I went to Peter Luger's [http://www.peterluger.com/] today with my friends Johnna, Yvette and Linda, and MAN, they serve some damn good meat. Tender, flavorful, just so good. It was a meat orgy: steaks, burger, shrimp AND Canadian bacon. It was so much food that six hours later and, to me, the idea of food is quite sickening. I think I even have a meat
hangover. Although, I might just have a bourbon hangover. Or a shrimp cocktail hangover. Or a cheesecake hangover.
+================+
The REAL Truth About Women
Women have many hidden secrets. We are an illusive group. But I am opening the secrets to our world to you men now so that you can understand what we as a group go through to assimilate in today's society. Following are a few facts that you, as men, just never knew:
Fact #241: Bras have always given women shape -- from bulleted to inflated. The real truth however is that women's breasts are like flat, unfilled balloons that generally are 4 to 5 feet in length. We roll them up like a pair of socks to fit into the bra. We also use our breasts to carry our change and fly.
Fact #32: Women's leg hair is retractable. Similar to a cat's claw, we can lengthen and shorten our leg hair depending on any situation. If we like you, we will fully retract our leg hair. If we don't like you, we will fully extend our leg hair. For some women, this is vice versa. Our underarm hair is also retractable.
Fact #665: Women buy four to five times as many body/hair/skin products as men because we eat these products for nutritional purposes. The aloe and chamomile extracts provide us with the necessary vitamins to teeter in high heels for 16 miles straight, calculate the volume of a revolving rhombus in a tank of sea water, and travel through L-space.
+================+
My friend Matt and his friend Dave have their own podcast called "The Matt & Dave Show." You can either subscribe to it in iTunes (podcast search keyword: dave & matt show) or go to www.daveandmattshow.com. You can subscribe to the podcast right from the show page.
As Matt says:
"The show is the same type of humor you'd hear when we were all in college, but now we're actually online with it. It's been really fun. Let us know what you think at feedback@daveandmattshow.com. If you really like it -- or even if you don't -- please vote for our show on www.podcastalley.com. Do a search on our show ("Dave & Matt Show"), and then vote for it. It'll make a difference."
So, check them out!
+================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Yvette, Johnna and Linda, Two words: MEAT ORGY
Carey, Steven and Alex
Bob and Russell
Michelle E.
+================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at: http://freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of March 16, 2006
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Monday, March 6, 2006
Frynn!
This is my friend Frynn* and her pal Frio* - they are on a helicopter flying over some place with palm trees and lots of sand. Lots of sand. I mean a lot of sand.
*Names have been changed to protect their identities.
VACCINES ARE SAFE, DAMMIT
I feel really strongly about vaccines. This is not just because I work in the industry, but because vaccines have prevented millions of deaths in the world. We think that polio, measles, mumps, etc., are no longer a threat in the U.S., but it's because so many people around us are vaccinated that we are protecting others from getting these diseases. If we do not immunize, then the threat of these diseases returning will grow many-fold.
There are so many people I know who are on the fence about vaccines, but let me tell you: there is nothing to be on the fence about (yes, ending in preposition, but I can't help it). Vaccines prevent disease. Yes, there used to be thimerosal (a preservative used to keep vaccines bacteria and fungus free, which contains some ethylmercury) in vaccines, but today, almost all vaccines are thimerosal free -- only certain flu vaccines have thimerosal and you can ask for a thimerosal free version when getting vaccinated.
So what is this debate about vaccine safety? There is no debate. Vaccines are safe!
Here's an op-ed from a small town paper in Kearney, NE, which explains this a little more clearly:
03/04/2006
Vaccines can be both fresh, safe
Kearney Hub
A letter to the Letterbox on Feb. 25 prompted me to write concerning the safety of childhood vaccines. The issue raised in the Feb. 25 letter is the use of the preservative Thimerosal in vaccines. Preservatives keep vaccines pure from bacterial and fungal growth.
Thimerosal, which contains ethylmercury, was used at one time in some childhood vaccines. Concerns were raised in the late-1990s that ethylmercury could have some of the neurotoxic properties of its cousin, methylmercury. However, studies done by the Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine in the United States, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom failed to show any connection between Thimerosal exposure and the neurodevelopmental disorders of autism, ADHD and speech or language delay.
The committee did recommend reducing the Thimerosal in vaccines to trace amounts because of theoretical risk, and to keep public trust in vaccines. Since 2001, all vaccines for children are either entirely free of Thimerosal (most) or contain only trace amounts (two).
Vaccines are strong protectors of our children. In the early years of my practice, it was common to see five to 10 cases of meningitis per month, due to Haemophilus Influenza Type B or Pneumococcus. These infections would often result in death or brain injury for the patient, and devastation for the families.
Since the advent of routine immunization with the HIB vaccine (1983) and Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (2000), these horrible diseases are almost wiped out.
As responsible parents and medical caregivers, it is important to know the facts. Physicians’ offices that care for children have excellent handouts on all vaccines. Also, there are two reliable Web sites, which give very good information, including the exact content of all vaccines. These Web sites are www.cdc.gov and www.immunize.org.
Be smart. Know the facts. Immunize your children.
Katherine A. Keifer, M.D.Kearney Clinic P.C.
http://www.kearneyhub.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=268&dept_id=551080&newsid=16240235
There are so many people I know who are on the fence about vaccines, but let me tell you: there is nothing to be on the fence about (yes, ending in preposition, but I can't help it). Vaccines prevent disease. Yes, there used to be thimerosal (a preservative used to keep vaccines bacteria and fungus free, which contains some ethylmercury) in vaccines, but today, almost all vaccines are thimerosal free -- only certain flu vaccines have thimerosal and you can ask for a thimerosal free version when getting vaccinated.
So what is this debate about vaccine safety? There is no debate. Vaccines are safe!
Here's an op-ed from a small town paper in Kearney, NE, which explains this a little more clearly:
03/04/2006
Vaccines can be both fresh, safe
Kearney Hub
A letter to the Letterbox on Feb. 25 prompted me to write concerning the safety of childhood vaccines. The issue raised in the Feb. 25 letter is the use of the preservative Thimerosal in vaccines. Preservatives keep vaccines pure from bacterial and fungal growth.
Thimerosal, which contains ethylmercury, was used at one time in some childhood vaccines. Concerns were raised in the late-1990s that ethylmercury could have some of the neurotoxic properties of its cousin, methylmercury. However, studies done by the Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine in the United States, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom failed to show any connection between Thimerosal exposure and the neurodevelopmental disorders of autism, ADHD and speech or language delay.
The committee did recommend reducing the Thimerosal in vaccines to trace amounts because of theoretical risk, and to keep public trust in vaccines. Since 2001, all vaccines for children are either entirely free of Thimerosal (most) or contain only trace amounts (two).
Vaccines are strong protectors of our children. In the early years of my practice, it was common to see five to 10 cases of meningitis per month, due to Haemophilus Influenza Type B or Pneumococcus. These infections would often result in death or brain injury for the patient, and devastation for the families.
Since the advent of routine immunization with the HIB vaccine (1983) and Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (2000), these horrible diseases are almost wiped out.
As responsible parents and medical caregivers, it is important to know the facts. Physicians’ offices that care for children have excellent handouts on all vaccines. Also, there are two reliable Web sites, which give very good information, including the exact content of all vaccines. These Web sites are www.cdc.gov and www.immunize.org.
Be smart. Know the facts. Immunize your children.
Katherine A. Keifer, M.D.Kearney Clinic P.C.
http://www.kearneyhub.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=268&dept_id=551080&newsid=16240235
Dead Skin Dress
What was Naomi Watts thinking? She looks like she is wearing a dress of dead skin! My friend Annie said she needed a good sloughing. I agree.
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the bluuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeessssss.... (3/1/06)
The day of reckoning has cometh. Leggings are back. http://nymag.com/fashion/features/16015/index.html
+========================+
I am not girly. I know that most of you know that, but I have these moments of clarity and they are usually ridiculously obvious. At 7:45 AM, I was in a carload of co-workers, all of whom were women (I work in PR -- it's a female dominated sphere. This is because women communicate.) and everyone was dressed up to go to our client meeting, which was 2 hours away. The one thing I noticed during the car ride was that everyone was poised and feminine -- legs crossed, making small talk. What was Michelle doing? Slumped in her chair, sleeping with her mouth open. And no, I wasn't drooling.
But you know what? I am okay with this. I got a really good nap and they didn't.
+========================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
WELCOME TO THE WORLD, CATRIONA! (And congratulations to proud parents Mija and Kevin, much love)
CONGRATULATIONS TO DR. CYNTHA; Jacksonville welcomes you with open arms!
CONGRATULATIONS TO MARTHA L; You're working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living!
+========================+
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of March 2, 2006
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Printed from http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
+========================+
I am not girly. I know that most of you know that, but I have these moments of clarity and they are usually ridiculously obvious. At 7:45 AM, I was in a carload of co-workers, all of whom were women (I work in PR -- it's a female dominated sphere. This is because women communicate.) and everyone was dressed up to go to our client meeting, which was 2 hours away. The one thing I noticed during the car ride was that everyone was poised and feminine -- legs crossed, making small talk. What was Michelle doing? Slumped in her chair, sleeping with her mouth open. And no, I wasn't drooling.
But you know what? I am okay with this. I got a really good nap and they didn't.
+========================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
WELCOME TO THE WORLD, CATRIONA! (And congratulations to proud parents Mija and Kevin, much love)
CONGRATULATIONS TO DR. CYNTHA; Jacksonville welcomes you with open arms!
CONGRATULATIONS TO MARTHA L; You're working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living!
+========================+
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of March 2, 2006
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Printed from http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Thursday, February 16, 2006
He sneezes like a horse (2-16-06)
I was in the elevator this morning with this one guy. Just the two of
us. All quiet. And then he had to sneeze. Like a horse. Now, YOU
know my problems with germs. Being encased in a small box with
another human being is more than enough to make me bring out the
antibacterials wipes, but MAN -- a SNEEZE?!!! How am I supposed to
protect myself against that? AND he didn't cover his mouth. He used
his Blackberry to cover the sneeze. AS IF that will stop the germs
from ricocheting off the walls. After he sneezed, I held my breathe
to keep the germs entering my body. It was only a couple of floors
before freedom so I was alright.
+=============================+
I have been blogging more.
+=============================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
BOB AND RUSSELL
CONGRATULATIONS TO CATHY, ERIK AND SAMUEL (a very cute little boy)
MIKE, JEN AND GRAHAM
GLAD YOU MADE IT SAFELY TO [LAND OF SAND AND OTHER INTERESTING
THINGS], FRYNN (name has been changed to protect the person's
identity)
+=============================+
Check out your weekly horoscopes at Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of February 16, 2006
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
us. All quiet. And then he had to sneeze. Like a horse. Now, YOU
know my problems with germs. Being encased in a small box with
another human being is more than enough to make me bring out the
antibacterials wipes, but MAN -- a SNEEZE?!!! How am I supposed to
protect myself against that? AND he didn't cover his mouth. He used
his Blackberry to cover the sneeze. AS IF that will stop the germs
from ricocheting off the walls. After he sneezed, I held my breathe
to keep the germs entering my body. It was only a couple of floors
before freedom so I was alright.
+=============================+
I have been blogging more.
+=============================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
BOB AND RUSSELL
CONGRATULATIONS TO CATHY, ERIK AND SAMUEL (a very cute little boy)
MIKE, JEN AND GRAHAM
GLAD YOU MADE IT SAFELY TO [LAND OF SAND AND OTHER INTERESTING
THINGS], FRYNN (name has been changed to protect the person's
identity)
+=============================+
Check out your weekly horoscopes at Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of February 16, 2006
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
As tiny as a little hamster....
From my friend FREVEN - he feeds my hamster obsession... Bad Freven, Bad.
http://news.com.com/2300-1010_3-6031405-8.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
"When hamsters compute. This is someone's house pet posed with a Hitachi microdrive. The drives, with 1-inch diameter platters, were invented in 1999 by IBM, but didn't find a mass market until the arrival of iPod Minis. It is unclear whether gerbils or guinea pigs can actually take advantage of the technology."
Credit: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
http://news.com.com/2300-1010_3-6031405-8.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
"When hamsters compute. This is someone's house pet posed with a Hitachi microdrive. The drives, with 1-inch diameter platters, were invented in 1999 by IBM, but didn't find a mass market until the arrival of iPod Minis. It is unclear whether gerbils or guinea pigs can actually take advantage of the technology."
Credit: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
Monday, February 13, 2006
My nephew
I like to send my nephew holiday cards -- it's an easy way to send mail and a little present from his KOMO (that's Korean for aunt on the father's side). Another reason why I send him holiday cards and presents is he will actually talk on the phone after receiving a card/present from me. Yes, I am willing to sink to those depths to bribe my nephew to talk to me on the phone. I will go that low. And it's great fun to bribe him. This time, I sent him a snoopy card and shark tattoos (temporary). Yeah, I am that cool.
My mom sent my nephew/her grandson $3. I am sure she got a nice long phone conversation for that!
My mom sent my nephew/her grandson $3. I am sure she got a nice long phone conversation for that!
happy lunch
happy lunch
Originally uploaded by ilovermont.
From http://www.justinspace.com/lunch/happylunch01.html
This is indeed a crazy happy lunch. I would eat their shiny happy heads with relish!
