Rite of Passage

There are certain things in this world that we all have to go through as we move from childhood to adulthood. Certain things that almost all adults have to go through, painful as they may be, as we make that transition. No one looks forward to these events, but they are unfortunately inevitable. And one of the scariest, in my opinion, is being drugged up, held down, and having teeth yanked from our head. Barbaric, isn't it? I refer, of course, to wisdom teeth.

For starters, the name is completely deceptive. It makes them sound all desirable. We should call them pain in the ass teeth. Or debt teeth. Or 10lb diet teeth. My friend, brave woman that she is, is getting all of hers removed today and I am going to be quizzing her on the process (you know, once she can talk and stuff). I've already told her she has to lie to me about how bad it is, as I have not yet removed mine and am completely dragging my feet.

Not everyone hates them though. I am not refering to tooth fetishists. I'm refering to even stranger people, dentists. This is one of those expenses that dentists must be absolutely giddy over. I mean, seriously, no matter how great your oral hygiene is you are probably at some point going to have to pay thousands of dollars to have a guy (or woman, let's not be sexist) go into your wonderfully healthy and well cared for mouth and cut and pull several teeth out and then charge you the equivilant of a morgtgage payment for the pleasure.

Also, seriously, what kind of job did evolution do on this? This was the best it could do? I've made my peace with the fact that we eat and breath through the same hole in our face (seriously stupid, no wonder people choke). And the fact that childbirth is hours of torture doesn't seem super efficient either, frankly. Also, spinal cords seem like maybe they were not best designed either, like great, have a pathway exist that regulates ALL our movement and even our breathing and then make it unable to fix itself when injured. Genius.

So maybe wisdom teeth are actually a fairly minor glitch after all. Still, it's pretty dumb. Like, either make our mouths bigger or our teeth smaller. Or we could be like sharks and just replace as needed. Because having a tooth pulled is nooooooo fun. I had a bad one pulled to make room for the presumably healthy wisdom tooth to take its place, and my dentist almost gave up halfway through the process because I was being such an enormous baby about it. And that still leaves three useless wisdom teeth lurking in my mouth just waiting to make trouble. They're probably forming their own little gang in their, charging the good teeth protection money and hanging out on street corners drinking. Plotting to take down the one that turned on them and became useful. Eventually I'll have to step in and evict them but I think for now I'll just look the other way.

Rain, rain, rain

I have hung myself up to dry. I was beginning to feel more like a frog than a person.

Michael Jackson, ugh

I am sooooooo sick of hearing about Michael Jackson. We do not need 500 updates about the current state of his estate EVERY DAY. One story once everything has been decided is plenty, thanks. Same with the doctor they're investigating. A story if there's an arrest, another if there's a conviction. It's not like there's not other things happening in the world. Plus, I need my celebrity gossip and TMZ and Perez Hilton have been way too Jackson heavy lately.

NYC in the Summer

I just read an article on Yahoo News about some great free things to do during the summer in NYC. This is now my second summer here, but last year I was so stressed out by moving and finding that first job, and then working it, that I didn't actually do much in the city. This year I want to take advantage a bit more and the suggestions in the article seem like a really good place to start.

The new High Line park mentioned in the article just sounds so cool and fun and like such a New York version of a park that I can't wait to see it. And the $.50 oysters at South Side Seaport, well, let me put it this way. I've eaten two dozen oysters in a sitting before in about 2 minutes (you think I'm exaggerating?) and only been stopped from eating more from the horrified looks of the rest of my party. Also, I'm not sure if copious oyster eating isnt somehow bad for you, because it's better than candy and anything that good just has to be bad for you. But you better believe I will be there and if you hear that they ran out of oysters? Well, maybe they should have just had more in stock to begin with.

NYC Apartment hunt, continued

I've been diligently combing Craigslist for a few months now trying to find an affordable studio apartment that I can move to in Brooklyn, and this is what I've learned:

-There are a lot of "missionaries" who have "just moved to Africa" and need you to send them a deposit and rent before they can "send you the key." From Africa. They don't need references or credit scores or anything, because they just know that you are the "clean god fearing tenant" they were looking for. Anyone who actually buys this story probably also owns an invisible bridge somewhere.

-My budget resembles that of small town potato farmers new to the big city and is enough to send seasoned New Yorkers into gales of laughter.

-Having cats doesn't help.

-The economy apparently isn't that bad.

Therefore I am still looking. I recently saw a tip on a website that says to walk around the neighborhood you like talking to old men and charming them into revealing top secret cheap apartments to you. I'm a little doubtful about this tactic as my attempts at being effortlessly charming resemble a bull trying to pick out a new china set. Plus, it can be hard to tell apart "helpful elderly gentleman" and "lecherous old sex offender." Still, I'm not ruling it out. Beggers can't be choosers. If anyone has any tips, I'll be happy to hear them. If you are living in another country, however, and want me to send you a wire transfer in exchange for keys, keep it to yourself.

