I can't afford to heart NY

IMG_6371002, originally uploaded by jakedobkin.

This made me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Random Fact

Pink used to be a color associated with boys (diluted color of blood), while light blue was associated with girls. It changed around Victorian times. #stuffilearnfromaguywhoalwayswearsapinkshirt

Sheer Cuteness & Bastardization

Johny Cash's “Folsom Prison Blues”

Question for SF Jewish Film Organizers

If you are attracting an audience that jeers a pro-Israel speaker, and cheers not only for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel but also at the mention of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, is that the kind of programming that is appropriate for a JEWISH Film Festival? - Dr. Mike Harris of Voice for Israel

Another Reason Why Jews for Obama Can Suck It

Meant to post this last week but just remembered about today.

A Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll released last month found that only 46% of registered voters believe that Israel is committed to peace, down from 66% right before Obama took office. Furthermore, only 44% believe America should support Israel, down from 71% a year before. It’s impossible to isolate a single cause for this decline in sympathy for Israel, but surely the change in tone from the White House has played a substantial role. Even more distressing is that ostensibly “pro-Israel” activists are aiding and abetting this dark transformation in public attitudes.

via Jewlicious from here.

Lists & Words

I loved this essay about Mark Dow's experience as a teacher in a special school.

We write things down, and hold on to them, for many different reasons. To stop time and keep the “edge of marveling” honed, or at least handy. To create pockets of order. To prove to ourselves that we exist. To be able to immerse ourselves in whatever matters to us but is gone.

I also love making lists and one of those fools who likes bottle up the past as much as possible, just to see it fall through my hands like sand.
Another part I liked.

Sometimes on my way home from the special school, I’d stop by Celebrity Pizza, where the big seller was ice cream. At first I went there just to pass the time, but I became interested in how interested the manager was in ice cream, and I started writing down things he said, such as, Soft vanilla outsells all hard ice cream except hard vanilla and hard chocolate. It outsells hard strawberry. …

And: “You hear all this talk about salt now. Well, it’s the hidden salt that gets you. Häagen-Dazs, Hood, those are the top-of-the-line, and they’ve got about one-and-a-half to two teaspoons of salt per gallon. Down at the bottom, you’ve got five teaspoons per gallon. That might not sound like a lot, but it is. It’s like taking a steak and putting the whole salt shaker on it. You know how to tell how much salt an ice cream has? If you drink some water after, and then that’s it, O.K. But if want to drink more later, then that one’s got more salt. And if it makes you burp right after it, and then you burp later and you can taste it still, if it repeats on you, that’s because of the salt.”

He talked about ice cream to just about everyone who ordered some.

He asked one customer, “Does ice cream give you a headache?”

The customer said he didn’t think so.

“Yes it does,” the manager said. “It does everybody sometimes. You know why? Because it’s so cold. It hits the roof of your mouth and just shocks you through your head. You know how to prevent it? Just drink some water first. Water has a film on it. Most people don’t know that, but it does. It coats up here …” — he touched the roof of his mouth with his index finger and made a blurry two-part noise — “The roof of your mouth. It puts a film there. Then it’s not such a shock.”

The anecdote about the ice cream was especially lovely. And yes, we do say "jimmies" instead of sprinkles. But I never get those anyway.

via Ken's twitter

Judd Apatow On "Funny People"

I'm looking forward to this movie a whole lot.

Apatow said the film's subject of mortality is one that hit close to home. "I have gone through this too many times, and as I get older -- I’m 41 now -- this circumstance as someone suddenly getting seriously ill is not that rare," he said. "I’ve watched people fight it. My first observation that led to the movie was that it really is difficult for people to survive sometimes because they’re faced with this wisdom when they think they’re going to pass. And suddenly the entire world makes sense, and they know what’s important to their friends and their family, and all the little things seem ridiculous. But when you get better, suddenly all your old neuroses start to trying to return, and the fight to stay in the wisdom is sometimes really brutal. It throws people in a way that I haven’t seen portrayed on film before. That was the part of the story that interested me."

I also love that Apatow admits to testing the film in front of an audience and makes a case for this as an important process to improve the movie, not a typical admission from a director. Most claim this is a way to dumb down the film for studio's sake, Apatow actually relies on the audience instead of sycophants to tell him something is good. That's quite refreshing.

