What is up in my world

A lot of stuff, actually. I've been very busy lately.

CONCERTS:
I went to CSS this past Sunday with Ruthie, Marissa, & Ethan. It was great fun. I got a call at 5pm from Ruthie asking if I wanted to join the trio on their excursion because they had an extra ticket. I was pretty tired, but given that, I still managed to dance my socks off. CSS has great energy and put on a great show. The lead singer wore 3 layers of clothing, but I only remember 2: an elaborate sequins unitard, which she shed to then expose a more fitting, shiny unitard underneath. I felt like I was at a kids' concert for grownups. Like I said, it was great.

The White Stripes are coming to town - San Diego & Inglewood - in September, so I've got to remember to buy tickets for that. I'm not going to disclose what date the tickets go on sale, in an attempt to preserve my chances at securing a pair for myself. HA!

The Reverend Horton Heat are coming to Long Beach in July and I'm torn about the situation; I was very excited to see them in concert yet again, but then I found out they are only playing a set at an annual convention on the Queen Mary. BUT it's a TATTOO convention, which also sounds like great fun. Point is: I'm going either way (I just wish they were playing a full show).

FUN:
Lats night Josh and I bottled his second round of home brew beer, so if you're a local friend, get excited!! Thus far, the lukewarm un-carbonated product tastes great! I'm very excited for two weeks from now.

I'm going to an art exhibit with Marissa tonight. I'm actually really excited that she has (unintentionally) been motivating me to be more active in the realm of arts. I haven't actually started painting or drawing again recently, but I think frequenting exhibits definitely gives inspiration, so thank you for that, Marissa!

I'm so excited to go to Boulder next week!! Yep, the gals are having a Colorado reunion. It will be me, Emily, Karen, Kate, Megan, Kelly, Kirby, & Betsy. So so so excited. I'll be there from 6/20-6/24, if anyone is still in town and wants to meet up. It's been over a year since I went back to visit and I'm having withdrawals. But it's going to be a little different this time. See, very few of our college crew still live there, so it's not like I'll be going back to have fun reliving the college days. No, I'll be back there getting an entirely different experience than I've ever had in Boulder. We're staying at a hotel, as opposed to a familiar house. We'll be getting spa treatments, as opposed to walking around campus. We're going back as adults!! But hey, it's still Boulder - beautiful Colorado. I can't wait to be up in the mountains, breathing the fresh air, seeing those white billowing clouds, and feeling the bright sun, sans smog. Plus, we will still be frequenting the same old spots: happy hours, lunches, and dinners at The Mountain Sun, pool at the Downer (Sun Down Saloon, for those of you who aren't familiar), The Attic, or The Pub (and also for some great jukebox action), Emily and Megan's birthday dinner at The Med(iterranean), Haricovert and cocktails at the Brasserie Ten Ten, roof top cocktails at K's China. We'll have our mountain hikes and sunbathing at the usual spots high above gorgeous canyons - oh my god, I am SO EXCITED!!! (Albeit that Jon won't be there and I'm really sad I don't get to hang with him. Mad love, homey... expect a sip on the concrete.)

BUSINESS:
Emily and I are currently apartment hunting!! This will be fun eventually, but right now the process of actually finding a place - all the calls and visits and numbers - just really feels like business. I am finally moving out of my dad's place. It's been almost a year and a half since I moved back from Colorado and I really should have saved more money during this period of not paying rent. See, I'm never really in money trouble, but I just have a problem saving for the possibility of something undetermined. Basically I need a goal for which to be saving, in order to really save any substantial amount. I didn't have set date or plan for when I wanted to move out, this opportunity just sort of came up, so I could have planned a lot better I think. Either way, I'm psyched to get my own place. I feel like I haven't had a home for the past year. I feel as though I'm a guest in my father's house, so I only stay there about once every 2 weeks. Josh's house is great, but I'm starting to feel as though I've overstayed my welcome with the roommates. It'll be refreshing to move out and get my life in order. I just want to find some place great, and the hunt is really daunting.


So that's what's up with me. This weekend I have Father's Day boat rides to attend and brunches to make, yet still no gift ideas. Any suggestions?

