Wednesday, December 21, 2005

i heart new york

so, in case you haven't heard- the transit union workers are on strike. i'm torn- part of me hates this because hello? inconvenience and possible chaos is not that fun- the other part of me is supportive, because it must be kindof a sucky job where you don't get much respect and spend most of your day underground, seeing more rats than sunlight. but then again- most everyone is paying for part of their health insurance in some way or another and no one is getting 6% raises a year. i'm just hoping that this is not long and drawn out because people can't sit at a table and properly negotiate. i hate the mta, as i've posted before, i don't want to hate the transit workers as well- and if this thing goes on much longer its gonna be hard to keep on being sympathetic. and i don't even have it that bad. it takes about an hour to walk to work, which sucks in the freezing cold, but is doable. although yesterday i was exhausted when i got in- walking in the cold, with all the layers and breathing in that cold air, really makes me tired. but i certainly don't have it as bad as most people who live in the boroughs or surrounding area.

kpr drove me to work today, because i am a very lucky girl and we picked up a hitchhiker! sooo exciting. ok- so the guy wasn't a hitchhiker, he was just someone standing on the corner looking for a cab and he looked pretty normal, and non serial killer like (i know, i know, serial killers look just like you and me), so i told kpr we should pick him up. i rolled down my window and asked him where he was going and he said 'grand central' i said 'get in!' it was so weird and random, but seemed perfectly natural. we chatted about the strike, and traffic and such, and then when we got close to grand central he and i hopped out and he insisted on giving kpr a twenty- although it was no skin off our nose- so wine money!! hooray!

so many people are riding bikes, roller blading/skating, walking, carpooling- it's like an environmentalist's dream come true. i know its a huge hassle with all of this going on, but i think it would be interesting if the city passed legislature that limited the number of cars on the road, encouraged people to carpool, especially in midtown. we'll see what comes out of this.

***************************
i was interviewed recently by a writer from the charlotte observer. he read my post regarding us air (they suck monkey balls) last year at christmas time.

names have been changed to protect my identity- teehee! you can go to the actual article here


Never again-- well, at least not for a while
TONY MECIA
tmecia@charlotteobserver.com

Last year, Tanya Churchill, Drew Bendler and divinemissk publicly stated they'd never fly US Airways again.

This year, all three say they're still steamed at the airline for last year's travel fiasco, and that they avoid it when they can. But in 2005, they've all flown US Airways again, or plan to.

Airline experts say they're not surprised, because leisure travelers tend to buy tickets based on price, not service.

"If it's a duck with a chair on its back and it's cheap, they'll take the duck," said aviation consultant Mike Boyd.

Here are the three travelers' stories:

Steve and Tanya Churchill of Holly Springs, outside Raleigh, told the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle they'd never fly US Airways again after the airline lost their luggage for three days -- including a car seat for their 9-month-old daughter.

Tanya Churchill says she threw away the couple's Dividend Miles cards.

This year, though, she booked on US Airways because its tickets to Rochester were $100 cheaper than on rival carriers. She's planning to check as few bags as possible.

"It was either I go US Air, or I don't go," she said.

Mailman Drew Bendler of Pennsauken, N.J., told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last year: "I'm done. I won't fly US Air again." He had waited at the Philadelphia airport from Christmas Eve until 7:30 a.m. Christmas Day to try in vain to find his teenage daughter's luggage.

This year, his daughter is flying in from Missouri on Delta Air Lines, and Bendler says he didn't even look at US Airways' fare.

Earlier this year, he did fly US Airways to Miami on a "quick weekend trip" -- with only a carry-on bag -- but only because his brother made the travel arrangements.

Last year, New York actor divinemissk wrote a blog entry, which recounted her frustrations when the airline canceled three flights to Columbus, Ohio, where her parents live. She says mean employees made her cry at the airport, and she never made it to Ohio, though her bags did.

"i hate them i hate them i hate them," she wrote. Other entries are unprintable in a family newspaper. (this is possibly the greatest quote i could ask for!)

divinemissk, 20something, says she wound up on a US Airways flight to Las Vegas this fall, though, after a previously booked flight on America West was discontinued, and it moved her to one operated by US Airways. She hadn't heard that the airlines had merged, but she says she has no plans to fly the airline again if she can avoid it.

"You lose trust like that, it's hard to gain that back," she said.

**************************
so, apparently, i'm a crybaby (what can i say, airports make me cry), i use language unsuitable for a family paper (yes!), and i'm not very eloquent (see last quote, uggh, please, couldn't i think of anything better to say? gah.). but i'm happy to join the club of people who have been interviewed because of their blog- imagine how blogging has made journalists jobs that much easier. no longer do they have to search for people who have had certain experiences or hold certain opinions- they just have to google the idea and bam! the interview subjects just line up for ya!

Monday, December 05, 2005

ass crack girl

this person lives in our building and has the yappiest little dog on the face of the planet. Now, I love dogs, but this dog is so annoying it makes me want to, well, i don't know, strangle the owner?! the poor dog yaps all day long and cries all night long because ass crack girl (as kpr and i have come to call her, because dude- the two times i have run into her in the hall, i have seen about three inches of her ass crack- ick- also, she's not very attractive- i don't get the whole americas blahblah model thing- maybe whenever i see her she's just really stoned or hung over, i don't know- but even her portfolio isn't that impressive. kpr says that i am just jealous, but really i'm not, i think i'm much cuter than her (also more bitchy!) ). i feel bad for the dog because, hello? it's hard work yapping your trap off all day- but seriously, it is a priveledge to have a dog in our building and don't fuck it up for the rest of us. i have been temped to post a note to her door- but we have two dogs and i'm afraid that one day they will make a lot of noise- even though so far they haven't. thank god we don't live right next door to her or i would seriously consider- well, i don't know what i would do because really its not the dog's fault, it's ass crack girl's fault. don't get a little purse dog if you can't spend all day with it- its not fair to the dog if you are too busy or too stoned to care. grrr!

in other news- today is the five year anniversary of kpr & my first date! we are going to the little italian place where we ate our first meal together and i will order eggplant rigatoni with mozzarella- just like i do everytime we are there- serioulsy, i have never tasted any other entree in the place because the rigatoni is that friggin good! then we will have tiramisu and i will die of happiness. totally off my anti-inflammatory diet- but i don't care! i'll itch away tomorrow, and be all inflamed and stuff.

back to work. ughh.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

in the name of justice and everything

i found myself in an interesting situation this morning. i arrived to work late, after a phone call from my mother held me up a bit, and sitting on my desk was a black shoulder bag with a note attached saying " divinemissk find out whose bag this is and return it." at first i was a little miffed, like, how the hell am i supposed to find out who this belongs too? but that's kindof how i feel when someone asks me to do something "why do i have to do it?" i'm a little whiny, what can i say?

when i got around to going through the bag, i realized that i got to do one of my favorite things, play detective. when i was a kid and i was told to ' go clean your room ' i would do so in a way that i would go through everything as if i were a stranger, say, a police detective looking for clues as to who the person who lived in this room was. ' hmmmm, assorted colored pencils and gold glitter, this girl obviously has a penchant for the arts and loves a little color in her life. ' its funny, i would have used a word in my head like penchant , but really had no idea what the definition was, and don't think i really know what it means nowadays...

anywho- i'd clean up my room and go through each item that i owned one by one and make up little stories about myself and what other people would think about me, judging by what i owned and how i kept my stuff. i liked to consider myself an anthropologist of sorts, although when i was ten years old, i probably didn't know what anthropology was. maybe i was just a romantic?

so, this morning i set about the task of playing detective. i imagined myself a character on 'law and order' looking for clues as to how to find this person and rightfully return their property (ensuring liberty and justice for us all). the first thing i pulled out of the bag was a date book. 'oh, this is going to be too easy.' i thought. but oh-ho-hooo, i turned to the personal information page and found it to be blank. a little more digging was necessary. there were several magazines in the bag and i pulled the first one out. allure , hmmmmm, probably a woman's bag (it was a non descript tote-like thing, a free giveaway from someone's company, so it could have belonged to either sex). the magazine gave off a strong smell of perfume, but there was no address stamp on the front. the next two magazines were the week and did have an address on the front, but they were to a man's office, an attorney who operated on 6th avenue. curious, i didn't think this bag belonged to this man, because although i would think it to be normal to find a few 'men's' magazine's in a woman's bag, i didn't think i would find a perfumey woman's magazine in a man's bag. and i knew that a gay man would carry a better bag! so, i began imagining scenarios like, this woman is getting a divorce and swiped a few magazines from her attorney's waiting room. or she's having an affair with this attorney, and is best friends with his wife and took a few magazines from his office, which she will casually leave around her apartment the next time her friend comes over because she's really a vindictive bitch at heart. you know, things along that line....

