Weekend in California

The Daniela-Tina-Birthday-Halloween-Brazilian-Party on Friday night was very cool. I had a few Caipirinhas, but I made them myself so they were mostly sugar, not alot of alcohol. Good thing. Daniela's friends are very funny, particularly Heidi and Jason. Even with all the Caipirinhas I made him, we couldn't get Jason to put on his Zorro costume, but we did joke that he was going to put it on and stand in front of Target, saying something (in a very authentic latin accent) like, "allo, welcome to Target. I am slashing prices today."

We had a great time this Saturday too. Daniela hit on the main points of interest. While we were at the Irish pub with the Russian bouncer, we watched a couple, who appeared to be from Utah, who also seemed to think it was 1985 and they were starring in Flashdance, kick it up on the dance floor. I mean this girl had her hair flying up like she was an astronaut. I got an ab workout from laughing. At the second Irish Pub/Disco dance club, Daniela got the most CLASSIC line from a faux Irish guy named Damon. Here's how it went down:

Damon to Daniela (in a fake Irish accent, making him appear authentic): "Do you have a little Irish in you?"
Daniela: "No"
Damon: "Would you like some?"
Tina thinking: "Oh SNAP, he just laid the oldest line in the book on her."

It took me a while to realize he was not actually Irish, especially since he spoke pretty good French to Su before he went back to his Indiana wonder bread boy accent. I think after he said "I'm corn-fed and hand spanked", I realized he was just a drunk jerk.

Daniela told me later that she should've replied, "yes, it was very little and I didn't like it."

Heaven Can Wait

I'm made it to San Francisco, no terrorist attacks or plane crashes. Daniela picked me up and luckily, we did NOT (and will NOT) have to drive on any bridges!



I had Jamba Juice today, a Razzmatazz with a Vita Boost. Happy, happy girl.

Don't Forget Me

I'm flying to San Francisco on Thursday, so the news telling Americans to be on "high altert" for another potential terrorist attack has me more than slightly scared. I will be wearing my sneakers and I'll be ready to kick some terrorist ass.

I told Chuck that if anything happens to me, he should wait a month before hooking up with another woman, but after he voiced his concern that he'd be "vulnerable", I told him I'd forgive him if he were "taken advantage of". I also quizzed him on some of my favorite things so he won't easily forget me if/when I'm gone.

Favorite actors: Kevin Spacey (he reminds me of my Dad) and Jeremy Piven (I don't know why, I just like him!)
Favorite comedians: Eddie Izzard and Dave Chapelle
Actors I think are hot: Ryan Phillipe and Brad Pitt

That's about as far as we got before the conversation turned to insurance payouts and what stuffed animals should go to whom.

Seriously, if anything does happen to me, I will leave this earth as a blessed person. Blessed with a loving, caring family. Blessed with a wonderful group of friends. Blessed with a fulfilling 32.9 year long life. Blessed with health and happiness. The wealth escaped me, but 2 out of 3 aint bad. =)

I Vant to Suck your Blood

Good weekend was had. Friday night watched Shadow of the Vampire on DVD. Frankly, I wasn't impressed. Sure, Willem Defoe was great, but isn't he always. There was a bit too much John Malkovich flinging his hair around to show how upset he is at the vampire for eating his crew.

I did, however, especially like that Eddie Izzard was in it, he's one of my very favorite comedians, though he's much better looking in drag.

Saturday was Abby's Halloween party. I realized that I need to loosen up when I play games. I turn from a very free-spirited-do-what-makes-you-happy kind of person to a you-must-follow-the-rules-to-the-letter-of-the-law kind of person. I must have developed it as a defense mechanism as a youngest sibling.

Sunday Jenny and Aaron actually made friends with Grizzy! Grizzy used to be pretty wary of strangers and was a bite risk, but he seems to be mellowing out in his old age. Sure enough, after a couple treats and some kind words, Grizzy had a new best friend. I think Aaron could've leaned over and licked Grizzy's face and Grizz would've been fine with that (I might not have been, but Grizz would've =)

Happy Birthday To You

Happy Birthday toooo youuuu
Happy Birthday toooo youuuu
Happy Birthday dear Danieliiiiiiii
Happy Birthday toooo youuuu

Junior

Ugh, I think the little kid doing the usability test right now is a bizzarro (parallel worlds version) of the son of one of my coworkers. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means he's a little nerdy kid who thinks he could program for Nasa at the age of 12.

Morning in Pittsburgh

Though I REALLY hate getting up early, today was an early one. I had to be checked out of the hotel and picked up by 7:30am. (*&#(^%^^. But the driver took me on the scenic route (mainly to avoid traffic) and it brightened my morning.

R.I.P. Quality Customer Service

I agree with Joel on the shitty state of customer service. Ted and I arrived in Pittsburgh after midnight. The first hotel had us booked in smoking rooms. Though they were nice, they still blamed it on OUR travel agent and couldn't help us. So we had our travel agent get us rooms at the Renaissance, Pittsburgh's #1 rated hotel. It was after 1am when we arrived to an empty front desk. Here's how it went down:

- "Mike" finally appeared, didn't crack a smile, barely said hello
- typed away like a feind then announced that he couldn't find the reservation
- Ted offered the confirmation # in the car
- Mike, "that won't help if I can't find the reservation"... no spec of friendliness
- Ted, "it's late, do you just have two non-smoking rooms?"
- Mike (snotty tone), "yes but if there is a reservation you will be charged for a no show." That's it, no offer of assistance, almost accusing tone (accusing of what, I don't know)
- Ted walked away to get the conf#
- I stood there trying to muster up the courage to tell Mike he was being a rude ass, when Ted came back almost immediately and laid into Mike, "it's 1am in the morning and you could stand to be a little more courteous...", then left again to get the conf#
- Mike didn't even look up as Ted told him off, got a back handed apology, "I'm sorry YOU feel that way
- Mike clicked away as I again contemplated saying something to him myself
- Ted came in with the conf# and as Ted started to read it to him, Mike said, "I don't need it, I found the reservation."
- Ted, "oh really, how did you find it?"
- Mike, "the name was spelled wrong", taking absolutely no blame
- Mike got us our keys and became slightly more friendly, but still a very disappointing arrival at Pittsburgh's #1 hotel


The admin at the company we're working with called and complained, threatening not to send any more business their way, and out of that Ted got a fruit basket. Tina got NOTHIN! I'll have to send in a separate formal complaint and perhaps I'll get a bit more than a banana and some grapes.

Insanity

What led up to this moment is unclear to me... but sometime after September 11th, I lost all semblence of sanity and decided to DRIVE to Pittsburgh, in a UHAUL, with a coworker (Ted), taking a kiosk to do usability testing.

The original plan was to fly to Atlanta on Oct. 1st. Post "Attack on America", I was not comfortable with flying, so the suggestion of driving a van and transporting the kiosk ourselves came up. I was all set to do the test in Syracuse, but we wanted a big city. Somehow, Pittsburgh won. I was hoping for Toronto, knowing it was the closest, but it was not to be. The test got pushed out to Oct. 22nd, GOOD, more time to get the hardware and software ready. Then the BAD news, the kiosk won't fit in a normal truck, we need to rent a Uhaul. At this point, someone should have brought me to my senses, but no one did. The grim reality did not hit me until I was in the Uhaul parking lot looking at the monstrous trucks.

So now here I am, getting ready to drive for 5 hours in a Uhaul, wishing I was waiting at the airport instead. Ugh.

Where o where has my sanity gone.

Itchy and Scratchy Show

As for the person who stumbled across my blog by searching on "my dick itches"... you might want to get that looked at by a professional. Either that, or email Dr. Drew from Loveline. He's always got good answers. Try loveline@earthlink.net. Good luck with that.

Weekend Update

Friday was quite a hectic day as I prepare to go to Pittsburgh tomorrow for work. In the frenzy, Jenny and I decided to let Chuck and Aaron decide what movie to see that night. They picked Corky Romano. I hesitated to complain too much as I was just glad to have had a decision made for me. It was better than I expected... mostly lame but with some very funny moments. I need to see something of substance soon... then again, I watch the news for more substance than I can handle sometimes. Maybe that's why I'm so into brainless movies these days. Oh SNAP (from Zoolander).

Saturday I had to get up early to work, then came home and took a 3 hour nap. Very tired. Visited my sis to see more pics from the wedding. Unfortunately most of the ones from church have BAD redeye. I'm going to get Sherri one of those redeye pens that colors over the redeye. Joel says they work well - and if Joel didn't sh*tcan them, they must be good.

Today I went to Jenny's 3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. It was alot of fun. Of my top 5 favorite foods ever, Jenny had 3 of them: brie with brown sugar, artichoke dip (newly added to the list), and pumpkin pie (homemade no less!!). I ate like a little pig, with no regard for my fellow carvers. Yep, I was chomping away as they gutted and carved. Lucky for them I wasn't big on the chocolate chip banana bread (which looked VERY good but just not my cuppa tea) or they'd have had about nothing to eat.

MMMMMMmmmm.

So Jenny, even if you are a food enabler and helped me gain 5 pounds in one day, it was all deliciously worth it... THANK YOU =) The wagon will have to pick me up another day.

Going back to Cali, Cali, Cali

Woo Hoo, I'm going to visit Yelli for her birthday. Ok, a week late, but still close.

I will have bad breath while I'm there. Why, you ask? To avoid this scenario:

- I'm waiting for my connection at the Philadelphia airport
- I'm feeling a bit stale, so I crack open my tin of Altoids and pop a couple
- I unknowingly spill some of the white powder that is found at the bottom of every tin
- they announce a gate change so I wander to the new area
- a short while later, an unsuspecting woman from Des Moines finds a suspicious white powder
- she reports it
- the entire airport is shut down, everyone is tested for Anthrax, we are all put on Cipro
- I arrive in SF a day late, making Daniela leave her own birthday party to pick me up
- no one will come near me for fear I will give them Anthrax
- a week later I am home safe, no Anthrax, just a terrible yeast infection

So I'm leaving my Altoids at home.