Culver City Art Walk

I've been pretty active the past week or so, which has felt really good. I already wrote about the ARcade Fire concert, being that that activity completely warrants its own entry.

So, this weekend...

Karen and I started Friday night by eating at my favorite sushi place, which I've been going to since fifth grade with my dad: Noshi Sushi! It's very authentic; no frilly & elaborate Americanized rolls (the closest they come is the California Roll, which is standard now anyway). They have the freshest, tastiest raw fish I've ever engorged. Yum. I could eat there everyday (but that would get pricey). However, their sake carafes are only $3, and beer, only $2.50.

Next we headed to an art exhibit opening enitled "Happy Squirter" at , for artist "Buff Monster". The opening was in honor of (and timed with) the Culver City Art Walk, which took place the next day. The painting there were good; there were elements I liked, like use of waves of water droplets in every picture, but all in all, not really my style. I couldn't see these paintings matching with anything inside my house (when I get one). They had an opening bar and were serving Stone Pale Ale and Arrogant Bastard(!! - though unfortunately the latter's supply was expended by the time I got there). Open bar is ALWAYS great, and even better when they are serving good beer. In fact, I was so excited over the beer that I didn't even explore what type of Vodka they were using for martinis - I really could have scored! We also ran into some friends there, so that's always fun.

Then we headed to Karen's new favorite bar for some pool playing and debauchery.

Then, Saturday, Marissa and I... I saved this draft and never finished the entry, but it is now a week old... went to the Culver City Art Walk, after going to a sample jewelry sale in Santa Monica. The art walk was great. We first spent about 3 hours at the Museum of Jurassic Technology (aka Museum of Oddities). It was fascinating in the more obscure and strange way. I will most likely devote a blog entry to it, so expect that. Then we visited a few more galleries, including the Tim Biskup exhibit. This was the one that Marissa had been wanting to see, and I'm glad it was on her list. I really enjoyed his work. Unfortunately the prices were a bit out of my range, so I only got to admire them there.

I was going to write in detail about everywhere we went, but i let to much time pass before I revisited this entry. I do that a lot: get excited to write about certain things but then never have time to finish the blog in the detail that I want to, so the subject matter just sort of fizzles out. Hopefully I'll get a system down (it's all about having a system, huh Josh?). Ok, tata.

Kids are swingin from the power lines

I saw Arcade Fire at The Greek on Wednesday night. It was phenomenal. They were fantastic. Josh and I had seats in section A, row J... which is very close. Where's J in the alphabet? About 13? I just counted - it's 10. So we were 10 rows back from the very tiny 'pit'. I think a shard of guitar wood hit me in the chaos of instrument demolition. They put on such an amazing show and give off such a great energy. (To be said with a German accent:) Zey're so passionate, no? (I don't know why, just because. Probably because it's a cheesy sounding statement.) Things that make Arcade Fire a superb live band: 1) like I said, they're energy - they are all constantly jumping and dancing around, like the devil said, "play music like you mean it or it's your life!" and thy have no choice but to rune around like madmen with their instruments. Well that's just the men in the group who do play so ferociously. The women just dance really exuberantly, with occasional thrashing. Okay, so 2) the fact that there are so many member in the band. There are 10 (I believe) and they seem more like an orchestra than the traditional rock band. That many players just adds to the energy. 3) Most of them repeatedly swap instruments. This probably should be listed as number one, as far as qualifying factors of a great band go. Violinists and brass players stay on their instruments (although I'm sure the brass players switch it up), but everyone else jumps around from guitars to organ to piano to drums to xylophone to accordion to hurdy-gurdy (yes, I looked up what that cranking instrument is called). There were at least 3 different people on the organ throughout the night. Yes, I could just go on and on about how absolutely fantastic Arcade Fire is. OH! And Win, the lead singer, ran throughout the audience during the encore break, all the way up to the back of rows. And they called him down, Price is Right style, because they had gone to a taping that day and were pumped on the show (talked about it between songs and "Richard" was still wearing his over-sized name tag).

