A N N A J O H N ' S D I A R Y

Synchronicity. Yadadamean?

Urban Dictionary- yadadamean, originally uploaded by suitablegirl.

This made me smile.  :)

A comment thread on SM-- which I've kind of been staying away from, since I'm supposed to be resting and avoiding stress...and SM is all about spikes in my heart rate and bp-- was discussing a provocative picture of Hillary and Obama as Hindu deities.

The obligatory, "I'd like to see how Christians  would feel" comment was made and soon after, others disagreed with the idea that other deities are safe from satire or mockery, bringing up "Piss Christ" and the "Virgin Mary made out of elephant poo".  As grateful as I was for those voices of reason, I felt a little hurt; unfortunately, this year, SM has felt like a slightly hostile place for Christians, which is heart-breaking for me, a founding blogger who happens to be an active member of the Greek Orthodox church.  Like other people whose roots lie in Kerala, I was raised as a Christian with a deep respect for others' faiths.  How else would I be raised by parents whose classmates, neighbors and playmates were Jewish, Muslim and Hindu?

I'm Orthodox, but according to my Shaivite consort, many of my rituals or habits are Hindu-- not uncommon for certain Christian sects in Kerala. I grew up listening to my Father absent-mindedly chant in an Aramaic dialect, as he went about his day.  I celebrated Purim and Hannukah with my best friend's family and went to Gurdwara with my college sweetheart on Vaisakhi. That's my background, but this year, my faith has been an especially ugly target for trolls.

There have been days when I woke up, dreading nastiness about how I was an "aggressive evangelist", a Christian Fundamentalist, an Islamophobe or a Hindu-hater...you get the picture.  I know, it shouldn't hurt, but it does. It's an extra vicious thing to say to someone who takes religion (hers and others') seriously.  The only thing I haven't been accused of is being an anti-Semite, but that's because AFAIK, we only have one desi Jewish reader (I met him at a meetup!).

So this thread was making me feel uneasy (so not what I need right now) and I expressed myself, but while doing so, I used the word "hyphy".  And then I got flamed. Oh-- but not for the "hyphy"-usage. :)

Meanwhile, a commenter who had earlier noted my unexpected use of that very bay area term got my six by bringing up how Jesus has been appropriated for various purposes and closed with, "yadadamean"?  Upon seeing *that*, a friend asked me what the term meant.  I went to Urban Dictionary, because I find their examples for usage massively entertaining and look what I saw-- an ad for a "funny" tee-shirt, featuring Jesus. 

Synchronicity. :)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a Delta Gamma, too.

"Where are you?"

"Walking home."

"What did you do?"

"I met Jay and his heterosexual life partner E at Veritas, it was great."

"Oh, Jay!  How is he?"

"Busy. Well. He asked about you, too."

"Wait, did you say life partner?"

"Heterosexual.  But they were both in very attractive,  almost-matching sweaters in Dupont Circle."

"O...kay"

"I was just supposed to run in to Jay-- I didn't know he'd bring E, but get this, when E asked Jay whom they were meeting, Jay was all, 'Elaine Benes', to which E responded enthusiastically."

"What?"

"Apparently, after I hung out with them a few months ago, they decided that I reminded them of Elaine.  From Seinfeld."

"I know who Elaine is...I'm just..."

"Hilarious, right?  I can kinda see it.  I have a lot of guy friends, I'm far too friendly with my ex-bfs...actually, this isn't the first time I've heard this.  Ten years ago, in Davis.  Someone said it then.  What do you think?"

"Well, I never would have thought of it before..."

"But?"

"I do see it..."

"Really?"

"Yes, especially all the shoving."

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

TIME TO CELEBRATE, B!TCHES!, originally uploaded by suitablegirl.

I

DON'T

NEED

SURGERY

!

G-d is great, y'all. :) My MRI came back with the best results possible: no soft tissue/ligament/tendon abnormality, no Tailor Dome drama. Physical therapy, here I come. And I'll never take going to the gym for granted again, nooooo. In fact, it will be easy to stay mindful-- I will need to wear an ankle brace when working out, for the rest of my life. My ankle will never be 100% again, BUT I DON'T NEED SURGERY, SO I DON'T CARE! Squeeeeee!!!

Like Elaine, Screaming "STELLA!!!"

CILICE

Pre-Subcontinental Drift Hair :)

P1020756, originally uploaded by suitablegirl.

...what perfect timing, considering that tomorrow is our SM Meetup, too.  Ah, it's so nice to have bangs again and to be able to put my hair up without having to take tylenol a few hours later; the weather is getting warmer, it was time to have a follicular intervention.  And why not, if the results are so satisfying.  I feel a two pounds lighter and ten times more stylish.  Yayyyy good haircuts.  :)

What a Beautiful Surprise...

I LOVE THEM!!, originally uploaded by suitablegirl.

...this day gets better and better. :) Azhagan, thank you. I love them. And I haven't had any since my birthday, so this feels extra special. Even more thrilling? All the attention from people in my office (which is 90% male!), who immediately notice them as they walk by...if there's one thing I love about desi men, it's how they aren't afraid to be a teensy bit girly. The three brown guys whom I work with all stopped and declared that they were beautiful, and wasn't it "all soooo sweet", and "now tell us, who sent them?" with the same degree of enthusiasm that the women here showed. :D

From feeling taken for granted yesterday (at work and online) to receiving tulips "just because" today...it is all so delightful and welcome.