Friday, February 3, 2006
I am a strong, independent Black woman (2/3/06)
My ex-roommate Sasha let me know that Mars and Venus have been in retrograde, making the recent weeks feel like a timewarp and not in a good way. However, the good news is that after today, February 3, the retrograde is over and we will be propelled into action. Thank goodness!
+====================+
I want to be sitting on a recliner on the beach of St. Martin, soaking in the sun with a cool drink in my hand.
+====================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Belated Congratulations to Greg, Sunita and Vijay (the newest member of the Vinton family)!
Congratulations to Lisa, Ed and Jake Nathaniel (a very new edition to the Doherty family)!
Happy Birthday to Ashbloem!
Congratulations on quitting the horrible, thankless job, Sandy!
Happy Birthday to Carey!
+====================+
Check out your horoscopes at http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of February 2, 2006
+====================+
I want to be sitting on a recliner on the beach of St. Martin, soaking in the sun with a cool drink in my hand.
+====================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Belated Congratulations to Greg, Sunita and Vijay (the newest member of the Vinton family)!
Congratulations to Lisa, Ed and Jake Nathaniel (a very new edition to the Doherty family)!
Happy Birthday to Ashbloem!
Congratulations on quitting the horrible, thankless job, Sandy!
Happy Birthday to Carey!
+====================+
Check out your horoscopes at http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of February 2, 2006
Thursday, February 2, 2006
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Slippery slope (1-26-06)
I know there are some of you who do this. I know it. And I know
there are some of you who secretly wish they could do this, but can't.
Personally, I find it really disgusting and don't understand it. I
just don't understand it at all.
People who carry their pillows with them while they travel -- why, why
do they do that? Don't they see the germ exposure! People who carry
their pillows are always sitting on them, folding them against the
public seats, dragging them on the floor.
EUW.
And the pillows are always stained, dirty, drooled on. Very...loved.
What I don't understand is why that dirty, stained pillow is so
necessary that it must be carried around on a trip. And why can't
they put a nice clean cover on it. Or at least put the pillow in a
plastic bag. Or even just leave the stinky stained thing at home.
I can understand the love of a good pillow. But please, people, try
not to carry the stinking bag of dust mites and skin flakes with you.
Or at least, refrain from swinging the pillow in my direction.
+===================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Mike, Jen and Graham
Ertischek
+===================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of January 26, 2006
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
there are some of you who secretly wish they could do this, but can't.
Personally, I find it really disgusting and don't understand it. I
just don't understand it at all.
People who carry their pillows with them while they travel -- why, why
do they do that? Don't they see the germ exposure! People who carry
their pillows are always sitting on them, folding them against the
public seats, dragging them on the floor.
EUW.
And the pillows are always stained, dirty, drooled on. Very...loved.
What I don't understand is why that dirty, stained pillow is so
necessary that it must be carried around on a trip. And why can't
they put a nice clean cover on it. Or at least put the pillow in a
plastic bag. Or even just leave the stinky stained thing at home.
I can understand the love of a good pillow. But please, people, try
not to carry the stinking bag of dust mites and skin flakes with you.
Or at least, refrain from swinging the pillow in my direction.
+===================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Mike, Jen and Graham
Ertischek
+===================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of January 26, 2006
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Once you get to the palm tree, turn left after the third camel on the right and THEN.... (1-13-06)
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD LIBS
My friend L. lives in Washington, DC, and works for the U.S.
government in the Department of [CRAZY NOUN]. She can't discuss what
she does, but I do know she writes about [PLACES] and [PEOPLE]. She
has always wanted to tour war torned regions, which I think is
[EXPLETIVE ADJECTIVE] crazy, but I know that whatever she does she
will be successful at it. I just hope that she has [NOUN] to protect
her.
So, when she told me that she volunteer to go to [HOT, DUSTY, UNSAFE
COUNTRY], I said, "Wow, that's [EXPLETIVE ADJECTIVE] great!" My next
question was, "What are you going to do about the rest of the
television schedule?" My third questions was, "What will you be doing
in [PLACE WHERE THINGS, WHICH ARE USUALLY LOUD, EXPLOSIVE EVEN, HAPPEN
ON A DAILY BASIS]?"
She told me that she doesn't know. She is just going for [NUMBER] of
[PERIOD OF TIME] and she is not sure what she will be doing. To which
I replied, [EXPLETIVE THAT HARKENS FOUL AROMAS FROM LARGE LUMBERING
FARM ANIMAL]! You just can't say!
We went back and forth on this: No, really I don't know! You just
can't tell me! No, really, I don't know. COME ON! You know. Well,
you can see how this goes.
So, she continued by saying that the next [NUMBER] of [PERIOD OF TIME]
she will be in training classes to learn [NAME OF ACTIVITY] and for
the last [NUMBER] of [PERIOD OF TIME] she will be at [LOCATION THAT
HAS LOTS OF FENCES].
I am just amazed at L. That she can go to [THE COUNTRY WHERE WOMEN
WEAR LOTS OF BLACK] and do... well... something. Especially in
today's political climate. I am very proud of her. Now, I just hope
that she doesn't get [ACTION VERB] or [ANOTHER ACTION VERB], but I do
hope she gets to [ACTION VERB] or [NOT SO ACTION VERB]. And just that
she gets back safe.
So, BON VOYAGE AND SAFE TRAVELS, L.!
+=====================+
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YVETTE! (Thank our international mule for the Baygon!
http://www.baygon.com/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=186)
+=====================+
Check out your horoscopes at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of January 12, 2006
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
My friend L. lives in Washington, DC, and works for the U.S.
government in the Department of [CRAZY NOUN]. She can't discuss what
she does, but I do know she writes about [PLACES] and [PEOPLE]. She
has always wanted to tour war torned regions, which I think is
[EXPLETIVE ADJECTIVE] crazy, but I know that whatever she does she
will be successful at it. I just hope that she has [NOUN] to protect
her.
So, when she told me that she volunteer to go to [HOT, DUSTY, UNSAFE
COUNTRY], I said, "Wow, that's [EXPLETIVE ADJECTIVE] great!" My next
question was, "What are you going to do about the rest of the
television schedule?" My third questions was, "What will you be doing
in [PLACE WHERE THINGS, WHICH ARE USUALLY LOUD, EXPLOSIVE EVEN, HAPPEN
ON A DAILY BASIS]?"
She told me that she doesn't know. She is just going for [NUMBER] of
[PERIOD OF TIME] and she is not sure what she will be doing. To which
I replied, [EXPLETIVE THAT HARKENS FOUL AROMAS FROM LARGE LUMBERING
FARM ANIMAL]! You just can't say!
We went back and forth on this: No, really I don't know! You just
can't tell me! No, really, I don't know. COME ON! You know. Well,
you can see how this goes.
So, she continued by saying that the next [NUMBER] of [PERIOD OF TIME]
she will be in training classes to learn [NAME OF ACTIVITY] and for
the last [NUMBER] of [PERIOD OF TIME] she will be at [LOCATION THAT
HAS LOTS OF FENCES].
I am just amazed at L. That she can go to [THE COUNTRY WHERE WOMEN
WEAR LOTS OF BLACK] and do... well... something. Especially in
today's political climate. I am very proud of her. Now, I just hope
that she doesn't get [ACTION VERB] or [ANOTHER ACTION VERB], but I do
hope she gets to [ACTION VERB] or [NOT SO ACTION VERB]. And just that
she gets back safe.
So, BON VOYAGE AND SAFE TRAVELS, L.!
+=====================+
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YVETTE! (Thank our international mule for the Baygon!
http://www.baygon.com/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=186)
+=====================+
Check out your horoscopes at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of January 12, 2006
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
HAPPY NEW YEAR! (12-28-05)
I have been told by my boss lady that I have been sorely remiss with
my horoscope duties. So, here's to you, Lisa (plus one)!
+========================+
Chronicles of an MTA strike victim
Monday, 12/19, 11:30 PM
Instead of watching the news to see if the strike is on, I finished
watching "Futurama" on Cartoon Network. Love that show. Stupid FOX,
always cancelling the good shows (Futurama, Arrested Development) and
keeping the stupid ones (Stacked, Trading Spouses: Meet Your New
Mommy). I knew the strike was going to happen on Tuesday. I could
feel it in my bones.
DAY 1 OF THE STRIKE:
Tuesday, 12/20, 3 AM
Horrible nightmares.
Strike is on.
Tuesday, 12/20, 6:30 AM
Listen to NPR and am afraid to turn on the tv. The media hysteria has
begun. Go back to sleep.
Tuesday, 12/20, 6:45 AM
Hit snooze.
Tuesday, 12/20, 7 AM
Hit snooze.
Tuesday, 12/20, 7:15 AM
Have to walk to work. Hit snooze.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9 AM
Leave the house, bundled up and wearing the sneakers. Am an hour
late, but so is the rest of the city.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9:05 AM
Everyone is cheery and smiling even though it's freezing cold and they
just walked here from Queens. Gotta love this city.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9:15 AM
Go to Duane Reade and buy stupid stuff.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9:30 AM
Go to Starbucks and buy an apple cider. Realize that their cider is
just a cup of apple juice (from a gallon jug that is sold at the
grocery store for $3) that has been steamed. Cost: $2.50. RIPPED
OFF.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9:45 AM
Buy an artery cloggin breakfast as I have walked 2 miles in the cold.
I feel I deserve a break today. Unfortunately, McDonald's is jam
packed with others who walked and felt they deserved a break too.
Went to the deli next door instead.
Tuesday, 12/20, 10 AM
Realize that it takes me 15-20 minutes to get to work by subway, 35
minutes if I walked without stopping, and 1 hour + by walking and
stopping and shopping.
Tuesday, 12/20, 10:15 AM -- 6:45 PM
Do the work of three people. However, just happy to be indoors after
that cold walk.
Tuesday, 12/20, 6:45 PM -- 9 PM
The walk home is much longer than that walk to work because the stores
are open in the evening. Shopped my way home. Vow to not stop during
my walk tomorrow.
DAY 2 OF THE STRIKE
Wednesday, 12/21, 6:30 AM
There is still a strike. Another reason to sleep in some more.
Wednesday, 12/21, 9 AM
Start walk to work.
Wednesday, 12/21, 9:15 AM
Ohhh, Sharper Image is open. Need to check on something.
Wednesday, 12/21, 9:30 AM
Not what I wanted. Oh, Brookstone is open... no, have to get to work.
Wednesday, 12/21, 10 AM - 6 PM
So busy!
Wednesday, 12/21, 6:10 PM
Line going out the door at Grand Central -- with no public
transportation, we have changed this uber modern city into a gulag.
It takes 3 hours to get to NYC by train from Brooklyn. Someone said
to me that they stood in line for 45 minutes just trying to get out of
the PATH station. What's next? Toilet paper rationing? God forbid.
Wednesday, 6:30 PM
I can't control myself....must...go...home --- screw it --Brookstone!
Wednesday, 9 PM
Damn holiday hours and stores. Back and feet hurt from the walking.
DAY 3 OF THE STRIKE
Thursday, 12/22, 6:30 AM
Dammit.
Thursday, 12/22, 9 AM
People aren't smiling anymore. I hear more grumbling and complaining
in the streets. Dragging my feet to work. Of course, stop by
Fourbucks for coffee. Oh, I need to get something at Duane Reade!
Thursday, 12/22, 10 AM - 3:59 PM
WORK
Thursday, 12/22, 4 PM
STRIKE OVER! Wait, I can't be elated just yet. It will take 10-12
hours for trains to run back on schedule and I have to go to 21st and
7th from 45th and Lex. CRAP.
+========================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Mike, Jen and Graham
Bob and Russell
Lisa D
+========================+
Check out your horoscopes at
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of December 29, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
my horoscope duties. So, here's to you, Lisa (plus one)!
+========================+
Chronicles of an MTA strike victim
Monday, 12/19, 11:30 PM
Instead of watching the news to see if the strike is on, I finished
watching "Futurama" on Cartoon Network. Love that show. Stupid FOX,
always cancelling the good shows (Futurama, Arrested Development) and
keeping the stupid ones (Stacked, Trading Spouses: Meet Your New
Mommy). I knew the strike was going to happen on Tuesday. I could
feel it in my bones.
DAY 1 OF THE STRIKE:
Tuesday, 12/20, 3 AM
Horrible nightmares.
Strike is on.
Tuesday, 12/20, 6:30 AM
Listen to NPR and am afraid to turn on the tv. The media hysteria has
begun. Go back to sleep.
Tuesday, 12/20, 6:45 AM
Hit snooze.
Tuesday, 12/20, 7 AM
Hit snooze.
Tuesday, 12/20, 7:15 AM
Have to walk to work. Hit snooze.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9 AM
Leave the house, bundled up and wearing the sneakers. Am an hour
late, but so is the rest of the city.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9:05 AM
Everyone is cheery and smiling even though it's freezing cold and they
just walked here from Queens. Gotta love this city.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9:15 AM
Go to Duane Reade and buy stupid stuff.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9:30 AM
Go to Starbucks and buy an apple cider. Realize that their cider is
just a cup of apple juice (from a gallon jug that is sold at the
grocery store for $3) that has been steamed. Cost: $2.50. RIPPED
OFF.
Tuesday, 12/20, 9:45 AM
Buy an artery cloggin breakfast as I have walked 2 miles in the cold.
I feel I deserve a break today. Unfortunately, McDonald's is jam
packed with others who walked and felt they deserved a break too.
Went to the deli next door instead.
