Pete's Candy Store tonight!

Come for the music, stay to by me a pre-birthday drink.

Pete's Candy Store
709 Lorimer Street
8:30pm
FREE!!!

Miami

Man-O-War

Miami

Best Karaoke in Miami

"U.K".

And to further confuse your quotation/punctuation dilemma. They do it differently in the UK. Punctuation always falls outside of the quotation marks there.

-Dan

"Quotes."!!!?

It amazes me that, in the months that I have been blogging, the most comments I have received so far have been in response to a post in which I mentioned placement of a period when using quotation marks. Apparently, my ex even informed me that I misquoted him and corrected me:

"I always put the period inside the quotes. Commas also go inside. But question marks and exclamation marks go outside (unless part of the quote itself)."

I find this all especially amusing because the post was about Tom Cruise and Scientology - not one person contacted me regarding that subject! I fully expect to get an email now regarding my misuse of commas and my overuse of exclamation marks!!!

NYC Rats!

Walking home late last night I heard some rustling amongst garbage bags on East 9th Street. At first I thought it was the wind but then I noticed that the movements in the plastic were those created by slithering - not gusting winds. All I could say was, "Gross"!

Way Cool

Tom Crrr...azy!

A friend of mine in Los Angeles told me to watch the leaked video of Tom Cruise giving an acceptance speech at a Scientology award ceremony. Apparently, he sounds crazier than ever in this video but, much to my disappointment, when I searched for the uncut version on YouTube, I got this message:

"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Church of Scientology International".

Okay, do I even have to go into why this is so fucked up? I feel like I need to see the whole thing before I judge for myself. The only thing I learned from this whole experience is that my ex was right when he told me that closing quotations come before the period. (".) Oh, and also that its still fun to watch clips of Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear. That shit is timeless.

LHS Rock Paper Scissors

Its amazing what you can find in a simple Facebook search...

Unless you went to Lexington High School in Massachusetts, are an UBER acapella (or Justin Timberlake) fan, or are just a pedophile - you probably won't appreciate this video. There's not much more to say except that the redhead singing Timberland's part at the end can really hit a low note. Watch if you're bored:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F_m5mbbfDg&feature=related

Nice job, guys and gals. Glad to know LHS is still supporting the arts.

Alphabet City Wino

With all that's been going on in my life lately I wasn't sure if a wine shop opening around the corner from me was a good thing. Of course I was excited to find a cool little place that is open late on my way home! The problem is that I really, really like wine and I have no problem drinking lots of it.

But there was nothing I could do to stop Alphabet City Wines from opening and having such delicious offerings. Turns out the owners are really cool and know their shit about vino. They are always very willing to talk at length about all the varieties out there! Buying two cases of Nero D'Avola for client gifts this year turned out to be a good thing because I really needed a last minute location for a portrait shoot last week. I didn't think the owners would go for it but I asked if we could do a shoot in their cool, little lounge area and they were down with it!

So here is one of the lovely pictures I took of David Tucker (Nailbiters) and myself. I am going to be singing with him on Jan 29th at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn! Come check it out and buy me a glass of wine (or a Makers) - its my birthday EVE celebration as well!

Adorable!

I See Famous People

After a hard day of shopping today, I decided to stop off in Whole Foods for a little snack. While I was upstairs reading the Rustica menu, trying to find something under $5 and less filling than pasta, I noticed a man nudging up against me. He got uncomfortably close to the point that I really hoped that it was a friend of mine. He said, "hi there" and I looked up to discover that it was Horatio Sanz from Saturday Night Live!

I guess he remembered me from a couple shoots that I did for Upright Citizens Brigade - but I was shocked! He told me that the ravioli was great and introduced me to his girlfriend. He told me that he had seen me earlier in the day walking down St. Marks. I said, "Oh, that's funny! I didn't see you." He pulled up his collar in a mock-incognito sort of way, smiled and said he had been "hiding".

Now I find this whole experience really amusing because I've been on the other end of celebrity /non-celebrity encounters where I, of course, recognized a person and said hello. This is the first time that a celeb has approached me (well, other than that time in an elevator in LA when Jamie Foxx and his friend talked to me - this was pre-Ray). He probably thought, "hey, this is weird. I recognize this girl from somewhere. I even saw her walking down the street today. I wonder how the universe allowed our paths to cross so many times - there must be meaning to this. I am going to say hello because there is something cosmic about all of this."

This is the same way people think when they see famous people: "OMG! I've seen this person, like, a hundred times before on various programs/movies/commercials/music videos and he/she has made me laugh/cry/drool in the most real, meaningful way! The universe is putting me in the same location with this person for a reason! I must say hello to them."

People in NYC and LA are always saying I saw this celebrity or that celebrity but no one really thinks or cares about the fact that sometimes celebrities are seeing YOU. In a way, BEING seen is far cooler. Especially when the celeb lets you know it.

And, BTW, after he left, I scrapped the snack idea and sat down for a nice plate of ravioli!

Happy New Year... in a hole!