Phew, that was long. So,Dance Right Last night. Ryan Gosling is now a regular and I feel the need to hide my face whenever I notice him. Because you know, professing my crush on him was something I did under the assumption that I'd never see him again. Not that he'd remember, but still. I'm awkward like that. Right Marissa? ;) ("Right").

Standin on a hill in my mountain of dreams

The past couple weeks have been really stressful. I'm lost at work (which is about as eloquently as I can explain it). I've been really sick. I have to go back to the doctor next week because upon examining X-rays of my chest on Wednesday, I was told that my lung shape is characteristic of someone who has emphysema or has had asthma their entire childhood (which I haven't); they are very long and narrow, relatively speaking, and I have an odd ribcage configuration. He labeled them, "overly inflated". But fingers crossed that it's just attributable to odd anatomy. Every little decision has been stressing me out. I thought last week I just was stressed about throwing Josh a surprise birthday party, but Friday came and went and the surprise went off without a hitch. Yet still, this anxiety lingers.

Well, my friend Lauren shared the poem below with me today. It was written a couple years ago for her great aunt, who past away last Saturday. It's beautiful and helped ease my stress a bit this morning, so I thought I'd share:

Sometimes we get lucky in this life
And friends come bearing large hearts
And say “Have Some”

Sometimes, we get lucky in this life
And glee emerges from old sorrows
And broken hearts are broken wide open,

And we step out of them
And a voice that was once ours
Wonders, “what took you so long?”

Sometimes we get lucky in this life
And step out of ourselves long enough
To love one another

Sometimes we get lucky in this life
And others are stepping out of themselves
At the same time

And we get lucky and hold out our hands
And for a change, there’s more than air
Between our fingers,

When we’re lucky
We get all this and give it away
We’re lucky if its ours to give

And if children leap to catch it
As though our offerings were fireflies
Small nimbi to be snapped into jars

If we’re lucky in this life
The memory of those nighttime flickers
Lightens later years. The on/off switch of miracle

Sometimes we get luck this life
And from grief mercy flows

Lucky life, Virginia
Oh, lucky, lucky life

Yes, I'm That Kind of Aunt

So my 3 year old nieces had their very first ballet recital and I really can't imagine anything cuter than the pictures you are about to witness...

Before...

During...

After...

Food For Thought

I don't even know how to comment on this article.
I mean, it's devastatingly sad that some people lose their entire life by being locked up in prison for a crime they didn't commit, simply because someone must be blamed. It's fantastic that this man was at least able to salvage what's left of his life, and his name. But just thinking about what torment he's probably gone through already... well stories like this just cause such mixed emotions. So, I guess that's my comment.

Growing Up (Old)

I really must be entering a new phase of life. I actually turned down a Modest Mouse concert on Sunday night, which I had been so excited for in the days prior. I just got tired and decided it would be too much to deal with. When did this happen to me? When did I start turning down concerts of bands that I love because standing until midnight sounded too tiring? I guess it happened when I got a real job. I worry that my ten hour work days seem so long and gruelling that I'm inclined to give up those things that I genuinely love doing because they have become too demanding of time and energy. Or maybe I'm just getting old!

When I was in junior high I used to say that I wanted to start having kids at 23 because I wanted to be a young, in touch parent. The last time I remember making that statement was maybe my freshman year in high school. Ten years seemed so removed from my reality back then. Now I'm 23, and while I feel like an old lady in one respect, I still feel so much like a kid that I can't imagine wanting to have one of my own right now. I mean, after seeing how quickly the past five years have gone by, I wonder, when am I going to feel ready or adult enough to take on that role? Ten years? At this point, I think that I'd want to start trying for kids about when 30 hits. But is that really so? Thirty's probably closer than I think. I still need to decide what I want to be when I grow up. I wonder when I'm going to stop feeling like a kid and starting identifying myself as an adult. Quite honestly, I'm not looking forward to it.

Table Tennis champions of the entertainment industry, UNITE!

