Vista... yeah, it's just like that. Plus, lots of stuff doesn't work on it. It's awesomely annoying in the way that you want to throw the device it's on out a window (haha... clever). But the pretty pretty laptop is much to pretty and is fun to at least watch movies on. And it's not like I can't use the interweb, even if I am risking downloading computer SARS by using IE because Firefox was all f'd up and so I uninstalled it and when I tried again it refused to install. Or something like that.

Sigh...

the object of my hatred!

2007-02-22T22:11:00.000-05:00

More mobile blogging fun

2007-02-22T20:40:00.001-05:00

i am trying out the blog by email trick now... and i'm going to take this opportunity to bitch about my cable service. wtf is with channels 11 and 9 being all fucked up tonight? The night when 3rd part of the grey's anatomy "event" (11) & the very last fucking episode of the O.C. (9) are on. i have rebooted the mofo box like 8x already...GRRRR!!!

Why Not Try... some words on my blog

2007-02-22T14:55:00.000-05:00

Hey there! Sorry about the obsessive moblogging around here lately... just imagine how horrifying it might have been if blogger had actually published all my pictures instead of only 1/2 of them. It would be like, "All pictures! All the time!"

I thought I might again try writing something on my blog... besides titles anyway. But I needed to be inspired to do so and hadn't been until about 10 minutes ago. That is when I found this hilarious website through another site I read:

Why Not Try?

Some of my favorites:

Helping young people across the road, because they are "our future"

Describing daydreaming as "going to commercial"

Impressing future employers by demonstrating how well you can ride an imaginary horse

Helping yourself to one of the free dogs that people leave outside shops

Inventing and using more compression words as a satire on the English language: e.g sexcellent, tryronic, glamourflage, parannoying, quornography, yawnography, pornothology.

Trying to work out where the imaginary face would be, on various inanimate objects

Yelling "I'm fine, I'm fine" every time you sneeze

Hehehe... exactly what I needed.

how i started my day

2007-02-21T23:15:00.002-05:00

how i ended my day

2007-02-21T23:15:00.001-05:00

A quick look at what's to come...

2007-02-21T19:40:00.001-05:00

Ice Bat chills in his new home

2007-02-21T18:50:00.000-05:00

My new couch

2007-02-21T12:18:00.001-05:00

Actually, there are two of them...

Is it Friday yet?

2007-02-20T18:20:00.001-05:00

alex says hi!

2007-02-18T22:18:00.000-05:00

Sinead O'Britney

2007-02-18T11:38:00.000-05:00

You see what happens when I'm offline for a couple of days? I miss all the good celebrity news. First Brit Brit checks in and out of rehab in a matter of hours and then she done gone completed her tumble into ruin by going and doing this...

WTF Britney? Seriously, call me honey... I know a great hair guy... he can maybe find you a good wig... because crazy is not a good look on you.

Photo via Go Fug Yourself via Oh Know They Didn't

She's Sleeping. Wrapped in Fluffyness...

2007-02-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

My original plan when I was snapping pictures in bed this morning was to see what I might look like when I'm asleep... or fake asleep taking a picture anyway. Then I realized I look like this:

Because when I'm sleeping I'm all wrapped up like Laura Palmer (except not dead or in plastic) in a cocoon of warmth. And while I'm sure I look like something underneath all that, I wasn't sure the lighting was quite right for picture taking. So I quickly changed my plan and decided to see what I look within 30 minutes of waking up.

Among the 20ish pictures I took, I liked the one in the previous post the best. I'm a little sleepy looking, my face is a little splotchy, my hair is all disheveled... all in all, I think it's a reasonable representation of what I see in the mirror fist thing in the morning. Except when I wake up with flock of seagulls hair that is...

There was suppose to be more text with that post but I was moblogging it and hit the wrong button and sent it instead. Hitting the wrong button has been my life for the last 24 hours... yesterday, I bought the Motorola Q and the unlimited broadband access from Verizon so that I can have the interweb at home once again. In it's current state, it's not all that useful but after a little practice and once I get a laptop to go with it, I expect that to change.

Oh yeah, and bonus points for the person who gets the reference of the previous post's title - for british eyes only. You won't actually win anything though so don't try to hard...

for british eyes only...

2007-02-18T08:56:00.001-05:00

i decided to play with my new camera phone instead of actually getting out of bed this morning

Home Sweet.... uh, Home?

2007-02-12T09:30:00.000-05:00

I have officially diagnosed myself with Decorating ADD.

It's a terrible disease in which many home improvement projects get planned (and some even get started) but not much actually gets done. There's so much to do that I can only focus my attention on one specific thing for so long... thus I end up with a bedroom that's almost primed and a bathroom that has almost been stripped of it's wallpaper and so much more that's just not done. And, this does not just apply to rooms in my house but to my furniture, too. I'm somewhat of an impulse shopper when it comes to used furniture. And most used furniture (at least the Goodwill/Abbie Ann's stuff I buy) comes with more potential than anything else... this couch will be awesome when I slipcover it or this table will be sweet when I refinish it. It's like I think I have nothing but time to do these projects.

Oh, and none of this is helped by the fact that I love so many different decorating styles. This creates a mish-mash of furniture and accessories that I have to somehow make work together.

(sigh) There got to be some sort of pill for all this...

Still, things seem to be getting done even if no one thing is finished yet. I can definitely see the light at the end of the decorating tunnel. I'll just keep chanting my hippie mantra* in the meantime... It will all come together. It will all come together. It will all come together.

And when it does, I'll throw a party.

*yes, i'm crazy

NERVOUS-SYSTEM Jewelry

2007-02-08T11:32:00.000-05:00

Have blogged about my love of Etsy yet? I'm not sure that I have... I LOVE LOVE LOVE etsy. There. That's done. Now, let me show you my most recent etsy purchase:

The radiolaria curves bracelet* from NERVOUS-SYSTEM:

A collaboration between a graduate student in architecture and a mathematician.

How could I not buy something with such a cool description?

Black styrene plastic is laser cut into an organic network of distorting ellipses. The pattern displays shifts in direction and scale, creating a sense of movement and tension around the wrist. These complex forms recall those of radiolarians, plant cells and even the familiar honey comb.

They make many other super sweet pieces, too. Like these earrings*:

I found this etsy shop like I often find them... through someone else's blog. The blog in question is Design Milk. Design blogs are awesome, they do all the work and people like me swoop in and buy the cool stuff they find.

*photos courtesy of NERVOUS-SYSTEM

Things I Could Be Doing

2007-02-03T11:57:00.000-05:00

dishes - because I am out of spoons, which is weird because otherwise I only have like 9 dirty dishes

laundry - i have mounds of clean clothes but am stuck between sizes... insert sad face here

painting my bedroom - so i can move out of the cold, cold sun room

my taxes - so i can get some sweet, sweet money back

yoga - to help fit into the clean pile of jeans waiting for me

clearing my TVR out - watching TV isn't very productive but it's fun

reading a book - like one of the five sitting next to my bed with one chapter read in each

cleaning my garage - before it's even colder tomorrow

moving some stuff around - so my house is finally livable

One of the 250 or so things left on my 2007 list - because crossing things off of lists makes me happy

Instead I'm...

working - because when you're temporarily out of interweb at home you go to the office and you see things there that need done, so sadly, you do them even though it's saturday and it can wait 'til monday

feeling sad - because of something a friend told me last night that just isn't fair

feeling embarrassed - needlessly i'm sure but straight vodka or not, i can't believe i did that

feeling a little more sad - because yesterday was a good friend's birthday and it's been five years since i've hugged him

delaying - calling another friend who i haven't talked to in two years and have been missing very much lately

smiling - about something random

thinking - of ways to spend my tax return because i can't stop spending money right now

listening - to an office mouse (gus-gus, is that you?) get into trouble on the other side of the office

giggling - because i put the squirrel on top of the tree upside down

dreaming - of a real vacation... someday

and blogging - because it is the ultimate way to kill time when you don't want to do all the other things you could be doing

Now I'm gonna...

go home and do something else.

Don't Quote Me

2007-01-31T16:18:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted a quote in awhile... here is a good one.

