Wednesday, August 30, 2006

An Open Letter to the Guys Who Run Without Shirts

Dear Mr. Suburban Man,

Please stop running around the neighborhood without wearing a shirt. I understand your desire to not be fat. However, one thing you missed while becoming inspired when watching that commercial with "Times They Are A Changin'", was that the guy had a shirt on while running down the street.

I like running on the paths in the "woods" near my house. It is distracting to be nearing the end and having to notice your man boobs bouncing. Not to mention your hairy back glistening in the sun when you're running in front of me.

Yes, I know I could turn away, or not look in front of me, or run faster so I don't have to see you at all. But, that is a difficult task. It's a hell of a lot more difficult than you just wearing a shirt when you walk out your door.

So, please, for the comfort of others, cover it up. Bob Dylan will thank you, and so will I.

Sincerely,

That girl who's always making the weird face at you when you're running without wearing a shirt

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Tag, I'm It

This is Paige's idea....

Four Things About Me

Things you may not have known about me.....

A) Four jobs I have had:

1. Jean folder at the Gap
2. Barista and maker of sandwiches at Donna's
3. Thrift store vintage clothes sorter extraordinaire
4. Teaching kids about the Chesapeake Bay aboard a sailboat

B) Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. American Beauty
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. The Big Lebowski
4. The Royal Tennenbaums

C ) Four Places I have Lived:
1. Baltimore, MD
2. Pylesville, MD
3. Huntingdon, PA
4. Columbia, MD

D) Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Lost
2. Project Runway
3. Everyday Italian
4. The Colbert Report

E) Four places I have been on vacation:
1. London, England
2. The Entire United States (cross country driving trip)
3. Dubin, Ireland
4. Ottowa, Canada

F) Websites I visit daily:
1. pitchforkmedia
2. myspace
3. mcsweeney's
4. perez hilton

G) Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pizza
2. queso and chips at Cal Tort
3. Whole wheat pasta
4. Cheese

H) Four places I would like to be right now:

1. Home
2. Sitting on my parents' front porch
3. London
4. Chicago


I) Tag your next

1.Jennine
2.Jen
3.Chris
4.Jenny Penny

Monday, August 21, 2006

Upcoming Films

I have a lot of time on my hands today, so I thought I'd make a list of upcoming films I'd like to see. I know I won't get to all of them in the theater, but here they are, nevertheless.

Half Nelson opens soon in B'more. It looks good.

I'm super excited about the upcoming Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D! With the glasses and everything!

There's a new Michel Gondry movie coming out called The Science of Sleep. I really didn't like Being John Malcovich or Adaptation. But I loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you haven't seen this movie, take of work early and rent it. You won't be sorry. You can watch the preview for The Science of Sleep here.

I don't know how I feel about a fiction version of the non-fiction book, Fast Food Nation. I've really liked some of Richard Linklater's movies though. (But not the freakishly animated ones. They scare me)

I really think this will be one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time.

The Prestige is written and directed by the same guy who won me over when I saw Memento. Plus, Christian Bale is in it and I've thought he was cute ever since he was in that crap film, Newsies, in the early 90's. Preview

Hollywoodland is brought to you by the same dudes who did L.A. Confidential, which I loved.

Stranger than Fiction is Will Farrel's first non-naked (hopefully) role. I think this may be a sleeper.

p.s. Movie guys - Stop ruining all the things I loved in the 80's. This makes me sad.

Fortunes

I stole a bunch of fortune cookies when I ate lunch at my favorite American Chinese food restaurant, and here's what they said:

"You and your spouse will be happy in your life together"

"You will be advanced socially, without any special effort"

"Nothing can keep you from reaching your goals"

"You will live long and enjoy life"

"You or a close friend will be married within a year"

"Your ability for accomplishment will follow with success"

"An important business venture may soon develop for you"

"You are headed in the right direction. Thrust your instincts"

"Share your abundant humor with others"

As you can see, I really like fortune cookies. More for the cookie, than the fortune. It bothers me that they don't put periods at the end of the fortunes, but they put them in the middle.

I can only hope that the stuff about business means that people will actually buy the stuff I make, when I get around to putting things for sale in my internet store.

