Yeah, it's been a while again. But 2 things have happened since I last wrote about something.
1. The summer work slump ended, and I'm not spending day after day doing things purely for enjoyment. It was a great summer with things like a week on the beach in Florida and lots and lots of biking, but now I've gone back to making money.
2. Baseball has gotten extremely exciting. I don't care who your team is, this has been an amazing fall so far. It's only getting better, and because of how we Cub fans cling to superstition I will not talk about it anymore for fear of jinxing something.
So with that said, see you in October.
Oh, and I have a new love for Eddie Vedder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqHTScDBsDU
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Summer Streets!
Have you heard of it? Well if you live in NYC and haven't, you should take part. It's organized by Transportation Alternatives, with support of the city of course. For 3 Saturdays this month the city has shut down Park Ave from 72nd all the way down to Astor Place where Lafayette is closed all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge. Well, closed to traffic, but if you want to walk, run, bike, roller blade, skateboard, or whatever else, it's wide open. Even better, traffic is only able to cross at certain streets, so you don't have to stop at every red light.
I was excited to check it out, but never thought it would be as cool as it really was. I got in a 30 mile ride with mostly open streets. Came in over the 59th Street bridge, went across 61st St to Park, then rode down to the Brooklyn Bridge, tooled around Brooklyn for a while, came back taking Park Ave back up to 72nd St, which is also closed allowing you to get to Central Park with no traffic, so I did some laps of the park before heading back to Astoria. Along the route there are 3 big rest stops with food, water, hip hop dance classes, yoga, helmet fittings, bike repair, and a bunch of other fun free stuff.
It's something that hopefully will happen again next summer, and a lot more often. You can go to http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/summerstreets/html/home/home.shtml to get more info and the schedule for next Saturday. Get out there and sign at least one of the dozen petitions for more bike lanes, more bike parking, and other things that would make cyclists and pedestrians a lot happier.
Oh, and the image above is on the part of Park that goes around Grand Central. Pretty cool.
Friday, August 8, 2008
"SAVE DAY BASEBALL!"
Yeah, it's been a while, but today is a special day. 20 years ago, 08.08.88 the first night game was played at Wrigley Field, making it the last existing MLB park to add lights. The game against Philly was rained out in the 3rd inning. The image above is of the first pitch of that game. The Cubs went on to beat the Mets on August 9th in the first complete night game at Wrigley.
A little history on the lights at Wrigley...they were scheduled to be installed in 1942 (Fenway got them in '47), but after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Phillip Wrigley (original owner William's son) donated the materials to the war effort. It wasn't until the Tribune Company took over in 1981 when talks of lights started again. I mean c'mon, what good has the Tribune Company done for the team? They wanted the revenue from night games but there was resistance from, well, everyone. During the '84 playoffs it was decided that if the Cubs were to advance to the World Series they would lose their home field advantage so that there would be more games at night, and on prime time TV. They didn't make it to the WS (duh) and it was then decided by the new commissioner that if they did not add lights, ALL future post season games would have to be away games.
I know, I know, it had to happen...but nothing beats a 1:20 PM start in the Friendly Confines.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Hey look, it's June....
Two weeks ago I did the Laugh Out Loud festival, which turned out to be pretty fun. There were a lot of good acts, a couple bad acts, and of course tons of wackiness. After a day off filled with laundry and catch up work we began working in the theatre for All Kinds of Shifty Villains. I love the Kraine, but there have been a lot of headaches. The opening is happening right now and I'm anxiously awaiting a phone call about how it went
Last week I was in Philly, and got to see Kooza. That's a Cirque tour for the non circus geeks. A couple of acts were missing, but overall it was a good show. Really good wheel of death act (pictured above), a decent high wire act, and Anthony Gatto, the BEST juggler in the world. No really, he is, look it up. He's so good I want to have his babies. Anyway, I love tent shows.
Now I'm in Atlanta. I don't like Atlanta. But the Cubs just swept the Braves, so I may go down to the hotel bar to laugh at Braves fans.
