Pete Seeger: A Great Musician:: Me: Funny

Orig. post date: Jan 08.  You know, I like my alone time, but I'm so funny that it's a real shame no one is around to appreciate all of the cinematic moments that I generate on a regular basis. For example, tonight, as I waiting for a Pete Seeger documentary to start, I was eating Sour Patch Kids while reading Eating Well magazine. Oh, the irony! I can only hope the people behind me noticed and had a chuckle at my expense.

I don't only use my friends as an audience, I use them as inspiration. If a friend had been at the movie with me, I would have had the moral support to shout something silly in the post-film discussion with the director.

When the director said, "We did a limited theater release so we could get it out on DVD, and get it viewed as much as possible before the election," my interest antennae went up. Before the election? Why? Was Pete's antiwar message going to encourage folks to vote for... Obama? I felt my face turn warm, and the urge grew to shout, "Who's Pete voting for?"

Earlier, someone asked the director if Pete is religious, so surely his political affiliation is fair game! If a friend had been with me, I would have yelled my question and gotten some laughs, and perhaps even an answer. I doubt Pete will vote, though, because I don't see which candidate would appeal to such an environmentalist.

My friends inspire me to make bold, confident choices. If I'd had a friend with me at lunch today, I would have had the courage to order a second bowl of soup. But you know, we all have our travails in life, and I guess going to movies and cute French bistros alone is my cross to bear.

FYI Pete is a total badass. Like me, you probably didn't know that. It's too complicated for me to go into, so see the glowing New York Times review for a description of the movie that does Seeger justice. Click here to read full entry.

Live Blogging from Superbowl 42

Orig. post date, Feb 2008!  This might be one of those posts that I find hilarious that no one else does.  I personally find myself hysterical, and I love football, so I think this post is one that can endure.  
Live Blogging is the latest hot thing (I have no idea why). I see the NY Times Sports blogger doing it, and a guy on TMZ does a live blog during Lost. I'm going to try my hand at live blogging- I'm not doing it every minute like my Lost guy, but maybe a couple times an hour between cleaning, eating chips, and drinking rum and Cokes.

5:39 pm. Pre-game show continues with inane interview by Terri Bradshaw with Tom Brady about how cute he is. Whatever. Downstairs, Family Guy is on, and we've broken out the Doritos.

6:01pm. That was a really confusing Declarataion of Independence interlude. I will say, it kept my attention. I was trying to figure out where they were going with the Dec of Ind reenactment. I got hooked when they showed Warrick Dunn in front of a very small house; that's when it occurred to me- hey. These fat, jolly, colonial white guys put this ball in motion, and here's where we are now. The point is to show how far this country has come. I don't think the segment overall made that very clear; overall, it was a collection of rah-rah, bland, formal images of coaches at the Jefferson monument, or Strahan at Ground Zero... at the end they dedicated it to the men and women in the armed forces. OK, fine. A confusing interlude, and in the end, like our country, it has good intentions, comes off a little weird, but we care about each other.

7:10 pm. Good first quarter. Each team only had the ball once, which to me shows how experienced these 2 teams are and how well they've played. Ummmm... not much else to say... I watched three episodes of Friday Night Lights today and I liked it.

7:11- Oh, Giants! Delay of game??? To add insult to injury, the replay just showed Payton giving Eli the "hurry up" hand motion. Let's score, Giants!

7:13. That did not just happen. That interception did not just happen.
OK, the Clydesdales will calm me down.

Husband: "By the way, anyone who would be interested in reading your live blogging would probably be watching the game right now."

Well, this is my first time liveblogging, so it's probably good I have a small audience this time.

7:24, Um, a heart just popped out of that woman's boob on the careerbuilder.com ad.
7:25. Those thriller Geckos for that vitamin water? That might as well have been a GEICO commercial, because now, everyone knows gecko=GEICO.

7:28: Be careful with Brady! I almost screamed that when they just sacked him. (6:23 left in 2nd quarter) I've seen TB interviewed so many times, and seen him on people.com with Gisele, that I feel like Tom's a friend. Be careful with him!

7:34- I just checked out the NY Times guy's liveblogging. BORING!!!  I quote:

2Q, 8:49:The Patriots totally had that fumble, and lost it in the pile. …Manning wants to try a screen pass on third down, and it’s a bust. Manning just throws the ball into the turf. Punt time.