Tuesday, 12/20, 10 AM
Realize that it takes me 15-20 minutes to get to work by subway, 35
minutes if I walked without stopping, and 1 hour + by walking and
stopping and shopping.
Tuesday, 12/20, 10:15 AM -- 6:45 PM
Do the work of three people. However, just happy to be indoors after
that cold walk.
Tuesday, 12/20, 6:45 PM -- 9 PM
The walk home is much longer than that walk to work because the stores
are open in the evening. Shopped my way home. Vow to not stop during
my walk tomorrow.
DAY 2 OF THE STRIKE
Wednesday, 12/21, 6:30 AM
There is still a strike. Another reason to sleep in some more.
Wednesday, 12/21, 9 AM
Start walk to work.
Wednesday, 12/21, 9:15 AM
Ohhh, Sharper Image is open. Need to check on something.
Wednesday, 12/21, 9:30 AM
Not what I wanted. Oh, Brookstone is open... no, have to get to work.
Wednesday, 12/21, 10 AM - 6 PM
So busy!
Wednesday, 12/21, 6:10 PM
Line going out the door at Grand Central -- with no public
transportation, we have changed this uber modern city into a gulag.
It takes 3 hours to get to NYC by train from Brooklyn. Someone said
to me that they stood in line for 45 minutes just trying to get out of
the PATH station. What's next? Toilet paper rationing? God forbid.
Wednesday, 6:30 PM
I can't control myself....must...go...home --- screw it --Brookstone!
Wednesday, 9 PM
Damn holiday hours and stores. Back and feet hurt from the walking.
DAY 3 OF THE STRIKE
Thursday, 12/22, 6:30 AM
Dammit.
Thursday, 12/22, 9 AM
People aren't smiling anymore. I hear more grumbling and complaining
in the streets. Dragging my feet to work. Of course, stop by
Fourbucks for coffee. Oh, I need to get something at Duane Reade!
Thursday, 12/22, 10 AM - 3:59 PM
WORK
Thursday, 12/22, 4 PM
STRIKE OVER! Wait, I can't be elated just yet. It will take 10-12
hours for trains to run back on schedule and I have to go to 21st and
7th from 45th and Lex. CRAP.
+========================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Mike, Jen and Graham
Bob and Russell
Lisa D
+========================+
Check out your horoscopes at
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of December 29, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Horoscope Email: Extreme Bathroom Edition! (12/17/05)
This email is late.
+==============================+
Gobi -- what's the story? Girl or boy? Panama or Canada? You there?
+==============================+
My parents got a bidet. And it's not just any bidet. Theirs is the
BioBidet 500, which has a seat warmer (high and low temps), water temp
gauge, front and back wash, and self cleaning action! It's the most
wonderful thing in the world.
http://www.biobidet.com/BB500%20The%20Ultimate%20Bidet.htm
+==============================+
This week, there has been media coverage of another bidet on the
market, called The Swash. See? Bidets are SWASHING the market!
http://www.brondell.com/Swash-600-400.php4
+==============================+
Also in bathroom news, my friend Annie told me about the dual flush
toilets she encountered in Australia. This is SUCH a great idea!!!!
Dual flush toilets run on the theory that pee only takes a little
flushing whereas poo takes an almighty flush to expunge its foul self.
A dual flush uses less water and is just too smart for words. My
theory as to why it hasn't hit it big in America is because people in
America are stupid and ignorant.
And my god! The marriage of both worlds: dual flush AND bidet!!
http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com/shop.mv?CatCode=PRODUCT&ProdCode=CAROMA_TOILET
Research about the dual flush from those wacky Canadians
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/publications/en/rh-pr/tech/02-124-e.html
And from my favorite environmental blog about totally random things:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/dual_flush_toil_1.php
+==============================+
And for any malodorous fumes in your bathroom, I always recommend
Citrus Magic. But I didn't realize that they made a holiday selection
of scents. Even though the makers of Citrus Magic recommend sending
the Warm Winter Sampler (Gingerbread Spice, Green Apple Spice,
Peppermint Candy, and Citrus Spice) toTeachers, caregivers, party
hosts, mail carriers, hair stylists, friends and relatives, I am
pretty sure that gingerbread spice air freshener should be in every
household in America.
http://www.citrusmagic.com/holiday2005.html
+==============================+
This link has nothing to do with bathrooms, but it has to be
acknowledged:
http://cuteoverload.com/
Brought to you by SunAe
+==============================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Carey and Steven
Bob and Russell
Michelle E
Sandy and George
Lynda
Alex
+==============================+
Check out your horoscopes at http://freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of December 15, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
+==============================+
Gobi -- what's the story? Girl or boy? Panama or Canada? You there?
+==============================+
My parents got a bidet. And it's not just any bidet. Theirs is the
BioBidet 500, which has a seat warmer (high and low temps), water temp
gauge, front and back wash, and self cleaning action! It's the most
wonderful thing in the world.
http://www.biobidet.com/BB500%20The%20Ultimate%20Bidet.htm
+==============================+
This week, there has been media coverage of another bidet on the
market, called The Swash. See? Bidets are SWASHING the market!
http://www.brondell.com/Swash-600-400.php4
+==============================+
Also in bathroom news, my friend Annie told me about the dual flush
toilets she encountered in Australia. This is SUCH a great idea!!!!
Dual flush toilets run on the theory that pee only takes a little
flushing whereas poo takes an almighty flush to expunge its foul self.
A dual flush uses less water and is just too smart for words. My
theory as to why it hasn't hit it big in America is because people in
America are stupid and ignorant.
And my god! The marriage of both worlds: dual flush AND bidet!!
http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com/shop.mv?CatCode=PRODUCT&ProdCode=CAROMA_TOILET
Research about the dual flush from those wacky Canadians
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/publications/en/rh-pr/tech/02-124-e.html
And from my favorite environmental blog about totally random things:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/dual_flush_toil_1.php
+==============================+
And for any malodorous fumes in your bathroom, I always recommend
Citrus Magic. But I didn't realize that they made a holiday selection
of scents. Even though the makers of Citrus Magic recommend sending
the Warm Winter Sampler (Gingerbread Spice, Green Apple Spice,
Peppermint Candy, and Citrus Spice) toTeachers, caregivers, party
hosts, mail carriers, hair stylists, friends and relatives, I am
pretty sure that gingerbread spice air freshener should be in every
household in America.
http://www.citrusmagic.com/holiday2005.html
+==============================+
This link has nothing to do with bathrooms, but it has to be
acknowledged:
http://cuteoverload.com/
Brought to you by SunAe
+==============================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Carey and Steven
Bob and Russell
Michelle E
Sandy and George
Lynda
Alex
+==============================+
Check out your horoscopes at http://freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of December 15, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
Monday, December 5, 2005
GLOG!
My friend (and old roommate Sasha) had her holiday party and the theme of the party was this glog that she made. Glog is a Swedish hot mulled wine with lots of other stuff in it. When I lifted the lid of the glog pott, the fumes from the glog were so strong that I thought my makeup had melted off my face. So here's a list of items in her glog:
Brandy
Burgundy Red Wine
Sweet Vermouth
Port Wine
Cloves
Cardamom
Cinnamon Sticks
Raisins
Blanched Almonds
Sugar
Needless to say, I was glogged by the end of the night.
Brandy
Burgundy Red Wine
Sweet Vermouth
Port Wine
Cloves
Cardamom
Cinnamon Sticks
Raisins
Blanched Almonds
Sugar
Needless to say, I was glogged by the end of the night.
Friday, December 2, 2005
Remind me to tell you about my parents' new bidet (11/30/05)
It's so surreal to come back to a place where you used to work even
though the office is in a different location and most of the people
you used to work with are no longer there. It's just WEIRD. It's like
just jumped forward in time from 2000 when I last worked at Porter to
2005. It's just as busy and it's the same work, but it's not. So
strange.
+===================+
DARK...CHOCOLATE...KISSES!!!!!!!!
http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/kisses.asp
+===================+
Happy Belated Birthday Dabney
+======================+
The song, "Get down on it" by Kool and the Gang is a weird song, but
so catchy. If you think too hard about the song, you realize it is
very, very dirty. But the music is just so happy and disco-bouncy.
Just sticks in your head.
How you gonna do it
If you really don't want to dance
By standing on the wall
Get your back up off the wall, tell me
How you gonna do it
If you really don't want to dance
By standing on the wall
Get your back up off the wall
'Cause I heard all the people sayin'
Get down on it
Come on and
Get down on it
If you really want it
Get down on it
You gotta feel it
Get down on it
Get down on it, get down on it
Come on and
Get down on it, baby, baby
Get down on it
Get down on it
Get down on it
+======================+
PLEASE HIRE MY FRIEND MARTHA LANGMUIR!
Martha Langmuir has a Masters in International Affairs with a
concentration in Human Rights from COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (Ivy League no
less!), and is looking for a position in international (or domestic)
human rights, public health (esp sexual/reproductive health), rights
of sexual minorities, etc. She speaks French and Bengali and is "quite
possibly the finest woman in NYC" (her partner Martha's quote and I
entirely and wholeheartedly agree).
So if you know anyone with whom Martha can meet, or if you know
someone who works in these fields and may or may not be looking for
someone, or if you just think she is great, let me know and I will
pass on the leads/good wishes to her. I am determined to find this
fine lady a job.
+======================+
LONDON (Reuters) - Ever get frustrated with fresh-out-of the-fridge
butter that is too hard to spread?
November 30, 2005
A UK-based company has launched a portable, temperature-controlled
butter dish, ButterWizard, which keeps butter at what it says is the
optimal spreadable temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
It has a built-in fan and a chip which together control the
temperature, adjustable for different textures, be it super-soft
bread, crusty toast or delicate biscuits. "We were trying to find out
what people's frustration with butter was. It's either too hard or too
soft," said David Alfille, managing director of East Sussex-based
company Alfille Innovations Limited.
"ButterWizard heats or cools the butter and you can adjust the
temperature to suit yourself."
Nutritionist Fiona Hunter said: "There are over 16 million UK
households buying butter on a regular basis, but one complaint I hear
time after time is the lack of spreadability of real butter."
"Butter has been part of diet for thousands of years. The important
thing is to spread butter thinly," she added.
+======================+
IMPORTANT DAYS TO COMMEMORATE:
December 1
World AIDS Day
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
unaids@unaids.org
www.unaids.org/en/default.asp
http://worldaidscampaign.info/index.php/wac/wac/world_aids_day/wad_2005_events
Dec. 3 - 9
National Handwashing Awareness Week
Henry the Hand Foundation
11714 U.S. Route 42
Cincinnati, OH 45241
(513) 769-3660
dr.will@henrythehand.com
www.henrythehand.com
+======================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Jen, Mike and Graham
Russell and Bob
Sandy
Ertischek
Ann, Dabney, Diane
All the turkeys we ate
+======================+
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of December 1, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
though the office is in a different location and most of the people
you used to work with are no longer there. It's just WEIRD. It's like
just jumped forward in time from 2000 when I last worked at Porter to
2005. It's just as busy and it's the same work, but it's not. So
strange.
+===================+
DARK...CHOCOLATE...KISSES!!!!!!!!
http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/kisses.asp
+===================+
Happy Belated Birthday Dabney
+======================+
The song, "Get down on it" by Kool and the Gang is a weird song, but
so catchy. If you think too hard about the song, you realize it is
very, very dirty. But the music is just so happy and disco-bouncy.
Just sticks in your head.
How you gonna do it
If you really don't want to dance
By standing on the wall
Get your back up off the wall, tell me
How you gonna do it
If you really don't want to dance
By standing on the wall
Get your back up off the wall
'Cause I heard all the people sayin'
Get down on it
Come on and
Get down on it
If you really want it
Get down on it
You gotta feel it
Get down on it
Get down on it, get down on it
Come on and
Get down on it, baby, baby
Get down on it
Get down on it
Get down on it
+======================+
PLEASE HIRE MY FRIEND MARTHA LANGMUIR!
Martha Langmuir has a Masters in International Affairs with a
concentration in Human Rights from COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (Ivy League no
less!), and is looking for a position in international (or domestic)
human rights, public health (esp sexual/reproductive health), rights
of sexual minorities, etc. She speaks French and Bengali and is "quite
possibly the finest woman in NYC" (her partner Martha's quote and I
entirely and wholeheartedly agree).
So if you know anyone with whom Martha can meet, or if you know
someone who works in these fields and may or may not be looking for
someone, or if you just think she is great, let me know and I will
pass on the leads/good wishes to her. I am determined to find this
fine lady a job.
+======================+
LONDON (Reuters) - Ever get frustrated with fresh-out-of the-fridge
butter that is too hard to spread?
November 30, 2005
A UK-based company has launched a portable, temperature-controlled
butter dish, ButterWizard, which keeps butter at what it says is the
optimal spreadable temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
It has a built-in fan and a chip which together control the
temperature, adjustable for different textures, be it super-soft
bread, crusty toast or delicate biscuits. "We were trying to find out
what people's frustration with butter was. It's either too hard or too
soft," said David Alfille, managing director of East Sussex-based
company Alfille Innovations Limited.
"ButterWizard heats or cools the butter and you can adjust the
temperature to suit yourself."
Nutritionist Fiona Hunter said: "There are over 16 million UK
households buying butter on a regular basis, but one complaint I hear
time after time is the lack of spreadability of real butter."
"Butter has been part of diet for thousands of years. The important
thing is to spread butter thinly," she added.