I'm partaking in a charity ping pong -eh hem- table tennis tournament tomorrow for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. It's called the "Celebrity Grand Slam Paddle Jam". What - you didn't know I'm a celebrity? No, no - tricked ya! I'm just one of the many 'lay people' competing in this fundraiser for the Research Hospital. It's an industry thing and I am one of the two representatives from my office, by default. There will be 32 two person teams, consisting of publicists, attorneys, executives, and yes, celebrities (I think Sophia Bush is the most exciting one participating, so make what you will of that). I would be, and was, pretty excited for the amazing prizes:

Grand prize: To attend the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving (whatever that is) in Phoenix, Arizona; Southwest Airlines tickets to Phoenix, Arizona; one year of DIRECTV and more.
Runner-up: The runner-up team will win a trip to the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, including VIP entry for two nightclubs (my partner and I decided we'll intentionally place second when it gets to that point, since this prize is so much better... although free DirectTV for a year sounds pretty sweet too).
Last 8 teams standing: Free round trip JetBlue tickets - wha wha!

So yes, I would be excited, except for the facts that a) I have to wake up at 4:30am to staff tomorrow morning's radio media tour, b) I have to run around town tomorrow to staff an interview at FOX News, c) this tournament goes until 12:30am (probably later), and c) I'M SICK. Yes, it's been abundantly obvious around the office that I am sick, from the fact that everyone has commented on my relentless, deep chested cough all week. However, I wasn't given much of a choice. The long day wouldn't be such a breaker, except for the fact that I am wheezing with every deep breath. (yes, I nearly just had a major flip out here at work but decided to write in my blog to calm myself)

And by the way, Ping pong is exhausting! Josh and I went to a rec center last night to get some paddle practice in, and man was I worked afterwards. But it was great fun; not something I do too often. I needed to get some practice in because my partner is allegedly quite the contender and is taking this very seriously (half in a joking way, half not I think). I surly don't want to disappoint!

Wish me luck!

Plastic Surgery?

Nicole Kidman or Michael Jackson?

I just think there's a striking resemblance here.

Shit Talkers

I must say, shit talkers are my favorite kind of talkers. This world is filled with an overabundance is boring talkers, slow talkers, fast talkers, incessant talkers, full-of-shit talkers, annoying voice/intonation talkers, interrupters, etc. And I recently realized that I don’t hang out with nearly enough shit talkers. This realization came to me when Dave, a friend from college who recently moved here, came to hang out last Friday night. Dave can be a shit talker, but I think it takes a certain environment to bring it out of him. Now, our friend Will, from college, was in town visiting and he can definitely shit talk. Additionally, three of Dave’s friends joined him for our Friday night excursions; all shit talkers.

But here’s the thing: you have to be the right kind of shit talker. You can’t just be an asshole – I mean downright unpleasant – that doesn’t work. If you want to be a good shit talker, you have to establish right away that not only are you prepared to dish out some shit, but you’re prepared to take it too. And also, that this talking shit is purely lighthearted and that you are essentially using it as a tool to become more comfortable with someone. Here’s what I mean. When I arrived at Emily’s house, where the cohorts were awaiting mass –eh hem- juice consumption, I was greeted almost immediately with shit talk. I was fine with this, I felt completely at ease. I even felt safe, somehow. Like whatever I said, no matter how outrageous, would be fine. And conversely, whatever was said to me, no matter how offensive, was fine too. Furthermore, the more witty banter I’m around, the better I am at coming up with my own… witty banter. Sure, that night most of the laughs were not a result of my dishing, but hey, I felt more on-point than ever! (hopefully I just felt that way and that wasn't really my life's moment of conversational glory thus far)

Basically, it’s all in the delivery. That’s where people go wrong. Oh, and you’ve got to be funny. If you’re not funny, forget it… you’re not getting any laughs. No, you’re getting vindictive glares.

So from now on I intend to surround myself with more shit talkers. I guess that’s the moral of my story(?).

Should you choose to accept your mission...

Directions:

1. Go to Google Maps
2. Click "Get Directions"
3. Type "New York" as the starting address
Type "London" as the end address
4. Get the directions
5. Read all the way through the directions if you like.
But if that 'wastes' too much time,
simply begin reading the directions at #20 (to build suspense),
paying close atention to #24

I promise, this exercise is 100% worth it. You won't be disappointed.

