bizkit

23 seconds well-spent.

keeping faith

I loved the title since it was about a custody for a girl named Faith and the role that religion is able to play in our clever clever world. The pacing was slower than her other books and the ending provided some resolution when it seemed impossible, but not as much as i was anticipating. Also, not every book needs a love story in it. The love story in this book went from 0 to 180 in a matter of pages and made me really have no sense of affection for the two who fell in love.

B

smartyPANTS

i want

woody & larry

Woody Allen + Larry David = the best combo since PB & honey

Whatever Works: My thoughts
1. Woody Allen uses the best fonts for his credits.
2. I might never be able to wash my hands ever again without singing Happy Birthday 2x
3. It was nice to see John Gallagher represent the homeland


A

ice

So I read that book, My Sergei. It read kind of exactly how I had expected, but I liked reading about the background behind their routines. It was like they put on strange, tiny plays. And (mostly) anything Russian gets my stamp.
C-

Their prettiest:

December never felt so wrong,
cause youre not where you belong
-Ingrid Michaelson

Funny thing, six or so years after Sergei died, Ekaterina remarried the guy who played the Russian ballerinO in Center Stage (not to be confused with Cooper). That decision does not get my stamp.

2nd glance

My favorite Picoult yet! The quote on the front said:

"A fast-paced, densely layered exploration of love, the pull of family and the power of both to transcend time." People
Pretty much sums it up.

angel baby

I thought pugs only came in chocolate and caramel, but apparently they come in vanilla too. I want all three flavors.

smells like snow

So today was the first snow of the season. The last time it snowed was the night my dad died. Now I hate snow.

one week!

can't hardly wait

festival lunch

Katie Marie's All-Good Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
-1-1.5 lb chicken
-dried cranberries (katie had celery instead, both are good)
-small red onion, diced
-blue cheese dressing
-mayo
-ranch dressing
-SPICES: mustard powder, dill, garlic, oregano, & basil

How to:
-Season chicken with the spices & let sit.
-Mix equal parts ranch and mayo, with a splash of blue cheese & let sit.
-Brown the chicken in a pan and shred after it has cooked.
-Mix the shredded chicken, dressing, diced onions, and cranberries & refrigerate for a few hours.


These gypsies thought it was good.

the tenth circle

I am in the middle of an affair with Jodi Picoult. The Tenth Circle was about her usual subject of family dynamics, blurring the lines of issues that seem black-and-white (and is the inspiration for a Lifetime movie, which never fail to please).


It wasn't my favorite Picoult because there were characters that were introduced & developed, but did not come full circle in having a purpose in the plot. I love her writing style, but I think the structure of this book was unbalanced. Dante's Inferno was constantly referenced & threaded through the novel. I loved using the circles of hell in theory (and actuality for the most part), but there were overwritten/boring bits. The Alaskan bush was used as metaphor for everything from the past, to disappearing, to simplicity, etc. I liked it because I thought it was a clean, interesting, and well-executed illusion (and I have a soft spot for Alaska):

She also incorporated graphic novels, both in allusions and in having little comic strips at the beginning of each chapter. I've never been a fan of graphic novels, but I do like it when authors weave different strands of writing within into their own. There were letters scattered in the comics to spell out the message that was to sum up the theme of the book. I found all the letters, but was to lazy to unscramble them, so I googled it:

Nothing is easier than self-deceit, for what each man wishes that he also believes to be true - Demosthenes
B

silver lining

bad day, good heather.

hard candy

Gill and I had a baby obsession with How to Catch a Sexual Predator. I always wanted to play the girl decoy since I can pass for a kid, plus I love justice AND acting. This movie looked like it could have been lame, but I heart Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson AND their little movie.



And I think it'd be an awesome play.
A

dear ben & jerry,

please make me carrot cake ice cream.
thank you.

i hear that

FB

skanks gail :)

project runway

My thoughts on why this was the worst season ever:

1. NYC > LA. obv
2. When the top 3 are completely predictable, and the winner is the expected, it kinda takes the wind out of the show's sails.
3. When Michael Kors and Nina Garcia have people fill in for most of their judging slots, you have to think they don't care too much.
4. Irina was sassy and felt too entitled to win, so I do not feel happy for her, even though her dad crying made me cry.
5. I loved Carol-Hannah and she should have won. Also, she should be my friend.
6. All of the challenges were remedial...compare the Bravo seasons of making post office uniforms, using flowers to make garments,etc. to this season. Bravo had challenges that were challenging whereas Lifetime's weren't that difficult and seemed more recreational. The most difficult was the maternity challenge, and all that was was making an awesome outfit for a super-skinny model with a crazy, pre-measured belly. I guess Lifetime wanted all of the challenges to just result in pretty outfits that would please the viewer's eye & retain a skeptical audience. I guess they didn't take into account their viewers who had brains and understand the definition of the word challenge.