"You gotta wonder why we cling to our expectations. Because the expected is just what keeps us steady, standing, still. The expected is just the beginning. The unexpected is what changes our lives."

From Grey's Anatomy "Great Expectations"

New Blog on the Block

2007-01-31T10:04:00.000-05:00

I'm really loving this new blog...

3191: a year of mornings

This "collaborative photo blog" was started by two friends - Mav of port2port and Stephanie of little birds handmade - who live 3191 miles apart. Everyday (well, almost everyday), they each post a picture taken sometime during their morning. These are my favorite kinds of photographs... random glimpses into the ordinary.

I used to take pictures all the time... I'd say I have about five cameras and hundreds of photos laying around somewhere. I'd take pictures of anything but mostly I just took pictures of my friends - at the bar, at a game, on a roadtrip, etc. Looking at them now, I notice that my favorite ones are the ones where no one is looking... no real pose or no idea I was lurking around them. Those types are usually my favorite pictures of me, too. No time to make my tense "I hate getting my picture taken" face. I think it captures more of the real person or object, if that makes sense.

At some point I just stopped taking pictures, I think around the time I first moved... I'm sure most of my cameras are still at my mom's house. I started to feel that my camera was becoming a burden to my friends... like they were becoming less and less enthused by the sight of it. It was probably all in my imagination. I notice that almost all my family & friends have pictures that I took up around their houses. So, they must have liked it a little.

At the beginning of the digital camera revolution, I wouldn't even consider one. I don't know why, just a stubborn loyalty to film. "If you want instant, take a polaroid," would have probably been one of my comments at the time. I slowly entered the digital age last year with my dinky camera phone... and while I still love film (and polaroids still rock my world) now I can see the benefits of some nice digital photography, too. So, I've been finding myself drawn towards the camera section of Target quite often lately. I know it's only a matter of time before I cave... especially with my spending habits.

Maybe soon I'll be posting glimpses into my ordinary life, too.

Books 2007

2007-01-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

I've started a list of the books I read in 2007... it's over on the side there.

This is Who I Am

2007-01-18T13:13:00.000-05:00

I like to say this quite a bit:

"That's the great thing about issues, everybody has them."

A former friend of mine, who had a masters degree in psychology, hated when I said this. I think she truly wanted to believe she'd conquered all her demons and that it was everyone else who had problems. Really, I don't know what it was about but it was annoying.

I'm pretty unapologetic about who I am. I always have been and suspect I always will be... this is not to say that I believe I'm perfect or better than anyone else. I'm pretty aware of the majority of my issues and it's a long list to be sure. While I have been aware for a long time, I haven't been overly happy or comfortable with myself. Like everyone else, I have had many moments where I feel there's something wrong with me, that I should change, that I really don't deserve much love or respect, and all the rest of that crap. I tend to be very internal… with these kinds of thoughts especially. I think this tends to give the impression that nothing ever bothers me or that I am overly critical of others. Whatever, eh?

You cannot control what people think of you, only what you think of yourself. Plus, if you’re not careful and dwell on it too much, you can let what other people think of you control you. People will always want to put you in a box or explain you with a few sweeping generalizations. It makes them feel better. But, you're usually your own worst critic so why let even more crap in? Just a thought.

I am feeling pretty good about life right now. And, I’m becoming more and more comfortable with who I am. I’m not exactly sure when or how this shift in thinking took place but I welcome it. I look around at my life and I feel incredibly thankful for my family, my friends and my job. I have an especially awesome group of friends at this point in my life. Are they perfect? Hell. No. And they don’t pretend to be. But they are, for the most part, shockingly self-aware. I think this makes them better friends. I can be honest with them about my issues and vice versa. There are things that drive me crazy about each one of them and vice versa. But when it comes down to it, they have been there for me and I hope they can say the same about me. They make me laugh and let me cry (or not cry) and they help me not take it all so seriously and I love them (this is getting very touchy-feely… sorry).

You’re thinking, “What the hell is all of this about? This is very uncharacteristic of Miss Mia.” That’s totally what you’re thinking, right? Yeah, because it’s what I’ve been thinking the whole time I’ve been writing this. I’m not sure I had a point; it’s all just a lead up to some future posts.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about myself. What does that mean? Well, there’s astrology, personology, psychology and so much more. And every one of them has an opinion about me. It’s always interesting just how much of myself I see in some of these descriptions. I thought maybe I’d share some of them (and my opinions of them, of course) with you in the near future. In the meantime, I will leave you with the words of two very wise people:

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind." – Dr. Suess

"This is who I am, you can like it or not. You can love me or leave me, cause I’m never gonna stop." - Madonna

I Feel Pretty

2007-01-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

I got some new hair this weekend... highlights & a cute variation on the same haircut I always get. Since it never looks as good as it does straight out of the salon, I snapped a picture of myself on Saturday. It is not a bad picture, except for the light shining off my nose and the shadows making me look sleepy and my very ugly bathroom wall in the background. Still, it's better than any picture I saw of Britney Spears last week. Poor Britney... she clearly does not have a Brett to make her feel pretty. Anywho - here you go:

Books '06

2007-01-05T22:40:00.000-05:00

(I remembered another book & added it on to the list)

In an effort to focus on (or ignore) one blog at a time, I will be joining my book blog with my main blog. It was really just so I could keep track of what I read and I can do that right here.

I had a goal of reading 30 books last year but life intervened and I only got through 16.... I should know better than to make the goal: read 30 books (see previous post). This year, I kept the total goal 30 but split it into three separate: read 10 books.

I have a new Saturday morning habit of waking up early, staying in my nice warm bed and reading for a couple of hours. That should help me finish some of the 12 books I've started in the past 6 months.

Here is the list of books that I finished in 2006:

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

Night by Elie Weisel

Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim by David Sedaris

Dry by Augusten Burroughs

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper

Conscious Eating by Body & Soul Magazine

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore

Party of the Century by Deborah Davis

My Prescription for Anti-Depressing Living by Jonathan Adler

My Pet Virus by Shawn Decker

Blankets by Craig Thompson

207 for 2007

2007-01-05T13:13:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, I made a vow to never make grand new year's resolutions anymore. I did this because they are lame and suck the life out of me. About the same time, I stumbled on a random blog (I don't who's) and "borrowed" her idea. It's basically just a huge-ass to-do list for the upcoming year.

Instead of one or two big, nebulous things that you want to do and will most likely quit or fail at (like lose weight or get organized), you break everything up into small, specific actions (lose 10 lbs. or organize DVDs). This way, even if you don't do everything you wanted, you can see progress at the end of the year. That's the theory anyway. I mean, there aren't really any rules to it all.

The first year I did it, I completed exactly 25% of my list. Which kept my theory that I was only living up to 25% of my potential going strong. The next year, I skipped out on it completely. On the 206 for 2006, I had to disqualify 19 items for no longer being relavant to my life. Of the 187 that remained, I legitimately crossed 68 off the list. That's 36%... and I consider that a triumph indeed.

I have 8 different categories: family/friends, academic/career, house, financial, mental/physical, creative, materialistic & miscellaneous. And this year, I couldn't stop thinking of things to add so I have 234 items instead of 207. But don't worry, I'm not going to post the list here. I will be updating my blog with a few of the items as I complete them. I'm not shooting for any specific percentage to accomplish... but I do have a good feeling about this year.

Well, hello there...

2007-01-05T12:50:00.000-05:00

New year, same me. I still can't keep up with the blogging thing as much as I'd like. But it's never too late and so here I am, back again for another try. Maybe it's the "new blogger" that's inspiring me...

Ding, Dong the Red is Dead....

2006-11-08T09:39:00.000-05:00

That was the song I was singing in the shower this morning... Ohio - Ohio, people - is a mother-fucking blue state. With a smoking ban & a minimum wage higher than the federal government. Can it be? Hell, yeah. Ohio is making progress.

I feel very invigorated today, not quite satisfied but definitely more hopeful for the future. The House is in the bag & it looks this morning like the Senate is headed that way. If we can make it through a couple of recounts unscathed, the nation has sent a pretty clear message to the president. That being, "You're a twatwaffle." Or maybe that was just the message I was sending. Whatever. I feel happy either way.

