Yeah, I didn't get "Tagged", but whatEVER

Three books I can read over and over (and you thought I didn't read):
1) A Confederacy of Dunces
2) Dancer
3) Naked
Bonus:
4) Memoirs of a Geisha

Three places I've lived:
1) Alphabet City in Lower Manhattan
2) Dallas, Texas
3) 40th btwn 3rd and Lex (Murry Hill, thankyouverymuch)
Bonus:
4) Brooklyn, baby!

Three TV shows I love:
1) Project Runway
2) American Idol (shut UP)
3) Extreme Home Makeover (again, shut UP)
Bonus:
4) anything except Emeril on the food Network

Three highly regarded and recommended TV shows that I've never watched a single minute of:
1) Lost
2) Deadwood
3) any of the CSI series
Bonus:
4) My Name is Earl

Three places I've vacationed:
1) Hawaii
2) Scottsdale, AZ
3) New York
Bonus:
4) L.A.

Three of my favorite dishes:
1) Tacos
2) Beef Stew
3) Sushi
Bonus:
4) none

Three sites I visit daily:
1) Daily Candy
2) Hint Fashion Magazine
3) Go Fug Yourself
Bonus:
4) New York Times

Three places I would rather be right now:
1) Barney's
2) Fred Segal
3) poolside in Maui
Bonus:
4) dance class with Patrick

Serendipitous Gastronomy

I just finished dinner. I hadn't eaten all day and I was soooo hungry when i got home at around 7:30. I had to eat and I had to eat FAST. Opened the fridge... hmm... let's see... NO leftovers. ugh. Believe it or not, I am NOT above eating leftovers. In fact, I kinda' LIKE leftovers. Leftover adobo is especially good... but i digress.
I dug around and scrounged up the following:
chicken stock
brocoli
grated cheddar/monterey jack cheese
green onions
heavy cream
parmigiana regiano
garlic
Here's what i did with the above ingredients:
boiled the brocoli and one piece of garlic in the chicken stock
added a little salt and pepper (just a little)
when the brocoli was all soft and stuff, I dropped it all in the blender and hit puree
i slowly added about half a cup of the cream
then i added a LITTLE paarmigian regiano
then i added about 3/4 cup of the grated cheddar/montery jack cheese
VOILA!!!
SOUP!!!!!!
I MADE SOUP! It was thick and hot and GOOD. It was a weird green color, but whatEVER.
I poured it into a bowl and garnished with the green onion.
Amazing.
(oh... i cubed up some spam and threw it into the bowl too!!!)

I know you're out there....

You probably didn't notice, but I've got Sitemeter on my blog now. It took me about a million years to figure out how to put it on (turns out it was really simple... so simple that I missed a step, ergo the million years that went by before my uber sib clued me in).
Anyhow... with Sitemeter, I can see when people stop by my blog. It doesn't tell me your NAME or anything, so relax... but it tells me what time you stopped by, your location and, if you used google, what search words were used to get you to me.
Like I said, it doesn't tell me your name, but I know enough about some of you to know who you are from the location. Ferinstance... i know when Ver stops by because it shows the city where she lives... I know when Auntie G stops by for the same reason. I know who it is when USC shows up as the domain name (hallooo L, thanks for stoppin' by). There are a several people who show up from our family website...
ANYHOW. I've got a couple of questions:
•Someone's checking in from Mountain View, California. WHO ARE YOU? you come by pretty often, and from what I can tell, you've got me bookmarked.
•Someone's been dropping by from San Francisco via our family website... WHO YOU?
That's really it... some people come by after viewing my profile. That's kinda' fun. I do that every once in a while... like I have West Side Story as one of my favorite movies and I've clicked on that to see who else out there likes it. It leads me to all the other bloggers who put WSS as their favorite movie. That fascinates me for about 15 seconds.
So... I know you're out there... (granted, nobody really stays very long - I can see that too)... but take a couple extra seconds and let me know you were here.
Thanks in advance!

Puma Cell Deka

Puma Cell Deka
Originally uploaded by shuboy.

oh... i got these yesterday too. i've got a version in navy but they've got a mesh upper instead of the leather shown here.

