Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
WKND = :) :) :) :)
This weekend was a real stand out. Erin picked me up from work Friday evening. We went out to a nice Restaurant Week dinner. We ate too much and got tummy aches, but it was fun.
Then we headed to the American Museum of Natural History for the Cool Kids/Kid Sister show. It was a fun, alternative (if impractical) venue for a show. It looked like the prom scene in She's All That.
The Cool Kids were really awesome. Kid Sister was less awesome, but then it got good again when KANYE WEST CAME OUT (onto the stage, not out of the closet lolz!! (everyone knows))!! He was wearing a floor length mink (everyone knows)!!! He short.
Anyway, it was really exciting. There was lots of dancing and screaming which was just what I needed after a long day at the office, y'know?
Here's my new fave The Cool Kids song.
Download: Gold And A Pager MP3
Saturday I just could not get up! Erin let me sleep in because she's such an awesome girlfriend. We got bagels at Terrace Bagel and then went to see How She Move. The answer? AWESOMELY! It wasn't as good as Stomp The Yard, but still enjoyable! Then Erin blew tons of $$$ at Brooklyn Industries.
We stopped by Lady Bird Bakery to get a cake from Girlfriendit'slibby. She's the nicest friend of mine who works in a bakery in history (sorry Sam)! Thanks Girlfriend!
After a little respite at my "crib," we headed to Manhattan for the long awaited THE CHAIN'S 2007 SECRET SANTA EXCHANGE. There was tons of food, expertly prepared by Jess and Jeff (who politely made himself scarce) including: goat cheese toasties, brussels sprouts, salad, and a baked rigatoni thing with cheese and chicken sausage. Delicious! Paul made pulled pork which was tasty and impressive.
There were some hold-over 2006 gifts that were finally given to their rightful owners. Jess gave Matt the sheets promised to him. Ben gave Jamaal a Madvillain figure and a hoodie with an Aquateen terrorist bomber on it.
The 2007 gifts unfolded thusly:
Matt gave me Stomp The Yard, Material Girls and some temporary eagle tattoos. There was a mystery swap gift Matt gave me the option of trading Material Girls out for. I stuck with Duff after seeing what it was.
I gave Zach a Mary Cassatt Book.
Zach gave Ben a Glengary Glen Ross pillow case and Love & Pop
Ben gave Jess three big bags of Swedish Fish, a Uniqlo t-shirt, and an animation OF HER!!!!!
Jess gave Gretchen a blue silk scarf and a knit black hat.
Gretchen gave Jamaal a signed copy of Anthony Bourdain's book The Nasty Bits and a Uniqlo t-shirt with a fuzzy felt monster on it.
Jamaal gave Matt some LED lights to put around his work station when he's up late animating. Apparently they also play music and junk.
Paul gave Erin a combo soup and sandwich plate (which was a thing they'd previously discussed).
Erin gave Paul a salad chopper device like from an infomercial and a wacky t-shirt that was born from the Internet.
GREAT WORK EVERYONE!!! Other highlights included a pack of military porn playing cards, boys singing into ersatz microphones (wooden spoons, paper towel stands, etc), Erin spilling copious amounts of wine because of her reckless gesticulating, the hilarious message I thought of to write on the cake, and Zach squeezing my head a bunch of times.
Thanks for opening your pretty apartment to us, Jess. UR SO BRAVE.
Sunday we went to brunch at Hope and Anchor. It was delicious as always. I had a lamb burger. Erin sped home with dozens of bagels for Kathy leaving me with great memories, a full heart and a blanket with a pack of wolves on it. THIS IS WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF!!
Sunday night I bought a ton of socks at Filene's and went to see the Romanian abortion movie. It was really great and sad, but mostly just disturbing and thought-provoking. Also I liked how it used the vernacular of new wave (like fixed cameras and zooms and stuff). Very refreshing!