so, still thinking that this bag belonged to a woman, i turned back to the address book. i realized now that i would have to go through it a little further, in order to find a name or something. i was a little uncomfortable going through it because, really, i didn't want to find out anything that i didn't want to know about, and the thought of a stranger going through things gives me the shivers (its fine to imagine people going through my things, but in real life, i wouldn't want it to happen). so i turned the pages of the calendar- noticing entries for each day, all in black pen, in a barely legible handwriting. notes to self like ' call dee to confirm ', and ' check with florist .' appointments for the dentist, and reminders of the bergdorf's trunk sale. there were business cards stuffed in pockets haphazardly, magazine clippings; one was on a new knitting kit sold on lafayette street that apparently julia roberts just loves. another was for a sale at ann taylor loft, and another was a recipe for key lime pie. mmmmmmmm, pie! i was hoping to find a receipt or something with a name on it and eventually i did, and the last name was the same as the last name on the magazines, so i figured it was the wife of the lawyer. i then found a print out of an email, with an email address. so i figured i could just email the woman and tell her i had her bag. but that would be too easy! what if she didn't check her email everyday? no, i would have to keep looking. in the name of justice and everything.

i flipped to the front of the address book, and went through the pockets there. a few business cards for kitchen remodeling places (oooooh we had something in common!), some paint chips (pale pink and coral pink- the coral was a little too orange-y for my taste), an old candy wrapper, and then bingo! a blank check . with the name of the lawyer, the name of his wife and their address on east 84th street. i was a little disappointed i didn't have to do any more detective work, but satisfied that the bag would find it's owner again.

i went to yellowpages.com and typed in their name and address and found both his work number and their home number. i called and left a message at their home, " ummm hi, my name is divinemissk, and i work at so and so and i found your bag on my desk this morning, i think my boss left it there, so, yeah, anyway, i have it here and this is my phone number and the address where you can come pick it up. i'll have it locked up by my desk, so you can stop by anytime ."

i hung up with the satisfaction of a job well done. but i knew my job wasn't over, what if she works all day and doesn't get the message until later this evening? would justice truly prevail? or would i just have to call the husband at work and let him know that his wife's bag was safe in my hands?

yes
, i would have to call him at work. i didn't want to bother him exactly, so i decided to leave a message with his assistant or whoever answered the phone. i went through the same schpiel, and as i was hanging up, i realized that by the man's reaction on the other line, it was probably the husband himself and not some young, hot, paralegal, who was working his way through law school at night, while toiling away at the mister's office during the day.

i received a phone call a few minutes ago and it was the wife, asking for divinemissk and then calling me her hero. "well, it wasn't really me , it was my boss really, i just did the detective work."

Friday, November 11, 2005

the engagment story- and then i promise not to be one of those girls who is obsessed with being engaged...

kpr's parents had a 50th wedding anniversary party at a country club last saturday. 11/5/05 is their actual anniversary and they invited everyone they know to celebrate with them. they even invited my parents from ohio and my great aunt from new jersey. it was a lovely event, i wore a purple and black dress that i picked up at angelo lanbrou in the east village, crocheted black tights and black stilettos. it was an afternoon affair, so i wasn't sure if i was overdressed, but kpr's mom was wearing a black cocktail 'number' so i thought that i wouldn't stand out too much. i decided on a faux diamond pendant on a silver chain (something that kpr's mom had given me a while back) and matching earrings that my grandmother gave me that same year. i'm describing what i'm wearing because kpr helped me pick it all out the night before. whenever i get dressed up for something- i always show him what i am considering and like to hear his opinion (for the most part). and its not some fucked up gloria/emilio estefan thing- he doesn't decide what i wear and lay it out on the bed for me- we just don't have a full length mirror, so i need an outside eye. anyway- little did i know the night before that kpr was helping me choose the outfit that i would become engaged in.

and let me explain- i don't want to be one of those girls who becomes obsessed with all things wedding and being engaged. it is important for me to well.... just not obsess- and have that be the only thing i can talk about. i never really thought that kpr and i would ever get married- we've been together five years and i thought we'd end up being one of those couples who just lived together, raised some kids and some dogs, kept a household, but never made it legal. and i was ok with that. i don't need to be married to express my love for him. not that i don't respect marriage- my parents and kpr's parents have been excellent examples of how marriage does work out and it can be a beautiful thing and everything. i just never needed to be married.

but now that we are engaged, i am excited, i have so much to look forward to and i'm happy to be spending the rest of my life with kpr. i think he is the bee's knees.

so we went to this party and his whole family was there. brother, sister-in-law, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins- you get it right? everyone.

they had a cocktail hour where everyone mingled and i was introduced to a lot of older people whose names i am supposed to know but of course i don't, a lot of cousins far removed who talked about kpr when he was little, oh and i happened to reintroduce white wine that day (i'm on an elimination diet) so i was a little buzzed and happy to see my parents and introduce them to all these people i am supposed to know.

kpr's brother comes up to him at one point and hands him a gift-wrapped box and says that this is the gift they are giving mom and dad. kpr hands it off to me and asks me to bring it up to him while he is giving a speech about his parents, right before the toast. i think nothing of it and set the box at my chair and go back to the white wine, er, mingling.

the time comes and everyone sits down and kpr gets up to make his speech. he has been working on it since the night before and i know he is nervous- he starts out with a few jokes and gets people in the spirit. his parents are standing next to him on the dance floor and he's nervously glancing down at his paper as he speaks and addresses the room. it is all very sweet and he's saying such nice things about his folks and their being married for 50 years and how they still love each other and can stand to be in the same room with each other and how they love to travel together and how they've seen more than their share of bad times and a lifetime of good times too. it is very lovely and everyone is smiling and laughing, calling out funny comments and having a good time. he calls me up to hand the gift off to his parents, only he wants me to open it.

it's a small box wrapped in silver and white paper with a silver bow. i take off the bow, rip off the paper and find that the box is from saks 5th avenue. the whole time i am trying to figure out what he and his brother got his parents and how it could fit into such a small box. i open up the saks box and find an even smaller wooden box inside. it looks like a jewelry box, and i'm thinking "What the heck is this?!" and i try to hand the jewelry box off to ken's mom, but he tells me to open it for them (they have drinks in their hand). right before i opened the box, he says, "what can you possibly do for a couple that has been married for fifty years- what kind of gift can you give them?" and as i open the box he says "the gift of starting a marriage of your own" and BOOM! i'm blinded by the light of this dazzling ring that just leaps out at me as i flip open the lid. i froze, i was completely and totally shocked and awed. the whole room was silent for a moment and then PANDAMONIUM! everyone jumps out of their seats and gasps and i even hear someone scream a little bit (probably my mother). i put my hand to my forehead and i start to cry, and i can't look at anyone but kpr. he keeps talking and says that he asked my dad for my hand 20 minutes ago and that he said "Ok!" and that now he is going to get down on one knee and ask me to marry him, which he does. by this point he is crying a little himself and you can just hear everyone in the room sniffling and blowing their noses. my dad gets up on joins me on the dance floor and i give him a big hug and turn back to kpr who is still on one knee and he proposes (honestly i can't remember exactly what he said because of the roaring in my ears from the shock of it all, but it went something like, beautiful person i've ever met, promise to love and take care of you, will you marry me...) my dad told me i should ask him to repeat the question but at that point i'm crying so hard and trying to grab kpr's hand and trying to tell him that he doesn't have to get down on one knee and trying to say "yes" and trying to hear over the roar of the crowd- i don't even know if i ever did say yes- i just hugged him and we cried together and then kpr's mom came up to me with tears running down her face and hugged me and said she was so happy and kpr's dad hugged me and said the same thing and this began the parade of hugs where i hugged every member of his family who were all red faced from the crying and everyone was so emotional and happy and shocked and it was all so amazingly beautiful and my MOTHER i just remember her running up to me with her arms outstretched and i knew she was so happy and i was just crying and crying and it was awesome but exhausting. the dj was playing "all you need is love" in the background which i later learned that kpr had asked him to do and it is truly a moment i will never forget and a moment i wish i could go back to physically, not just in my head, because it was a point in time where i felt like i was truly in the moment, and everything that i was feeling was so immediate and necessary and it is so rare to experience something like that- it truly only comes with feelings of extreme happiness or extreme sorrow and i'm so thankful to have been able to experience something like it

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

changes

we're getting a new dog. her name is bonnie- she's a boston terrier and is supercute. she's going to be champ's little sister and we can't wait to bring her home after thanksgiving. pictures to come.

kpr was promoted at work! hooray! i'm so proud and happy for him.

the kitchen renovation is moving ahead- waiting for the final renderings to be sent and then the cabinets will be made. what are we going to have on the floor you might ask, since that is what comes first- hmmm... don't know about that one yet...

oh and

we're engaged! to be married! oh my god!

Friday, November 04, 2005

BOOKED!

one roundtrip ticket to salvador, brazil- february- C-A-R-N-I-V-A-L!