Here is the Jake Tapper's whole podcast with Apatow.

Delicious

I've been recently obsessed about the boiled egg, Israeli pickles, pita/bread combination. So easy and yet so delicious. If you are feeling mighty Israeli you can even put some tahini on it. But seriously, so light yet satisfying and like zero effort. It was inspired by a bureka you can get at aroma espresso bar. (Don't click if you are hungry.)

The Organic Food Con

If you ever been in a produce store with me, you've typically seen me roll my eyes at the organic products. It's one of my soapbox issues. I just think it's a total con, in fact Peter and I will often comment to each other whenever we see a business who advertises as organic - "what a great racket they have going on." Charge more for the same kind of product, while making people feel "safer" somehow.

While I was sick, my mother would only buy organic produce, driving me crazy since it cost more and I knew there was no real benefit to it. It pacified my mother, so I guess that was the only good thing about it. I remember Sam, telling me years and years ago about a professor at MIT debunking the whole organic vs. conventional myth. I wish I remembered the guys name, but basically it stuck with me. So yeah you won't find in the organic section of the store.

"What it shows is that there is little, if any, nutritional difference between organic and conventionally produced food and that there is no evidence of additional health benefits from eating organic food."

She added that the FSA was neither pro nor anti organic food and recognised there were many reasons why people choose to eat organic, including animal welfare or environmental concerns.

Dr Dangour, said: "Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority."

Lazy Blogging

I've been in a weird mood lately. I don't want anything to do with the computer - yet I'm on it constantly. I want to do things, not read or think about them. However, well...I'm lazy or something. But that "on" switch I've been waiting for hasn't come on. So desperately trying to get there, to the place where the "on" switch is in full force. I think I'm might put a "gone fishin" sign up soon, with hopes of returning refreshed and full of things to be excited about. I have a few things I want to write about planned, but after that I'll see where the summer takes me.

Vanessa Paradis

So beautiful and sexy.

For Casca.

Sighting

While driving to New York on Friday, I saw a mother deer and her fawn (think Bambi) by the side of the road. And they weren't even dead. In fact they were very much a alive and grazing. So effin cute.

Q: When Is Bush An Admirable, Moral Person According To Time Magazine?

A: When they write an article bashing Cheney and need Bush to be the "good guy" or something.

The verdict was one thing. Libby's sentence was another matter. Fielding told Bush that the President had wide discretion to determine its fairness. And within hours of the appeals-court ruling, Bush pronounced the jail time "excessive," commuting Libby's prison term while leaving in place the fine and, most important, the guilty verdict — which meant Libby would probably never practice law again. Fielding's recommendation was widely circulated in the White House before it was announced, and there is no evidence of disagreement. If Cheney and his allies were disappointed with Bush's decision, they did not show it, several former officials say, in part because they were, as one put it, "so happy that [Scooter] wasn't going to jail."

The response was predictable: conservatives cheered the commutation; liberals deplored it. But among Bush aides, the presidential statement was seen as a fail-safe, a device that would prevent a backtrack later on. Fielding crafted the commutation in a way that would make it harder for Bush to revisit it in the future. Bush not only noted his "respect for the jury verdict" and the prosecutor, he also emphasized the "harsh punishment" Libby still faced, including a "forever damaged" professional reputation and the "long-lasting" consequences of a felony conviction.

And there were these two sentences: "Our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth," Bush said. "And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable." Particularly if he serves in government. Bush's allies would say later that the language was intended to send an unmistakable message, internally as well as externally: No one is above the law.

Adam Fuss

I fell in love with Adam Fuss’ work after seeing an exhibit at the MFA. Even after all these years I have kept a poster from that show. In fact every time I think of imaginative photography, of exciting photography, and of beautiful photography Adam Fuss comes to mind. I remember looking at the daguerreotype portraits of children he took - it was almost a mystical experience - full of wonder, magic, and creepiness. There were about seven black rectangles hanging on one wall. And as one took a moment to concentrate one almost-black frame, slowly an image of a child would emerge. It was so startling, it felt like you were being let in on some secret.