I'm a lucky girl. I am, I am. :)

Red Carpet LIVEblogging- Oscars, '07

Note:  As I search for pictures to update this post with, I'm revising some of my initial opinions...sometimes "eh" in front is all "ooooh," in back.  ;)

penelope cruz-  love, love, love.  love her hair, love her earrings, love the color of her dress.  LOVE the bottom of it.  i almost bought something like this at jessica mcclintock last year. :)  she looks spectacular from every angle, like a couture fairy tale.  is she in versace?

jada pinkett smith-  i have never been a fan of this woman, i don't know why.  perhaps, due to the poo that was "woo"?  anyway.  i am all right with the bright gold color...but i'm starting to think that i'm going to be sick of the strapless silhouette very soon.

cameron diaz- so weird to see her with dark hair, i really prefer her as a blonde.  she looks like an older amanda bynes during some moments.  i love the color of her valentino, i appreciate the fact that like my high school graduation portrait-dress, it's off the shoulder, but i am not crazy about the skirt from the front.  From behind, it's striking.

tracy edmunds- like the color, loathe the dress...especially the big mirrored teardrop thing on her sternum.  wth?  babyface, are you crying somewhere?  because if you are, you're in good company-- the Baby Jesus hates this dress, i'm sure of it.

cate blanchett-  beautiful, one-shouldered, glittering, different.  when they pan out, i swoon like i once did over barbie, 25 years ago.  i like how low-key she is with her jewelry, it's a wise strategy with such an ornate dress.  her hair is elegant.  that and i'm so biased in her favor post-LOTR :D

NPR is playing my interview!!!- UPDATED

"Cultural trouble for the new Barbie...coming up"

OMG.

This is so surreal. 

Several of you have called or emailed me to tell me that you just heard me on PRI's "The World", but I have not been able to listen to my "Diwali Barbie" interview yet. I couldn't access Abhi's link on my iBook, so I, um, procured a radio...and...well, I've been waiting nervously since 8pm, which is when they said it would air on the NPR station in DC which I prefer (WETA 90.9).  Except 8 o'clock came and went and...nothin'.  Some other programming emanated from those speakers I was glued to, and it was agonizing to listen to "Pacifictime" and "Euro-whatever" instead of "The World". I was sooo mad.  All of this trouble to get to a radio, to celebrate something I'm so proud of doing and thanks to some incorrect website, I STILL wouldn't hear it? 

No matter.  It sounds like "The World" IS going to air, just an hour late.  Wish I had known that before, my stomach would have taken its time knotting itself.

WAIT.  RIGHT NOW...it's apparently on...and any second I'll hear...

OMG

IT'S ON!!!   Aaaack, that's me!  I sound so...weird.  And white.  Whoa.  This really is surreal.

:+:

One of you was sweet enough to send me the actual file, so that I could post it here vs. just pointing the rest of you towards a link.  Here you go-- it's a .WMA, so be forewarned. 

Download anna_the_world.wma

one down, one to go...

this.
is.
exhausting. 

i just want to go to sleep. i was up late preparing for my first interview and i resumed  reviewing everything this morning, since my nerves woke me up extra early.

it was worth it, though; i feel like i did as well as i could. i'd be positively gleeful about this if i weren't still re-playing the final ten minutes of the interview, when they finally disclosed "compensation" details. i'm just a wee bit stunned.  two good interviews in a row with a company i'm excited about and THAT'S the five-digit catch?   :O

further ick: it's disgustingly windy and wet outside, though i'm trying not to whine, since me re-enacting "winnie the pooh and the blustery day" is still a picnic compared to what i'd be facing if i were in chicago.  still, the walk to the metro should be FANTASTIC. i just hope i look presentable for the next episode.

sigh.  onward and upward.

3-2-1 Context

I'll admit it, I allow certain seemingly random items, songs or events to assume great significance.  Today was full of such things; these are the most notable, since I'm still thinking about them.

1) I left my apartment briefly this evening and as I waited at a crosswalk near Connecticut Avenue, I was convinced that I was hearing things, as if someone was calling me or telling me to do something.  Startled, I kept turning around and looking everywhere but all I saw were 3 brown guys on the other side of the street. Then it occurred to me that what I was hearing was a man speaking Malayalam as he instructed his friends on when to cross. 

I've mentioned in the past that one of my favorite things about DC is how international it feels and to me, proof of this is available on every block I walk, as I hear no less than three different languages per street.  Now that I live near several embassies, I have even more fun with this.  In the nearly eight years I've lived in DC (on and off, with brief stops in CA and NYC), I have NEVER heard Malayalam spoken randomly by passersby. I think I was so shocked I did the Indian "stare" thing to these three vaguely confused and now-irritated Malayalee guys, who were surely wondering what the hell my problem was.

2) I love Nick Drake and I heard him twice today.  He was part of the soundtrack to two different movies I caught tiny snippets of, as I drank my high-protein breakfast at noon.  Nick Drake?  TWICE??

3) When I headed back to my apartment after hearing Malayalam, I thought I saw my car parked in front of my building.  What I had seen was a license plate frame which declared "UC Davis AGGIES" around the exact same California license plate "design" I have.  That stopped me in my tracks.  While there are tons of UC Alums in D.C., (including a Cal grad and a UCLA alumni who are among the handful of neighbors I have met in my building), I never meet Davis grads or see Davis paraphernalia.  We're just not that ubiquitous out here.

I shook my head and went inside, resisting the urge to touch the car.  In the elevator, I kept asking myself, "What does it all mean?", it felt too much like synchronicity to be written off. I was happy for all of it, enveloped in a sense of "home". I started to feel like my luck was about to change, but I stifled such sweetness, lest I jinx that shit.

Flickr > Fotolog

LIVEBLOGGING the SM Meetup! :D

Who's here:  Milli and MP

Milli's "handle" backstory?  Said MP, "Ads would've loved that".