Next week it's back to Philly for a day, then off to Chicago for 9 days. 4 of those days will be spent working, but the time not working should be really good. Almost as good as the Cubs having the best record in baseball.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
OMG Lisa found time to do something fun!
Remember when I said I'll write when I have something worth writing about? Well, I do, and I'm killing time before I can head out to the beach behind my hotel on Hilton Head Island.
Wednesday I saw a damn good play, and a damn good movie.
First was the play. I took advantage of my college ID with no expiration date to get cheap, yet excellent seats to The 39 Steps at the Cort Theatre. The stage version includes every scene from the 1935 Hitchcock film. Some are fully acted out, some are done using steamer trunks as various set pieces, and some are done with models, toys, and even shadow puppets. The shadow puppets were my favorite. Another very fun aspect is that the play has 150 characters, played by 4 actors. Most of them are played by two actors, that are often playing 3 or 4 roles at the same time, adding to that clown feel. Christopher Bayes (c'mon circus nerds!) directed a lot of the movement, and it's pretty damn good.
I highly recommend this one. If you can't get the student prices, they also have another promotion going. Each performance has 39 seats that will cost $39. It's not specific seats or anything, you just have to ask at the box office for those seats, and if they're still available, you get them.
Then after the show I watched the latest Netflix arrival, Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus. I've had this recommended to me for a while ago, and at first look I thought "great, my friends like it because it's basically graphic porn with a plot." While the guys are good looking, that's not what I need to call it a good movie. Then it grew on me. It's about a couples and their relationships with other couples/other people. One woman is a sex therapist who has never had an orgasm. There is a gay couple who decide to open up the relationship, but you don't learn the reason why until the very end. There is a seemingly bad ass dominatrix who has the same name as a celebrity and can't deal with it. All of these people go to a place called Shortbus for thereapy, experimentation, and potcorn. Yes potcorn. The brownies are clean, the popcorn is not. There is even a sweet old man at Shortbus who claims to be the mayor of New York. (Ed Koch anyone) My favorite line from the movie comes from him. After explaining that young people are flocking to NYC now because 9/11 is the only real thing that has ever happened to them, he tells a young man "people come to New York to be fucked. People also come to New York to be forgiven." Every character is severely damaged in some way, but don't worry, everything will be ok. One of my favorite character interactions is between a married couple. They get into an argument, and before things get ugly they sit on the floor facing each other and just start screaming. Not screaming words, just screaming. I like it.
The production quality made me very happy. There are some lovely animations of NYC through the credits and as scene changes. Above is the best image I could find. The rest of the cinematography had a touch of cartooniness. Not too in your face, just nice.
Wednesday I saw a damn good play, and a damn good movie.
First was the play. I took advantage of my college ID with no expiration date to get cheap, yet excellent seats to The 39 Steps at the Cort Theatre. The stage version includes every scene from the 1935 Hitchcock film. Some are fully acted out, some are done using steamer trunks as various set pieces, and some are done with models, toys, and even shadow puppets. The shadow puppets were my favorite. Another very fun aspect is that the play has 150 characters, played by 4 actors. Most of them are played by two actors, that are often playing 3 or 4 roles at the same time, adding to that clown feel. Christopher Bayes (c'mon circus nerds!) directed a lot of the movement, and it's pretty damn good.
I highly recommend this one. If you can't get the student prices, they also have another promotion going. Each performance has 39 seats that will cost $39. It's not specific seats or anything, you just have to ask at the box office for those seats, and if they're still available, you get them.
Then after the show I watched the latest Netflix arrival, Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus. I've had this recommended to me for a while ago, and at first look I thought "great, my friends like it because it's basically graphic porn with a plot." While the guys are good looking, that's not what I need to call it a good movie. Then it grew on me. It's about a couples and their relationships with other couples/other people. One woman is a sex therapist who has never had an orgasm. There is a gay couple who decide to open up the relationship, but you don't learn the reason why until the very end. There is a seemingly bad ass dominatrix who has the same name as a celebrity and can't deal with it. All of these people go to a place called Shortbus for thereapy, experimentation, and potcorn. Yes potcorn. The brownies are clean, the popcorn is not. There is even a sweet old man at Shortbus who claims to be the mayor of New York. (Ed Koch anyone) My favorite line from the movie comes from him. After explaining that young people are flocking to NYC now because 9/11 is the only real thing that has ever happened to them, he tells a young man "people come to New York to be fucked. People also come to New York to be forgiven." Every character is severely damaged in some way, but don't worry, everything will be ok. One of my favorite character interactions is between a married couple. They get into an argument, and before things get ugly they sit on the floor facing each other and just start screaming. Not screaming words, just screaming. I like it.