Oh God

My sister, for some unknown reason, really looks up to me. She loves my style, goes on and on about how beautiful I am, highly values my opinion, asks me to shop for her (or give her my clothes) and even goes so far as to tell single men all about me as if she's going to hook us up on a date. Yes, she's a nut. She's a huge ego booster, but a nut.

So Michael, her new hubby, continuously hearing "Tina this" and "Tina that" gave me the nickname "God". For example, on a topic she needs advice on, Michael will say, "if God didn't do it, you don't have to do it". Apparently he's been calling me God for awhile, but she just told me the other night. I guess she figured if he's about to be my Brother-in-Law, I have the right to know.

How's that for a hellofa lot to live up to.

But I reap the benefits, because while they were in Toronto for their honeymoon, Sher bought me a rather pricey but very cool shirt from Bebe. It's black with a design in crystals. It's very "heavy metal". I love it. And as if that weren't enough, she also went to Sugar Mountain and got me about 10 more packs of Love Hearts. Being God has it's perks.

I too am a copycat. I added Blogback.

Spent half the evening putting pictures from the single use wedding cameras into album pages. Won't that be a nice surprise for Sherri and Michael. They'll probably want to reorder all 324 of them. There are many pictures of me, Chad (the best man) and Christina (fellow bridesmaid and sister-in-law) making the most ridiculous faces. On purpose, thankfully. I don't mind looking like an ass in a picture if I did it on purpose.

Natalie is Back

Natalie is blogging again!!

Sherri's Big Day

My sis' wedding is finally over and it was wonderful. The ceremony was beautiful... especially touching was the analogy the pastor used comparing dancing to making a relationship work (Sherri & Michael are both ballroom dance instructors). "Take the steps... " ok, I don't remember any of it, but it was great. I didn't get too nervous or fall or screw up - whew. I DID look like Audrie Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffanys. Pictures will be coming soon - IF I can find any, out of the 9000 that were taken, where I don't look like I have a double chin, gigantic arms, no top lip, etc... As Jenny might say, "yeah, good luck with that".

The highlights of the evening came from Michael's brothers. Chad, the best man, provided pictures & commentary documenting Michael's youth, his days as a big-hair-band drummer (voted Best Drummer in Rochester at one point in the 80s), then as a competitive bodybuilder (shown wearing only tiny little briefs that were strategically wedged to show off the gluteus maximus), and his current profession as a ballroom dance instructor. It was hilarious, with a sweet and touching closing.

Then there was Jimmy, the baby brother (now about 21?) who caught the garter and proceeded to do a dance rivaled only by a Chippendale as he worked his way over to Joyce, the bouquet recipient. Priceless!! I think he may even be a bigger ham than Aaron, but I won't commit to that based only on that one performance.

Sherri and Michael's wedding dance was incredible and shortly thereafter, the dance floor was taken over by psychos... er, I mean, dance instructors, who put the rest of us to shame. The freestylers (those of us who don't ballroom) broke onto the floor a few times when we could, relieved that they couldn't Rhumba to "YMCA"!

It was a memorable evening and my sister has never looked happier or more beautiful. **sniff sniff**

Data

I definitely didn't mean to offend Sarah by suggesting she was a Trekkie (not that there's anything wrong with that), I just know she likes Star Trek and might understand why Data is annoying.

Apart from that, I have robot envy. I'm the only one (other than Sarah), who got a negative result. The rest are all cute, innocent, loving, funny, goofy or wise, not annoying. Except Daniela, who is "cold, calculating, built to kill". That's just downright cool.

Data

Because I can't yet drag myself away from Bob, I took a little quiz and found out that as a robot, I'm Data from Star Trek. And apparently, I'm annoying. If I were a Trekkie, I'd know why. Maybe Sarah can tell me.

It's Here

My new Dell, which I've named "Bob", finally arrived at 4:30pm, after which I promptly left the house to get on with my life. I set Bob up at midnight and am now playing. It was quite nice that things seem to set themselves up - like Road Runner and my printer. I have yet to use any heavy duty programs though, so I have not yet experienced the raw power of Bob. However, I'm quite sure that Bob will be put to shame by Alec, my new Mac G4 I'll be getting at work.

Ketchup Anyone?

Dinner was quite fun, we went to Tokyo, a Japanese restaurant where they cook the food in front of you. The chef did some very cool Tiger-Woods-esque eggwork with a spatula. He also had a fake ketchup bottle - the kind with a little red string, and "squirted" it at my sister Sherri - she about fainted. It was hilarious. That kooky chef.

After dinner we shot pool and played darts. My brother Eddie was going on and on about how good Christina (his wife, my sis-in-law) is at darts. I proceeded to win 3 out of 4 games against her. Ha ha! I guess I like winning more than I realized. Even if it is mostly luck.

The wedding is getting very close. I'm getting more and more nervous. Insomnia is in full swing as it is 1:45am and I feel as though I could run a marathon. Wondering if there was crack in my Samurai dinner. I'm more nervous about this wedding than I was for my own. My brother Mike has offered me some Paxil if I need it.

I met Chad, Sherri's soon-to-be brother-in-law. I am walking down the aisle with him. **Bonus** - he's rather good looking. Bodybuilder. Yep, he'll need those muscles to hold me up when I fall, as I'm sure I will.

The Waiting Game

Though I have 5000 things to do today, I find myself waiting at home for my Dell to be delivered. The ticket said they'd come between 10:30am and 5. Just like in the movies, it seems that UPS will arrive 2 minutes before 5pm. Either that or they'll come while I'm in the bathroom or something stupid like that.

STRESS

Ok, now I'm officially stressed as I prepare for my Sister's wedding. My brother and his wife are here from Las Vegas today. They were going to stay with me which caused me and Chuck to clean and organize like maniacs, compiling about 14 bags worth of clothes to donate... but then, on Monday evening, call me to say they "remembered" that Christina is allergic to cats - ugh! But I'm glad I got all that closet cleaning done.

Speaking of closet cleaning, tomorrow is National Coming Out Day.

Back to stress.

Here's everything I STILL have to do before the wedding:

- figure out what shoes to wear with my dress
- if I don't have shoes to wear, go shoe shopping
- try on my dress to make sure the alterations are good
- see if the strapless bras I own look ok with the dress
- if the strapless bras don't look good, panick like mad and figure out what to do
- find a picture of how I want to wear my hair
- get a manicure
- if I wear open toed shoes, either get a pedicure or do my toenails
- wrap my brother Eddie's birthday presents and sign his card
- wrap my sister-in-law Christina's birthday presents and sign her card
- go shopping for my brother Mike's birthday present
- get a birthday cake for Eddie, Christina and Mike
- pack for the night of the wedding (we're staying at the hotel with the family)
- figure out if Sherri needs help with anything
- take 2 valium and eat reduced fat oreos

What is it about the Butts?

I saw today that I got hits based on a search for "his little butt was tight" and "shot in butt while sister watched". How on earth did these two phrases lead to me? I know I mentioned Marky Mark in tight leather pants, but I don't think I commented on his butt, especially since the picture only showed him from the front - and I KNOW I didn't comment on that (not that I wouldn't, I just know I didn't).

But, in making me think about cute butts, I will say that the pictures last year in Rolling Stone of Brad Pitt in a dress were quite a turn on for me. And with that, I begin my weekend.

FDNY

I just bought this FDNY shirt from Girlshop. All the proceeds go to benefit the NY Firefighters. Is it bad to get something in return for charity?

Chenny

I see that Jenny posted about Morning Glory and liked the sad little character Cooni. But I was curious about Chenny. Is it mere coincidence? The names so close? The description of long eyelashes, clumsiness, goofing around? Is Jenny really Chenny?

Neglect and Candy

Ok, I've been very neglectful of my new friend Squibnocket. She definitely deserves to be linked to, not only because she has interesting things to say and not only because I've actually met her in person, but MAINLY because she led me to Sugar Mountain in Toronto where I found the luscious fizzy tart candies of my childhood.

"There is no kinder gesture than one of a sweet nature." - Robert Frost

OK, Robert Frost didn't say it, I made it up, but it sounded good.

On a related note, Joel has dubbed me "Queen Frostine" from the game Candy Land, but apparently someone else has that url. At first I thought it was porn, but then I realized that it's Tyra Banks and the content seems to be from a young girl, not sure. Either say, I found a really cool page of "Adopt a 1980s Cartoon Cutie!". I pick her:

When Arthur Met Eunice

My sleep patterns are totally screwed now. I was so tired yesterday after having to make an 8am physical therapy appointment, I thought I'd go home and fall asleep early. NOPE. Instead I found myself at midnight struggling to stay awake to see more of "When Harry Met Sally". What the HELL is wrong with me?

On another note, I think I'm going to start tracking movies I see that show the WTC twin towers. W.H.M.S. is now added to the list, along with Serendipity.

Other Bloggers

In adding Cindy, I realized I had neglected to add Matt and Sarah's blogs. My apologies. Everyone is now on my list.

New Blogger

Cindy has started a blog. This is becoming quite the national network of blogs - a large group of us in Rochester, but with others in Mountain View, San Francisco, Seattle and now San Diego. Along with new friends met through blogging in Toronto.

Tina Fact

Now if only I could think of something witty to talk about. If anyone wants to suggest a topic, feel free to email me or post to my guestbook.

How about a Tina Fact? Since it's "all about me" anyway.