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

i would like to start over

today is the kindof day where i wish i could just go back to bed, sleep for another 8 hours or so, wake up, and start over again.

first there is this- how many more??

i woke up a little late- it is so dark here in the morning and we turn the heat down at night- so getting out of bed is really a trial. i feed champ- jump in the shower- say goodbye to kpr- get out of the shower- notice two new zits cropping up on face, grrrreat!- do the hair- apply moisturizer, etc... take champ downstairs to let him outside, only to discover that he left a nice little gift at the back door, that thank thee lord i didn't step in. clean it up, flush the toilet- go back to doing hair- agonize over what to wear today-walk around the living room barefoot, looking for shoes- wonder why the carpet is damp- look down to see suspicious little sqirt marks all over the carpet and hardwood floor- find the dog cowering in his crate- yell and scream things like 'what is the matter with you?' as if the dog could understand what i am saying, think to self about what a great parent i will be, if i can't get the dog to piss and shit outside how the hell am i ever going to manage a kid? furiously spray febreeze on the carpet because the pet stain stuff is nowhere to be found- hope that the house doesn't smell like pee and vow to clean carpet with baking soda when return home from work- finish doing hair- run out the door with no makeup on because am running 20 minutes late- wait forever for two trains- get stuck on the local because apparently the express train doesn't exist after 8:30am- rush into work late- forward calls so can run down the bathroom and slap some makeup on face- dammit why is my skin so freaking dry?!!- work till 10:30 then dash out the door- hail a cab- and am off to the big meeting that i refuse to talk about- change from broken down black boots to sexy stilleto heels in car- spend $6 on a cab going 18 blocks(highway robbery)-arrive ridiculously early- futz around the cosi sandwich place for a while- go up to big meeting- frantically checking hair and makeup in the elevator- smile on face- wait ten minutes flipping through old issue of cosmopolitan, wonder if i should try mashing up a mango and spread it all over my body whilst in the shower- big meeting's assistant comes out and tells me that big meeting is out sick today and 'i don't know why he didn't call you to cancel, but i'm very sorry, call tomorrow to reschedule'- smile through teeth- no problem- realize i will have to agonize over yet another outfit for next meeting- walk back into the cold feeling the skin on my face shrivel up into dry little shreds (how much water must i drink?!! gah!)- walk back into cosi, spend $8.50 on a salad with three vegetables and lettuce- switch from sexy stilleto heels to broken down black boots- walk the 18 blocks back to work thinking about the need to ask for more time off and more early mornings and late nights- arrive back to work- type up blog entry only to lose half of it somehow- retype blog entry- run into housekeeper who has made lunch for everyone 'i made lentils for you because you can't have pasta' and think how amazingly sweet that is and then realize that i already spent $8.50 on a freaking salad with nothing in it- and wish i could go back to bed..........

Monday, October 24, 2005

Free this week only

The Green Guide is free this week only. Check it out- it's an awesome resource for anything you ever wanted to know about being environmentaly aware.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

rainy saturday

most people hate when it rains on the weekend. i do too, most of the time. but this morning i woke up and was cheered to hear pitter pattering on the window. a rainy saturday means i have an excuse to sleep in, stay in my pajamas all day and not wash my hair. which is exactly what i did today. kpr got up and tried to convince me that we should go out for breakfast, but i wasn't going for it. he went off for coffee and i snuggled under the covers for a while longer, vaguely hearing him return, take a bath and then a shower, but mostly trying to soak up all that delicious sleep- mmmm there is nothing like sleeping in sleep- that feeling that you don't have to wake up for anything. kpr is an early riser and cannot understand my love of the sleeping in- he usually tries to talk me out of sleeping in by laying on top of me or pulling all the covers off, but i'll do anythign to take in another half hour or so under the covers in dreamland.
when i finally did wake up and went out into the living room i was pleasantly surprised by the fire going in the fireplace. we're lucky enough to have a working fireplace in our apartment and the first fire of the season is very exciting. its been so chilly recently that a duraflame makes all the difference.
i did some laundry and when i went back down to the basement to switch the loads, i discovered that they had finally replaced the old dryers we had, with two not-so-new, but-not-as-old dryers that work remarkably better. Whoever replaced the dryers also moved my load from the washer to the dryer and i got a free dry! score!
i cleaned all of champ's things and got his little sweatshirt, sweater and fleece ready for the cold weather. i also sat down and mended all those things that needed mending, something that i've been meaning to do for quite sometime. oh and two days ago i sent my grandparents some a pack of notecards in the mail with a little note, instead of sending them flowers- another thing i have been meaning to do for a while.
the rest of the day was spent searching for appliances online, which is hard- i think we really just need to go out and look at stuff and have out measurements and budget in mind and know what brands are best and go from there. kpr has his heart set on an aga or wolf stove, but i really don't think we need to spend that kind of money. i want something that is a good brand, will fit out space constraints, is energy star rated and won't break the bank. i talked to frank the cabinet man today and they are coming out to take measurements next saturday.
talked to dad on the phone today and we're all looking forward to going to vegas for thanksgiving. my folks got paul mccartney tix for the friday after thanksgiving for all of us to go together- my parents, my brother and his wife, the newlyweds, kpr and i, my sister and her bf. should be lots of fun and i'll be off my diet by then so hopefully i can eat whatever i want. it's thunder and lightning right now, we just watched the blockbuster 'air force one' and now i have 'close encounters of third kind' on in the background and i'm wondering how i'm going to convince champ to go outside in the rain (he's such a p*ssy about the rain). kpr is snoring away on the living room floor, which explains why he can get up at the butt crack of dawn with no problem- he falls asleep around 8pm each night.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

BLOGIVERSARY

today is my blogiversary! except i don't really count it as a full year, because, hello! i haven't posted in forever and a month.
but today, i felt like posting because i was inspired by my bff's new blog which i haven't read in forever and it felt so good to sit down and read her thoughts and get back to what blogging is, instead of just trying to catch a random entry from my favorite bloggers now and then.
so, i felt like posting and as i went to the old blogger homepage, i thought "didn't i start my blog around this time last year?" and, yes, indeedy! it has been a year since the turkey. i am not one to reflect, i try my hardest to live in the moment and i have shoddy memory as it is, so i don't often have the chance to reflect, but i know that this past year has been an awesome one. i count my blessings everyday and try to be grateful for all that i have. i have love, joy, peace in my mind (for the most part) and some kickass friends. all of whom i've been neglecting lately, but luckily my girls are forgiving.

i've been in new york for 5 years now! new york is such an awesome place to live. i love it i love it and i'm so happy here. i think it is possible to live your whole life here, raise your kids here, everyday has it's moments of discovery and you are constantly being challenged to think differently and problem solve- nothing is easy- but you can get practically anything delivered to your door in about an hour. for a price. it's easy to live organically here. in so many ways. new yorkers are environmentalists, as funny as it sounds, we use less energy, less oil, we don't all have gas guzzling suvs, we exercise more, eat better (local, organic, natural, minimally processed), we recycle, reuse and reduce, we interact in our neighborhoods, we grow things, we believe in different causes, we have good bars, we support our artists, we go on and on like idiots (or maybe that's just me), new york isn't superior, its just a the best place to live, ever.

i will not talk about my job in this post.

i will not talk about an interview i have in a few weeks that i am trying not to be too excited about because, hello? how many times can i get my hopes up?!

i will say that i want to learn how to make borscht.
i want to call my mother more often
i want to send my grandparents flowers
i want to write my thank you cards this week
i want to submit more headshots
i want to be done with the kitchen design and just get it all over with already, but i know we have a long way to go
i want to stop picking up socks
i want to eat chicken soup
i want to go clothes shopping with katrina
i want to get jen that candle for her birthday that m got for me for my birthday because i know she will love it as much as i do
i want to hang things on the walls
i want to mend all the things that have holes in them
i want to have a three year contract on a soap opera
i want our home to be eclectic but put together
i want to put a towel down by the front door to put our wet shoes on
i want to bake something
i want to use nontoxic paint
i want a little sister for champ
i never want to hear the phrase 'so what are you working on now?'
i want a national commercial
i want to be able to pay my dad back
i want to pay kpr more rent
i want to work from home
i want to go back to bed
i want to be happy like this for my whole life
i want everything to be recycled, reduced and reused
i want to go get the composter
i want stock in gaiam
i want to never have to clean the floor again
or the bathroom
i want to know what that brain thing is that i stare at everyday
i want to be able to remember things that i think about so i can blog about them
i want to meet some of the bloggers i've been reading for a while
i want to not think bad things
i want to not be as responsible
i want things to just work out dammit
i want m here in nyc
i want to be less selfish
i want to have a baby, sometime. soon maybe.
i want to eat sugar, wheat, dairy, corn and PIZZA
and a chicken parm panini.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

to be honest, i haven't much felt like posting in a while. well, i haven't really had the time and my motivation has been very low when i do have the time. my job keeps me very busy and i don't dare blog from work. i have rehearsals at night and when i get home its after 11 and the last thing i want to do is get on the computer.

the job is going, well, ok. its a job. i'm an adult, and i'm doing adulty things. i like the goals and objectives of the company, so i go to a place that i feel makes a difference in the city. i can wear jeans to work, which to me, as silly as it sounds, is a +. the people i work with are perfectly nice. that's all i'm going to say.