The production quality made me very happy. There are some lovely animations of NYC through the credits and as scene changes. Above is the best image I could find. The rest of the cinematography had a touch of cartooniness. Not too in your face, just nice.
Monday, April 21, 2008
....slacking.......
Umm...hey guys. How's it going?
So while having coffee with a friend last week we started talking about the lack of plain old good conversation in the world. Of course we discussed what age has to do with this, being that the two of us have a difference of about 15 years. We were in total agreement on the topic, though I think I'm one of few my age that would rather go sit down with someone and chat than do it on the interwebs. This same friend told me that this is because I have an actual brain in my head. I think this is why I generally get along better with people older than myself. I have many friends my own age that while I love them to death, I want to shake them. The specific person that comes to mind is someone that basically refuses to make a phone call and attempts to have full conversations via text message even after repeated requests to just effing call me.
I then looked to the group that's 15 years younger than myself, which includes some of my nieces and nephews. 10 (almost 11) year old Samantha LIVES for instant messaging. She and her friends will call each other on the phone, say "Hey, go sign on AIM" then hang up. They then talk on the computer for hours at a time. When Samantha and her brother stay at my parent's house, they are constantly fighting over who gets to use the computer. I also can't talk to them. I know it's hard to talk to a 10 year old anyway, but just in general they have no concept of real conversation. I get responses such as "I don't know what you want me to say" to easy questions like "how is school going?"
So in addition to life being completely insane, consider my lack of blogging lately a step to more good conversation. Don't email me telling me to update my blog so you know what's going on with me. Call me, or better yet if we're in the same city, let's get coffee. You know how much I love my coffee.
So while having coffee with a friend last week we started talking about the lack of plain old good conversation in the world. Of course we discussed what age has to do with this, being that the two of us have a difference of about 15 years. We were in total agreement on the topic, though I think I'm one of few my age that would rather go sit down with someone and chat than do it on the interwebs. This same friend told me that this is because I have an actual brain in my head. I think this is why I generally get along better with people older than myself. I have many friends my own age that while I love them to death, I want to shake them. The specific person that comes to mind is someone that basically refuses to make a phone call and attempts to have full conversations via text message even after repeated requests to just effing call me.
I then looked to the group that's 15 years younger than myself, which includes some of my nieces and nephews. 10 (almost 11) year old Samantha LIVES for instant messaging. She and her friends will call each other on the phone, say "Hey, go sign on AIM" then hang up. They then talk on the computer for hours at a time. When Samantha and her brother stay at my parent's house, they are constantly fighting over who gets to use the computer. I also can't talk to them. I know it's hard to talk to a 10 year old anyway, but just in general they have no concept of real conversation. I get responses such as "I don't know what you want me to say" to easy questions like "how is school going?"
So in addition to life being completely insane, consider my lack of blogging lately a step to more good conversation. Don't email me telling me to update my blog so you know what's going on with me. Call me, or better yet if we're in the same city, let's get coffee. You know how much I love my coffee.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Falling Apart = Falling Into Place??
That's my general feeling.... Went to Chicago for Easter. While I was there I wanted to get back to NY, but I'm glad I went. The whole trip made me realize I'm way happier here than I ever was there. Being many months removed from my family issues, I can now see just how f'ed up they actually are. Yeah, I feel kind of bad that I've run away from it, but there's nothing I can do by being there. Everything was just as screwed up, I was just used to it.
The work front has been less than good. I'm taking on new projects which aren't really the direction I want to go, but at least I can breathe knowing I will be able to pay rent. I'm less than happy with my living situation right now, which had me a bit angry. Since spending a week back in Chicago I'm fine with it now. Hopefully another couple of years selling my soul and I'll be able to get what I want.