Puma Wake

Puma Wake
Originally uploaded by shuboy.

These are insane. I picked them up yesterday before my hair appointment...

Go Kikaida 01!!!!!!

when we were kids, we'd go to Hawaii once or twice a year... our ocusins used to watch this show called "Kikaida". They were almost religious about it. Like they never missed an episode. Or at least it seemed that way. So the crazy thing is that the whole freakin' show was in JAPANESE. sure, they lived in Hawaii and all, but I'm pretty certain that none of them spoke Japanese. I KNOW I didn't speak Japanese (still don't), but I couldn't stop watching that show. anyhow.. check out the theme song:
http://www.tarrantnostra.com/kikaida/a1.mp3

Homage to Isaac Mizrahi

isaac-779542
Originally uploaded by shuboy.

Isaac Mizrahi has a talk show. insane. he's insane. BUT he's insane in a really genius way.
He's got some woman on who lost 122lbs. He's doing a makeover on her. He went backstage while she was trying on different outfits... after she put on each outfit, he took a picture of her. HE TOOK A PICTURE OF HER. He told her that oftentimes when someone loses so much weight that they continue to harbor an image in their mind of their old, "large" selves. The photo helps them to step out of themselves and see what they really look like. Good. Really good.
I think there are times when the reverse is true for me. Or to clarify... I harbor an image of me when i was, um, thinner.
For instance; I wore something to an event where I was seeing several people who's fashion opinions I trust along with several others who's opinions I find suspect. Let me say that it wasn't an entire outfit, but just a "piece", as it were per se to wit et al... an accessory. Admitedly, it was something that I don't normally wear - I was taking a risk. I was expecting comment. Well, not so much "expecting" as prepared for comment. Nothing. I got nothing. I've retired "the piece".
Anyhow, back to Isaac... when he's done with interviewing a guest, he thanks them for coming on the show then turns to the audience and says, "Clap for her!". it's just brilliant.
He aslo does a segment called "Sketches and Answers" where he answers the audiences impromptu fashion questions with SKETCHES!!!!!! He does it right there in front of them. That too, is brilliant. some girl just asked what she should wear to an 80's theme party and he sketched the entire outfit - including coloring in the pieces AND sketching the hairdo (crimped side ponytail, but HIGH on the head).
He's hysterical. I LOVE him. I've loved him ever since he did Unzipped. I wanted to freakin' BE him after I saw that movie! One year for C'mas, The Uber-Sib gave me Isaac Mizrahi presents The Adventures of Sandee the Supermodel. How did she know?

Highlights from a Recent E-mail Exchange...

with a certain someone who shall remain nameless regarding the party planning for 2 brilliant and adorable 6 year olds who shall also will remain nameless. this is after a site visit to the upcoming party location.

okay... just called a theater contact of min for a mylar curtain. they've got one but it's 60' wide by 40' high. that's a bit too much... was also thinking...
it goes on, then:
was also thinking about the set up. thought it would be great to push the activity tables right up against the window - all that natural light, but then figured it would be bad to have children with their backs to their parents while holding sharp things like scissors.
it continues, then:
I've choreographed a short ballet for the party. i didn't check, but i'm sure there's somewhere I could change, right? I'm happy to share the space with the "puppet" guy... i can have the orchestra set up outside (PRAY that it doesn't rain).
thought it could be cool to have a bunch of pink pillows for the kids to sit on during the "puppet" show and during my ballet. or not... just a thought.
i've got some of those galvanized tubs for ice/drinks. need 'em?
lemme know.
i'll e-mail with any other ideas. sure you don't need one of those jumpy-jump things? Children seem to like them... although I'll never understand why - they smell like feet.
km

Her response:

