Corey Feldman

Could someone please explain to me why there's so much buzz about Corey Feldman these days? First he's in Moby's video licking his cell phone. Then he's being interviewed on the radio. Today he was #5 on the "movers" list on Yahoo. Did he get asked to BE in Moby's video BECAUSE there's buzz about him or did the cell-phone-licking cause the buzz? I don't get it. Why, why, why?

What next? Corey Haim in a Gap ad?

Food Fantasies

I'm still "on the wagon" - i.e. eating healthy and exercising (exorcising ;-) and I'm actually finding it easy to pass on stuff that is "bad" for me, such as Tim Horton's donut holes... but last night I had these "Red Hot Blues" tortilla chips (they are soooo good) dipped in melted Monterey Jack cheese (Sharp Cheddar works well too). It was almost enough to drive me off the edge... It's the kind of food you just can't "eat in moderation" - you need to eat a whole bag with a pound of cheese to the point of illness until you feel satisfied.

Thus began my most recent Food Fantasy... I can see it now... the cheese gently oozing off the chip and falling back into the bowl... reheating the cheese again until it forms little puddles of cheese grease... the precious little specs of spicy goodness on each chip... mmmmmmmmmmmm.....

The chips are actually a pretty healthy choice... it's just that they need to be slathered in a ton of cheese to create the heavenly combination worth going off the wagon for.

Baby Stuff

Jenny and Aaron helped me register for baby stuff for my sister today. She's still in the hospital - has been for over 6 weeks now - and will be until she delivers - could be another 10 weeks.

Picking out baby stuff is not as easy as it seems. There's so much to consider. We were on the phone with Sherri most of the time and even called in for the expertise of Joel- who has three babies worth of experience.

*Boop*... *boop*... I loved using the scanner gun. We scanned some extra stuff because it was just soooo cute... and were tempted to start scanning clothes and stuff we liked and then when Sherri opened them as gifts, I'd go "oops, I'll take that".

Aaron accidentally scanned Jenny's eye. She wasn't pleased. We had to take the gun away from him. Safety first.

All in all, it was stressful but fun.

Ow

Biked 10 miles with Abby and Matt yesterday. It was great, but today I have pain in inapproriate places. Damn bike seats.

F.B.P.O.T.M.

Haven't posted one in a while, but I just ordered some online, so Phytodefrisant is my Favorite Beauty Product of the Moment. It is the best hair straightening stuff around i.m.h.o., though I hope to not need it if I can ever get thermal reconditioning.

Gray Day

I think I found my first gray hair today. Not bad, made it to 33 1/2 without one. Not freaking out. And I don't buy in to that "pull 1, 4 more will grow" wives tale. Load of crap. That sucker is coming OUT.

RATC

I realized today that you never hear about Ring Around the Collar in laundry detergent ads anymore.

Goodbye Kitty

In a quick search to find a picture of a Spideyman doll for my previous post, I came across beWild.com. Then I found this "Goodbye Kitty" t-shirt among many other interesting offerings.

World Cup fans might like these contacts:

GO USA!!!!!!!!! and, out of respect and love for my good friend Yelli, her wonderful family and her beautiful country... GO BRASIL!!!!!!!!!!

Jamba Jamba Jamba

Back from Denver. Quick trip. Mostly travel and work. But, amidst it all, a shining ray of light that is Jamba.

First let me say that Vanguard airlines is very limiting in two very important elements of my life. Eating and peeing. The gate in KC was secured off from the hallway containing the bathroom and restaurants. So to get food or pee, you have to wait through security again. With no time for that, I practically encurred a bladder infection waiting for the damn "fasten your seatbelt" sign to get turned off so I could go to the bathroom. Then, the only food available to us over the span of 7 hours were a bag of 8 tiny pretzels or a nasty-ass raisin granola bar. Thank GOD I brought pistachios and Love Hearts.

So after arriving in Denver, our first destination was Jamba Juice. I was in 7th Heaven. Kurt was a Jamba virgin and I was concerned that with all my J.J. hype, he might be disappointed (like when someone tells you that Raising Arizona is the best movie ever so you rent it and think, "what the hell kind of crack were they on?"), but it was a success - he was definitely pleased.

After working for the next 6 hours, we made our way to the hotel. We were wiped out, having been awake since 1am Denver time, so in deciding what to do for dinner, I jokingly suggested ordering Jamba Juice, "they deliver". Next thing I know, Kurt was on the phone placing an order (the crack they put in his Razzmatazz that morning obviously did the trick). With a minimum order, we thought it would be cool to get a few different flavors to sample, so I could get a better grip on which ones I liked so I wouldn't ALWAYS order an Orange-a-Peel.