Yeah, I'm selling my soul. I won't say who my new clients are, just that they are evil. I'll be traveling A LOT starting next week.
So that's that. Nothing else exciting to report. I have new neighbors. I'm buying a new bike. Tomorrow is Opening Day. I can't wait for it to get warm out.
The work front has been less than good. I'm taking on new projects which aren't really the direction I want to go, but at least I can breathe knowing I will be able to pay rent. I'm less than happy with my living situation right now, which had me a bit angry. Since spending a week back in Chicago I'm fine with it now. Hopefully another couple of years selling my soul and I'll be able to get what I want.
Yeah, I'm selling my soul. I won't say who my new clients are, just that they are evil. I'll be traveling A LOT starting next week.
So that's that. Nothing else exciting to report. I have new neighbors. I'm buying a new bike. Tomorrow is Opening Day. I can't wait for it to get warm out.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Hello, I'm going to make it as hard as possible for you to contact me
OK, so a recent comment reminded me I haven't been here for a while, and there is something that is getting increasingly annoying so I'll write about it.
So, it's not a big deal, but it's one of those things that makes me want to push someone down the stairs. WHAT THE HELL is with the recent popularity of typing your email address without use of punctuation marks? Example: ImADouche at Douchebags dot com. Really, someone tell me, I want to know. Isn't the point of the internet and email to make things faster, easier, and just plain more efficient? If you post a job listing online and your email address is ImNotADouche@normalpeople.com, I can just copy and paste it OR just click on it and a new Outlook message window magically opens with your address in the To field. But no, you have to be cool and use words instead of symbols, so now I have to edit your address in order to email you. Then I risk hitting backspace one too many times and having the wrong address there and getting my emails bounced back, leading to having to go back to find what the address was in the first place. JUST TYPE IT LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD ASSHOLE. Can you tell this has happened to me recently?
Anyway.
I have a show this weekend. All the info is HERE.
I've got a good story that's blog worthy. I'll post that tomorrow. It's much less angry, I promise.
So, it's not a big deal, but it's one of those things that makes me want to push someone down the stairs. WHAT THE HELL is with the recent popularity of typing your email address without use of punctuation marks? Example: ImADouche at Douchebags dot com. Really, someone tell me, I want to know. Isn't the point of the internet and email to make things faster, easier, and just plain more efficient? If you post a job listing online and your email address is ImNotADouche@normalpeople.com, I can just copy and paste it OR just click on it and a new Outlook message window magically opens with your address in the To field. But no, you have to be cool and use words instead of symbols, so now I have to edit your address in order to email you. Then I risk hitting backspace one too many times and having the wrong address there and getting my emails bounced back, leading to having to go back to find what the address was in the first place. JUST TYPE IT LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD ASSHOLE. Can you tell this has happened to me recently?
Anyway.
I have a show this weekend. All the info is HERE.
I've got a good story that's blog worthy. I'll post that tomorrow. It's much less angry, I promise.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
OK, so....the Giants won the Super Bowl....awesome. Had a great time at Marianne's with tons of good food, tons of good beer, and tons of good friends. Then we got to watch the riots from the safety of her balcony.
The following week I won my first pool match with my Sunday team at Manning's (formerly Brady's....get it?.....)
Work is picking up very nicely. Maybe a little too nicely and I think I'm getting sick because of it. Thankfully tomorrow is a day off after 36 hellish hours in the Ritz Carlton.
I'm getting excited about Metro. It's gonna be cool.
In addition to all that I'm more stressed out than I've been in a long time. I don't like being an adult. Part of me wants to get back on the road; however the rumors that I'm doing so are NOT true. If you know where that one started please tell me.
I'm watching a lot of Sex and the City lately.
IT'S OFFICIALLY BASEBALL SEASON!
The following week I won my first pool match with my Sunday team at Manning's (formerly Brady's....get it?.....)
Work is picking up very nicely. Maybe a little too nicely and I think I'm getting sick because of it. Thankfully tomorrow is a day off after 36 hellish hours in the Ritz Carlton.
