PROBLEM!

Hello my loyal reader (singular), as you can see, I'm having some formating issues, sorry about that! I am going to be COMPLETELY revamping my blog soon. Stay tuned for more details!!

Calling Page Six!

i'm fucking matt damon

hey guys and girls...ok, more like hi guy and girl...anyway, i'm sorry that i haven't updated this in forever (foreva-eva?), but i've been busy as balls with work (which i'm LOVING by the way!), but until I have time to give a real update, please enjoy this HILARIOUS video.

banksy

for a while now, i have been incredibly intrigued by the british graffiti artist banksy. he is know for his outspoken, politically-charged and often comical work. he has painted on West Bank Separation Wall, he left a dummy of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner on the fence of a ride at disneyland, he's covertly added his own pieces of art with satirical captions to the walls of the lourve and in one of my favorite moves, he replaced copies of Paris Hilton's CD with his own cover art of a topless Paris and renamed the songs "Why am I Famous", "What Have I Done", and "What Am I For". Needless to say, he's a rebel and revolutionary. oh, and also, no one knows what he looks like.

For the past few weeks his work has been on display at a gallery here in chelsea, and, as it is closing tomorrow, i swung by. all i have to say is amazing. i've only seen the work online, and to finally be able to see the work in person was awesome. and the way that it was presented was perfect. police tape, bubble wrap, awkward lighting. it was gorgeous. here are some pics i took:

the 2nd floor of the 3 floor display

banksy's modern-day take on a warhol classic

The Banksy of England £10 note featuring Princess Di

while taking the kate pic, i covered the flash on my blackberry...came out kinda cool, no?

hilarious

Pregnant Jamie Lynn Speaks Out

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thoughts and thoughts

well, as i said in my previous post, i am now 28. i am happy that i am getting older, because i am learning more and more about myself everyday. after having a "small" (ie: 21 person) dinner on friday night, some of the boys went out a-drinkin. after several cocktails, i found myself at barrage waxing poetic about how much i have changed in my years. its really true though. i am more confident in myself, i am more secure in my abilities. now look, that doesn't mean that i don't doubt myself here and there, because i'd be lying if i said that i didn't. 

friday was a lot of fun, saturday was shopping with my best friend eric, then having din with him, his partner joe and wendy and jenny who was in town from philly. we drank, we ate, and then we went back to wendy's place and schmoked and had one of the funniest conversations i can recall. we talked all about sex with men vs sex with women and it was both hilarious and informative for everyone involved!

sunday i saw Juno with Queen Jiller, and I have to highly recommend this movie to everyone. stellar cast, great directing, excellent script, and a standout performance by ellen page as the lead. fantastic fantastic movie.

tonight, TA took me to dinner at Annisa, for my birthday, and it was just excellent. not just the food, but the company as well. its been a very rocky road for us, but we are forging a special bond as friends, and i am very happy about that. look, inherently, i'm always going to care about him, and i know that he feels the same. there is a part of me that will probably always be in love with him, and i'm ok with that, because i think that that is normal. if we weren't friends, i would probably be brokenhearted. how can you just void your life of someone who you spent such a significant part of it with? it doesn't seem natural. we'll probably still have our bumpy moments, but in the long run (and i have said this before), we will always be in each others lives. he is a good person and i am grateful that we are where we are. 

he also got me a pair of rayban aviators that i had expressed interest in. not at all necessary, so thank you TA, it was very sweet and generous of you.

i look forward to wearing said glasses tomorrow morning on the train up to CT, where i am going for a meeting for my first day of work! we're meeting with someone regarding the south beach wine and food festival, which i am also going to from feb 17-25. i'm very excited, and i know that this is just going to be a great opportunity for me.

i'm in a happy mood right now, and i am hoping that it sustains itself for a while. i have a feeling that it will.

in the meantime, i hope that everyone checks out this video (audio is NSFW)...hilarious!

