Copacabana: January 2008

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Blue-eyed mutants

Those who do not learn from history...

While I was all laid up in bed this past week, feelin' all sorry for myself and stuff, I had a lot of time to think and I came to a few conclusions. 1.) It gets easier and easier as the years go by to rid myself of circumstances -- and, dare I say, individuals -- whom I perceive as detrimental to my mission, i.e. avoiding pain, misery and humiliation in life. 2.) I'm not sure if this growing ease is something I should be too proud of.

All I know is that when you're feeling like you may never get out of bed again certain things take on an air of importance and other things that really demanded attention become rather silly.

I'm sure all this nonsensical soul searching is a direct result of the fact that I have always had a blessed but freakish constitution that allowed me to avoid most of the illnesses people succumb to for most of my life. Alas, age catches up with you and eventually you become a mere mortal and have to face your increasing vulnerability to the world. No easy task for this kid.

Oddly, all this epiphany time led me to think about a concert I went to in college -- probably because of the direct correlations I've been making between present people in my life and the past people who actually attended this concert with me -- which in turn led me to dig out some old CDs to put into the trusty new MP3 player, which has become my pet project of late.

This band had just released the album that "made" them but no one had heard of them when my roommate's boyfriend convinced us to go see them play with these guys, who put out one of the greatest CDs of all time. Some friends from high school came up to visit and one of them, my friend Matt, was such a gentleman that he refused to let me jump around in the mosh pit with him. That really meant something to me then. I should be embarrassed by that but I'm not...

This song came on a later album but is one of my favorites and almost makes me cry every time I hear it because, as good as it is to recognize what prevents you from being happy, it's also incredibly bittersweet remembering how it felt to let it all go.

Here's this one, too, just because it's awesome.

Man, I can't wait till I'm back to not caring again...

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

On the mend

This past week, I really came to understand how the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 could kill 600,000 people [ed note: apparently it was more in the 20 million range. Dude...]. I've coughed so much that I actually pulled a muscle in my back...

But I'll live, despite some feverish dreams Sunday night to the contrary.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Someday the truth will out and it might be too damn late

My ability to opine will be severely limited in the coming months. Awww, I know...need a tissue? I'm just really busy, k? don't be mad...

I want so badly to talk about the nefariousness of the medical profession/big pharma in promoting the false sense of security accompanying prescription medication that has been made so very public of late with some tragic news that I won't repeat here out of respect. But I'll decline because I don't think people are ready to hear it yet. Suffice it to say that med/pharma is a business and selling drugs is how they generate revenue and stay in business. So, maybe we're not getting all the warning information as a society that we should. And that just pisses me off, man. It really does.

But, I won't talk about that. Instead, for levity, I'll show you this photo of my ladies last weekend. They are so good at the dance. It's inspiring.

And also a picture of the kickass denim dress Sweet P made last week on Project Runway. I totally want it.

and speaking of dance,

disco's back ya'll. And I love it.......

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

It doesn't seem quite fair...

Damn, damn, damn.
Agent Bedhead says it well. You did have so much ahead of you I've no doubt but I'll always love what you gave us while you were here.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Games without frontiers

I literally danced for hours this weekend and muscles I didn't even know I had are letting me know I have them. I mean yesterday I had to roll -- no joke -- out of bed because my hips just weren't going to respond to the synapses in my brain that were firing off instructions for them to bend. My hips just gave my brain the finger and I tried not to be too angry with them because I did kinda tax them to the extreme this weekend. But, I tell ya, I really like knowing that I can still bust out some grand jetes and torso rolls with the best of them. Also, I had the opportunity to visit an old favorite that I haven't been to since High School, Huey's in Atlanta. I used to go there after church on Sundays when I first learned to drive and it was nice getting up early Sunday and popping on down Peachtree (it was only about 5 minutes from my friend's house) for some chicory coffee and french toast. *sigh*

On the way back East, I stopped and got some gatorade and some boiled peanuts -- yes, this is why I love Atlanta. You can stop at a gas station in the middle of downtown and get boiled peanuts for two dollars. Awesome.

