So, as some of you already know, Cory and I were supposed to go to the Grand Canyon last week, but alas, our cat Sophie became ill right before we were supposed to leave. At first we thought that maybe she was faking it - you know, like kids do when they know their parents are about to leave them with a baby sitter. But, after a 3:30 a.m. emergency trip to the vet (and the bill to back it up), it was confirmed that she had a urinary tract infection. Any thoughts we had secretly harbored about still going were quickly put to rest when we learned that she had to take liquid antibiotics two times a day.
My mom offered to come over and administer the meds and, even though I know that as a nurse she's had to deal with a lot worse, I thought it would be too much to ask.
After all, this is the cat who pees all over you if she even glimpses her cat carrier out of the corner of her eye. In any case, Sophie was acting extra needy and also lethargic...
Soooo... we stayed home...and once we got over the initial disappointment, all was good. (Besides, as many people have pointed out to me, the Grand Canyon isn't going anywhere and why pay all that money right now when I can have all the hot, dry heat I want for free right here in my own front yard!?) So, our vacation has consisted of lots of TV and movies and shopping and reading and just generally hanging out. I could get used to this whole staying-at-home thing. I do think that I missed my calling as a lady of leisure...

Speaking of TV - I have to thank my friend Sandra for turning me on to Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. To be honest, I didn't think I'd like this show but then she made me sit down and watch an episode and I was hooked. It has definitely helped to fill the void in my life since America's Next Top Model finished its season.
I didn't think I'd like this show because I thought it would be rife with gay stereotypes and cliched humor and while, yes, it does pander to a few stereotypes and obvious jokes, the overall tone of this show is so incredibly sweet and fun that I find myself really liking everyone involved. The Fab Five are supportive of and encouraging towards the various good-humored men that they are trying to make over. Of course there are tons of catty jokes but the men they get to participate are obviously comfortable enough with their own sexuality to take it all as good fun. And at the end of each show, when you see the various Fab Fivers rooting and cheering for their charge - well it's enough to bring tears to a straight girl's eye....damn, I want these guys in my life! Come make me over! Come take care of me! Come care about me and root me on and cheer for me!
We could all use such friends.

More TV musings: I am really getting into HBO's Project Greenlight if only because Efram has the freakiest eyebrows this side of a muppet...actually, it's very interesting to watch how two people with massive egos can nearly derail what is supposed to be a team effort. As this article entitled But What I Really Want to Do is Throw Tantrums (requires free registration) from the NY Times points out, watching these two wannabe directing dweebs in action is almost enough to make you root for the big studio bloodsuckers....I'm still hoping that writer Erica Beeney will go Janeane Garafolo on their stupid collective asses.

One last thing before I go broil myself on another 100 degree-plus day: last night I dreamt that Winona Ryder and I were playing Scrabble in her kitchen. During a break she started reading an issue of Dwell magazine and talking about how her 22-year-old poet boyfriend's car got stolen out of her driveway. As she talked I wondered why I'd never noticed her bad teeth before ... they were chipped and stained and jagged.
But she was still cute as hell if she kept her mouth shut...and I guess that's all that counts.

No really, I'm still here...just on a little vacation and such. But coming soon....photos and snarkiness...i promise....

Oh god, too funny - hipster bingo, via my pal Laura by way of the same fine folks who brought you the Guide to Indie Rock Hair...

I think I am ready to burn down LA - The Mooney Suzuki have been abducted by soul-sucking pop aliens...yes, that's right, The Matrix, those slick producers responsible for Avril Lavigne's biggest hits and guilty-as-accused for contributing to the deliquency of Liz Phair, are producing the NYC"s garage band's new Columbia CD....bleccchhhh....this band's Electric Sweat record was one of my 2002 faves....who knows what this new disc will sound like...should I have more faith in my rock'n'roll? Via Glorious Noise.