Tina Fact #2: I grew up amongst hippies and Hell's Angels. My Dad owned a motorcylce shop in 1973 where he met and became friends with many bikers, including quite a few Hell's Angels. The memories are strong. The distinctive sound of a Harley rings familiar to my ears and brings me back to when I was five years old and eager for a ride around the block. The memories of my Dad's long flowing hair and his many tattoos are still strong. Today, the site of a burly biker on a Harley brings me warm fuzzies. The H.A.'s were actually really nice guys, I guess I didn't see their bad side. Rumor had it that if they saw any other bikers wearing their colors, they'd beat the crap out of them. Not sure how true that is. I often drive by a biker bar in Rush and, on Thursdays when the Harleys are lined up out front, I have the urge to go in and announce, "did anyone here know Ed [lastname]?" I bet I'd get at least one yes.

This unique childhood is part of the reason I often feel that "run away with the circus" type emotion. As if I were meant to be doing something more unique and interesting in life - no, not dealing drugs or shaking people down, just more interesting than poking away at a computer all day.

Computer Heaven

I am getting new computers both at work and at home. I am very excited, since both current computers are POS computers. My home computer is a 200mhz pc which, as of last week, is officially dead. To replace it, we got a Dell. It's a 1.7GHz with 256MB RAM and a CD Writer/DVD drive. Should keep me computer current for a month or so. Had to get a PC so hubby can install his work software which is only for PC. I wanted an iMac pretty bad... maybe next year I'll get my own sweet little iMac and name it Sally. For now, here's my not so cute, but dark and hansome Dell:



The situation at work is even more delightful. I am getting an 867MHz Mac G4 with 512MB RAM (woo hoo!!! zing! zing!) with a Superdrive. Yep, a SUPERDRIVE. That means I can crank out CD's and DVD's. Ok, the reality of it is, I won't use the full capability of this Mac and I almost feel bad getting it knowing that the Visual Designers could benefit so much more from it. But then I remember that I've been suffering with this POS Mac since well before and long after they all got G4's. So maybe everyone will be jealous for a while, but then they'll all get Dual 800's and I'll be the little match girl with the crappy computer again. So for now, I will revel in it!

Well, the past week and weekend flew by. Finally my sister's shower is over, so I can relax, right? Wrong. Now I get to get worked up about the actual wedding - getting shoes, fitting into the dress, preparing the house for the arrival of my brother and his wife (IF they stay with us) and my Mother-in-law. I am VERY stressed and I don't know if it's from all this wedding activity or from the events of September 11th. Sleep is becoming even more elusive - as I long to stay up and watch a little more tv or read a little more of my magazine. Shallow bits of behavior. Why can't I do something redeeming instead of looking at pictures of Marky Mark in tight leather pants? What's happening to me?

On top of it all, Daniela is a mere 400 or so miles away (in Boston) instead of the usual 2500 miles and I can't even get over there to see her. That sucks.

The Weekend

The weekend did have it's high moments. Friday night we danced the night away at Red as Tony dj'd - and made fun of "leather pant thing" who started off being called "leather pant guy" until we realized he was a she. She must've watched too much Solid Gold as a kid, the dancing was quite over the top.

Saturday was Sherri's shower, which wasn't really "fun", but was nice - alot of hard work followed by SLEEP. I woke back up around 9pm and watched "Return to Me" on DVD. Sobbed like a little kid. Couldn't take the scenes of the dog missing the dead wife. I asked Grizzy if he'd miss me. His eyes seemed to say yes, but I think he'd only miss me for a few weeks, not a whole year.

Sunday was lots more sleep, then cleaning, then "High Fidelity" on DVD. That is a hilarious movie. I love Jack Black. He even made "Saving Silverman" worth my $7. Then we were off to Aaron's birthday party at the bowling alley. I bowled a 129 on my second game, not bad considering I SUCK at bowling. I love the look on everyone's faces after they throw a bad shot, too funny. And it was fun watching Chuck do his special little move (that he doesn't even realize he does) - he swirls his hips twice, then bounces his butt three times - then takes his shot. He does a special little butt wiggle in softball too. Part of what made me fall in love with him =)

Conspiracy Theory

I have 3 weeks until my sister's wedding. Monday I had to put on my bridesmaid dress for the seamstress to get it taken up. It's a strapless number, in black. Cute, if you're tiny. I've been tiny before but at the moment, I'm a little further from tiny than I'd like for this dress - got some bulges and bumps showing through and the flabby arms are in full view.

So, with only 3 weeks to go, I decide I'll just buckle down, lay off the junk food, eat well and drop a few pounds - then begin pigging out again at the wedding. But I think my family and friends are conspiring against me. Last night, Grandma brought Pumpkin Pie to Mom's for dinner. PUMPKIN PIE!! It's like she sat around and thought, "what is the one food that is really fattening but Tina won't be able to resist? Hmmm, I've got it - Pumpkin Pie!" I had one bite. Then, I get in to work today and Jo has brought in donut holes. DONUT HOLES!!! Is she trying to knock me off the wagon? I had one. Later in the afternoon as I came back from a meeting, I find an open bag of Oreos out for sharing. OREOS!!!!!!! Enough to prove the world is conspiring against me! I didn't have any oreos, basically because there weren't any left, but I did sniff the bag.

Sad

This morning was a rough day for me, tears welled up with every American Flag I looked at. I think I'm hormonal.

Hey, is that Greg Kinnear

I've found that it's very easy to press Jenny's buttons. Just point at some random guy and say, "hey, isn't that Greg Kinnear?" Heh, heh.

That said, I do, 100% and totally, concede that Judd Nelson easily could have been mistaken for Greg Kinnear. It was a very valid statement. They DO look alike in a not-so-dark room. However, I do not want to lose sight of the fact that it was Judd Nelson after all (ie, I was right). What this all really says is that I am a competitive person who likes to be right and apparently likes to point out when I am right. Character flaw. Ugh. I'll work on that. But it's so fun being right,

Being away from the news has made today a slightly better day, yet I know once I get home, I will be jumping between CNN and MSNBC and won't be able to peel myself away. I don't know what I expect to hear, but I can't stop listening.

As for now, I'll take my mind off things and talk more about Toronto. On Thursday night, we hung around the theater where Serendipity was premiering... we didn't see John Cusack or Jeremy Piven, but Eagle Eye Chuck spotted the actor that plays "Ted" on one of my favorite shows, Queer as Folk. Ted's the cute sensitive one who has trouble getting dates.


He almost qualifies as a Bizzarro Chuck (ie, looks like Chuck).

We had heard Harvey Keitel was going to be arriving at the next movie, word was he went in the back.

On Friday morning, we saw Serendipity ourselves, it was quite a wonderful romantic (HIGHLY UNREALISTIC) movie, but I imagine they will delay it's release because it had lots of scenes of NY, the Twin Towers, and a couple cross country flights. Yep, it will be interesting to see how much they change it.

After Serendipity, we headed to see the very unique and hilarious movie American Astronaut. Who sits right behind us, but Gale Harold, the star of QAF who plays "Brian". Brian is the really hot promiscuis guy who has some form of sex with practically every guy he comes in contact with. Gale was with a woman though, so I think he's just a REALLY good actor.



I wanted to say something like, "Hi Gale, I really enjoy your work", but I didn't want to be a stalkerish dork. Thank God for Matt, he came in and sat directly behind me, which allowed me to turn around and talk... and sneak in peeks at Gale without looking like a stalkerish dork. I am kicking myself for not saying a little something, I'm sure he wouldn't have minded the praise. ** kick, kick, kick **

At the hotel lobby, while waiting for Matt, I spotted David Paymer... but I am apparently the only person on the planet who knows who he is. Everyone else gave me a blank stare. He was in City Slickers, I swear!



That night we had another proximity encounter. I saw a guy and a blond trotting across the room and joked that it looked like Judd Nelson. Jenny thought he looked like Greg Kinnear. It was dark but not that dark. As I make my way back out of the ladies room, this guy and his blonde are still blocking my way and as the guy turns to get out of my way and says, "Oh, sorry", I realize it IS Judd Nelson. I ran to tell Jenny and she proceeded to circled the restaurant to get a good peek. Then we watched as he sat with two blondes and tried to figure out which one he had something going with. I think he was trying to kick it with both of them. You go boy.

We almost didn't go to Toronto this weekend for round two of the Toronto International Film Festival. Our thoughts... Is it safe? Is it inappropriate? Is it frivoulous? But we decided Canada is a safe place to be and we needed to try to take our minds off the horrific events of the past week, if only for a little while. Jenny and Aaron are two of the most fun people I have ever had the pleasure of being around and I am so glad we did go. It was a small bit of emotional relief that I really needed.

Today, back at home and watching the news again, I am heartbroken and emotionally drained. I cannot fathom the pain of those wondering the fate of their loved ones. I am also pained by the thought of lost pets and rescue animals. The port authority policeman who was rescued told of his partner, a yellow lab, that did not get rescued along with him. I cried as he told reporters about telling his dog, "I'll be back for you."

The Americans

A rather timely speech by Canadian Gordon Sinclair spoken in 1973 and ringing all too true this week.

Emotional Hell

Yesterday was so devastating. My heart is broken for everyone who had to go through the airplane hijackings, the crashes, the building collapses, and now, the rescue effort. My heart is broken for everyone who will never feel the same way again and who will never forget this. I thank God all my loved ones are safe... for now.

Proximity Heaven

Well, Jenny put the pressure on me to blog about the celebs we saw at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend. Seeing as though I am somewhat obsessed with trying to have proximity encounters* with celebrities, I suppose it's only fitting.

*A "proximity encounter" is my terminology for seeing, walking by, or being near a celebrity. As I've mentioned before, I'm not really interested in getting their autograph, taking their picture, or really even talking to them... I just really want to see them... up close. Of course if the opportunity arises to have normal dialogue, I'm all up for that. (Just to clarify, here's an example of what would be a good opportunity for normal dialogue: --- I'm line for ice cream. I order two scoops of Death by Chocolate. As I take a lick, I hear a voice behind me, "wow, does that taste as good as it looks?. I was going to get the Rocky Road, but now I'm not sure." I turn around, it's John Cusack, I am not phased. I say, "words cannot describe how decadent and delicious it is, you have to try it." I offer my cone, John licks my ice cream. John says, "mmmmm, it IS good. So do you taste as good as YOU look?"... --- Ok, I got a little unrealistic, but you get the idea.) Normal, non-forced interaction is a bonus.