My New Year's Eve started off on the wrong foot and in the wrong borough. I'll get to that later on today after I finish my coffee but I just need to point out something I noticed as I soberly walked amongst the drunkards at 1:30am last night. ConEd must have decided that work on the streets could cease due to the holiday because they left these gaping holes open in the street right next to a bar called 7B! There were about a dozen hammered party-goers stumbling around on the street and sidewalk next to them.

All they did was throw a few saw horses over them to create awareness of them but don't you think they could have at least made an attempt to cover up the holes? Part of me hoped that some drunk asshole tripped over her heels and fell in - just to prove a point, that is.

And then there were the other drunks that were trying desperately to GET IN a hole - a different kind of hole... I haven't decided if its fun or not to be the only sober person in an entire neighborhood but it certainly helps when you're trying to avoid certain gentlemen callers. I have found that I have a knack, perhaps even a talent, for beating men off with a stick or, as I have been told, with my wit.

One drunk guy who sat down next to me in Sal's looked at me and said, "You are so beautiful. You're so beautiful that... that...". I said, "What?! So beautiful that you can't even finish your sentence?!" He seemed surprised by my response but immediately recognized how hammered he was and left me alone. A wasted finance guy at Zum Schneider insisted that he was 28 but I didn't believe him because he was acting like he was 22 (then again, he is in finance). I told him to show me his ID and the wheels started turning in his head. After a moment of staring into space he said, okay, if I would show him my boobs. They must teach these thing on Wall Street or something! I told him that I was grateful for him saying that because now I could tell my friends something funny about my New Year's: a drunk, finance guy asked to see my boobs. Happy Freakin' New Year!

But let me tell you how I got here to Zum Schneider, by myself on New Years. I originally had plans to go see the Dresden Dolls with a guy from high school who bailed on me at 4pm New Year's Eve. Needless to say, I was a bit upset but I figured I could pull my night together with all of the other options that I had. I had invites to 4 parties in Brooklyn and, while I am not a fan of leaving my neighborhood when I don't have to, I figured the numbers were against me and all my friends were staying east of the river this night. I got all dolled up and got in a cab to Rubulad just before midnight. I made it just in time to blow $25 for the champagne toast and to have my dry clean-only outfit soak up the smell of cigarettes and hippies. At midnight when all cell phone service seemed to die in NYC, I stepped outside and realized how great this dingy part of Brooklyn smelled compared to the inside of the warehouse. I stood outside for about a half hour trying to get a cab. A gentleman wearing a full suit, a hat and a bottle of glitter on his face approached me and asked if we were in Brooklyn (is there an emoticon that rolls its eyes?) He offered to flag down a gypsy cab and asked if I was willing to pay $30. Fuck no! Are you kidding? I spent $19 getting here with a wrong turn - there's no way in hell I'm paying $30! I think I then scared the tourist away...

I finally found a local Brooklynite who spotted me a gypsy for $20. On the way back to the East Village I saw a guy viciously head-butting an old drunk (it seemed) in the doorway of a deli. It was probably one of the most violent scenes I've seen in NYC other than a street fight in 2000 that ended in murder. I couldn't stop looking but the driver turned his head away and I got the sense that it wasn't because he couldn't stand it but more because he didn't want to have to be a witness to whatever it might lead to. All I wanted at this point was a beer and a veggie dog. I ended up feeling bad and giving the driver $25 since it was New Year's and I felt that I needed to change my karma in some way. At this point the night seemed to be getting worse and worse. To my dismay Crif Dogs was closed for a private party! I know it sounds silly but this was the point where I almost started crying. I actually did get a little teary when I found that Two Boots was also closed. So I ended up getting a slice at Sal's where I realized how painfully sober I was. I decided I needed to salvage this night in some way or I would live to regret it.

So I went to Zum Schneider for a beer and, as I looked around the room, I wondered why everyone felt the need to go to some crazy party with a high cover charge when there were these great places right in the city that weren't too packed and had great music! A young man asked me how close to 42nd Street we were (insert eye-roll emotion here). But everyone was having a great time. There were even girls dancing on the bar! I was a wall flower until some lovely German woman saw my pout and introduced me to all of her friends. It was my luck that she insisted I have another beer before leaving - turns out that she used to work there and she hooked me up at he bar! Anyway, I ended up dancing with her, her friends and the bar back, Miguel. The finance guy showed up and, as amusing as he was, he scared me when he wouldn't leave me alone. After multiple attempts at kissing me, I decided to go home. ALONE. I specified this multiple times yet the guy followed me out the door after I said my thanks and goodbyes to the fantastic Germans. I kind of felt bad for the guy cause he was hammered so I offered to get him in a cab. He said it would be better if I took him home. At this point I was planning on walking to someone else's apartment building so he wouldn't know where I lived but then luckily a friend called! The drunk dude asked if it was my boyfriend so I lied and said YES! That didn't stop him from stumbling after me but at this point I just decided to bolt. I ran across the street with traffic coming from both directions so he couldn't following me without getting hit! I hope he did get in a cab and not go to another bar to hit on other girls. Though maybe if they were as wasted as he was they would be happy to have the attention!

I spent the next 4 hours iChatting with friends celebrating in LA. I was proud of myself for going out and having a good time on my own but its always better to be with friends. Next year I'll make sure I stay in Manhattan though!