Costanza!

Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where George remains at his job although they want to fire him, because he has a contract and he wants to make his money while doing the bare minimum - so even when they lock him out of his office, he crawls in through a vent and just won't leave? I'm George right now. I gave my notice for my last day of work to be June 30th (now it's the 27th) - but they hired my replacement a week ago. I trained her, I've shown her everything there is to show. She's at my desk, doing my job now and I am still here at work with NOTHING to do. I've helped all the people I could help, filed all the filing there was to file, so I decided to just set up camp at an unused cubicle. I cleaned off the desk and here I sit. I mean, I can't really complain (more than I have) because I'm getting paid, and I want to get paid, but this is crazy - I'm getting paid for literally nothing. I did lightly suggest that they just pay me through the month and let me leave early, since it wasn't my fault that they hired my replacement so early, but I guess they feel better about me actually occupying space in the office in order to earn my money - I guess I'm generating warmth as my contribution to the company. And I have THREE more weeks to go! Oi.

Cake

Last week we threw a baby shower for one of my co-workers. It was a Baby Winnie-the-Pooh theme, so I decided to be ambitious and make the cake and cupcakes for the shower (along with doing the decorations, ordering the food, etc.) I am a fan of Ace of Cakes on the food network and have actually been contemplating going to culinary school for baking/pastry. I've enjoyed baking all my life, but this was my first foray into making such a cake. The cupcakes were a little stressful (new recipe), but the cake was a lot of fun. It was raspberry filled and had a basic buttercream frosting. I made it to look like a pot of honey (or as Pooh spells it, Hunny) and the cupcakes all had little bees on them. I think it turned out quite nicely. It looked cute and tasted great. It was just satisfying to have a vision in my head of what I wanted the cake and cupcakes to be and then to actually have it turn out as I had envisioned. I am now an Ace of Cake.

Astaire

I can't express enough how much I love the rain. Grey, rainy skies invigorate me. I was up way too late last night and thought I might even stay home from work today, my throat hurt, I was exhausted, but when I woke up this morning and looked outside, I knew I wanted to get up and enjoy the weather while it lasted. I guess there is just something romantic about stormy weather. It does seem like it rains much less than when I was a kid, though. I seem to remember a lot of thunder storms growing up and now it is seems extremely rare. I really should be living in Seattle.

As I enjoyed my walk to work this morning, I had this song in my head - I guess I thought of it because of the mist and drizzle in the scene. Fred Astaire didn't have the most amazing singing voice in the world, but I'd rather hear his simple renditions of gorgeous songs, like this one, more than any other singer. He immortalized so many songs, this is one of my favorites:

Comics

These just made me laugh, what else can I say? (I didn't write this - it is from a great site the Institute of Cheer)


Get in the car! It’s a Unicornisaurus Rex! With fingers!

Then again, why worry? He’s so weak he has to hold on to a building for support. It makes him look like a sarcastic high-school English teacher who's just heard a student make a particularly banal observation about "The Scarlet Letter." Oh really Mr. Anderson. Would you care to elaborate?

“The Planet that Admired the Earth” does not immediately seem like a set-up that would yield 4,329 (exactly!) gasps, let alone prove its mettle as the most gripping space story ever published, unless the publishers had perfected some sort of technology that made a hand spring from the book and grip you in the crotch. Granted, “The Planet that Admired the Earth” was more gasp-inducing than "The Planet that Could Be Persuaded, After a Glass of Brandy, To Admit That the Earth Had Certain Merits", or its precedessor, "The Planet That Wouldn’t Kick Earth Out of Bed for Having Deserts, If You Know What I Mean, " but still. You can tell it’s a lame line-up of stories - look at the guy in the lower right-hand corner. He’s looking straight at the list, and he’s not too thrilled.

What did he expect? A ghost? Probably, yeah.





This is just all kinds of stupid. This is the gamut of stupid. This is the entire spectrum of stupid, including the parts the human eye cannot detect, but can be seen only by bees. You could start with the art, which gives Bats stumpy legs and a beer-barrel torso; you could move on to his first deadly foe, the Insurance Adjuster with a net fetish. You could wonder why Batman could be immobilized by something as simple as a net with weights. Here’s a hint, Bruce – grasp a few weights, pick them up, and exit the net. You could have endless sport with the idea of Robin learning that B. screwed the pooch in his early outings, but at least got the kinks out before he started his career.

