Friday, August 11, 2006

  Posted by Picasa
 
that's Ralph Nader behind me! Posted by Picasa
 
next up to meet the man of the hour Posted by Picasa
 
I thought I had seen everything in DC, but this new World War II memorial was a treat -- especially on a gorgeous, sun-filled day. Posted by Picasa
 
flips get some acknowledgement for their support during the war  Posted by Picasa
 
women, too!  Posted by Picasa
 
 Posted by Picasa
the perfect way to spend my last morning in the MD/DC area... at the golf course!
 
an Ethiopian family style meal in DC Posted by Picasa
 
chicagobob swings Posted by Picasa
 
k and m Posted by Picasa
 
bob with a rollingstone friend of his and k's Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

beautifully stated

V sent this my way... Thanks, chica!

Every good thought you're thinking is contributing to the rest of your life.

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.


~ Eddie Wilson ~

Saturday, August 05, 2006

everyone's a star

For sh*ts and giggles, I've been playing with the face recognition software here. Upload a pic and see which celebrity you look like!

a couple of desperate housewives?

young ingenues... friggin' hilarious!

Friday, August 04, 2006

love like we do

Edie Brickell reunited with the New Bohemians last week at Central Park SummerStage. Wonders upon wonders, she's still around. In turn, this reminds me of EyeballKid and SGHS... Good times, good yet angst-filled times [sigh].

Two of my favorite song lyrics below... one is downright depressing and the other is a happy, happy tune!
-------------------------
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
Circle

Me, I'm a part of your circle of friends
and we notice you don't come around
Me, I think it all depends
on you touching ground with us.
But, I quit. I give up.
Nothing's good enough for anybody else
it seems.
And I quit. I give up.
Nothing's good enough for anybody else
it seems.

And being alone
is the best way to be.
When I'm by myself it's
the best way to be.
When I'm all alone it's
the best way to be.
When I'm by myself
nobody else can say goodbye.

Everything is temporary anyway.
When the streets are wet --
the color slip into the sky.
But I don't know why that means you and I are
- that means you and....
I quit -- I give up.
Nothin's good enough for anybody else it seems.
But I quit. I give up.
Nothing's good enough for anybody else it seems.

And being alone
is the best way to be.
When I'm by myself it's
the best way to be.
When I'm all alone it's
the best way to be.
When I'm by myself
nobody else can say...

Me, I'm a part of your circle of friends
and we notice you don't come around.

Halalalalalala

-----------------------------
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
Love Like We Do

Life is better than the days behind. What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine. No aggravation that we can't get through. A situation for the lucky few. And every day is just a little more of time together to be happy for. I'm happy even when the times are rough. Cause any time with you is good enough when we love like we do. I don't believe in hatred anymore. I hate to think of how it felt before when anger overwhelms your very soul. It's hard to realize you'll ever know love like we do.

----------------------------
Man, we were such saps way back when! (Okay, who am I kidding? I'm still a sap.)

joy

"Joy is a more powerful motivator than fear."
--Dr. Dean Ornish, founder, Preventative Medicine Research Institute

Monday, July 31, 2006

rare

"Opportunity is rare, and a wise man will never let it go by him."
--Bayard Taylor

it's in the blood...

Okay, to divert from the horoscopes, here's another "telling" feature... blood type. This is courtesy of a good friend who happens to also be my holistic health counselor... I happen to be blood type B positive (cute, no?).

Type B - Balanced
nomad, flexible, creative

Strength: strong immune system, versatile adaptation to changes in diet and environment, strong nervous system, tolerates chaos

Weakness: no natural weaknesses, tendency toward auto-immune breakdowns and rare viruses

Finding out more in tonight's session!

Saturday, July 29, 2006

man, i do a lot of posts that involve horoscopes

... and for someone that claims that it's something that my mom got me into and it's an effect of growing up in Southern California (as is tarot card and tea leaf reading - which I haven't been into since the 90's), it's a strange habit that I check the L.A. Times site every day.

Anyhow, lately, I've been really putting a lot of pressure on myself, and in turn, I've been freaking out a bit. Yes, it could be due to new job jitters and an extensive case of PMS, but I've been a bit more neurotic lately. You see, I've been doing pretty well so far in the month or so of starting the new gig, and seemingly out of nowhere, I've been getting some exposure that I wasn't expecting to get so quickly. My friends seem to say that it's a fantastic opportunity, that this is a good thing. But part of me is petrified.

