Despite Green Bubble burning down to the ground on 2/25 (alex, I'm sure, with eulogize), Thursday was a totally awesome day and I'd like to tell you about it. The blog is dying anyway so I might as well use it for self-congratulations.
Chronological Bragging:
6:30-7:10 Awesomely great run
7:10-8:15 Breakfast etc. with Lee - including walking to 5th and 34th holding hands etc. This is part of my yuppie dream and very fulfilling.
8:45-10:30 - FINISH INFINITI - this partnership deal has killed me at work and now it is done. I feel so satisfied.
the day slips by...much chocolate consumed
2:30-3:30 Business update. (snooze) Cookies (yum). I WIN AN AWARD!! I get the Recognition Award for "Will to Win" see also: going above and beyond. They read this lovely nomination and I awkwardly listen trying not to beam like an idiot (a lot of hand-wringing is involved)
4:00 My boss returns from her spot on CNN and suggest I may be able to be on camera next time online does some television pr SQUEEE
5:30 Leave for tutoring, the best, most pleasant, most focused tutoring session since october. The kids suggest I become a teacher and/or guidance counselor. I try not to choke. Also, I brought salad from work so I wouldn't gorge myself on pizza - excellent plan.
8:45-10 Stop in with parents, get free food, pick up mail.
10:30-11:15 America's Next Dance Crew with alex, bed.
6:45 am Last session with personal trainer. sore.
So that's my awesome day. One more thing that didn't have an appropriate time frame: the woman on my team who I would say is most like my peer as far as responsibility level is leaving in may. She is a great coworker and a lot of fun but by leaving she opens up some funds in the budget and allows me to do more writing. Pretty much awesome.
Today I move a whopping two cubicles over. Should be awesome. Dinner with Joe Pirro tonight at lever house. Tomorrow lunch with parents, volunteering, and sunday facial, brunch at pastis, and an evening in brooklyn.
I'm concerned the other shoe is going to drop BUT I will say that my ears have been stuffed/bleeding lately so it's not like my life is totally perfect. Yay ears!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
if one thing can save this blog ...
... it's bubblegum pop. below is "three day weekend," my first and probably only excursion into the wacky world of songwriting.
http://www.mediafire.com/?q3mmygvanzj
http://www.mediafire.com/?q3mmygvanzj
Monday, February 2, 2009
greetings from Prague
If I were pretentious(er) I'd start this with AHOY! which, in some other spelling (maybe) is the czech greeting. Also pivo means beer and I have been drinking far too much of it which is why I'm home at the tame tame hour of 11 tonight. One-drink *redacted* is in way over her head.
As an overshare - fiber is scarce in this city and I am paying that price as well (thank god I packed back-up)
I have a bit of traveler's guilt about not seeing everything on my list but to be honest, the city itself is the attraction not, say, the extensive taxidermy collection at the national museum (pleasantly free on the first monday of the month).
Things are cheap except for clothing - I am very close to buying a fur hat except it would be over 200 bucks (5,000 crowns) and I just can't justify that. In order to appease my intense desire to spent 4 figures of currency, I toyed with the idea of buying a vintage fur coat instead - but I just looked crazy - photo to come.
Mostly prague can be summed up as such:
stale cigarettes, pork, and communism
As an overshare - fiber is scarce in this city and I am paying that price as well (thank god I packed back-up)
I have a bit of traveler's guilt about not seeing everything on my list but to be honest, the city itself is the attraction not, say, the extensive taxidermy collection at the national museum (pleasantly free on the first monday of the month).
Things are cheap except for clothing - I am very close to buying a fur hat except it would be over 200 bucks (5,000 crowns) and I just can't justify that. In order to appease my intense desire to spent 4 figures of currency, I toyed with the idea of buying a vintage fur coat instead - but I just looked crazy - photo to come.
