Happy Halloween!

So, back from Denver where we had fun w/our new little niece who is super small and super cute. We had a lot of fun being auntie and uncle and it was great to see Kate and Chris, the happy new parents.

In other news...I had a bit of a flashback weekend. Jules and I got together w/a friend from elementary school that we hadn't seen in, I dunno--15 years? It was so great to see each other and share scrapbooks and stories. We read a letter Tammy had from another mutual friend that said "In another 20 years, you Maria and Jules will be sitting around somewhere reading this letter"...dated 1985--holyshit, we really were reading it 20 years later!!!

In never ceases to amaze me how you can pick up right where you left off with certain friends, whether it's a year or 15 since you last saw them.

Then, to make the day even more surreal--I go to my parents house to pick up more childhood photos and my dad gives me some videotape marked "40 Florence Street" [my college apartment senior year]. God only knows what's on this thing--I had never watched it and don't even remember having it.

I pop it in [once i got home just in case it was incriminating] and there we are, my housemates and I at various birthday parties, formals, the outdoor party we had in our backyard [which I don't remember at all] and a host of familiar faces that I can barely match names to. Somebody had the insight to create this time capsule.

Through all of it, there was evidence of my drawings and my artwork--in letters and cards, on signs, in photographs. It's funny b/c I have lately been on a big push to move my career as an illustrator forward and there throughout my history is evidence that I have always been on this path. The message? Keep on going....

blogglessness

before i lapse into the void of blogglessness
i am off to denver, colorado
to see my new fresh-out-of-the-oven niece
[3 weeks old!]

i'm excited.
All this time i thought I could
never be an 'aunt'
[being an only child]

the whole event inspired a children's book
more about that on my return....

PB

PB stands for a few things. The new mac Powerbook is here.
PB could stand for peanut butter, in the right situations
but most importantly,
PB stands for Powerball.

And, since some faceless, nameless person won 340 mil. in Oregon...once again it solidifies my theory that it's all a sham and no one truly wins. Okay, some people win the smaller ones, to keep the fantasy alive but I do not believe there really is a person in Oregon with a fat bankbook. I think it's just the lottery folk recycling their worth to sucker in the next line of ticket buyers.

Which brings me to the news story about how all of the New York folk had to come to Greenwich to buy thier PB tix along with the interviews of the Greenwich folk, who were 'annoyed' and felt that the PB nonsense disrupted their day.

Although Greenwich has a lot of diversity [i know, i've lived here my whole life] it is usually tagged as a wealthy, elitist community. What news channel wouldn't relish in the sick irony that much of the 5 boroughs drove for miles and stood in line for hours to buy a chance at financial freedom in a town that is financially free? [and annoyed]

The NY news loves a good Greenwich story.

Just this weekend, some chic from Greenwich got busted having sex in some park in NYC. Had it been a girl from the Bronx, no one would have cared, but Gwich--that gives them something to talk about.

And there was some business executive a few years ago that got drunk on an airplane, harrassed the staff and ultimately took a dump on the beverage cart. [i shit you not] [pun intended, of course] People loved that story. [It is pretty funny...]

So, yeah. Powerball. It is exciting and it would be nice. Even after taxes you're worth about as much as Mary Kate Olsen. But with odds of 1 in 126 million? I dunno'....wouldn't it be easier to get struck by lighting in the same place 56 times?

Good Stuff

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words:

1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

hang time

so that's that.
somehow at some point
life just started cruising along.

instead the network of friends
who would always call each other
to see what was going on for the weekend
it just got quiet.

people move, have careers, babies, pets, families
and suddenly, sadly, it becomes a stuggle to
carve out a moment
[around the weddings, showers, family functions, work, workouts, sleep]

just to hang.

Bird Brain

I had this whole blog prepared about the ridiculous things GW said in his press conference...how he tried to get the media all hopped up on the bird flu so they would possibly forget that he hired yet another possibly underqualified person, this time for the supreme court [well, she is from texas and according to Gdub "plenty bright"] Sure, he's been her long time friend and colleague but has no idea what her stance on abortion is. [gee, why should that matter?] But, the whole thing is getting to be a drag.

Instead, I will write about the ultimate marketing experience. I dreamt a Geico commerical. How pathetic is that? I literally dreamt there was this little lizard running around the house and I was hoping the cats wouldn't eat it. He then hops on top of the chair and hands me a DVD, I pop it in and sit there and watch how I can save 15%. Somehow I realized I was dreaming and thought, "I don't need to watch this shit" and woke up. I don't like commercials and I don't like Geico.

I wonder what Freud would say?

Testing?

My blog and my website and a tiny bit of my soul
disappeared yesterday
is this thing on?

Vegas, Baby...

I just signed up for the 1st ever Las Vegas Marathon for this December 4th.
26.2 very flat miles, along the strip and beyond. Just under 2 months is tight for training but I think it will be well worth the effort:

1. They want as many Elvis impersonators as possible to run the race in full Elvis garb. I wonder if they mean the big white suit or one of those snazzy outfits he wo
2. At mile 5 there is a "Run Through Chapel", --you can actually get married, should you meet that 'special someone' at the starting line.
3. Fireworks at the Start....
4. 9,000 people entered as of today--15,000 expected
5. 250,000 anticipated spectators!
6. 15 bands along the way
7. All the Gatorade you can drink
8. You get to choose your own 'bib' name....Elvis was taken so I took: 'Viva Las Legs'

I would imagine that it will be a roving party, Vegas style. I think I will have to run w/a video camera...