I am a party machine!

Yes, I am. Check this out. Keep in mind that this all occurred IN ONE WEEKEND. This kind of weekend activity hasn't happened to me since sometime in 2001.

• dancing
  
• karaoke-ing
  
• wine tasting
  

Wow, it doesn't really seem like a lot when you put it in bullet form. I was much more impressed with myself before. And the only other bullet points I can really add are:

• sleeping
  
• eating
  

Um, well, I have pics.

I've decided to write in my blog to stop my incessant snacking.

In a fit of boredom today, I have joined myspace.com. But I don't see the big deal. Been there done that with Friendster. Friendster sucks, by the way. It takes 4-eva to load up.

I've just received "Home Movies" from Netflix and plan to watch it tonight. It was a short-lived animated series on Comedy Central. It's from the producer of "Dr. Katz." Remember that one? I'm a big fan. Loved the son on that show. Subtly hilarious.

I like to drink beer.

Courses 1 and 2: Homemade hummus and Greek salad

The dinner was a success!

I'll be posting pics. He ended up making some pretty good food. And I survived his friends. They weren't all bad, even mildly entertaining. Babies were also in attendance. Being my 30th year in the world, I foresee many more babies at social gatherings in my future. The babies were quite jovial and also mildly entertaining. My favorite dish of the night was the mousaka or however you spell it. It's the artichoke dish. Pretty darn good. The only problem now is the grotesque kitchen he left in his cooking wake. It's bad. And when I say bad, I mean bad. Odd perishable things are strewn around. There's also this intense vanilla aroma everywhere. It gives me odd cravings for muffins and such.

I've written a song.

Ain't nothin goin on
Except this song
Sometimes when I'm bored
I think of a chord
To liven my mood
Woo hoo


Chorus:
Yay for songs
Won't you strum along
And clap your hands
Do a happy dance!


Songs are good
For dancing to
And when you're in the shower
They give you the power
To emote some stuff
While you wash your duff
Woo hoo
Woo hoo

Repeat chorus

Repeat chorus

I can't get this song out of my head.

http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/listenwatch/0,,428686,00.html#artist_name

It's Bright Eyes song "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)." I like it a lot.

Bad angle photography.

I just tried taking pics of myself to post

but they were really unattractive. I'm going to blame it on the angle of the camera. Surely, I look better than what the pictures are showing. Ok, I'll post them. But keep in mind I really don't look like this.

Greekish Olive Oil Cake

I looked up another Greek dessert on the net. I found it on the Food Network's website. If I'm going to make a freaking dessert, it might as well be something I understand and might like. It's an Olive Oil Cake. Is that weird? Oh well. As long as it's Greekish.

My boyfriend has gone manic and is in need of lithium.

So, I'm chillin in my crib last night around 9:30. Sipping some wine mixed with Hawaiian Punch. In my pjs finally. Playing with my iTunes. When suddenly my boyfriend calls to inform me that he's on his way to pick me up for a trip to the grocery store.

Me: No, I'm comfy.
Him: Yes, you have to come.
Me: No, I'm going to bed.
Him: You're not going to come with me?!
Me: What's the big deal?
Him: I'm preparing a dinner for 8-10 friends on Thursday. I'm making a five course Greek dinner.

See, this is what happens when you don't have to be somewhere from 9 to 5 everyday. You go completely insane. Normal people don't just decide to throw dinner parties on a weekday. And, what's up with the Greek theme?? This man has never cooked Greek food in his life. Probably in the midst of some delusional high, he has decided his Greek food extravaganza menu will include:

1. Greek salad
   
2. yuvetsi
   
3. artichoke menaoukos (ok, I made that name up. it has cheese & meat in it, though)
   
4. flaming cheese (but say it in Greek)
   
5. apple puff pastry
   

And he printed the most sketch recipes from the internet. The instructions say things like "Bake at a high temperature." What?! Doesn't that seem a bit vague? Of course, he immediately began cooking at 11 pm last night. I had to sleep in the lounge because he was making so much noise. I think he's going to try and recruit me to make the dessert. Apple puff pastry? The pastry part is scary enough. Nevermind that it's puffy.

Someone give this man a job.

I walked to work in the snow!