28.

today is my 28th birthday. i honestly cannot believe that i am this old. i just can't believe it! i feel like it was just yesterday that was a dorky chubby freshman at wootton. or that i was a dorky chubby freshman at iu. and wasn't it just yesterday that i was the quasi-cool, not-so-chubby kid fresh outta school working at the front desk of the parker? the time goes by oh so fast.

i had a good 27th year. i had a few jobs, i had a boyfriend, i had some normalcy to my life. the spring brought about the upheaval of a lot of that, but i think that i am more grounded now, which i am happy about. 

i don't live a crazy life (although i did hop up to boston for a date on wednesday...maybe i am a tad bit crazy...), but i think that i live quite a satisfying and fulfilling life. sometimes i think that i need to spruce it up a bit, but hey, i have time. i'm young...ish. there is no boyfriend in my life right now (which apparently affects me at certain times), but i'm ok with that. do i need one? i don't know. i miss the companionship that a boyfriend brings, but i have met some great new people who in addition to my old stable of friends keep me afloat and make me enjoy my life and provide me with almost all i need to get by.

i left my shit job, and as of last next week, i will be starting an even better one. i am going to be the events manager for a boutique event planning firm working on huge accounts for them. my biggest client is a HUGE water company, and I will be working with them on their sponsorship of events including the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Fest, as well as the US Open. I am going to be doing a lot of traveling, which I look forward to, and more importantly, I am going to be working with someone who I have worked before, who I think is a great guy. needless to say, i'm very excited.

28 is shaping up to be a good year.

some boston pics:

birthdays, holidays & memories

my birthday is this coming friday, and i am turning 28. i am looking forward to it, but like always, when this time of year comes, i fall into this deep dark hole. i get upset, i get moody, and i feel alone. i don't know, maybe its because it's different this year, but the holidays are rough for me. i always get emotional around, but it's harder now. the past 2 years i had an amazing man in my life. a companion, a lover, a friend, and now i don't have that. i don't have the person who i told i loved on new years in 2005. i don't have the person who i crawled into bed with every night and was held by. i miss that. as i try to move on and move forward its this time of year that i slow down and regroup and get emotional and upset and remember what i am missing. you try and focus on the positives of what you have in your corner, but i don't have so much right now. no job, no significant other. no one to curl up with and tell me that all the bad stuff will pass. i wish that i could say that its been getting easier, this getting over TA thing, but it's not. especially this time of year.

some of my friends are slowly showing their true colors and once again, i question my friendships with some of them. i feel left out of things and i feel like once again, i'm being put on the back burner by some people. everyone seems to always be having a good time, and telling fun stories, and i am not a part of those stories because i am not called or invited. am i that bad of a person? did i do something to hurt or upset them? i really don't think that i did. i feel like i give so much to some people, and i am warm and welcoming and i get shafted in return. i don't know why i put up with some of this, i really don't.

new years is coming and its time for me to reflect on the people in my life. some are in my life for good, and some do nothing but cause me pain. it's time to end that.

if i were a chipmunk...

summertime fun...

the following is the result of vodka, music and the anticipation of a night on the town in early june:

mom and pop's new toy

Saab 93 Turbo in Parchment Silver.

ain't she a beaute?

redacted.

I have received word via a cease-and-desist alleging that some of the content on this blog was both defamatory and libelous. I do not admit any wrong-doing in this matter, nevertheless, certain passages and links have been edited for the removal of content. 

Enjoy!

a blessing and a curse.

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"My New Toy" or "What a Long Strange Trip It Has Been"

so it finally came! my brand spanking new (and might i add, sexy as hell!) black MacBook. I got it all souped up and upgraded, and I love it.

Since I had it customized, it did not come from Cupertino, but from Shanghai rather. Over the weekend I anxiously awaited its arrival with bated breath and tracked it online like a sonnovabitch. Every 30 minutes I looked on the FedEx site to see where it was. On Friday night, after having a wonderful time at Out 100 (more on that another day when i'm less busy), and after the boys left my apt at 2:00, I actually drunk-dialed FedEx to find out where my computer was! WHO DOES THAT? Ha!

anyway, after traveling from Shanghai to Anchorage to Memphis to Newark, my new toy is at at home with his older brother, my old iBook (which incidentally, I am giving to my older brother...ha!)...it has Leopard OS X, it has Photo Booth, Stacks, Spaces, Time Machine...it's pretty f'in sweet. When I received the box in my office yesterday, I actually hugged it. Yes, I am that guy.




And here is a fun pic of me and Brit Ben and Marla when we iChatted last night...so fun!