Ding, Dong, the red is dead!
Come out to play, look up ahead!
Ding, Dong, the wicked red is dead!

I was trying to write a couple more verses... one about how red likes to think god likes them best, but looks like he took a nap. And one about how, ok maybe they are not dead but it's definitely a massive punture wound and they'll probably bleed out. But I wasn't clever enough to make it happen & I have a meeting to get ready for.

YEA!!!! I live in a BLUE STATE!!!!

SageRock Google Seminar

2006-11-01T15:51:00.000-05:00

For anyone who is interested, my company is giving a Google Ranking Seminar on November 16. Here is a link & a little more information:

SageRock Google Seminar - Learn how to get top rankings on Google at our half day in-person Seminar November 16.

Learn how to make your web site rank better on Google.

Join the SageRock Google Ranking Seminar, Thursday November 16 in Akron, Ohio!

In this SageRock Google Ranking Seminar, you will learn how to:

* Target the phrases your customers are searching.
* Learn the 5 most important factors to rank well in Google.
* Make your site a link magnet for other web sites.
* Learn how to use the Google Sitemap to rank better in Google.
* Use all the work your competitors have done to beat them in the search listings.

It's my birthday and I'll beg if I want to...

2006-10-29T01:33:00.000-05:00

Usually, before my birthday, I create an elaborate wish list for anyone who wishes to buy me something. You know, so they dont have to fuss and worry over what to get me (should they choose to gift me anything at all which is certainly not required). But this year I've decided to do things a bit differently.

See, I'm trying to get out of debt which makes the shopaholic in me very sad. And sometimes the devil in me wins and then I feel guilty for spending the money and prolonging the debt. Plus, I have this house I'm trying to decorate on a budget and does anyone know how expensive fucking curtains are? So, if anyone does want to gift me anything this year, may I suggest the gift of shopping? Here are a few suggestions:

Target (of course)
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
West Elm
Joann's
Ikea

I'm sure there are others, but I am quite sleepy...

PeteMoss

2006-10-27T15:05:00.000-04:00

The ladies of Go Fug Yourself concerning the future ex-husband of Kate Moss...

He's like the dating equivalent of wearing acid-washed short-shorts to your grandmother's funeral: totally inappropriate to the point that people begin to wonder if you've had a head injury.

Read the rest here, it's fucking hilarious: Fugshambles

There should be a title here but I'm too lazy to think of one...

2006-09-28T13:15:00.000-04:00

So, yeah... there's no decoy this year. I figured that out the minute they started showing the preview for last night's episode. But then I thought, "no. they're just tricking me." And so the whole episode last night I was "Uli's out. Michael's out. Laura's out. Jeffrey's out." Until Laura was in and then I went back to my original thought of no decoy.

I was glad Uli won last night. The first half of the episode I was yelling "Make it short!!" And she did and it was a killer little Uli dress. I was not so happy today though when I noticed she uses that same fabric for a long Uli dress in her final collection but whatever. Last night's dress was good... she deserved to win.

I don't think I care too much about the reunion. I hope Alison wins the viewer favorite poll thingy. And I kinda hope someone kicks Keith in the forehead... Oh and I'm also excited to see Robert again. OK, the reunion won't be too bad. As long as they are all drunk. And I'm drunk while watching it.

My second coffee drink of the day has made me suspiciously sleepy... maybe I ordered an ambien latte instead of a vanilla one. Either way it is not helping me cross anything off my list today.

PR3 at Fashion Week

2006-09-16T10:43:00.000-04:00

To start with, Project Runway really kind of blows this year. I feel sort of ambivilant about it all at this point but I was excited about the fashion week collections. I feel like you can get a much better sense of the designers than you ever could during the actual show. For instance, before Chloe's runway show, I thought she had talent and now I know better. And I always knew Jay had talent but I was (and still am) blown away by his winning collection. He set the bar high and I doubt any future PR contesant is going to top it.

So, this season, as I suspected it would, has felt rushed and the challenges have been uninspired and mostly farcical (next season on PR, make an elegant evening gown... using only aluminum siding and a roll of floss!) I'm not even sure why they pretend to have judges anymore because - Angela, Vincent and Jeffrey in the top 7? - yeah, producers had nothing to do with that. And I'm still pissed about Alison... let's just get that out there. This week's episode was predictable and pretty much wrapped up the whole season and tied it with a sucky bow. I mean... bringing back Vincent and Angela? Lame. Finally, it's down to the the final four and they are Uli, Michael, Jeffrey and (decoy) Laura. I know Laura isn't officially the decoy but come on, right?

This is the first time Project Runway had their runway show in the fall (which means spring collections). I'm not sure if PR made it a requirement to make a swimsuit but each collection has one (well, except Laura's... but then... decoy). It's probably the last minute "surprise" challenge... "make a bathing suit that fits your collection! You have 5 minutes before your runway show starts!" Anywho - here are the links:

Uli

Michael

Jeffrey

Laura

None of them wowed me. Uli's was very Uli, Jeffrey's was very Jeffrey, Laura's was very Laura. I love Michael on the show but have yet to figure out his "point of view" (as Tim Gunn would call it) so I'm not sure if his collection is him or not.

First up - Michael. I did not like this at all. As far as I can tell by his collection, Michael's "point of view" is pointed permanantly toward a Beyonce video. I heard this was the most well received collection of the four so... I guess people like Beyonce? Or maybe people just like Michael (understandable) and hope he wins no matter what he shows. I certainly won't throw anything at my TV if he wins but I would rather he win with a super hot collection that makes us want more. And this just isn't doing that for me.

Next - Uli. OK, I like Uli... I've liked pretty much every outfit she made this season and every outfit she wears. And pretty much all those outfits are in her collection. It also looks to me like Uli became worried half way through designing the collection and ran out and bought some non-print fabric. The collection could easily be cut into two mini collections. I'm not quite sure the two mini collections can pass as one full collection. That said, I like pretty much all her outfits and it's my favorite of the four. But I am in no way wowed or excited about it.

And Jeffrey. The thing I love most about "rock & roll/punk" guys like Jeffrey is how they think everything they wear and do and say is edgy and new and making some sort of statement. In this collection, Jeffrey has discovered stripes. How new! How edgy! How I'm sure I saw most of this collection at H&M last year! But I don't hate all of it. I like more of Jeffrey's collection than Michael's. And by more I mean I like two of Jeffrey's outfits vs one of Michael's. He might have won me over with more outfits if there weren't so many stripes involved. Also, what the fuck is he wearing? Are those manpris? OMG... he's so fucking edgy...

Laura. Classic and elegaZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

I guess Uli should win?

Later this weekend I promise to post about Jay's new collection. Go see it at Getty Images.

Yeah... So...

2006-07-19T23:07:00.000-04:00

What the fuck was that, Project Runway? Yeah, I knew I hated that bitch, Angela. I would really love to see that horrible thing (skirt?) she always wears reach up and strangle her. And of course, they had to make me like Malan before they sent him home.

I am really glad that Kayne won though. At first, I was sure he wouldn't win just because it would be to obvious. Then I was going to be pissed because his dress was hot. So, I was excited when he won. I hope Miss what's-her-name actually wears it at her pageant. I also really enjoyed Kayne & Robert being on a team together.

But the best part of the show was... Jay's commercial. I actually clapped during the whole commercial. "Oh my god, it's Jay!" (clap, clap, clap) "Oh my god, it's a hybrid!" (clap, clap, clap) "Oh my god, it's Jay in a hybrid commercial!" (clap, clap, clap).

I'm such a loser.

Catching Up...

2006-06-14T21:48:00.000-04:00

I have been a very bad blogger lately. But now I am back and have really nothing interesting to say. Let's see...

I finished 2 more books on my road to my goal of 30 this year. They were Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper & Conscious Eating by Body & Soul Magazine. Both we're quick & enjoyable reads. That puts me at 8 books total.

I'm currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Very good, of course. I'd never read it before but I did see the play in junior high.

Both of my dogs have been sick lately and it's been traumatizing to say the least. The vet discovered that one (Gopher) has an auto-immune disease and the other (Poochie) has chronic hepititis. They both seem to be doing much better now though. Here are a couple of pictures that I took recently... first is Poochie & me:

Next is Gopher, looking like a sick ewok:

They are two very super dogs...