True. I passed 3 buses on my way. It's crazy out there. There was actually a kid on his way to school on the bus I finally caught. He was sick with worry. Finally, one woman let him use her cell phone and he called his mommy. Then, another young man got off the bus with the kid to help him catch another bus home. I almost cried with pride at humanity.

Movies and Such

What an uninspiring list of Oscar nominees. "The Aviator??" I actually saw that movie. It's cotton candy. It's fluffy and meatless. All production design. Of course, when trying to think of the pics I would nominate, I draw a blank. Pretty flat year, I guess. I did come up with a few bests, though:

BEST SCREENPLAY
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Garden State
Life Aquatic

BEST ACTOR
Napoleon Dynamite

BEST ACTRESS
Edna 'E' Mode (Incredibles)

BEST MOVIE FOR ALL OF THE WRONG REASONS
Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow

BEST FUCK WITH YOU MOVIE
Closer

BEST LINE
I'm not drinking any fucking merlot! (Sideways)

I don't know if the snow tricked my body into hibernation

but I could eat the world! Yes, the world! Particularly if it consisted of muffins.

Oooooh! I want to eat all of this!! I wish I was wearing my pjs, too. That would be awesome.

Bad DVR. Bad!

I have the worst dvr in the world. It's so bad. Soo bad. I can't fast forward or rewind while I'm watching something it's taped. But, the only shows I'm dvr-ing these days are:

• Arrested Development
  
• Iron Chef America
  
• Celebrity Poker (on Bravo)
  
• Everyday Italian (Food Network)
  
• Barefoot Contessa (Food Network)
  
• 30 Minute Meals (ditto)
  

Who woulda thought I would watch such domestic programming? C'est la vie. I can't help myself. They're just so relaxing.

CARMEN'S RUN

While we were watching the commentary for LOGAN'S RUN last night, my boyfriend had the brilliant idea that I should make CARMEN'S RUN, seeing as how I'm obsessed with turning 30 this year. So, I'm totally excited about this project. But, I have no idea where to begin.

Maybe I could be running.

Ooh, I'll definitely have to wear some cheesy, fab, half-naked futuristic gown!

Makeshift igloo!

SNOW

Lots of it. In my shirt. In my ears. In my eyes. In my shoes. Whipping my face. We actually drove around in it. It felt very adventuresome. And, surprisingly, there were lots of people out and about. Mostly with snow shoes, skis, and sleds. We tried to order a pizza Saturday night, but Domino's closed on us. So we found another one further away that didn't deliver to our area, and we drove to them.

Where in the world is Carmen?

God, I haven't blogged in awhile, have I? I've been preoccupied and antsy, I guess. I got in a fight with my boyfriend. I told him I felt suffocated. Because I tend to from time to time. Maybe it's the whole buying a house thing. But, that's silly. If anything, we'll have more space and be better able to avoid each other. For whatever reason, I require *lots* of personal space. We're made up now. After a few days of passive aggressive maneuvers, of course.

Can you believe he's 30?? Man, oh man.

Happy Birthday, George Michael!

My boyfriend from high school is turning 30 today. He's being all blithe and nonchalant about it. I'm trying to convince him it's a very big deal, but he's obviously in denial.

I'm so distracted.

Distracted. Distracted. Distracted. I have three more hours here.

Did you know Kurosawa attempted suicide?

crazy.

I am going to dinner with my boyfriend's parents tonight.

I will attempt to covertly take pictures of them with my camera phone. They don't understand this new technology. They'll have no idea.

They have begrudgingly accepted me, I think. First of all, I'm not Indian. So, that was the first hurdle. Then, on a trip to Maui with them, I got blotto. And when I say blotto, people, I mean B-L-O-T-T-O. I blame it on the not eating to look good in my bikini-mai tai death combo. I was elated one minute and sobbing the next, then elated again, then sobbing, then elated. Perhaps you recognize this pattern from babies you've played with. Yes, something very similar to that. So, of course they (very rightly) decided I was taking their lovely prodigy son to hell in a handbasket. They wrote him concerned parent letters for months. Anyway, years later, I was invited to the family x-mas again. This time, I ran from the room at the mere mention of alcohol. If I was handed the wine list at dinner, I would javelin throw it away from me. And many other 'I'm very in charge of my alcoholism' gestures. So, now they're in town and I'm going to take pictures of them without their knowledge.