Milli is from Chicago and she hates the weather in SF, much to everyone's astonishment.  She doesn't care-- she likes Chicago during the summer. :)

Some go-carts go by...I'm perplexed until they're explained-- they're for tourists.  "Computer-guided tours!"

Vinod AND Chai AND her little brother are here!  :D

b/c being religious means you won't bang trannies, ever
there are certain things you will do on meth, when...

Chai just got recognized by a person at a random table...what are the odds?

SJM IS HERE!!!

"Chicago has weather-- in SF, it's the SAME FUCKING DAY, every day!"

Uncle 3V with the wise compromise: "Every city has its good and bad."

Anna:  "I HATE Long Beach airport.  WORST AIRPORT IN THE COUNTRY."

Milli:  "One time, when I was drunk, they put me on the wrong flight".

SJM: "See...people from the midwest have great 'drunk' stories."

Milli:  No woman in my family has ever gotten married after 26--
SJM:   Do they kill you after that?

SJM:  I can't compete w/the half-white grandkid...I know mine is going to be hairy for its first 3 years
ANNA:  Just the first three?

Staying with Manish Vij-- "he's Punjabi and so hairy...later we thought there was a yeti sighting.  can you smile or something so we know if you're coming or going?"

just tell us what your suit size is, you want to...
42...but then...it doesn't fit here and...
Would you like me to publish your shoe size while I'm at it?
Yeeeah, my size 11s biatch
actually 13s
yeah...perpetuate THAT myth

not nor-folk, it's norFUCK

indian parents know emotional jujitsu...they have black belts

indian parents are experts at communicating w/o words...via grunts.
my father has a "change the channel"-grunt!

i had a gunrack for my 3-wheeler! i really was a redneck!

the worst thing to ever happen to porn-- HD.  they really should've thought that a little more carefully...or they need to start smearing lenses w/vaseline, or...

who's that macaca on the chandelier???

ANNA + MP: the mission meets the marina

it's only stalking if they're unattractive...it's true.

his discomfort is my pleasure!!

i'm sorry-- i wanted to give you this book on feng shui.
maybe if you had rearranged your furniture you wouldn't have cheated on me!

"mom, what if the consumer price index goes above 2--"
"you pray!"

"you know, ven i was doing my morning prayer--"

On Superstition:

"never open a medicine cabinet after midnight!"

"i can't cut my hair or clip my nails on tuesdays, thursdays or after midnight..."

"i'm NEVER bringing someone i'm interested in to a meetup."

You've GOT to be Kidding Me

There.
is.
a.
mouse.
under.
my.
desk.

AAAAACCCGGGGGHHHH!

What really matters is clear

I won't lie-- when I heard the news, an overpowering sort of fear seized me, sitting on my chest with the weight of a boulder, adrenaline making me twitch as my heart beat much faster than it should.  My purest emotions and thoughts emerged; you are even more precious to me than I had ever claimed, bragged or understood you to be.  Sometimes, only the possibility of real loss shows how foolish my reactions to "perceived" loss can be.  For that I am sorry: for your safety, I am forever grateful.  You are loved and you are safe and right now, deadlines, meetings, student loans, an extra 5 lbs, annoying coworkers, a messy living room, uneven highlights and everything else besides love seems hysterically inconsequential.

How Ever Will We Survive?

You know how your little sister asks you to pass the salt and though before that, you had no desire for any, you sprinkled some on your food before handing it to her?  That's kind of how I feel about SM going offline at midnight for the big bunker move.  Suddenly, I irrationally want my mutiny.

Dun-dun-DUN

BRON
CHI
TIS

:(

Never Tear Us Apart

Sometimes, you cry at work because you know that as of a few minutes ago, the most cherished part of your life is never going to be the same.

Sometimes, the people who break your heart aren't the ones whom you sleep with, go out with, share your genetic matter with.

Sometimes, someone becomes an important part of your life so subtly and seamlessly, that the only reason you know that they were, is because they no longer are.

Sometimes, accepting someone's decision while you attempt to respect it seems like the most hateful, impossible chore.

Sometimes, being so SensitiveSentimentalAttachedLoyal isn't a good thing at all.

Sometimes, imagining a life without someone hurts like a dilettante's wax job.

Sometimes, loss isn't as obvious as death, breaking up or moving.

Sometimes, you just wish that instead of feeling powerless, you could change someone's mind.

cream cheese city, here i come

amtrak?  booked!  i heart trains.  they are almost as exciting as planes.  wheeeee!  amtrak and airports, two places i adore.

i find it FANTASTIC that it takes over three hours to drive to illadelphia but less than two to get there via train.  if there's one thing i miss about the west coast on occasions like this, when my beloved, reliable, $25  hasidic/vamoose bus isn't a possibility because

a] it's the sabbath and
b] it only goes to nyc,

it's how easy it is to drive everywhere on the left coast.  por ejemplo, it's 146 miles from here to there.  in CA, that's NOT a three hour drive, unless there is traffic.  and we all know how i deal with traffic.  i'd rather be late than sit in it.   

i don't want to drive every day, mind you.  that's what subways are for, and that's why i adoooore the east coast.  but a day trip like this which is NOT to nyc?  driving is preferable to sketchy-assed chinatown buses* and tight schedules which would require missing trains if the night is especially stellar.  having typed that, i ain't driving on 295 to 395 to 495 to 595 to 637 to 841...shudder.  so amtrak is my knight in shining metal.  sigh.  freeways are just more LOGICAL in california. ;)  you may read that last declaration as, "the places i like to go are all on 80." :D 

now i just have to shower, pack, primp and hail a cab.  so blogging is probably not the best use of my time right now.  FINALLY, new pictures for you to avoid work with... ;)

joy and pain...

i just had a bowl of life cereal for breakfast-- for some unknown reason, i've been craving it for weeks, after not having had it in over twenty years.

yup, it tastes as good as i hoped it would. ;)

:+:

to the snow, whom i normally adore:  FUCK YOU.  thanks for killing my meetup, biznatch.

i must have it

a few minutes ago, i watched an NFL commercial which showed a diverse range of Amreekan fans...b/c according to the copywriter who penned the ad, that's what we are: a nation of football freaks.  within the montage, a little girl wore a royal blue shirt which read, "Anyone But Dallas".  this is my solemn vow; this shirt shall be mine.

oh yeah, there were indian guys among the rainbow coalition of fans.  that was aight, too.

blaring from the iBook right now...