2Q, 9:41:Manning is sacked on first down. He tried to find some room, but ran out of it. …Second and 13, out of the gun. Manning tries an inside handoff, and it’s a fumble. …A scrum for the ball. …Giants keep it.

You call that blogging? That's just little summaries.

Husband: "So, you're liveblogging for other antisocial people who are ignoring other people?"
Me: "You don't understand liveblogging!"
Actually, maybe I don't understand it. 'Cause really, who WOULD read this? I should be in a chat room.

7:37- ELI??????? What the HELL are you doing??? "Steve Smith slipped down" the announcer just said. No way, that was just a crazy pass. Well, you're more dramatic than Tom Brady, I'll give ya that, Eli.

7:58- Liveblogging is boring!

8:35- Tom Petty was good. My half-time pizza was OK. The game... going OK.

8:38- I'm unhappy with the lack of interesting plays in this game. Giants just got a 12 players on the field penalty. I wish I were watching Friday Night Lights.

9:09- Giants on the Pat's 12. Now Bradshaw on the 5. Giants, let's deliver. I'm laughing at the Shadowy figure of Payton Manning in the booth, hiding behind a column.

HOLY SISODOSIDO TOUCHDOWN. Let's not celebrate, game's not over. Peyton in stands looking proud and relieved.

9:12- any commervial with James Carville in it is funny!

9:58- OK Manning just threw a touchdown. 29 seconds to go.
Impressions: I love how Coughlin's face hides nothing.

Earlier, when Brady missed a passed in the endzone, the camera caught a shot of the Patriot mascot banging his own head.

Alford just nailed Brady. 19 seconds left. I can't believe the Giants are almost going to win this

Cory Webster just saved the game by knocking down that nice pass from Brady, to Moss.

OK, 10 more seconds.

10:21- Terri Bradshaw is crazy. He just ordered Mike Strahan to go around the stadium and show the fans the Lombardi trophy. Strahan said, "yeah!" and acted lke he was leaving, but sort of just went to the back of the area of the stage, probably to get away from Terri. Terri doesn't get the idea of personal space. He was right in Coughlin's face, and almost knocking the old ladies out of the way to try to get closer to Eli Manning. "Congratulations, young man!" My GOD, Terri!

Here's why I'm funny: because I knew Plaxico Burress was going to cry in his post-game interview. Well, I guess the reporter did too, bc she chose to interview him, but I'm not a professional football commentator, although, if I were immersed in the field, I'd probably do VERY well.
Click here to read full entry.

Welcome to Mississippi!

Mississippi, Day 1:

Me: “I can’t believe we’re driving with styrofoam food trays on our laps.”  We laugh.
Sis: “Welcome to Mississippi.”

Mostly, MS has not lived up to all my stereotypical images and dramatic expectations. When you hear "Mississippi," you picture shacks by cotton fields. While there is a cotton field at the end of my sister’s road, this northeast corner of MS looks like any other sorta rural place: there are two lane roads, neighborhoods, a downtown, a few trailer parks... kind of like where I grew up in VA.

However, Mississippi does have some quirks.

Yesterday, I had only been in the state for 3 hours, but already my nephew had found a pinecone with a black widow in it, and I had gotten bitten by a tiny, translucent, red creature. I have no idea what it was. (Mini-scorpion?) I know for a fact it wasn’t a fire ant, because my nephew got attacked by a swarm of those last summer, and my bite, while itchy, did not form into a pustule/welt like he had all over his legs and hands.

What fire ants can do was a revelation to me.

The one thing about Mississippi that meets the dramatic expectations- not the accent, not the poverty, not the obesity- is the fire ants. Read my previous post “Fire Ants: Giving Regular Ants a Bad Name” for further info.

Mississippi has other quirks that I’ll try to capture on camera this week. This is my 7th or 8th trip out here over the past 2 years (my niece and nephews are my obsessions, besides my blogs), and I’ve never captured the area on film as much as I want. You can see some of what I have gotten on my flickr gallery.

About the eating while driving thing: my sis was behind the wheel with a cheeseburger and tater tots, I had a grilled chicken and bacon wrap, and the boys had grilled cheese. We had to eat like that because it was past bedtime and the boys hadn’t eaten yet because we had to go straight to T-ball from picking me up at the tiny Tupelo, MS airport. My husband does not let me eat in his car very often, so even though I could have waited to eat my wrap, I was hungry, and getting to eat while driving felt like a luxury.