A friend who recently moved to Charleston sent me this book:

I haven't read it yet but it looks interesting. You can read more about it here. Okay E, I've blogged about it. Happy now? (I'm kidding! Thanks for the book and the letter.)

More

music going into the MP3 playerl. This is actually from college and oh so good...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Heroes and their theme songs

I gotta give a shout out to the guy that made the 911 call to police in the Meredith Emerson case. You can read about here and be sure to listen to the call because at one point the guy offers to go take the bastard down because he's worried the police won't be there in time. And you can tell by his voice he means it. This all went down about five minutes from my childhood home in Atlanta and, I gotta say, I've never been prouder to be a Georgia girl and an Atlanta native.

Also, I'm in the process of learning a beautiful dance combination to

this song for our show in the Spring and I've just fallen in love, both with the piece and the music. Maybe it's because it's a lyrical piece and you're pretty much required to listen to and feel the music in order to effectively dance it; or maybe it's because sometimes your life circumstantially allows specific things to resonate with you in ways maybe they wouldn't at other times. Either way, I'm feeling it. I hope you can to...

Friday, January 11, 2008

Have a great weekend...again

Damn I love LOLcats...

Trying to forget about all the work I have to do this weekend...

So, a few things. James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal Opinion Page summed up exactly how I feel about Hillary Clinton and her recent win in New Hampshire after becoming emotional to voters at a cafe there:

"Again, it is difficult to imagine a male candidate benefiting the way Mrs. Clinton appears to have done after tearing up over how difficult it is to run for office. If it works, it works; but it's an interesting irony that Mrs. Clinton is being put forth as a feminist icon while taking advantage of a double standard that rests on a presumption of feminine weakness."
(taken from the WSJ editorial page email newsletter I get)

That's because it's all scripted and the "feminist" ideology is just a front for her supreme self-serving ambition. Everything's negotiable when you'll do anything to get to the top. I'm not sure why Ms. Clinton bothers me so except that as a woman who struggles to stay both feminine and gentle while still commanding respect for my intellect and abilities, she offends that part of me that knows that her vacillation between ballbreaker and concerned earth mother is all just an act depending on the audience. She doesn't seem to be either one unless it suits her purposes. Therefore, it's not really a struggle for her as much as it is an affectation. And that's some cold business, man. And I would prefer not to have a sociopath in the White House thank you very much.

Also, glad to see Fred Thompson actually open his mouth and say something in South Carolina. I have a feeling I agree with him but I've never actually heard him talk about his platform. Maybe his strategy was to remain the mysterious trojan horse who's just waiting to be let in the gate...

Beyond that, my sister-in-law told me an awesome story about a 97-year-old man who is currently courting her grandmother. Apparently he enticed her to have dinner with him by saying she could share his Red Lobster Senior Citizen Discount Card. Those're some mad skills. It would've worked on me.

Also, here's some more High School music I just digitized and some Regina Spektor because she's just cool.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John

On The Radio by Regina Spektor

Have a Johnny Depp weekend (read: stay true to your bizarre self)!

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Chalk Nazis

So my neighborhood has a million dogs. Most of the dog owners are responsible -- they carry nasty, bulging little plastic bags and do what society dictates they must. I avoid all that ridiculousness by dragging Stella to the vacant lot at the end of the street or making her "conduct business" in her own backyard. And yet still, every couple of weeks, I am assaulted by the pastel sidewalk-chalk fascist ramblings of the neighbors a few doors down. Now, I appreciate that they have kids that play in their yard and little feet tracking stinky stuff through the house is unacceptable. I also believe that being pissed off given these circumstances is justifiable. But the bi-monthly preemptive strike in huge letters that greets me as I walk my dog -- things like "Responsible dog owners pick up the mess -- are you a responsible dog owner? We know you are!" and "Don't dirty my child's playground." -- are just intended to make everyone -- this is the main sidewalk through the neighborhood and the foot/paw traffic is heavy -- feel really bad about themselves as people/pets. Especially since, as I said, most of the people in my neighborhood are uber-respectful when it comes to this issue (rather comically I think. Grown men stooping to pick up dog poop just makes me laugh...). What's more, the messages have become increasingly vitriolic of late, indicating to me some projection on the part of "writer" forcing everyone in the neighborhood to feel the pain of their marital troubles or kid problems or clogged toilet or whatever the hell else they're complaining about via chalk terrorism. The last one, a few weeks ago, said this: "The grass between the sidewalk and the street is our yard, too."