"Black Capricorn Day" ~ jamiroquai

Hey hey
Hey hey
Let the rain come down on me
Hey, hey, hey, hey
I see people and they're craving blood
And I'm so rarely understood
Well I don't know what they want from me,
It's gonna take some time just to let them see

I'm going through a black, hey Capricorn day
And though it doesn't seem so
I'm going through a black hey Capricorn day
Though you want to check me out
I'm not the man to play, play, play, play.
Hey hey
Don't you see I'm not the man to play
Hey hey
No way you can play with me today
Hey hey
Just let me sing it to my Capricorn day
Hey hey

My heart is a pure sun and the sky is black
And I can feel cold steel when I turn my back
It stings like needles, with a jagged tongue
You know this scream reminds me
Of when I was so young

I never had any of those
Black hey Capricorn days
Though it doesn't seem so
I've got to get this way
I'm going through a black hey Capricorn day
and though you want to check me out
I'm not the man to Play, play, play, play


It's just to black for me

It's just to black for me

It's just to black for me

It's just to black for me

It's just too black

I'm stuck on the highway
leading straight to hell
Like any other drifter with a soul to sell
You know I'm dealing with the devil
In everyone I meet
And their faces tell a story,
That life ain't so sweet

she NEVER drops the L-bomb with her chechi/akka/didi

beeeeeep.  i answer.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR...before my phone dies!"

(music, laughter, merriment)

"what?  oh, hahaha...happy new year, mine too!  okay! i'll talk to you later."

"yes. be safe, happy new year, I LOVE YOU!"

"okay, i love you, too.  bye!"

uttered on her first morning show ever, at 9:01 am

the times
when you're NOT writing
are just as important
as the times
when you are.
~ fiona apple

november 24th...ish

why i decided to clean like a demon (four loads of laundry, two sets of dishes (i cooked during the first), reorganizing, taking out recycling, etc) the night before i had to LEAVE is classic me. nothing like realising that i have 8 hours 'til my flight to suddenly inspire a whimsical desire to be martha. gah.

just finished packing, cab is here in six mins, still haven't showered.

i'm off to Veena's for some seester time, a very special Depeche Mode concert and shopping. 80 degree weather, here i come. i'll leave here in mukluks and change there into a swimsuit. it's good to be me. ;)

happy THANGSGIVING! :D

november 8th...ish

i voted.

:+:

here i am again, in this familiar, unfortunately uneasy place.  in california, procrastinating and ignoring reality: i have to leave.  it's almost 8, in 90 minutes i'll check in, 120 minutes after that i'll board and then a little while later, i'll be on my way to the path of right-eousness.

no, i don't want to leave.  but i'm disheartened by the career climate, and i loved what i was consulting in...so i'm left with a lousy set of choices.  come home to mom, dog, pudgesicle and friends (including two notable transplants from dc!) or go back to where i get paid to do what i love, in a city from which i can attend apple-flavoured meetups via hasidic carpet rides.

i don't mean to whimper and be annoying.  i'm just sad to go.  no wonder, when i was younger, why i wanted to be a congresswoman from the bay area, so i could live on both of the coasts i adore...

iBlog

  RoyGBiv 
  Originally uploaded by suitablegirl.

iBook.
iTunes.
iPod.

iStressed.

(guess who hasn't packed yet?)

Put your lips together and...

Antics carried over from SepiaMutiny... ;)

Put your lips together and...
Originally uploaded by suitablegirl.

73 · Do Confirm
October 6, 2005 04:27 PM · Direct link

"A N N A: actually, what are the odds of this? i'm wearing L'Oreal lipcolour ...right...now. intrigued?)"

Requirement: Your Pic or live Webcam feed is needed to confirm this.

I take this as a great reponsibility on my shoulders on behalf of all SM male mutineers and would like to make sure, that you are really wearing L'Oreal lipcolour. I promise that only the colour of the lips would be verified and nothing else.

If the color of the lips doesn't belong to Loreal, then the Sepia's will give the final judgement.

Wiser words were NEVER spoken

If you removed the "the problem with ____ is" or the "SOMEONE needs to ____" from the Indian dinner party, there would BE no conversation.

how's this for optimism?

i don't really feel like trying to go to NJ the same day that i'm due to be at a wedding in Philly (saturday), so i'm going sari-shopping in VIRGINIA.  afaik, there are no stores that sell brown clothing in DC proper.  wish me luck. i'm not allowing myself to expect much. feh. suddenly (and for the first time in my life) i miss chicago.

p.s.  before some SMARTASS tells me that i should've thought of this in advance, know that i found out about this obligation on SUNDAY. out of the bleedin' blue, innit?

p.p.s.  it's all the most fantastic timing.  i just took all MY saris home to be cleaned, and all i have here is georgette...which is pretty, but not necessarily formalwear.

p.p.p.s.  well, at least it gave me a reason to call my sister-in-law, rupa.  :)

p.p.p.p.s.  OMG, look at the time!  eep!  i'm late! 

time

...for a
little tryst
with maisnon.  :) 

*tryst is kid-tested, manish-approved.

reunion with maisnon...live (updated)

maisnon and i LOVE chai- the blogger!
"isn't she pretty?" 
"who spotted whom first?"
"me too!"
"her pictures do NOT do her justice."
"not at ALL!  she's always making a face, or covering it, or..."
"in short, she posts the pics the rest of us don't dare to."
"exactly"
"i now love her more."
"me too."