Mostly prague can be summed up as such:
stale cigarettes, pork, and communism
Sunday, February 1, 2009
2 Things
1-i have a silly assignment where i have to write a response to a writing about writing styles? dammit i just wanna write my thesis draft. sedgwick and moten and freaking adrian piper aren't gonna really overhaul my ideas/ways of writing at this point. also i have like 4.5 inches of coursepack (1 coursepack sheet=4 book pages), 13-15 books, other online readings, a bish of a routine, and a severe case of being a hermit already.
while i wasn't actually doing my silly assignment, i was thinking of 2 of my favorite things, debussy and cats, which leads me to number
2-The Debussycat Dolls. What would they be like? Would they be awesome? Ironic? Fierce? Or is this just a sign that when I have cats of my own I will inevitably name one Claude?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Yo ho, February approach'th.
Imagine how unstirring Caesar's soothsayer would have been, had Caesar been murdered in early February?
Note: mayhap there is a correlation between a declining Japanese population and an obsession with plush gimmicks?
G'day.
Soothsayer: "Beware the kalendae of February!"How poetic of the Muses.
Note: mayhap there is a correlation between a declining Japanese population and an obsession with plush gimmicks?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Woof.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Team Face Pot Psych 2.0
Why Hello, and welcome to our soon to be video-series.
Beats and I will be carrying the torch so haplessly dropped by Rich and Tracie of Jezebel's Pot Psychology. You can see our inspiration here: http://jezebel.com/tag/pot-psychology/
So please, send your questions about:
relationships
fashion
boob-sweat
sex
working
hipsters
self-loathing
awareness
to our gmail addresses
But mind you, our webisodes will be called "Sober Psych"
so while we will be giddy/caffeinated/peeved/sweaty/pantsless, we will not be inebriated or high.
except maybe a stray kahlua+milk/celebrex/excedrin back+body
you're welcome.
-team face
Beats and I will be carrying the torch so haplessly dropped by Rich and Tracie of Jezebel's Pot Psychology. You can see our inspiration here: http://jezebel.com/tag/pot-psychology/
So please, send your questions about:
relationships
fashion
boob-sweat
sex
working
hipsters
self-loathing
awareness
to our gmail addresses
But mind you, our webisodes will be called "Sober Psych"
so while we will be giddy/caffeinated/peeved/sweaty/pantsless, we will not be inebriated or high.
except maybe a stray kahlua+milk/celebrex/excedrin back+body
you're welcome.
-team face
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Bless Your Heart Dan
Alright, now that Dan posted, I feel a lot better about posting again (I had a deep rooted fear that team face were the only ones on here alive anymore)
A complaint sent to apple. enjoy.
Order Number *redacted
Case Number *redacted
To Whom It May Concern:
As a lifelong PC user, I am absolutely livid about the product and care I received during my first two days as a Mac owner. After waiting five days longer to receive my computer than predicted, the MacBook I purchased did not turn on. After a seemingly simple call with Apple Care I went to the genius bar to fix my laptop. Although my AppleCare consultant promised not only that she had entered all of my notes into my case number, but also that the only way to receive help was to go to an Apple Store in person, neither was the case.
Upon arrival at the genius bar, a concierge placed my name on the list and told me to wait on a bench nearby. After TWO HOURS of waiting, a representative meandered over and asked why I was waiting. Apparently, he said, I had been mislead by both the concierge (someone would have helped me sooner had she alerted them) and by Apple Care. Indeed, my case number provided no other information than “referred to apple store” and as my computer was purchased online and was a refurbished computer, Genius Bar could do nothing.
The following morning I called Apple to explain all of the circumstances and frustration. After being put on hold for the majority of my near half-hour phone call (with the most nerve-grating music I have ever had the misfortune of hearing), I was told I would have to send my computer back to Apple.
As a freelance writer I find this whole experience to be absolutely unacceptable. To have a late, broken, and now incapacitated computer causes me more than just fury but loss of wages. There was a complete and utter lack of communication between the three branches of Apple that I spoke to.
It is an experience like this that makes me wonder why I ever decided to switch from PC to Mac. I cannot believe that your company clings to its user experience and customer care as selling points.
I am incredibly disappointed and upset by the past days as a failed Mac user.
With lost hope,
Charlotte *redacted
*redacted
A complaint sent to apple. enjoy.
Order Number *redacted
Case Number *redacted
To Whom It May Concern:
As a lifelong PC user, I am absolutely livid about the product and care I received during my first two days as a Mac owner. After waiting five days longer to receive my computer than predicted, the MacBook I purchased did not turn on. After a seemingly simple call with Apple Care I went to the genius bar to fix my laptop. Although my AppleCare consultant promised not only that she had entered all of my notes into my case number, but also that the only way to receive help was to go to an Apple Store in person, neither was the case.