Then, last night, someone struck back. I got out of class a little early and had dinner with a friend. By the time I got home to walk the girl, it was nearly dark and, as I approached the Hitler home I saw a new message, angrily written in all caps with a large arrow pointing to a circle. It said, "Thanks a lot. We appreciate it." and the arrow pointed to the biggest pile of dog crap I have ever seen, right smack dab in the middle of the sidewalk I presume because the sidewalk, unless zoning laws have changed, is not their yard.

That shit was funny. Literally.

On a slightly less funny note, I finally got an MP3 player -- a Zune, which all my Apple snob coworkers make fun of me for but whatever. I support Microsoft because they make a good product and Bill Gates does stuff like this. In any event, I have been digitizing many of my old CDs and have come across a few gems from High School. Like

this one, which gives you the opportunity to deride me but I still say it's a great song even if it is easy, cheesy 80s hair rock.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Wrapping up the season

The feast of the Epiphany is this weekend which means I can finally take my tree down. So, in fond remembrance of Christmas 2007, here are some final images -- including shots of a really cute kid and my sister's gift to me (it's a major award) -- and a shout out to my parents who made this year amazing by handing down to me my grandpa's rosary, sharing a little homemade cranberry brandy and collaborating with me on the best buttermilk cornbread I've ever created/eaten/watched others enjoy.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Promoting the funny

I have a few days before the final semester of my degree program starts (I just like saying that...) so I'm playing a little bit. I offer some funnies:

Stole this from Cute Overload. I laughed heretically! (It's actually cute, not evil...)

As I was recently introduced to LOLcats (never claimed to be ahead of any curve), and given my rampant Catholicism, I thought the LOLCat Bible Translation Project was fab. Here's Genesis 1: "Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem."

Then there's this, just cause who really loves a telemarketer?

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Evening the Score

Saw this on the news this morning while I was getting ready for my first day back to work which, by the way, was pretty anticlimactic. I mean except for a few glares from some of the happier coworkers and the general negative patina that seems to hang about the furniture and hallways, it was pretty much just business as usual. Sigh.

But back to this YouTube video wherein this kid Noah time-elapsed over 2,000 photos of himself, one for every day of his life over a six year period. While that itself is fairly interesting, the back story is even better. The music that accompanies the video was composed by his girlfriend at his request. As you can hear when you watch the video, it is lovely music and composed not only as a singular piece but as a true accompaniment to the "action" in the video which I think shows real talent on the part of Miss Comando.

But here's the part I find really worthy of mention: Noah, who is clearly pretty interested in himself as evidenced by a video full of 2,000 photos of his own face, started to get a little attention for his creativity and his girlfriend, it's said very casually, asked him to shop her composition around when he attended these events to discuss his "art." Well, guess what? Miss Comando started to get a little buzz herself and folks were having to go through Noah to get to her and, apparently, Noah decided to be not quite as facilitating in the promotion of his girlfriend as she had been of him when she wrote music that somehow made 2,000 photos of your face seem like art!

Needless to say, Carly Comando and Noah are no more. But she's still garnering attention for her work and we'll just have to see what happens with Noah and his face.

The moral of this story is simply don't be a tool because not only does it affect how people view your (mediocre at best) work but you risk losing the people who thought you were more than mediocre in the first place.

Noah, you're a tool.

Copacabana