Do you have a problem...

...when a friend you're chatting with, drinking wine on the other side of the country, means you're not actually drinking alone (because only lushes drink alone, lol).

Latest Harry Potter review

Here is the promised review, and it definitely will contain some spoilers, so don't read if you want a totally pure experience.

Overall, I definitely like it. That said, here are my thoughts, free form style. :-)

Hmmm...Harry sure looks broody. And should you just be reading a moving newspaper out in the middle of a restaurant? Is that really smart?

Oh, poor Muggles girl. Don't just leave her hanging!

I want the Weasily house. So cute!

Ginny is pretty, but not...that...pretty...

Now I feel bitchy.

Um, maybe Hermione should just, like, talk to Ron? And why are they being so skeptical about Draco's evilness?

Ouch. Seriously. Poor Harry.

Oooohhhh! Cheater. On the same note, later, why didn't Harry tell Ron it was really all him?

Ron's girlfriend is kind of over the top hilarious.

I like the bonding moments between Harry and Hermione.

The potions teacher really is completely useless, huh? I do wish I could morph into a sofa sometimes though...

Oh, really convenient not to remember how you dumped your girl friend, Ron. And was that really all it took to drive her off? Lots of dating in this movie, not much fighting. Enjoying the teen angst of that, though.

Hmmm. Had Harry forgotten his luck potion before now?

Oh, hi Gollum. Did LOTR forget to copyright you?

Awww.....sad...booo...

THE END

There. Not too spoilery, and it will probably make more sense after the movie is seen. So go see it. You don't want to be the last person on earth who hasn't, right? Anyone whose seen it, I'd love to get your thoughts, so if you want to leave a comment.

Laziness

...is when you spray air freshener and light candles rather than go buy new cat litter at the supermarket.

Kindness of Strangers

It is so nice to hear a story like this where strangers actually step up and help, rather then turn and run the other way as if they themselves are actually the ones on fire. I think we've all gotten used to hearing stories of cars driving around injured people without stopping to help, and as a woman I've certainly heard it's better to yell "fire" rather than "rape" because people are too selfish/scared to help a rape victim. This story actually made me tear up a little because 1. It has a happy ending and 2. These people risked themselves to help and they didn't have to.

I'm off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard...

Ok, so it's Harry Potter not The Wizard of Oz, but it is a catchy song right? The BF got free tickets so I'm going to do my best to horrify him by buying candy and maybe a can of soda outside of the theatre to bring in to the movie. I know it's how the theatres make a lot of their money but it is totally ridiculous what they charge and I feel robbed when I buy it there. So note to all other poor people, it's not like they check your bag.

I'll post a review of the movie after and let you all know if I liked it. I've read all the books and but it's been a while that I haven't re-read and I have the memory of a gariatric pensioner so any dramatic moments will be appropriately suspensful.

Pea Pasta, Monks style

I have a new recipe for you guys and it's healthy and good. And easy. All my favorite recipes are easy. Basically it's a pasta with peas as the sauce. I learned this when I was living in a monastary/boys dorm (yes, I'm a girl) in Italy. How many people can say they've lived somewhere like that? Ha! So, recipe:

1. Throw half a can or a can of peas in a nonstick pan. Pour some olive oil liberally on top of it and cook at low temp. until the peas are soft and mushy.

2. Then mush them up.

3. Meantime get water boiling for the pasta and get that going.

4. Once the peas are nice and mushed up season with salt and pepper. Also add some bread crumbs to the peas to make it more like a real sauce and less like just a bunch of squashed peas.

5. Pour a spoonful or two of boiling pasta water on top of the sauce, since by now it's probably pretty dry. Add some more olive oil too if the spirit so moves you.

6. Once pasta is ready just mix the pasta and sauce together until it's all coated and mixed, and there you go. Pea Pasta. Not delicious looking, but actually surprisingly good. Enjoy!

Balderdash!

I spent the weekend tanning, drinking, eating and almost winning (I was robbed!) board games. It's been a great weekend and it has left me re-energized to keep on job hunting and looking for projects to work on. Goal this week: actually contact insurance company about reimbursement I'm owed. Cannot complain about being broke and let that go at the same time.

Blending and burning

I'm going rooftop tanning tomorrow and perhaps to a music festival as well. Maybe the random birthmark that has appeared on my forehead will blend in to the rest of my face? I did buy some Sun Fragrence Free mineral sunscreen and I'll let you all know if it keeps me from toasting. I've never tried mineral sunscreen before.

Heat Wave

Oh my god it's so hot. So so so hot. Aaaarrrggghhh. *Collapses*

I've been inhaling fruitsicles and ice water and trying not to move more than I have to all day because I was trying to not turn the air on. It is now on. For someone who has actually lived in tropical climates I am sure not handling New York summers very well.

I wouldn't do well trying to cross a desert.