I am a die-hard, unabashed magazine junkie (don't believe me? The right to purchase as many magazines as I wanted was part of my wedding vows...seriously). So, of course, I'm all over this list of the Top 50 magazines as determined by the National Magazine Awards (via the The Chicago Tribune by way of Rebecca's Pocket).
Interestingly, I only subscribe to three of the top 50 magazines - although I read about 12 of the others regularly (and may soon be adding Wooden Boat and American Bungalow to the rotation).
Overall, though, I subscribe to about 19 magazines, probably buy three to four others each month and also get a few free ones at work.
I've actually cut down on my magazine consumption since I started school last year. No, really...
As it is, here are the magazines I'm currently subscribing to (admitting that I read some of these titles feels like something akin to publishing my true weight) (and hell no I'm not linking to all of them):
Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Newsweek, Utne Reader, Mother Jones, Jane, Marie Claire, Allure, Self, Texas Monthly, Zoetrope, New Yorker, Bust, Bitch, Wired, Lucky, Pop Culture Press, Paper, Real Simple.
I also regularly read (either buying off the newstand, acquiring via work or coming across at home because Cory brings them home from work): Time, Vanity Fair, CMJ, Magnet, Punk Planet, Martha Stewart Living, Esquire, Mojo, Details, US Weekly, People, Shape, Health, Teen People, Seventeen, Radar, Clamor, Fork It, Teen, Hip Mama, McSweeney's, The Believer, Advertising Age, Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times, Glamour, Rolling Stone and Spin.
Of course, this list does not include any of the daily/weekly newspapers that I read or all the magazines / blogs that I read online - or, for that matter, the copies of Vogue, Cosmo and InStyle that I inevitably end up reading when I'm getting my hair done or the tabloids I read in line at the supermarket. (The list also does not include all the books I read for work, school and 'fun' - whatever that is)
No wonder my eyes keep getting worse. I am reading myself into a permanent state of blurred vision.

Oh my, I love Elyse even more now (via the Bust lounge and published before Adrianne won)...can I marry her? Oh wait, I'm already married...

Wow, this is pretty freaking cool - The White Stripes are going to produce some tracks on the new Loretta Lynn record. (via Pitchfork). I looovvveeee Loretta Lynn. The "Coal Miner's Daughter" soundtrack was one of the first cassette tapes I owned (shut up, I already know that I'm old...) ...can't wait to hear the results of this unholy union....

I take it all back - I am sick of the heat. If, like me, you live in a 1920's era house w/out central AC then you know of what I speak...nothing like waking up at 4 a.m. and thinking, damn, it's STILL hot - even though you KNOW it's cooled off outside...

Most of my friends know that for most of my life summer has probably been my least favorite season – if only because I really despise the heat. So I’ll be the first to say that I’m surprised that this year I’ve dreaded the inevitable heat less than usual. I’m not sure why – maybe I’ve finally accepted the fact that I live in a city that at times, literally feels like hell on earth. Maybe it’s because there’s something honest about summer. If anything, spring has started to annoy me – it’s so fickle with its rain and sunshine and wind and chill. Summer, on the other hand, is all right up in your face with its blasts of inferno heat and relentless sun.

Then there are those extra hours of sunlight that make the day seem longer. This year I found myself looking forward to those long days. Last night as Cory and I ate dinner on the patio at Three Sisters we both remarked on what a nice night it was. There we were, sipping margaritas and munching chips and salsa at 8:30 p.m as the sun slowly set and the cool Delta breeze started to take the edge off the heat.


And there are other things I’ve started to love about summer:

• The early morning chill and the way everything – still washed by the morning dew – seems fresh and new.


• The feel of the sun on my back when I’m wearing a tank top


• DDF Organic Sunblock, SPF 30 for my face – because it doesn’t clog my pores like other sunscreens – and Neutrogena Sunblock Lotion, Sensitive Skin SPF 30 for the rest of me. Anything to avoid that wrinkly, leathered skin look – or skin cancer, of course


• Cherry-scented Banana Boat LipPops in SPF 30


• Really cold iced tea with lemon


• An ice-cold Michelob Ultra beer. Do not laugh. This is a good low-cal beer that, amazingly, does not taste like ass.


• The sound of a desktop fan – it reminds me of my childhood


• Frozen fruit. In the summer I like to stock baggies of frozen blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, bananas and grapes in the freezer….mmmm…..home made Popsicles!


• Store-bought Popsicles! Right now I really love the frozen coconut ones. Especially the ones from the Co-Op that have those big chunks of real coconut in them.


• Getting out of the shower and skipping the hairdryer by just slicking my hair back into pigtails – and then taking it out of the pigtails at the end of the day and finding that my hair is still damp.


• Going to bed with my hair wet because it hasn’t cooled off inside the house and then waking up in the morning to a really soft and curly mess


• Backyard or even porch/patio BBQ’s with grilled veggie burgers, grilled veggies, etc...


• Mid-evening walks in the park


• Knowing that fall will eventually arrive

This week's Friday Five entry:

1. Do you remember your first best friend? Who was it?
Yes, her name was Kelly and I must have met her when I was 2 because we were living in England at the time. She lived down the street from us. Somewhere there is a picture of us dressed up as bears for a pre-school production of The Three Bears (I was Baby Bear). Speaking of bears...I once bit Kelly in the back because she took my teddy bear and would not give it back. My grandmother loves to tell this story. The only other thing I can really remember about Kelly is that she once told me that death was like sitting in a dark room all by yourself. At the time the notion of such a thing scared the holy living crap out of me.