What really seals the deal and adds a big red Stupid Cherry is the book: “Batman’s Diary.” With a logo. And the logo on the spine. You can see him sitting on the floor on his tummy, legs up and crossed at the ankles, chewing on a pencil, listening to some music from those dreamy Beatles, wondering how to start.

“Dear Diary! Today I began to act out my bifurcated nature by channeling my childhood abandonment issues into costume-assisted crime control. Well! You won’t believe what happened.”

Golly, indeed.





Ol’ Boomie didn’t really overthink the wardrobe – blue tights, a dyed cap he got at Army surplus, the sort of scarf favored by aviators in the days before they tired of having it catch in the prop and yank them from the cockpit, and a flirty little skirt that sets off his beer-barrel thighs quite nicely.

(from Institute of Cheer)

Masters

This is part 1 of a 6 part interview between Ricky Gervais and Christopher Guest - two of the greatest comedic minds of our time. Parts 2-6 are linked on youtube. It's so worth it to watch the whole interview, if you care. Please do enjoy:

Schmoprah

This girl was on Oprah yesterday - she is 15 years old, from the Philippines and knocked Whitney's song out of the park. I had this song in my head all night and now will probably have it in my head again. She's just so cute:

Photo Booth

This last week Joseph "Pilates" Ernst stayed with us in the Burb. It was great to have ol' dimples around. Last night JC, Cheryl and I had some dinner and took some pictures. I still really love my ATP class of '05 - it's nice to have a group of people that I can still just be so comfortable around - we've seen eachother's best and worst, we've played together, cried together, yelled together, and rolled around with the silverfish together - and as the years pass by it's nice to know that we can still support each other. Ashley should be in town next week - yay!

a cunning plan

There were so many great British comedies that PBS allowed me to grow up watching: Red Dwarf, Fawlty Towers, Mr Bean, Keeping Up Appearences, Are You Being Served, Blackadder. Blackadder was on for four seasons, each taking place in a different period of British history. I believe my favorite was the last, Blackadder Goes Forth, set during WWI. I've posted two clips; one with the ridiculously vulgar reoccuring character, Lord Flashheart, played by Rik Mayall (of Drop Dead Fred fame) and the other is the last scene of the series, which is really quite sad. It was a fantastic series, with an amazing group of comedic actors.

Twilight

Well, I feel obligated by the name of my blog to post this teaser trailer. I quite enjoyed the book and am scared the movie is just going to be many crappy, angsty, pretty, typical, teenage actors, but I'm still hoping for the best. Robert "Cedric Diggory" Pattinson looks like he might be all right casting for Edward.

WB

Today I had a lunch meeting at Warner Bros with the head of HR. I don't want to say too much, because I don't want to jinx it, but it was great. This lady is so nice and generous, she showed me all over the studio - which is beautiful. It seems like such a great place to work, and I am completely excited at the prospect. I'll be checking for open positions as it gets closer to when I could start at the end of Summer/beginning of Fall. I'm really already in love with Warner Bros. and I will be giving all my heart and might to obtaining a job there. I don't have a full resume with much experience, but I know if just given the chance I would give it my all. Here's hoping!

Tennicycle? Unis?

Yeah, I know, Grandpa, you're so much better at tennis than I am - you can even beat me while on a unicycle.
What a jerk.

sigh

Well there go the 2008 playoff dreams. Last night the Suns lost and are out of the playoffs. Freakin' Spurs. It was looking so possible, but we let it slip - too many fatal flaws there at the end of the game. It's just a little overwhelming to think of going through another season, of starting all over again - I mean our guys are not getting any younger, and now who knows if D'Antoni is going to be booted - I sincerely hope not. I know it's just a game, but I do get quite invested. Poor guys. If one little fan feels this way, I can only imagine how the team is feeling today. I still love my Suns, though - it was a fun season, they worked hard. Sorry, Suns.

Shut up, please shut up, Rev. Wright

Why? Why are you trying to screw everything up, Rev. Wright? Things were going so well. I would hope the American people would get over it, but we all know Americans and the media love to blow things out of proportion and obsess. I'm sure Hillary and the Republicans are thanking their lucky stars for Rev. Wright, but I hope people will judge Barrack on his own merits, his policies, his words. This morning on the Today show a Reverend Eugene F Rivers III was on discussing this mess and his quote was good and made me laugh:
"Rev. Wright was overtaken by his own need for attention. The sad spectacle was simply an extended ego trip that had no practical, political, policy or programmatic utility, that was pointless rhetoric, which was ultimately narcissistic and just based on him trippin'."
Right on.

For my own enjoyment.

