all about me



my favorite book growing up was My Book About Me. that's because i am all about Lovey, all the time. those who have ever done karaoke with me know this. it's the Lovey Show, so sit back and hope your ears don't bleed...

for this reason, i was especially happy when Mrs. A sent me the below email fill-in-the-blanks about yourself. it's not the hardcover Dr. Seuss book, but it'll do for now. i will post it here since My Blog About Me seems an appropriate enough venue for stuff, well, about me.

here goes. and i encourage all of you to respond in the comments or your own blog, as you see fit:

Here's what you're supposed to do and try not to be lame and spoil the fun! Just do it. Copy (not forward) this entire email and paste it into a new e-mail you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send it to a whole Bunch of people you know, INCLUDING THE PERSON WHO SENT IT TO YOU. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about your friends.

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES?
White, with a raised fruit and lattice design, as pictured below:


2. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING?

very slowly reading Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho


3. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

Klimt's The Kiss.


4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
Encore. because nothing's better than forcing people to listen to ME!

5. LEAST FAVORITE SMELL?
Mothballs. (Gag).

6. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU GET UP IN THE MORNING?
Is it 9:30 already?

7. FAVORITE COLOR?
Blue and green.

8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR?
beige

9. HOW MANY RINGS UNTIL YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?
it varies. (however long it takes for Thurston to bring the phone over to me.)

10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME?
like i'm giving up this info? don't think so!

11. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
chocolate

12. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?
yes. my passengers may not like it as much.

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
not officially. although T is pretty hairy.

14. DO YOU LIKE THUNDER STORMS?
not a bit!!

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
1992 black 2-door Acura Integra, with Ivory leather interior.

not my actual car. as far as i know anyway. since i sold mine back in 1993, this could theoretically be my car that someone bought and put a picture up on the Internet, but that's unlikely, no?

16. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN?
Gemini

17. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI?
sure do!

18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Mrs. A was all over this one, and i agree: "A lady of leisure"

19. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
oh, sweeties, i've already achieved this one!

20. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL, OR HALF EMPTY?
half full. (of Fresca, preferably.)

21. FAVORITE MOVIE?
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, mais oui!

22. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS?
they get to the right keys when i need them to be there but i don't use any official "touch type" method.

23. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER?
4 or maybe 7.

24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
football or baseball, i guess. (is American Idol a sport, though? it's competitive, after all, so...)

25. YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST INTENSE PAIN?
Thurston. ha! just kidding-- probably my right knee. ouch!

26. PERSON MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
you!

27. PERSON LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND TO THIS?
the Bean

28. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD?
varies. ketchup on burgers; mustard on dogs.

29. HAMBURGER OR HOT DOGS?
d) all of the above.

30. WHAT IS YOU FAVORITE SEASON?
springtime

31. THE BEST PLACES THAT YOU HAVE EVER BEEN?
London, Fiji and, the bestest of all, Xcalacoco.

32. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER?
standard issues Windows logo.

33. FAVORITE FAST FOOD?
Burger King. the Whopper. all other burgers are but subjects of the King of All Burgers. Behold the Majesty!


34. WHAT IS YOUR BIRTH NAME?
Emily Robin ______

still Trashy after all these years


well, once again, my White Trash party was an amazing success, if i do say so myself. ha! (i, for one, will never complain about a party that costs about 50¢ to throw.)

but it really was a good time. this was approximately the 8th annual party* and, although calmer than in previous years, fun was still had by all. the "catering" consisted of Fritos, Cheetos, Devil Dogs, Twinkies, Spinach Cheddar dip, Ranch dip, Ritz Crackers, Miss Emily's Famous Pigs-in-Blankets and assorted Costco frozen hors d'oeuvres. the hooch included Schlitz, PBR, Boone's, Bartles & James, and Jack Daniels. and this doesn't even include the awesome guest-contributed stuff such as: Double Stuf Oreos, Marshmallows, Mini Frosted Donuts, Nati Lite, many cans of OE, and more.

here are a couple of photos, in case you want to witness the magic!

give me back my wine cooler, Colette!

the Bean only wishes she could work at Roy's

this scares me too. i promise.