“Following a process invented by Louis J. M. Daguerre in the early 1830’s, a daguerreotypist begins by polishing a silvered copper plate to a mirror finish. He then photosensitizes the plate with iodine vapors before inserting it in a camera to make an exposure. If he chooses, which is what Mr. Fuss prefers, he can dispense with a camera and place an object directly on the plate and expose the pair to light.

The exposed plate is developed with mercury or, as Mr. Fuss does it in his studio, through a technique discovered by the French physicist Edmund Becquerel in 1840, with a red light for about 10 to 20 hours. (For the mercury development process, Mr. Fuss goes to Rochester.)”

His work is even more impressive on the large scale. It would be amazing to own one of his works.

Cross posted on my tumblr. (With different photos.)

Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland

The teaser looks fantastic. As I understand it, the movie doesn't really follow the book closely, more like a re-telling of Alice going back to Wonderland. I feel like Burton stuff is hit and miss, like his movies are almost great, but end up just being good. There something lacking in them, and I can't put my finger on what but I hope this is a great movie, not just a great trailer.

A Call for Sensitivity Training

Jules Crittenden calls for a different kind of sensitivity training regarding the (local) Cambridge brouhaha that went national when President Obama commented on it last night. It been quite the headline story here in the Boston area. Basically, Harvard Professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr, returned from a trip abroad, couldn't get into his home and asked his cab driver to help him with the uncooperative door. A neighbor saw this and thought it was break in and called the cops. If I was Gates I would be happy that the police responded so quickly, thus knowing he lives in the safe town. Gates saw it differently. That's when things got tricky, it seems Gates was being rude to the cop which got him arrested. "Gates has called James Crowley a “rogue cop,” though it’s not clear whether he knows much about this cop or his history. Meanwhile, the president of the United States, while acknowledging that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, calls the Cambridge cop “stupid” on national TV. "

Gates has been demanding sensitivity training, and I’m beginning to think he’s right. Some sensitivity training might be called for in this situation. For the Harvard professors, 24-hour news network ministers and apparently presidents of the United States as well, on how destructive it is to individuals, to race relations and to society in general to level inflammatory accusations of racism or to call people “stupid” and “rogues” without knowing who they are, what they are about, or even what exactly happened.

Another take from Dr. Boyce Watkins:

Basically, this situation may have been a battle of two egos: One of them from a Harvard professor who seemed to feel that he should not be disrespected by a lowly police officer; the other from an officer who seemed to feel that a powerful Black professor could be treated differently from a powerful White professor. What is abundantly clear is that this is NOT the case of a poor Black male being exploited by the racist, classist power structure. Perhaps the next time there is another Jena Six incident, Dr. Gates will fight as diligently for poor Black men as he is fighting for himself, and his fight will go beyond writing papers for academic journals that hardly anyone ever reads. I also hope that Cambridge police officers will give the same credibility to wealthy African Americans as they do to their White counterparts. This situation should never have happened.

Close Enough

Vodkapundit wrote about Sweden, which reminded me of one of my favorite Kids in the Hall skits. Both are European countries that start with S!

Neo-Neocon's Smarter Analysis Of Obama

The problems with Obama’s answer:

(1) He’s making the case against his own rush to pass this bill if he’s admitting he’s unfamiliar with its provisions on such a basic point.

(2) The original IBW article was not obscure. It was discussed at Instapundit, for example, a blog so large and influential that the administration should be monitoring it on a daily basis. Someone should have at least briefed Obama on it, if he didn’t know the answer already.

(3) Note how careful Obama is to not answer the question, which is about writing future policies, not keeping the one you have. He is parsing his words in order to appear to answer the question but never addresses it at all. Even if he didn’t know the answer about the specifics of that provision in the bill, he should have said he would defend the right to keep policies and also the right to get new ones. But he doesn’t, which is highly suspicious.

For Betka

toothpastefordinner.com

Testing for the future...

So I've written before how I have no clue what I want to do with my life. One thing is certain is that I want to have a career that will provide me with an income that will support such habits as eating on daily basis and having a roof over my head. So seeing how I'm still very lost, I will be shelling out $600 to go here, The Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation, and take an aptitude test. I haven't made an appointment, but I'm planning to save up and take it in September. I'm pretty excited about it all.

Is This What You Wanted

I don't know if you can tell, but I'm still pretty obsessed with Mr.Cohen's music.