So going back to why I started this post about horoscopes, there was an item in today's L.A. Times, and it offered this advice to a Capricorn that went through a similar path:

"While I believe I have developed a higher level of maturity this past year, my 20s have seemed like a roller-coaster ride. I often have trouble maintaining commitments (friendships, occupations, education, intimate relationships, etc.) because I get bored easily and want to try new things. I'm truly having fun with life, but I'm missing a sense of security in it."

This is the response, which seems to make sense:

What you're up against now, dear Cappy, is called "Dilettantism." Definition: One who pursues things superficially or for amusement only. Dabbler. Amateur. It's a symptom Capricorns often have, quite frankly, because they can. They're so capable in so many areas that it's easy to claim boredom -- everyone will believe them. To get out of this vicious state (it robs you of any real satisfaction), the remedy is to commit yourself to one goal and don't stop until you have it. For any reason. At all. Recognize that boredom is really your fear of failing, succeeding or changing -- and your unwillingness to try.

I'm really trying to create a healthy balance, meaningful, successful and steady without compromising a sense of personal growth, adventure and fun. I joke around that I'm having a sense of deja vu - flashbacks of how I felt when I first moved to the City over 13 years ago - a lot of excitement, anticipation and the overwhelming sense of purpose and opportunity abound. I've actually been waking up from dreams involving folks whom I was involved with in my 20s, which more than likely has nothing to do with how I felt/feel about the individuals themselves, but it's been a common occurrence this summer [the dreams]. And they are dreams, not nightmares. I'm just hoping that now that I'm a little older and seasoned, that I don't end up making the same mistakes because if I did, the consequences would seem to be much more severe.

Monday, July 17, 2006

the san fernando valley? hip? like, totally!

From the Sunday NY Times...

NEW YORK TIMES
July 16, 2006
By MARC WEINGARTEN

Surfacing
The San Fernando Valley? Hip? Like, Totally!

THE San Fernando Valley has always gotten a bad rap. For years, it has been associated with two dubious cultural phenomena: Valley Girls and pornography. But just as the city of Los Angeles has undergone a process of rediscovery in long-neglected regions like the downtown area, so this suburban outpost across the Santa Monica mountains has also experienced an image makeover.

“A lot of people move from West Hollywood to the Valley when they have kids,” said Mark Frauenfelder, a Valley resident who co-founded the Web site www.boingboing.net. “They still want to go out at night, but they want to stay closer to home, instead of driving over the hill and wasting a half hour of precious babysitter time.”

The velvet rope has come to the Valley in a big way, especially on Ventura Boulevard, around the Studio City-Sherman Oaks corridor, where bar-hopping on foot is possible.

With its Plexiglas barstools and padded white leather walls, Clear (11916 Ventura Boulevard, 818-980-4811) is the Valley’s take on sleek Euro-chic. A rotating cast of D.J.’s spin dance music Tuesday through Sunday, but Saturday is when you might see some single men ogling micro-skirted passers-by, their sunglasses hiding their furtive glances.

A few feet away from Clear is Sapphire (11938 Ventura Boulevard, 818-506-0777), a bar with a clubby, English drawing-room atmosphere — brown leather banquettes, tan wood paneling, low light from table lamps. Sapphire, whose owners also run Daddy’s, an equally dim establishment in Hollywood, was once a well-kept secret. But it’s now a wildly popular after-dinner destination, with the line snaking down Ventura Boulevard on Saturday nights. Best to get there when the bar opens at 7 every night and stake your claim to a seat early.

A short walk east on Ventura Boulevard from Sapphire on a weekend night will land you at an unmarked building with a bouncer in front. This would be Firefly (11720 Ventura Boulevard, 818-762-1833), a restaurant that shares Sapphire’s fusty Anglo décor but also serves entrees like foil-wrapped monkfish ($24) and roasted Muscovy duck breast ($26) in an airy outdoor seating area. The objective for many here is to hang out at the bar first and then pick someone up before dessert arrives.

Several other fine restaurants have opened in recent years. La Loggia, the Studio City Italian restaurant, has opened Next Door Tapas Bar (11814 Ventura Boulevard, 818-985-9222), an intimate space with an extensive Spanish wine list and tantalizing items like lamb stew with couscous ($8) and steak fries with aioli dipping sauce ($4). For heartier fare, there’s the Boneyard Bistro (13539 Ventura Boulevard, 818-906-7427), a barbecue joint that doesn’t scrimp on big slabs of red meat, but also throws in a few curve balls, such as deep-fried macaroni and cheese ($6 for a large portion) and smoked-duck spring rolls ($11).