And finally, Project Runway 3 is starting next month. I am over the horror of Season 2's ending and am willing to give it another shot. Last year I hoped (out loud) that they'd design flight attendant uniforms of the future (or even just better ones for the present) and this year (I hear) one of the sponsers is Delta airlines. Hmmmm...

Reading Rainbow

2006-04-26T19:49:00.000-04:00

I actually took some real vacation time last week and got lots of reading done. If it were Book Week at school, I'd have earned a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut for my 5 finished books. Real life should work like elementary school sometimes.... anywho, here's what I read:

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
Night by Elie Weisel
Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim by David Sedaris
Dry by Augusten Burroughs
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

They are all great books & I'd highly recommend them. "Night" should be required reading along with "The Diary of Anne Frank" in schools.

"Nickel & Dimed" should be required reading for high school students along with a personal finance class. It's weird how we just sweep our poor under the rug in this country... relying on numbers that don't tell even half the story to make the rest of us feel better. Plus, we send our kids out into the "real world" without any sort of tools to avoid high debt & the financial pitfalls. Grrr...

"Julie & Julia" inspired me to challenge myself next time life gets me down. Maybe not by slicing up living lobsters or cracking open bones for the marrow but there are always other creative things for me.

David Sedaris is always a quick & hilarious read and "Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim" was no exception. And there's always a good life lesson that I wholeheartedly agree with in his books, too. Like, "Either you want a clean floor or you want to use a mop, but you can't have both." That was my favorite.

"Dry" was quite a bit more depressing than I expected from Augusten Burroughs but it was still really good. Just when I started to think he wouldn't relapse, he not only picked up the bottle again but also took up crack. And man, in case you never heard, "crack is whack." And his story does nothing to disprove that theory.

I also got some magazines in... Elle, Vanity Fair, Living etc., Dwell & Worthwhile. Elle & Vanity Fair had "green issues" focusing a lot of space to environmental issues. I thought Elle's was done much better and was way more informative. But the Vanity Fair green issue had it's moments, too. Now I need to get off my ass and implement some changes in my life.

But first, I'm off to Square for a drink with Joe.

Martha for Me

2006-04-26T19:17:00.000-04:00

I got the new Martha Stewart magazine, Blueprint, in the mail yesterday and it's perfect. I love everything about it. It's like Budget Living has been resurrected without the budget part and with a Martha twist (a younger & hipper Martha). A few "Good Things" from Blueprint:

The FLOR carpet tile bulletin board
The Blueprint Martini
Summer dresses for work & play
Bottle opener ring
Gorgeous dance inspired shoes
Vitamin & supplement ideas from a Integrative Medicine specialist
Modern ideas for charms
Party in a box
Knotty & Nice - cute bags from scarves

AAWWWWW....

2006-04-12T22:10:00.000-04:00

Tonight's episode of Lost was not exactly plot-forwarding but it was definitely character-enduring. Is that the right word? Yeah... everybody loves Rose and Bernard. I like that someone else (besides the viewers) knows about Locke's pre-crash paralysis. And look!! Michael's finally back. And Vincent the Shifty Eyed Dog... who's been feeding him since Ana-Lucia plugged Shannon? No one from the looks of it. And dude, that actor, who plays faux Henry Gale has CREEPY down. He should get an emmy. Just one more thought.. if every season of Lost is only about 40 days, then Sun should be pregnant until about the 7th season, right?

Speaking of awww... first episode of Sex and the City is on TBS. I know that show was only on for 6 years but they all look so much younger. Skipper... remember Skipper? And, OMG the TBS Lord of the Rings commercials are fucking hilarious!! Especially the Frodo & Sam ones. Heh...

Germs Suck

2006-03-20T20:06:00.000-05:00

Didn't getting sick used to be fun when we were kids? Not so much anymore. I fully admit to being terribly paranoid of germs in certain situations... not enough to not participate in society or anything. But when I'm in a room with a bunch of people and I hear coughing and sneezing and sniffling, I'm pretty much become resigned to getting sick in the next week. This weekend I tempted fate by going to an EXPO and a huge auction in a barn. I'm feeling lucky that I only got a little stomach bug and not some sort of full blown ebola-mad-bird-foot flu. It's that adult ability to think of every possible sick scenerio that makes it suck the most. That and you have to make your own toast. Yeah, not so much fun.

Monday nights are pretty bad for TV to watch... when I remember it's on, I watch "Flip this House" on A&E. I'm pretty much convinced that Ginger must be sleeping with Richard in order to keep her job. Anyway, it's usually an interesting show... except tonight for some reason. Right now, they have a ghost expert in the house they're trying to flip. In fact, this whole episode seems to be focused more on ghosts and the historic town they're in than the actual house. Must have been an easy flip.

At 9:00, I'm gonna watch this week's episode of "Big Love" on HBO. I caught the pilot on HBO on Demand earlier today and now I'm all excited about seeing an HBO series from the beginning. You know, instead of waiting until they come out on DVD. It's a pretty good show. It's like the perfect role for Chloe Sevigny... looks like she gets to wear her own ugly clothes. Heh.

Scarf! Scarf! Scarf!

2006-03-14T16:07:00.000-05:00

Look! I finally finished my first scarf...

The picture is another bad camera phone image. I let Sookie (my dress form/art installation) wear it last night but snagged it for myself this morning. It has a few random flaws but I'm pretty proud. I certainly feel very comfortable with the knit stitch now. I managed to do the entire scarf without dropping a stitch. My next project will be... another scarf! But with a little purl stitch thrown in.

I'm going to the Sewing & Quilt Expo at the IX Center on Thursday and Friday. I'm so excited... I will probably take a couple of the classes. But what I'm really hoping for is some good shopping. I'm finding the crafty chain stores a little limiting in the fabric and yarn departments. I'm hoping the Expo will have some options that I don't see everyday.

Armchair Fashion

2006-03-09T09:20:00.000-05:00

After much thought and consideration to last night's shocking ending to season 2 of Project Runway, I can only come to one conclusion. Shenanigans!! I'm calling shenanigans. I feel like Daniel was robbed. I feel like Santino was robbed. I also feel like Kara & Nick were robbed.

Don't get me wrong. I like Chloe... she was one of my favorites from the start. She has a very inspiring story and seems really sweet and all the other things I love to root for. And she stayed a favorite all season. I was so expecting to love Chloe's fashion week collection, not recoil in horror. But she made her models look like living room furniture. OK, OK, her entire collection didn't suck. But out of thirteen outfits, there are only four that I can both understand and enjoy as beautiful fashion. A lot of her fabrics were just too heavy. And the f'cking sleeves... and that one pink, flat, shapeless, weird one actually inspires anger in me every time I look at it.

This article from the Boston Herald, Dao sews up victory on ‘Project Runway,’ claims this:

Chloe’s triumph was not her collection, which showed little range. Six-foot-tall models paraded down the catwalk in evening gowns topped with matching caplets, less than exciting stuff. But it was her business sense and aptitude for understanding women’s desires in clothing that sealed the deal.

All this talk about how she "knows women and what women want?" Yeah, Chloe? Women do not want to look like armchairs:

I want Jay back... Jay is inspiring, funny and real and the more I see of him, the more I want to see of him. And I really I want to see more and more of his designs. Bravo can just skip Project Chloe and have a few full seasons of Project Jay instead. That's the only chance they have for forgiveness from me... at this point I feel like it's doubtful I'll watch season 3. But we'll see, that's a year away and maybe Chloe can make a come back with a better collection and the universe can heal itself. I don't know...

What? No really, WHAT?

2006-03-08T23:02:00.000-05:00

What the mother fuck was that? Chloe won?

I'm gonna beat someone... or four people. I feel like I just wasted my time watching that whole second season now. How could they reward that awful collection. Gah. Someone give me a drink.

A Bit Evil... I'd Say

2006-03-01T23:03:00.000-05:00

The whole 13 outfit thing was a nice twist... one that I called 5 seconds into the show when Hoedi told them to create a 12 piece collection. We've all seen the pictures and there were 13 outfits for each designer. Still, I have to give it to TPTB for putting that evil little twist in. I liked that they got to choose an axed designer to help them out. Yea! Diana & Nick at Fashion Week... just like I wanted from day 1. Unfortunately, I don't get to see what they can do. But I'll take the extra time with them anyway.