(source: Josh)

Happy Birthday to you...

I've fallen into bad old habits in the past month or so, and I should really be practicing more self-control. I'm really only hurting myself.

On another note, today is my twin nieces' birthdays, the big 3... They are absolutely, unquestionably the two most adorable children on this planet. No contest. Don't believe me? How about now...

SEE!?!

Rat Race

My mouth is sooo sore.
Ah the rat race.
Last night was extremely stressful. My boss asked if I had any time to enjoy myself, and I think I found a polite way of saying "not really". Yeah, it was fun walking around trying to convince the celebrities to come partake in the Dance Heads fun, walking my clients down the red carpet and being denied interview with all but 4 media outlets (but I DID get Access Hollywood, so that's a pat on the back - bet you can see me in the background if you watch tonight).
Part of me wants to name drop, but who cares? It's just the rat race.
Yet, I felt like if I had balls, they would have been huge last night. It made me feel a little high and mighty approaching these celebrities and actually having them listen and be receptive. I got some good 'celebs' to partake, got some celeb arms around my shoulders like we're old buddies, I made them laugh, I made them feel good and have fun, I got to get feisty with some. Isn't it strange, that sense of pride, or accomplishment, or validation, or essentially confidence I get from that sort of situation; being able to treat celebrities like they're an average Joe; being able to walk right up, make them laugh and then convince them to do something, without them realizing that I've convinced them of anything...? I don't like that I get confidence from a situation like that, because why should they be able to have that effect on me? I don't even know them; why does a stranger have that sort of power over me? And yet, at the same time it's as though I have some sort of power over them, which I'm thinking is why it also feels good, at the same time as feeling bad.
Anyway, rambling, blah blah blah.
The one name I WILL drop, because I talked to him for a long time and he was pretty damn chill, funny, interesting, and genuine, is Andy Milonakis. I approached him - well, intercepted actually, he was walking towards me looking for a lighter - to do Dance Heads and we got to talking. We talked about a movie series that, of course, I can't remember the name of now, but it sounds very interesting and my intern has seen it, so I'll just ask her. Blah, rambling again, we talked for about 15 minutes and then I brought it back to the Dance Heads topic and he said he'd make a video with me if I "found him fire". So I did and we went over to do it. Then he ran into a celeb friend and ditched me like a passed out prom date. But whatever, I'm a fan of the chick he did it with and talked to her a bit, so that's cool. They have history, I didn't.

Anyway..... that was the night. Well, other stuff too, but Eeyore doesn't feel like going into it right now. Today is Josh and my year 'anniversary'. I put it in quotes because, from what date do you actually start counting? We made a special day a month ago on the day we met, and today is the day we actually declared, "you are my girlfriend"/"you are my boyfriend." And we said it just like that. No we didn't, I'm kidding. Ha. Boy what a mood I'm in today. Exhausted. Yet not too much to type apparently. I think I'm procrastinating because I don't have any motivation to work.

Bye.

Kickin it back to the old school, cuz I'm an old fool, who's so cool

So I'm going to a movie premiere tonight for one of our clients. Actually, I'm only going to the premiere party, not the actual premiere, and I'll be working some of that time (but playing for some of it also). I'm allowed to bring a guest, so Josh will be playing (at the open bar) for ALL of it. But the best part: the movie is "Kickin' It Old Skool". Yeah, you heard right, Jamie Kennedy's new movie. This should be ridiculous. On top of all that, the premiere night is 80s themed, so I have to dress in eighties style, yet still look professional for it. Funny thing is, I'm wearing exactly what I wore to last week's Dance Right, and I should glide by the other costumes just fine. It better be a good time because I'm on salary and I don't get paid overtime for these 15 hour work days (again, hopefully I'll be playing most of that extra time). And why in the world I have to arrive an hour and a half before the party starts is beyond me. There are 3 of us staffing the event and there isn't even any real objective for us being there, besides: try to find media to come partake in our client's product. Furthermore, when I asked what media outlets are being allowed inside the party, the response was basically 'I don't know... if any". But if the booze is free, call me a satisfied employee!