First, on Friday night, we saw Ed Burns, talking to the audience at the premier of his movie "Sidewalks of New York" (which I thoroughly enjoyed). He was too far away to count as a proximity encounter, but we did see him.

Then, at the next movie, "Thirteen Conversations about One Thing" (which was good but way too long), we saw Matthew McConaughy. He was wearing a skirt, a tshirt, and flip flops. I think he's a bit of a freak. He supposedly saved the woman who had an epileptic seizure, though I don't remember seeing him over by her. I think she faked it. I am practicing my "choking on a piece of popcorn" routine for next week so I can get Jeremy Piven to give me the Heimlich Maneuver.

Alan Arkin also sat near us at T.C.A.O.T., he seemed very pissed that someone was interrupting the movie. His lips didn't move, but his expression said, "damn those epileptics".

On Saturday afternoon, while shopping, we had a true proximity encounter with Julia Stiles. She walked by us, crossing the street the opposite way from us. I tried to give hints to Jenny, Aaron and Chuck without yelling out, "THERE'S JULIA STILES", but I kind of choked. Luckily, she glanced to the side and they got to see her after she passed.

Saturday night, after going to the Short Films feature (which were all pretty excellent except the one about golfing and worm collecting), we headed over to see "Prozac Nation". In a last minute strategic move, Jenny and I decided to move to the front in an effort to get a good look at some celebs, despite the fact that we'd be very close to the screen. It paid off, we were a mere 10 feet from Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, and Michelle Williams (not pictured, but she was in the movie "Dick" also) as they stood in the spotlight while the director talked. Christina is too skinny. Jason is cute. There's more to tell about the apple pie, but that'll come later.

Sunday morning, we went and saw "Novacaine" with Steve Martin. Steve didn't show up but the movie was very good. On to eating and shopping. Chuck and Aaron saw Steve Martin and Michelle Williams. This called for desperate measures... time to head to the Four Season's lobby... where we struck gold. Chuck spotted Kristin Scott Thomas (but called her "the chick from Four Weddings and a Funeral"), then we saw Kevin Kline, eagle-eyes Aaron spotted Jennifer Love Hewitt (and swears she was checking him out... then branded her Faux J Lo). Leelee Sobieski showed up next, she was very pretty and flashed us all a wide smile (maybe she was smiling at Aaron). We also saw a very cute, familiar looking face and later figured out it was Hayden Christensen who will be playing Anakin Skywalker in the next Star Wars movie.

So that was it. The Four Seasons lobby was the place to be. We will be going there next weekend for tea and crumpets.

achoo

itching and sneezing and kleenex, oh my!

Allergy season is in full swing. My eyes itch. My face itches. My nose itches. My throat itches. My ears itch. How the heck do you scratch the inside of your ears? Or better yet, how do you scratch the inside of your nose without looking like your trying to "pick a winner"?

The Weasel

My brother Eddie called me last night but I was in the shower... I was going to call him back right after Road Rules, but he called me back first to say, "Why didn't you call me right back? I had Pauly Shore waiting to say hello to you." At first I was upset, kicking myself in the a**, but then I realized, I have no desire to talk to Pauly Shore on the phone... what would I say, "how's the weasel?"

It was still a significant moment though because it shows that my brother is very thoughtful and went out of his way to try to do something he thought I would really enjoy. I mean how many people would have the testicular fortitude to ask anyone, much less a semi-celebrity, to say hi to their little sister on the phone? My brother's quite the unique person. Every one of his friends I talked to in LA gushed about him... I mean literally GUSHED about how great he is. You don't hear guys gushing about other guys too often.

So anyway, I told him he should have said something so that I knew to call RIGHT back, so we came up with a code... if he calls me and doesn't get me, he'll say, "call me right back, I have a QUICK question", then I'll know he's got some celeb willing to say hi to me on the phone. Next thing I know, he'll be handing my business card to Patrick Swayze and asking him to drop me a quick email.

TV is Good

New mood... I'm sick of being made to feel shallow for loving tv. TV, especially cable, has alot of great stuff... the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, the History Network, the Travel Channel, the Weather Channel, the Food Network, Cartoon Network - some great learning material there. I believe that, because of tv, I am a much more educated person, a more tolerant person, I've seen places I'd never have even known about much less visited, I'm a funnier person, I have more conversation topics, and I'm filled with useless information that would probably help me do well in Jeopardy... OK, so it's not all redeeming... YES, I love watching South Park and Real World and The Family Guy... but studies have shown that humor is a very important part of mental and physical health... so I'm a healthier because of tv too.

SO THERE, I'm not horrible or shallow because I watch TV. AAAHHH

I'm feeling very shallow, unmotivated, and immoral. I was reading the Appalachian Trail story, 5 Millions Steps, on our website. It documents the daily thoughts and experiences of Sneetch, a former coworker of mine, who took a leave of absence from work to take 6 months to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail (ie, hike from Georgia to Maine). At first I though, "this is alot like my blog". Except she hikes about 20 miles a day… I take the elevator to the 3rd floor. She hardly watches any tv and what she does see, she thinks is ridiculous as she is used to "the honesty of the woods"… I am hardly ever in the woods, watch way too much tv and love every second of it, especially the not-so-honest stuff. She is Vegan (eats nothing containing any animal byproducts) and eats vegan chocolate bars, vegan mac and cheese and cheeseless pizza… I am a full-fledged carnivore and eat pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, cheeseburgers, steak, milk with my cereal, cheese sticks, Jamba Juice made with frozen yogurt, and, apparently, very milky chocolate bars.

So though I feel shallow, unmotivated and immoral, I wouldn't change places with her for anything. I like my mostly-sedentary-tv-addicted-meat-eating lifestyle and I don't mind being a bit "meaty" myself. Maybe tomorrow I will take the stairs instead of the elevator. It's a step in the right direction (get it? step... lol) .

99.3% Sure

After telling my story to Aaron about spotting who I suspected to be Seann William Scott in LA, I am now 99.3% sure it was him. Aaron said that he had seen SWS on The Tonight Show last week (ie, he was in LA), WITH a beard (ie, the look matches up with what I saw), and that SWS said that he still had a little apartment in LA (ie, he probably lives right near there and had walked over for a bite of a great steak).

I believe Abby now feels the painful sting of regret nibbling at her rear, as do I. I should've have been more emphatic, like "ABBY, TURN THE CAR AROUND IMMEDIATELY!" Live and learn, live and learn...

I'm BAAACK

Well, after spending the rest of the week away from internet access and getting trapped in travel HELL Sunday/Monday, I'm back in action. I LOVE that I have gotten posts in my guestbook from complete strangers! Somehow I'm still suspect that they are my friends (read: Yelli or Jenny) trying to boost my ego, but I'll do some research.

Since I last left you on Thursday in LA, I struck celebrity gold... well, old gold anyway. Ironically enough, they had a reception for Red Buttons at my hotel, so while waiting in the lobby with Jo and Steve, we watched as the celebs got wheeled in, hobbled in and even, in some cases, walked in of their own accord. Here's who I saw:

RED BUTTONS

Dick Clark (New Year's Rockin Eve, American Bandstand)
Suzanne Sommers (Chrissy on Three's Company, thighmaster...)
Ryan Oneal (Love Story, Irreconcilable Differences, many more)
Pat Sajak (Wheel of Fortune)
Robert Loggia (lots of stuff, see him here)
Milton Berle (vaudville?)
Carl Reiner (comedian)
Dick Van Patten (dad on Eight is Enough)
Merv Griffin (Merv Griffin show)

I'm also about 97% positive that we drove by Seann William Scott (from American Pie, Dude Where's My Car, Evolution) on Saturday night but Abby didn't drive around the block to let me confirm - ugh!



He had a beard, but I had seen him on TV that week with the beard, so I'm still 98% sure it was him. If only Abby had driven around the block...

Make Sex Interesting More

Yikes, someone found my blog by doing a search on "make sex interesting more". Well, I'm sure they were sadly dissapointed as my blog probably does not contribute any valuable information in that realm... UNTIL NOW! Based on my years of reading Cosmopolitan, Jane, Glamour, Self, and other cheesy women's magazines, I do have some recommendations. I in no way claim to have tested these ideas, but here's a few based on what I've read:

- role play, a pirate and a wench, a doctor and a nurse, Ben Affleck and some cute girl visiting from NY he met at Starbucks... (you get the idea - use your imagination)

- toys, toys, toys (enough said)

- talk dirty (try not to crack up)

And last, but not least, my favorite (in theory)
- FOOD... chocolate, whipped cream, and so on... I saw a special on HBO all about "sploshing", which is basically slathering food all over. Go on, give it a try, so you gain a few pounds, it'll be worth it. And just a thought, you might not want to try this as dessert to a dinner of Nick Tahou's, Dinosaur BBQ, festival food, any type of mexican food...

If these work for anyone, or you'd like to contribute more, let me know via my guestbook.

Proximity Encounter

FINALLY, I had my first proximity encounter today (my terminology for spotting a celebrity). Walked right by Larry King. Yep, Larry King. Woo hoo, start the parade [read: dripping sarcasm]. But still, it's better than Danny Bonaducci (the only proximity encounter I had last time I was in LA - and twice in one day no less!!).

Other Stuff

Other than that, some other stuff to babble about... So far, at the Bev Hilton, I've seen a lady who I think was hiding out to recuperate from her lip injections - they were gigantic! She must've paid good $$ to look that ridiculous and unnatural. She could've paid me much less to punch her in the mouth a few times... heck, it'd probably even be cheaper to fly me out every week for a punch to keep them nice and plump. The Rhinestone Cowboy Convention was interesting... not sure what it was all about, just know that many people were dressed in sparkly western wear. Them there were fancy folk. There was also the Wedding of Bad Fashion. Many women, all dressed up in 1980's bridesmaid dresses and Tammy Faye Baker makeup to enjoy the occasion.