19 Straight.

I commit myself to a lot. Work, friends, relationships, keeping up appearances. As of late, I have been working myself to the bone. Today marks my 19^th day of working straight. Yes, 19. not even when I was at LPM did I work this many days in a row. I am soooo f’in tired I can’t even begin to explain. I wake at 8am, groggy and tired. I roll out of my apt and get to work at 9, grabbing my coffee and bagel on the way. My routine is pretty bland. The guy in the coffee cart knows me too well. By the time I’m at the front of the line, he already has my large coffee with skim milk and whole wheat bagel ready in the bag, with 2 packets of equal on the side. I hand him my $2.25 and walk across the street to the office. I put in my 7.5 hours and at 5:00pm sharp, I strut out of here. I go home and veg on the couch for a few hours. Sometimes I send my resume, but honestly, I don't even have enough energy to update this blog. My roomy ACME gets home ‘round 9 or 10 from work (he’s working hard kids!), we chit the chat, and watch Pushing Daisies, 30 Rock, Little Britian or Sarah Silverman or whatever is on that night, and then i crawl into bed at 10:30 to watch some tele, and then I fall asleep. Like I said, my routine is pretty darn bland.

Well tonight is Friday the 9^th. I have been waiting for this day for a looong time now, because I finally get a weekend off! Yay! I have been working straight since October 22^nd, and now I can rest and relax. Tonight is Out 100, and I am superjazzed about that. I am going to go out with my boys, we’re getting all gussied up, we’re going to have an amazing time. Tim Gunn & Tori Spelling are hosting, Chaka Khan and Mya are performing, Jennifer Hudson, Mary-Louise Parker, Bill T. Jones (the amazing choreographer from Spring Awakening) and Thom Browne (among others) are being honored, and I hear that there may be a special appearance by a certain former Eurythmic who’s name rhymes with Fannie Dennox. Woohoo!

On a completely unrelated note, as it has now gotten cold out (last night on the phone I told my parents that I was “Freezing my Chita Rivera’s off!"), I have noticed a sudden spike in Ugg wearing. Now, I hate Uggs (and no, not because they are Australian TA! Ok, maybe that’s why on a minute level). I don’t care how comfortable and warm they are, they look ridiculous. Even more so is when you see a gay guy walking down 8^th Ave in his skinny/girly jeans with the legs tucked into the Uggs. Shoot me. Shoot me now. It’s simply unacceptable gays, don’t you know! Almost as bad is when you see someone in shorts and Uggs. Are you hot? Are you cold? MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND!

Ok, now that that’s out of my system, happy Friday everyone? This bitch needs a nap!

the french are crazy.

from ben-ben, our france-based correspondent:

"Where will they stop the marketing? Zac Efron's favorites, the Mickey Mouse shaped burger patties!"

"Why cruise gay websites for hours when you can pick up a box of 6 frozen fagots! Always ready for you, right in your freezer!"

what's old is new again.

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on another (and completely different note), i have a new friend. a friend that i met back in may (when i crashed his 25th bday party), but now we're actually like friends. we spent almost all last weekend together. we drank, we wii'd, we brunched, we shopped, we drank some more. i mean, we clicked. it's so nice when you start up a new friendship. you learn so much about each other and it's really refreshing. he's new to the city, and the country for that matter, and we've both had busy years, both workwise and lovelife-wise. it's nice to share and to commiserate and all that. it's just nice. we say that we are going to be best friends in 2008, but i think that it may come sooner.

what's wrong with this picture?

what's so wrong with the tuna that there must be quotes around it?

spring awakening.

i have been waiting to see spring awakening for a very long time now. zach braff introduced the tony awards performance by saying "the show found it's inspiration in one of literature's most controversial masterpieces. A work daring in it's depiction of teenage self discovery. The show invites audiences of all ages to experience again the wonder of being young" i quote mtv's john norris "The most mind-blowing fact about "Spring Awakening" is that its source material — a non-musical play by German Frank Wedekind — was written in 1891....a play full of teenagers that includes (but is not limited to) wet dreams, masturbation, molestation, fumbling sex, teen pregnancy, ostracism, sadomasochism, abortion and suicide." the cast is made up of 2 adults and 16 amazingly talented actors who are between 17-24, and there is a great little blip from new york mag on them here. they tackle these issues because their parents and teachers won't educate them about life and sex. it's 1891 for christ's sake!

it played off broadway at the atlantic theatre here in my my neighborhood, but i never saw it. i heard the buzz about the show, but i never made it. then it opened on broadway. in a big way. and i wanted to see it. bad.