I wish it was still this weekend because working sucks and I don't want to do it anymore and I just want to have fun with my friends ALL THE TIME and also give/get presents and eat food. :( :( :( :( :(
Then we headed to the American Museum of Natural History for the Cool Kids/Kid Sister show. It was a fun, alternative (if impractical) venue for a show. It looked like the prom scene in She's All That.
The Cool Kids were really awesome. Kid Sister was less awesome, but then it got good again when KANYE WEST CAME OUT (onto the stage, not out of the closet lolz!! (everyone knows))!! He was wearing a floor length mink (everyone knows)!!! He short.
Anyway, it was really exciting. There was lots of dancing and screaming which was just what I needed after a long day at the office, y'know?
Here's my new fave The Cool Kids song.
Download: Gold And A Pager MP3
Saturday I just could not get up! Erin let me sleep in because she's such an awesome girlfriend. We got bagels at Terrace Bagel and then went to see How She Move. The answer? AWESOMELY! It wasn't as good as Stomp The Yard, but still enjoyable! Then Erin blew tons of $$$ at Brooklyn Industries.
We stopped by Lady Bird Bakery to get a cake from Girlfriendit'slibby. She's the nicest friend of mine who works in a bakery in history (sorry Sam)! Thanks Girlfriend!
After a little respite at my "crib," we headed to Manhattan for the long awaited THE CHAIN'S 2007 SECRET SANTA EXCHANGE. There was tons of food, expertly prepared by Jess and Jeff (who politely made himself scarce) including: goat cheese toasties, brussels sprouts, salad, and a baked rigatoni thing with cheese and chicken sausage. Delicious! Paul made pulled pork which was tasty and impressive.
There were some hold-over 2006 gifts that were finally given to their rightful owners. Jess gave Matt the sheets promised to him. Ben gave Jamaal a Madvillain figure and a hoodie with an Aquateen terrorist bomber on it.
The 2007 gifts unfolded thusly:
Matt gave me Stomp The Yard, Material Girls and some temporary eagle tattoos. There was a mystery swap gift Matt gave me the option of trading Material Girls out for. I stuck with Duff after seeing what it was.
I gave Zach a Mary Cassatt Book.
Zach gave Ben a Glengary Glen Ross pillow case and Love & Pop
Ben gave Jess three big bags of Swedish Fish, a Uniqlo t-shirt, and an animation OF HER!!!!!
Jess gave Gretchen a blue silk scarf and a knit black hat.
Gretchen gave Jamaal a signed copy of Anthony Bourdain's book The Nasty Bits and a Uniqlo t-shirt with a fuzzy felt monster on it.
Jamaal gave Matt some LED lights to put around his work station when he's up late animating. Apparently they also play music and junk.
Paul gave Erin a combo soup and sandwich plate (which was a thing they'd previously discussed).
Erin gave Paul a salad chopper device like from an infomercial and a wacky t-shirt that was born from the Internet.
GREAT WORK EVERYONE!!! Other highlights included a pack of military porn playing cards, boys singing into ersatz microphones (wooden spoons, paper towel stands, etc), Erin spilling copious amounts of wine because of her reckless gesticulating, the hilarious message I thought of to write on the cake, and Zach squeezing my head a bunch of times.
Thanks for opening your pretty apartment to us, Jess. UR SO BRAVE.
Sunday we went to brunch at Hope and Anchor. It was delicious as always. I had a lamb burger. Erin sped home with dozens of bagels for Kathy leaving me with great memories, a full heart and a blanket with a pack of wolves on it. THIS IS WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF!!
Sunday night I bought a ton of socks at Filene's and went to see the Romanian abortion movie. It was really great and sad, but mostly just disturbing and thought-provoking. Also I liked how it used the vernacular of new wave (like fixed cameras and zooms and stuff). Very refreshing!