i'm in rehearsal and i'm kindof ambivilent about the production. i could take it or leave it and sometimes its a pain in the ass to haul myself to rehearsal every night. i think the show will be ok, but nothing to shout from the rooftops about. i like the people i'm working with, but i'm kindof 'eh.' about the whole thing.

i've got to work on my motivation. the things i'm enjoying the most right now are, spending time with kpr, hanging out with champ, going to the dog run, eating yummy food, grabbing drinks with friends. i'm putting very little effort into my career right now even though being at this job has taught me that i don't want to be at jobs like this for the rest of my life. not that its horrible, because its not, its just not what i want to do.

ugh. the good news is that i have found a new accupuncturist who takes my insurance and i can get accupuncture for $30 a session, which rocks. her practice is based in an integrative medical office, so i made an appointment to see one of the doctor's there, as i'm looking for a new pcp as my previous doctor moved upstate and no one in her office takes my insurance.

gah, what a boring post. bleh.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

stream

so much has happened in the last few weeks. i've been cast in a production of 12th night, so've been going to work every day and off to rehearsal at night. i've been driving around new york city like crazy. inever thought i would drive here, and all the sudden i am. i auditioned for a rock musical a few weeks ago. i haven't done a musical audition in years, so i was rather proud of myself that i decided to just go out and do it. i had fun, i did well, i didn't get called back- i don't think i look very jewish and that's what they were looking for. but i'm in another show right now so it doesn't matter.

i've been applying for 'real' jobs recently, as the temp market has seem to have dried up here in the city. i'm pretty choosy about where i want to go. an arts organization or a non-for-profit. i interviewed for a job at a cool non-for-profit company last week and they brought me back in to speak with the head of the company who is a very important lady in the industry. they are pretty hesistant about hiring an actor because it can be very risky for them- i could get a job and have to relocate somewhere the next day. but i think they think i'm the best person for the job because they called me up on monday and offered it to me. nad i am pretty scared to take on a permanant gig. i'm afraid that i will get so wrapped up in what is going on at my day job, that my dream, the reason i moved to new york in the first place, will fall to the wayside. the position is pretty time demanding, and my days will be filled, so no more 'free' time to work on 'me' things like running to auditon sor submitting my headshots and stuff. that will all have to be taken care of on my off time. which is how it should be, i know, but not what i'm used to. but i'm eager to jump into somehting new and the company is pretty awesome and i really believe in what they are doing and they are so progressive and it's a pretty perfect position for the save-the-world part of me. but still, i'm terrified of commiting to something.. what if i don't like it? what if they don't like me? what if the work is too hard and i keep on messing up? what if they hate me and make fun of me behind my back? what if i can't get out to auditions EVER AGAIN?!! so we talked about terms and i said i needed a night to 'sleep on it.' what to do what to do.

also

i'm redesigning our kitchen to be renovated into a 'green kitchen' this is fun and agonizing because i really have no idea what i'm doing and i have to talk to an architect tonight and pretend that i do. i'm so clueless.

also

my very best girlfriend is dating a celebrity and she is in la at this moment spending the month with him. how cool is that?!

also

my other very best girlfriend is going through some amazingly difficult times right now, and i'm so admiring her strength and ability to hold on and not let this send her to a 'bad place.'

i do love me some awesome girlfriends.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

this article breaks my heart in so many different ways and makes me realize how blessed i am to live where i am, no matter what.

Friday, July 15, 2005

pretty please?


pretty please?
Originally uploaded by divinemissk.

well, i've got a lot of time on my hands right now, considering that my temp agency sucks monkey balls and i've only worked one day this week. so i finally sat down and figured out how to add pictures and stuff to this site. now i'm experimenting with flickr, just like all the cool kids! so, indulge me if you will and take a walk around my 'hood with champ. this project is jen's idea (www.jensylvania.com). hopefully she'll have some more walks posted soon!

Thursday, July 14, 2005

what's in your fridge?

today's entry is thanks to my friend the portuguesa nova.
she's running a series of these and here is my contribution.


we live in nyc and our kitchen is very, very small and our fridge is tiny. i had to sit on the oven/countertop in order to take this shot. we're hopefully going to refinance soon and buy ourselve a brand spanking new kitchen! pay no attention to our disgustingly dirty no matter how much i scrub tile floors (which actually don't look half bad in this shot).

what's in it?
top shelf:
a bag of old coffee grounds that should be thrown out; a few coronas from a party over a year ago; ginger ale; trader joe's peanut butter; earth balance spread (no gmos!); butter; nectarines; aloe vera juice; ketchup; milk; juice; filtered h20 in the red pitcher

2nd shelf:
thawed tj's southewestern turkey burgers; buns (ha buns!); tj's soy milk; club soda, tonic, seltzer from a party over ayear ago; tj's green olive tapenade; a bit of nobu soy dressing in a little jar

bottom shelf:
pinot grigio; leftovers; onion in foil; tj's pickles; watermelon

crispers:
baby carrots and an old beet in one and beer from a party over a year ago in another.

the door:
2 buck chuck savignon blanc; lemonaise; tj's garlic olives; various salad dressings; various hot sauces; nobu marinades; just cranberry juice; flax seed oil; bakin soda; 2 jars of capers that probably should be thrown out; various mustards; various jams/fruit butters; 2 different brands of acidophilus; indian condiments; ketchup packets (just in case we run out of the bottled stuff); candex; chili/basil paste.

with all of this stuff, why do we end up ordering in about 4 nights a week?!

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

an experiment in photoblogging

over memeorial day weekend, we took a family vacation to orlando. we spent one very hot and sticky day at sea world.
hot + sticky + fishy smell = fun for the whole family!

here is one of the many 'shamus.' i think this one was called "i'm gonna get all y'all in the front rows soaking wet-mu"

this is a sea horse! a sea horse! can you believe it? doesn't it look like a salad?

here is another picture of another crazy sea horse. totally tubular dude!

awwww look at the purty seal?! don'tcha just wanna eat him up? i mean- ummm- uh- snuggle up with him? yeah, that's totally what i mean.


WE WALKED UNDER THE SHARKS!!!! oooohhh teethy!

kpr bought us all icees ( i had a smoothie). his tongue has been altered to protect his identity.

on a totally unrelated note, here is champ this past winter in his 50-year-old-gay-man-fleece and his doggy booties. alas, champ could not come to orlando with us because he would most certainly pick a fight with a shamu or a big mouse. instead he stayed at home with his best friend rufus, the schnoodle who lives in canada now.

this is what fun looks like bee-yatches!

the end.

Friday, July 08, 2005

london

i had my first taste of independence in the city of london. that sounds strange to say as an american and a native philadelphian, given that our country started with its tugging off the reigns of britain's rule. but that's where i first felt like an adult and knew i could make it on my own.

my senior year of college, i planned my first vacation by myself. i was to fly to london and meet up with a friend who was studying there and stay in her flat for a week while i saw the sights. upon arrival in heathrow, i was perturbed that she wasn't there to meet me, and was greatly alarmed when i rang her up and her flatmate said, "oh, so and so has gone off to greece for a holiday, she left you a note, it says 'kate, i'm sorry. so and so.'"


with friends like these....

so i was stuck in heathrow, had no idea where i was going to sleep that night and how i was going to get there. enter the lovely and helpful people who worked in the tourist office who pointed me in the right direction- taught me how to take the tube to the city and how to get to the apartment of another friend, kat (who wasn't expecting me at all and i had no number to call her just a street address). i eventually arrived at my destination with the help of a few londoners and a very friendly cab driver.

i ended up staying with kat that week and had an amazing time while she was in class during the day. this was the first time i had ever traveled on my own and i reveled in the freedom of being able to decide which museum i was going to next and how long i wanted to spend in notting hill and if i really needed to purchase that harrod's bear. i took plenty of pictures and i was just so impressed with the architecture, the indian food, the kindereggs, the tea, the pubs, the THEATRE!! i was enamored by all things british. i loved every second of my trip and this adventure spurred my enthusiasm for travel. i realized i could get by on my own, survive outside of what is comfortable and chalk up a bunch of amazing experiences at the same time.

since then i've traveled to many different countries and in november, i'll have made it to my fifth continent, but i'll always remember my time in london as what started it all for me.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

sadness

my wonderful, beautiful, inspiring friend mo has decided to pack up her blog and move on down the road. while i am sad not to read her everyday, i understand why she has made this decision and support her on it. she's so darn creative- i have no worries about her future artistic outlets.

here are some of my favorites of hers:

the barking spider, the house of blues, and a heart filled to the rim with good brim love

my hero and eye-liner

spooning

and

kart-wheels

love ya miss mo!