Reinventing Healthcare By August

A handful of people who probably never even ran a small business actually think they can reinvent the health care system.

Politicians and bureaucrats clearly have no idea how complicated markets are. Every day people make countless tradeoffs, in all areas of life, based on subjective value judgments and personal information as they delicately balance their interests, needs and wants. Who is in a better position than they to tailor those choices to best serve their purposes? Yet the politicians believe they can plan the medical market the way you plan a birthday party.

Read the whole thing.

Ukranians Are Awesome

(when they aren't being anti-Semitic retards)

Our Very Smart President

During the call, a blogger from Maine said he kept running into an Investors Business Daily article that claimed Section 102 of the House health legislation would outlaw private insurance. He asked: "Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance and will insurers be able to write new policies even though H.R. 3200 is passed?" President Obama replied: "You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about."

This is the same guy who says "The time for talk is through" This is the same logic that got the 23 trillion dollar stimulus. Um, yeah I'd like for people to talk about this for just a bit more. The more they will talk, the more people will see what a disaster this will be.

via allah

Moon Landing Deniers Pawned

Bonus see Buzz Aldrin punch an asshole calling him "coward."

via Frangry

Diplomacy of Barack Obama

This warrants a longer post, but this being Monday and well me being not so articulate I wanted to highlight I few things. As neo-neocon points out it seems the European love affair with BO is starting to sour.

It also seems that it's okay to stay out of Iranian matters, but perfectly okay to interfere with Handuras when the thug in charge leans towards you own lefty philosophy.

As for Israeli-Palestinian conflict it seems charm and "blunt" words have little effect on advancing the two state solution. As my friend Yuri writes about Obama's insistence on stopping the development in Jerusalem:

The strong-arming of Israel continues, but at least not without answer from Netanyahu and other Likudniks. Again, we have our two-faced President purporting not to interfere with sovereign affairs of other nations, and then trying to dictate to Jerusalem where to build or not to build on land indisputably part of Israel. Does Netanyahu dictate to Obama where to build in DC? in New York? Puerto Rico? You better believe, no. Obama should stay out of this issue - it's really, truly none of his business

Paul Rudd a conservative?

Okay, I think this is mostly wishful thinking. In fact I don't like when celebrities tell me their political views, I like my actors to inhabit their roles and leave their views of world affairs to other people. It seems Paul Rudd feels the same...which leaves me to believe he isn't the typical lefty actor, plus he likes being politically incorrect, a man after my own heart. But even if he is liberal, I don't care that much, cause I think he is hilarious and awesome.

"The truth is, I don’t like people to know too much about me. I can’t stand when actors espouse their beliefs – unless those happen to agree with my own. But I can tell you, I love it when people say the unsayable. When it’s something that others think is politically incorrect or offensive…"

Funny People

Looks promising. I'm Aptow junkie so I will going to see this.

Hey lets remember a fashionable wealthy couple who died in a private jet 10 years ago. Why exactly is Caroline and John John being mentioned? I get it they are pretty and he's the son of JFK, but what accomplishments did they themselves achieve besides knowing how to dress well with the their unlimited budget. There deaths are sad, in the same anyone who dies before their time is sad. But should it be plastered all over the news? Not so much.

Speaking of Wes Anderson

This entry made laugh, especially the last comment about aceptable things to say to a white person about Anderson's movies:

Bottle Rocket (1996) “I saw this movie in 1994″

Since Wes Anderson is known to some as, "just a guy with a wide angle lens and a CD collection." Here's an interview with Anderson on his perfect mixtape or at least the songs he likes. (I miss Murph)

last link via kottke

Ending the week on a sweet note

This might be a bit too precious for most. But why not end the week on a sweet note? I didn't think of it at first when I saw it on Le Love, but then littlebrownpen linked it and I thought why not? I can positive and optimistic, plus I love post-it art.

Tim Burton's Alice

Alice Kingsley by Mary Ellen Mark

I just started watching In Treatment, the HBO series about psychotherapy. The acting is amazing, the storylines while melodramatic, also feel like a puzzle. Not only do you want to know what is going on in these characters' lives, but the motivations behind their emotions and actions are at times mysterious & surprising. One of the superb actors on the show is Mia Wasikowska an Australian actress, playing a too mature for her age teenager, injured in an accident that undermines her potentially Olympic gymnastics career. Sometimes you forget you are watching actors - it feels to natural and too raw at times. So when I saw that she was going to play Alice, I got really excited. Plus I like the photo.

