January 23, 2012 0

Ok, I lied before. This is my show.

By in 34 for 34, Current TV show

Perhaps you saw Season 1 of Downton Abbey. If not, stop what you are doing and get on it right now. Season two started two weeks ago. So far, I am caught up. And you can bet your ass I will be cooking, singing, serenading, and massaging feet to get me into any house with a cable TV and a DVR to get me through this season. I dare you to watch this trailer and not want to get with it. I do love a BBC drama. They had a slam dunk with Season 1 and we were so worried Season 2 would not live up to the hype. So far, so good. This makes me want to wear hats and gloves forever.

January 18, 2012 0

Vanilla Ice vs. David Foster Wallace

By in 34 for 34, Cafe Hours, Examine my beliefs

Yesterday, I saw Vanilla Ice. In the flesh. The first way I thought of putting it was “in the ice.” But that isn’t so accurate, as that was not the vibe that I was getting from him. This is mostly because at the time of the viewing, Vanilla Ice was being filmed in Stories Books on Sunset Blvd while pulling a copy of Infinite Jest off the shelf. He considered the book, which had been recommended by another person on camera, and then read a little bit aloud.

I assure you that this was every bit as weird as it sounds.

Having just had lunch with my friend Erin at Masa one block down, I was only prepared to have a cup of coffee and continue talking about writing when we headed into Stories. When my friend Alex informed me of our fellow shopper’s presence, and the fact that we had just missed an acoustic performance of “Ice Ice Baby” in the back garden, I didn’t really know what to say. My friend Erin didn’t buy it at all, snuck down the aisle and saw that Vanilla Ice was right there talking about David Foster Wallace. She had to take a time out on the central bench for a minute.

Just when you think nothing ever happens in this life, it gets weirder than I could have imagined with all my brain cells working on it at the same time.

For some reason, this makes me feel better about the world. When we get stuck in a rut that seems predictable and think that we have seen it all and that very little will change, as I have been feeling lately, circumstances can be kind enough to throw a curve ball. After listening to NPR constantly talk about slow job growth and an increasingly strange GOP primary process, I have needed the curve ball.

Thanks for being there for me, Vanilla Ice. And thank you for being a reader. It made me smile.

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January 3, 2012 6

The slight sluggishness that comes with the first week of January.

By in 34 for 34, Examine my beliefs

We’re here, 2012. It’s happening. There is such a huge fanfare that accompanies the end of each year that, despite my repeated choice to avoid extra fancy dress parties on the holidays, I still feel that January 1st is supposed to bring and entirely new life with it. We somehow expect that in January of a new year all the issues of the past year will melt away, we will follow all of our resolutions and be better, more effective people. Is this reasonable? I did not see 127 Hours, but when I started to think about making resolutions, it was with the same amount of enthusiasm that I am sure James Franco’s character felt when he knew it was time to lose the arm.

What it has repeatedly proved to be is intimidating and somewhat depressing when I find myself wearing the same clothes, thinking the same thoughts and not reclining on the bow of a yacht celebrating the release of my latest hit novel.

So perhaps what we need is an entirely new approach to this New Year’s thing. 2011 brought us occupy Wall Street, expressing genuine dissatisfaction with the way things have been running. I think I might want to occupy New Year’s.

I have written about New Year’s resolutions before. How I think resolutions are nasty things, full of guilt. As a self-professed list addict, it’s been hard to not have a fresh new list in hand this January. Think of the possibilities for a list addict: birthday list and New Year’s list! More things to check off that will make life a different, more shiny experience.

But what is that approach of constant betterment and improvement and change based on the assumption that life is never enough and can always be better means that nothing is every really all that enjoyable in the end.

So, despite the terror that this creates, I will have no resolutions this 2012, save one: get rid of a lot of stuff. I think the amount of stuff in my space is clogging my ability to be fresh and clear and open to new experiences. I want to be able to figure out what I want to do and be right now, not what I think this new item or book or widget will allow me to be.

I think we’re sluggish in January because we are crushed to the ground with the weight of all the expectations of who we’re supposed to be and, presumably, who we aren’t already. Haven’t we missed the boat in assessing who we actually are? What if that person turns out to be exactly what we wanted in the first place.