Fortunes in general scare me though because of this episode of the Twilight Zone I saw as a little girl where the guy goes to a Chinese restaurant and his fortune comes true. But, then he gets greedy and keeps going back. And at the end of the episode, it says "You will die soon". It really scared the crap out of me. Still does.

Everyone Else Is Doing It

This weekend, I went to see the number one movie in America. That movie?

Snakes on a Plane

Was it terrible? Yes. Was it devoid of any sort of script writing? Almost. (that one line was great, but came a little late in the film, as far I was concerned)

Was it entertaining?

hell yes.

Should you go to see it?

If you have a gift certificate or a free pass, I would go. If you have to pay with your own hard earned cash, wait until DVD.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Little Miss Sunshine

My husband and I decided to go out on a date this weekend to see the film, Little Miss Sunshine.

It was really sweet, and one of my favorite kinds of films, where it's just people living their lives.

Parts of it reminded me of the Big Lebowski, as their van was in various states of disrepair in the movie. That was one of my favorite overall parts of the movie.

I don't want to give too much of the non-plot away, but you should all go to see it. I laughed so hard in some parts, I had to run to the bathroom when it was over to make sure my mascara hadn't run all down my face.

Who's Your Pick For Project Runway?

I am typically not a fan of reality television. But, my friend Louella in Chicago suggested that I give this show a shot last season. Now, I am hooked. I am also finding out that as I discuss this show in bars with my friends, that the people around us start talking about it too. So, who are your picks?

So far, mine are Michael and Kayne. I was hoping that the 3rd finalist would be Allison, but she was kicked off last night. So, she's "out".

I am also hoping that bare chested Laura and insane Vincent get kicked off as soon as possible. Not to mention the ever annoying Angela.

Am I the only person who saw Laura's nipple getting crushed by her dress as she yelled at Vincent last night? It was gross.

Friday, August 11, 2006

The Worst Baked Good I've Ever Tasted

A few weeks ago, my friend and I went to see Sleater-Kinney at the 930 Club. I was excited because in addition to the usual visits to Ben's Chili Bowl and The Saloon, we were going to venture to Cake Love's Cafe to get cupcakes.

The guy who owns Cake Love is the same guy who hosts the show, Sugar Rush, on the Food Network. One would assume a person would have to show a certain apptitude for making cakes and sugary treats if you have your own show travelling the country, tasting other people's concoctions, and talking about them. I'm convinced now that the Food Network people who gave this guy his own show were drunk on absinthe at the time.

My friend and I ventured 20 blocks in the blistering heat on a Tuesday to buy some cupcakes from Cake Love (their cafe is called Love Cafe). I decided to order two cupcakes (because who can eat just one?). I purchased a vanilla on vanilla and a strawberry on choclate.

My friend and I both ate our vanilla on vanilla cupcakes about 5 minutes after leaving the store. They ask that you let the cakes come to room temperature, since they have to keep them refrigerated. Upon first bite, I noticed that there was hardly any icing at all on the cupcake, and the cake was a bit tough. Still, it wasn't the worst thing I've ever eaten. But definitely not worth the $3.30 it cost to buy the damn thing.

I carried my cupcake in it's cute little box to Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner as I was saving the Strawberry on Choclate for dessert. All of the workers in the Chili Bowl kept asking me for my cupcake. I considered just letting them have it, because I was full from chili cheese fries. But, I didn't.

Our final stop before the show was The Saloon for big German beers. I could no longer wait to eat my cupcake and took a bite. My first reaction was that it had been previously frozen and not quite thawed properly. My second thought was that when it had been dethawed, it was placed in a very old sneaker. The strawberry buttercream frosting tasted rotten, and the choclate cake was the consistency of dirt. I instantly felt compelled to walk the billion blocks in the insane heat back to the bakery just to take a bite and spit it out on the counter in front of the other customers.

It was terrible. Of course, I made my friend share in my misery and take a bite. He too agreed that it was the worst baked good he'd ever tasted.

I threw away the remainder of the disgusting, overpriced, piece of crap cake. I almost wished I'd handed it over to the workers at Ben's Chili Bowl. But, then they would've thought I didn't like them and spit or pee in my fries the next time I went there. Or worse, banned me from the restaurant for giving them the worst cake ever.

So, don't go to Cake Love, and if you do....consider yourself WARNED!