"wait, is it wine before liquor?"
and then i got the waiter "in trouble" w/the eavesdroppy next table b/c he got interrogated for his answer to my query.  poor hot thing.

maisnon:  "i'll have the chai blended thing..."  she's simple like that.  no wonder i lurve her.

"i'll have...the rioja!"
"excellent choice.  it's my favourite."

jazz quartet:  "this is going out to CRYSTAL"  and maisnon goes, "yayyy", so obviously i do, too  (and it's "happy birthday" that is going)

...LIVE jazz!

"oh, i love it here!"

who am i going to come here with, without her?

"oh, i wish you had been at BlogHer...not for any other reason than...the tremendously powerful current of female energy i felt.  it's something i experience in terms of every few YEARS, not weeks or months."

"my FIRST rioja!" and she smiles.

Ess Emm MEETUP...liveblogged!

first in attendance and in my heart- brimful

second to show- "ads", who was actually two mins early, thus confirming for me that she CAN'T POSSIBLY be indian ;)

BTW- ads took bart to the powell st station and then WALKED here (to north beach) and was STILL early.  we have no excuse next to such an example.

third- anand and vinod, who sweetly asked if we'd mind if they joined us...and i rewarded such courtesy with a guffawed, "uh, it's a MEETUP." ;)

OMG, OM MALIK IS HERE!  you are all suitably jealous.

om thinks my writing is way better than two years ago.  "less angsty", "more structure".  w00t!  :D

wow, i'm not the only one who's had "issues" with infamous elderly indian people who work in "media".

om does not like SM's RSS w/comments and apparently, the "without" option doesn't work.

everyone is taking pictures of everyone else.

re: dirt oh, abhi...  :D

saheli is here!

the iPod shuffle IS awesome, thank you.

panini all around!

"MIA is so over..."

podcasting is SO over. ;)

BlogHerCon...and more BlogHerCon. 

bye vinod!  have a safe trip to ny.  :)

om's shuffle is stocked with brown music.  ONLY brown music.

it went from almost ALL GUYS to all girls.

deepa didn't show.  :(

i overheard brimful and saheli talking about something burning in berkeley and i freaked b/c i was scared they were discussing VIK'S annnnnnd...apparently VIK's now SUCKS.  meh.

i didn't see "bride and prejudice" and that is apparently okay.

saheli can bring ANYTHING back to a physicist or mathematician.  ANYTHING.

lo, bliss, i know thee

o
m
g

i'm at BlogHer and i wish this would go on for days.  yowza.  :)

p.s. chai is sitting next to me on the floor and we're four feet from dooce.  how's that envy taste?  ;)

no, i haven't been IN chicago yet

i'm with jaicy and wincy right now in des(i) plaines, ill.  we had dosa and paysam at udupi in schaumburg...while a tiny brat pierced jaicy's eardrums with his screeching.

now that he's shut up, you are SO JEALOUS of the fun we're having!!!   :D

and we BOTH hate DMB, btw

deepa:   so.  dinner with abhi tomorrow?

me:  yeah...hey, i guess this is kinda momentous... after tomorrow, i will have met ALL the mutineers!  abhi's my last one. 

deepa:      :)

me:  i have to write this down.  it's huge.

deepa:  you guys should just have a convention.

me:  suuuuure.  it'll be like SASA, but for old people.  FUN.

next to a vase of perfect gerberas...

Live from Amsterdam Falafel
(and later Tryst)
it's MONDAY NIGHT!  :D
ah, i love being able to blog anywhere.  i love wifi.  i love my gorgeous iBook that weighs next to nothing...

/end geekery

writer's blog

i'm awed, thrilled and somewhat perplexed that i've been invited to speak at BlogHer later this summer (the confusion comes from my utter astonishment that anyone wants me on a panel when OTHER panelists at the event include deities like the almighty DOOCE).  it's all going down up july 30, SF.   

i know it will be amazing, after all, it's the first bad-assed, female-centric event of its kind.  giddiness aside...are some of you wondering to yourselves, "what IS BlogHer?"

voila:

BlogHer is a network for women bloggers to draw on for exposure, education, and community. By holding a day-long conference on July 30, 2005, and establishing an online hub, BlogHer is initiating an opportunity for greater visibility, learning and success for individual women bloggers and for the community of bloggers as a whole.

How? Here's how: Exposure, education and community for women bloggers...

don't get me wrong-- i'm all about amplifying the female voice and working towards this lofty, necessary goal of painting the internet pink. ;) but there's a snag in my fishnets. 

participating is all well and fabulous, but i've been asked to write a bio for them to post on the site.  yes, people, go ahead and disbelieve it, but i have significant amounts of difficulty whenever i'm asked to do this.  i freeze, grow uncomfortable, space out...and otherwise waffle.  kind people grown irritated, issue third and fourth requests for my story, and all the while i'm like..."but, what do i WRITE".  it's so easy for me to blurt out a memoir-ish post about my dad or even my day...it's comically simple for me to reveal details about myself to the world that others wouldn't dare tell their spouses...but ask me to write a paragraph or three on who i AM and i'm a mess.