+======================+
IMPORTANT DAYS TO COMMEMORATE:
December 1
World AIDS Day
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
unaids@unaids.org
www.unaids.org/en/default.asp
http://worldaidscampaign.info/index.php/wac/wac/world_aids_day/wad_2005_events
Dec. 3 - 9
National Handwashing Awareness Week
Henry the Hand Foundation
11714 U.S. Route 42
Cincinnati, OH 45241
(513) 769-3660
dr.will@henrythehand.com
www.henrythehand.com
+======================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Jen, Mike and Graham
Russell and Bob
Sandy
Ertischek
Ann, Dabney, Diane
All the turkeys we ate
+======================+
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of December 1, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
(c) 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Sunday, November 20, 2005
They're Soft and Cuddly, So Why Lash Them to the Front of a Truck?
November 13, 2005
They're Soft and Cuddly, So Why Lash Them to the Front of a Truck?
By ANDY NEWMAN
The New York Times
A bear with a prominent grease spot on his little beige nose spends his days wedged behind the bumper guard of an ironworker's pickup in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn. A fuzzy rabbit and a clown, garroted by a bungee cord, slump from the front of a Dodge van in Park Slope. Stewie, the evil baby from "Family Guy," scowls from the grille of a Pepperidge Farm delivery truck in Brooklyn Heights, mold occasionally sprouting from his forehead.
All are soldiers in the tattered, scattered army of the stuffed: mostly discarded toys plucked from the trash and given new if punishing lives on the prows of large motor vehicles, their fluffy white guts flapping from burst seams and going gray in the soot-stream of a thousand exhaust pipes.
Grille-mounted stuffed animals form a compelling yet little-studied aspect of the urban streetscape, a traveling gallery of baldly transgressive public art. The time has come not just to praise them but to ask the big question. Why?
That is, why do a small percentage of trucks and vans have filthy plush toys lashed to their fronts, like prisoners at the mast? Are they someone's idea of a joke? Parking aids? Talismans against summonses?
Don't expect an easy answer.
Interviews with half a dozen truckers as well as folklorists, art historians and anthropologists revealed the grille-mounted plush toy to be a product of a tangle of physical circumstance, proximate and indirect influence, ethnic tradition, occupational mindset and Jungian archetype.
Like all adornments, of course, the grille pet advertises something about its owner. The very act of decorating a truck indicates an openness on the driver's part, according to Dan DiVittorio, owner of D & N Services, a carting company in Queens, and of a garbage truck with a squishy red skull on the front.
"It has to do something with their character," said Mr. DiVittorio, 27. "I don't see anybody that wouldn't be a halfway decent person putting something on their truck."
But a truck can be aesthetically modified in a million ways: "Mom" in spiffy gold letters across the hood; mudflaps depicting top-heavy women; flames painted along the sides. Why use beat-up stuffed animals?
One prevalent theory among truckers is that chicks dig them.
Robert Marbury, an artist who photographed dozens of Manhattan bumper fauna for a project in 2000 (see urbanbeast.com/faq/strapped.html), said he had once asked a trash hauler why he had a family of three mismatched bears strapped to his rig.
"He said: 'Yo, man, I drive a garbage truck. How am I going to get the ladies to look at me?' " Mr. Marbury recalled.
Mr. Marbury, who holds a degree in anthropology, added that the battered bear and his brethren had at least one foot in the vernacular cultures of Latin America, where the festive and the ghoulish enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Most of the drivers whose trucks he photographed were Hispanic, he said.
Monroe Denton, a lecturer in art history at the School of Visual Arts, traced the phenomenon's roots back to the figureheads that have animated bows of ships since the time of the pharaohs.
"There was some sort of heraldic device to deny the fact of this gigantic machine," he said. "You would have these humanizing forms, anthropomorphic forms - a device that both proclaims the identity of the machine and conceals it."
Whatever its origins, the grille-mounted cuddle object is found across the country. It has been spotted in Baltimore, Miami, Chicago and other cities.
Mierle Laderman Ukeles, the artist in residence at New York City's Department of Sanitation, said that when she noticed the animals on garbagemen's trucks in the late 1970's, she "felt they were like these spirit creatures that were accompanying them on this endless journey in flux."
There are differences, though, between the dragon crowning a Viking ship - or, for that matter, the chrome bulldog guarding the hood of a Mack truck- and the scuzzy bunny bound to the bumper with rubber hose. The main one is that the grille-mounted stuffed animal is almost always a found object - "mongo," in garbageman's parlance. And in that respect it functions as a sort of trophy.
"I always felt," Ms. Ukeles said, "with these creatures that they withdrew from the garbage and refused to let go of, that there was an act of rescue involved."
That is certainly true for Julio Hernandez, a laborer for Aspen Tree Specialists in Brooklyn.
The GMC chipper-truck he rides in is graced with 11 figurines, each defective in one way or another - Hulk Hogan with both hands missing, a Frankenstein monster with a hole in his head, a nearly disintegrated black rubber rat. "People throw them out because they're broken," Mr. Hernandez, 38, said in Spanish. "They catch my attention."
A few months ago, Roberto Argueto spotted a floppy doll in the gutter near the headquarters of Sasco Construction in Brooklyn. The doll had brown pigtails, a white bonnet and the bluest eyes. He hung her from the front wall of the flatbed of his truck with a coat hanger, and he named her Margaret.
"I like the doll," said Mr. Argueto, 39. "She's pretty."
The flatbed carries some unforgiving payloads - scaffolding, bricks, sandbags - but Mr. Argueto protects Margaret.
"When I put something back there, I try to cover her," he said.
For all the reclaimed toys that are fussed over, though, there seem to be at least as many that are mistreated: tied to grilles in positions that recall the rack, and exposed to the maximum amount of road-salt and mud-spray.
Why do this? Whence the urge to debase an icon of innocence?
This is the true mystery of the grille-mounted stuffed animal, and it is here that the terrain gets heavily psychological and a bit murky.
Ms. Ukeles, who claims to understand sanitation workers fairly well, having shaken hands with 8,500 of them during a three-year performance project, said they identified on some level with their mascots.
"There's a transference in this," she said. "There's this soft, flesh-and-bone sanitation worker, who knows very well they could be crushed against this truck. The creature could be the sanitation worker in a very dangerous position, so the animal could be a stand-in."
(Stuffed animals, sadly, are verboten on city garbage trucks and nearly impossible to find these days; they were against department regulations even in the 1970's, but perhaps sanitation men are not the free spirits now that they were back then.)
At the same time, Ms. Ukeles said, the trucker, perhaps uncomfortable with his soft side, may feel compelled to punish it.
"Binding a soft thing to a very powerful truck - there's a kind of macho thing about that," she said.
That double identification with both victim and agent of violence may reflect the driver's frustrating position in society. Stuffed animals are found mostly on the trucks of men who perform hard, messy labor, which, despite the strength and bravery it demands, places them on the lower rungs of the ladder of occupational prestige.
The motley animal, then, can function as a badge of outsider status, a thumbed nose to the squares and suits. In that case, the cuter the mascot, the more meaningful its disintegration.
Thus, while Mr. DiVittorio, of the Queens carting company, is quite fond of the red plastic skull that adorns his garbage truck, he will never forget its predecessor, a three-foot-high stuffed Scooby-Doo.
"Scooby was great," he recalled. "He covered the whole radiator and down to the bumper. You can't even imagine how many people took pictures of him."
Life on the road took its toll. "He got junked out riding in the front of the truck," Mr. DiVittorio said. "One of his arms was starting to fall off."
Mr. DiVittorio blamed the rivet-studded wire ties that held the dog fast. "You know how," he said, "if you have cuffs on your wrists, they dig into you?"
Eventually, Mr. DiVittorio said, Scooby's time came: "He went from the front of the truck to the back. We had to throw him away."
Scooby's story lends credence to the theory of Mr. Denton, the art historian, that the grille-mounted stuffed animal draws from the same well as the "abject art" movement that flourished in the 1990's and trafficked heavily in images of filth and of distressed bodies.
"That is part of the abject," he said, "this toy that is loved to death quite literally."
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
The externalization of an indoor object is another abject trope, Mr. Denton said. "An important aspect of the abject is the informe, the lack of boundaries," he said, using the French critical theory term, "the insides oozing out."
Charlie Maixner, a steamfitter for Deacon Corp. in Jericho on Long Island, has taken the informe to its logical extreme.
On the dashboard of his Econoline van is an adorable and pristine white bear, a gift from his 5-year-old daughter. But the bear is not for the outside world. On the grille is Mr. Hankey, salvaged from a chef's office during a kitchen renovation job.
Mr. Hankey, to the pop-culturally illiterate, appears to be a brown worm in a Santa hat. He is not. He is the carol-crooning excrement from "South Park," where he is formally known as Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo.
"The bear on the dashboard, that's 'I love you, Daddy,' " Mr. Maixner said. "The other one is 'Daddy, what's that?' "
For that question, Mr. Maixner has a ready answer:
"I just tell her it's Mr. Hankey."
Copyright 2005 The New York Times
They're Soft and Cuddly, So Why Lash Them to the Front of a Truck?
By ANDY NEWMAN
The New York Times
A bear with a prominent grease spot on his little beige nose spends his days wedged behind the bumper guard of an ironworker's pickup in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn. A fuzzy rabbit and a clown, garroted by a bungee cord, slump from the front of a Dodge van in Park Slope. Stewie, the evil baby from "Family Guy," scowls from the grille of a Pepperidge Farm delivery truck in Brooklyn Heights, mold occasionally sprouting from his forehead.
All are soldiers in the tattered, scattered army of the stuffed: mostly discarded toys plucked from the trash and given new if punishing lives on the prows of large motor vehicles, their fluffy white guts flapping from burst seams and going gray in the soot-stream of a thousand exhaust pipes.
Grille-mounted stuffed animals form a compelling yet little-studied aspect of the urban streetscape, a traveling gallery of baldly transgressive public art. The time has come not just to praise them but to ask the big question. Why?
That is, why do a small percentage of trucks and vans have filthy plush toys lashed to their fronts, like prisoners at the mast? Are they someone's idea of a joke? Parking aids? Talismans against summonses?
Don't expect an easy answer.
Interviews with half a dozen truckers as well as folklorists, art historians and anthropologists revealed the grille-mounted plush toy to be a product of a tangle of physical circumstance, proximate and indirect influence, ethnic tradition, occupational mindset and Jungian archetype.
Like all adornments, of course, the grille pet advertises something about its owner. The very act of decorating a truck indicates an openness on the driver's part, according to Dan DiVittorio, owner of D & N Services, a carting company in Queens, and of a garbage truck with a squishy red skull on the front.
"It has to do something with their character," said Mr. DiVittorio, 27. "I don't see anybody that wouldn't be a halfway decent person putting something on their truck."
But a truck can be aesthetically modified in a million ways: "Mom" in spiffy gold letters across the hood; mudflaps depicting top-heavy women; flames painted along the sides. Why use beat-up stuffed animals?
One prevalent theory among truckers is that chicks dig them.
Robert Marbury, an artist who photographed dozens of Manhattan bumper fauna for a project in 2000 (see urbanbeast.com/faq/strapped.html), said he had once asked a trash hauler why he had a family of three mismatched bears strapped to his rig.
"He said: 'Yo, man, I drive a garbage truck. How am I going to get the ladies to look at me?' " Mr. Marbury recalled.
Mr. Marbury, who holds a degree in anthropology, added that the battered bear and his brethren had at least one foot in the vernacular cultures of Latin America, where the festive and the ghoulish enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Most of the drivers whose trucks he photographed were Hispanic, he said.
Monroe Denton, a lecturer in art history at the School of Visual Arts, traced the phenomenon's roots back to the figureheads that have animated bows of ships since the time of the pharaohs.
"There was some sort of heraldic device to deny the fact of this gigantic machine," he said. "You would have these humanizing forms, anthropomorphic forms - a device that both proclaims the identity of the machine and conceals it."
Whatever its origins, the grille-mounted cuddle object is found across the country. It has been spotted in Baltimore, Miami, Chicago and other cities.
Mierle Laderman Ukeles, the artist in residence at New York City's Department of Sanitation, said that when she noticed the animals on garbagemen's trucks in the late 1970's, she "felt they were like these spirit creatures that were accompanying them on this endless journey in flux."
There are differences, though, between the dragon crowning a Viking ship - or, for that matter, the chrome bulldog guarding the hood of a Mack truck- and the scuzzy bunny bound to the bumper with rubber hose. The main one is that the grille-mounted stuffed animal is almost always a found object - "mongo," in garbageman's parlance. And in that respect it functions as a sort of trophy.
"I always felt," Ms. Ukeles said, "with these creatures that they withdrew from the garbage and refused to let go of, that there was an act of rescue involved."
That is certainly true for Julio Hernandez, a laborer for Aspen Tree Specialists in Brooklyn.
The GMC chipper-truck he rides in is graced with 11 figurines, each defective in one way or another - Hulk Hogan with both hands missing, a Frankenstein monster with a hole in his head, a nearly disintegrated black rubber rat. "People throw them out because they're broken," Mr. Hernandez, 38, said in Spanish. "They catch my attention."
A few months ago, Roberto Argueto spotted a floppy doll in the gutter near the headquarters of Sasco Construction in Brooklyn. The doll had brown pigtails, a white bonnet and the bluest eyes. He hung her from the front wall of the flatbed of his truck with a coat hanger, and he named her Margaret.
"I like the doll," said Mr. Argueto, 39. "She's pretty."