Oh, and after being inspired by many many cool animations (like "Say Cheese" by Derek Flood), I want to become a 3D animator and use Maya and Pulse3D and work for Pixar or ILM or EA and make 3D movies with animated monkeys and elephants and cute, furry things... Either that, or open a Jamba Juice franchise.

SIGN MY GUESTBOOK

I finally have a guestbook! The site didn't seem to like my woodstock.com email and wouldn't send me a password. Hotmail worked like a charm, so please SAY something to me.

Put me in the Movies

While walking by the Pixar booth at SIGGRAPH, I couldn't help but notice that they are hiring for a User Interface Engineer. My heart raced - how cool would it be to work for Pixar!!?? Then I look at the qualifications - they want a damn programmer. I was DUPED. They are totally CLUELESS about UI. Just because a computer geek can code an interface (and they ALL can), doesn't make them a User Interface expert. So apparently, they want someone to make an interface for their software, but it doesn't have to be easy to use or meet the user's needs or provide a good experience. Poor, poor animators. No wonder they're all a bit strange in a mad scientist kind of way - they have to struggle through software interfaces designed by a Linux programmer. Rant over. Thank You. Sorry if I offended any computer geeks, animators, or mad scientists.

Breakfast

Well today was the 2nd time Jo, Steve and I ate at The Pantry - a greasy spoon restaurant with big, cheap breakfasts. We chowed down, eating enough to sustain us through to dinner. I am still VERY full and it's been 5 hours since I ate (I'm usually starving within 2-3 hours of a meal). I had French toast, fried eggs, toast, and hash browns. Jo ate pancakes and eggs and hash browns. Steve ate less than both of us! I took a before and after picture, but haven't found a spot to download yet. I think Jo has a wooden leg. I myself just have a cavernous gut.

Cute Asian Girl

Oh, and did anyone else notice that someone found Jenny's blog by doing a search for "cute asian girl"? Does this mean that Jenny specifically called herself a "cute asian girl" or does that mean she wrote "cute bunny poster" and "asian ceramic bowls" and "the girl had blue hair" and they found her that way?

I guess I should follow Aaron and Jenny's lead and find creative ways to boost my traffic.

Free sex pictures. There, that should do it.

More Babblings

This place is so wired, it's the Mac Daddy. Get it, Mac Daddy - Mac computer - wired... ha ha. Ok, not funny. I'm on a quick break, have more to say...

I just drank an ENTIRE Diet Coke - and I actually liked it. This is monumental!! I've always DESPISED diet pop, but I gave it a shot since I've been otherwise eating decent and walking and climbing stairs alot. I think I may be able to make the switch. I will save thousands of calories a year! I will weigh 5 pounds less in 3 years from the calorie savings alone! I have been saved!

Oh, but then there's the Bacardi 151 I added to my Diet Coke, some calories there... I have been drinking heavily since I got here. I'm drunk now. I think I have a problem. By tomorrow I think I will have to check into rehab. Jenny, do you know the name of the place Ben Affleck checked into... that should be here in LA and should be as good as any. ;-)

SIGGRAPH

SIGGRAPH is in full swing and I'm here dabbling in stuff mostly irrelevant to work I've done up until now... in an effort to make it relevant. (For those who don't know, SIGGRAPH is a conference on Computer Graphics, 3D, Animation, etc... I am a User Interface Designer, concerned mostly with making apps easy to use) Then again, even the conferences I've been to in my field have mostly irrelevant stuff.

Ugly Donkey:

Yesterday was a cool session with the creators of Shrek. One problem, it was more the computer programmers who wrote the tools for the animation rather than the artists, but still interesting. I didn't like Shrek because the Donkey was ugly. Yep, that's my whole basis for not liking it. They really should've gone with a much cuter Donkey, which would have resulted in millions more $$ in both ticket and merchandise sales. Didn't they do any focus groups? Anyway, they did show the flub up where a new engineer screwed up some code that messed with the hair length on the donkey and he looked like a complete fuzzball until they fixed it. Thing is, he was much cuter as a fuzzball with no features. Oh well.

Today is "Intro to Computer Graphics". Thought I'd get a complete overview of the basics to ground myself. One problem, it's all about 3D graphics, cart before the horse so to speak, but still interesting.

This conference definitely has alot more interesting looking people, as opposed to UIST (last year's conference) where there were mostly people who had "I'm a computer geek" tattood on their foreheads.

Well, time to go pay $95 for a pizza and a coke for lunch. Mmmm...

I Love LA... NOT

Well, I'm here in LA... Did I grab a cup of cappucino and strike up a conversation with Benjamin Bratt? Nope. Did I eat fried eggs at Mel's Drive-In and hear Cameron Diaz talking with her agent the next booth over? Didn't happen. Did I spot Vince Vaugh buying gifts for his girl at Trashy Lingerie? No such luck. Did I find myself riding the elevator in the Beverly Hilton with so much as Gary Coleman? Not a chance in hell. I have not seen one single person even remotely resembling someone famous. I think I have a force field around me that drives them away. The stupid part is, I don't want to get their autograph, take a picture with them, or even necessarily talk to them (though this would be ok if it was a normal, natural conversation... not "OH my GOD, you are so great..." it would have to be more like, "yeah, I know, can you believe we don't have them in where I live [read: Jamba Juice]"), I just want to SEE them.

I did get to visit some very cool shops on Melrose, and enjoyed a Jamba Juice - a definite highlight. Cindy and John came up from San Diego and we had a good time, it was great to see them again. Had they not come up, I would have had a lonely Saturday night in LA since my brother bailed on me (though he has been calling every one of his LA friends bugging them to entertain his little sister).

As for LA, surprisingly it does not seemed to be filled with size 0 girls, there are all shapes and sizes here... thank GOD.

OK, conference time... more later.

HELL

Holy crap, it's 101 degrees here today. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE - in ROCHESTER! I'll be glad to get to LA where it will be a cool 80 degrees!

La La Land

I leave for LA in a couple days and pre-travel insomnia and procrastination are in full swing... You would think that if I'm not tired, I'd do the things I need to get done. Nope, I'm an 11th hour kind of girl. So I'll probably be up until 3am thursday night doing laundry, paying bills, cleaning and packing.

I wasn't sure what the "style" is in LA, so I had my brother make some calls. I know I shouldn't care what those pretentious-carb-hating-stick-thin-rich-beautiful-shallow people think, but I don't want to stand out like a little match girl either. So my bro asked some of his chick friends in LA and they said - it's not what you wear, it's how you wear it - just have the right attitude. Does that mean act like you're God's gift even if you're wearing Kathy Ireland jeans from Kmart because you can't afford Frankie B. jeans? I somehow doubt it.

Apparently, from the looks of this ad, Frankie B. jeans are worth the money! (~$120/pair)


Then he added, "but chunky shoes are out". Dammit, I love chunky shoes. I read on the web that platforms are out, but are platforms the same as chunky?

OUT:

More importantly, chunky shoes are a helluva lot more comfortable than heels. And I'm all about comfort... there's no way I'm hobbling around on heels all day. I'd rather wear sneakers... yeah, the sortof cute ones with no heel...

IN??:

Batty

Jenny posted pictures of ugly bats. Not the whole story, there are many cute bats out there. Such as Stella, a Flying Fox (fruit bat):



And this adorable little guy who looks like a chihuahua with a little leather jacket on:



See, they're even cuter in print:

Bad Me

Bad me for not blogging in so long, but it's been a busy week. Grizzy is doing well after the emergency room visit. Tuesday was the bats at Bellydancing. Jenny leaves out that she screamed like a banshee, "shut the dooooooor" as she trampled my hand. It was rather hilarious.

Thursday we went to see Planet of the Apes. Marky Mark should've gotten half naked because his acting merits just don't cut it. It's all about the biceps, baby.

Friday was Abby's birthday and we made a night of it. Jenny actually had the equivalent of 1 margarita. This is big, because Jenny doesn't normally drink as she is actually somewhat allergic. Well, no problems on Friday night with the margarita and we were all treated to a livelier version of normal Jenny.

Snuck in the Park Ave Fest, Andy's party, and dinner with Sis and her fiance over the weekend.

I had a frozen chocolate covered banana from Abbots, they are obscene to eat, but they taste too good to be vain about it. I just keep the wrapper on as long as I can. I dropped a piece of chocolate and managed to sit on it, so I had this big brown smear on the back of my shorts... oh lovely.

Emergency Vets

Grizzy (my Black Lab) had to go to the emergency room yesterday. I won't get into the gory details, but he was a hurtin puppy. He was so good with the vet though, I was impressed. The vet poked and prodded him all over the place (now I know why I didn't want to become a vet) and Grizzy didn't snap, snarl or whimper even once. The vet said that he probably got stressed at the kennel. Now I wonder if we will have to give him Valium each time he goes to the kennel. Then I'll have a drug addicted dog like Brian on The Family Guy. He'll be saying, "hey, you two look like you need a vacation. Just give me my Valium, drop me off at the kennel, and everything will be aaaaaaallll right."

Back on the Wagon

Well, I didn't throw the golf tournament. As a matter of fact, I sunk a 5-foot putt for an eagle. For those of you who have no clue about golf, just know that it was a very good thing!

Other than golf, the weekend was mostly spent eating, which is a damn shame because I was good all last week and had even dropped a couple pounds. First, after golf there was a buffet dinner (buffet = eat until you want to die). I didn't pig out though, but I did have one piece of very greasy fried chicken, mmmm. Sunday was another story. The inlaws took us to Brunch - the most dangerous meal to a food-addicted dieter (me). I did pig out, eating more in one sitting than I had been eating in a whole day - and washed it all down with a french vanilla capuccino (aka, a cup of crack). I feared that it would spark my addictive behaviour and I'd be stopping night and day for a cup of crack, but I've been good. Yesterday and today I've been back on the wagon - but leary… I hear the little miniature candy bars calling to me - teeeeeeeeeena, teeeeeeeeena, we know you want us. They are to me what 'Nsync is to millions of teenage girls - craved but forbidden.