have you noticed?  my about page is all about MUSIC.  almost three years of blogging and i've never written anything about myself longer than "i'm a pain in your ASS you can't get enough of."  SEE?  this little idiosyncrasy ain't new.

girlpower! w00t!

i'm here, at tryst, waiting for julie, lisa, deepa and maybe even krusty...aha, we HAVE a krusty!  the dc contingent of fotologgers decided on an impromptu happy hour (i know what "HH" means now!) et voila.

i'm sweetly excited.  i just wanted to note that.  i meant to get here wayyy earlier so i could write this wonderful, thoughtful entry about anticipation and the power of female energy...so much for that.  sharon already called me out for blogging so i'm going.  for now.  ;)

liveblogging "the scholar"

i'm watching "the scholar" on ABC, where the winner gets a quarter-mill scholarship to the school of their choice...and here are my first few thoughts:

• -no brown kids?
• -the girl from yuba city YUBA CITY mind you-- isn't brown
• -it's hard to solve the puzzles at home b/c they move the story...and the camera along too quickly.  when will someone stick a knife in the heart of MTV style camera-work?
• -granted, i was making sandwiches during the first part of it, but i swear i only saw a background blurb on one kid-- he's turned into my fave
• -that same kid, jeremy, blew my mind when faced w/the loaded question, "who was your shittiest team member?" (his team lost the challenge).  he chose himself, since his team didn't win and he was the one in charge of it.  take that, apprentice.  no recrimination or whining, just a leader taking responsibility, sincerely, entirely, refreshingly.
• -b/c of aforementioned point, the "admissions" expert used, then over-used and finally abused the phrase "fell on his sword".  i will cut the next person who says that around me. 
• -apparently this show is only for the economically disadvantaged, so that's one reason for the lack of brown...

wait a sec.  that's bullshit.  go to jackson heights, there are poor brown kids who deserve a chance like these annoying brats.  speaking of annoying brat-- the winning "captain", the white future frat boy davis from memphis, is decked out in Polo oxfords and chinos...wtf?  economically disadvantaged b/c...he can't afford thomas pink???

frooti

mmm, nectarines.  i forgot they were this yummy. 

yet she read Plato, before i did...

HEY.

"hi, you missed me so much you had to call me within (looking at my watch)...two minutes?"

ha ha.  no.

"then to what do i owe the privilege of speaking to my sister for a THIRD time in as many hours?"

i saw that thing...that thing you wanted me to see.  on your website?  remember? 

"hmmm."

the baby on his grandfather's back!

"um...OH!  YES!  from sepia mutiny.  yeah, that picture is famous."

i was like, 'oh my goodness he's HUGE' but i also thought he was a cutie.

"yeah, i sent him to you b/c of our nephew in yonkers...remember?"

nephew in-- oh yeah!  omg, i totally didn't make the connection.  he was sooo cute.

"the calcutta baby, the one on the site has a leptin defficiency, i think."

i read, it's so sad.  but he is cute.

"well, good.  i'm glad you saw it.  it's nice you took the time."

yeah, i meant to tell you...

"funny, i was just thinking about this between phone calls one and two with you-- i wondered, if i wrote a book, would you even read it?  i mean, since you don't bother reading any of my sites now..."

it's not that i don't want to!

mo'bloggin from lebanese marble

forgive me for being so obscenely gleeful, but i just HAD to share that right this second, i am typepadding LIVE from dinner at Lebanese Taverna in Tyson's Galleria.  :D

i love technology. 

i might just love free wi-fi even more.

i left the gym feeling absosmurfly ravenous after 45" of cardio and arms (three separate triceps excercises + chin-ups for biceps). 

usually i have a powerbar or SOMETHING lying in the car-- today?  nothing.  just some sour apple altoids gum, which is nice but negligible, tummy-wise.

i decided on Lebanese Taverna b/c:

1. traffic on 66 looked hellacious.
2. i deserved it, damnit.  gym 3 days in a row, and when i type gym, i mean GYM.
3. LebTav is south beach-friendly.  yeah.  we're going THERE again.
4. did i mention FREE wireless??  :)

why am i typing in the middle of dinner, you ask?  b/c i CAN. 

no, i kid.  i kid.  it's b/c i love my brand new iBook with a lowe that dare not speak its name!  I SO KID!

it's b/c  i'm done with my mezze and they STILL haven't brought the bhindi, which is the entire reason i came.  this shpot is visually shtunning and the food is AWESOME but you pay for it via slooooooooow and slightly-inept service.  that's why i asked them for one of the secluded tables, behind a stone pillar and two gauze floor-to-ceiling drapes.  no one can see me indulge my blogging addiction.  pity about the vendeka though.  i've been jonesing for it for WEEKS.

ah, speak of the devil.  the baby okra has arrived.  :)

what did YOU have for dinner?

when your insides hurt, send love outside

                              

Spring Roses: twelve orange and twelve pink with purple Butterfly Asters.

live blogging miss USA-- now with PICTURES

*Corrections and updates in blue.

miss USA evening gown:

new york and michigan wore dresses i'd wear...when i'm SIXTY.

utah?  alexis carrington revisited.

west virginia?  wtf w/the cut-outs and all? you can't see from the picture, but each cut-out had a weird black jewel dangling above it.  oy.

miss illinois...not pretty...at ALL.

miss CA took "sunshine state" too far...that dress hurts my eyes.  owww.

and the low get lower...

first this bit of bullshit on SM:

A N N A : can you tell me where to get some fair and lovely? i need it bad.

dear "fake" me whose crap i deleted,

newsflash: i know how to use a fucking adverb. do remember that the next time you attempt to impersonate me. badly. just b/c you know how to turn on "all caps" and space out your letters, that doth not an A N N A make.

also, i've been told "you're so pretty for a dark girl" ever since my parents made the ill-advised move from SF to a small town 100 miles northeast of there...yawn. do you think i give a self-hating rat's ASS about my tan? naively stereotype much? what's next in your pathetic bag of tricks? dogging me out b/c i'm 30 and not married? mocking me b/c i'm south indian? why don't you diss me for being christian while you're at it?

it's really sad that you're consumed with how dark i am. some advice: discover happiness. you might start by finding something productive to do with your time, not wasting ours.

now this:

when you're OBESE like me...