Meanwhile, Santino's seeming very likable & Daniel is looking like a douchebag. Take it down a notch, Danny V. He's definitely buying into the hype that he's unbeatable.

I'm super excited about next week's episode and to see the collections moving down the runway. I think we'll all see details that we didn't notice from the pictures. At this point... I'd say Daniel & Santino have about the same chance of winning. Chloe... I'm still stunned by her stuff. And still not in a good way.

Also, I can't help but see Hoidi as a little evil since Project Jay... and I was just starting to like her before that. Now, I'm going back to my first season preference of replacing her with Kate Moss... yeah, that would be sweet.

Martini Glow Stick

2006-03-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

Martini Glow Stick

This glowiness was in my "Hip Smurf" martini last night at Bricco. I was a little worried when I first saw it in there that I'd be dying of some sort of radiation posioning later in the evening... but it all turned out OK. I felt I had to take a picture of it before it faded away and I thought I share it with you. As expected, it didn't make it to see the morning light...

The Late Great Don Knotts

2006-02-28T14:18:00.000-05:00

When I was a youngster, I use to have one mission in my daily life. Watch as much Scooby Doo as possible. My earliest use of time management was planning my daily nap around Scooby's start time. And as much as I loved any old episode of Scooby Doo, I loved "Special Guest Star" episodes the most. The Harlem Globe Trotters, Batman & Robin, Josie & the Pussycats, Phyllis Diller, Laurel & Hardy, etc. But the best of the best was Special Guest Star Don Knotts.

When I was kid, it seemed like Don Knotts would pop up on every TV show that I watched. I think the late 70's & early 80's were all about the Special Guest Stars. And of course, there was the Andy Griffith show but I shunned black & white in my early years. Three's Company would be daily after school viewing for years and years. And Mr. Furley? He was awesome. Way better than the Ropers, in my opinion. But that's probably because the Ropers were never on Scooby Doo.

Daytime TV

2006-02-28T13:53:00.000-05:00

I have about 2 1/2 weeks of vacation left to use before May and so I took a random day off today. I ended up sleeping in really, really late but now I'm awake and fed and watching TV while I work on my scarf. And man, does daytime TV suck. Of course, there are still soap operas but I haven't watched those in a long time (or a year. whatever). So what's left? HBO on Demand isn't working. The news channels apparently can't find any real news to report (Wiretapping, treason, South Dakota sucking? No? Didn't think so. OK, now they are talking about Iraq, at least. HAHAHA, the President's approval rating has dropped another 8% in the last month. Sweet).

Oh. Anyway, I ended up watching a very special episode of The Cosby Show. It was probably the most low-key very special episode ever. The Huxtable's find a joint in Theo's school book. And so they have a talk about it with Theo, who insists it isn't his. And they believe him and just let him know how much it would disappoint them if it was. Meanwhile, IMAN is having a baby and visiting Dr. Huxtable and she cannot stop laughing during her entire scene. And it really cold outside, so Rudy has to wear 100 layers of clothes. And it all made me kinda miss the Cosby Show...

OK, I've gotta find something else to watch.

Funny Friday

2006-02-24T17:10:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of things that made me laugh today... Joe & I found this link (via Dan Vera) soooo f'in hilarious:

Hung Up Parody

And we feel loving it in no way diminishes our love of Madonna. Right? Heh... and then this (which I think is from MSNBC's five link friday):

Star Wars Cake Topper

Also available with... Luke? Gross. Now Han & Luke would make sense. But Princess Leia & Luke is just wrong.

Happy Weekend!

Jay Love

2006-02-23T16:22:00.000-05:00

I sooooo enjoyed watching Project Jay last night... so much so that I was very sad that they cut the original 8 episodes into just one hour. One hour of Jay is not enough to satisfy me. More Jay! More Jay! Lucky for me... mr. boyfriend hasn't watched it yet so I get to watch it again tonight.

Hee. This is Awesome.

2006-02-22T22:28:00.000-05:00

I remember last season being a little disappointed in the Project Runway reunion show... but not this year. I like that it started out with everyone calling Santino, actually everyone, out on their bullshit. Sweet. The clips are great, too.

They should put more of this stuff on the DVD... more Project Runway: The Musical, please!! Man, I'm like crying from laughing so much. This rocks. I'm glad I'm TVRing it.

I never liked the phrase "They're selling like hotcakes" anyway... bagels are much better. Boy, a bagel would be nice right now actually.

And next is Project Jay!!!! YEA!!! I can not even express how happy watching Jay makes me.

Creative Distractions

2006-02-22T15:57:00.000-05:00

So, when I'm really stressed as I am right now in life... I prefer to distract myself. Shopping works the best but I'm on a mission to get out of debt so that's not really an option right now. And that's why I have a studio anyway. Luckily, lately I've been on a creative kick. I'm starting to check things off my yearly big list in the process.

I now know the basics of knitting and have about half a scarf to prove it. I like to knit while watching the Olympics or anything else that's on & not overly important. Also, this week I've started making a purse, playing with a mixed media piece, carving a little stamp and sketching. All of these things are helping me relax a little and are a great outlet. There are about a billionty creative endeavors that I'd like to try in the future... so I feel good that I can always find something to do.

I always thought it would be cool to design rugs. I'm not much of a carpet person but rugs are cool because they are easier to switch out when your style changes. The problem with rugs is that they are mostly expensive. At Goodwill this weekend I picked up a book, Step-by-Step Rugmaking. So, that book & Joe's latching knowledge will help bring this dream to reality. I'll be starting on that process next week, I think. Here's what's on list for the rest of this week.

cut & piece together my purse
carve a bigger stamp
finish my scarf
start putting together a necklace
work on mixed media piece

Oh, and when I have extra time (ha ha), sketch out some designs for the awesome rug I'm going to make. I'm also going to buy a bluetooth thingy to transfer my camera phone pictures to my computer and start uploading some of them.

Exhaustified

2006-02-22T11:41:00.000-05:00

I'm exhausted today... actually I'm EXHAUSTED today. It deserves all caps, the kind of exhaustion I'm experiencing. I feel like I got 2 minutes of sleep last night. I've been very stressed lately and I'm just about to blow, I think. Being stressed just erases all the effects of sleep for me. It takes hours for me to get to sleep and if I wake up at 3am, my very first thoughts will be about what I'm most stressed about and it's all over then.

People, in general, can do no right these days and I'm sorry that I feel that way but I just do. I do my very best to let people be who they want to be but then I feel like they're attacking who I am. Like the things I choose for myself are offending them. And I feel like they're throwing out double standards all over... and aiming them right at me. The things they say are not being backed up by their actions. And these are some of the people who (I feel) I make the most sacrifices for out of my own life... quite a lot of my stress is because I care so much about them... not hurting them, not disappointing them, etc. And all I want from these people is a little bit of credit or respect or consideration or aknowledgement. I don't need anyone to hold my hand to get through life... I just need to be able to trust that they aren't completely going to turn on me someday. And right now, I feel the exact opposite is true. Like no matter what, it will never be good in enough.

Maybe that is just too much to ask. Or maybe it's all just my problem. Maybe this is all just me not considering/respecting myself. Maybe I'm making myself the victim by letting other people put all of their issues on me without insisting they consider mine every once in awhile. Maybe I need to stop doing the best I can for other people and do the best I can for myself. I don't know. I'm just trying to deal and get over it. If I had it all figured out... I wouldn't be stressed, would I? Being stressed about not wanted to feel this way is only causing MORE stress. So, it really never ends.

Wouldn't it be great if you could take a vacation from life? Like a real vacation from life... just get beamed into a quiet dimension all alone for a day or two and when you come back you are just refreshed & re-energized but you didn't miss anything. Sometimes, it makes perfect sense to me why my dad lives alone on a mountain with just his dogs to keep him company. But that's probably a bit extreme at this point. I'm sure I just need a little fucking vacation or break or something. Before I start throwing things...