Our client is interesting; hard as hell to pitch to media, but funny if you’re actually partaking in the product. It’s called Dance Heads. It basically a karaoke for dancing, but that doesn’t even really explain it. This is how it works: two people sit in front of a green screen with green smocks draped over them so that the only thing that isn’t green on the mini-set is their heads. Across from them is a TV monitor, like during karaoke. On the monitor are the bodies of professional dancers. You pick a song and the video starts. Your heads are superimposed onto the professional dancers' bodies, but they’re not proportional, they’re big like bobble heads. As the music plays and you watch the video of your head on a dancer’s body, you move your head along to the screen and then they burn it onto a DVD for you to take home with you. See, it sounds lame because you’re just sitting there, moving your head, but if you or a friends are partaking in it, it’s pretty humorous to watch. People can rent Dance Heads for big parties, events, fairs, whatever.

I have to get another tooth filled before this ‘event’. Luckily it’s not nearly as bad as my last one, during which they might as well have removed the entire tooth. All the meanwhile these wisdoms just keeping pushing through. Can’t I just keep them?

Say it ain't so, Alec!

So I'm really sad about this whole Alec Baldwin-threatening-phone-call-to-his-daughter situation. Okay, that sounds so dramatic. Why would I be "really sad" about it? I'm just a little disenchanted because Alec Baldwin is one of my all time favorite actors!! Before this incident, he could do no wrong in my eyes. Well, I guess he could... and he did.

If anyone is not familiar (if you listen to morning radio at all you wouldn't have missed it), Alec left a really hateful and threatening message on his 11 year-old daughter's cell phone (although he calls her 12 at first - he doesn't even know her age!). He called her a thoughtless pig and threatened to "straighten her ass out". He said, "you better be ready on Friday the 20th because I'm flying out there for ONE DAY to straighten your ass out and then I'm turning around and flying back home." It's a long message, probably a minute or so of straight bashing, all because the daughter didn't call him back. So sad. I mean disenchanting.

What's worse is that mother Kim Basinger made the recording public, as if Alec's messages to his daughter are any of our business (but hey, now that it's out there, of course I'm gonna blog about it!). But really, that's their business and they need to figure out a way to solve it on their own. He also said something like, "you would NEVER do this to your mother!" So there is obviously some parent rivalry going on there. Kim saw her opportunity to really get the upper hand, not only in her daughter's eyes, but in the public's eyes too, and she took it. Bitch. Just kidding.

GRINDHOUSE

I should have blogged about this earlier since I saw it over a week ago and loved it. If you haven't seen Grindhouse yet, you MUST, tonight! It was just so good. First of all, the seventies style was just a fabulous cherry on top. I won't ruin any little true-to-form moments of seventies movie theatre goodness, so go see for yourself. Also, the fake previews in the beginning and in between the movies: awesome. PLUS, we saw it at the Mann Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which is so cool inside and I haven't been there since I was about 5 years old seeing Disney movies, so that added to the whole experience.

As for the movies themselves: "Planet Terror" was absolutely fantastic. I'm not going to lie, I love the premise of zombie movies - the whole end of the world, nowhere to turn thing, there's something so intriguing and chilling about it. Yeah, I can be dark. "Planet Terror" kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and Josh definitely felt me nearly jump on top of him more than a couple times. And of course, as with all good scary movies, I get myself all psyched up to go see it and then regret it afterwards because I'm a big wuss and I have nightmares and feel like someone/thing is about to start chasing me every time I go out to my car at night. Well I didn't regret this one, but I definitely had a nightmare about it that very night; in it, I woke up asking Josh if he's sure the movie was fake only to find out that it was real and we were living it! Ahhh!

Now, surprisingly, "Death Proof" had it's ups and downs. Of course, I figured the Tarantino flick would be a sure thing. But it actually started out pretty slowly. The first half of it you're sitting there thinking, 'when are we going to get some action', but Kurt Russell's character makes up for some of that. His character really gets good towards the end, when the story takes a turn and gets really climactic. But even before that, around halfway through, the movie really picks up with suspense (when the action starts). Again, I was completely on the edge of my seat, during that second half; it's a sweet redemption for the first half.