...you just don't give a $#&?. 

this is why i just took an obscene scoop of haagen-dazs coffee-flavoUred frozen yogurt, poured on some nestle low-fat vanilla milk and then topped it with 8-oz of drip coffee.  ghetto affogatto in the hizzy, y'all.  yum.

eh, i can't get TOO gleeful over this frothy concoction.  the first two ingredients are actually kinda healthy/not so evil.  whatevs.  after my rediscovered lust with the gym, i FEEL like i'm being naughty, and that's all that counts. 

nine current addictions (lips eyes ears):

pepperdidge farm goldfish-- but only the parmesan flavour

BAMIEH BEL ZEIT (baby okra and tomato) mezza at lebanese taverna

the frites at amsterdam falafel with garlic cream AND ketchup

:+:

Time magazine

WSJ Weekend edition

moghul fantasies inspired by Mehrunissa.

:+:

MIA

bebel gilberto and celso fonseca

the next big thing

dear fotolog, now you can't guilt members to donate.

breaking news, y'all...via CNET:

Fotolog captures cash

By Stefanie Olsen
http://news.com.com/Fotolog+captures+cash/2110-1038_3-5643404.html

Story last modified Mon Mar 28 11:18:00 PST 2005

Fotolog.net, a blog community for photo sharing, said Monday that it raised $2.4 million from Bertelsmann Group investment arm BV Capital, among other backers.

New York-based Fotolog, founded in 2002, lets people create blogs and share photos with others. The company said it has nearly 1 million members. It competes with photo blogs including Flickr, which Yahoo recently acquired.

who's bigger than dirk?

03/24 - Important: FOTOLOG Site Status
--------------------------------------------------------------------
We have experienced a hardware failure on one of our main servers.

We are in the process of rebuilding it. During that time, the site will be in browse-only mode. You should be able to look at photos, but you will be unable to upload or make changes to your account. Guestbooks and friends&favorites are affected too.

Thanks for your patience and support.

yeah?  well thank YOU guys for sucking this fiercely!  i haven't been able to upload in days.  if i had known that this would be the case, then inside jokes and fucking ladybugs would NOT have been my chosen files.  first it was just people whose fotologs started with "s" (lucky, LUCKY me)...now it's everyone.  bravo, foto-asses.  brav-OH.

:+:

back to vain attempts to calm myself by listening to the pixies, the eels and the three "B"s: jeff buckley, blackalicious and beth orton.  grrrrrrr.

the only gay man i love more than sin

my life

is now

complete.

call me swoony mCswoonerson, and call it a day.  eeeeeeeeeeeee!

:+:

back on this earth, i'm off to see some DGs, some wonderful DGs of...oz.  there was no good way to end that, was there? 

i'm so excited and nervous, it's cute.  reminds me of being a pledge all over again, when you don't know what to expect, you hope you'll have a good time and you feel just special all over b/c you're in the best sorority EVER.  :) 

"oh when a delta gee walks down the street..."  ;)

this one goes out to my brimful on the 45...

needlessly spurned, lesson re-learned, this just burned

1. a nervous tic motion of the head to the left - andrew bird
2. it's for you - out hud
3. penny look down - decibully
4. china - red rockers (thanks ankz)
5. spanish teeth - robbers on high street
6. list of demands - saul williams
7. princeton junction - the natural history
8. sunday bell - audible
9. tidal wave - clap your hands say yeah
10. woman king - iron & wine
11. kanon - enon
12. tell it to the dust - anders parker
13. belle of the woodsman's autumn ball - skygreen leopards
14. lua - bright eyes
15. baba - bunky
16. california - low
17. call to love - crooked fingers
18. drop it like it's huey - compact risk
19. goodnight - hot hot heat
20. granddaddy - patterson hood

peace+bliss is

...listening to twee,

whilst feathery snow

glides by my window.  :)

such a homely girl

hot on the heels of last sunday's culinary brilliance, i decided to experiment again.  you're all well aware of my costco fixation, and many of you have admitted that you are perplexed regarding how one person can shop so frequently at a warehouse store meant for mormon families and small businesses.  you wonder what on earth i buy there.  well.  i inevitably reply that i use costco the way normal, sensible people use bodegas or grocery stores, i.e. for milk, bread, baby spinach...40-ct packages of dinner rolls.  ;) 

i also buy bananas when i'm there, b/c three pounds of them for a whopping $0.99 makes me feel healthy, virtuous and potassium-rich.  the problem is, i only eat perfect, pretty bananas.  in fact, i like my bananas best when they're unblemished, with that green sheen to them, like when they're barely ripe.  b/c of this stupid, unavoidable pickiness, i tend to enjoy all of two bananas before they turn inedible.  my roomie valiantly tried to eat the other eight, as banana-peel-spots multiplied faster than horny rabbits, but we were still left with three, sad, dodgy-looking, pornographically-shaped fruits. 

and then it hit me.  what is the ONE thing nasty bananas are good for?

i feel lucky

...because ten minutes ago, when i needed to unexpectedly fax something important, all i had to do was take the marble-floored elewator down to the lobby of my awesome apartment building, walk in the business center and fax.  freely.  kinko's shminko's. :)

anna, ennis. ennis, anna!