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

i use the word cock a lot in this post

last night as i was finally drifting off to sleep, i felt a little rush of air creep up my back and make a right turn over my shoulder blade. our ceiling fan was on and i assumed this was just small gust of circulating air cooling me as i fell asleep. i thought this until my mind started racing and said, "gee that rush of air felt just like a little bug crawling up my spine." and "hey! since when does wind make a right turn when traveling across your back?!"


that's when i saw a black lump scurrying towards my pillow.


give me credit folks, i did not scream out loud. kpr was tired a trying to fall asleep and i didn't want to give him a heart attack, so i did not scream aloud. but in my head i screamed the scream of blood-curdling horror, a scream that echoes in your mind for days after it is first heard, a scream that almost paralyzed me with fright.


instead of screaming aloud i let out a rather loud "EWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!" and jumped out of bed- throwing the sheets towards the middle of the mattress. kpr jumped out of bed with a half audible "what?" and we looked around for the remote to the fan to turn the overhead light on.


"there was a bug crawling up my back!!" i still was managing not to scream. i was huddled in the corner, shaking a bit and looking around the bed nervously.


'no, you just imagined it." kpr said as he stood on the bed shaking out our sheet and quilt, lifting up each pillow and giving them a shake as well.


part of me wanted to believe that i just imagined it, so we could just go back to bed, but the other part of me knew what i had seen and felt and i knew there was no way i was getting back into that bed until we found the creep crawly thing.

"c'mon, you just imagined it, let's go back to bed i'm exhausted." kpr said, giving the sheet a final shake. a white pipe cleaner popped out of the sheet and bounced on the mattress. 'see, that's all you felt- a pipe cleaner."

"no, what i felt was crawling up my back and it was bla--" just then, something scampered up our wall next to the door.

it was THE LARGEST COCKROACH I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!! now, you might think i am exaggerating because it was late, i was tired, i was scared, but no, seriously this was the largest roach i've ever encountered in my twenty-something years on this earth. it was about the size of my hand with all of my fingers outstretched, the size of a medium sized hamster, if you will. usually when you see them this big, they've crawled out of their fat pad they've been basking away in their whole life, are quite lethargic and on their way to death's door.

not this sucker.

he was quite chipper despite the late hour, paused for a moment, and then continued up our wall at a brisk pace.

the screaming in my head resumed. i started violently shuddering from fear in the corner, and i crouched down looking for something to hand to kpr to fight off this terrible demon. i found my beloved pair of purple slippers and threw one at him saying, "need a shoe or something?"

kpr grabbed a postcard and scraped the largest cockroach i have ever seen in my life onto the floor. i started to scream through my teeth and did a little dance in a circle, trying to keep both feet from touching the floor at the same time. the largest cockroach i have ever seen in my life scurried out of our bedroom and towards the bathroom, i said something like, "don't you fucking let that thing get away or we will have to move because i'll never fall asleep in this house again!!" and kpr brought the beloved purple slipper down with a resounding

"SQUISH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!"

and the largest cockroach i have ever seen in my life was no more. well, that's not true, he was now a gross, puss-y, blob on the bottom of the beloved purple slipper. kpr grabbed some tp and flushed the largest cockroach i have ever seen in my life down the commode, never to be heard from again.

all while this was happening, little champ was luxuriating in his comfy bed, covered by his soft towel that i had placed lovingly over his head only moments before. when the largest cockroach i have ever seen in my life made his way into the hallway, champ bungled his way out of his crate, his towel trailing behind him, still stuck to his torso, his head cocked to one side, eyes imploring, "hey guys, what's going on?" some help he is.

as kpr walked back into the bedroom, he was grinning madly and said "saw that guy in the bathroom this morning, but he got away." my breath was just returning to normal and i said through clenched teeth, "well next time, make sure he doesn't get away, so he doesn't end up in our bed at night."

i don't know how i fell asleep, but i did eventually, and surprisingly, i didn't dream of cockroaches crawling out of the toilet to seek their revenge.

Sunday, June 19, 2005


this is champ champtopherson and he rocks my socks

little over one year ago, i was hiking the great wall of china with my little sis. i'm the one in the green tank. Posted by Hello

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

mice will play

hi there. i'm blog sitting here, go for a glance into my past.
i'm doing a couple of readings this summer.
i'm beaching on the weekends in sea isle city, nj.
i'm playing 'jesse' from saved by the bell in a new (un)musical.
i'm temping at a fancy-schmancy jewlery store that starts with a 'c' and ends in 'artier'.
i'm well.
i hate humidity and so does my hair.
i'm looking forward to my brother's wedding in two weeks.
i'm bridesmaiding.
i'm thinking of making a '100 things about me' list, but i don't know how to make it another page.
i want to start adding photos to this site, but i don't know how to do that either. mo has better capabilities on her posting page than i do. does anyone know how to update their blogger dashboard so you can get text colors and stuff?
help?

i'm enjoying decaf, iced coffee with soy and two sugars.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

ouchies and material things

i had this teddy bear from the day i was born, my godfather, my father's brother, gave him to me at birth. i used to muse that i had him before i was born. i went everywhere with him as a child and as an adult, he was with me in every new 'home' i made, propped up on my pillow. in the excitement of moving to new york city, he was *sob* misplaced (someone stole him, i know it). i wept like my two-year-old self for an hour or more and to this day, i still can't really talk about it. i can still imagine his fur (some of it missing by now), so soft i used to bury my face in his tummy as i sucked my two fingers (no thumbs for me!). the shape of his ears, his nose, his neutral smile- not at all cheesy, but supportive. the wisdom in his eyes, the love in his heart. all the places he had 'surgery', my mom or my neighbor wielding a needle and thread, stitching his wounds.

mom and i were going through old pictures last week and there was one of me and 'mr. bear' as i called him (he never had a formal name- i never had to call for him because he was always there)- i must have been two or three (going to my first day of nursery school in fact) and mom was like 'there's your bear!' and i was like 'i can't talk about it, don't bring it up.' as i held back the tears.

she bought me a replacement bear a few years back, he sits on my bed now, but everytime i look at him, i think of what i've lost and it's silly, i know, but it still aches a bit.

(thanks mo)

Monday, May 16, 2005

monday monday

i'm sitting at a desk on the 28th floor of a building on east 55th st. there is a window to my left and the view, while not the most spectacular i have ever seen, is lovely. i see apartment buildings of all different styles- a hotel directly across the way (i'm assuming its a hotel because there are the same lamps in every window) and some sort of office building with a lovely orange roof and a terrace that the they keep carrying mirrors across- weird.
i'm temping today, and i hope to do so for the next few weeks because i am broke with a capital B. they are ordering sandwiches for everyone for lunch- so i'm saving 6-7 bucks. i ordered grilled veggies on whole grain, just so ya know. it's not a salad but its healthy according to oprah.

my fingernails are too long right now and honestly it is driving me crazy. my nails generally do not grow at all. i bit them for about 12 years and i think i ruined them for life. when i was in middle school i remember staring enviously at this girl named amy. now, i did not like this amy very much- she was snobby, cliquey and always had this 'i'm so bored with you because i'm better than you' look in her eyes. but, she did have the most magnificent fingernails- long, long, long and rock hard- perfect cuticles and nail beds- none of those awful white spots i am always plagued with. she used to taptaptaptap them on everything, and she talked with her hands just to show them off. i would stare at her perfect nails and think, 'dear god, this is the only thing i want, long beautiful fingernails, oh and to win the lottery. if you give me these two things i will be your servant forever.'
i never got the long fingernails and i've yet to win the lottery, so me and god are hardly on speaking terms now.
so, yeah my nails are too long- they are almost over the finger and i can feel them as i type, when i bend my fingers they push into my palm. i know they are all going to break off any second now and if not i will tear them off in frustration. if i had any extra cash i would go out and get a manicure.... ugggghhh- ok, i'm going to try not to think about them anymore.

i have an audition tonight for 'a midsummer night's dream', one of my favorite shakespeares. the part i will be reading for is helena- my favorite. she is scorned by her lover and later on, thanks to some magic potion, is pursued by both of the romantic leads. helena is very tall, so i will be wearing my favorite heels- i just haven't figured out what else i will be wearing. i've brought the play along with me to refresh myself on the scene i'll be reading, but i'm pretty familiar with everything that goes on. i have to remember to warm up my voice and my mouth really well before i go in there. shakespeare is all about the delivery, no stumbling over your words allowed!