rt from the karpel group gave me a copy of the soundtrack several months ago, and i haven't stopped listening. the music and lyrics by duncan sheik (yes, that duncan sheik) and steven stater are beautiful and haunting. exciting and poignant. the music ranges from slow moving ballads to cacophonous rock numbers. i know all the words, i know all the subtleties of the orchestration. i was obsessed with this show before i had even seen it.

well, today, jason and his friends and i went to the matinée performance, and i can't express how much i was moved by this show. i knew the story somewhat through the music (which i'm listening too on it's 2nd loop through, as i'm writing this), but being able to see it being performed live in such a raw setting as it is presenting is breathtaking and brilliant. the songs as they are performed are actually the inner monologues of the characters and they really break the 4th wall to sing these. what was one of the most amazing aspects of the show was the lighting, which I realize is a strange thing to say, but once you see it, you will understand. whether it was the subtle spotlight on a picture on the wall, the blue light bulbs arranged in the sky or even the brilliant neon strips located all around the theatre, it all added to an amazing display.

i know it's stupid to write this post all about this one show, but it really moved me. some people say that this is a show for a new generation, and i agree. i laughed, i teared up, it was a cathartic journey that i recommend everyone going through.

back to the realities of life.

it's been an interesting coupla days for me.

my trip was stellar. i did so much in 7 days, that i can say without hesitation that it was the BEST. VACATION. EVER. being able to travel around Europe with your best friend is something I recommend to everyone. Yes, Jill and I fought like mad a few times over random stupid shit, but hey we do that stateside as well. We traveled with her sister and her 3 friends, and we all got along famously. whispers of a possible trip on '08 abound...

highlights:

• a 4.5 hr bike tour around Berlin with a stop 1/2 through at a biergarten, making an even more fun second 1/2!
• seeing the amazing architecture of Daniel Liebeskind's Jewish Museum
  
• a hostel in prague the size of my big toe (what you get for €40 a night!)
• doing shots of absinthe, in one of the only countries where it is actually legal!
• climbing up the steepest 287 steps in a spiral staircase to the top of Prague Castle for an unrivaled view of the city
  
• seeing the crazy Raisin "Dancing" Building by Frank Gehry
• Jill flipping her shizz on a narrow road behind a big rig in the middle of nowheresville Czech Republic
• the lush green pastures of Austria set against the backdrop of the Alps
• visiting Mozart's birthplace in Salzburg
• walking through Dachau concentration camp outside of Munich, both a haunting and fascinating experience
• Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest.
• a 10-hour train ride through the night up to Berlin, sharing a cabin with the locals
• Amsterdam's amazing canals, red lights and coffeeshops!
• Going the Anne Frank House and seeing the history in front of me
  

Like I said, it was an amazing trip, and there are some pics below...

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I have been trying to reconnect with friends, both old and new, I think it's important to do so.

Chris Saunders has moved back to town, and I couldn't be happier. I've missed him for the past 3 years. ACC in LA and I had our moment in the sun, which has now set. He's a great guy, and I hope that we maintain communication. Hey, he moves to NYC in a year, you never know...TA and I are going to make an attempt at a friendship, and as of now, it's going well. He is very special, and I am hoping that we can make this work. I'm sure that it will take more effort on my end, but I'll work it out, it's worth it to me. I met a nice kid last Friday. He seems smart and fun, and is as big of a Pushing Daisies fan as I am...which by the way is an AMAZING show, and you need to watch it. We're meeting up on Sunday, i'm definitely looking forward to it. And he blogs. Big plus.

Some of my besties and I are attempting to band together to help a friend. he's in a bad place and needs some serious help. we may have drifted apart, but it's time to put the differences aside and help save a friend from himself.

The seasons are slowly changing, we are all moving on. some for the better, some for the worse, but we are all moving. bodies in motion stay in motion.

Some of my 431 pictures from Europe:

All of us at the Berlin Wall

The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin

Absinthe in Prague...the Green Fairy cometh...

All of us at O'Che's in Prague

The stunning Austrian countryside

Fantastic pretzels in Salzburg

Dachau Concentration Camp

Schnitzel and Currywurst in Munich

Me at the Hofbrau Hall at Oktoberfest!!

Gorgeous Amsterdam

When in Amsterdam...