There's really nothing particularly special about this clip - it's just Hugh Laurie on Leno from last Friday night - but I guess that's what's special, because Hugh is special. He's the best, that's all.

Playoffs

(really rad commercial)

It's the first round of the 2008 NBA playoffs and it's been hard. Obviously, I'm a fan of the Phoenix Suns and I so want them to get to the finals, it hurts, but who were we pitted against for the first round? The Spurs. I loathe the Spurs. They (along with the help of crappy officiating and bad luck) defeated us last year - why, oh why did we have to face them of all teams for this first series? All the odds are against the Suns coming from being down 3-0, but yesterday we won a game and now it's 3-1. It's an up hill battle, but there is still a spark of hope that we can defy all the odds and win this series, I know it is unlikely, but it aint over 'till it's over.

There is talk that if the Suns lose after this first round that Coach Mike D'Antoni might be out - which I think would be so sad. So sad. I love D'Antoni. I think he is a decent, honorable, guy and a great coach - and he is a big reason why the Suns are a decent, honorable, hard-working group of guys. As a fan of the team I often get so emotionally invested. After a hard loss, I can be feeling crushed but when I hear Coach D'Antoni reflecting on a game, everything is put into perspective - things aren't so horrible, it was one game, it's not the end of the world, and they have a plan for the next game. Coach stays calm, he keeps his sense of humor and inspires hope for the future of the team. If he can do that for a fan of the team, I'm sure he instills this same positive attitude to the players.

A final thought on the finals up to this point: Jeff Van Gundy has joined the commentators for the finals and he's great. He is certainly entertaining. He is blunt, not afraid to say what he really thinks, he's funny and he shakes things up. It's just been a little more fun with him. For example, yesterday the commentators were talking about Boris Diaw's basketball camp and its rewards and Van Gundy compared it to Willy Wonka's golden ticket - he threw out a Violet Beauregard reference, I mean how many NBA commentators are going to do that? A few minutes after this, after an Extreme Home Makeover promo, he said something like, "is there anything better than when they say 'move that bus'?" I don't know, he just makes me laugh. So, good job, ABC.

There are my playoff thoughts for now. Game 5 is on Tuesday night. Please, please let the Suns defy the odds and make a little playoff history.

My Nightmare

Watching this makes my chest tight and my breathing labored. I hate elevators.



Lesson 1: Don't Smoke.
Lesson 2: Take the stairs in the McGraw-Hill Building.
Lesson 3: Piano music makes claustrophobia artistic.

Happy Birthday, Will!

Today is William Shakespeare's birthday (or at least the generally accepted date of his birth). Strangely, this morning I was thinking all about a Shakespeare class I took in high school and then I got into work and saw that it is actually his birthday. I love Shakespeare - I love reading his work, I love studying his life and work and I love acting in his plays. I'm very excited to be able to play Viola in Twelfth Night this Summer - it's a wonderful role, a marvelous play and will hopefully be a great production. It's also Administrative Professionals Day, which, sadly, I am. Shakespeare and Admin. are at odds within me. Here I sit at my desk while longing to be with a Shakespearean company. Oh, well, every experience teaches us something different and I am still young. At least my boss is buying us lunch today.

Quiz it up Here
or Here

The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good - in spite of all the people who say he is very good.
Robert Graves Quote (1895 - 1985)

He was not of an age, but for all time!
Ben Jonson Quote (1573 - 1637)

Earth Day

We live in an amazingly beautiful world - sometimes we forget that amidst the cinderblock and litter around us, but the natural state of this earth is beauty. Take the time today to look around and appreciate this earth we've been given and resolve to make changes in your lifestyle to contribute to the fight to keep the earth alive. If we all resolve to continually try to make positive changes we can do some good. Walk instead of drive. Get reusable shopping bags - nix the paper and plastic. Unplug your appliances. Buy all natural cleaning products. Anything. All right - I hope I don't sound douchey. Happy Earth Day. I love this video, featuring the quintessential earth song:

Andrei Kirilenko and his Mom

Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you . . .

On Friday we went to a beautiful, funny, documentary called Young@Heart. It's about a group of senior citizens, average age 81, who are members of the Young at Heart Chorus. It isn't a typical chorus (not your Grandma's chorus?), they sing unexpected songs from bands like Sonic Youth, The Clash, and Coldplay. The film documents their rehearsals for a show in their hometown and in the process you get to know the members - their humor and sorrow. I hadn't cried that hard in a while. It's really lovely and full of hope in the midst of some heartbreaking events. I highly recommend it.