2. Are you still in touch with this person?
We moved away when I was four and I haven't seen her since but I think my grandmother still may be in touch with her family.

3. Do you have a current close friend?
I have a few but I've found that the older I get the harder it is to maintain friendships. This makes me really sad sometimes. We're all so busy and people move away and drift apart.... As a result, I've been trying hard to value what I have. I don't always do a good job and working full-time and going to grad school hasn't helped the situation. What's really hard is when you feel like you are making the effort but the other person doesn't seem to care or make the effort in return. There you are, 33 years old, and suddenly feeling like you're 8 again and it's the first day of the third grade and everybody but you has this friendship thing figured out...

4. How did you become friends with this person?
Most of my good friends were met either through various jobs I've had or through the local music scene. A few I've met through other friends.


5. Is there a friend from your past that you wish you were still in contact with? Why?
Yes definitely - a few. I'd love to get in touch with Maya Tauber if anyone out there knows her, send her my way, please! Why? Because I remember Maya as being this really fun, free-spirited and smart person...and you can never have too many friends like that...

Just where has the summer gone? It's already the second week of July and my to-do list has not shifted at all. I don't know, maybe I am getting things done but since I keep adding new things to the list, then it just seems to stretch out forever and ever...

I have been managing to get a tiny amount of fiction writing done and even though most of it sucks major ass, I am trying to tell myself that it is the practice that counts.

So, last July I posted my top 10 albums of the first half of the year... I wanted to do that again this year, but honestly I'm having trouble coming up with even five albums that I've just absolutely adored.
Don't get me wrong, there have been good ones - Calexico, the Aislers Set, White Stripes, the Kills, Eleni Mandell, Ed Harcourt, Northern State, very few have just gotten stuck in my head and stayed there. Only a handful have DEMANDED to be played over and over and over until I am living and breathing the music.

Here are the very few that have made a lasting impression:

• The Oranges Band: All Around
  
• Grandaddy: Sumday
  
• Gillian Welch: Soul Journey
  
• Junior Panthers: S/T


• Pernice Brothers: Yours, Mine & Ours
  

I have still been listening to Rilo Kiley almost nonstop...I can't get enough of this band. Last night Cory was gracious enough to accompany me to SF to check out their live show at the Great American Music Hall - he likes them too, but isn't obsessed like me...
I wasn't disappointed at all ... seeing this band was one of those rarefied moments that totally reaffirmed my faith in rock'n'roll. All the things I love about this band: Jenny Lewis' sweet but dark and sharp songs that are like novels in miniature; intense emotion and no fear about wearing it one's sleeve, delectable pop melodies...add in the band's great stage presence - Jenny Lewis is a star and you have for an amazing, energetic show that made me feel 13 again. I'm telling myself that one reason the show was so great is because we had an extra ticket that we gave to a very grateful guy who was standing in line waiting to shell out $14. Without that good rock show karma I think I would have probably had a stinky 6'8 tall guy plant his hipster cool ass right in front of me...as it was, despite the Great American's stifling heat, we had a good view of the action and I didn't want the show to end...

After the show we drove back to Sac - got back into town a little around 1:30 a.m. and, because I am crazy obsessed like that, we had to watch the episode of America's Next Top Model...and all I can say is that even though both the spouse and I have a bit of a crush on Elyse - go Adrianne!
I knew Elyse had essentially written her own walking papers when she started talking about estrogen and physical beauty and although she's the too-cool-for-school, ultra-intelligent, smart-ass girl that I'd love to be, Adrianne's the down-and-dirty, trash-talking, happy-with-her-cha-cha's girlfriend that I'd love to have...Besides, that one episode when she dragged her sorry, food-poisoned ass from the hospital back to the final challenge? That's really when she clinched the deal as far as I'm concerned...
Bring on season two! I'm almost even ready to be annoyed with Tyra and Janice "Tight-Ass Face" Dickinson once again...
So yeah, we didn't get to bed until about 3 a.m. and yeah I'm tired but hey, yay for good Bad TV right? Priorities, you know...

Harry Potter - gay???

My friend Anton and I have a mutual fascination with the number 23 - mine started because that's the day of the month on which I was born. Check out this Guardian web guide to the mysterious numeral....

and hmmmph:

writegrrrl Magic Number 10 Job Porn Star Personality Vicarious Temperament Steely Sexual Whatever, Whenever, Whoever Likely To Win A Swimming Badge Me - In A Word Startling Colour Brought to you by MemeJack

Hmmm, pleasant:

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