Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

So I take cabs home a lot lately. Especially because the train never seems to stop at my stop after 11pm. And even though Michael Bloomerg has guaranteed me a quiet ride it seems most cab driver prefer to listen to the radio. Which I like because the silence of not understanding Farsi is sort of deafening at four in the morning. Tonight my cab driver was one of those who prefers soft-rock (great, but never David Allen Boucher). And while we were driving I had the pleasure of hearing my favorite (it's so hard to choose!) single from The Lion King soundtrack, "Can you Feel the Love Tonight." And everyone who knows me for the sentimental sap I am will realize that I was immediately reminded of the Freelance Troope in elementary/middle school and how we all sang along to that song at the cast party for Young Country, wherein I was Rachel Revere, wife to the famous patriot rider and silversmith. Yes, for a moment in the cab I felt one with Robin Gordon-Levitt and Stevie Weinstein-Foner once more... but now, all I am is tired and wishing I wasn't working in the morning.

An Open Letter to Gift Givers

To All Those It May Concern,

At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I would like to provide a parameter of sorts for all gift-givers out there. Say you find yourself in a crafty clothing/jewelry/gift store while shopping. Say a certain something catches your eye. And this something is not exactly pretty. Or useful. Probably it's not like anything you have ever seen. You may find at this juncture that your thoughts turn to a certain young woman on your gift-giving list. Perhaps a woman who wears bright colors or clothing with an unusual style. I urge you not to buy this item. Even though you are surely thinking, "This is funky she'll certainly like this." In fact, ninety-nine times in one hundred, if you find something "funky" (that is a mostly positive term used to describe an object of unusual style or dimension), the recipient will agree that it is "funky" (that is possessing a terrible odor, at least metaphorically). I feel confident speaking for all such young women when I say they would much prefer something boring, useful or mundane.

With this caveat I wish all of you the very happiest of holidays and I submit the following photographic evidence to make your days even more merry and bright.

Love,
Rose



*Yes this hat is made of polar fleece.

Sunday Cooking Diary: A Prelude

So the weather is fucking awful right now. I guess you might say it's sleeting. But what that wouldn't convey is the bitter cold, wind and wet ice. Well, maybe it covers the wet ice part. The point is when I left work tonight I saw about four girls in skinny high heels fall down completely. But in spite of the weather I went grocery shopping. You see, Pot Luck Club is tomorrow and it has been time shifted to three pm. Many would note that that is fully the middle of the day, but when one considers when I normally rise on Sundays... well, you get it. Going to the grocery store is practically out of the question tomorrow. As it is, I didn't remember to buy paper towels or coffee which are probably equally indispensible to tomorrow's game plan. When I got home I decided to wash all the dishes in the sink.* This really puts me on my mark for waking up tomorrow (maybe not the caffine and absorption marks). So I don't regret it, really. What I sort of regret is my decision to watch DVR'd 30 Rock and drink a finger or two of the big bottle wine Richard left on the counter. Elaine Stricht is totally worth staying up for, but I think it's too late for me to see trailers for Sweeney Todd without getting too hot and bothered.

*On my way in I met one of my neighbors who is also a waitress and was coming home in the wet. My building isn't 100% geriatric! Comraderie!

Photo Gift!!!

Richard and I decorated the apartment for the holidays on Wednesday. Basically that consisted of a string of lights around a doorway, a few tiny Santa hats scattered about and what might be the world's smallest, saddest LED Christmas tree from Rite Aid. And while photographing the sad tree would have maybe been hilarious, nothing would have been cuter than my Christmas cactus wearing a Santa hat.



Happy Holidays!

Grammar Rant

Remember how I was talking about the somewhat counter intuitive writing style empolyed by publicists pitching books? Well at the risk of being repetitive, what the hell?? A couple of weeks ago I asked if I could write a pitch letter for a book. Basically just to get a little practice and have a sort of writing sample for applying to other jobs. So I read this book (not so good) and wrote this letter and today I went over it with the publicist (whose name ultimately appears on it) so it can be sent out next week. Among the many silly changes like loading up the first sentence with participals and adding the phrase "ensued upon a freight train," was the completely erroneous decision to change "She expertly employs the first person..." to "Expertly, she employs the first person..." WHY????? In what way does that make anything clearer? Why would you take an adverb away from the verb it modifies? It's just senseless!

Live From the Apple Store Soho, Part 2

Poor computer, hard drive fractured to nothingness, for so long repeating dreams of warm California sun streaming through the window of a computer lab as capable, screw-driver wielding fingers put its insides right. And it was not meant to be. Little Apple will remain in New York and might be ready as soon as tomorrow (or later tonight when I have no intention of going back to Manhattan). So now I wait. For those keeping track this is my second Mac to need a hard drive replaced (rewind to September of 2001, a month after receiving my first Mac laptop). I am not deterred though. I will continue my fifteen years of brand loyalty.

Look out for lots more of me using my computer in the future!

Not Dead Yet, A new Haircut

So my computer is metaphorically hanging from a cliff with all but the index, middle and ring fingers of its right hand broken, but still it's working a little bit. I have logged no fewer than 100 minutes with Apple Care (all during prime, daytime, costing me money hours because you can't even get past the muzak on nights and weekends). Still they have not told me they will take it away to be fixed. I will try once more in a few minutes and if they don't concede I am going to chain myself to the glass cube at their fifth avenue store with "Apple DOESN'T Care" written across my naked body.

In more positive and totally unrelated news, I got a haircut today. For the last several weeks a six inch by six inch dread lock formed in the back of my hair daily, so I knew it was time. I am pretty thrilled really. After explaining to my stylist that I didn't even own a blow dryer let alone a diffuser attachment for it, she showed me how to achieve this "sexy" curly/straight combo do without too much work. And also gave me some good tips on my increasingly embarrassing dry scalp. So here it is. What do you think?

Check It Out

So I guess I am not really so good at music. You know, I like it, I just don't know so much about it or how to find stuff I like. I rarely even remember to listen to it. But I heard this song today and it's really good. And there's a hilarious video. So enjoy!