Turned out to be a stroke of brilliance. We got 5 different Jambas: Peenya Kowlada, Kiwi Berry Burner, Banana Berry Blitz, Jamba Powerboost, and Cranberry Craze.

With our renewed energy from the Jambas, we walked over to Dave & Busters where I proceeded to win my very own stuffed Spideyman doll. Spidey and I got quite a few glances from admiring fans at the airport.

And though I thought we may have O.D.'d on the Jamba (though we didn't drink ALL of them), we got one last hit before leaving for the airport the next day. I got a Banana Berry Blitz, my new fave... but quickly realized that my new fave does a good job of distributing blueberry skin into every crevice of my teeth. Joy.

Off to Denver

Quick trip to Denver tomorrow for work. The sucky part is that I have to get up at 3:30am to make a 7am flight in Buffalo. The excellent part is... those of you who know me will know this... JAMBA JUICE!

I may have to leave the wagon parked in Rochester (ie, have more than 1500 calories per day... heck, I could drink that in Jambas alone)!

Wagonville

Speaking of the wagon - an update... I've been very good for two weeks now... eating good, climbing stairs with Jenny at lunch... just started doing crunches each morning... have lost 4 pounds. New pants no longer look like hoochie pants. Am pleased.

Get your Groove On

The Playgroup CD I bought a couple months ago at Firehouse 15 is awesome. A few weeks after I bought it, I heard them playing it at Urban Outfitters in Denver. That made me feel hip ;-)

If you like techno, have a listen.

Observations

As I was driving home last night, "Fat Bottom Girls" from Queen was playing on the radio. Is it disturbing to any one else that the only guy singing about liking fat bottom girls ("you make the rockin world go round") was gay? A damn cool gay man... but overall probably not too interested any-sized-bottom woman.

Isn't it extremely annoying when this happens: you and another car have to stop in the left lane behind someone turning left, then you put your blinker on to get by them via the right lane and wait for traffic to clear, then when traffic finally clears, the bastard behind you cuts in to the right lane and floors it, trying to prevent your opportunity to cut into the right lane? I was ahead of you, you knew damn I also wanted to cut over... MF*#(&(*@&(*& - you damn well better let me cut in too. Aaaaarrrrgh!

Again with the Hair Straightening

After many hours of online research, reading posts to beautywalk.com, I've decided NOT to get thermal reconditioning done in Rochester. I am going to have to wait until I'm in a big city... or drive to NYC and get it done. Here's why:

• most posts mention either the Yuko System (patented by the inventor of this type of straightening), Liscio (Magic Straight Perm), or Bio Ionics. No mention of Paul Brown - which is the product/process the salon here uses. From the posts, I assume Yuko is best, but all three can give great results if you have an experienced stylist
• the stylists at the salon here just learned so they are very inexperienced
• in the newpaper article and via phone inquiry, they quoted the cost range to be $250-$400; when I went in for my consult, they quoted the lowest cost to be $400 (I think they jacked up the price because of the amount of interest)
• posts on beautywalk.com suggest that the process has a decent learning curve to get the timing right - so use an experienced stylist (note the common theme)
• inexperienced stylist + new product/process = NOWAY
  

So, it seems like my best bet is to either got to VincentJ in Fort Lauderdale, AndersonFrench in NYC, or Yuko Salon in LA. I need now is to win the lottery. Dammit.

Undercover Brother

Went and saw Undercover Brother this weekend. It was hilarious! It evolved from the Undercover Brother webseries of animations.

Dave Chapelle, one of my favorite comedians, was in it, along with Chris Kattan and Neil Patrick Harris (aka Doogie Howser, MD). A must see.

I found out that Denise Richard's butt was digitally "enhanced" (bootified =) for this movie poster. In reality she's got a flat little butt.

Straight and Narrow

I've gotten questions about the cost of Thermal Reconditioning, so here's more details than you ever wanted to know about my hair and the info I got from my "consultation" on TR.

About me and my hair:

• it's naturally curly but fine/thin, just beyond shoulder length
  
• with current cut, it looks like shit curly and I end up wearing it up
  
• takes about 15 minutes to blowdry straight, but it's a frizzy, poofy straight so I have to flat iron to get it smooth - ~another 10 min.
  