One Year Old!

The little gnome is turning one year old today! I couldn't be more delighted to have a niece who has the most appetizing cheeks you will ever see on a baby. I would be happier to be celebrating this momentous occasion with her and whole family in person, but alas I will settle for some Skype face time. Happy birthday Golda Esther!

Strange Women Lying In Ponds Distributing Swords Is No Basis For A System Of Power

"Well my doctor says I'll be alright....

Had Me Girl by Tom Waits.

Still cancer free.

Creepy Cool

New technology lets you hold a life sized model of your child.

Internet Observation

There's something off putting about reading a serious piece (like this one) and when you get to the end it says "Tweet this!" It seems so childish, like the one little command cancels out the whole gravitas of the piece. Sometimes I'm such an old fart.

One of the reasons women make less money than men....

It's because many woman suck at negotiating. I suck at it so badly, I can't advocate for myself at all. You want to pay me shit and give horrible hours and basically take advantage of me? Yay, bring it on. I'll just bitch to everyone around me, instead negotiating for conditions. Yeah..um, trying to change that.

Amy Alkon aka Advice Goddess, who I typically agree with ninety percent of the time and who offers advice based on research and not just gut feelings or "commnon sense" - links to this article which tries to explain why lawyers who are women earn less and what they should do about it. Amy writes,

...from time to time, I talk to women who tell me that they've just gotten a job, and who never think to ask for more money or certain perks (within reason, of course). Nothing. Nada. They just take exactly what they're given. In other words, they start off meek (we could call this "meek-qual pay"), showing their employer, even before day one, that they aren't in the habit of playing tough or "thinking outside the box." I have to wonder: Are these some of the women complaining that they don't make as much as men?...men who are generally more likely to negotiate for more, from everything I've read and heard.

I like that Amy is blunt about what you should do:

I think leadership opportunities should be expanded for all who earn them, whatever kind of genitalia they have in their pants.

Negotiation and speaking up not your strong suit? Well, boohoo. I have ADHD, and organization and concentration aren't mine, but I work really hard to compensate.

I also like she actually provides books that can help one overcome the obstacle she describes. Read the whole blog post.

Message From Iggy Pop

I love this guy.

Song for a Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Strip-tease by Juliette Grecco.

via Filles Sourires

Gawker Criticizes Reporters Yet Still Blind to White Hous Hypocrisy

So it seems like the White House invited a bunch of press to its 4th of July party, "The party was designated "closed press" because it was originally going to actually be closed to the press." So the reporters took the bait and attended the party. See, I have a problem with both the reporters and the administration. Can you imagine the mocking the Bush administration would have received from Gawker if they attempted to wine and dine the press corps and insist that no reporting would be done at the party. Instead the Gawker goons spin for the Obama administration:

But instead of just opening up the event to coverage, which would have meant spoiling a nice backyard bash with network cameras, radio correspondents, international press, and the vast machinery of live electronic media, the White House decided that it would be more fair to the news organizations who weren't invited if they just kept it off the record. That way, the thinking went, no one's getting special access. As absurd as that sounds when you're talking about inviting a select group of reporters to a party with the president, it kind of makes sense if you have to deal with a host of news outlets jockeying for access. If it's all off the record, a small regional paper can't complain that not being invited seriously hurts their coverage.

So it's okay to control the media, because otherwise it would spoil the "nice backyard bash." It's all about not providing special access, by providing special access to select few, who the White House wants to keep chummy with. Nice. Remember the most ethical and transparent administration in history.
Good thing Gawker is honing those sarcastic skills in admonishing the press:

What doesn't make sense, at all, is why a group of reporters who have recently begun clinging to the notion that they are independent of Washington's clubby morass of back-scratching self-congratulation would agree to attend an off-the-record party at the White House while one of their own is walled off in a pen like some forlorn scapegoat, doing the job they're supposed to be doing.