Upon arrival at the genius bar, a concierge placed my name on the list and told me to wait on a bench nearby. After TWO HOURS of waiting, a representative meandered over and asked why I was waiting. Apparently, he said, I had been mislead by both the concierge (someone would have helped me sooner had she alerted them) and by Apple Care. Indeed, my case number provided no other information than “referred to apple store” and as my computer was purchased online and was a refurbished computer, Genius Bar could do nothing.
The following morning I called Apple to explain all of the circumstances and frustration. After being put on hold for the majority of my near half-hour phone call (with the most nerve-grating music I have ever had the misfortune of hearing), I was told I would have to send my computer back to Apple.
As a freelance writer I find this whole experience to be absolutely unacceptable. To have a late, broken, and now incapacitated computer causes me more than just fury but loss of wages. There was a complete and utter lack of communication between the three branches of Apple that I spoke to.
It is an experience like this that makes me wonder why I ever decided to switch from PC to Mac. I cannot believe that your company clings to its user experience and customer care as selling points.
I am incredibly disappointed and upset by the past days as a failed Mac user.
With lost hope,
Charlotte *redacted
*redacted
Monday, January 12, 2009
Last night I smoked some drugs and wound up on my computer, at Post-Williamsburg, whereat it suddenly hit me that [a] 2008 is really and irrevocably over, [b] blogging is an art form at which I'll probably never excel, and [c] I needed, at that very moment, to consume a heaping bowl of Peanut Butter Crunch.
[a] As I never tire of observing, all of those cliches about "the fast-paced city life" and NYC never snoozing and all that -- these are completely true. Bearing this in mind, it does seem like the last six months of '08 passed with uncommon alacrity. I mean, shit, they're gone. This is strange. Obviously, time in New York City elapses at the same rate as it does everywhere else. When I say "fast-paced," I refer to the phenomological sensation of "pacing." But why does it even feel faster? If my life is busier here, it's not by much. Is it because the buildings are taller? The streets more populous? The signage more abundant? The commutes longer? The air dirtier? The rent higher? Or is it just because conventional wisdom dictates that New York lives should move faster?
[b] It's actually very difficult to be a good blogger, I think. Post-Williamsburg has several. The best bloggers, I've found, are very comfortable with themselves, or are at least capable of simulating self-comfort. They also don't really give a shit about abiding by the rules of writing/revision as practiced in more traditional publishing settings -- i.e., they won't set themselves aflame upon realizing that they've made a typo. The best bloggers are concise and personable. They're comfortable revealing occasionally intimate details about their lives to the world at large. Sometimes, they have personas, and they lure the reader into trusting these personas in the same manner that viewers trust latenight television hosts. None of these things describe me.
[c] I didn't have any Peanut Butter Crunch at hand, last night, and briefly considered an excursion to the nearest bodega in pursuit of said cereal. It was cold out, though. Oh, boy, was it cold out. In a moment of uncommon self-discipline, I refrained entirely from eating. On one level, this is commendable. Unfortunately, it inspired nearly seven minutes of involuted and fruitless meditation on the following topics: eating disorders, the hypothalamus and the presence of cannibinoid receptors therein, my ignorance of global starvation stastistics, fat people, vanity, the curiously recurrent motif of the bathroom scale in popular American culture and advertising, the dogmatic fervency with which the USDA's 1992 Food Pyramid was shoved down our throats as youths, the resultant banality and ineffectuality of that Food Pyramid in our lives/diets today, the unwitting humor of the idiom "shoved down our throats" when used to describe the delivery method of a nutritious eating model, how delicious (and aesthetically delightful) a literal pyramid of Peanut Butter Crunch would be, genetics, obesity, skinny people, Calista Flockhart, fat people making love, fat people walking, sleep apnea, my family tree, my body mass index, my ninth grade physical education instructor. In the time it took me to mull these things over, I could've procured, with a lot less mental turmoil, some Peanut Butter Crunch. Let this be a lesson.