• if I spend 25 min and get my hair straight, sleek & smooth, then get rained on at all, it frizzes and poofs out
  
• the newspaper and the quote my sis got in a phone call to the salon said that the cost would range from $250-$400 depending on hair type. With my hair type, I assumed $300 at the most.

What I learned in my consultation:

• the stylist had TR done on herself ~2 wks ago
  
• her hair looked pretty nice (it was dyed black)
  
• she determined it could be safely done to my hair (you can't have/get highlights or hair can break off)
  
• no more frizz (rain be damned)
  
• still need to blowdry to get hair totally smooth, but should cut drying time significantly (her blowdry used to take over an hour, now it takes 10 min)
  
• should last 6-8 months as weight of hair will pull regrowth pretty straight
  
• process takes about 4 hours
  
• basically, they condition your hair, rinse, blowdry, apply more stuff, flat iron it, apply neutralizer, rinse (to get more details, check thermalreconditioning.com)
  
• need to cut a little bit off the ends afterward as it does tend to fry the ends a bit
  
• tends to lighten hair a shade or two, but you can get a color rinse right after
  
• they give you a special shampoo and conditioner that you MUST use
  
• you shouldn't wash your hair for 2-3 days after
  
  AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST:
  
• it will cost me $400!! (apparently the paper was wrong and the base price is $400... I think they jacked the price up when they saw how much interest there was)
  

So... the pros and cons:
PROS:

• less time doing hair
  
• improves hair condition (smoother and shinier)
  
• no more frizz
  
• no more sore arms from blowdrying for 20 minutes
  
• no more need for Frizz-ease, Phytodefrisant, Str8, Bed Head Control Freak, and so on...
  

CONS:

• $400
• they're pretty new to it
• can't wear it curly (but it looks like shit curly anyway, so that's not really a con)
• Joel thinks "the salon" (heretofore unnamed) that is doing it here sucks and my hair will fall out

Wagonville

Well, it's been 3.5 days of healthy eating and I'm not fantasizing about Krispy Kremes yet.

Tuesday, I got on the scale and it appeared I had lost 5 pounds. I thought, "Dear Jesus, miracles do happen!!"... then I looked closely at the scale and saw that it was not set at 0, it was -5. I had hit it with the door and knocked it out of balance the night before. CRUEL, CRUEL WORLD!!

So in reality, I'm barely a half pound lighter since Sunday. UGH! IMPATIENT! WANT TO BE SKINNY IMMEDIATELY!!

Straighter Days Ahead

I have a consultation at a salon in Rochester tonight to see if I'm a candidate for Thermal Reconditioning. The only place doing it in Rochester as far as I know.

Looks like it may happen. I'm a bit nervous... but the thought of cutting 20 minutes out of my morning routine is very appealing. And no more frizz? Worth every penny.

By the time my hair grows back out, I will probably be dying for curly hair again...

Should I do it?

Not so Good News

Punky had his checkup today, not the best news. His liver number is about the same, down slightly, but his red blood cell count is really low. Before it was normal - 44% - today it was 22% - below 10% is life threatening. He started on special food today (which, thank God, the picky little sh*t likes) so that should help. We can go to every other day with his IV and see how he does.

He's not really getting used to it, he's getting worse. It's not a simple, quick injection. We have to administer fluids with a big (I'd pass out if it had to be used on me) needle for about 5 minutes per spot, three to four spots per session. Chuck swears that Punky "squinches up his skin" to make it harder to find a spot to put the needle. Punky always looks very pissed and lately he turns around and looks at Chuck as if to say, "please, leave me alone". He doesn't hold a grudge though, he's still very snuggly.

Overall, he appears to be doing well, so I won't worry too much... but, well, that's a lie. I will worry.

Wagon City

Well, after a very indulgent weekend, I am now officially back on the wagon (eating healthy). As per usual, I had to have a last hurrah with my most favorite and craving-inspiring foods to get it out of my system.

My last hurrah included - a grilled cheese bacon burger at Friendly's, a smoothie from TCBY, a grilled ham & cheese, potato chips, some Milky Way miniatures, breakfast at IHOP (with hash browns, of course), lots and lots of melted cheese with tortilla chips, and, of course, Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Donuts (about 6 over 2 days).


All behind me. I'm on to chicken, vegetables, protein shakes, yogurt, oatmeal, and diet popsicles. Woo hoo. Must not only fit in to current clothes, but hoping to eventually fit in to the "skinny" clothes that have been hanging bored in my closet for a while now. Wonder if they're still in style.