The next season starts in mid-January (so much for the suspense factor) and will be in New York, so at least there is that.

i dreamed that love would never die

The ultimate underdog singing from my dad's favorite musical.


And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

jodi & joyce

Recent reads by two of my favorite ladies. A+ x2

i am them

i didn't steal your kidney

but i did steal this from mandi's FB

mr. wally lamb

I have read a lot of books lately, most of them weren't worth mentioning. But every rule has an exception, and I have found mine. In high school, I read two books by Wally Lamb: I Know This Much Is True and She's Come Undone (the second I stole from a library, I'm sorry to say, but I had to). Both were books I wanted to read when I couldn't, like an addict. Oprah loved them too.
So, he became overwhelmed by the success of his books piggy-backing on each other and didn't publish one for awhile. I looked for a new book here and there, but figured it was a lost cause after a few years.
UNTIL I found The Hour I First Believed at my favorite York used-book store. I bought it, gobbled up all 735 pages, and reaffirmed my literary crush. I can safely say that Wally Lamb is the greatest fiction writer I have ever encountered, and I've been friendly with a lot of them. The man included an appendix with playlist to recount his inspiration. I can't say enough.

my, what an angry jury you have.

Tonight was the read-through for my second play in York. I was only planning to be here a month, but at least I have been given the opportunity to act in 2 plays. Before Anne of Avonlea, I hadn't auditioned in 5 years (thank you, Gordon College). This one is called 12 Angry Jurors and is at the York Little Theatre. I am Number 2 because first is the worst and second is the best. The theatre has good vibes, the show has a contemporary setting, the cast seems nice & talented, the space is in the round, and I am the closest thing to a child in the cast. All these things make me think it will be a good experience.

The downside: there is a performance on the night of the Lost Season 6 premiere.

Theatre v. Lost = the greatest battle for my heart ever.

the golden age

Incidentally, in the time that my computer was busted and I abandoned my blog, I turned 26 on Sept. 26, which made it My Golden Birthday. That was a month ago today, but I would just like to say I have really nice friends and family who took care of me as I entered a new year with only one parent at the party. Rachael and I went to NYC to try to see HAIR, but didn't, and stayed at a sick hotel that looked like The Hatch from the top floor

and went to see pretty Mandi

That's all.

:(

I am so sick of people getting diagnosed with cancer.

At least Andrew Lloyd Webber's isn't pancreatic and isn't stage 4.
:(

UNDEFEATED

York had a Small Dogs Expo with a costume contest. There were four awards: Most Original, Scariest, Prettiest, and Funniest.

Gigl was dressed as the Hamburglar/Hamgiggler and won Scariest, and Holly recycled the turkey costume and won Funniest.

Moral of the story: I am the pug pagaent mom queen of Halloween.

all these things

that I've found in cleaning out Grey Gardens or in grosso York.


Softballs that my dad kept from some of his best games. He didn't realize at the time that he was saving one for Jeff, Jenny, and me to hold onto.


baby Beatle!


this is what people eat for dinner in York


This is one of the three thousand boxes of my dad's writings that I have organized (and will later turn into the most awesome book(s) ever), on computer paper that is folded in half. I think I know now where I got my hypergraphic tendencies. The irony is that he pulled out his horoscope for something regarding a sermon and he was the sign of Cancer.


From the envelope from the last Valentine card my dad gave me. It's actually from the second to last Valentine's he was alive, but the last one in his real handwriting. I love.

my life according to the killers

Describe yourself:
NEON TIGER

How do you feel:
HUMAN

Describe where you currently live:
SAM'S TOWN

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
A DUSTLAND FAIRYTALE

Your favorite form of transportation
SANTA'S BIG SLEIGH

Your best friend?
ANDY, YOU'RE A STAR

You and your best friends are:
SPACEMAN

What's the weather like:
THIS RIVER IS WILD

Favorite time of day:
MIDNIGHT SHOW

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
GLAMOROUS INDIE ROCK N ROLL

What is life to you:
BLING!