[a] As I never tire of observing, all of those cliches about "the fast-paced city life" and NYC never snoozing and all that -- these are completely true. Bearing this in mind, it does seem like the last six months of '08 passed with uncommon alacrity. I mean, shit, they're gone. This is strange. Obviously, time in New York City elapses at the same rate as it does everywhere else. When I say "fast-paced," I refer to the phenomological sensation of "pacing." But why does it even feel faster? If my life is busier here, it's not by much. Is it because the buildings are taller? The streets more populous? The signage more abundant? The commutes longer? The air dirtier? The rent higher? Or is it just because conventional wisdom dictates that New York lives should move faster?
[b] It's actually very difficult to be a good blogger, I think. Post-Williamsburg has several. The best bloggers, I've found, are very comfortable with themselves, or are at least capable of simulating self-comfort. They also don't really give a shit about abiding by the rules of writing/revision as practiced in more traditional publishing settings -- i.e., they won't set themselves aflame upon realizing that they've made a typo. The best bloggers are concise and personable. They're comfortable revealing occasionally intimate details about their lives to the world at large. Sometimes, they have personas, and they lure the reader into trusting these personas in the same manner that viewers trust latenight television hosts. None of these things describe me.
[c] I didn't have any Peanut Butter Crunch at hand, last night, and briefly considered an excursion to the nearest bodega in pursuit of said cereal. It was cold out, though. Oh, boy, was it cold out. In a moment of uncommon self-discipline, I refrained entirely from eating. On one level, this is commendable. Unfortunately, it inspired nearly seven minutes of involuted and fruitless meditation on the following topics: eating disorders, the hypothalamus and the presence of cannibinoid receptors therein, my ignorance of global starvation stastistics, fat people, vanity, the curiously recurrent motif of the bathroom scale in popular American culture and advertising, the dogmatic fervency with which the USDA's 1992 Food Pyramid was shoved down our throats as youths, the resultant banality and ineffectuality of that Food Pyramid in our lives/diets today, the unwitting humor of the idiom "shoved down our throats" when used to describe the delivery method of a nutritious eating model, how delicious (and aesthetically delightful) a literal pyramid of Peanut Butter Crunch would be, genetics, obesity, skinny people, Calista Flockhart, fat people making love, fat people walking, sleep apnea, my family tree, my body mass index, my ninth grade physical education instructor. In the time it took me to mull these things over, I could've procured, with a lot less mental turmoil, some Peanut Butter Crunch. Let this be a lesson.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
heppy nooyear
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Big Week for MTV
I don't want to pull a Dean or anything but I had to do a back-to-back post to say:
This week in TV is going to be totally epic
Monday: Bromance and The City on MTV premier
Wednesday: Real World BROOKLYN Premiers (too bad it's New Year's)
Meanwhile, team face has a new obsession: Mama's Boys.
make sure you hear from us every so often lest we slip into a Via-coma (dan, is that a portmanteau?)
...and RIP Pinson.
This week in TV is going to be totally epic
Monday: Bromance and The City on MTV premier
Wednesday: Real World BROOKLYN Premiers (too bad it's New Year's)
Meanwhile, team face has a new obsession: Mama's Boys.
make sure you hear from us every so often lest we slip into a Via-coma (dan, is that a portmanteau?)
...and RIP Pinson.
Hello, I'm a Mac...
So, as Christmas in the Savino house was mostly envelope giving this year, I have just purchased a new laptop after 6 years.
I'm a little concerned because my relationships with my mac friends are quintessentially "I'm a Mac...and I'm a PC" and I don't know how to define myself now. I'm not liberal enought for mac-dom: I eat meat (veal even! foie gras!), I looooove fur, I shoot guns (ok once, but I think my mom and I might hit up the midtown gun range), I occassionally side with free market economics, I don't like Scarlet Johanson.
Crisis of conscience.
It truly was a pivotal christmas. The only tree the family had was a small potted one in the corner, instead we strung ribbons from the light fixtures and hung our ornaments there (I really should edit Real Simple). My only presents were stocking stuffers, two of which I returned. NO CHURCH this year - a very heathen christmas indeed. But now, my father and I are starting a new tradition, though this year we listened to the whole of Handel's Messiah on the couch and fell asleep, next year (and every year thereafter) we're going to see it live - and most likely fall asleep too.