I'm getting excited about Metro. It's gonna be cool.
In addition to all that I'm more stressed out than I've been in a long time. I don't like being an adult. Part of me wants to get back on the road; however the rumors that I'm doing so are NOT true. If you know where that one started please tell me.
I'm watching a lot of Sex and the City lately.
IT'S OFFICIALLY BASEBALL SEASON!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
halfway through a great weekend
OK, more than halfway.....
I've been so productive it's almost sickening. In addition to that I started doing yoga. Totally kicked my ass...in a good way. I think I'm hooked.
Oh, and there's a little party tonight...GO GIANTS!!!!
I've been so productive it's almost sickening. In addition to that I started doing yoga. Totally kicked my ass...in a good way. I think I'm hooked.
Oh, and there's a little party tonight...GO GIANTS!!!!
Monday, January 28, 2008
6 months in NYC
Holy crap. But not a bad holy crap. Over the past couple of weeks I've been realizing how different everything is here. I like it though, and think I've adjusted. Let's see....
-Eating is different in NY. I've never eaten out/ordered in so much. But it's easy, because food is fucking everywhere. I have had the desire to order Chinese at 4AM, and have done it. Amazing.
-Drinking. Yeah. First of all I'm definitely used to staying out till at least 4 (hence the need for Chinese food) on the weekends. I didn't know what to do that first night back in Chicago when the bar kicked us out at 1:45. There's also a much higher quantity of consumption, cause no more driving. Amazing.
-Dating. OK, WTF? This one pisses me off. First of all, interboro dating is somewhat ridiculous. People from Manhattan act like Queens is on Mars. Then there's the downtown crowd that refuses to go above 14th St. Really, it's not THAT scary up there, and I'm not going to continue to trek to the lower west side for a mediocre evening. The dating pool is very different too. I think guys have to reach the age of 32 before they stop being completely retarded. This is why I've kind of given up.
-Plain old hanging out. I'm torn. I love that there are endless activities, but it seems like way too much planning is involved for two New Yorkers to coordinate their schedules, even to just sit around and watch tv. Much easier with someone in the same hood, but still a pain in the ass.
-Let's talk transportation. Yeah, the city is big, but it's not THAT big. At first I felt like going downtown was like a weekend getaway, but it's really no different than going anywhere in Chicago. Here, it's 30-40 minutes on the train, no matter what. In Chicago we've all spent 2 hours in the car to go half the distance from Astoria to the Village. So bleh on your far away complaints.
NY has totally gotten me too. Don't get me wrong, I still crave Johnnies Beef and Gene n Judes, but I'm doing things I never thought I would do. I'm addicted to sushi. I take cabs. I walk ridiculous amounts. I'm beginning to loathe NJ. 99% of my friends are artists, and I would be lost without them. I joined a pool league. I've paid $14 to see a movie, and $16 for a burger after. When the weather gets warm, I can't wait to sit outside and play guitar. And the real kicker, just minutes ago I signed up for my first yoga class. I'm falling apart at the age of 24, time to do something about it.
All right...time to continue my morning of coffee and Mario 3
-Eating is different in NY. I've never eaten out/ordered in so much. But it's easy, because food is fucking everywhere. I have had the desire to order Chinese at 4AM, and have done it. Amazing.
-Drinking. Yeah. First of all I'm definitely used to staying out till at least 4 (hence the need for Chinese food) on the weekends. I didn't know what to do that first night back in Chicago when the bar kicked us out at 1:45. There's also a much higher quantity of consumption, cause no more driving. Amazing.
-Dating. OK, WTF? This one pisses me off. First of all, interboro dating is somewhat ridiculous. People from Manhattan act like Queens is on Mars. Then there's the downtown crowd that refuses to go above 14th St. Really, it's not THAT scary up there, and I'm not going to continue to trek to the lower west side for a mediocre evening. The dating pool is very different too. I think guys have to reach the age of 32 before they stop being completely retarded. This is why I've kind of given up.