OW!

On the drive up to the 1000 Islands (where I am now), Chuck rolled the window up on my finger. I really wasn't hurt that bad, but the shock of having the window move suddenly and seeing it smoosh my finger, combined with the sharp stinging pain, caused an instant sobbing reaction. I felt like a five year old. The weird part is even though I immediately started crying, I was also cracking up because it was pretty funny. Chuck almost crashed from laughing, then, after a brief insincere apology, began to insist it was my fault... getting mad at ME for sticking my fingers out the window (I was throwing crumbs out). He says he looked over, I was not near the window, then turned back and hit the button, then heard "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" (my scream).

I will seek revenge. We are in a golf tournament tomorrow and I think my injured finger will have a negative impact on my performance and cause our team to come in last. I am also going to submit him for the Heinous Husband Award that they do in Redbook or Family Circle or one of those silly magazines. He doesn't do wrong or bad things too often, but this ones a doozy.

Nobody crushes my finger with a power window and blames me... NOBODY...

Tina Fact #2

I have a apiphobia - fear of bees.

The Buzz on Bees

I inherited my apiphobia from my Grandmother who didn't even go to the family reuinion because it was outdoors. Her life revolves around avoiding bees. I'm not that bad (yet?).

At lunch outside last week, I fled from the table a few times as we had the unwelcomed "visitors". Everyone tried to talk me out of being afraid, including Joel... I had to remind them that a key ingredient in a phobia is IRRATIONALITY. Sad to say, it will take more than the advice of my good friends "not to be afraid" to cure me, it will take heavy duty psychotherapy that I am not willing to commit to. I'm not afraid of the pain of a sting (though I've never been stung), I'm not afraid of stuffed bees, cartoon bees or even dead bees. Just ones that are within a 20 foot radius of me and airborne. Little bees, those gigantic bees (the kind that supposedly don't sting), large flies that can be mistaken for bees, wasps, and let's not even discuss the killer bees, ugh!

Ironically, Joel got stung this weekend. He is allergic. He doesn't have apiphobia because his fear is real, not irrational... but he will be running away from the table with me nonetheless.

Got to see Natalie yesterday, a good friend and former coworker who moved down to DC. Why do all my friends move away? Never mind, I know the answer to that. Rochester pretty much sucks - especially in winter!! The real question is, why don't I move away? Natalie looked great! She is a skinny-minny now - said it's from the medication she's taking, she couldn't eat dairy (and she's an even bigger cheese fanatic than me!!). I say, pass me some of that medication please!

Hung with Mom and sis (Sherri) last night too. Mom is on medication and seemed drunk... slow, slurred speech. Sad and funny at the same time. We took her to get her hair cut and she asked the girl to cut it like "Tina Turner but not as floppy". I think the girl thought she was insane until I mentioned the medication.

I also had to buy my dress for Sherri's wedding. While I was at the bridal store, they were playing the song Butterfly Kisses - a Dad singing about his little girl and how she's all grown up and getting married. I started bawling in the dressing room. The memories of losing my Dad just before my wedding combined with knowing he also wouldn't be there for Sher's wedding, not to mention how proud (and shocked ;-) he would have been to see Eddie get married... it was too much to take. I think Sher thought I was crying because I thought I looked fat in the dress. Actually, the dress looked pretty nice - but I'm definitely going to need some of those super-spandex-suck-everything-in-and-smooth-it-out type pantyhose.

On that note, I'll add my new feature:

Tina Fast Fact #1

My Dad owned a motorcycle shop in 1973 where he sold Harley's to the local Hells Angels. They became fast friends and from the age of 4 to 10, I was surrounded by big burly tatooed bikers, loud Harley's, drinking, gambling, and drugs. It's a miracle I'm normal.

Cravings

My food addiction is getting the best of me. After eating Kettle Korn for dinner AND dessert on Monday, I had a good day on Tuesday and thought I was back on track (I'm trying to drop a few pounds before going to LA). But then, on Wednesday, Jenny and I ate at a local diner (Jine's) and I (against my better judgment but weak and hungry) ordered a hamburger... which came with chips. Normally one might be disappointed with chips instead of fries, but not me. See, I LOVE to put potato chips on grilled burgers. It was DEEELICIOUSO, well worth the 3000 calories it contained... delicious enough to spur my need for more, more, more. So last night at our group picnic, I had ANOTHER burger with chips on it. It wasn't as good as the one from Jine's and left me wanting. So today at lunch, guess what I HAD TO HAVE. Yep, a burger with chips on it. That's three days in a row!! And the one today wasn't so great so here I am.... debating whether to ask Abby if she wants to eat at Jine's tonight before East End Fest. I need an intervention. I'm also flooded with thoughts of fried eggs and toast. Must have fried eggs and toast. Must have fried eg... DAMMIT! Damn food addiction! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!

I think the only thing that will break my current downward spiral is a trip to the gym. Which I HAD been planning for tomorrow, but I have to wait for the cable guy in the morning and just got in under the wire with my hairdresser for tomorrow afternoon. He's only in town one week a month, the rest of the time he's in NYC - and tomorrow is his last day here until August. My friend Donna called him a "little bitch" - he is rather snotty at times, but I like what he does with my hair. I usually leave there feeling like a supermodel. A supermodel with a double chin and a fat ass, but GREAT hair!

Palm Animals

Jenny just commented that all of her animals are smaller than her hand. I find that funny.

Flickersuck

Well, hubby and I went to see Flickerstick, the winners of VH1 Bands on the Run... and they should keep running... away. They weren't horrible, but they sounded pretty bad - which I think was mostly due to the sound system configuration, not their musical talent. The guitars were too twangy and all the music kind of just blended into this painful lump. The opening band, Greenwheel, was actually very good, I enjoyed catching their show. Overall, glad it was only six bucks.

No Liquid Love

Oh, and just to clarify, though Liquid Boy links to me, I am NOT "The Rochester girl" that he is corresponding with! And if anyone wants me to prove it, just listen to me sing.

Fry Fry Away

For those who do not partake in festival food (you know who you are), let me explain Butterfly Fries. They are curly potato chips, apparently made with some type of rotato machine that peels the potato into a long, interconnected flat corkscrew type deal (envision someone peeling an apple all in one piece). Quite delicious. Then again, you could probably deep fry peas and they'd taste good. I HATE PEAS!

Liquid Love

I'm so excited, Liquid Boy links to me on his blog. I think it may be my first link from someone who doesn't actually know me. And he writes beautiful poetry. I am inspired to write some of my own poetry:

this wall of envy
crashes over my soul
I bleed
I heal
I am whole

I don't know what he sees in my blog, but I'm flattered. I can't help but wonder if he IS someone we know, but who is blogging secretly... hmmmm...

Running to Rochester

Tonight Chuck and I are going to see Flickerstick, the band that won VH1 Bands on the Run. A reality show that pitted four bands against each other and filmed the whole way. So though they were drunk and beligerent most of the time, they seem like a pretty good band - so for $6 bucks I'll check them out.

Scary

This was an action-packed weekend... Friday night went & saw a few local bands... Saturday hit the gym for the first time in eons and in a little bit of life-imitating-art (with art being cheesy romance novels), my personal trainer was a major hunk... blue eyes, bulging muscles, NICE. Luckily, hubby is fine with "look but don't touch", so he didn't mind that I ogled. So after doing cybex exercises, I did the elliptical running thingy for 3 hours. Oh, did I say 3 hours... I meant 20 minutes, it only FELT like 3 hours. After all that I managed to muster up enough strength to get my ass kicked by Abby in a game of tennis. It was fun though. Later that night we went to see Scary Movie 2. It was quite disgusting and therefore, IMHO, quite hilarious. Sunday, while quite enjoyable with a visit to the Corn Hill Festival, was a dark day for my healthy eating habits. It started with an innocent bite of a funnel cake and ended with a kettle korn feeding frenzy - with me damning myself for not buying two large bags. In between, I had chicken-on-a-stick, liquid sugar mixed with strawberries (a smoothie), some butterfly fries, and pepperoni pizza. That might have been ok if I'd stopped there, but the next day I had kettle korn for dinner, then some fried eggs, and kettle korn for dessert. I am doing better today, but the night is young. Yes, I've had a relapse with my kettle korn addiction, but I'll try to get back off the stuff somehow.

Mystery Solved

In an update to yesterday's blog, Jenny explained to me that the coffee stand that has the "pay it forward" tradition happening only serves one kind of coffee... (though it was fun coming up with wacky theories.

Growing Pains

Jenny beamed an app to my Handspring last week that calculates your ideal weight. Immediately it told me I should weight 10 pounds less. "Thank you oh omnipotent Handspring... oops, didn't mean to drop you on your head and remove your batteries. Oh, and tell me something I don't know." Seriously though, I have been "expanding" for some time now and the number of pants that I can no longer wear is growing. I have some that I won't even attempt to try on, some that I can't button and some that I can get on but I look like a hoochie. On top of that, I'm going to LA in a month where everyone is a size 0 and even if I lose 10 pounds I will still be the chubbiest girl there... plus my Sister is getting married in 14 weeks and picked out an oh-so-slinky-and-clingy dress for me to wear as the Matron of Honor. UGH, that sounds so horrible, I feel so old... but that's another story.