The flatbed carries some unforgiving payloads - scaffolding, bricks, sandbags - but Mr. Argueto protects Margaret.
"When I put something back there, I try to cover her," he said.
For all the reclaimed toys that are fussed over, though, there seem to be at least as many that are mistreated: tied to grilles in positions that recall the rack, and exposed to the maximum amount of road-salt and mud-spray.
Why do this? Whence the urge to debase an icon of innocence?
This is the true mystery of the grille-mounted stuffed animal, and it is here that the terrain gets heavily psychological and a bit murky.
Ms. Ukeles, who claims to understand sanitation workers fairly well, having shaken hands with 8,500 of them during a three-year performance project, said they identified on some level with their mascots.
"There's a transference in this," she said. "There's this soft, flesh-and-bone sanitation worker, who knows very well they could be crushed against this truck. The creature could be the sanitation worker in a very dangerous position, so the animal could be a stand-in."
(Stuffed animals, sadly, are verboten on city garbage trucks and nearly impossible to find these days; they were against department regulations even in the 1970's, but perhaps sanitation men are not the free spirits now that they were back then.)
At the same time, Ms. Ukeles said, the trucker, perhaps uncomfortable with his soft side, may feel compelled to punish it.
"Binding a soft thing to a very powerful truck - there's a kind of macho thing about that," she said.
That double identification with both victim and agent of violence may reflect the driver's frustrating position in society. Stuffed animals are found mostly on the trucks of men who perform hard, messy labor, which, despite the strength and bravery it demands, places them on the lower rungs of the ladder of occupational prestige.
The motley animal, then, can function as a badge of outsider status, a thumbed nose to the squares and suits. In that case, the cuter the mascot, the more meaningful its disintegration.
Thus, while Mr. DiVittorio, of the Queens carting company, is quite fond of the red plastic skull that adorns his garbage truck, he will never forget its predecessor, a three-foot-high stuffed Scooby-Doo.
"Scooby was great," he recalled. "He covered the whole radiator and down to the bumper. You can't even imagine how many people took pictures of him."
Life on the road took its toll. "He got junked out riding in the front of the truck," Mr. DiVittorio said. "One of his arms was starting to fall off."
Mr. DiVittorio blamed the rivet-studded wire ties that held the dog fast. "You know how," he said, "if you have cuffs on your wrists, they dig into you?"
Eventually, Mr. DiVittorio said, Scooby's time came: "He went from the front of the truck to the back. We had to throw him away."
Scooby's story lends credence to the theory of Mr. Denton, the art historian, that the grille-mounted stuffed animal draws from the same well as the "abject art" movement that flourished in the 1990's and trafficked heavily in images of filth and of distressed bodies.
"That is part of the abject," he said, "this toy that is loved to death quite literally."
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
The externalization of an indoor object is another abject trope, Mr. Denton said. "An important aspect of the abject is the informe, the lack of boundaries," he said, using the French critical theory term, "the insides oozing out."
Charlie Maixner, a steamfitter for Deacon Corp. in Jericho on Long Island, has taken the informe to its logical extreme.
On the dashboard of his Econoline van is an adorable and pristine white bear, a gift from his 5-year-old daughter. But the bear is not for the outside world. On the grille is Mr. Hankey, salvaged from a chef's office during a kitchen renovation job.
Mr. Hankey, to the pop-culturally illiterate, appears to be a brown worm in a Santa hat. He is not. He is the carol-crooning excrement from "South Park," where he is formally known as Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo.
"The bear on the dashboard, that's 'I love you, Daddy,' " Mr. Maixner said. "The other one is 'Daddy, what's that?' "
For that question, Mr. Maixner has a ready answer:
"I just tell her it's Mr. Hankey."
Copyright 2005 The New York Times
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Halloween in Boston
My lovely friends Ann, Dabney and Ashley, along with their friend Boston Tara, hosted Fright Pint '05 and here are the photos. If you can't tell, I am Bob Ross.
http://www.ashbloemstraat.com/blog/_archives/2005/10/31/1332987.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20881331@N00/sets/1257728/
http://www.ashbloemstraat.com/blog/_archives/2005/10/31/1332987.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20881331@N00/sets/1257728/
A QUICKIE (11-10-05)
This one is a short one as I was out last week in FL attending to the parents (they are fine) and started my new job this week (it's great) and need to get back on the horoscope wagon...
+===========================+
Pearls of Wisdom and Other Ancient Chinese Secrets:
ABSOLUTELY NEVER eat salmon on a Sunday and NEVER eat linguine with clam sauce on a Monday. You would think I would remember these things, but NoooOOoOoOOooOO. Needless to say, I was out sick on my second day at my new job.
And oddly enough, I am now craving fried shrimp.
+===========================+
This week's horoscopes go out to
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAYS TO LORINDA WONG AND KIM HECKSCHER DECKER!
The Marthas
Ertischek
Saumya, Matt S. and Lisa D., for complaining that they haven't seen their horoscopes in a while
Congrats to Sandy and George for finally moving out of their families' homes and into their own!
Congrats to YoungMee on her move to Boston!
+===========================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of November 10, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
+===========================+
Pearls of Wisdom and Other Ancient Chinese Secrets:
ABSOLUTELY NEVER eat salmon on a Sunday and NEVER eat linguine with clam sauce on a Monday. You would think I would remember these things, but NoooOOoOoOOooOO. Needless to say, I was out sick on my second day at my new job.
And oddly enough, I am now craving fried shrimp.
+===========================+
This week's horoscopes go out to
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAYS TO LORINDA WONG AND KIM HECKSCHER DECKER!
The Marthas
Ertischek
Saumya, Matt S. and Lisa D., for complaining that they haven't seen their horoscopes in a while
Congrats to Sandy and George for finally moving out of their families' homes and into their own!
Congrats to YoungMee on her move to Boston!
+===========================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of November 10, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Friday, October 21, 2005
they are making dark chocolate kit kats!!!!! (10-21-05)
I have been quite quiet in the past few weeks and one of the reasons for this is because I was interviewing for a new job (two-month interview process - sheer hell). As of November 7, I will be an account supervisor at Porter Novelli in its health care division. I can hear a lot of you saying, “WHAAAAAAAA?” right now. Yes, I am going back. Never thought it would happen, but it has! I am looking forward to going back to PR. But I will miss this la-la land of Pop Council. This place has been great - birthday teas once a month, heritage appreciation days (the most recent was Hispanic appreciation month and we had Latin food, a pniata and tango lessons), and the incredibly huge Halloween party. I will also miss the 24 days vacation and 12 sick days. Sigh. But on to bigger and better things :-). So, so long Pop Council and hello Porter Novelli!
+=======================+
Ah, those wacky Asians. They are at it again:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648
+=======================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Sally, Todd - to their two new long-term, college-fund visitors, Henry and Jack (oh, and Otis)!
Gobi and Piers + 1
Bob and Russell
Michelle E.
Sandy
+=======================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of October 20, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
+=======================+
Ah, those wacky Asians. They are at it again:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648
+=======================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Sally, Todd - to their two new long-term, college-fund visitors, Henry and Jack (oh, and Otis)!
Gobi and Piers + 1
Bob and Russell
Michelle E.
Sandy
+=======================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of October 20, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
ready...set...HIBERNATE (10-12-05)
I turned on full hibernation mode this weekend. First, I ALWAYS forget that I get Columbus Day off so I never plan ahead and go away for a long weekend. Second, it was raining ALL WEEKEND LONG. Third, combine one and two and you get lazy Michelle. She sits in her lazygirl all day long watching bad tv and painting her nails. Not a pretty sight at all.
+=====================+
http://www.qwantz.com/posterchild/
Super Mario blocks - I have never seen these around Manhattan, but I bet you they are somewhere.
+=====================+
My sister in law, Jen, wrote me a very charming email about life in Iowa and in particular, the food at the Madison County Covered Bridges Festival (http://www.madisoncounty.com/bridge_fest.html). She says there was “cookie dough on a stick (yes uncooked), pork on a stick (no surprise), lamb on a stick, pickles on a stick (the same vendor sold “pop”-the Midwestern way of saying soda)and the big surprise was the walking taco...(a Doritos bag filled with ground taco meat, lettuce and tomato-you eat it with a fork).” Now this is the first time I have heard about the walking taco. I know about eating chili and fritos out of a fritos bag (the Fritos pie), but I have never heard of a walking taco. If any of you have tried it, please let me know how it is/was.
+=====================+
STARF*CKER ALERT:
I was at Balthazar restaurant for brunch on Saturday. I wanted to go there because I have been mainlining their potato bread for the last couple of weeks. If I could I would roll around naked in this bread. The bread is that good.
Well, anyway, I went with my friends Steven, Alex and Marcie, who were gracious enough to spend a good sum of money for brunch just so that I could indulge in my bread habit. While there, Kelly Ripa, her husband Mark Consuelos and their many children were having brunch as well. She’s a very tiny person and her husband is hot. My friend (I won’t name names) wouldn’t stop staring. We finally had to drag him away to make him stop staring at Kelly. So sad.
+=====================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Steven, Alex and Marcie - THE BREAD! THE BREAD!
+=====================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of October 13, 2005
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
one's body shouldn't generate THIS much mucous (9-29-05)
Yes, I am a delinquent. I didn’t send out an email last week and I am late sending this one out. Well, I have had house guests (Hi Annie and Dabney) and now I have a sinus infection. Those are my excuses. So there.
+========================+
TIME WASTER #1
1. You may want to grab a calculator
2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2
... the outcome should be your phone number ...
Thanks to Beverly Barnes!
+========================+
I was the maid of honor at my friend Sandy’s wedding to George and here are some words of advice for any maid or matron of honor:
- Bring lots of Valium and/or Ativan.
+========================+
As previously mentioned, Annie and Dabney were in town with Annie’s two aunts and one uncle. The relatives took the Gray Line’s All Loop Tour which included a night tour on their double decker bus. One night, when the relatives were at Lion King, Annie, Dabney and I went on the night tour. The night tour went through Times Square, into Chelsea, around Greenwich Village, through Chinatown, over the Manhattan Bridge, through Brooklyn Heights to see the Manhattan skyline at night, back over the Manhattan Bridge, through Chinatown, and back to Times Square.
First, I have to say that as a New Yorker, there is nothing like sitting on a bus at night and looking into the second floors of apartment buildings that you have never seen or would ever have a chance to see. There are some dumps, but there are also some fantastic apartments with people who must be sick and tired of seeing tourists staring into their apartments all week long.
Second, the highlight of the tour for me was crossing the bridge. The bus has no shocks (I felt like I was getting whiplash through the tour) and the double decker bus was filled with people on top and nobody but the driver underneath. So, needless to say, the bus didn’t feel very stable. And while you are sitting on the top shelf, you can actually see over the bridge barriers and into the water. And because of the height, you can actually see the cables holding up the bridge - very close up. So, while you cross the bridge, the bus is swaying and the water is shimmering underneath. Very scary.
Third, tourists are nice, clueless people. Unfortunately, the tour guide was an acerbic, bitter evil woman. She had her iPod in one ear the entire trip, even while she was giving her tour speeches. However, everyone else on the bus was quite nice.
Overall, it was an interesting trip. It made me realize how hard it is to be a tourist in New York.
+========================+
My friend Sun Ae sent me these amazing web sites:
http://www.danielhsia.com/m_squat.php
http://www.connectkorea.com/menu/videowatch.php?number=37&page=8 I recommend watching this on IE or a PC. When I tried to watch it on a Mac, the video stopped halfway through. Unfortunately, the REAL action starts to cook at the end.
+========================+
Listening to the news lately makes me think that we have been time warped into a past century. For example, didn’t we already have a debate about evolution vs. creationism (now spun as “intelligent design”)? Wasn’t it decided that we should keep religion outside of schools? What happened? Why are we discussing this again? Also, didn’t we decide that abortions are legal? Why are we STILL debating this issue? I know I don’t pay attention to anything, especially people talking, but I KNOW that we had these debates years ago. I wasn’t there per se, but I know I read about them somewhere.
+========================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Bob and Russell
Michelle Ertischek
Annie and Dabney
The Marthas
Lisa Davidson
Google
+========================+
Fall has won. I finally wore shoes this week. My feet are very sad to be cooped up inside of a shoe. They were so happy, free in a pair of sandals.
+========================+
Check out your horoscopes at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of September 29, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
+========================+
TIME WASTER #1
1. You may want to grab a calculator
2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2
... the outcome should be your phone number ...
Thanks to Beverly Barnes!
+========================+
I was the maid of honor at my friend Sandy’s wedding to George and here are some words of advice for any maid or matron of honor:
- Bring lots of Valium and/or Ativan.
+========================+
As previously mentioned, Annie and Dabney were in town with Annie’s two aunts and one uncle. The relatives took the Gray Line’s All Loop Tour which included a night tour on their double decker bus. One night, when the relatives were at Lion King, Annie, Dabney and I went on the night tour. The night tour went through Times Square, into Chelsea, around Greenwich Village, through Chinatown, over the Manhattan Bridge, through Brooklyn Heights to see the Manhattan skyline at night, back over the Manhattan Bridge, through Chinatown, and back to Times Square.
First, I have to say that as a New Yorker, there is nothing like sitting on a bus at night and looking into the second floors of apartment buildings that you have never seen or would ever have a chance to see. There are some dumps, but there are also some fantastic apartments with people who must be sick and tired of seeing tourists staring into their apartments all week long.
