My Thanks

* For a network of the smartest, most kick-ass girlfriends a girl could want

* For having a strong, genuine love in my life that I waited a long time to find

* For Papa Christos' babganoush

* For the alleys in downtown LA where anything can be had for under $30

* For my new idea for world domination. Women's Money Monthly.

http://www.papacristo.com/

Watch Out World

I got myself a digital camera

Parts and Parcels

The holidays it seems, are marked by unhappiness as much as by joy in this the "most joyest time of the year". snicker. sneer. Two years in a row now someone I've known has committed suicide. The timing of it all fascinates me--how could you mark your family and your friends and even mere acquaintences with this act for the rest of their lives? But trying to force a rationale onto an irrational act does no one any good. I suppose that even for the best of us, the holidays can be hard to bear. (Hi Mom, yes, still mad. No, not being overly dramatic.) Perhaps its the build up or the expectations or just the hollow chasm of your self-perceived failures lit up by the family christmas tree. (ok, maybe that part was overly dramatic.) Whatever the reason, a fair amount of unhappiness come part and parcel with all that shiny wrapping. So now, in the aftermath, again, I say let's cling to the joy that we find. In our friends and lovers and family and wheezing little dogs because who knows what we will unwrap tomorrow.

And check out what the Nepalese were pissed about back in '03.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3143020.stm

Seven Days and Some Money Matters

We spent seven days deep in the Georgia woods. And I mean deep. An hour's drive to anything deep. Also eerily quiet. So while I love my family, I was elated to be hopping a plane back home to good old Los Angeles. I stopped in the magazine shop at the airport to pick up some reading and was busy looking at finance mags (an odd personal habit) when I noticed it. All magazines that had anything to do with money were in the "men's interest" section!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is it possible that the entire publishing industry thinks that women are not at all concerned with our financial well-being? And then a scarier thought....what if that's true? I know too many fan-tabulous women who are drowning in debt, who aren't saving, who are creating a recipe for financial disaster. So what to do about that? Let's take control of our finances ladies and let's not be quiet about it. Men's interest my foot.

It's That Time

The bags are poorly packed, the taxi is scheduled for 3:15 am and soon enough we'll be squashed like sardines on a plane to the east coast. Jingle jing a ling ling. It's Christmas.

Snow Globes in Belgium

I've sifted through stacks of mail that have been sitting on the table for months, mopped the floors, done the dishes and PAINTED the bookshelves. Why? Because I don't want to pack. I hate packing. I'm terrible at it. How is it that while packing I decide a snow-globe, the sweater I've never once worn and a pair of too-small pants will suddenly be perfect in Beligium?

Credit to whomever took/photoshopped

this oddly perfect illustration for this entry.

The Things I Am Thankful For This Week

* I am done with my Christmas shopping
* Avocados are available all year round in Los Angeles
* Soon, very soon will I get to see my family
* I can leave work knowing that I'm more than halfway through my staggeringly high annual fund goal for the year
* The US delegate to the UN Summit on the environment in Bali was bullied by the delegate from Papua New Guinea into action. Lead or get out of the way indeed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea

Thank you Mr. Meyerowitz

For introducing color as art

What Would Newton Have Made of Caramel?

Last night I made caramel and chocolate apples for the office. Every now and again some strange urge comes over me and I think I'm channeling Martha Stewart. I am not. If this same urge overtakes you, a word of caution. "Simple caramel apples" are not simple. Nor can you "whip them up in half an hour." That said, I felt especially proud today to pass out my treats. Because I made them with my own hands. In only 4 and a half hours. C'est la vie.

One more bit of advice: a quick dip in boiling water will take the wax off of your apples. And this is good because caramel does not adhere to wax. At all.

Shazaam!

Brobdingnagian.

Magritte

I'm Official Now

Our cafeteria is the depository for weird things no one wants, gotten from unbeknownst places one could hardly guess. Put em in a cardboard box, write a sign that says "free for the taking" or something like that and plop them on the communal table and guaranteed, someone will take them home. That's how I picked up a couple of Star Trek soundtracks, on CASSETTE just the other week. Mind you I don't like Star Trek and I don't have a cassette player. But hey, it was free.

Today there was a calendar made somewhere where English is not the primary language spoken. It's made to stand on your desk and when you flip over the months, there's a little sign that says, "I'm out to lunch" or "I'm in a meeting." And then there's the third one:

I'm to an official

The possibilities of what this could mean boggle my mind. Mr. Trotsky (photo) also seems nonplussed. Course, he thought he was an official too.

Diet Schmiet

Is it wrong if every meal I ate today was made up almost entirely of cheese?

The Things I am Thankful for This Week

* My orchid is still alive with no help from me
* Reunions at smokehouses in Koreatown
* That I found an old and much missed friend through this blog.
* I have a puppy. Have I mentioned my puppy? I may have gotten a puppy.
* That A. is finally going to meet my family very soon. It's silly that he hasn't yet.

Cutest damn dog in the world

Not that I'm objective, or anything like that.

100 Percent Responsible

Interesting comment and interesting question.

Are you 100 percent responsible for the interaction between you and another person? Can you be? I think yes, you are. You must be. I am 100% responsible for the peace in my home. So is A. He is also 100% responsible. Why? Because I can 100% make a situation bad, worse, untenable. So then why can I not 100% make it better, peaceful, bicker-free? And why can't he?

I don't mean to say that I am the sole arbitir of moods or peace in my house. That's ridiculous. No one is. But I do say the onus lies on my shoulders, as it lies on every one of us, to remember that how we act affects every moment of our lives. And if we don't want to bicker, if we disengage, if we take it upon ourselves to PERSONALLY put an end to the stupid, then absolutely yes, peace is to be had, however momentarily it may last.

Withering Glances Aside

So my fiance A. and I spent ALL weekend together. This is rare. We generally spend most of one day and part of another but almost never do we hang out together for 48 straight hours. And that is mostly because he works Saturday nights but also partly because we bicker. Nothing big or huge or life shattering, just a little bicker.

But this weekend we didn't. Nada. Nothing. I think because I swore to myself I would try really *really* hard, and I did and we didn't. And that felt awesome. But not a little disheartening because it also made me realize that crap. its all in my hands, isn't it? If I keep my withering glances to myself (and i've got a pretty good witherer if I don't say so myself.) anyway, if i keep the wither to myself, we all get along. we go to sleep all snuggly and then he goes out and buys Sunday breakfast.

Damn it. Now I have to be good.

the things I'm thankful for this week

Cuz its Sunday. And that's what I do on Sunday. Ahem. Starting right now.....

* That I'm going home to see my family for Christmas soon
* Tamales for breakfast on Sunday morning. mmmmm.....good.
* I'm done with my christmas shopping. woohoo!
* That one day pancho will realize that just because his front legs are on the paper, does not mean his bottom is on the paper. sigh.
*Renew pomegranate scrub.