Dream Couch of Yesterday

2006-02-22T10:37:00.000-05:00

My first dream couch was the one in Holly GoLightly's apartment in Breakfast at Tiffany's:

Oddly, It was only after 10 or 20 viewings that I realized the true awesomeness of the couch. That it was a claw-foot tub couch. No kidding. In my defense, that movie has a lot of things you can't take you eyes off of and the couch isn't this obvious in the movie.

Now a claw-foot tub couch can present a hundred of different problems. First, how do you find one? There's probably not a surplus of them laying around. And, is it just a couch made to look like a claw-foot tub or is it an actual converted tub? Because I own a claw-foot tub and those things are the heaviest things ever. So the biggest problem of all would be, how do you get someone (or 6 someones) to help you move that thing?! You have to have a party every time you wanted to rearrange your living room.

These days, it's no longer my dream couch (the Petrie Sofa from Crate & Barrel gets that honor {this week}) but it's still pretty fucking cool. So I had to post this when I saw it this morning:

Found on Everything And Nothing via Apartment Therapy

When Design Met Safety

2006-02-22T01:01:00.000-05:00

I always love it when safety and good design merge. The Target medicine bottles are a prime example... and the Target emergency kit.

This isn't the first time I've heard of someone trying to spice up the old medical alert bracelet (and I hope it won't be the last) but these are definitely worth a mention. Hope Paige Designs has medical emergency bracelets in mesh, hemp & leather. I'll edit this and post pictures tomorrow. Too tired right now... but if you can't wait, go and check them out yourself:

Hope Paige Designs

Twizzle me This

2006-02-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Olympics, I have a new favorite word. Twizzle. I can't be sure if that is the correct spelling... but it works for me. Adam is wondering.. if the ice dancers are twizzling, does that make them Twizzlers?

Simple Sundays...

2006-02-19T16:35:00.000-05:00

In the absence of much to do today, I've found myself watching Romeo & Juliet on HBO. I unapologetically love this movie... the imagery & color & music & even the acting. I remember Shani & I saw it in the theater... and the two girls in front of us were hysterical at the end. They were seriously shocked that ROMEO & JULIET really died. Heh. I hope they didn't see Titanic because that ending was really shocking.

Remember when Leo was on Growing Pains? No? Nobody does but me because I'm pretty sure nobody watched the last season but me. Mike was suddenly a teacher & Leo was some student living in a closet at the school and so the Seavers took him in. And then there was the "very special episode" where Luke (Leo's character) poured all of the Seavers' booze down the kitchen sink and they all thought he was a little alcoholic. But of course, he wasn't. He just didn't want them to be alcoholics like his parents!! Boy, we all learned a great lesson with that episode... I... guess. Anywho - Leonardo DiCaprio is now one of those actors who I don't really like but I end up enjoying most of his movies. Like Kevin Costner.

But Claire Danes remains a favorite. Whether she's Angela Chase or Sookie Sapperstein, hanging out with Zac Posen or stealing Billy Crudup away from Mary Loiuse Parker... she's always OK in my book.

And, yeah... this was clearly a boredom-induced post.

Bye, Bye Kara...

2006-02-15T23:06:00.000-05:00

Yeah, Kara was out on Project Runway... but luckily she still got to show at fashion week. I loved her runway show and now have way more respect for her as a designer. The judges were right though, she should have made something more like the beautiful dress she was wearing. Something that gave them an idea of what she would show at fashion week. Something like this...

Nice One, Bravo

2006-02-15T22:43:00.000-05:00

So, 10 minutes before the end of this episode of Project Runway and Bravo already has the winner & loser up on the website. At least I know I was right...

I'm Off to See the World...

2006-02-11T19:11:00.000-05:00

No, not really. I'm just here at home watching the "anniversary edition" of Breakfast at Tiffany's. So, I'm singing along to Moon River. This edition has actual special features... right now I'm watching "It's so Audrey: A Style Icon." She is certainly my favorite style icon.

In addition, I also bought another Audrey movie tonight... Two for the Road. I have been waiting for this movie to come out on DVD for as long as I've had a DVD player. It's one of my "Essential Audrey" movies... the other two being Breakfast at Tiffany's and Funny Face. That's not to say I don't love, love, love Roman Holiday & Sabrina & My Fair Lady, because I most definitely do. But these three movies are my favorites.

OK, the movie is starting. I'm going to practice my knitting while watching. It is, after all, the movie that made me want to learn how to knit. It only took me 15 years to start.

Project Runway @ Fashion Week

2006-02-10T13:15:00.000-05:00

Well, today was the big day. The final fashion show for Project Runway. I've already poored over the pictures at Getty Images and I definitely have some thoughts going on in my head now... all 4 collections were so complete that it's pretty hard to tell who was the decoy (but my bet is still on Kara).

Starting with Santino:

Dude, what have you been doing this whole time!? This is gorgeous and finished and flattering and gorgeous. There was one outfit I hated. But that was it... crazy. He did great. I wish he'd been doing this all along.

Next up is Kara:

Very fun, very young collection. Another surprise. This outfit I love... until you get below the knees. I would have liked to see full length pants. I loved what she did with the layering in many of her outfits. Some of her dresses were just so-so. But a very nice showing overall, I'd say.

Now (oh my)... Chloe:

The most surprising of all (and not in a good way) was Chloe's collection. This dress? Stunning. This dress? The only thing in her entire collection that I loved. I couldn't even bare to post some of the other pictures here... you'll have to go see them for yourself. It was just... not good. 80's prom not good.

Finally, Daniel:

What can I say... I'm a simple girl. And this ENTIRE collection made me gasp with delight. Especially this dress and the gorgeous white coat. His collection was, by far, my favorite. Everything was beautiful and wearable. This collection looks like a winner to me. Daniel V gets my vote.

Horoscope

2006-02-09T14:13:00.000-05:00

I used to check my horoscope everyday (for amusement only, of course)... it's been a long time, but since I was already at Elle.com, I decided to click to see what today would bring. Best. Horoscope. Ever.

Daily Horoscope:

For February 9: Today puts a big smile on your face because as usual, you’re proven to be right. It does your heart a lot of good when others have to admit that you were right all along – and they weren’t. Eventually, others will shut up and listen to your words of wit and wisdom, instead of waste gobs of time arguing. Your biggest challenge today will be to not gloat.

Heehee... hehehehe. I love it. You can't believe how much this happens to me. I hope "eventually" get here soon. I should clearly start practicing the not gloating part. Heh.

Must Buy Magazine

2006-02-09T13:44:00.000-05:00

I haven't been to interested in Architectual Digest for a long time. But I will most definitely buy the new issue. Why?

Because I am a sucker for Audrey...

Found via Apartment Therapy LA

Good Luck, Nick...

2006-02-08T22:58:00.000-05:00

Wow. Project Runway... you are disappointing me this season. Just stupid. I mean...come on. Dumb producers. This is totally their fault. This is worse than when Austin was sent home.

I feel so sad for Nick right now. He was my favorite from day 1. In fact, he's still my favorite... he's someone we'll see more of in the future (Photo from Queerty)...

NOOOOOOOO!

2006-02-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

I am going to cry if they send Nick home.... f'in ridiculous if Santino gets away with an outfit that is falling apart. AGAIN. Gah.

Nice F#@king Twist

2006-02-08T21:50:00.000-05:00

I didn't see that coming. I take back my Sawyer insult... that was a good con and he got everyone who needed to be taken down a notch. Except Sun, of course. I really liked that Charlie twist, too. Locke deserves worse than that for being such a douchebag. And next week's episode looks awesome!! Especially if they really do let that stupid clock hit zero. OMG, what if the island blows up! Hee.

Yeah, and I'm sure Meredith GREY's gonna blow up on Grey's Anatomy next week. Heh.

Locke is Evil

2006-02-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

I think it was Locke who attacked Sun... just a mid-Lost thought. It seems to obvious for it to be Ana-Lucia. I guess we'll see in another few minutes. Another thought about Lost is, Sawyer? Worst con man ever.

Meanwhile... some commercial thoughts. Teri Hatcher looks like she's decomposing. And the Kermit the Frog/Ford Hybrid commercial makes me tear up a little.