Second, the highlight of the tour for me was crossing the bridge. The bus has no shocks (I felt like I was getting whiplash through the tour) and the double decker bus was filled with people on top and nobody but the driver underneath. So, needless to say, the bus didn’t feel very stable. And while you are sitting on the top shelf, you can actually see over the bridge barriers and into the water. And because of the height, you can actually see the cables holding up the bridge - very close up. So, while you cross the bridge, the bus is swaying and the water is shimmering underneath. Very scary.
Third, tourists are nice, clueless people. Unfortunately, the tour guide was an acerbic, bitter evil woman. She had her iPod in one ear the entire trip, even while she was giving her tour speeches. However, everyone else on the bus was quite nice.
Overall, it was an interesting trip. It made me realize how hard it is to be a tourist in New York.
+========================+
My friend Sun Ae sent me these amazing web sites:
http://www.danielhsia.com/m_squat.php
http://www.connectkorea.com/menu/videowatch.php?number=37&page=8 I recommend watching this on IE or a PC. When I tried to watch it on a Mac, the video stopped halfway through. Unfortunately, the REAL action starts to cook at the end.
+========================+
Listening to the news lately makes me think that we have been time warped into a past century. For example, didn’t we already have a debate about evolution vs. creationism (now spun as “intelligent design”)? Wasn’t it decided that we should keep religion outside of schools? What happened? Why are we discussing this again? Also, didn’t we decide that abortions are legal? Why are we STILL debating this issue? I know I don’t pay attention to anything, especially people talking, but I KNOW that we had these debates years ago. I wasn’t there per se, but I know I read about them somewhere.
+========================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Bob and Russell
Michelle Ertischek
Annie and Dabney
The Marthas
Lisa Davidson
+========================+
Fall has won. I finally wore shoes this week. My feet are very sad to be cooped up inside of a shoe. They were so happy, free in a pair of sandals.
+========================+
Check out your horoscopes at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of September 29, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Friday, September 16, 2005
This is for my freaky cat loving friends (Thanks Ashbloem!):
http://www.7secondsoflove.com/ninja/
And one more for you cat loving freaks, http://stuffonmycat.com/
+=================+
So, I haven’t written in several weeks. My apologies.
Michelle
+=================+
Through my friends Carey and Steven (hey!) I volunteered for the second (officially, third unofficially) time at BBQ NYC (http://www.bbq-nyc.com/) as a food commando (I had to oversee the moving on the food line and the bringing of the meat) and also entered the salsa contest. I entered using someone else’s recipe (Ron Johnson’s to be exact) and, to the big chagrin of my foodie friends (yes, my dirty little secret is out: I am a closet foodie, who posts on food web sites. I like good food. Preferably cheap good food), I used CANNED tomatoes and GARLIC SALT. My foodie friends used heirloom tomatoes and totally organic ingredients. The rest of the items I used were organic, except for the CANNED TOMATOES and GARLIC SALT. Oh, and the pre-chopped, bottled garlic. Yes, that’s right. PRE CHOPPED, BOTTLED GARLIC.
Well, long story short, I won the salsa contest. The big prize was a t-shirt.
Here’s the recipe:
Place in food processor:
One can San Marzanos
Two jalapenos, stems removed
two cloves of garlic
half red onion, roughly chopped
bunch of cilantro, stems removed
juice of two limes (I added this right before serving instead of letting it sit for 24 hours)
salt
pepper
chopped scallions
habanero to taste
Process to desired chunkiness, place in covered container in fridge for 24 hours.
THANKS RON JOHNSON!
+=================+
Last week I was in LA for my friend Sandy’s wedding to George. I was the maid of honor. Photos available on http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com/ Will tell you ALL about that next week.
+=================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Sandy and George
Young Mee, Laurie, Claire, Sofia, Linda
Bev and her George
Carey and Steven
The Mighty Fine BBQ NYC crew
Big Island BBQ
Adam Perry Lang (of Daisy Mae fame) for some fine pig Bob and Russell Saumya and her wonderful sister and brother in law Mija and Kevin plus one!
Bye Martha!
+=================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of September 15, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
http://www.7secondsoflove.com/ninja/
And one more for you cat loving freaks, http://stuffonmycat.com/
+=================+
So, I haven’t written in several weeks. My apologies.
Michelle
+=================+
Through my friends Carey and Steven (hey!) I volunteered for the second (officially, third unofficially) time at BBQ NYC (http://www.bbq-nyc.com/) as a food commando (I had to oversee the moving on the food line and the bringing of the meat) and also entered the salsa contest. I entered using someone else’s recipe (Ron Johnson’s to be exact) and, to the big chagrin of my foodie friends (yes, my dirty little secret is out: I am a closet foodie, who posts on food web sites. I like good food. Preferably cheap good food), I used CANNED tomatoes and GARLIC SALT. My foodie friends used heirloom tomatoes and totally organic ingredients. The rest of the items I used were organic, except for the CANNED TOMATOES and GARLIC SALT. Oh, and the pre-chopped, bottled garlic. Yes, that’s right. PRE CHOPPED, BOTTLED GARLIC.
Well, long story short, I won the salsa contest. The big prize was a t-shirt.
Here’s the recipe:
Place in food processor:
One can San Marzanos
Two jalapenos, stems removed
two cloves of garlic
half red onion, roughly chopped
bunch of cilantro, stems removed
juice of two limes (I added this right before serving instead of letting it sit for 24 hours)
salt
pepper
chopped scallions
habanero to taste
Process to desired chunkiness, place in covered container in fridge for 24 hours.
THANKS RON JOHNSON!
+=================+
Last week I was in LA for my friend Sandy’s wedding to George. I was the maid of honor. Photos available on http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com/ Will tell you ALL about that next week.
+=================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Sandy and George
Young Mee, Laurie, Claire, Sofia, Linda
Bev and her George
Carey and Steven
The Mighty Fine BBQ NYC crew
Big Island BBQ
Adam Perry Lang (of Daisy Mae fame) for some fine pig Bob and Russell Saumya and her wonderful sister and brother in law Mija and Kevin plus one!
Bye Martha!
+=================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of September 15, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Thursday, August 25, 2005
PS: I hope it's not scabies (8-25-05)
I am addicted to this putt-putt game. When I was growing up, there was a mini-putt nearby that was called "Putt-putt" and it had the most annoying jingle, that went "Putt putt for the fun of it! Putt putt for the fun of it!"
My best score so far is 48. But I am working on lowering that.
http://www.elliotinthemorning.com/games/miniputt.swf
+=================================+
So I went to Jacksonville to stay with my mom and while there, I had a long list of errands. I fixed my dad's office computer, I vacuumed the house, I cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen, and I went to Orlando to get some things done on their house down there. Well, if you recall, I talked about the boxes of receipts, cancelled checks and statements that dated back to 1972. My father and I were able to hand shred 1972 - 1979. I knew when I came back to Jax this August, I wanted to find a shredding company so that we could finally get rid of those boxes from 1980 - at least 1998. I found a shredding company (http://shredit.com/) that actually comes to your house with a truck full of locked containers where the shredded documents are dumped. They only charge $8/banker's box. I was elated! Finally an answer to my shredding problems!
Well, my mother had other things in mind. She refused to use any shredding company because the papers were too sensitive to be shred by anyone other than her or me or my father. And she wouldn't budge.
I don't see how 25 year old cancelled checks from a bank that is no longer in business can be sensitive information, but she has her reasons. Needless to say, no one at my house shred a damn thing while I was down in FL this past week.
+=================================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
ME BECAUSE IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY LAST WEEK!
Carmela Quezon, because not only was it her birthday last week but I also called her Carmen by mistake
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO HOLLY THOMPSON!
Bob and Russell, who gave me some incredible veggies and wonderful conversation
Martha, for the incredible salad and wonderful conversation as well
Steven and Alex, for understanding "women's problems" (LOLOLOLOLOL)
+=================================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of August 25, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
My best score so far is 48. But I am working on lowering that.
http://www.elliotinthemorning.com/games/miniputt.swf
+=================================+
So I went to Jacksonville to stay with my mom and while there, I had a long list of errands. I fixed my dad's office computer, I vacuumed the house, I cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen, and I went to Orlando to get some things done on their house down there. Well, if you recall, I talked about the boxes of receipts, cancelled checks and statements that dated back to 1972. My father and I were able to hand shred 1972 - 1979. I knew when I came back to Jax this August, I wanted to find a shredding company so that we could finally get rid of those boxes from 1980 - at least 1998. I found a shredding company (http://shredit.com/) that actually comes to your house with a truck full of locked containers where the shredded documents are dumped. They only charge $8/banker's box. I was elated! Finally an answer to my shredding problems!
Well, my mother had other things in mind. She refused to use any shredding company because the papers were too sensitive to be shred by anyone other than her or me or my father. And she wouldn't budge.
I don't see how 25 year old cancelled checks from a bank that is no longer in business can be sensitive information, but she has her reasons. Needless to say, no one at my house shred a damn thing while I was down in FL this past week.
+=================================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
ME BECAUSE IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY LAST WEEK!
Carmela Quezon, because not only was it her birthday last week but I also called her Carmen by mistake
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO HOLLY THOMPSON!
Bob and Russell, who gave me some incredible veggies and wonderful conversation
Martha, for the incredible salad and wonderful conversation as well
Steven and Alex, for understanding "women's problems" (LOLOLOLOLOL)
+=================================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of August 25, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Have I told...you lately...that I lurrrrrve ya? (8-10-05)
LASIK 2005 UPDATE:
Thanks for all of the comments re: my fuzzy vision. Here are some of thehighlights:
From Carmen (Somewhere in NC) who said: "Oooh... soft light... also likeCybill Shepherd when she played Maddie in Moonlighting. She always had theprivilege of soft focus."
From Jess Smith (Seattle, WA) who said: "So in your eyes, I look youngerthan I am? Sounds good!"
From Holly (Tallahassee, FL) who said: "Congrats on your new eyeballs!"
From Simone (New York, NY) who said: "you're telling me that BarbaraWalters isn't always surrounded by 'soft light?' I thought she always hadthat glow - morning, noon and night."
And finally, from Mija (Northfield, MN) who said: "Hopefully, the world willclear up - I can imagine that soft lens around you all the time would getirritating - wouldn't it look like everyone was about to fall in love orsomething stupid like that?"
NOTE: My vision is still a little fuzzy, but the burning searing pain andgumminess has pretty much gone (kidding).
+===========================+
My wonderful nephew called me up this week. He is 3-1/2 years old and nevertalks to ANYONE on the phone. So it was very surreal to have this tinylittle voice asked me, "How are you, Komo (that's Korean for Aunt onFather's side)?" I was floored. I can't believe he called! He just wantedto say hi and asked me what I had for dinner. When I told him I had hotdogs (which I did. I have been craving hot dogs for about 3 weeks, but Ijust had the dogs, no buns), he was extremely happy because he likes hotdogs. The call ended with him screaming and laughing and running away fromthe phone, which is his more typical phone behavior.
+===========================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Steven, Carey, The Marthas, Bob and Russell (aka the Other Bob), Marcie,Sunita, Greg, Sally, Audrey, Claire, Sasha and Tad! Thanks for one rockin'night of karaoke!
Mike, Jen and Graham, thanks
+===========================+
Check out your weekly horoscpoes at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Thanks for all of the comments re: my fuzzy vision. Here are some of thehighlights:
From Carmen (Somewhere in NC) who said: "Oooh... soft light... also likeCybill Shepherd when she played Maddie in Moonlighting. She always had theprivilege of soft focus."
From Jess Smith (Seattle, WA) who said: "So in your eyes, I look youngerthan I am? Sounds good!"
From Holly (Tallahassee, FL) who said: "Congrats on your new eyeballs!"
From Simone (New York, NY) who said: "you're telling me that BarbaraWalters isn't always surrounded by 'soft light?' I thought she always hadthat glow - morning, noon and night."
And finally, from Mija (Northfield, MN) who said: "Hopefully, the world willclear up - I can imagine that soft lens around you all the time would getirritating - wouldn't it look like everyone was about to fall in love orsomething stupid like that?"
NOTE: My vision is still a little fuzzy, but the burning searing pain andgumminess has pretty much gone (kidding).
+===========================+
My wonderful nephew called me up this week. He is 3-1/2 years old and nevertalks to ANYONE on the phone. So it was very surreal to have this tinylittle voice asked me, "How are you, Komo (that's Korean for Aunt onFather's side)?" I was floored. I can't believe he called! He just wantedto say hi and asked me what I had for dinner. When I told him I had hotdogs (which I did. I have been craving hot dogs for about 3 weeks, but Ijust had the dogs, no buns), he was extremely happy because he likes hotdogs. The call ended with him screaming and laughing and running away fromthe phone, which is his more typical phone behavior.
+===========================+
This week's horoscopes go out to:
Steven, Carey, The Marthas, Bob and Russell (aka the Other Bob), Marcie,Sunita, Greg, Sally, Audrey, Claire, Sasha and Tad! Thanks for one rockin'night of karaoke!
Mike, Jen and Graham, thanks
+===========================+
Check out your weekly horoscpoes at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
mike
you know, it's no wonder that I am totally not squeamish when you realize that I have a brother who sends me pictures of himself doing things like this. Thanks, Mike! So proud am I.
Friday, August 5, 2005
I am experiencing a time delay of 3 hours (8/5/05)
Since I am not supposed to spend too much time staring at the computer, this week’s a short one.