Your relationship:
BONES

Your fear:
READ MY MIND

What is the best advice you have to give:
LEAVE THE BOURBON ON THE SHELF

Thought for the Day:
SMILE LIKE YOU MEAN IT

How I would like to die:
ON TOP

My soul's present condition:
LOSING TOUCH

My motto:
I CAN'T STAY

sunshine adventures

1. Sunshine Cleaning: Booooring. I love Emily Blunt and Amy Adams but not when I'm asleep.
C+

2. Adventureland: So nice, I watched it twice. I want Santa to bring me the DVD.
A+

3. Mysteries of Pittsburgh: Misleadingly boring from the previews & hype. Can Sienna Miller play anything but a sassy, party-girl muse? And if that is the typecast she hangs her hat on, she should at least do it well. I love her TopShop stuff, she should stick to the clothes. Take a lesson from the Olsens, lady friend.
D

4. The Jane Austen Book Club: I Love Emily Blunt & Maggie Grace (especially MG with dark hair). Seemed like a better movie than a book, and Jenny confirmed this (which is ironic considering the topic).
B

ring king

I've never been way into jewelry unless it's permanentally implanted, but I am when it is yellow and/or has a little meaning to it. So the other night my mom gave me this ring:

The topaz/gold glory belonged to my great-grandfather and my dad used to like to wear it on dress-up occassions. And now it belongs to me, and I will wear it for all occasions. I do love me some men's jewelry.

bad things

I want this to be my new ringtone but don't know how :(

ear candy

There has been a lack of good live music in my life for the past few months, but luckily that has been recently remedied by two of the best performances of my life.

1. BOB WEIR = late hours of crazy awesomeness at All Good in West Virginia that ended way too soon.



2. THE WAILERS = minutes of awesomeness at People's Fest in Wilmington that lightning managed to make even better, but also caused to end way waaaaay too soon.

seamstress patch

Some girls scout fairies descended upon my PicnicPack and gave me patches that I didn't earn, but do deserve. In another life, they belonged to my mama.

blockbustation

Blockbuster offered this deal where you get unlimited movies (2 at a time) for a week, and I have been trying to be on top of getting my $$$'s worth. And the lucky ducks who got to come home with me so far have been:

1. Wendy & Lucy
I loved it inside out upside down. A girl with bad luck who is on the road and loves her dog, it felt very familiar.

A+

2. Confessions of a Shopaholic
Felt just like the Devil Wears Prada. I liked the idea of really addressing shopping addicts (which it seemed to do at the beginning), but then it got too slapstick at the end. There was a bride in fur in NYC, which I love. But there was also a moment involving the line, "The bidder on the phone was you?" Which I did not love.
C+

3. He's Just Not That Into You
I never saw a preview for this movie, but I did see the commercials, which are mini-previews. And the movie was just a way longer version of the commercial. It felt like Love, Actually in the structure of the plot and a way watered down SATC overall. I like Ginnifer Goodwin but her character was pathetic. Drew Barrymore's part was small, but she was the techno-savvy faghag, and she had a line that said, "People don't meet each other organically anymore." I think that can be true, but I'm glad it's not the case in my life.
C

4. The Education of Charlie Barlett
So boring, everyone mumbled. Fred Durst should not direct anymore. I lasted about 40 minutes before I took it out and watched.....
F

5. The Office Season 4
Makes my heart soar.
A+

my thoughts

1. I wish I could play the violin.

2. It annoys me that people are saying Bruno won't be funny because I think the general public is jealous of Sasha's crazy great humor skills, which are impeccable in my not humble opinion.

3. Today was our first open house and 9 couples went through, one of whom was supposedly very interested. 2 other couples went through last week. I don't think I have ever wanted anything as much as I want this house sold and to be done with York. The day this house sells will most likely trump my wedding day.

4. The Office is my favorite show ever besides Lost.

5. Today I went to the dog park and there was 1 other fugly pug, 3 jugs (jack russell/pug), 5 bugs (beagle/pugs, which I thought were called puggles but whatever), and a bulldog. I don't know why people get these imitation pugs when obviously all they want is a Gigl of their own.

where the sidewalk ends

BUY MY HOUSE NOW

on the road again

Highlights from the June travels:

New York

the biggest piece of pizza ever for only $2!


of all the upper west side's millions of statues, this was the best.



Wescher's Currywurst! This is where I worked in New York, but I left the city before the restaurant actually opened, so this was the first time I got to see the baby all grown up.

Colorado

This day Jeff led a group of about 60 volunteers to work on trailbuilding and nature maintainence.


cheyenne my parrot friend


this river is wild


teva games

Mass.