thanks to Thurston's horrifically revealing cut-offs, the authenticity abounded. his Roy Rogers' apron--a souvenir of his tenure at the greatest restaurant of all--was a big hit too. EvilA held it down in his touchably soft velour tracksuit, although kept his edge with a t-shirt bearing a giant B.I.G. portrait. the MVP of costumes was clearly Dr. Steph, although i won't post her photo here until i run it by her. suffice it to say, Strawberry came through with a sheer red top and awesome camo pants. many other outfits were esp. notable, such as John's "Let's Do It My Double Wide" T; Liller's WT socialite shirt and Amy's turn as a Hooter's girl.

you all so can't wait until next year. i promise to try to bring back the trannies and the meth lab, most recently seen at the parties of 1999 & 2000.

---

* i have to estimate since this party has been going on since around 1997 or so, but there was at least a one-year hiatus when i (briefly) moved to San Francisco.

Hitler Cat

this cat lives outside the hotel where we stayed in Florida. it also bears an uncanny resemblance to Hitler.


Hitler Cat may appear friendly. but his eyes (and Hitler moustache) tell a different story!
Hitler Cat recruits other disenfranchised cats to his cause.

Thank You, Hurricane Wilma

without you, the following pictures would not have been possible:


Thurston (with the rag top down so his hair can blow)

me, multitasking. actually, i was on the phone with the Monkey Jungle to see if they were open late enough for us to get there before they closed. much to T's dismay, they stopped selling tickets at 4. this photo was taken at 3, and an hour from said Jungle.

see, without the hurricane, Hertz would have had the car we ordered (Full-size: Taurus/Camry/or Comparable). since they didn't have the car i'd reserved, they tried to give me a Mazda 6, sans Sirius radio (an important element in a rental car). but i was not having that. now, i did not know there was a Jaguar XK8 for the taking, frankly, i was looking for a car with the satellite radio. however, then the lady at the counter said, "well, we have no cars with satellite radio left so we are going to give you one without it." i asked which one, and she told me "the Jaguar." i then assumed it was a Jaguar 4-door. this was no disappointment to me at all. but to add the opposite of insult to the opposite of injury, happily (oh, so happily) i was dead wrong. the car she had switched us to was the lovely XK8. ah, Hertz rules! of course, now i have decided that this is the car i *must* have. this leaves me with a difficult choice*: wedding or convertible? wedding or convertible?
anyway, more on this trip later!

---

* those of you who know me, know that there's no choice here at all. the car can wait.

Just Dew It!



this is what gets me through the day. a twenty-ounce of Diet Mountain Dew, and i am good to go. i'm not sure if Mountain Dew actually has more caffeine in it than brown colored soda, but it's so bright and lively that i imagine it does. and believing is at least half the battle when it comes to staying awake at work...

partaking of the local cuisine certainly would knock me right out. you see, i work in Chinatown, where starch and MSG reign supreme. there is a dearth of dining options that are a) within a three or four block radius and b) are not Asian. now i love Chinese food as much as the next guy, but (and there's always a bit but, Monique) it is not conducive to daytime, at-my-desk dining. it's too filling, it is too much of a gray area in Weight Watchers points*, and even if the foregoing reasons did not exist, Chinese food five days a week is about four days of Chinese food too many.
so the options that remain are as follows:

WOW Café
that place was pretty good, as it "tosses your salad"** for around $7. but one day i ate there and then immediately was taken ill with the stomachaches. "wow, this sucks," i thought. however, i thought it rash for me to assume that i got sick from the WOW food. maybe, it was just a bug going around. a few weeks later, i gave WOW another try. wow, am i an idiot. i promptly became ill again and will no longer frequent that establishment. (WOW also lists a web address on its menu and you end up at a ridiculous web site, containing no information about food, but featuring large photos of smiling Asian children.)