Sunday, May 15, 2005

holy crap i'm lazy

i haven't written. i know.
i don't return calls.
i sit on the couch a lot.
i eat.
but my house is clean. my dog is happy (even though he and the rufus both have whooping, i mean, kennel cough)kpr is happy and i'm happy too.
i've gained weight. i have and i know it. i'm t-minus two weeks from going to orlando and sitting around a pool for days on end, so it's nothing but salads for me for a while. i'm even thinking of going out and getting a pilates rope and dvd, because apparently you can get in shape really quickly that way.
you see, this is why i haven't written! i'm totally uggghhh, boring. i just haven't felt like doing anything recently. i'm not depressed though. i've actually felt really, really happy recently. things are good, i'm just friggin lazy.

kpr is off in l.a. on business this week, so i'm on my own. i predict a lot of baths and clay face masks in my future.


i just had some really good reheated mole chicken enchiladas. mmmmmmmm mole! for dinner i'm having a salad. and i'm going to love it!

my sister graduated from college last weekend. my future sister in law had her bridal shower the day before. i've now learned that the best reason to get married is the gifts. holy crap you get a lot of stuff! laura got two, count em, two quesidilla makers! my brother will put good use to both of them i'm sure. they also got a nice set of tv tray tables. i know it was matt who put those on the registery. tv tray tables are so classy! woohoo!

oooh shrek 2 is on hbo right now. i've never managed to watch all of shrek 1 but i'm watching it anyway.

does everyone have a list of hottie po-tah-ties that they would sleep with no matter what their current level of commitment? well here are my top three (i couldn't think of five):
1. brad pitt
2. mark ruffalo
3. angelina jolie

now let me 'splain some things. brad pitt, while cliche, i don't care, i have loved him ever since thelma and louise and come on he is sex-ay. mark ruffalo is totally hot in the film xx/xy - have you seen it? he is h-o-t. and now everything i see him in, i just drool. i loved how he was just a little bit shorter than gwenyth paltrow in that horrid flight attendant movie. gwenyth is such a freaking bean pole, how could he not be shorter than that freak of nature?! (nothing against tall people, i just really don't like the old g.p. c'mon, she's only a celebrity because her dad was a famous producer, her mom is a famous actress, her godfather is steven speilberg and she dated number one on my list. i don't care if she's won an academy award- kate blanchett was so must better in elizabeth than g.p. was in shakepeare in love- that whole movie was based on the brilliant performance of joseph fiennes. joseph fiennes! he's number four on my list. he was so sexy in elizabeth!!)
and even though i'm not a lesbian, i would not kick angelina out of my bed...

making this list was harder than i thought, i started out with five and couldn't come up with that many, and then i couldn't think of four either. so i came up with three and one of them's a woman. where have all the hotties gone? tom cruise is officially off my list after all this nonsense with that wench katie holmes. as if, this relationship is totally a publicity stunt!! she's not even pretty!

i'm curious as to who would be on other people's hottie po-tah-ties lists.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

I'M ALIVE

back from tour

don't feel like a writin'

i have straight hair right now (did you know that it is usually curly?)

i got my new headshots done today

i am sososososososososososooso happy and haven't even seen them yet

maybe i will share them with the internet

my face feels greasy from all the makeup

kpr has a new awesome job

champ and rufus (his schnoodle friend who is staying with us now) are maniacs, schnoodles are freaking loud

plans for upcoming posts:
tally of $$ spent for headshots
the end of violence against women awareness month

champ is snuggling with me and life is fantastic

Saturday, April 09, 2005

cabdrivers, assholes, all of them

the tour this week was rough. we had a lot of driving, people were bitchy, 'tudes were flying and at some times it wasn't pretty- we got a little ugly too. we perform two shows, one on dating violence the other on acquaintance rape. we do the 'ar' play most of the time throughout the 8 weeks, with the 'dv' thrown in only a handful of times. we did 'dv' twice this week and for me, it was very painful that first performance. i literally was about three pages ahead of myself the whole time. i blanked on lines a few times and thankgod my castmates picked up the slack. i've never blanked on lines before, ever, and i was literally thrown for a loop- panic was setting in on my insides while on the outside i was going on with the show, smiling, touching emotions, and going on with the show while my mind was going a little loopy and my hands were sweating like crazy.

we were in maine for most of the week and i've never been in maine before so i was excited. maine is beeee-yeeeewwww-teee-fuuuulll, but somewhat, um, remote? i had a great time in maine, especially when a two hour drive turned into a four hour drive because our mapquest directions said go west when we were indeed supposed to go ummm, yeah, east.

we returned from maine yesterday and today kpr and i went to pa for kpr to buy a new car. he got a fancy schmancy toyota prius. HYBRID BABY!! this car has no, transmission, no keys and no gear shift. it's a little scary in an awesome way and will take some getting used to, but it is a truly awesome car. 60 mpg in the city and 51 on the highway! kpr needs a new car because kpr got a new job! wooohoo! a fun job, that can open a whole world of possibility for him and i'm so proud.

i drove in new york city for the first time today. hence the title. it was exhilarating and made me feel really awake, but i think i would turn into a gigantic stress ball if i had to do it every day.

we're in ma and upstate ny next week and then the week after we're in pa and then that's it. oh i have to start looking for a new gig. fun fun. i get my new headshots done at the end of april and i can't wait!

ok gotta catch up on my favorite blogs now. my favorite friend mo has finallystarted her own site at bestnbeastinme.blogspot.com. check it out beeatches.<

Saturday, March 26, 2005

been sitting as a draft for days, not finished, but i'm posting it anyway

it's saturday morning and kpr let me sleep in while he took champ to the dog run. i made myself a pb&j and had some decaf ginger peach tea for breakfast. when they return, i may make kpr some eggs and turkey bacon if he hasn't already eaten. he probably has because it's eleven thirty and the man likes to eat his breakfast in a timely manner. we only had one show this week so, i temped yesterday at a title insurance agency. no offense to anyone who may work for a title insurance agency, but holy hell, it was borrrrrrrinnnngggg! and they had no internet so i spent the whole day playing solitare and free cell. the good news is that i taught myself how to play free cell, having previously not had the time to sit down and figure it out. how can they expect a temp not to function without internet? the worse thing is that the computer i was sitting at did indeed hace internet access available, except nobody knew the receptionist's password. and she wasn't kind enough to leave it, knowing full well she would be out of the office for good friday. thanks a lot bee-atch. i talked to my good friend jen today and it was so great to hear her voice. she's spending the summer working at the aspen music festival and then is moving to nyc in the fall! woohooo! it is my ultimate goal to get all of my favorite friends to move to the city and hang out with me all the time. it sounds selfish, i know, but really it would be for everyone's own good. i'm watching 'laura croft tomb raider' and so far the only thing i can figure out

Monday, March 21, 2005

happy spring!

today is our champiversary! we gave him a super duper turkey flavored edible nyla bone and he was in doggy heaven. kpr let me clean the goop from his front legs and mouth afterwards. anything to keep my little boy happy. he is now curled up in his ice blue velvet doggie bed dreaming of chasing wild turkeys and licking his best friend rufus' butt.

today i did a bit of spring cleaning. started a few loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen and scrubbed the heck out of the bathroom. scrubbed it with a toothbrush. i got rid of dirt from last century, i'm sure. the bathroom is nice and clean, and i'm nice and dirty and i don't want to take a shower because i don't want to mess up the sparkle of the tub...

Saturday, March 19, 2005

samoa girl scout cookies are the devil and a little piece of heaven all at the same time

i also bought tagalongs.

i got my hair cut today! denis from devachaun was wearing white 'for the first time this winter.' he did a fabulous job, as usual and i left the salon $235 poorer (i had to buy the product as well because it's all natural, smells delicious, and actually works in my hair.)

it is almost our champiversary! march 21st marks one year since we adopted our little boy!

we're going to see 'the ring two' tonight. i hope it's just as scary as the first one. afterwards we're going to our favorite little indian place.

tomorrow is brunch and m&m's house and then hopefully i'll get together with my frined kat- haven't seen her in two and a half months!

a lot of schools are on spring break next week, so we only have one show- i hope to pick up some temp work on the off days because i just went into h&m after i got my hair cut and bought a new outfit. i did get a new skirt, two camis, two pairs of earrings, a brooch, sunglasses, and flip flops- all for under 80 bucks- but i gotta work some more to fill up the old bank account...

ok- off to the movies!

Monday, March 14, 2005

last week i wrote a very long, detailed post describing what my tour is about, how things are going, my feelings about my fellow castmates, what it's like interacting with an audience of college students, how i feel about the subjects of our shows (dating violence, and aquaintence rape), what it is like to be attacked onstage, what living out of a suitcase is like, going from hotel to hotel, vermont after a blizzard. this was a long-assed post and as i was spell checking the computer at the bed and breakfast i was staying at froze and after i spent about five minutes swearing and yelling at the screen and hitting ctrl alt delete, ctrl alt delete, CTRL ALT DELETE!!!, i had to take a deep breath and let go of that post and try not and think about it for the rest of the day.

we had a long week last week. three shows in six days. we drove through a major blizzard and a not so major snowstorm. we had audiences of about fifty, to six. i don't understand why a school would spend all of the money to get us out there and then not advertise the show, and act all surprised when only six students show up and three of them were our student hosts... but hey i get paid either way.

kpr and i had a dinner party on friday night when i got back. we invited over a bunch of friends we hadn't seen in a while. we had people from pennsylvania, argentina, france and israel at our table. kpr cooked everything- mixed green salad, with fresh beets, cherry tomatoes, mango salsa, yummy garlic soup with parmesean cheese and lemon, sauteed shrimp with garlic and tilapia with a ginger lemongrass sauce. it was all delicious and everyone had a great time. saturday was spent inside watching movies and snuggling with champ. we watched super size me and ohmygod i'm never eating mcdonalds again! yuck-fast food gross yuck.

sunday was kpr's nephew's first birthday and we went to nj for the party. kpr did all of our laundry at his parent's house- aren't i a lucky girl?