Christmas Money Purchase Roundup:
2 pairs black flat boots - would anyone like a pair? I made a final-sale mistake I seriously regret
4 pairs of tickets to New York City Ballet
2 pairs work-apropriate flats - one of which may be returned
1 ella moss top
MacBook
and, most importantly
GIANT FAUX LEOPARD PRINT COAT
bless your heart intermix sales.
To Purchase:
Wireless Keyboard
Opera and Ballet Tickets for Prague
Tights
Conspicuous consumption is alive and well.
To counteract it - I'm volunteering tomorrow night, driving around in a van and giving meals to homeless men and women.
AND
After a very successful "no purchases for myself" period from September 29th through December 25th, I'm reinstating it from January 2nd to 31st [break for Prague] then until Easter.
Pretty good eh?
I'm a little concerned because my relationships with my mac friends are quintessentially "I'm a Mac...and I'm a PC" and I don't know how to define myself now. I'm not liberal enought for mac-dom: I eat meat (veal even! foie gras!), I looooove fur, I shoot guns (ok once, but I think my mom and I might hit up the midtown gun range), I occassionally side with free market economics, I don't like Scarlet Johanson.
Crisis of conscience.
It truly was a pivotal christmas. The only tree the family had was a small potted one in the corner, instead we strung ribbons from the light fixtures and hung our ornaments there (I really should edit Real Simple). My only presents were stocking stuffers, two of which I returned. NO CHURCH this year - a very heathen christmas indeed. But now, my father and I are starting a new tradition, though this year we listened to the whole of Handel's Messiah on the couch and fell asleep, next year (and every year thereafter) we're going to see it live - and most likely fall asleep too.
Christmas Money Purchase Roundup:
2 pairs black flat boots - would anyone like a pair? I made a final-sale mistake I seriously regret
4 pairs of tickets to New York City Ballet
2 pairs work-apropriate flats - one of which may be returned
1 ella moss top
MacBook
and, most importantly
GIANT FAUX LEOPARD PRINT COAT
bless your heart intermix sales.
To Purchase:
Wireless Keyboard
Opera and Ballet Tickets for Prague
Tights
Conspicuous consumption is alive and well.
To counteract it - I'm volunteering tomorrow night, driving around in a van and giving meals to homeless men and women.
AND
After a very successful "no purchases for myself" period from September 29th through December 25th, I'm reinstating it from January 2nd to 31st [break for Prague] then until Easter.
Pretty good eh?
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Brief Thought on Warrenism--wait, Christian Fundamentalism
I know there's probably a lot to say and that has been said about Rick Warren, and perhaps you've arrived at your opinion about him, but I'd like to say here that I'm astounded by Obama's choice for the Inauguration's Invocation.
Although I am atheist, I think there are hundreds of better choices of clergy to hoist up on stage rather than this clerical demagogue. Not only does he spew plenty of virulent homophobia and Christian superiority during his sermons and public appearances -- both of which I've been tracking for some time -- he's such a perfect example of the modern Christian fundamentalist, and the danger those individuals pose to our political society.
All of his sermons at Saddleback Ranch--er... Church-- they're completely frustrating. Honestly, didn't we have enough of W. Bush spouting off things like "God told me to free the Iraqi people"? How is that sentiment any more ridiculous than Warren's statements like, "I don't hate gay people; it's God's word, not mine"? [That sentiment can be seen here. Of course, the Saddleback web site has changed with the times. Oh, for the times!] They're both tantamount to the religious hubris that infects this country.
This brief entry was spurred by an earlier thought I had today, about our imminently-sworn-in President-elect Obama: What if the man said, "It's God's will to have a public, government-sponsored health care system in the United States"? I can imagine the same men and women who defended W. Bush's publicly-funded, government-sponsored and God-inspired wars would be up in arms. "Blasphemy! He's invoking God's name for a public agenda!" The difference is trivial and equally sickening.
There is plenty more to say, but I'll save that (and much more) for my time in NYC with you wonderful people. So, for now, I'll say, Rick Warren & Christian fundamentalists, enjoy your moment in the limelight. Time willing (and with some enlightenment in this country over the next... err... several centuries!), moments like these are going to be harder to snatch.