Yay for lunch!

It's lunch time! I can blog with abandon! But, I may be running out of things to say. I don't know, is the minutiae of my life getting repetitive? Is my add diverting my attention? Perhaps blogging is yet another thing I begin with glee and days later wonder 'what is it I'm doing again?' No! I must stick with it.

Prepare to be tantalized with more stuff.

Yesterday, I was focused

with steely determination on my daily tasks. I strode down the hall with conviction. I spoke calmly & confidently to my co-workers. I scheduled meetings with firm resolution. And last night, I cleaned my apartment. I threw away all of my boyfriend's needless printouts. (Thank god he doesn't read this blog or he would kill me.) Additionally, I rented LOGANS RUN and was thrilled with its inane dialogue spoken with such gravitas. Example:

Logan 5: This place is a link to sanctuary isn't it?
Box: Link? Hmmmm...
Logan 5: How do you think we got here?
Box: Same as the others. Don't you remember?
Logan 5: Why do you think we're here?
Box: Why? Why?

Can you imagine? It was one of those so bad it's fabulous movies. And every scene ended in a fade out. They must've just invented it back then or something.

But I have a point. What does this all mean? I'll tell you what it all means. It all means I'm going to be 30. This is something I am not taking lightly. It's going to be a whole new world. In May. I'm looking for signs, for clues as to what this whole new world will be. I'm hoping it has nothing to do with a place called sanctuary, but am intrigued by the chiffon outfits.

This is me and my cousin. Do we look alike? I can't tell you how many people seem to think so. I'm not convinced. For starters, look how much bigger her head is than mine.

I have ants in my pants.

Emotions are so overrated.

This is my mom. What is up with those sunglasses? Is she supposed to be cool? No, mother. No!

Guess what, people.

I reviewed some footage I shot last night. This is major. Dr. Phil must be working. I mean, I think this counts as being productive. Or, at least practically productive. It helped that my boyfriend didn't come home until, geesus I don't even know. I was asleep. Cuz when he's around, he's a perennial distraction. Both his fault and mine.

But when no one's around, well, first I stare into space a lot, then I pick my toenails, then I snap out of it and look around, and my potential creative energy seeps into something that could practically be considered kinetic. Back to the footage. I picked one pan-shot that is quite usable. The rest of it was quite so-so. Video is nothing compared to film. Lighting is going to have to be my concentration point. Maybe I'll carry some flood lights with me everywhere. Or a whole bunch of those clip lights you can buy at home depot. Plus, I worked on a script I started a couple of weeks ago.

The fab aspects regarding my current position.

Free food. Daily.
My computer screen can not be viewed by anyone walking down the hall.
No pressure.

The un-fab aspects regarding my current position:

Trapped in a cube.
8:30 am to 5 pm.
Ennui.

I'm running on pure instinct, people.

Pure instinct.

I'm eating cream cheese with a knife again.

Somehow, I don't think this meshes with my 'looking fabulous' plan.

I saw a movie this weekend!

Yes! I did. It was LIFE AQUATIC. Quite eccentric. My fave character was Willem Dafoe's. He was funny. You know, the movie was different. I can't say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I am a fan of anything that messes with the movie rules of storytelling. I was amused by it more in the beginning, but the buoyancy of it drained me by the end.

I spent the entire weekend in my workout clothes.

Does this mean I'm one step away from becoming a track suit lady? I don't ever want to have to make the vinyl swishing sound.

But, maybe my attire could be considered very casual wear? I'm not the only one who does this, right? My entire generation does this, right? Right? Right?

Oh, man. Ok, new leaf! I will start looking fabulous. Yes, I will devote more than the time it takes to take shower to my appearance. I will blow-dry my hair. Not only that, I will style my hair. I will not wear sweats if I am not jogging. And, when I am wearing a sweatshirt, it will not be 12 sizes too big. My shirts will not have weird stains.

Me at Pho Republique

Kum at Pho Republique

Wait, one more. Here's my b-friend.

This is crazy!