Kate Winslet's New Attitude Towards Nudity

Kate Winslet from the cover shoot of Bazaar. I love this photo, I'm wondering how they held her up. I love the juxtoposition of the skyscrapers and

She claims in the interview she is doing away with nudity and people have seen enough of her behind & breasts.

"I'll be 34 in October. I can't keep getting away with it. There was so much of it in The Reader because the story required it, but people have seen enough of my bum and my boobs. I have to put them back."

I'll believe when I see it, er, or when I don't see it. She's the female version of Ewan McGregor in movies, she can't get through a film without flashing her lady parts. It's in her contract. True story.

via Karol's twitter

I Think I Might Just Have A Slight Aneurysm

I've been wanting to watch How to Steal a Million this whole week. I think it was triggered by seeing a poster of Audrey Hepburn with Peter O'toole. Seriously in swooning territory here - since I can see it on Netflix anytime I want!

Also, how stupid is Audrey's hat here? Pretty stupid. And yet she pulls it off. Amazing.
In other movie news, I fianally saw "Dinner with Andre" and I think I loved it. I think I loved because of the non-Andre guy, Wallace Shawn. However, the actor who played Andre is amazing.

I Don't Think They Travelled With Any Israelis

French voted the worst tourists. I mean most Israelis can speak English, but that's only a minor point in their favor. However, I like disliking the French! Ha!

A Meeting With the Pope

It's all about communications. Stick with it, even though it's long. It made me laugh, since I was thinking along the lines of the Pope, not the rabbi.

I Love Old Ads!

Update: This is the image I was reffering too.

Especially when they employ outdated/offensive language.

Mini Movie Reviews

Twilight - I was curious about this teen phenomenon and finally saw this past weekend. In all honesty I didn't enjoy it much. In fact I was being a snarky asshole the whole time I was watching it. I can understand how teenagers and 40-something lonely women love this movie. It definitely portrays love as an all encompassing force - a blinding, instantaneous boom, that takes over your life without rhyme or reason. And while real love has an element of this drama, it's not nearly as brain dead and tiring as the love of heroine for her vampire boyfriend. I also very much hated the girl who played Bella, she can not act for the life of her. Plain horrible. I wanted to kill her myself - just to shut her up. If you're looking for mindless fantasy with pretty people this is a movie for you.

The Darjeeling Limited- I liked it a whole lot. It was funnier that I expected and poignant too. I forget that Wes Anderson movies do deal with the pain of death and loss of innocence. I remember being shocked at the death in Steve Zissou, and here in this movie I was again shocked by one of the characters dying. I kept imagining him waking up, everyone mistaken about his death. But no, he was really dead.
Some people don't like the very specific style Anderson employs in his films, I actually like it very much. I liked the Bill Murray red hearing at the beginning - I loved the acting by all, especially Adrien Brody. I strongly recommend it.

Happy Birthday Dawn!

It seems like it's the beginning of Dawn Summers' birthday season. In honor of her I'm posting a song, which I know she will like. Happy Birthday Dawn! May this year bring you lots of happiness and good music!

The Most Adorable "Song Titled "F*ck You"

I really like the chorus.

So Proud To Be From Massachusetts

Trying

I've been trying to be more positive. Something that is quite foreign to me. Being a positive panda instead of a sad panda (new word: sanda) has been a bit challenging. I've convinced myself the cancer has comeback (this is all in my head), I will know more about it when I go to the doctor's next week, until then I'm trying to think of something else (anything).


I have also tried to not get annoyed where in the past I would have flown into a rage. I try to discern things that can be changed and adjust my attitude when they can't be - the coworker who constantly dumps work on me and when he does his work he is woefully crappy at it - well I just try to stay away from him, the pile of papers I need to organize on my desk - I will get it done one by one instead of despairing about them never disappearing.

I've been trying to avoid stress, waking up earlier, going to bed earlier, not rushing on the road to get to my work. If I'm a little bit late, it won't be the end of the world. I'm also trying not to take things to close to the heart - you don't like me? well no one can please everyone a 100% of the time. So yeah, it's been a struggle, it doesn't seem like that much from the outside. In fact people who are closest to me will probably do a double take after reading this post. But I feel like I'm trying and that's the first step. Think positive!

I Have One Cool Niece

Those sunglasses and that smirk. Love it.