I wish it was still this weekend because working sucks and I don't want to do it anymore and I just want to have fun with my friends ALL THE TIME and also give/get presents and eat food. :( :( :( :( :(
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Travelblog: STC goes to CES, part II
It's time to spin the wheel with me, the SPECIAL TRAVEL CORRESPONDENT. I was sent to Las Vegas for work to observe the Consumer Electronics Show. I stayed at the MGM Grand, a giant green hotel and casino at the sourthern end of the Strip. At the MGM, there is a slot machine everywhere a slot machine will fit and some places where it won't (awkwardly placed in the middle of busy hallways, right in front of the front desk, shoved next to the ice machine on the 14th floor). In this, the hotel wasn't any different from any other part of Vegas-- even McCarren Airport, from where I'm writing, is full of dinging, whistling machines.
Along with the slot machines, light shows, girlie shows, indoor smoking, and overpriced drinks, seems to be pretty much the same as every other casino in Vegas. But each of the big ones has a gimick-- the Flamingo is old, the Bellagio is artsy, the Venetian is, well, Venetian. The MGM has a gimick too, which seems to be some half-baked old Hollywood theme, but the only real evidence of this I saw was the giant photo of Cary Grant coyly holding a daisy above my bed. In my mind what really distinguishes the MGM is the family of lions who live in the casino. There is actually a three-story glass-caged lion habitat in between the roulette tables and the "high-end" slot machines ($100 and up only). The lions appear every day from 10 AM to 11 PM. I can't imagine this attracts guests or gamblers, but in Vegas everything that could be noble must be devalued as much as possible. I guess failing to enter the King of the Jungle in this race to the bottom would have been a major oversight.
The first day was mostly taken up by failing to get accostomed to my surroundings and playing with Juliette, who came to visit me from LA. I think I might have wandered off into the desert if she weren't there the first night. Because she was there, I got to cut out on the company party and have dinner with her at the casino. Then we went up to my hotel room, talked about relationships, did the crossword puzzle, and drank ginger ale. Vegas!
Juliette left the next morning and I spent the bulk of the day at the Consumer Electronics Show. There was a lot of walking, a giant, giant conference hall, throngs of jerks in ugly blazers, a million gadgets, and even more people saying the word "gadget." Other than this I have almost no recollection of the show. A lot of the convention was about cell phones-- cell phones that can post video directly to YouTube, cell phones that can project a photo onto a wall, cell phones with buttons that feel really good. In other words, a whole lot of nothing, most of it focused on user generated content. I hate the idea of user generated content (I know I'm blogging, but I'm pretending I'm not); it makes me feel like what's left of our culture is going to collapse and frey. Thanks to these fancy new phones, everyone will stop reading and thinking in favor of watching Internet videos of dogs running into windows. I suppose that's already happened.
Although I can't remember much about it, the conference was exhausting, but that night I had to go out with my company's delegation. We went to a party in the Four Seasons attended by DAVID CARUSO. I excitedly called the delegates attention to the fact that the star of Jade was standing directly behind them, but they promptly decided that he had a disappointing ass and wrote him off. Shortly thereafter, we moved on to the Emeril Lagasse Las Vegas Wine Bar to get smashed on their corporate cards.
So what did I take away from my trip? I learned some new things about slot machines. First, you don't have to pull the lever-- you have the option of pushing a button with a picture of a lever on it if you're too drunk, tired, depressed, or left-handed to muster up the energy reaching to the right of the machine. Second, they don't spit out money anymore; instead, you get a ticket with a bar code, which you redeem at a special ATM. In short, they've managed to identify the only two exciting things about slot machines and remove them. This didn't keep people from staying up all night playing. Seriously-- I walked passed a man at a machine near the elevator Monday night and saw that he was still there when set out for the conference on Tuesday morning. I also learned that there are new uses for cell phones. On the plane back to New York I'll figure out how this is supposed to apply to my work.