So anyway, I really need to get back to my smaller self... so I've been eating healthier and laying off the junk. It's a drastic change, but that's taking in to account the fact that, up until a few days ago, I was eating Kettle Korn on a daily basis, chowing on hot dogs and s'mores and eating at Bahama Breeze once a week. So I've been doing good and not even having cravings... shocking. When Jenny brought in caramel and nut covered marshmallows today, I was pleased to find that I did not have the urge to shove them all in my mouth before anyone else could have any (as was my normal modus operandi). Jenny, however, was not nearly as pleased considering she had anticipated that I might resist based on the caloric intake involved and had calculated that there was but a mere 87 calories each. I still resisted, moreso because I wasn't sure I'd like the given combo... so though I felt bad disappointing Jenny, I am proud of my will power. I don't think I could have been so strong in the face of a bowl of JFKK (Jenny's Faux Kettle Korn).

On a related note, I've been drinking LOTS and LOTS of Pineapple Orange Crystal Light.... which is this nuclear glowing orange color... and now I feel yucky. If I start radiating orange light, I'm going to get really scared.

Pay it Forward

I just paid to have Daniela's blog ad free. Jenny told me that this trend was going around where people were paying to have other blogs made ad free, so I thought I'd do my part and do it for Yelli. I wonder how long before she notices =)

In the same vein, Jenny also told me about a coffee place in Somewhere USA where, one day, someone was feeling extra generous and decided to pay for the coffee of the person behind them in the drive thru and then THAT person paid for the one behind them and so on and so on... and this tradition has been carried on for over 100 years (ok, I don't remember the details... but a LONG time).

This makes me wonder... what if a very generous person in front of me forks over $3.50 to pay for my Grande Cafe Mocha but I can only scrounge up $1.50 in crusty quarters from the floor of my '87 Buick and besides, the person behind me looks like a $1.25-small-regular-coffee kind of person, so I cheap out and give $1.50? Does this throw the whole process off? Do the clerks keep the extra if generous-guy-in-front-of-me pays $3.50 but I only get a Jones Soda for $2.00? Did the clerks start this whole thing in an effort to skim cashola to pay for the ever increasing cost of their Ecstasy habit? I need more details.

Insane Heidi

Well, I definitely have to disagree with Angry Heidi about Family Guy. Any show that includes a game called "catch the naked greased up deaf guy" and a dog that's hooked on smack gets my vote as Must See TV. It's no Real World, but it's quality humor.

Almost Famous

I went to Guster's home page (my favorite band) today and they've done a slight redesign. The BIG news is that the three pictures on their home page of each guy (Ryan, Adam and Brian) are the pictures I took when I met them at the WBER studio. Yes, that's right, I'm almost famous as a photographer of almost famous rock stars. WOO HOO!!

Last week was a very good week.

It started out Monday with the Travis concert. Abby won tickets and invited me along. Emiliana Turrini opened up, she danced like a freak (though probably considered normal in Iceland). Imagine someone raising their arms as if to pull of a t-shirt... elbows high in the air, then imagine their head bobbing to the side as if they were rubbing their cheek against a baby they were holding very high... now picture them doing this without the baby... that was Emiliana. Now I need to find out if this is all the rage at the clubs in Iceland.

Travis came on next and put on a great show. Renewed my interest in them since I'd bought their CD over 6 months ago but hadn't listened to it much. Then Dido played, but by then, Ab and I were freezing since the temp had dropped about 20 degrees. So we bailed shortly after Dido started. I have to admit though, the most fun was watching the people. There are some doozies out there.

Tuesday was the season premier of The Real World. Yes, sadly enough, I have watched every season and plan to continue. Already I don't care for Coral, she's too harsh and unforgiving.

Wednesday (Happy 4th of July) we had a great picnic with "the clan" from work. Jenny got to go into full Martha mode and use all her acoutraments. She was very happy about this. As soon as we put out the food, she grabbed one of her little mesh food tents and said, voice trembling with excitement, "what can I use this on?" Later we went to the fireworks downtown, it was fun until we got stuck in traffic for an hour. Luckily I was all hyped up on a little slice of French Vanilla Capuccino heaven.

Thursday we (me, Abby, Jenny and Aaron) headed downtown again to catch a free concert of The Tripping Billies (v.g.) and the Samples (v.v.g.). It was a great concert but even better people watching. I hate to admit it, but I love to talk about people. Luckily, everyone else was also up for this and we had some nice chuckles. I really miss having Daniela around because she is the absolute best at noticing and pointing out people who needed commenting on.

Friday Chuck and I headed up to the 1000 Islands... uneventful.

Saturday Chuck and I went and got facials. Oh joyous God in Heaven... facials are wonderful. The pampering, the relaxation, and, let's be honest - letting someone else squeeze your pimples... it's all good. While the aestetician was doing "extraction" on my face, she said, "you have geooorgeeouuss skin". I'm not sure how, in the midst of squeezing god-knows-what disgusting crud out of my pores, she got the impression that I had nice skin... but ok... thanks. Their advice? Use sunscreen every day (as I've been practicing and preaching for years) but also, new to me, exfoliate every day. Great, more to add to my regimen.

On Top of the World

I had been bugging Jenny for some time now to move me up in her flog list (friends who blog). With more and more friends starting blogs and her list in alphabetical order, I was moving lower and lower... apparently Jenny doesn't have any friends named Vivian or even Zack. Then when Sarah started a blog, I really turned up the heat (via whining alot). I threatened to change my name to Aaa, which would be the only way I would EVER get to the top of the list ahead of Aaron. I couldn't even change it to Aass, he'd still have me beat. So Jenny caved and moved me to the top, throwing her alphabetical scheme out the window. I was EXTREMELY pleased for about 5 minutes, then the reality hit me and I started to feel the pressure... what did I get myself into?

TGIF

It's Friday, that is soooo wonderful. I'm going to stay up until 2am, then sleep until noon, like I do most weekends. Can't help it, it's genetic... I'm a night owl.

I am happy to be ad free. This will motivate me to do something more unique with the design of my sight... eventually.

I have nothing witty to say for today, but for a very good chuckle, read Daniela's blog.

AD FREE

I'm free, I'm free (advertisement free, that is)! At least I will be soon...

The Weekend

Friday night rented Miss Congeniality. Seems that Sandra Bullock can be made to go from homely to gorgeous just by plucking her eyebrows (see also "Love Potion #9"). Oh, and Benjamin Bratt... well HELLO... didn't know he was hiding such a nice bod under his suits.

Saturday went to Bahama Breeze (yum) with Jenny, Aaron and Abby, then we went to see Evolution. I liked the movie, but cringed heavily during some of the worm scenes (YUCK), so did Abby as she yanked her feet up off the floor, seemingly SURE some creepy crawly was going to wiggle it's way between her toes. Also rented "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" with George Clooney and John Turturro... I like him though I'm not sure what else I've seen him in.

Sunday was a day of "around the house". Planted more flowers. Touched a slug that was on one of the flower containers. Screamed like a girl.

Monday

Today I had to endure a 5 hour meeting...very painful... those quarterly meetings put me in a very bad mood and make me question my mediocre existence at a major corporation. They make me feel like I should be doing something more interesting, like putting on my leotard preparing to dazzle the crowd as I stick my head into the lions mouth... or something like that.

Incredibly Insightful Joel

I had given Joel the nickname "shitcan Joel" because he tends to... let's say... question the validity of an idea. In most cases he has very valid points that stem from experience and rationality. But it certainly is fun to call him "shitcan Joel", even if he IS right.

Today I was reminded that he and Jenny are in a contest through Herman Miller that could win them 3 Aeron chairs... and I'm pining for that third chair. I realized rather quickly that calling him "shitcan Joel" will not earn me enough, if any, good-grace points to get the chair, so I am giving him a new nickname, "Incredibly Insightful Joel".

I hope that, along with the fact that I am his Rosie's Pizzelle supplier, will help my case.

The Morning After

Well, after yesterday's festivities, today is a bit of a letdown. The E.A.T. Team will have to work hard to out-do ourselves. If you have any great ideas, let me know...

Oh, and Jo pointed me to a really cool trailer for the upcoming Pixar movie Monsters, Inc.. Check it out!

Flamingos on Parade

We had the unveiling of Flamingos on Parade at work today. (Background: as part of the Employee Action Team, we came up with this idea in honor of the Horses on Parade around Rochester. Sixty people in kodak.com signed up to receive and re-invent a pink lawn flamingo) The results were amazing! Some really impressive work on the flamingos. We also threw a party, handed out leis (or as I like to say, gave everyone a cheap lei), made smoothies, provided pizza and ice cream cake.

I think our coworkers think we're on a mission to fatten them up. What they don't realize is that a good portion of the E.A.T. team (oh, the irony) are actually food addicts and our motives are very self serving. Either way, it was a huge success. Matt makes a mean-ass smoothie!

Here are some pics of the flamingos, though the pics don't really do them all justice. There's some amazing detail. They are, in order of appearance:: Elephant-mingo, inspired by Moulin Rouge, by me; Flowermingo by Jenny; Flamin-go by Joel, Count Dramingo by Jo, Plantmingo by Abby, Punk Rock Flamingo by Matt, Spidermingo by Aaron and Placido Flamingo by Marianna and LuAnne.

   

   

Paper Flowers

I really wish I had hopped on a plane to make paper flowers with Daniela, Su, and Heidi. It looks like so much fun and I miss the them [sob sob].

Normal is a Myth

I'm all settled in my new office, it's rather nice. I have my "Normal is a Myth" postcard attached to my computer so I can be reminded every five minutes or so. This will come in handy since Tony is a pod-mate of mine. (Pod: large triangular area with one office in each corner. Jo is my other pod-mate)

Jenny is on the other side of the wall from me, so I keep climbing on my desk to see her and talk to her. I hope I don't fall and break an arm. We had a guy, Gary Diana, do that while hanging Christmas lights 2 years ago and he hasn't lived it down. If we see someone doing something unsafe, we say, "don't pull a Gary Diana". I used to stand on a chair to talk to Abby over the wall, but she's a little too far now =( But at least she's just down the hallway.