I'm posting on my blog from my apartment! This has never been done before. By me. This is fantastic! We just got our computer back from the computer doctors. We were viciously attacked by viruses after my b-friend decided to check out porn sites while I was away on a family vacation. Fucker. Anyway, he has been properly scolded and has hopefully learned his lesson. Right now I'm killing time while I reload every single freaking song again to my ipod. It's only a mini, so hopefully it won't take the rest of my life.

Eggs: 1

Guess what. I had dinner and a a couple of glasses of wine on Friday. And, Saturday? I went to the gym. But, I do have pics to post from Friday...

I'm planning on drinking beer.

I think that would be a great end of work week thing to do. I'm just killing time now. Hence, the last 2 posts. I truly have nothing to do here in my cube. I will go home and grab some snacks and beer and take a shower and throw caution to the wind. In other words, my boyfriend and I will prob. go have dinner and maybe a couple of glasses of wine.

I'm going to be 30.

Eggs: 2

Guess why.

Chicken thigh.

Guess what.

Chicken butt.

I'm sleepy.

Everybody's working for the weekend

Everybody needs a second chance/Everybody's goin off the deep end/Everybody wants a new romance/You wanna piece of my heart/You better start from the start. I'm going to stop here. 'Start from the start?' Hmmm.

Eggs: 1

So I've perused the movie choices on offer in Boston this weekend. And I have made some decisions. Drum roll. I want to see:

• CLOSER
  
• HOTEL RWANDA
  
• LIFE AQUATIC
  
• MILLION DOLLAR BABY

All guests are more than welcome to praise, slam or comment in any way you see fit my movie choices and, well, anything else at all actually. Anyone? Bueller?

Aaaah, another day.

Eggs: 0

Somehow I am surviving on 5 hours of sleep. I feel perfectly fine. This is nonsensical. I should be grumpy and vexed, but yet I'm happy and perky. I'll probably crash at 10:30 am or something fun like that.

I HAVE NO PLANS FOR THE WEEKEND. Yes, tis true. Maybe I'll sleep? No, I want to do things. I'm thinking I'll go see CLOSER, but that's as far as I've gotten with weekend plans.

Here were the events of my life post-work yesterday:

• pigged out on the leftovers in my fridge
  
• napped
  
• listened to MAMBO KINGS as I walked around my apt. aimlessly
  
• went to the gym (jogged for 3 mi.)
  
• watched RAN
  
• read CONQUEST (non-fiction about the conquest of the Aztecs by Spain)
  
• slept
  

Yup, that's it. I promise I'll try to get more exciting soon.

I've also eaten an egg.

I can't wait to go home.

I'm snacking on cream cheese.

I'm eating it with a knife. There's gotta be something wrong with that.

Evidently, I took a photo on New Years. No recollection of it whatsoever, natch. 

And, this was on the ever jovial bus.

Snow! Everywhere! This was on my walk to the bus stop. 

The morning

My nerves are raw. I woke up at 4:30 am for no discernable reason. So, I laid in bed for hours. Plus I bit my upper lip. Twice. I heard it crunch. It's bulbous now and I have a fish lip. I really should take a picture of it. Nothing like having a blog and a camera phone. I'm unstoppable! As a matter of fact, many pics were taken this morning which I will post verry soon.

Back to Dr. Phil. I read it to my boyfriend last night over dinner. We're both on the program now. We are our own life managers. We will be assertive, with laser focus and concrete goals. To that end, I've decided to film more things.

It must be done.

Having a blog is fab, fab, fab!

I think. Until I second-guess everything I type. But I won't do that. I'll just spew.

My day was uneventful again. Wait. There was an event. I purchased a book. By Dr. Phil. God, I know. I couldn't help myself, though. I've been reading it for the past couple of days during my lunch break. He's so assertive. And writes in simple sentences. I think this is something I may be able to follow.

Yet just another attempt to make sense of/salvage my life.

Here I am mastering Bop It!, a game for 6-12 year olds. 

Biting my nails

Jeesus, I can't stop picking my nails. And, I'll never stop picking my nails. Because I have self-diagnosed add. Has anyone else diagnosed themselves with this? Because I think I really have it.

test

this is a test.