-Plain old hanging out. I'm torn. I love that there are endless activities, but it seems like way too much planning is involved for two New Yorkers to coordinate their schedules, even to just sit around and watch tv. Much easier with someone in the same hood, but still a pain in the ass.
-Let's talk transportation. Yeah, the city is big, but it's not THAT big. At first I felt like going downtown was like a weekend getaway, but it's really no different than going anywhere in Chicago. Here, it's 30-40 minutes on the train, no matter what. In Chicago we've all spent 2 hours in the car to go half the distance from Astoria to the Village. So bleh on your far away complaints.
NY has totally gotten me too. Don't get me wrong, I still crave Johnnies Beef and Gene n Judes, but I'm doing things I never thought I would do. I'm addicted to sushi. I take cabs. I walk ridiculous amounts. I'm beginning to loathe NJ. 99% of my friends are artists, and I would be lost without them. I joined a pool league. I've paid $14 to see a movie, and $16 for a burger after. When the weather gets warm, I can't wait to sit outside and play guitar. And the real kicker, just minutes ago I signed up for my first yoga class. I'm falling apart at the age of 24, time to do something about it.
All right...time to continue my morning of coffee and Mario 3
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
DAY OFF!
Whew. So things are looking SUPER. I feel like my career is finally headed in the right direction, which means I've been a lot more relaxed and am able to concentrate on things other than work. I bought a new camera. I put some of my first shots from it on Facebook (http://uillinois.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343352&id=1923306). I'd love some feedback.
I don't really know what else.......except Go Giants!
I don't really know what else.......except Go Giants!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
You mean I don't have to take down screens or drape today?!
It's 1:44 AM, and I have never been so happy to be organizing my thoughts at 1:44 AM....oh, it's 1:45 now....
Happy Lisa List:
-my cold/sinus infection/sore throat is mostly gone
-i've started working for a new company, and it's very good
-Grey's Anatomy is new this week
-I'm finding a lot of time to play music again
-It's freakin' 65 degrees outside
-I think I'm participating in what some may call dating
-I get to sleep in tomorrow
Sad Lisa List:
-did something not so good to my back yesterday...
-my beer is empty
The good definitely outweighs the bad. I think I'm settling into some kind of lifestyle, and it's good; there is work and money and good times in my near future.
It's now 1:54. Nite nite all :-)
Happy Lisa List:
-my cold/sinus infection/sore throat is mostly gone
-i've started working for a new company, and it's very good
-Grey's Anatomy is new this week
-I'm finding a lot of time to play music again
-It's freakin' 65 degrees outside
-I think I'm participating in what some may call dating
-I get to sleep in tomorrow
Sad Lisa List:
-did something not so good to my back yesterday...
-my beer is empty
The good definitely outweighs the bad. I think I'm settling into some kind of lifestyle, and it's good; there is work and money and good times in my near future.
It's now 1:54. Nite nite all :-)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
"There were never any good old days. They are today. They are tomorrow"
So remember last year when I made that New Years resolution? Yeah, I stuck to it, and 07 was a pretty awesome year. No new one for 08 though; what I'm doing is working, so why change?
I got out of Chicago on NYE just as the 15 hour snow storm was beginning. Went and saw Gogol Bordello at Terminal 5, which this time was AMAZING. They played a very long set which lasted long after midnight. After the very annoying process of getting our coats back we headed to the after party which was a Bulgarian dance party. Awesome.
Going back to Chicago was an interesting experience. Don't get me wrong; it was great to see friends and fam, and there were plenty of good times, but I'm glad to be back. I've made my peace and settled doubts with a lot of things, so now I think things can only get better.
Happy 08 everyone
I got out of Chicago on NYE just as the 15 hour snow storm was beginning. Went and saw Gogol Bordello at Terminal 5, which this time was AMAZING. They played a very long set which lasted long after midnight. After the very annoying process of getting our coats back we headed to the after party which was a Bulgarian dance party. Awesome.
Going back to Chicago was an interesting experience. Don't get me wrong; it was great to see friends and fam, and there were plenty of good times, but I'm glad to be back. I've made my peace and settled doubts with a lot of things, so now I think things can only get better.
Happy 08 everyone
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