She's also pretty smart, sweet, and utterly irresistible. I might be a bit biased but I don't care. She's turning one in one week, I'm sad I won't be there to wish her a happy birthday in person, but at least she knows I love her anyway.

Quote of the Day

"Was I the only woman in the world who, at my age - and after a lifetime of quite rampant independence - still did not quite feel grown up?”
— Dodie Smith, The Town in Bloom

Pretty much sums me up to a tee. When am I going to feel grown up?

Without The Warm Welcome

Obama fevah seems to be breaking, Russian can give a flying f*ck if President Obama is coming. I would applaud them on their discerning tastes, but it's probably because they are racist.

via ace

Peace of Mind

North Korea test-fired a fourth short-range missile off its east coast Thursday, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

I'm really glad that the guy, who is all about "tough diplomacy," is leading the US when North Korea decides to test a few missiles and openly threatens United States with a missile towards Hawaii. I mean it's so awesome to have Obama at the helm, a man without any military experience but lots of scary, serious, long sounding words. Yes we can ignore a real tangible threat! I feel bad for Japan and Hawaii.

What Matters To Us

I've been thinking about this for a while now. It seems it's so much easier to mourn Michael Jackson, than Neda, who became a martyr for freedom and democracy, in Iran. I don't believe that the majority of people are now willing to die for their beliefs, actually I feel many people don't stop long enough to think about what really matters - just as long as they are comfortable is good enough for them. They have forgotten or never lived through real adversity. I find it a sad reflection of our society, when people get too comfortable they forget what really matters and those beliefs like liberty and freedom are worth sacrificing one's life.

When I think of the funerals of Diana, Jade Goody or Wacko, I get depressed. Yes, the displays of grief, the keening and moaning over artificial shrines with scented candles, the fake religiosity were, to some extent, whipped up by the media.

But what if these sugary, sentimental, morally empty displays of collective hysteria really do represent the modern soul? Two or three generations have passed in the West who, compared to their historical predecessors, have suffered no real hardship - no wars, no food shortages, no tyrannies.

As we sat in front of the telly or plugged into our iPods, guzzling cheap food and listening to cheap music, did we become bloated on the cheapness and the ease?

Is Goody-mania or Jackomania the moral equivalent of obesity, the result of bingeing on fake satisfactions and tawdry dreams? Is freakish, sentimental Wacko a representative of our collective psyche?

And will all the blubbing, sugary, silly responses to his pathetically predictable death be an expression of what we in the West have come to?

Leonard Cohen 's A Thousand Kisses Deep: Recitation

One of the most beautiful points during the Leonard Cohen's concert I went to see was his reading of "A Thousand Kisses Deep." The poem is about so many things, aging, love, music, art, it has everything in it. I found an audio of Leonard Cohen reciting it and it made really happy.

I'm Good at Love
I'm Good at Hate
It's in between I freeze
Been working out but it's too late
It's been too late for years
But you look good,
You really do,
They love you on the street.
If you were here I'd kneel for you
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

The whole poem is gorgeous.

I've been a little bit obsessed with Leonard Cohen since I saw him at Coachella in April. (I've tried to channel this obsession in my tumblr posts and telling Peter about it, I believe he is a bit sick of the topic. Good thing he loves me.) In fact, he left a bigger impression on me than even seeing Paul McCartney live. I meant to write about the experience but for whatever reason, maybe for the lack of words, I have been unable to. I have read some people describe the concert, especially the performance of "Hallelujah," to be an almost religious experience. Seeing the video of the performance it reminded of the swaying palm trees, the falling dusk, Mr. Cohen with his fedora, the yellow lights of the stage, my beloved standing next to me, the whole crowd singing along with the chorus - a practice I usually abhor but gave into this time - well it's was magical and I've been hooked ever since. I'm sure this obsession will fade, but I find him (and I'm not into celebrity worship) and his music/poems comforting. It's like a father giving his child advice about life, love, and everything in between.

Two Offensive Things I Heard On Bad Music Radio

1. "Shush girl, move your hips do the the Helen Keller." - ewwwwww.
2. "I want to play with your disco stick." I do believe she was going for metaphor in this song, but basically gives it all away.

Wow that music was bad, so bad.

Coffee Guide

I never worked as a "barista," so I find this illustration quite helpful.