The Valley is getting downright cosmopolitan, but it’s unlikely the region will ever completely morph into a hip haven. You can still hit the great Dupars coffee shop (12036 Ventura Boulevard, 818-766-4437) for the best pancakes in town, while old-school waitresses feed your caffeine fix and call you “darlin” as they slip you the check. It seems as if urbanity will always rub up against the quaint here.

Link: http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/travel/16surface.html?8td&emc=td

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

more on this later...

"Happiness is not perfected until it is shared."
-Jane Porter

Thursday, July 06, 2006

tapestry

"We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something."

--Sandra Day O'Connor, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Friday, June 30, 2006

happy anniversary to me

13 years in the NYC... woo hoo!

Friday, June 23, 2006

beauty of the good

"Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson, American author, poet and philosopher

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

a new start

First day at a new job today... Couldn't get much sleep last night (not sure if it's the heat and humidity or the anxiety of the unknown!). Looking forward to getting back to the daily grind (although thankful for the lol time).

Saw this quote and thought that it be appropo:

"Time does not change us. It just unfolds us."

--Max Frisch, architect, playwright and novelist

Thursday, June 15, 2006

DC follies

Spent the day in DC today, had a Ralph Nader sighting, and got to shake hands with Al Gore... woo hoo! I immediately called my dad (who's a hardcore, Fox Channel-loving Republican) to break the news and had a good giggle with him. I'm a little bummed, however, that there were no run-ins with Barack Obama (oh well!). Pics to be posted at the end of this week.

Walked around the nation's capital, did some shopping, and headed back to my friends' place in Bethesda, MD. We're going to the theater tonight, and an 8am tee time is set for tomorrow at a golf course.

Only a few more days of leisure left... Trying to make the most of it!

Sunday, June 11, 2006

maybe being a lol ain't so bad...

The "lady of leisure" thing isn't so bad... This is the most relaxed and happy I've been in quite some time...

Yet another action-packed weekend surrounded by good friends... Friday, as you can see in my previous post, was Girls Nite (including me breaking a heel while running in the pouring rain and seeking sanctuary at Mercury Bar). Saturday started off with brunch in Union Square with the Family Fernandez and Lisa Marie, followed by the sole "touristy" request to visit Ground Zero and hang out in Battery City Park, capped off with an afternoon disco nap, dinner (again) at Paprika, then Boys then Girls Nite... Sunday, we hung out in Apt 4 - I made breakfast for the crew while we watched my Netflix'd "Almost Famous" dvd. Later, Michael and I dropped Lisa off at the airport and made our way to Long Island for Augie's 30th bday lunch which was hosted by his family [which in turn made me miss mine :-( ]. Afterwards, I picked up V and had an impromptu trip to our mecca--- the Westchester Mall. Luckily, we made it back to NYC in the nick of time to catch the premiere of "Entourage". One more week to chill till it's back to the daily grind.

Here are some random pics from the weekend. Enjoy!

if you were lying on your back in the cubbyhole, this is what you'd see...

all about augie


bros


eliot and amy

meet the parents

nancy and augie


the wolf


darth miggy

lisa marie and me

with a pair of bday boys



the boys

Saturday, June 10, 2006

girls nite

One of my lifelong friends from back home, Lisa, is in town this weekend for a visit, so I thought it'd be a nifty idea to get her together with some of my best NYC friends...

the valley girl and the jersey bitch

sumo and chett

sio, me, and lisa marie

me and sumo

the group @ uncle nick's ouzaria, home of the flaming cheese

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

this is the yankees-red sox...

E-MAIL FROM MY EX-ROOMIE, V:

Lynn, WHAT A GAME! Not only did the Sox's best pitcher get yanked by the 3rd inning, we beat them by 9 runs. Love it! Our friend caught a foul ball and took out a Red Sox fan in the process. Now the only thing about the game that wasn't cool was that Tami isn't as fun going to a game with because she's anti-participating in talking trash. I was sitting in an area that had lots of Sox fans and of course I was joining in the revelry. Remember, these fans are on my turf! But she told me that I was being loud and obnoxious and would cause a fight and "can't we just sit and enjoy the game?" To which I replied, "This is the Yankees - RedSox, if I wanted to sit quietly with my hands folded the whole time, I would've gone to church." I just can't go to a game and be quiet - it's not real tradition then. But the game was still a blast!!!!

Go Yankees! Dude, my friend's hardcore... Gotta love it.

lady of leisure

Well, not exactly. I don't think I do the "lady of leisure" thing well.... Pretty pathetic, actually. Knowing me, I'll finally start to relax when it's too late - namely, the day before I start my new job. Luckily, I've put together a list of projects to tide me over until Lisa arrives on Friday for a weekend visit.