Saturday, March 05, 2005

a request

please send positive vibes out into the universe for my best friend mo on monday. i'll be doing my damndest and will greatly appreciate any additional feel-good feelings.
thanks

happiness is

eating indian food in your own home with your lover and your dog, all while watching hbo on demand.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

the show

is going well. it's fun being out on the road. we're in boston right now, going to springfield, ma later this afternoon. we're in the smallest ford taurus ever made. there is no room for our luggage, or our legs. but we're hanging in there. there are only four of us in the cast- we have very little props to lug around, but the car is so small!!

the show is getting better everytime we do it- our first audience was at assumption college in worcester,ma. there's nothing like doing a show about date rape in front of a bunch of catholic students...

this is a lousy post, i have no time, and feel rushed. hopefully i'll have time to reflect this weekend when i get home. i miss champ and kpr!!

Thursday, February 24, 2005

i should really post something but i have nothing i feel like writing about

rehearsals have been going well and our first show is on tuesday.

who knows if i'll have access to the 'internets' while on the road, so it may be a while before i'm abe to post and even more sadly, surf the blogosphere.

it's butt freaking cold out today and we're expecting a big snow storm in about 2.5 seconds.

i get to do a bit of stage kissing in the show and i've been crunching on altoids like crazy. it's one thing to subject kpr to my sometimes stanky breath, but really, it's embarrassing to have to make anyone else experience it. oh, and i've been sweating a lot recently? i'm not usually a sweater, but for some reason all of the sudden, i sweat like mad. i use deodorant but not anti-perspirant, because i think anti-perspirant is, well, a little wierd, but maybe i will switch and start using in on my palms too... i feel like i've been ovulating for the last two weeks, ever since i read about natural birth control in my ob/gyn's office. whenever i feel a strange twinge, or feel a little dizzy i think, 'hey, maybe i'm ovulating.'

we're watching a kung fu movie about kung fu soccer and i can't decide if it is brilliantly funny or horribly annoying.

oohh it just started snowing!

Saturday, February 19, 2005

no-who?

we're watching lord of the flies on tv right now and getting ready to meet kpr's brother and his wife for a late dinner. we have reservations at the very chic nobu next door. you might have heard of this place as it is the place to get sushi in manhattan- bennifer 1 used to go there all the time.

oh god listen to me, i just referenced bennifer, ugghhh, i am sooo not cool.

Friday, February 18, 2005

cool

i went in early to rehearal last night to talk to my director and he was totally cool with everything! i was so relieved, because i was stressing out about everything all day, but he was like "divinemissk i really want to work with you and we'll work this out." so we're going to have our final dress rehearsal the day before and we'll have our new york performance later during the tour, which is probably better because we want to have a more polished production for our friends and possible industry.

woohoo! it's all going to work out! i'm sooooo glad!

kpr is still sick and we're both home today watching 'pieces of april.' champ has somehow weaseled his way onto my lap, when he knows he is most definitely not allowed on the couch or the chairs.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

everyone wants a piece of the divinemissk

so, i haven't really worked in a while. i haven't been auditioning or submitting, i've been on a self imposed break, ya know, enjoying time at home, making a little money, traveling a bit and secretly dreading getting myself back out there. so i haven't worked as an actor, but life has been fantastic, really it has.

part of my new year's promise to myself and kpr was that i would get my ass back out there, get back to work, keep my motivation high and really throw myself into being an actor, an artist, again. so i've been auditioning a lot, submitting myself a lot and just making myself aware of what is going on in the industry again.

i had a fabulous audition on saturday. i went in did my monologue, which was actually ok, not fabulous, but not a crash and burn moment. they asked me to stay and gave me some sides to read (sides are part of the script). i love doing cold readings and find that i'm actually better at making spur of the moment decisions instead of having the time to second guess myself. so i came back into the room and i just had a lot of fun with the piece, went a little further with it than i would normally do and i guess they liked what i did because they gave me more stuff to read, in group this time, a scene with three other actors. then they gave me another scene, with two other actors and then finally a scene where it was just me and another actor. it was really fun, i had a great time and i felt really good by the end of the day. the casting director, heather, asked me to come back on tuesday for call backs, and i did and i got a call tuesday night saying they wanted to cast me for the tour, in a role that i really wanted. hooray! right?

yesterday i had to rearrange my life for the next two and a half months. reschedule my trip to brazil (to november), my appointment to get new pictures, my hair appointment (which takes forever to get another appt as denis is in top demand), and drop out of a small production i had commited to at a theatre company i am a part of. the show itself was only for three days and had about five rehearsals, which we hadn't started yet, but i still felt bad having to drop out, ihate backing out of commitments, but this is how things work in this business, stuff comes up and you have to do what is the best for you and for your career, because no one else is going to do it for you. i can't turn down a paying job.

so everything is hunky dory- i go to rehearsal last night, meet my scene partner (they guy who has to, ahem, rape, me onstage, but we'll get to that later) and i feel great, i read the entire script and it's not too bad and life is beautiful, right? right.

this morning i get an email from a friend of kpr's and mine, the guy who set up up actually. he is an excellent actor/writer and has written a script that is going to be produced at a very highly respected uptown theatre company next season. this has been a labor of love of his for over five years now and he wants me to be a part of a scene at a prestigious gala for the highly respected theatre company. hooray! awesome! fantastic! several very well known and very respected actors will be honored at the gala and it's going to be a big deal and something i just can't turn down. the only problem- the gala is the night before i leave on tour- our final dress rehearsal! so what do i do? hmmmmmm blogging about it seems to work.

why is it that i can not work for like, forever, and then i get a little show and then a bigger show and then a big show and they all happen at the same exact time in different places? when it rains it pours, right? why i am complaining about actually having work?

ugghh i hate this feeling.

sick day

kpr is feeling a little sick today- got a bad cough and he says he's all achey. so i'm experimenting a little bit and i made him this (from drweil.com)

Ginger (Zingiber officinale): warming, anti-inflammatory and antinauseant. Gingerroot tea helps relieve head and chest congestion while staving off chills. Grate a one-inch piece of peeled gingerroot. Place it in a pot with two cups of water, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for five minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and simmer one minute more. Remove from heat. Add two tablespoons fresh lemon juice, one or two cloves of mashed garlic and honey to taste. Let cool slightly, and strain if you wish.

so i went ahead and made some of this stuff and let me tell you, it is potent. i can see how the cayenne would help loosen chest congestion though- it's so warming and tingley. hopefully this will help kpr feel better. i just drew him a bath with epsom salts to help with the aches.

anyone want to share their favorite homemade cold remedies?

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

things i have been up to

in free associated list form-

1. thinking about my friend alex who moved to spain and tried to call me over the holidays and i don't have anyway to call her back other than stand on a street corner at a payphone.

2. went to chicago over super bowl weekend to visit my brother for his birthday. we are huge eagles fans and were sorely disappointed by the loss. slippers were thrown at the tv and back doors were furiously slammed. kpr went to the super bowl in jacksonville and sat with the freaking kraft family! sometimes it helps to know the son of the vice president of israel, no?

3. i left my long term temp job two weeks ago, told them i was going to brazil for a while, which isn't exactly untrue. i am going to brazil, just for a week though, and not immediately following this job as i would have them believe. but i am determined to keep up the mysterious persona i had created for myself while there. can we say aloof?!

4. i've been auditioning and submitting myself to castings like crazy. it's funny, i started this blog to chronicle my auditioning experiences and my process. but when it has come down to it, when i come home from an audition, i just don't feel like recounting the crazy/boring/embarrassing/amazing/glorious/humorous/uncomfortable things that go on during an audition. maybe someday.

5. been to the westminster dog show at madison square garden. i worked with the camera crew for the first day and had ringside seats! the second day we had exhibitioner passes and walked all around the floor and backstage. dog show people are, well, i don't want to say crazy, because they are not crazy, but let's put it this way, the film 'best in show' is not really a satire, but more like a reality/expose into the whole dog show world. the best in show competition last night was really exciting and kpr and i drank champagne. i desperately wanted the border collie or the terrier to win, but alas, it was the german shorthaired pointer.

6. booked an appointment to get new headshots done. headshots are the pictures that actors use to send out to casting directors, agents/managers, etc... the ones that i have right now are pretty good, i like them a lot, but it's time for new ones and i'm very excited as the photographer i've chosen is the best in the city, pretty much the best in the industry. i've been to see the dermatologist, the dentist, i'm booking a hair appointment and setting, i'm going to re-bleach my teeth and get a facial, and get my nails done- all in preparation of the photo shoot. i better not freaking break out before the shoot.