On that "Normal" note, I had dinner at my Mom's last night and it just reinforced what a totally wacky family I have. My crazy* Aunt Del asked my Uncle John, "what's that stuff that takes off nail polish?" To which he replied (wondering if this was a trick question), "nail polish remover?" We all laughed at how stupid the question was, then my Mom and my Uncle Pete took turns making up their own questions for the next 5 minutes in a successful attempt to mock the hell out of my Aunt. Here's how it went:

U. Pete: "what's that thing called that toasts bread?"
Mom: "what's that thing that irons your clothes?"
U. Pete: "what's the name of that kind of sweater you pull over your head?"
Mom: "what are those things you slip on your feet at night that are all cushiony?"
Mom: "what's it called when it's time to go to bed?"

These exchanges, while bringing me side splitting laughter, make me question how I got to be so normal... then wonder if I really am. Maybe I'm secretly insane.

*Background on Aund Del: she really is a bit crazy. She was in a very bad car accident about 20 years ago, had to learn to walk and talk all over again, and has been manic depressive ever since.

On another note, I also realized where I got both my food addiction tendencies and my need to push food on others. Here's the list of the food Gram brought to Mom's last night:

Pepperoni Pizza
5th Avenue candy bars
Mounds candy bars
Heath Bites candy
Chocolate Oreos
Stella Doro cookies
Pizzelles
and Gummi Bears

... all this AFTER knowing I was bringing Strawberry Shortcake for dessert! I should be the size of a house with this family!

Limited Edition

I just bought a Mystery Poster Bunny t-shirt from Jenny's store. The inside word (straight from Jenny's mouth today at her Strawberry Shortcake shindig) is that she is going to change the wording to "Mysterious Poster Bunny". So I thought I'd join Squibnocket and get one of only a few limited edition versions before Jenny changes it, becomes famous (she WAS mentioned in USA Weekend!) and people are clamoring for them.

I'm envisioning a scenario where I'm walking around on Park Ave in my Mystery Poster Bunny t-shirt, I pass someone and they stop me, jaw dropped, and exclaim, "that's MY bunny, why are you wearing MY bunny?" Then I spill the beans on Jenny. That's as far as it goes in my mind... though I'm pretty sure Jenny would win any lawsuit brought against her by mystery-poster-bunny-posting-mysterious-artist because said artist did not reveal him/herself on said poster. AND, the lawsuit would probably cause CNN news to do an interview with Jenny, then she would be bigtime for sure (and the value of my and Squibnocket's Limited Edition Myster Poster Bunny t-shirt would skyrocket in value)...

Hip to be Square

In Japan, they are making square watermelons. First seedless, then yellow, now square. What next, miniature kiwi-size watermelon? Yes, I think I'd like pocket-sized watermelon.

I was going to buy a square watermelon but they're $85 and since I just dropped $300 bucks on a Visor Edge (woo hoo), I can't afford it. Chuck (hubby) is going to inherit my cracked Visor Deluxe and now the burden is on him to get it fixed. The best part about it... it was all his idea, he urged me to do it... I love that man. Here's the damage (finally got pictures working):

Great weekend, East End Festival (party in the streets), Elixir at Club Red (an event by RJ Reynolds to promote Camels by luring unsuspecting people with bellydancers, fortune telling and free drinks), cake sampling (to help my sis Sherri decide where to get her wedding cake), dinner at Bahama Breeze (my new favorite restaurant) with Jenny and Aaron, then off to see Moulin Rouge (a funny movie, worth seeing).

Oh, and according to the fortune teller, I am "very bubbly, have alot of friends, am very happy, people look forward to seeing my smile... and (yikes) will be pregnant by September and will have a girl". I believed her until I realized she seemed to be alternating between stating the obvious (yes, after 3 drinks I'm VERY bubbly and happy) and guessing based on norms (married but no kids yet, so probably trying... etc.). It was a fun experience though. She knew some uncanny stuff about others, so you never know... Want your own, try an online Psychic reading.

Insider Cake Trading

In offering to help my sister with some of her wedding planning, I've realized that it is rather easy to solicit free or almost free cake from virtually every bakery in town. I called four bakeries on Friday and 3 out of 4 offer free cake on any given day and 1 offered 7" sample cakes for a mere $2.50. I bought one of the sample cakes and it was scrumptious. My sister says, "let's just order the cake from Wojtczak's so you don't have to keep running around." I said, "you can do whatever you want but I'm still going to go taste free cake, you can't stop me."

I have pictures to post and my Guster heart (graphic) is broken dammit. Can you all see my Daily Bite banner? The site Jenny recommended to me told me I don't have cookies. I HAVE COOKIES dammit. Ugh. I want to post the depressing picture of my cracked Handspring Visor. I dropped it on the floor last week. It costs 85 bucks to get it fixed, about half the price of a new one. UGH. I found a place that sells replacement glass for $50 but you have to install it yourself (not to mention I think it has Palm icons, oh joy). Chuck thinks he can do the install. I don't know if it's worth the risk. And just when I was getting really attached to the damn little thing.

Daniela posted in her blog that she tried and did not like Kettle Korn. Saying "I didn't like Kettle Korn" after trying it only once is like saying "I didn't like sex" after trying it only once. Kettle Korn can vary greatly from vendor to vendor. Sooo, a word of advice... do not write off Kettle Korn without at least sampling from a few different vendors first. You may find one that makes it really good. Don't let one bad experience rob you of a lifetime of enjoyable activity (eating Kettle Korn).

Eddie Card Plea

Eddie actually called me today and chatted for about 20 minutes. He sounded great and had me laughing to tears. He was telling me about how strange it is to be on morphine and how he woke up and realized he was sort of talking to himself and had his finger up in the air, pointing, as if to say "excuse me, waiter". Though he sounded great, I think he's still in rough shape. He mentioned that they have a tube in his back because his spinal cord is leaking. He called me back later to say that the day had gone downhill after he talked to me... a nurse had come in and told him to stand up, so Eddie stood at the end of the bed for an hour and a half, alternating between sitting and standing, before the guy came back to check on him. It turned out Eddie wasn't actually supposed to be up AT ALL yet. He said he was ok, but they had the nurse taken off assignment to Eddie's room (Eddie probably would have used every last ounce of strength to strangle the guy).

If anyone (all two of you who read this) wants to send Eddie a card to cheer him up, I think that would be great. You can just note you are a "Friend of Tina's" if he doesn't know you. He's not sure how long he'll be in the hospital, anywhere from 3 more days to 3 weeks, but his wife can bring his cards to him if he's still in, so here's his home address. He has a twisted sense of humor, much like me, so feel free to send him funny stuff.

Eddie
9025 W. Desert Inn Rd #103
Las Vegas, NV 89117

Happy Anniversary

Friday Chuck and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. It was wonderful. Though we weren't really supposed to exchange gifts because we want to take a vacation to celebrate, Chuck still brought me home a beautiful bouquet of flowers that had Calla Lillies in it... like my wedding bouquet. He also got me the damn near cutest little lamb you've ever seen. So soft, so sweet, so cuddly. Quite a gesture since earlier on in our relationship he (Chuck, not the Lamb) refused to buy me stuffed animals because he "didn't see the point in them". Well, it's only taken 16 years to change his mind on that one, but hey, every success counts. Imagine how much progress I'll make by 2012! ;-)

We went to Bahama Breeze and sampled the food. It was fabulous! I've been waiting 4 months to have a Bahamarita and it was worth the wait... mmmmmmmm... yummy!

After dinner we met up with Abby at Chrome, a new club near work, then were joined by Tony and Ange. Chrome had a cool decor - high ceilings, unique lighting, cool couches... but it sucked. The first thing that killed me was the $8 price for a martini. Helloooooo, this is ROCHESTER we're talking about here, not New York City. Give me a $3.95 Bahamarita any day. If I order an $8 martini in Rochester, I expect it to be the size of a big gulp. Then there was the crowd... the look-at-me-I'm-so-beautiful-in-my-leather-pants-and-sequined-tube-top-from-TJMaxx girls and the I-work-out-and-go-tanning-and-am-trying-to-look-like-I-just-walked-off-the-set-of-the-Sopranos guys. Not my scene at all. Not that I'm against looking good, I'm all for it, I just don't think it should be someone's main focus. I mean, if you look too good to dance, what's the point? Sheesh.

U2, Me Too

Thursday I went to see U2 with Abby (thanks to Ab buying an extra ticket) and though we spent the first third of the show in a bad spot on the floor, surrounded by ignorant drunk people and 10 foot tall dumb blonds, when we finally moved and spent the rest of the show on the stairs with a beautiful view of the elaborate stage, I really began to enjoy the music and the experience of seeing U2 live. They were incredible!

The highlight was when Bono (why is this man so sexy??) pulled a girl out of the audience, hugged her VERY tightly, then proceeded to roll around on the ground with her rather romantically. All I can say is, if I was that girl, not only would I spend the rest of my life reliving that moment, I would never wash those clothes again and probably would not be able to function as a normal human being anymore. I still can't stop thinking about it and it wasn't even me! (Hello, my name is Tina and I have an obsessive personality).

Update

My brother Eddie is ok after his back surgery but the titanium disc hadn't fused so they had to do the more extensive surgery, which means an incisions in his back, hip, and stomach... and he woke up to find a hole in his neck (from an iv/catheter or something) which he's not happy about, actors shouldn't have too many scars. He called my Mom this morning to say he felt good but was very tired. I'm going to go order him up a cookie-gram or something yummy like that.

Background info (I'm going to start doing this so my blogs have more context): My brother Eddie lives in Las Vegas, while the rest of the family lives here in Rochester, NY. Eddie is 33 now, became addicted to drugs shortly after graduating high school, had Hodgkin's Disease when he was 21, his first back surgery at about 25, his second back surgery last year, and his 3rd back surgery yesterday. He's a Scorpio who ended his man-slut days to get married last October and celebrated 2 years of sobriety last month. There, that should catch you all up.