SO GO SEE IT!!!

Riding the Bus with Rosie

So right now I am watching The View, as a follow up to yesterday's research, to witness the coverage I scored for our client. And you know what? She may be outspoken, obnoxious, and have a bad wrap, but dammit, Rosie O'Donnell is pretty effing FUNNY! When the out of touch middle age Jewish woman says something that is trying to sound wise but really just conveys the fact that she's, well, out of touch, Rosie has no problem making a completely smarmy and sarcastic comment, as if to say, 'yeah, I can't believe I work with these people either'. And it's FUNNY! Obnoxious, yes, but I'll say, the woman ain't half bad.

Riding the Bus with The Soup

Does anyone out there love E! Entertainment's "The Soup" as much as I do? Well there's a particular ongoing joke that Joel McHale makes on that show, that cracks me up each time. Even better, are the times that I think about the joke & the corresponding movie clips during the middle of my day. I just had one of those moments that made my laugh out loud. I'm doing research on ABC's "The View", fishing around it's website. Well, immediately when that picture of Rosie O'Donnell invaded my screen, the image of her playing a retarded - pardon me - mentally disabled person, in the made-for-TV movie "Riding the Bus with My Sister" popped into my mind and I couldn't help myself; I just started laughing aloud in my office. That movie clip Joel shows, that brief moment of goodness, brings joy to my day no matter what. Ahhh...

(Is that messed up of me? Not as messed up as Jonathan's obsession with midget fighting, playing basketball, or... getting freaky - ewwww!!)

The mess he leaves behind

I can barely wrap my mind around the hirrific story that is unfolding right now: the massacre on the Virginia Tech campus. Fox News says the death count is up to 32, ESPN.com says 29, AOL, CNN, & MSNBC all say 22. And allegedly all from one man's doing. The haven't released the dead gunman's name yet, but that's what I'm most interested in at this point; his story. What is so fucked up in this person's head? If he's dead we may never know; all this would have happened and for no reason, not even a vague explanation of the man's psychosis or anything. It's just so sad.

The Early Bird wakes up before the hour that bars in New York close and then falls back asleep for too long, thus arriving late to work

So today I had to wake up at 4:30am to staff a two and a half hour Radio Media Tour (RMT, for those of you not in my line of work) for our client. Unfortunately we have to work on Eastern Time if we want to catch interviews on the east coast morning radio shows. I tried to be asleep by 10pm last night but apparently my body doesn't function that way. When it was all finished, around 8am, I went back to bed for a little nap... come 10:45 I wake up realizing I'm about to be two and a half hours late to work. So actually, I guess I was just leveling the playing field.

The RMT gives 15 different morning radio shows across the country a phone interview with the host of our client's American Idol recap/aftermath show. (I'm hesitant to actually give names of the host or the show; aren't people not supposed to make that stuff publicly available in their non-work related blog? Can't have anything working against me, ya know?). So because of this show I work with and these 15 interviews I have to prepare for, I am required to watch American Idol. I've never watched before, I've maybe seen 3 episodes total ever (including last night, which is probably the only one I've seen in its entirety). Of course, I know all about the controversies and gossip, simply due to listening to morning radio and checking TMZ occasionally for my job. But after last night I can understand how America is addicted. Some of these people are so much better than the others and by the end of the show I was saying, "I want Jordan to win, definitely. She's the best singer by far, and I can't believe this Haley chick and Sanjaya weren't eliminated earlier." And I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth. I'm pretty sure that Josh couldn't either, by the way he was laughing at me.

So this is what working in the entertainment industry does to me: The only things I have to blog about these days are celebrities and pop shows. Eek.

I'm taking notes on a "How to Blog Better" webinar right now for my agency and realizing that I am far from strategically savvy in blogging; apparently they're supposed to be interactive, not just one way... hey, who knew? So on that note, does anyone out there watch or have any opinions on American Idol? Actually, nix that, I don't really care about this topic... and this is all about me, right? (jk, jk, jk)