Other TV predictions: Nick's gonna win tonight on Project Runway and Kara is going home.

Now back to the show...

Blurry Dog...

2006-02-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

Gopher

This blurry little dude is one of my dogs, Gopher. This is my first successful attempt and third overall attempt at moblogging with my cute new camera phone. Apparently, the downside to having such a nice camera phone (1.3 megapixels) is that all of the really nice pictures it takes are to big to moblog. I guess I'll just have to learn how to take better low resolution pics. I can still send the really nice pictures to myself and upload them the old fashioned way... but that kinda defeats the purpose of moblogging, now doesn't it?

Stop! For the Love of Walt

2006-01-26T22:15:00.000-05:00

I just saw a commercial for Bambi 2... mother f'er. Does Disney have no shame. Now, I have no doubt that they sell these insta-sequels but it's just getting ridiculous. It's bad enough when they do them for newer movies like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty & the Beast but when they start messing with Cinderella, Bambi & Lady and the Tramp... that's when I get pissed. Just stop!!!!

Yea! Jay!

2006-01-26T12:30:00.000-05:00

I was so happy to see Jay on last night's episode of Project Runway. And SOOOOOOOO glad that Zulema was sent packing. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And Andrae was totally robbed. Hey judges, you know how you're always saying... it's not flattering, no woman would wear that, etc, etc? Well, this is not flattering and no woman (in her right mind) would wear this:

Is it beautiful? Maybe. But my first thought when it came down the runway was, "OMG, that's horrifying." And, why pick that outfit when Andrae's dress was both beautiful and wearable?

But my most favorite part in last night episode was all the yelling at my TV at Sanitino, "That's Austin's fabric, dude." And the end result was Austin's grammy dress after being put through a shredder. Heh. But I have to say, I do find Santino very entertaining. Those impressions are dead-on.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty disappointed with a lot of the designers this season. There were only two nice complete outfits last night, Andrae's & Chloe's. I'll give Daniel credit, because his outfit was inspired and that was the theme. But 3 out of 7 is not that good. Nick needs to stop with those skirts... but he's still my favorite.

Memoirs of a Supermodel

2006-01-24T15:28:00.000-05:00

Sweet. Kate Moss is rumored to have signed a deal to write her autobiography.

Kate Moss has signed a $1.8m deal for the rights to her autobiography, after Virgin mogul Richard Branson convinced her she should set the record straight on her turbulent 2005.

I can't wait.

Branson convinces Moss to publish autobiography

CB2 Catalog!

2006-01-21T13:13:00.000-05:00

Just got the very first CB2 catalog in the mail (CB2 is the hip offspring of Crate & Barrel). YEA!!! Flipped through it in about a second and here's what I want right away:

Spoon Coffee Mug

Punapippuri Bed Linens

Bingo Pillows

Clothespin Chopsticks

Whirly Hanging Candleholder

Union Dining Table

Elle Favorites: February '06

2006-01-20T21:36:00.000-05:00

I know that a lot of people already do this but I've always wanted to do it myself. I read a lot of fashion & design magazines - Vogue, Elle, Lucky, Domino, Elle Decor, Living Etc., Teen Vogue, & W - on a regular basis. And sometimes more. I've been re-inspired by one of my favorite blogs, Just My Cup of Tea, to share my favorites from some of them every once in awhile. I probably won't do it every month and certainly not for every magazine just because I'm lazy mcdaisy... also, I have no scanner hooked up right now so this post is lacking pretty pictures (except for the jeans). I'll work on that.

Here are a few my favorite things from February's Elle magazine:

Drew Barrymore in the new Missoni ad. She looks so stunning that I'll forgive her for not wearing a bra under her pretty green dress at the Golden Globes.

These Maxfield jeans:

The creepy but cool bat pins, page 98.

Marc Jacobs ~~band-aids~~ adhesive bandages, page 184.

Ostrich-feather miniskirt, page 241.

Michelle Kwan story... I hope she does great next month in Torino.

And finally, Madonna is on the cover... what else is there to say?

I Need a New Subject

2006-01-17T22:47:00.000-05:00

Big changes are coming! Big humongous changes!!! OK, not really that big but I'm hoping that this will be the year where I design myself a fresh, new blog and have it hosted all by it's lonesome. But until then, I'm going to talk about TV some more...

I think I love Love Monkey. It's a really cute show. I can't believe I like a show with Brandon Walsh on it...

BOOOOOOOOOOO!

2006-01-11T23:01:00.000-05:00

I'm so sad that Diana was sent home on Project Runway tonight. She was one of my favorites. I felt like Marla brought her down... she acted like a belligerent child for quite a bit of the challenge. She had nothing to contribute but just complained. You know, she didn't even complain she just stood there with that stupid look on her face. I also felt a little Tim Gunn hate this episode. Makes me sad that he never "got" Diana. Usually, I agree with all of his critiques during the design process but this time he just seemed to stifle Diana's creativeness. Some people might think that she is "conceptual" but in reality, I think her designs are very fashion forward. And the fact is, everyone of her designs was beautiful.

Really, I didn't really like anybody's outfit tonight. The winning design was nice but looked to much like many of last year's Banana Republic dresses. Poor Nick got saddled with Santino the Ego and was lucky to get out alive in my opinion. I hated the reversible jacket on Emmett & Chloe's outfit. Emmett is the next to go. I'm really shocked at some of the designer's who are left. Zulema, Kara, Andrae & Emmett have really not impressed much at all. Oh well... there's always next week. Go nick!

Tacky Hilton

2006-01-04T23:11:00.000-05:00

I should have known not to go against my first instincts...

From the very first episode of season 2, I've said that Santino's clothes look like something Paris Hilton would wear. So, when I found out that Nicky Hilton was the socialite they had to design for my first thought was that I should pick Santino for this week's winner... but I had a misconception that Nicky was slightly (barely) more classy than Parisite. WRONG! And now the evil Purple Pieman (I knew he looked familiar!) has another win. Booooooooooooo! With, by the way, practically the same f'in Hiltonish dress he made for the first episode.

I really wanted Nick to win. And not just for the points. I'm sticking with my first instincts with him (just like Jay)... he rocks. Overall, it was a good episode. I was more impressed with some designers that I'd already written off... Emmett's dress was actually cute. I didn't like it at first, but on the runway it worked. And Andrae's dress was cool, too. Was kinda disappointed in Chloe's dress... it was cute but resembled her 2nd episode dress a little to much. But I did like Daniel V's (probably don't need the initial anymore... poor Daniel Franco) dress... he made it work. I thought Diana's dress was gorgeous. I little froufy on the bottom but please, as if the Hilton's care about flattering clothes. And it was great to see Dirty Diana... I was reading her blog and thinking that they were portraying her a little to "conceptual geek" so far. She seems much more fun and I really hope her internet show gets off the ground because I really want to learn how to make a purse that lights up when my cell phone rings.

Anywho - my TVR cut off in the middle of next week's preview (grrr) so I'll have to go to the website tomorrow and check it out. Must know what's going to happen. Don't forget to check out the TWOP recap and here's a great blog devoted to Blogging Project Runway (giving her the proper props for the the Purple Pieman reference). Ooooh, just saw a preview that said 2 designers will be out next week... awesome.

Bunnies!

2005-12-13T10:37:00.000-05:00

I've just found the 30-Second Bunnies Theatre (via pesky apostrophe) and thought I'd pass it on...

30-Second Bunnies Theatre

Imagine

2005-12-08T21:44:00.000-05:00

Unless you live under a rock, you probably know that today is the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's murder. Me, I was all of 4 years old when he died so I can't speak to the experience of that time myself. I "discovered" (doesn't every teenager think they're the first to discover something) John Lennon when I was in junior high... I caught a Beatles documentary on cable and was hooked. I immediately took to John because he was clearly the smart and talented one. And Paul's an asshat (and clearly, that's my new favorite word)... sorry, he's not untalented and he maybe used to be cool but... ok, here it is:

It's Lennon-McCartney, fucker... you made a deal so deal with it. Work out a new deal w/John in your afterlife but right now, shut the fuck up cause nobody wants to hear it. And that's all I have to say about that.