Although I am atheist, I think there are hundreds of better choices of clergy to hoist up on stage rather than this clerical demagogue. Not only does he spew plenty of virulent homophobia and Christian superiority during his sermons and public appearances -- both of which I've been tracking for some time -- he's such a perfect example of the modern Christian fundamentalist, and the danger those individuals pose to our political society.
All of his sermons at Saddleback Ranch--er... Church-- they're completely frustrating. Honestly, didn't we have enough of W. Bush spouting off things like "God told me to free the Iraqi people"? How is that sentiment any more ridiculous than Warren's statements like, "I don't hate gay people; it's God's word, not mine"? [That sentiment can be seen here. Of course, the Saddleback web site has changed with the times. Oh, for the times!] They're both tantamount to the religious hubris that infects this country.
This brief entry was spurred by an earlier thought I had today, about our imminently-sworn-in President-elect Obama: What if the man said, "It's God's will to have a public, government-sponsored health care system in the United States"? I can imagine the same men and women who defended W. Bush's publicly-funded, government-sponsored and God-inspired wars would be up in arms. "Blasphemy! He's invoking God's name for a public agenda!" The difference is trivial and equally sickening.
There is plenty more to say, but I'll save that (and much more) for my time in NYC with you wonderful people. So, for now, I'll say, Rick Warren & Christian fundamentalists, enjoy your moment in the limelight. Time willing (and with some enlightenment in this country over the next... err... several centuries!), moments like these are going to be harder to snatch.
Labels:
Christian fundamentalism,
politics,
Rick Warren
Friday, December 19, 2008
Have blog, will travel
I'm going to tell you about this idea I have for a music blog. Don't steal it. I mean, obviously I can't stop you from stealing it -- nor would I inflict any sort of punishment on you, were you to steal it. But, like, honestly? Dick move, if you steal it. Way dick move. Because I trust you.
Most music journalism, it turns out, is really incredibly lousy. I've wanted to start a music blog for a while now -- a music blog where people could write about songs and shit without resorting to name-dropping and definition by comparison. (I don't think, for the record, that I'm God's gift to music criticism, but this would be a good way to pass the time.) My initial idea was "Synth Plinth," an altar at which to worship the pantheon of synth-pop and disco. But this felt too constricting. Plus, people with way more impressive music libraries have been there and done that.
So how's about this, instead. You go out. You're at the club. You're at the diner. You're at Duane Reade. You're at the neighborhood barbeque. You're at Shoe Mania. And a jam comes on. This is the jam you must blog about. Not only is the song reviewed, but the cultural context of the song, and its impact on your environs. Thus, every entry includes:
If you're into music and, more importantly, writing on music, does this sound like something you'd read (or write, for that matter)? And what the heck would you name it?
Most music journalism, it turns out, is really incredibly lousy. I've wanted to start a music blog for a while now -- a music blog where people could write about songs and shit without resorting to name-dropping and definition by comparison. (I don't think, for the record, that I'm God's gift to music criticism, but this would be a good way to pass the time.) My initial idea was "Synth Plinth," an altar at which to worship the pantheon of synth-pop and disco. But this felt too constricting. Plus, people with way more impressive music libraries have been there and done that.
So how's about this, instead. You go out. You're at the club. You're at the diner. You're at Duane Reade. You're at the neighborhood barbeque. You're at Shoe Mania. And a jam comes on. This is the jam you must blog about. Not only is the song reviewed, but the cultural context of the song, and its impact on your environs. Thus, every entry includes:
- Song (.mp3, last.fm or YouTube link)
- Review of song
- Google map and/or photo of location whereat song was heard
- Reflections on song's cultural import/playback method/human impact/spatial redefinition/jarring juxtaposition/associative beauty/etc., etc., etc.
If you're into music and, more importantly, writing on music, does this sound like something you'd read (or write, for that matter)? And what the heck would you name it?
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
License Plate of the Day Award goes to...
New York tags,
"D33ZNUTS"
It was a metallic blue Honda CRX.
Spotted on 32nd between Park & Lex.
"D33ZNUTS"
It was a metallic blue Honda CRX.
Spotted on 32nd between Park & Lex.
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