Father's Day morning on West Beach :(


the Bali Hai=my favorite Chineses in the world


the view from Marissa's deck


FIZZMAN


thanks to mapquest + the george washington bridge

the mermaid chair

I just read The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. A+

Favorite quotes

You can't stop your heart from loving, really--it's like standing out there in the ocean, yelling at the waves to stop.
*
When a person was in need of a cataclysmic change, of a whole new center of personality, for instance, his or her psyche would induce an infatuation, an erotic attachment, an intense falling in love. He knew this. Every analyst knew it. Falling in love was the oldest, most ruthless catalyst on earth.
*
We stood there staring at each other. I wondered if I would've fallen in love with him if he'd been a shoe salesman in Atlanta. It was a bizarre thought, but it seemed somehow the most sensible thought of my life. I doubted I would have, and it was disillusioning to me in the sense of stripping away the last remaining illusions. My falling in love with him had every thing to do with his monkness, his loyalty to what lay deep within him, the self-containment of his solitude, that desire to be transformed. What I'd loved in him most was my own aliveness, his ability to give me back to myself. It felt cruel and astonishing to realize that our relationship had never belonged out therein the world, in a real world where you wash socks and slice onions. It belonged in the shadowed linings of the soul. I had come to the irreducible thing, just as I had with my father, and there was nothing to do but accept, to learn to accept, to lie every night and accept.
*
You brought me deeper into life--how could I regret that?

hallelujah, i adore it.

memorial day night

the ghost of halloween past

In cleaning out Grey Gardens, I found an old Halloween costume. Compare the glory days:


To the aftermath:


Moral being: do not depend on electrical tape for the backbone of a quality costume.

antoinette perry

My 2009 Tony Award opinions.

Best Play

Dividing the Estate
God of Carnage
Reasons to Be Pretty
33 Variations

* I vote Reasons to Be Pretty bc Neil LaBute is clever and Moises Kaufman has had his day. Kaufman has good ideas that I don't think translate quite as well, but LaBute's actual writing is so much sharper. I don't know too much about God of Carnage but it does seem kind of awesome [or boring].

Best Musical

Billy Elliot, The Musical
Next to Normal
Rock of Ages
Shrek The Musical

* Obviously, it will be Billy Elliot & that is ok by me.

Best Revival of a Play

Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Mary Stuart
New Version: Peter Oswald
The Norman Conquests
Waiting for Godot

* I'm hoping for Mary Stuart since it's a Donmar import, but Waiting for Godot is more of an easy, name-casted production, so boo.

Best Revival of a Musical

Guys and Dolls
Hair
Pal Joey
West Side Story

* It's funny that G&D and WSS could have pretty easily had great, crowd-pleasing productions & both have gotten terrible reviews. Hair would have been my first choice anyway, but now I think it actually has a shot. But stupid Pal Joey will probably win since it's gross and people love gross revivals.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Jeff Daniels, God of Carnage
Raúl Esparza, Speed-the-Plow
James Gandolfini, God of Carnage
Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King
Thomas Sadoski, Reasons to Be Pretty

* Geoffrey Rush is in his own category here.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Hope Davis, God of Carnage
Jane Fonda, 33 Variations
Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage
Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart
Harriet Walter, Mary Stuart

* What does it say about the quality of actresses in a season if they can only pull the nominees from 3 shows? Jane Fonda's a joke, Marcia Gay Harden is old news (but I think the front-runner), and the Mary Stuart ladies are gold.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish ‚ Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gavin Creel, Hair
Brian d'Arcy James, Shrek The Musical
Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages
J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal

* Brian d'Arcy James is so 1990s & Constantine is an American Idol gremlin, so no. Gavin Creel is hott, so that would be fine. But I like it when children win Tonys, so cheers to the little tripping billies.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Stockard Channing, Pal Joey
Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical
Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical
Alice Ripley, Next to Normal
Josefina Scaglione, West Side Story

* Alice Ripley & Sutton Foster are pointless. I want Josefina the underdog.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal
Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Karen Olivo, West Side Story
Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey
Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The Musical

* Karen Olivo is so pretty, but my heart belongs to Martha.

Best Choreography

Karole Armitage, Hair
Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical
Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin's White Christmas

* I just think it says something that both West Side Story and Guys & Dolls were both left out of this category when they could have had such easy nominations.

the incident

killer snow man attacks gill's room from the attic



a way close-up

hometown heroes

I went to Wilmington the other day and ended up staying longer than intended, which is my custom when I go visit people. We went to Deer Park, which sucked, but we forgot that Newark in general sucks. The silly Pangs were the reason why I was at Deer Park. But I also found out that the silly Pangs will be playing at All Good, so I am hoping to find myself there too.

Sweet Rockwood.

Because grass & sky are what water & sand used to be.

And live from Mojo


The only CD I have listened to lately is Fall Out Boy's Folie a Deux, which had bits that sounded like The Relay, Britney's Circus, All That You Can't Leave Behind, Maroon 5, and awesomeness. I love it forever and always.

I forgot that I had the DVD of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button out when I left. My first impression of the movie: Skeleton Key meets boring & serious. After 20 minutes, I pretty much put it on pause for 3 hours. I liked this though:
A: Are you afraid?
B: I'm curious.

thirsty/sleepy

thirsty


sleepy