+============================+
I got LASIK and now I see 20/20. The surgery and the recovery have been pain-free. Things are still sort of fuzzy – but I can see. There is just this softness around everything. It’s like when TV shows put the “soft light” on an older actress/persona, e.g. Barbara Walters. The entire image of her gets a little fuzzy. Well, everything is a little fuzzy for me right now. I have to put drops in my eyes many times a day and I can’t swim for one month. I am sure those older ladies at the aqua aerobics are wondering where I went.
+============================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
> Sandy, thanks for hosting and dragging me around LA for bridal things
> Fryvette and FRohnna, thanks so much!!!
> Frob and FRussell
> FrErtischek
> Freven
+============================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
By Rob Brezsny
Horoscopes for week of August 3rd, 2005
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
+============================+
I got LASIK and now I see 20/20. The surgery and the recovery have been pain-free. Things are still sort of fuzzy – but I can see. There is just this softness around everything. It’s like when TV shows put the “soft light” on an older actress/persona, e.g. Barbara Walters. The entire image of her gets a little fuzzy. Well, everything is a little fuzzy for me right now. I have to put drops in my eyes many times a day and I can’t swim for one month. I am sure those older ladies at the aqua aerobics are wondering where I went.
+============================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
> Sandy, thanks for hosting and dragging me around LA for bridal things
> Fryvette and FRohnna, thanks so much!!!
> Frob and FRussell
> FrErtischek
> Freven
+============================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
By Rob Brezsny
Horoscopes for week of August 3rd, 2005
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
post Chinese food bloat (7-27-05)
OK, update on the haikus. There are three judges and I have only received responses from 1 (Thanks). One judge is traveling and the other was traveling and now has returned and probably conveniently forgotten that [put the name of this person here] is a judge. (Notice how I don’t use a pronoun to describe the judge. I am soooo sneaky.)
So, no results for the haikus yet. So, please, stop asking.
+==========================+
http://www.forbes.com/2005/07/25/singles-best-cities_cx_05sing_0725land.html
The best city for singles is Denver, Colorado. I think this is because it’s full of hippies.
And I have to disagree about Boston. I mean, come on, Boston??? If you like 18 year olds… Wait, I change my mind – Boston is good.
+==========================+
So on Friday I am getting LASIK surgery. I am very excited about this because I am sick and tired of my glasses. Yes, this is an elective surgery and yes, I probably don’t need to get it done, but I want it. I have been thinking about it for some time. I especially think about it when I am in the swimming pool, wearing an old pair of glasses that I don’t mind getting mucked up. Yes, I am that blind. However, when I am at the pool, I am usually swimming around with a bunch of 70 year olds in my aqua aerobics class; so wearing glasses in the pool is no biggie considering they are wearing extremely worn out bathing suits and have liver spots the size of Dakota.
I also have thought about LASIK when on rollercoasters; when falling asleep with my glasses on and turning over and bending them out of shape; when I stepped on a pair once; when I broke a lens out of my current pair after I dropped it on the floor; when I have to switch between my prescription glasses to my prescription sunglasses; when I went waterskiing (once and it was disastrous); and most of all, when I am in the shower and have to either lift my leg up to my face or bend down and squish my eyeball to my leg when shaving my legs.
Of course, once I get rid of my glasses, I will have to deal with lots of non-eyeglass wearing issues, such as: all sorts of flying debris landing in my eyes, splattering oil from a frying pan, and wearing protective eye gear while sawing things in half, you know, the everyday issues for a non-eyeglass wearing person.
Owell.
+==========================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
SANDY!!!!! See you tomorrow morning, IN LA!!!!
Anybody’s birthday that I happened to miss
Lynda
SunAe
Bob and Russell
Carey, Steven and Martha G. (I am still dreaming of that smoked trout)
Congrats, Martha A!
So, no results for the haikus yet. So, please, stop asking.
+==========================+
http://www.forbes.com/2005/07/25/singles-best-cities_cx_05sing_0725land.html
The best city for singles is Denver, Colorado. I think this is because it’s full of hippies.
And I have to disagree about Boston. I mean, come on, Boston??? If you like 18 year olds… Wait, I change my mind – Boston is good.
+==========================+
So on Friday I am getting LASIK surgery. I am very excited about this because I am sick and tired of my glasses. Yes, this is an elective surgery and yes, I probably don’t need to get it done, but I want it. I have been thinking about it for some time. I especially think about it when I am in the swimming pool, wearing an old pair of glasses that I don’t mind getting mucked up. Yes, I am that blind. However, when I am at the pool, I am usually swimming around with a bunch of 70 year olds in my aqua aerobics class; so wearing glasses in the pool is no biggie considering they are wearing extremely worn out bathing suits and have liver spots the size of Dakota.
I also have thought about LASIK when on rollercoasters; when falling asleep with my glasses on and turning over and bending them out of shape; when I stepped on a pair once; when I broke a lens out of my current pair after I dropped it on the floor; when I have to switch between my prescription glasses to my prescription sunglasses; when I went waterskiing (once and it was disastrous); and most of all, when I am in the shower and have to either lift my leg up to my face or bend down and squish my eyeball to my leg when shaving my legs.
Of course, once I get rid of my glasses, I will have to deal with lots of non-eyeglass wearing issues, such as: all sorts of flying debris landing in my eyes, splattering oil from a frying pan, and wearing protective eye gear while sawing things in half, you know, the everyday issues for a non-eyeglass wearing person.
Owell.
+==========================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
SANDY!!!!! See you tomorrow morning, IN LA!!!!
Anybody’s birthday that I happened to miss
Lynda
SunAe
Bob and Russell
Carey, Steven and Martha G. (I am still dreaming of that smoked trout)
Congrats, Martha A!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
So itchy!!!!!!!! (7-20-05)
My apologies for the lack of horoscopes last week. The week escaped me.
+=======================+
So the weekend of July 4th, I was in Vermont at Jen Brown’s family place and a bunch of us decided to do the John Langhans Independence Run, organized by the Woodstock Community Center, in the neighboring town of Woodstock, VT. I don’t run, but I planned to walk the 7.2 mi. The race started at 8 AM and I quickly noticed that there were no other walkers. Just me. So I went on my merry way. The race is goes around Woodstock over these giant hills and through the town. Well, I was going at a pretty good pace until I noticed there was no mile 3 marker. I thought, that is strange. And there were no more water stations. I thought, hmm, that’s screwed up. AND THEN I noticed that flat bed trucks carrying the water station people and the water were driving past me. Yes, they decided that since the majority of people had finished the race, they would close shop. They did stop by and check on me twice to see that I had enough water. But basically I was left alone, wandering the hills of Woodstock, VT. It was ok – beautiful scenery, long stretches of road. The only scary part was this hill – very steep and isolated. I was thanking the gods that I was wearing a bright orange t-shirt – I didn’t want to be hunted down. Well, I finished the “race” and was congratulated by my friends. However, the race officials were all gone, the medals were already handed out. So thanks for nothing, Woodstock Community Center!
(see http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com/ for photos)
But other than that, a mighty fine weekend.
+=======================+
Those great goons at Google have created a masterpiece. Check out this link and zoom in as close as possible to the moon’s surface.
http://moon.google.com/
Also check out additional information via the link, “More about Moon Google.”
Thanks, Steven, for the link!
+=======================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FRANNIE!
CONGRATULATIONS TO FRIM DECKER, totally awesome person and cancer survivor, who finished her first triathlon (pix on http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com/)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FRERTISCHEK
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FROB MADISON
Congratulations to FRally and FRodd + 2
Congratulations to FRunita and Freg + 1
Can’t wait to see you next week, FRandy!
XOXOXOXO to FRen FRrown, FRAnnie, FRabney, FRAshlee, FRess, FRillip, FRarmela, FRIsaac and of course, my lovah, FRiedler
+=======================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of July 21, 2005
By Rob Brezsny© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
+=======================+
So the weekend of July 4th, I was in Vermont at Jen Brown’s family place and a bunch of us decided to do the John Langhans Independence Run, organized by the Woodstock Community Center, in the neighboring town of Woodstock, VT. I don’t run, but I planned to walk the 7.2 mi. The race started at 8 AM and I quickly noticed that there were no other walkers. Just me. So I went on my merry way. The race is goes around Woodstock over these giant hills and through the town. Well, I was going at a pretty good pace until I noticed there was no mile 3 marker. I thought, that is strange. And there were no more water stations. I thought, hmm, that’s screwed up. AND THEN I noticed that flat bed trucks carrying the water station people and the water were driving past me. Yes, they decided that since the majority of people had finished the race, they would close shop. They did stop by and check on me twice to see that I had enough water. But basically I was left alone, wandering the hills of Woodstock, VT. It was ok – beautiful scenery, long stretches of road. The only scary part was this hill – very steep and isolated. I was thanking the gods that I was wearing a bright orange t-shirt – I didn’t want to be hunted down. Well, I finished the “race” and was congratulated by my friends. However, the race officials were all gone, the medals were already handed out. So thanks for nothing, Woodstock Community Center!
(see http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com/ for photos)
But other than that, a mighty fine weekend.
+=======================+
Those great goons at Google have created a masterpiece. Check out this link and zoom in as close as possible to the moon’s surface.
http://moon.google.com/
Also check out additional information via the link, “More about Moon Google.”
Thanks, Steven, for the link!
+=======================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FRANNIE!
CONGRATULATIONS TO FRIM DECKER, totally awesome person and cancer survivor, who finished her first triathlon (pix on http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com/)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FRERTISCHEK
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FROB MADISON
Congratulations to FRally and FRodd + 2
Congratulations to FRunita and Freg + 1
Can’t wait to see you next week, FRandy!
XOXOXOXO to FRen FRrown, FRAnnie, FRabney, FRAshlee, FRess, FRillip, FRarmela, FRIsaac and of course, my lovah, FRiedler
+=======================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of July 21, 2005
By Rob Brezsny© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
IndepenDANCE Day Crew! John Langhans Run Woodstock VT
Here's the team photo! The t-shirts said "John Langhans Independance Day run." Nice spelling.
KIM swim finish
These are photos of my lovely friend Kim, who just finished her first triathlon. I am so proud!
Here's Kim at the finish of the swim portion of the triathlon.
Here's Kim at the finish of the swim portion of the triathlon.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
feidler gothic
Annie and Dabney have been at it again. Here's Feidler in the great American painting, American Gothic. Can you tell which one is Feidler?
Monday, July 11, 2005
Thursday, July 7, 2005
July 4th weekend
Went to Vermont for the long weekend and luckily, other people remember what happened. Check out http://ashleemcclelland.pingwellesley.com/ July 6th post for the blow by blow. Will add more later.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
urgent, urgent, emergency! (6/30/05)
http://www.wheredidthetimego.com/
I am 100% sloth. But that’s not that surprising.
+=============================+
According to a news source, I have become fodder for the paparazzi in Greece. Reportedly the Greek media has picked up (via Google) a dedication in my email (via blogger.com: http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com) to George Costacos (my friend who was in the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics). The NY office for Costacos has been flooded by calls about me and my friendship with George; however, we have tastefully declined comment.
+=============================+
THE HORROR IN THE GARAGE: PART 2
I went home to Jacksonville last Friday. I thought it was going to be an easy visit, just hanging out with the folks, getting some errands done, but otherwise nothing too bad. But then Saturday morning, my father looked at me and said eagerly, “So, let’s go clean the garage!” I thought he was joking. But he wasn’t. He was serious. I think my family thinks my sole purpose in life is cleaning the damn garage. So, given no choice, I went back to the garage.
Well, last time we were there, the attic was cleaned out BY ME and a lot of the junk in the garage was cleaned out BY ME. Well, this time, my father and I went through the smaller boxes of stuff I was too tired to go through last time. And it was with good cause that I didn’t go through these boxes, because unbeknownst to me, my parents saved every receipt, statement, cancelled check, tax return INCLUDING forms, from 1972 to today. I am not kidding. There was a 1974 Ohio state tax form booklet in one of the boxes. There was a grocery receipt from 1980 that showed a purchase of a dozen extra large eggs, $0.79. And carbon copies of gas station receipts. Cancelled checks which paid rent in the Henry Hudson Hotel, which back in the early 70s was subsidized hospital housing (today, it is http://www.hudsonhotel.com/ *). YEARS OF LITTLE PIECES OF PAPER STASHED AWAY INSIDE PAPER BAGS INSIDE A LARGER BOX.
And because they had credit card numbers and signatures on them, we had to shred each and every statement, etc. by hand. Yes, my parents do own a shredder, but we tried using that and after an hour of consistent shredding, it turned itself off due to overheating. The shredder came back to life after it cooled down, but we had to forge on with the hand shredding.
This shredding went on for two days. We only got from 1972-1980. I know when I go back to FL, 1980-today is waiting. So frightening. The horror, the horror….
* Now I hate this hotel because it used to be all low income housing until the hotel owners bought the property. They kicked out almost all of the tenants and kept a small portion of the hotel as low income housing – not only due to pressures from the tenants but also because they get a nice chunk of change back from the city for keeping the low income housing. And of course, the low income housing tenants have a separate entrance from the hotel).
+=============================+
When I was in Jacksonville, I ran into someone at the Jacksonville International (HA) airport. It was James Joyner, whom I went to school with from 2nd grade (or was it first?) through 12th grade. First of all I never run into anyone I know at the airport. Never happens. Especially in Jacksonville. I keep on the lookout, just in case there is someone I don’t want to speak to. Anyway, I was walking off the jetway and there was James, who I was actually happy to see. So, for those in Jax who are looking for a pediatrician, he is opening his own practice in Arlington.