So… join me! Let’s Occupy New Year’s. No resolutions. Clear out the crap and live lighter and freer. That feels much less sluggish to me.

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December 24, 2011 2

The best gifts of 2011

By in 34 for 34, Examine my beliefs

There are always a lot of “best gift” lists around this time of year. They start a bit earlier on, close to Thanksgiving. But here we are, at the 11th hour, and everyone has committed to the gifts they plan to give tomorrow, or started giving on the 20th.

This made me think about the top 10 gifts I have received from this year, which was quite a challenge in many ways, but was also a huge source of growth and adventure as well.

As I am a fan of lists, I offer you the 2011 top 10 gifts I got this year:

  1. The legality of my apron parking spot, given to me by Los Angeles. No matter that they were the ones who took it away a couple of months before, it was still nice to have it back.
  2. A bottle of beet relish from my friend Amy. She is a preserving genius. I ate it all up and now I need to make more.
  3. A new custom cocktail recipe, made with my homemade bitters, from my friend Ben. I could also count Ben as a gift from one of my jobs this year.
  4. A sewing lesson from Ruth the amazing that has given me the courage to sew without pins or a pattern when the mood hits. This landed me with two skirts I love to wear for the holidays.
  5. A subscription to the site Lynda from my Dad. I have now learned Illustrator and feel creatively pumped up to learn more new software skills to support creative projects.
  6. The fact that my neighbors are still my neighbors. I will count it as a gift that Lu’s threat to move has just been a taunting gift to make me appreciate them even more.
  7. Many many gluten free food option discoveries, including Mariposa bakery’s cinnamon buns and many sources of pizza that weren’t previously available. Even new friends willing to make it!
  8. Amazing friends who don’t tell me to buzz off when I get stressed out and cry in kitchens. They even keep taking my calls!
  9. An email intro to a southern gentleman from my friend Genevieve.
  10. The fact that my brother will always watch dopey movies like Christmas Vacation over the holidays. The best.
I think that remembering all the gifts of the year makes it feel like a win before we even exchange anything else. I have had many reasons to acknowledge that there is a lot to be grateful for recently and I am so happy to have the reminders. Please share what your favorite gifts have been from this year, tangible and otherwise…

December 1, 2011 Off

December and Dealbreakers.

By in 34 for 34, Examine my beliefs

Welcome to December!

I have been one of those people this year who is perpetually saying “Where did this year go?” It felt like so much time evaporated before I was even able to register that yet another month had passed. And here we are, standing on the edge of the end of 2011.

December is the month when I like to look at what I have to show for over the past year. And, at first look, it’s really easy to downplay what that has been like.

I find photography to be the best way for me to remember. When I was going through my photo library to pass along images to family members who generously compile calendars for the rest of us this year, I realized that 2011 was much fuller than I was giving it credit for.

This year, I:

Got hired four times for four very different jobs.

Wrote a novel in 30 days. (and now that it’s over I can write more than just that project!)

Spent a chunk of time in a hospital and got as close to punching death in the face as I would like to need to get again any time soon.

Worked the Emmys Ball.

Photographed on the red carpet.

Met a lot of amazing new people, including my friends’ new baby who has been meeting a lot of new people herself.

Ate haggis.

Learned to make mango pickle the Sean way.

Threw caution to the wind and made several new pieces of clothing without any patterns at all. (Thank you, Ruth!)

Learned that my favorite sport to watch is men’s intramurual ice hockey.

Went to a chessboxing match in black tie attire.

Reaffirmed my lack of golf skills.

Walked away from a couple of situations that really weren’t working for me. This was often terrifying.

Whenever I look back over a large chunk of time, it’s easy to miss the little details. There was a lot more to this year than the things above, but a quick scan of my photo album brought these experiences up quickly. And it reminds me that it’s easy to dismiss a year, even when I’ve done a lot.

So, what about dealbreakers?

I think the other thing that has happened this year is my ability to say no to things that don’t fit. For me or for the other people involved. No always seems like a mean thing to say, or at least we somehow learn that at some point.

But I think some of the most loving things I have said this year have been nos.

And now I get to start thinking about what to say yes to for 2012, and what I want to say yes to for the remainder of 2011.

Sometimes it takes a no to get to a yes.

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