I haven't done one of these Friday Five things in a long time - so here you go:

1. As a child, who was your favorite superhero/heroine? Why?
Trixie Beldon, girl detective. I realized at a pretty young age that Nancy Drew was a bit too perfect – in fact she was downright annoying in her perfect-ness. From there I moved on to Cherry Ames – a nurse/detective. She was more endearing – definitely not perfect – although still very polished and pretty and everybody’s best friend. Then I found Trixie Beldon, a 14-year-old sleuth who was clumsy, frazzled, insecure and shy. I could definitely relate.

2. What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got?
Um, besides the Barbie Dream House (which my mother ended up getting me for my 30th birthday – it’s true, I swear) – I don’t think there’s anything else that I really really wanted but did not get. Sure there were various toys or items of clothing. Oh and of course there’s the pony I never got – but none of my friends got a pony either, it didn’t really sting.

3. What's the furthest from home you've been?
Well, I’ve lived in England – so at the time it was home. Since then, I guess Mexico. Which isn’t very far. I’d really like to remedy this. If anyone wants to donate to the help-rachel-get-far-away-from-home fund, please e-mail me.

4. What's one thing you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet?
Geez – where to start? I’ll just give you a partial list: Guitar. Ballet. Another language (despite three years of Spanish). Painting. Piano. Sewing. Sky-diving. How to be patient.

5. What are your plans for the weekend?
Tonight I have to get my hair cut but after that I’m going to catch the rest of the Kings-Lakers game. Saturday and Sunday I have homework – not sure what we’re doing Saturday night. Sleep will definitely be a big part of the weekend. Maybe laundry. Housecleaning. Very exciting, I know…try not to be jealous.

(p.s. my favorite part of Joe Millionaire last night was when the curly-haired gold digger said - in response to the question 'what would you do with my kind of money' - "oh, I'd like to go to Third World countries and give shots and stuff - because I'm a mercenary like that.'. Truer words were never spoken)

Apparently there's a bit of a ruckus going on down there in the comments section beneath the bit on the new NY Times Arts & Leisure editor - just to let you know (the 'you' in question being everyone) if you read the story on this new editor you'll see that even she admits that she got the job in an unconventional manner. Not through nepotism, mind you, but by asking for it - via e-mail. Damn, I wish I had thought of that.
Anyway ..on to other things. I just found that one of the funniest rock mags IN THE WORLD is online - check out Chunklet online. I don't know why I never looked for them on the Web before. Maybe this is why I am not smart enough to think about e-mailing the NY Times and asking them if I can be their new Arts & Leisure editor.
Anyhoo...School has started up and, aside from all my financial aid worries, seems to be going OK. I'm definitely going to like this only-one-class thing. Though I suppose I shouldn't get too used to as it looks like I'll have to go full-time both semesters next year.
Last night we were supposed to go to the Jonathon Richman show at Old I but Cory hurt his finger at work (really - it's all purple and swollen from where a desk fell on it) and I was tired after class. Doesn't take much these days to get me to stay home and watch bad T.V. like The Bachelorette.
According to my sources, dear Trista is a bit of a case - they supposedly called her 'the Bitchlarette" on the set - and also quite the airhead. In that case, I think they should have just paired her up with old dumb-ass Joe Millionaire...

Ah, my favorite Google for this site in a while:
Sharon Osbourne smack Kelly Osbourne bottom.

Damn straight the girl needs a smackdown....

The New York Times has hired a 27-year-old Harvard Law School dropout as the new editor for its Arts & Leisure section. I am now, officially, old and washed-up.

So I have I mentioned the knitting class I'm taking next month? I'm pretty excited about learning how to knit scarves and booties and blankets and sweaters and cozies and what have you....all of this is of course dependent on whether I have the adequate coordination for such a skill...we shall see...in the meantime, check it out...bad boy Russell Crowe - he who never smiles - is knitting. He looks pained to be doing so...is this picture from a movie or is Russell really handy with the needles? If somebody out there knows, lemme know....


Speaking of celebrities...I can't decide who annoyed me most at the Golden Globes on Sunday.
Was it Renee Zellweger who looked puffy and stoned?

Was it Lara Flynn Boyle who looked like a human bubblegum-flavored Hello Kitty lollipop - and I don't mean that in a good way.

Was it Richard Gere who did that stupid growling thing?