Cool! A ballet!
Yes, will work on the streamer curtain. I realized I could just staple or tape the strips to a long strip of paper (or bookbinding tape, which is what I have on hand), and then cover the tape/staples with pink tissue paper flowers or whatever. Should be cute.
None of the crafts require scissors, though the scratch art does make use of a sharp stylus!!! There will be four or five crafts, so I kind of want to set up "stations" for each so the kids move around. Here's my schedule so far:
9:00 - 11:00: set up
11:00 - 11:45: free play
11:45 - 12:30ish: eating (I'm thinking of doing an all pink candy section--just bought those chocolate peppermint marshmallows off the wsgc site...)
12:30 - 1:00: puppet show
1:00 - 1:30: cupcakes/ice cream
1:30 - 2:00: games (?) & good-bye
2:00 - 3:00: cleanup
I have a few games in mind if we hit a lull in activity. But the kids can always go back to the crafts or to just running around like lunatics. They really do just start to make up their own fun.
Can you think of anything fun to stick in the three pink vases? I wanted to get the big pink lollipops, but they're $6/each and I find that offensive....


and my response:
Um... I was just kidding about the ballet. (At times like these, I wonder how you can be responsible for raising 3 children).
9 to 11 for set up then we go right into free play? What about the arrivals??? when are we supposed to do the red carpet and receiving line? that reminds me - what about security? Who's in charge of security????
are you sure you want to have 5 SEPARATE stations? seriously. do you really want the ONE craft station that's not a hit with the kids to shine like a beacon signaling to the other mothers your gross miscalculation of what would charm and enthrall their children? Why separate them? what if there isn't enough room at one of the stations and one of the children is left out and forced to do 'that other stupid craft with THE BOYS!!!!!"???? What if the one future homosexual boy WANTS to make a pretty pink mask with glitter and feathers? He'll have to be at that particular table and will immediately be rediculed by the other boys (and even some of the parents). Or worse yet, he'll have to deny his perfectly natural desire to make a pretty pink mask with glitter and feathers (just like the Masked Princess in the book that his Uncle Jeff - who underSTANDS - gave him) and go over and make paper airplanes JUST BECAUSE that's what little boys are SUPPOSED to do. PLEASE be sensitive and THINK about these things.
Please take a picture of the pink vases. Also, put something next to them that is familiar to me so i can get an idea of the scale/size of them. (Giant lollipops for 6 bucks don't necessarily offend me. The fact that a 6 dollar lollipop will NEVER be completely consumed offends me.) I'm having a vision of GIGANTIC crepe paper flowers. Is that TOO "my brother is gay and he helped me decorate"? Not sure.
As for the streamers... the pink tissue paper flowers is a VERY cute idea. we could also attach the flowers to ribbons and mix them in with the streamers for a little variety (and to keep it from looking too much like an 80's Daly City high school garage party at Gary Borghello's house.)
The one hour clean up gave me pause, but I think if they clean as they go it should be fine. We'll just have to keep on those caterers!
KM

If you've been here before, you'll gettit. If not, please be aware that I was having a total, "I'm Kathy Hilton's brother and we're talking about Paris and Nicky's 6th b'day" moment.
why does this happen to me?

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all!
Last night was spent with our friends - the way New Years Eve should be. Em and Derek had everyone over (this has become a tradition over the past three years). Derek did all the cooking. Em was in charge of "decor". She decided on a Peppermint theme. Why a "theme" was necessary, I'm still not sure, but it was fun. They served chocolate/Peppermint Martinis. Interesting, but i only felt the need to partake of one. I switched to just my regular Grey Goose and Tonic afterwards. Not like it was a big drunken brawl... just not interested in that. all in all, a lovely, low key evening with our closest friends.
We played a game (another one of Em's 'things' - she feels the need to play some sort of board game at all her parties) called Encore. it was really fun... let's see... how to explain... roll the dice.. move the piece... land on a color... pull the card and read the word on the card. Then you have to sing a song with the word from the card on it. make sense? the rules say that you have to come up with 8 consecutive words in the song and you MUST get the melody correct. so for instance, the word is "Gal". So the first team comes up with, "Buffalo GALs won't ya come out tonight, come out tonight?". then the second team comes up with, "five foot two, eyes of blue... has anybody seen my GAL?" seems really easy until you're in the heat of it. they also have a 'category" category. so instead of giving you a word, they give you a category like, "School Songs" or Songs About Children". anyhow. suffice to say it was hysterical - especially in a room filled with Musical Theater types. if nothing else, the voices were great!
So... like i said, pretty low key NYE. Hopefully this year will follow suit.