omg!  do you KNOW how much i love ennis?  i love him sooo much, that even though i was sicker than a DOG last night, even though i haven't been able to get out of bed all day for fear of getting violently sick again, even though i got no sleep last night...

i'm up and out of bed.  the curling iron has been fired up.  the closet is being ransacked.

i get to FINALLY MEET ennis, IRL.   wheeeeeeeeeeeee!  after today, i will know a majority of mutineeers!  i think i'm the only one who'll be able to say that! 

abhi and apul...you're so NEXT.   :D

now if you'll ex-squeeze me, i'm late!  for a wery important date! 

p.s.  what is UP with the smithsonian being the joint where i connect with the blogosphere's netizens?  first krusty last weekend...now this!  ;)

on this election day...

i was so superstitious, i haven't posted any of the millions of thoughts which are racing through my ex-campaign strategist's mind. i've been jacked into information all day-- from abhi's blog to wonkette, from CNN to MSNBC. i feel this in my blood.

i am so sad that i didn't get to take part in this historic day; i never received my absentee ballot, though i applied for it before the deadline. perhaps moving so impulsively across country does have a cost, after all. i am consoled, however, with the knowledge that i am a californian. we may have elected an austrian republican, but the golden state is fairly anti-shrub. we like trees. (i so agree with mike, who said on an early morning CNN interview, that my boy jk looks like an Ent. that's my favourite character from LOTR, you know.)

i'm on my way to an amazing election party in downtown DC. this couldn't have happened if i hadn't "lived so boldly", as one of you put it, if i wasn't here, instead of california. i'm going as the "date" of someone whom i adore, whom i will meet for the first time ever tonight. we've been friends for over 15 months and this is the first time we will see each other in person. the interweb is responsible for amazing situations, isn't it? i'm filled with the sweetest sort of butterflies, for this and 270 other reasons. i feel privileged that thanks to this person, i will spend this most important evening at 1401 Pennsylvania ave, a mere two blocks from the white house.

i'm so full of hope (thanks to record turnouts, which is nearly always good for dems) that the occupant of that famous address is about to be homeless.

the next time i write to you, the world might be a radically different and better place. :)

"And you'll think love is to pray"

but i'm sorry i DO pray that way...if it means he gets better. and for the rest of you who ride...please be careful. :(

Marc Almond, the flamboyant front man with the band Soft Cell, best known for the Eighties hit Tainted Love, was in intensive care yesterday after suffering severe head injuries in a motorcycle crash.

Almond, 48, who was a passenger on a black Suzuki, was thrown off when it was in collision with a car near St Paul's Cathedral on Sunday afternoon.

Doctors had to perform emergency surgery on the singer, who has sold more than 10 million albums during his 24-year career.

Officials at the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, east London, said his condition had slightly improved to "critical but stable".

lest you need a primer on why this bothered me so:

Almond, an art student, formed Soft Cell with the musician David Ball in 1980 and a year later struck gold with Tainted Love. The release was Britain's biggest-selling single of the year and the 10th biggest seller in the US. Other hits included Torch, Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye before the band split in 1984.

live DEBATE blogging!

if wonkette can do it, why can't i? ;) i'm just as irrelevant!

.
.
.

abc poll states that it's a dead heat: 48% - 48% with 1% for nader

moderator Bob Schieffer gets to pick topics? hmm. i think i'll shorten him to BS. hee-hee.

K = kerry
B= bush
k re: = k rebuttal to a question posed to bush
b re: = take a wild fucking guess?

kerry is wearing his "lucky red" tie...wait, so is bush? it's red, don't know if it's lucky. i like kerry's better.

and...it begins.

BS: will our grandchildren ever live in a world as safe as the one we grew up in?

K: second sentence and he uses word "regrettably". wow. "are we as safe as we ought to be" is a good phrase, bringin up lack of port safety also smart. lack of cargo hold x-ray issue also good. " will hunt them down, will kill them, capture them" roosevelt, reagan, kennedy invoked...bringin out the BIG guns aren't we?

B: "3/4 of al qaeda brought to justice" THAT'S A LIE. shameless use of a 19-year old woman voting first in afghan election...."nuisance" quote comes up w/i first few sentences, natch. must reinforce the million commercials the RNC's put out...he's proud of signing homeland sec, says K voted against it, neglects to mention that HE was against it initially, too.

K rebuts: "outsourced the job (of catching bin laden) to afghan warlords"...brought up the six month difference in bush's opinion on catching bin laden, good to point out shrub's flip-flop on most important subject.

B re: says K's response contains "one of those exaggerations" ha. you did say it, shrub. you liar.

BS: flu season suddenly upon us, suddenly we find ourselves with a severe shortage of flu vaccine, how did that happen?

B: english company had contaminated vaccine. we're working w/canada? since when? calls on young healthy americans to forgo flu shots. damn, yo. i've forgone it for years. do i get a cookie? "we have a problem with litigation in the US..." THIS is why we went to britain?? he brings up legal reform, nice sly dig against edwards. meh.

K rebuts: (bush's rxns on split-screen WAY MORE CONTROLLED...rove must be yanking strings tightly!) Kerry keeps focus local, talks about Arizonans w/o health insurance, refers to other swing states. (STILL no scowls from Bush!) Kerry says larger issue is that we don't cover americans, not litigation. Kerry is using Bill Clinton's positive thumb's up gesture.

B re: "a plan is not a litany of complaints"...accuses K of empty promise, bait and switch by offering similar plan congress uses...says it would cost trillions, is bad...

K re: "interesting, president used that plan for seniors"...good calling him out, JK.

BS: how can you or