Or was it Sharon Stone who one-upped Julia Roberts shameless 2002 Oscars performance by trying to hog the spotlight from the aforementioned Richard Gere?

Such a toss-up....


In other news, school starts tomorrow. More and more I am leaning towards just one class. I feel like I really need this semester to just balance things out in my life (and the knitting is part of that....). That and the other class that I might or might not take is even more reading/writing heavy than the class I'm already scheduled for. Now that I've figured out it won't mess things up for me too much in regards to financial aid, I think the decision might be made. The trade-off would be that I would go full-time every semester after that...I think I can handle that...of course I say that now, but....

Reason #342 why I will never leave home without my digital camera again:
(as seen on a handwritten cardboard sign taped to the back of a truck on 1-80 on the way to S.F.):
"We just got out of jail so show us your titties".
Damn, another Kodak moment ...gone.

I keep meaning to post these pictures that Bobby took Saturday night at 1020J and the Horse Cow Gallery. The first two pictures are from 1020J where we'd gone to see the Mallrats. Third photo is from outside of the Horse Cow Gallery where we'd gone to see a painting by Kepi. Only we, unfortunately, got there too late. But we did run into Kepi & Roach and ended up talking outside of the Gallery for a little while. So that's what Cory, Roach and I were doing when Bobby took that cool, arty photo (bottom picture)...

Last night we went to Harlow's to see the fabulous Haints and Bobby's supposed to e-mail me some photos from that as well...when he does I'll eventually get around to posting a few of those as well......

oh, and guess what today is? The five-year-anniversary of my first 'date' with Cory. We went to see "Midnight Cowboy" at the Crest and then later I dragged him to the G Street Pub to see Grub Dog & the Amazing Sweethearts....My best memory of the entire night is from when we were watching the band play and I remember looking over at Cory - we were both laughing about something - he had this huge grin on his face. I know that I did too...we were having a great time and I felt totally at ease...So here's to five years and many many more to come.....

Tomorrow is going to be good. I'm going to SF to interview both Trina Robbins and Adrian Tomine. Robbins is a pioneering comic book artist and she's curating a new exhibit on female comic book artists at the Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco. Tomine was born and partially-raised here in Sacto and is the author of the Optic Nerve comic book series. Summer Blonde is his latest book - it features the last four issues of Optic Nerve, including "Bomb Scare" - of which you can find an edited version in The Best American Nonrequired Reading.
I wonder if I should tell Tomine that, in my early 20s, I used to take most of my fashion tips from the young women he featured in his comics? Probably be too weird...

Nine years after her death, an arrest has finally been made in the death of
of Gits singer Mia Zapata

I have other things I want to post but it seems like my get up and go has got up and went....sorry for the bad Aerosmith reference there, but I'm tired and I can't help it.....

So after months and months and months of saying I would do it, I have finally posted both the Paul Westerberg Q &A and the Paul Westerberg story that is in the most recent issue of Pop Culture Press magazine.

Yes, I'm still alive....doing just fine, thank you. Actually I've been on vacation for the last two weeks - and a good thing or else I probably would have gone completely loopy what with the incredibly hectic pace of the holidays. Now it's January and things are finally slowing down and I've got three weeks until school starts again, so who knows, maybe I'll actually update once in a while...maybe....
I haven't decided yet if I'm taking one class or two this semester....the part of me that wants to be done with school in two more years says take two. The part of me that says, eh, what's another semester? says just take one. The upside to only taking one class would be that I'd have more time to do other things that I've been meaning to try out such as crafty-type things such as knitting, plust more exercise including yoga and who knows, maybe even some guitar playing. I'd also like to spend some time with Cory doing artsy-fartsy, smarty-pants stuff like going to museums in SF, etc....
I've already signed up for one class (a Craft of Fiction class) and I'm on a waiting list for a writing workshop. I think I'm going to leave it up to the Scheduling Gods to decide if I'm taking the second class or devoting more time to other endeavors...seems fair enough and I don't have to wrestle with the decision. Either way I'm thinking this semester might be the tiniest bit less stressful (knock on wood) just because even if I do take two classes I won't have a 20-page term paper to deal with ....

...Oops, I just got majorly busted. Cory just called me from work and I picked up the phone and answered "Sacramento B..." Cory says this means I am ready to go back to work, I say not quite - it just means I need to try and cram some more relaxing into my last two-and-a-half days of vacation.....