Happy's
Happy's is decent sandwich place, albeit poorly ventilated. if you spend more than 15 seconds in there you will reek of bacon grease for the remainder of the day. i would argue that this is not a bad thing if you can eat bacon. however, i think bacon is approximately one billion points on WW, therefore the bacon scent is just a reminder of what i must forego in my quest to lose the T-weight (named thusly since i gained the majority of it in my first year of dating Thurston). also, Happy's does not have any low-fat cheese for sandwiches nor does it have salads, save the do-it-yourself salad bar, which appears as if it has seen better days. the Happy's clientele seems to consist of people who are appearing in court rather than working there and therefore the idea of sharing serve-yourself food with the other Happy's patrons is less than desirable. (ok, truth be told i cannot abide a do-it-yourself salad bar in any venue save Roy Rogers. the Fixin's Bar is immune to any castigation. oh, how i miss Roy's and the Riese Restaurant Roy Rogers franchises--the only only Roy's available in NYC--are utter CRAP! EvilA and i went to a Riese Roy's back in the summer of 2001, giving it the benfit of the doubt, and were severely saddened. what Riese has done to T.G.I. Friday's is also unbearable, but that's another post.)


fun fact: Thurston used to work at Roy Rogers.

Bagel Deluxe European Café a/k/a (to my intern) A Taste of Paris
this place is not deluxe at all. they never have any variety of bagels. they rarely have light cream cheese. and they also have the pervasive bacon grease smell. and their grilled "chicken breast" is a reconstituted patty, making it the chicken equivalent of particle board. not delicious, not deluxe. European? who can say. (although from my best guess, the proprietor appears to be Asian.)

Subway
this Subway franchise is not one of the better ones. the Sandwich Artists are more like Sandwich Assemblers. and they're no pros at assembly either. i am forever reminding them that more than two olive slices would be appreciated. and they are just as stingy with the other vegetable toppings. lame, lame and lame. on the plus side, they often have Baked Doritos, which i greatly enjoy.

Mikata

a good Japanese place with a good lunch special. the combination sushi roll lunch special = $8.25 and comes with soup, salad and "any 2 rolls, no substitution: Tuna Avocado, Tuna Cucumber, California, Salmon Avocado, Salmon Cucumber, Yellow Tail Scallion, Salmon Skin, Ebi Avocado, Ebi Cucumber, Avocado, Cucumber, Oshinko Maki, Eel Cucumber, Eel Avocado." (i'm a salmon avocado + yellowtail scallion girl, myself). but sushi for me is a once a week lunchtime option. more than that and i get sick of it. if you're my friend and serving jury duty and call me to meet for lunch, we will likely have lunch here.

Broadway New Fancy Foods a/k/a the Good Deli
for the first year and three quarters of my employ, the Good Deli was my saving grace. it:

• seemed clean enough
• was in close proximity to the discount yarn store
• stocks alpine lace cheese and fat free dressings
• carries Tab and Fresca (my sodas of choice when i don't need the caffeine infusion of the Dew)
  
• has many varieties of Dannon Light & Fit yogurt

then to make it even better, they added a salad bar where the deli worker remains in exclusive control of the salad and its topping. genius, i say! but little did i know my world would only improve, with the addition of...

Quiznos

ah, yes, Quiznos. home of the Turkey Lite, Honey Bourbon Chicken and Broccoli Cheese Soup. all of which are WW friendly. all of which are awesome. and Quiznos is even closer to my office than the Good Deli.

while i'm not saying my lunch life wouldn't be improved by the addition of a nice coffee shop or an Eva's-type restaurant, i now have choices. however, i still recommend not working in Chinatown if you have the option.

---

* don't even get me started on steamed vegetables. what's the point? i might as well microwave a a package of Green Giant and call it a day. not that i have access to a microwave at work. yeah, another perk of working for the Man...

** full disclosure: the "we'll toss your salad for only $5.99" sign is actually posted outside of a deli near Gramercy, near the brief and former home of Thurston.

The Return of Luke!

ok, so Alec Baldwin is coming to Off-Broadway in Entertaining Mr. Sloane, a play about a brother (played by Baldwin) and sister competing for "the attention and sexual favors of the play's young title character." sounds interesting enough, especially if Alec Baldwin evokes his finest performance yet--as the would-be paramour of Canteen Boy.



but then this news goes from good to GREAT!

Also in the cast are Chris Carmack, from television's The O.C., as the object of their pursuit. [via Houston Chronicle]

oh, Luke, how we've missed you! we may not have you in Newport, but New York is much closer. all hail Luke!



who's going to see this play with me??