Along with the slot machines, light shows, girlie shows, indoor smoking, and overpriced drinks, seems to be pretty much the same as every other casino in Vegas. But each of the big ones has a gimick-- the Flamingo is old, the Bellagio is artsy, the Venetian is, well, Venetian. The MGM has a gimick too, which seems to be some half-baked old Hollywood theme, but the only real evidence of this I saw was the giant photo of Cary Grant coyly holding a daisy above my bed. In my mind what really distinguishes the MGM is the family of lions who live in the casino. There is actually a three-story glass-caged lion habitat in between the roulette tables and the "high-end" slot machines ($100 and up only). The lions appear every day from 10 AM to 11 PM. I can't imagine this attracts guests or gamblers, but in Vegas everything that could be noble must be devalued as much as possible. I guess failing to enter the King of the Jungle in this race to the bottom would have been a major oversight.
The first day was mostly taken up by failing to get accostomed to my surroundings and playing with Juliette, who came to visit me from LA. I think I might have wandered off into the desert if she weren't there the first night. Because she was there, I got to cut out on the company party and have dinner with her at the casino. Then we went up to my hotel room, talked about relationships, did the crossword puzzle, and drank ginger ale. Vegas!
Juliette left the next morning and I spent the bulk of the day at the Consumer Electronics Show. There was a lot of walking, a giant, giant conference hall, throngs of jerks in ugly blazers, a million gadgets, and even more people saying the word "gadget." Other than this I have almost no recollection of the show. A lot of the convention was about cell phones-- cell phones that can post video directly to YouTube, cell phones that can project a photo onto a wall, cell phones with buttons that feel really good. In other words, a whole lot of nothing, most of it focused on user generated content. I hate the idea of user generated content (I know I'm blogging, but I'm pretending I'm not); it makes me feel like what's left of our culture is going to collapse and frey. Thanks to these fancy new phones, everyone will stop reading and thinking in favor of watching Internet videos of dogs running into windows. I suppose that's already happened.
Although I can't remember much about it, the conference was exhausting, but that night I had to go out with my company's delegation. We went to a party in the Four Seasons attended by DAVID CARUSO. I excitedly called the delegates attention to the fact that the star of Jade was standing directly behind them, but they promptly decided that he had a disappointing ass and wrote him off. Shortly thereafter, we moved on to the Emeril Lagasse Las Vegas Wine Bar to get smashed on their corporate cards.
So what did I take away from my trip? I learned some new things about slot machines. First, you don't have to pull the lever-- you have the option of pushing a button with a picture of a lever on it if you're too drunk, tired, depressed, or left-handed to muster up the energy reaching to the right of the machine. Second, they don't spit out money anymore; instead, you get a ticket with a bar code, which you redeem at a special ATM. In short, they've managed to identify the only two exciting things about slot machines and remove them. This didn't keep people from staying up all night playing. Seriously-- I walked passed a man at a machine near the elevator Monday night and saw that he was still there when set out for the conference on Tuesday morning. I also learned that there are new uses for cell phones. On the plane back to New York I'll figure out how this is supposed to apply to my work.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Travelblog: STC goes to CES, part I
I've been begging people to guest travelblog on Machine Dot Girltron since its inception. SPECIAL TRAVEL CORRESPONDENT finally acquiesced. Here's the first of several posts to come from CES in Las Vegas.
8:18 AM
STC: first live blog entry:
i'm in kennedy airport
STC: it's like they just remembered they had this place and decided to open it up, but forgot to clean it
STC: horrifying
also
8:19 AM
the internet connection barely works
STC: and star jones is appearing on the today show as an expert witness re: britney spears
me: oh wow
STC: i am one of a hundred thousand young executive assholes dicking around this airport, waiting to go to the consumer electronics show
me: i bet
STC: as always, i look the shabbiest by far.
me: aka the best!