Day 2: Had the nephew’s birthday! Click here to read full entry.

My Celebrity Crushes (Might Surprise You)

I want to get this out in the open:

Crush 1, on left: Josh Hollowell: actor from my fave TV Show Lost-- He's just pretty, and I like his Southern accent.

Crush 2, on right: Chris Brown: R and B singer-- I like his songs, and he is so cute. Plus, he is from Virginia, like me. I know he's only 19, but don't worry, these are just abstract crushes... sure. See and hear him in full gorgeousness at youtube.

My crush 3: James Hetfield (shaved version): lead singer of Metallica--
I like musicians, OK? He's a talented singer and songwriter. My husband was a very talented trombonist in high school, for real. See, I fell for a musician... yeah.

Oh- I almost forgot my crush on Dale Earnhardt, Jr., NASCAR driver.

Oh shoot, I also forgot Tom Petty; mostly the Tom Petty of 20 years ago. Tom Petty would not be called a traditional sex symbol, and some people might call him skinny and gross. I can only send you to this YouTube video of the making of the Traveling Wilburys album. It's a great movie, and Petty is so young and cool and just as good of a musician as the guys he's playing with: Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, and George Harrison. I adore Petty's voice, especially his speaking voice. I do like musicians...

Click here to read full entry.

Favorites: Laptop, Manicure, Traveling Wilburys

Orig post date: Feb 2008. I'm writing something about diamond rings and jealousy, but it's still very nebulous. One thing I can tell you is that my ring* looks spectacular next to my watermelon-colored nails. I made 200 bucks this week tutoring, so I treated myself to the manicure I've been wanting for 6 months.

I also wanted to show off my decorated laptop. I read an article about how Apple's success has created a clone-like atmosphere at Starbucks- rows of white laptops. Not me! I thought. Any hesitation I felt about plastering the name of my other website on my pristine laptop disappeared, and I added a Traveling Wilburys sticker for good measure. It's one of those quality fabric-y stickers, so it won't peel off. If you have any high-quality, durable stickers, please send them to me.

The only other person I've seen with a decorated laptop was an NYU student with a lot of stickers on hers. The white surface of my MacBook is also making me want to doodle on it with permanent marker.  But I won't, because that would be impulsive, and I'm not even sure what I'd want to doodle.  

*100 year old diamond, belonged to my husband's great- grandmother. Pretty, and, not to be gauche.... free.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Traveling Wilbury songs:



Ah! that reminds me to add Tom Petty to my list of celebrity crushes! Click here to read full entry.

Where the Hell is Matt?

Original post date: Spring 2008
I stumbled across this joyful video when I was looking for other blogs in the area. This guy is from Fairfield, CT, and his videos are so ridiculous and happy. Basically, he travels around the world and does a goofy dance in front of various monuments. I first watched the outtakes/bloopers, and was laughing my head off-- just me, by myself, laughing loudly. The final product is more artistic, but still great fun.

I'm not exactly a big crier, but I get emotional when I see image after image of stunning landscapes. I'll probably never see them, but I'm happy they are out there-- just sitting out there, while I'm here, at my desk. I'm not sad, I'm amazed, in a "hard to get my head around that" way.

Oh Lord, don't even let me watch the part where he dances with the kids in Rwanda. Don't ever read any books about the genocide in Rwanda, because they will destroy you. However, if you're interested, I recommend We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch and Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide by Samantha Powers. That one covers all the genocides of the 20th century won the Pulitzer for Non-fiction.

To end on an upbeat note, here's a cute spoof by a guy in London. The guy is lovably dorky, and it looks like he enjoys life in London.

I ADORE youtube. Current fave: "Sweetest Thing (Dollar Bill)" by Wyclef Jean. Click here to read full entry.

Chew, Bite, Crash: That's a Lotta Dog

Original post date: Dec. 2008 I have to post this picture of the dog we're hosting for two weeks. He's sweet, but he is a handful! He chews any small item not tied down (socks and shoes are obviously favorites) and today I caught him gnawing at our oriental rug. So far he's destroyed my husband's iPhone earpiece and ripped down our curtains. I actually think it's hilarious. I have to admire his spunk.
This picture is one of the rare moments he stopped wandering around looking for things to chew on. At first, when he leapt up into the bay window, we told him, "No! Get down!" But when he kept getting up there, and staying still... well, we let it go. At least he's lying down; at first, he'd just stand there and look at us, like, "See me? See me? Yeah. I'm in the window." (Say that in a Stewie voice, from Family Guy.)