7. i've been walking around the apartment carrying champ and telling him "champ, you're my best in show." i don't think he gets it. he's worrying about the back door right now because there is a raw bone out there that our friend d brought over. champ's been at the bone all morning, but keeps wanting to go in and out, in and out and i won't let him bring the bone inside, so he's staring longingly out the glass door at it. mmmmmmm delicious bone.

8. i took that big pile of 'to be filed' that has been piling up for the last year and a half and actually created new files and separated out all the old stuff and now its all neat and pretty. i feel like i did my own episode of clean sweep! except, my trash pile? yeah, ummm, that's still sitting in the middle of the living room....

9. went out to have russian food the other night with m. we had borshdt (sp?), potato dumplings, stuffed peppers and vodka, vodka, vodka. it was so much fun and the food was better than i had while in russia!

10. i booked a tour! for eight weeks, i'll be traveling from maine to virginia to different college campuses in two different shows- one deals with dating violence and the other with date rape. heavy stuff right? i really love the idea of theatre for social change, and this is exactly that. we'll be raising awareness of these issues to all different populations of students- but the script itself isn't preachy or pushy- it's actually funny and touching and meaningful and i think something that your average college student will be able to relate to. i have my first rehearsal tonight and i'll get to meet the rest of the cast! and i get paid!! woohooo!

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

ummmm, yeah, i'm still here

not working at the same job right now, and in the process of looking for a new one- have been kindof avoiding the computer since i usually spend 8 hours a day in front of it. i will be back later to write a proper post and the read about what everyone has been up to for the past week.

Monday, January 31, 2005

crap soup

there is a hale and hearty soup shop in my building where i work. they hand out those little cards where you buy 10 soups get one soup free. i've been diligently visiting this soup shop throughout the winter, slowly but surely building up my soup count. last week, i finally reached my goal! ten soups! holy crap! that's awesome! i get free soup! free soup!! woohoo! i save up to six bucks! rock on! they just did a report on cbs news about soup places in new york with health code violations! my soup place was a featured unsanitary establishement! i've been eating crap soup for the last three months! it's a wonder i'm still alive!

somebody hold me.

Friday, January 28, 2005

i could bite through my bottom lip right now and not even feel it!

i went to the dentist this morning for a regular cleaning and check-up and walked out two hours later, unable to feel the left side of my face. the drool that was running down my cheek immediately froze, because, holy shit! it's fucking cold outside today!

i had one cavity and "what looks like the beginning of another cavity, so make sure you're brushing at a diagonal towards the back of your mouth, ok?" jeeze louise, i've had these teeth for twenty-something years, you think i know how to brush by now.

so the dentist shot me up with some novocaine and goddamn it hurt! i made an embarrassing moan/slash owwwwwwww! sound, because it fucking hurt and the dentist was all like "are you ok?! oh, maybe i should have warmed up the anesthetic because it's really cold." yeah, say that after you shot me up.

so the drilling was pleasant. really it was, after i got over my nausea of seeing and having pieces of my tooth spray all over my face, thank god i couldn't feel anything though. i began to feel a little paranoid after a while because the dentist and her technician were gossiping in mandarin and i couldn't help like feeling like they were talking about me and my stanky breath or something. i have the same problem when i go to get my nails done, although, then i know they're talking about me in mandarin because usually one lady will be brave enough to ask me in english, "why do you keep your nails so short deary?" for the record, my nails refuse to grow at all, but apparently, my teeth love to grow cavities.

i chose to have the white filling because i have enough metal fillings and seriously, i don't believe it's a good idea to have a mouth full of metal. i'd love to one day have the bucks to switch all my metal fillings, anyone got about 10 grand they can spare?

after it was all over, and i was signing my name to the receipt, i was chewing on my lip and realized, hey, i can really chew on my lip! and not even feel it or anything. ohhh that's sooo gross, its like my mouth is stuffed with cotton and lined with gummy worms. and then this strange part of me, deep, deep inside, wanted to just bite through my whole lip, just tear it off completely and see what happened. but then i realized that although i couldn't feel it right now, i would certainly feel it later and i don't think facial disfigurement is good in my line of work...

have a great weekend and stay warm! and if you live somewhere that is warm already? seriously, fuck you. :)

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

just poop already!

we had tons and tons of snow here in nyc this past weekend, as did most of the northeast. kpr and i had a fun weekend, stayed inside all bundled up on saturday, watched senseless movies and episodes of animal precinct on the animal planet. champ is being a big bitch about all this snow and won't go in the backyard anymore, so we have to walk him around and around the neighborhood till he takes his poop. i know we're spoiled because we have a backyard and don't have to deal with this every day, but why can't he learn the sooner he goes, the sooner we get to come in out of the cold? mariana doesn't have to walk her dog but two steps out the front door and he does his business and turns his butt around right back into the building. maybe in time champ will become this wise.

kpr and i had planned a big trip out to trader joes in new jersey on saturday. my mom sent us some gift certificates for the purpose of purchasing very cheap wine. needless to say we didn't make it on saturday because of the blizzard. i've been collecting lists of things people have been telling me to get from trader joes, as i've never been there myself. if you have any suggestions as to what to buy, please share in the comments.

tonight mariana and i are going to see sideways, in honor of the oscar nominations. i'd like to see all the best film nominations and hotel rwanda, before the event, but we'll see if i have the time and money.

hmmmm- this entry is a little blah... oh well.

Friday, January 21, 2005

and now back to our regularly scheduled bullshit

i never do these, but
meme, stolen from robin

What color is most reflective of you? purple. i would do every room in my house in shades of purple if kpr would let me.

How did you get the idea for your journal name? from the film i heart huckabees.

What time were you born? 2:30 in the morning, six weeks early, yo. i find this hugely ironic because the thought of either, a) staying awake till 2:30am, or b) waking up at 2:30am, terrifies me. if i have anything to do with it, i will never see 2:30 in the morning again. also, i'm never, ever early to anything, ever.

What song are you playing now, or wish you were playing? in my head, one of the new u2 songs that i don’t know the name of.

Has the death of a celebrity ever made you cry? Yes, katherine hepburn. i so admire her life and her work. i was really upset when she died.

What color underwear are you wearing? black thong, baby!

Do you want a baby? yes, several

What does your dad do for a living? lives the american dream.

What does your mom do for a living? lives the american dream with my dad and does really important hospice work.

What is your pet's name? champ champtoferson, or any of the following: booger, boog, buddy, tooter, champy, champy champ, champalicious,
booger snot, no!, go pee go pee go pee, go poo go poo GO POO! good boy!

What color are your bedsheets? cream. my bedsheets are the number one reason i am late to work in the morning. they are awesome! so soft and cozy and ohhhhh i want to go to bed right now!

What are the last 3 digits of your phone number? let's just say there's a 384 in there somewhere

What was the last concert you attended? the original divine one. the divine miss m, bette midler.

Who was with you? mariana and it was at radio city music hall, which is such a national treasure.

What was the last movie you saw? finding neverland. it was ok, i felt kindof removed from the whole thing. maybe that's because we were sitting IN THE FIRST ROW!!

Who do you dislike most at this moment? ummm, i can't really think of anyone, but give me a minute.

What food are you craving right now?< anything with dairy, wheat, alcohol or sugar. i'm on an elimination diet for a month. pizza!! wine!! pizza with wine!!

Did you dream last night? i'm not sure, probably

What was the last tv show you watched? wife swap

What is your fave piece of jewelry? i used to have a bunch of green beaded bracelets on my left wrist. i bought them at a street market in Bamako, Mali four and a half years ago and never took them off until they fell off one by one. the last one broke about a month ago and i cried and cried. they were something constant, that had been with me through the last four and a half years. it is sad to look down at my bare wrist now.

What is to the left of you? a water bottle.

What was the last thing you ate? chana masala and basmati rice.

Who is your best friend of the opposite sex? kpr, of course.

Write a song lyric that's in your head

...and i could never take a chance
of losing love to find romance
the mysterious distance
between a man aaaaannnnd a woman

you'll seeeeeee


it's that u2 song i don't know the name of, or many of the lyrics for that matter. it's slowly driving me insane

Who last imed you? kpr

Where is your signifigant other right now? at home with champ. how i wish i were there too

Do you have a crush? yes, on kpr of course! (oh gross, i know)

What is his name? i just told you, and if you weren't paying attention, i'm not gonna tell you again

What shampoo do you use? i don't shampoo my hair. i only use conditioner. i have really dry, naturally curly hair, so shampoo is a no no.

When was the last time you cut your hair? the week after labor day. that reminds me, i have to make my appointment to see dennis soon.

Are you on any meds? sigh. yes.

Do you have a mental disease? no, and even if i did it's none of your damn business.

What shirt are you wearing? it's kindof cranberry colored, 3/4 sleeved, embroidered around the neckline. one of my favs

What time is it? 2:38pm is it time to go home yet?!

What color is your razor? pink

What is your fave frozen treat? cutie sandwichs- made from soy milk and so delicious!

Are you sexy? hell yeah

Whats your favorite shopping store? whole foods

Are you thirsty? yes

Can you imagine yourself ever getting married? sure