Anywho - I suddenly loved me some John Lennon. So, I did what I do when I'm interested in any new subject... I obsessively researched. Checked out every book and video and CD at the library and soon I knew more about John Lennon than anybody ever. Heh... right. But I did know a lot more than anyone I knew. John was a super intense interest of mine during my junior high & high school years. I highly recommend the Imagine: John Lennon documentary, which I used to check out the out of the library every chance I'd get. I watched it over and over and over and it now has a place of honor on my TVR...

His art - music, visual, all of it - ~~was~~ is incredibly beautiful & inspiring to me. I hope that teenagers will be "discovering" him until the end of time and that one day soon the world will truly live as one... just as he imagined.

TV Talk

2005-12-08T20:32:00.000-05:00

Hmmm... so Project Runway is still the coolest reality show ever. Last night's two episodes were super awesome. I wish it was already next Wednesday! My early favorites are Chloe, Nick & Diana. I loved Santino's semifinal dress but didn't really feel the leather jacket skirt thingy he made for the first official challenge. Plus he's already kind of an asshead. And how about that kind of evil first challenge... I was wondering how they'd top the grocery store "innovation" episode. (Ha! I'm watching the commercial for Skating with the Stars... I love the part where they smash their heads into the ice the best. I might have to watch just to see that over and over.) I'd be sad about my favorite outfit but I still don't think I'd lame out like Kirsten did. There were a couple of designers that made a bad first impression... but I'll hold off on judging them too harshly right now... except you Santino. Asshat. And you Zulema.

Also, super pleasantly surprised by ANTM's final episode... I thought for sure Miss-lack-of-Personality Nik would win. I'm glad Nicole won. They really had me worried with the first elimination... thought they were going keep crazy Bre.

I'm watching last night's episode of Isaac... he's fucking genius. I want to live in his TV/design studio. I'm often disappointed with his clothes at the 'get (the rest of his Target stuff pretty much rocks)... but I can't get enough of him otherwise. SO glad we got cable (& TVR, heh) in time to see the first episodes. I'm having a better day everyday that he's on my TV.

I think that's all the TV talk for now. Although... what was with The O.C. being on until 9:13? Oh. HAHAHAHA... I forgot the power of the TVR. And yeah, I know it's a DVR but if I can't use the name TiVo for my new faux-TiVo, then TVR is the next best thing.

Have a Better Day

2005-12-04T21:14:00.000-05:00

Say what? Isaac Mizrahi has a new talk show? Awesome. And we just got digital cable on Friday... perfect. I hope it's as good as his old show. How could you really go wrong with Isaac... starts Monday night @ 7:00 on Style network.

Isaac :: Have a Better Day

Project Runway Countdown

2005-11-17T12:47:00.000-05:00

There's a lot of press about Project Runway 2 around lately. Elle has a few pages devoted to it in their December issue (with Joss Stone on the cover). Included are updates about Jay, Austin and Kevin. And a couple of ads for the show with Hoidi holding paper cut-outs of the 16 (up from 12) new designers... including the very annoying Daniel from Season 1, Episode 1. Boo. Joe & I both hope he gets cut the first episode again... in fact, they should bring him back every season and cut him the first episode. Heh.

Anyway, I'm getting ready for Season 2 by reading the TWOP recaps of Season 1 and also re-reading Tim's Take on the Bravo website. In case you don't know, Tim Gunn is the most awesome member of the Project Runway team (followed closely by Michael Kors). Here's a sampling of his wit (from season 1, episode 5):

But, Wendy, can you give the asymmetry a rest? Alexandra handles asymmetry masterfully — and thoughtfully. With Wendy, it becomes a serious distraction. I looked at the dress on the runway and thought, "This dress would look so much more appropriate if Joy had scoliosis."

As for the countdown... only 21 more days.

Wish List: DVD Special Edition

2005-11-12T23:31:00.000-05:00

Oh, DVD's... I can never get enough of you.

I've been waiting for them to re-release The Muppet Movie & The Great Muppet Caper for a couple of years and finally they'll be out on November 29th. Kermit's 50th Anniversary Editions no less. Wow... Kermit is getting old... how come Big Bird's still only 5 years old? Speaking of Jim Henson's genius, I have also been eyeing Fraggle Rock: Complete First Season and The Muppet Show: Season One. The original pilot of The Muppet Show was called "Sex & Violence!"? Awesome.

Other movies I waited years for but haven't bought yet: The Turning Point - awesome ballet movie with Anne Bancroft & Shirley MacLaine and Two for the Road - one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn movies.

Other TV shows I want on DVD... Seinfeld: Season 4, Season 5 & Season 6 and Lost: The Complete First Season.

Some other DVD's I want... Unzipped - Isaac Mizrahi documentary... if they ever release The Isaac Mizrahi Show on DVD that would be super cool. I Heart Huckabees - this movie rocks big time. Melinda & Melinda - very good Woody Allen movie... the only time I haven't cursed at the very site of Chloe Sevigny. Empire of the Sun - I love this movie... one of my favorite Spielberg movies. Band of Brothers - I can't even say enough good things about this mini-series brought to you by Spanks (Spielberg & Hanks).

My Wes Anderson collection is really sad considering how much I enjoy all of his movies. Here are the ones I don't own: Bottle Rocket, Rushmore & The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. And yes, I know that's every movie he's ever made except The Royal Tenenbaums.

Whoa! That's a lot of DVD's...

Wish List: More Books

2005-11-11T22:41:00.000-05:00

Here are 10 more books I'd love to own...

My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living by Jonathan Adler

Make Your Own Contemporary Quilts by Paola Pieroni

Baryshnikov: In Black and White by Mikhail Baryshnikov

Urban Ore: Resourceful Styles for City Spaces by Marc Kitchen-Smith

Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home by Linda Mason Hunter

Redux: Designs That Reuse Recycle, And Reveal by Jennifer Roberts

Jim Henson: The Works - The Art, the Magic, the Imagination by Christopher Finch

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952 by Charles M. Schulz

The Complete Peanuts 1953-1954 by Charles M. Schulz

Tool!!

2005-11-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

What a motherf'ing tool...

Bush: Critics try to rewrite Iraq war history

With all the information that's been coming to light lately about some of the things his administration has been up to, he still doesn't get it. He still thinks it's a good idea to walk & talk with that GIGANTIC chip on his shoulder... isn't his approval rating like 5% (ok, 39%)? Sometimes, I really don't have faith that our country is going to make it through his 2nd administration.

Big Ol' Wish List 2005

2005-11-11T00:38:00.000-05:00

The only thing left to hint for are gift cards...

Target
Amazon
Anthropologie
Kaufmann's

And the previously mentioned... Sephora, Beauty First & Aveda.

And for future studio supplies... JoAnn Fabrics, Dick Blick, Pat Catan's, Michaels, & Utrecht are all good.

And really, a gift card from pretty much any store/restaurant is always fun. In fact pretty much any gift is always fun... but hanging out with me is the best gift of all. Hee.

And the very last thing I'd like is a yummy & gorgeous cake from the super cool bakery. Marble w/a chocolate fudgey middle would rock.

Since I really didn't think this wish list thing through and the posts are sort of scattered through the last few weeks, I thought I'd use this post to link to all my previous wish list posts:

Wish List: DVD Special Edition
Wish List: More Books
Wish List: Home Spa
Wish List: Musical Interlude
Wish List: Light Reading
Amazon Wish List Highlights
I Want: Sex and the City
I Want: Jackie's Pearls
I Want: Yoga Toes
I Want: Two-In-One Paper Cutter
I Want: Buri Bead Bracelet

Wish List: Home Spa

2005-11-07T16:12:00.000-05:00

I was thinking about instituting a little weekly spa-ness into my life. Maybe Sunday Night Spa or Saturday Morning Spa. Spend 2 hours or so just treating myself well. Here are a couple of things that would go with that theme:

The Massage Deck - this will go well with my Yoga Deck. And this book, The Healing Energy of Your Hands, looks interesting to me, too.

Hmmm... there are lots of products I love but gift cards might be easier for stuff like that... I get almost all of my stuff at Beauty First, Aveda & Sephora.

I'm also looking for an inflatable bath pillow that isn't shaped like a f'in shell... so that would be cool, too.