8:20 AM
STC: but even this early, there have been pluses:
1) they had sharffen berger chocolate at the gate
2) the car took atlantic avenue all the way down to jfk, which was pretty interesting
8:21 AM
2b) on the ride down, we drove past saumel underberg hardware, which is heavily featured in the fortress of solitude-- that was cool
3) i made it here in time
i wish i had pictures for you but i just don't
me: it's ok. i can google some stuff
STC: fun!
yes!
yes!
me: COLLAB
ORA
SHUN
STC: here's some more stuff if you're going to do an image search
i ate a stale, chewy bagel
8:22 AM
STC: the coffee area looked like it had pretty much returned to a state of nature-- there was milk and coffee and creamer everywhere.
awful, just awful
me: oh yikes
STC: shnikes
me: i don't live in beirut for a reason, naaahmean?
STC: I LIVE IN AMERICAN GOD DAMN IT
8:23 AM
"you server yourself coffee," the coffee cashier said
"I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AMERICA," i said
me: yeah that doesn't sit well with me AT ALL
STC: etc etc etc
i leave it up to you to edit all of this
blogster
blogmistress
BLOGGETTTTT
not atall
8:24 AM
okay
it's time for me to go to nashvegas
ooh
me: ok have a great fun time!
laugh as much as you can!
8:18 AM
STC: first live blog entry:
i'm in kennedy airport
STC: it's like they just remembered they had this place and decided to open it up, but forgot to clean it
STC: horrifying
also
8:19 AM
the internet connection barely works
STC: and star jones is appearing on the today show as an expert witness re: britney spears
me: oh wow
STC: i am one of a hundred thousand young executive assholes dicking around this airport, waiting to go to the consumer electronics show
me: i bet
STC: as always, i look the shabbiest by far.
me: aka the best!
8:20 AM
STC: but even this early, there have been pluses:
1) they had sharffen berger chocolate at the gate
2) the car took atlantic avenue all the way down to jfk, which was pretty interesting
8:21 AM
2b) on the ride down, we drove past saumel underberg hardware, which is heavily featured in the fortress of solitude-- that was cool
3) i made it here in time
i wish i had pictures for you but i just don't
me: it's ok. i can google some stuff
STC: fun!
yes!
yes!
me: COLLAB
ORA
SHUN
STC: here's some more stuff if you're going to do an image search
i ate a stale, chewy bagel
8:22 AM
STC: the coffee area looked like it had pretty much returned to a state of nature-- there was milk and coffee and creamer everywhere.
awful, just awful
me: oh yikes
STC: shnikes
me: i don't live in beirut for a reason, naaahmean?
STC: I LIVE IN AMERICAN GOD DAMN IT
8:23 AM
"you server yourself coffee," the coffee cashier said
"I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AMERICA," i said
me: yeah that doesn't sit well with me AT ALL
STC: etc etc etc
i leave it up to you to edit all of this
blogster
blogmistress
BLOGGETTTTT
not atall
8:24 AM
okay
it's time for me to go to nashvegas
ooh
me: ok have a great fun time!
laugh as much as you can!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Some Exciting Things
1. The space heater I bought last night made my room the toastiest little hot box ever. Oh it's a little loud, but it just really warmed me up!
2. OBAMA!! It's just really exciting and he's such a fantastic dazzling orator! And he's such a futzing fox!
3. A very delicious drink is passion fruit juice and gin.
4. It's going to get warmer this weekend.
5. The holidays are over which is actually something to be :( about. Here are some highlights.
a) Snugget and Vanessa's holiday party
b) Christmas Eve dinner (Mom and Dad looking fantastic)
c) New Year's Eve
2. OBAMA!! It's just really exciting and he's such a fantastic dazzling orator! And he's such a futzing fox!
3. A very delicious drink is passion fruit juice and gin.
4. It's going to get warmer this weekend.
5. The holidays are over which is actually something to be :( about. Here are some highlights.
a) Snugget and Vanessa's holiday party
b) Christmas Eve dinner (Mom and Dad looking fantastic)
c) New Year's Eve
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