+=============================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!
The Marthas
My brother Mike
Can’t wait to see you, Annie, Dabney, Jen Brown, and the rest of the gang in green, green Vermont!
+=============================+
Checkout your weekly Rob Brezsny horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of June 30, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
I am 100% sloth. But that’s not that surprising.
+=============================+
According to a news source, I have become fodder for the paparazzi in Greece. Reportedly the Greek media has picked up (via Google) a dedication in my email (via blogger.com: http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com) to George Costacos (my friend who was in the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics). The NY office for Costacos has been flooded by calls about me and my friendship with George; however, we have tastefully declined comment.
+=============================+
THE HORROR IN THE GARAGE: PART 2
I went home to Jacksonville last Friday. I thought it was going to be an easy visit, just hanging out with the folks, getting some errands done, but otherwise nothing too bad. But then Saturday morning, my father looked at me and said eagerly, “So, let’s go clean the garage!” I thought he was joking. But he wasn’t. He was serious. I think my family thinks my sole purpose in life is cleaning the damn garage. So, given no choice, I went back to the garage.
Well, last time we were there, the attic was cleaned out BY ME and a lot of the junk in the garage was cleaned out BY ME. Well, this time, my father and I went through the smaller boxes of stuff I was too tired to go through last time. And it was with good cause that I didn’t go through these boxes, because unbeknownst to me, my parents saved every receipt, statement, cancelled check, tax return INCLUDING forms, from 1972 to today. I am not kidding. There was a 1974 Ohio state tax form booklet in one of the boxes. There was a grocery receipt from 1980 that showed a purchase of a dozen extra large eggs, $0.79. And carbon copies of gas station receipts. Cancelled checks which paid rent in the Henry Hudson Hotel, which back in the early 70s was subsidized hospital housing (today, it is http://www.hudsonhotel.com/ *). YEARS OF LITTLE PIECES OF PAPER STASHED AWAY INSIDE PAPER BAGS INSIDE A LARGER BOX.
And because they had credit card numbers and signatures on them, we had to shred each and every statement, etc. by hand. Yes, my parents do own a shredder, but we tried using that and after an hour of consistent shredding, it turned itself off due to overheating. The shredder came back to life after it cooled down, but we had to forge on with the hand shredding.
This shredding went on for two days. We only got from 1972-1980. I know when I go back to FL, 1980-today is waiting. So frightening. The horror, the horror….
* Now I hate this hotel because it used to be all low income housing until the hotel owners bought the property. They kicked out almost all of the tenants and kept a small portion of the hotel as low income housing – not only due to pressures from the tenants but also because they get a nice chunk of change back from the city for keeping the low income housing. And of course, the low income housing tenants have a separate entrance from the hotel).
+=============================+
When I was in Jacksonville, I ran into someone at the Jacksonville International (HA) airport. It was James Joyner, whom I went to school with from 2nd grade (or was it first?) through 12th grade. First of all I never run into anyone I know at the airport. Never happens. Especially in Jacksonville. I keep on the lookout, just in case there is someone I don’t want to speak to. Anyway, I was walking off the jetway and there was James, who I was actually happy to see. So, for those in Jax who are looking for a pediatrician, he is opening his own practice in Arlington.
+=============================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!
The Marthas
My brother Mike
Can’t wait to see you, Annie, Dabney, Jen Brown, and the rest of the gang in green, green Vermont!
+=============================+
Checkout your weekly Rob Brezsny horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of June 30, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
"Anti-Michelle"
My sister in law once called my apartment the museum of tiny things. It's true -- I have an obsession with tiny things. So, pal Steven sent me this, calling it the Anti Michelle. I do have to agree.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4117974.stm
Jesus feet
these shoes will leave an imprint on the sands of time.... and in poo as well!
www.shoesofthefisherman.com/
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
moldy isn't always good
From Real Simple magazine's article, "Surprising Expiration Dates
A handy, who-knew guide for 77 foods, beauty products, and household goods"
I just recently threw out a jar of pickled beets that I can't remember when I last used. It definitely wasn't this year or last....
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/print/0,22304,676079,00.html#
itchy eyelids (6-22-05)
I don’t know what my bosses are thinking. They are actually making me work today. That is just so wrong.
+========================+
RE: SUMMER
Yesterday ( June 21, 2005) was the first day of summer. Mine was good – how was yours?
+========================+
RE: THONG PANTS
Addendum: Humans can send other humans, monkeys and dogs to the moon AND engineer pants to lift and separate, but somehow we can’t design underwear that doesn’t ride up or cause wedgies. Why is that?
+========================+
RE: AGE:
I was recently told that I am the same age as when Jesus died.
+========================+
RE: THINGS YOU NEED TO BUY RIGHT NOW
My friends Annie and Dabney are selling their wares at the Renegade craft fair this weekend in New York. I am not sure where their booth will be, but check them out!
Howdy friends -
At long last, we are headed down to Brooklyn for the RENEGADE craft fair this weekend! If you (or any of your friends or family) are going to be in New York this weekend, please come visit us at:
McCarren Park
on June 25th and 26th
in Brooklyn, NY
10:30am - 5:00pm
Booth 79
www.renegadecraft.com
The park is located right down the street from the Williamsburg Bridge on Bedford Avenue. By train it is a couple of blocks away from the Bedford Avenue stop on the L train, and the Nassau Avenue stop on the G train.
At some point this week, we hope to post a preview of our inventory on the blog, so please check in if you are interested. We’ve already had a lot of requests for certain items, so please know that we hope to start selling to friends and family after the fair - if we have anything left ;)
Thanks for all the encouragement and support!
- Dabney & Ann
http://superette.blogspot.com
+========================+
Check out this and more at http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com
+========================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Bob and Russell
Alex and Marcie
The Marthas
Good Luck, Annie and Dabney!
+========================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of June 23, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
+========================+
RE: SUMMER
Yesterday ( June 21, 2005) was the first day of summer. Mine was good – how was yours?
+========================+
RE: THONG PANTS
Addendum: Humans can send other humans, monkeys and dogs to the moon AND engineer pants to lift and separate, but somehow we can’t design underwear that doesn’t ride up or cause wedgies. Why is that?
+========================+
RE: AGE:
I was recently told that I am the same age as when Jesus died.
+========================+
RE: THINGS YOU NEED TO BUY RIGHT NOW
My friends Annie and Dabney are selling their wares at the Renegade craft fair this weekend in New York. I am not sure where their booth will be, but check them out!
Howdy friends -
At long last, we are headed down to Brooklyn for the RENEGADE craft fair this weekend! If you (or any of your friends or family) are going to be in New York this weekend, please come visit us at:
McCarren Park
on June 25th and 26th
in Brooklyn, NY
10:30am - 5:00pm
Booth 79
www.renegadecraft.com
The park is located right down the street from the Williamsburg Bridge on Bedford Avenue. By train it is a couple of blocks away from the Bedford Avenue stop on the L train, and the Nassau Avenue stop on the G train.
At some point this week, we hope to post a preview of our inventory on the blog, so please check in if you are interested. We’ve already had a lot of requests for certain items, so please know that we hope to start selling to friends and family after the fair - if we have anything left ;)
Thanks for all the encouragement and support!
- Dabney & Ann
http://superette.blogspot.com
+========================+
Check out this and more at http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com
+========================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Bob and Russell
Alex and Marcie
The Marthas
Good Luck, Annie and Dabney!
+========================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of June 23, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
curly head
Ok -- I got this from a Korean website (thanks Sun Ae!) which showed lots of pictures of guys and their personal hairstyles. This guy really likes his perm. It took him a while to grow it long enough to make this statement. What a statement!
spondulicks! spondulicks! spondulicks! (6/16/05)
BE FOREWARN; BE FOUR ARMED:
THONG PANTS. YES, THEY ARE OUT THERE, WAITING TO LIFT AND SEPARATE YOU!
I have known for a while that there is new technology in pants today. Lycra definitely opened the door to pants technology - allowing the user to stretch and move while still looking good. Today, pants technology has surpassed all of our expectations and now can define your butt. Yes, it’s true. Don’t waste your time doing squats and lunges in the gym - just put on some mechanically engineered jeans that will lift and create a butt that you technically don’t have! Of course, these jeans costs over $150, but what’s a little cash for a cheap butt lift?
However, I am not sure if everyone knows that there are pants available now that act as a thong. I am not talking about those loose cotton pajama like pants that crawl up everyone’s ass as they walk (sit, lie down, roll over) - I am talking about dress pants and jeans that are meant to be worn in public. They not only lift and define the butt, but they also divide and conquer. I know what you are thinking - couldn’t it be a short inseam? No. There are short inseams and then there are pants that were made to purposely lift, divide AND separate.
Now I really know what you are thinking—Michelle, are you staring at people’s butts as you walk to work?
And the answer is simply Yes - I am looking at your ass. It’s hard to not to stare. Especially if you notice that a person’s clean cut chinos are creating a continental divide.
It’s not only a divider but an equalizer; there are thong pants out there for men as well. I have seen it and nine times out of ten it is not a pretty sight.
+==================+
FROM MY BRILLIANT FRIEND, CAITLYN IN DC:
“you know, having sampled a variety of bathrooms in the capitol, I’ve noticed that the crappy toilet paper (i.e. the tissue paper dispenser kind) can only be found around the press gallery. hmmm, Congress does get the last laugh!”
AND
“P.S. I also learned that the men’s bathroom near the house chambers is called the Fonzie and is where all the deals take place. (It’s an homage to Fonzie’s bathroom office in Al’s, but I don’t think there’s a congressman that can hit a jukebox and make it start.”
+==================+
From Delta Airlines weekly email:
DOMESTIC FARE SPECIALS*
*Additional taxes/fees/restrictions apply. Fares shown are available only for purchase on delta.com of from a travel agent.
New York-LaGuardia, NY (LGA) to:
-- Newark, NJ (EWR) - $138
Now, why in the world would you want to fly from LaGuardia to Newark, New Jersey, which is approx. 26 miles difference from each other.
+==================+
Get this and more at http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com
+==================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
Happy Belated Birthday, Martha!
Congratulations on the journal publication, Ertischek! http://www.eblue.org/scripts/om.dll/serve?action=searchDB&searchDBfor=art&artType=abs&id=as0190962205004408&nav=abs
Thanks Saumya!
Howdy Sunita and Audrey!
+==================+
Check out your weekly horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of June 16, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Wednesday, June 8, 2005
That isn't right (6/8/05)
ADVERTISEMENT #1:
My friends Annie and Dabney are selling their wares ;) at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn on Saturday + Sunday, June 25 + 26 from 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM, in McCarren Park which is located at N. 12th St and Bedford Ave.
For more information on Annie and Dabney crafts: http://superette.blogspot.com
For more information on the Renegade Craft Fair: http://www.renegadecraft.com/brooklyn/index.html
+=================+
ADVERTISEMENT #2:
This is the cutest commercial.
http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/commercials/1732/
+=================+
ADVERTISEMENT #3:
The McDLT. http://www.retrojunk.com/media/114/
Really, nothing more needs to be said.
+=================+
Check this out and more at: http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com
+=================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO MY AWESOME BROTHER, MIKE
Lynn
Steven
Dave, Shima, Mike, Paul
Belated congratulations to Nichole and her hubby, Peter
+=================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of June 9, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
My friends Annie and Dabney are selling their wares ;) at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn on Saturday + Sunday, June 25 + 26 from 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM, in McCarren Park which is located at N. 12th St and Bedford Ave.
For more information on Annie and Dabney crafts: http://superette.blogspot.com
For more information on the Renegade Craft Fair: http://www.renegadecraft.com/brooklyn/index.html
+=================+
ADVERTISEMENT #2:
This is the cutest commercial.
http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/commercials/1732/
+=================+
ADVERTISEMENT #3:
The McDLT. http://www.retrojunk.com/media/114/
Really, nothing more needs to be said.
+=================+
Check this out and more at: http://girlladyfriend.blogspot.com
+=================+
This week’s horoscopes go out to:
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO MY AWESOME BROTHER, MIKE
Lynn
Steven
Dave, Shima, Mike, Paul
Belated congratulations to Nichole and her hubby, Peter
+=================+
Check out your horoscope at www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of June 9, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.
Monday, June 6, 2005
oh so baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad (6/6/05)
Yes, I forgot to send out the horoscopes last week. Oops.
=======================
And to all of you who keep asking me where the winners are for the haikus, well, I refer you to the statement above, removing the words “horoscopes last week” and replacing them with “the entries to the judges and you will just have to hold your horses.”
=======================
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of June 2, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
=======================
And to all of you who keep asking me where the winners are for the haikus, well, I refer you to the statement above, removing the words “horoscopes last week” and replacing them with “the entries to the judges and you will just have to hold your horses.”
=======================
Free Will Astrology
Horoscopes for week of June 2, 2005
By Rob Brezsny
© 1995-2004, Rob Brezsny. All rights reserved.http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/printer-friendly.html
Friday, May 27, 2005
mcdlt
It's Jason Alexander in the McDLT commercial for McDonald's! Remember the McDLT? It kept the cold side cold and the hot side hot. So stupid, but ingenious at the SAME TIME.
http://www.retrojunk.com/media/114/
(Thanks for the web site, Steven!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)