I obviously can't leave him unattended, which is a problem. Everything I do, every second of the day, has to take into account where he is. It limits my movement in the house, so it's taking me longer to get things done. And, having to keep all the bedroom doors shut is causing a heat imbalance.

He has a lot of energy, which he takes out on my dog. He chews on her ears, bites her ears, puts his jaws around her entire head, and leaps on her and bites her neck. I think he's just playing, and when he first got here, she barked and snarled and bit him back pretty impressively, but at this point, she is just defeated. She's older than him and can't match his athletic attacks; he's taken to flinging all 65 pounds of him at her, full force. She's 50 pounds, but she's mellow. She can't fight him off all day. We have to keep them separated because he won't leave her alone.

He's strong. He ran into me full force once, when we were chasing him down to retrieve something, and whoa. That's a lotta dog. I think it was by accident.

Oh- he also starts whining and yapping as soon as the sun comes up, so forget about sleeping in. Point in his favor: his energy makes it necessary to walk him at least once a day, so I'm getting exercise. I'll miss that when he's gone... in 8 days. Click here to read full entry.

My Obsessions

Now, these boys are beautiful! These are my movie star-esque nephews. This pic is about 9 months old, so they're are even more handsome now.

They, and now my 9 month old niece, and my total life obsessions. I was there when each one was born. Yup, I've been stalking them since they were born, and even before. It's the horror of my life that they live in Mississippi, but we are hoping they'll get back to the East Coast in a few years. HINT, HINT.
Click here to read full entry.

Sisters and a Fancy Grey Sweatshirt

Original post date: Nov. 14, 2007. Well, my middle sis turned 30 today. She's finally in my decade. My youngest sis is in her 2nd year of law school and is a mere baby at 26. It's great having sisters. I don't have anything deep to say about that. I just wanted to put up a pic of my sisters.

I like this picture because we look super dorky and little. This is in Ireland a year and a half ago. It's a little hard to see, but my middle sis is wearing my grey sweatshirt, because we didn't bring enough warm clothes. Who knew Ireland would be freezing in July- shivering-freezing with pelting wind and rain. We wore all of our layers for three days straight and still got chilled. Even when the rain cleared, it was still cool. It's a good thing I brought my ratty blue sweatshirt, so my sis could wear the grey one. It's never a mistake to bring along an extra sweatshirt.

Last week the grey sweatshirt got left on a bus or airplane in Brazil. Oh well. That sweatshirt had some good times and got in more international travel than most people in the world.

Note in this Ireland photo the grey sweatshirt, and me in my same blue long-sleeved shirt, because I only brought tank tops. Idiot. I hope the person who finds the grey sweatshirt likes it. It cost 100 $, which is absurd. I only bought it because my husband got me a gift certif and there wasn't anything else in the store that I liked. It was still an adequate sweatshirt, albeit a bit short for comfort. That's why I won't really miss it and don't feel distraught.

Fortunately, my ratty blue sweatshirt from American Apparel did make it home safely from Brazil. Trusty, cozy little thing. Size medium. Look into it. Its comfort is worth the 50 bucks. I'm not including a picture of it, because in all the pics, I have the hood up and am hunched over in an effort to keep warm. Click here to read full entry.

O-FREAKIN-BAMA!

That's all you need to know. O-freakin-bama! This political season, I am going to be wearing Obama t-shirts incessantly and reminding people to get out and vote. Now that Hillary is out, I like her so much better!

If you are a Republican and you are reading this, I respect your views, but I urge you just to vote for Obama, OK? Just do it. Let's get someone interesting in the White House. I think Obama has a secret streak of Republican in him, so just... just vote for him this year. Trust me.

Maybe I will finally read Obama's other book, Audacity of Hope. It's almost too good to be true that Obama is in, but I think I'm ready to start letting myself believe it. I've been wanthing this so badly ever since I read Obama's memoir. I was going to be too disappointed if Hillary got in, so I didn't invest myself in the news coverage, and in fact, threw tantrums when my husband watched primary results. Now, I am ready to start campaigning and set myself up for devastation if McCain wins.

Do you think it would help if I campaigned for Obama, or is that just something we do to feel useful? Is there anything I can do to help Obama win? I'm scared to get invested because if McCain wins, it's going to hit me hard. Click here to read full entry.