Drink Gone Wrong

Watermelons are one of my favorite flavors of summer. They are fresh and light and generally the perfect thing to be eating when you're overheated and do not want to waste precious money on air conditioning. Mojitos are also great. So the idea of making a lime watermelon mint sugar (and of course alcohol) drink sounded genius. Don't those flavors sound like they would go great together? This lovely looking recipe from Choosy Beggars just made me more convinced that my own modified version would be great.

However it was not. At all.

Don't get me wrong I still drank it all - waste not want not, right? We are in a recession. And it is a drink. But let this be a lesson to you that the following ingredients do not work together :

Watermelon
Lime juice
Sugar
Crushed mint leaves
Cheap vodka

This is not going to stop me from attempting other watermelon drinks, but let me assure you that this particular one is off the Christmas list. It was definitely bad.

NYC Diet

Salt is not a staple food. Nevertheless after going through my fridge and realizing I had absolutely nothing to eat, not even a single stray egg, I went out and bought salt. Because I was out. Then I told my boyfriend this. He knows me well enough to realize that salt is indeed a solid foundation to a meal.

I ended up figuring out some food to make. I actually did have some pasta lying around and a small piece of cheese from the back of my empty fridge became the not really adequate sauce. I am now making bread because as I've mentioned before all it takes is flour, yeast and water. And I did have those. If I was feeling more motivated I would have just dragged myself over to Whole Foods but I did not feel that motivated. Going to the corner store to get salt in fact used up my entire store of get out of the house energy.

I will need to go to the grocery store tomorrow unless I want to start sharing cat food with Guinness and Shale. And frankly they do not get the super fancy expensive cat food, so really really not appealing (it is perfectly adequate cat food and they get treats sometimes so no reason to get mad on their behalf). But for tonight at least I as able to actually scrap together a perfectly decent if not very colorful meal.

Edited to add : I just noticed the ad on the right is actually food oriented at the moment. Does that mean that whatever random program decides these things thinks I'm a food blog? I'm kind of a food blog right?

Apartment Hunting

I've been looking for a place for a while, since my current neighborhood is not wonderful and in fact features nightly screaming matches between a rotating cast of men and women outside my window (free entertainment?). However, as everyone knows it is freaking expensive to find a place in NYC. Forget Manhattan, even the boroughs are expensive. I have heard that if I get a couple Chinese language newspapers they might have some cheaper apartment options in them. This would be a better tip if I spoke Chinese, but hey, I can work around that. So hopefully I will soon find a little place for myself and the kitties somewhere safe and cheap. I am accepting advice from anyone who has apartment hunting tips for someone on a kind of ridiculous budget.

Vegetable Curry

I'm really proud of myself for attempting a completely new recipe for vegetable curry I found online. And it is good. Really spicy juicy tasty good. And since I made enough to feed an entire army, it's a good thing that I like it.


Above is an artistic depiction of myself about halfway through the recipe, when I was looking at my pot and then looking at the huge mountain of eggplant I had to try to cram into it. Notice how my shoes and shirt oh so tastefully match. That rarely happens in real life, but I allowed myself some artistic license.

Usually I only try new recipes if a friend makes something I enjoy and I force them to show me how they did it, so I'm pleased with myself for the curry initiative. I cook mainly Italian food, with a few other dishes I've picked up along the way thrown in, so this is outside of my comfort zone cooking wise. I was looking for something healthy but that still felt like a full meal, and this is definitely making its way onto my recipe list (the one that exists only in my head).

You can follow the link above to the recipe. I modified it a bit, replacing the cauliflower with zuchinni and using flour instead of cornstarch. I also used some random fresh spicy green pepper instead of the spicy green chili, because I couldn't find the chili in my supermarket. It makes a ton of curry. The eggplant (I used an entire one, not sure if that's more than the recipe calls for) barely fit in the big soup pan I cooked all this in.It was really easy to make though. I pre-chopped everything and just dumped stuff in the pan in the appropriate order and let it simmer. I added extra spices at the end because I do like it pretty spicy. After just a day and a half it's almost gone and it saved me the effort of cooking for a few meals, so great.

Health Care Addendum

I just read an article on MSN about medical tourism and it is just embarrassing that someone who needs, for example, a heart valve transplant can get it for almost 20 times less somewhere else. Yeah, we're a first world country and there is some peace of mind that comes with that but $160,000 vs $9,000? Where the hell is all that money going? It's absolutely shameful and is a big reason why we need a total health care overhaul in this country. I've wrote a post not too long ago about my stance on public healthcare and this article just reinforces that opinion.

Job advice for grads

I wanted to put together some of my thoughts on how to get started in the tv and film industry, since it is not easy. I obviously am still figuring it out, but nevertheless here are my hard earned nuggets of advice.

Walking across the stage

It may seem obvious but an internship is absolutely critical. As many internships as you can fit in before you graduate or even after if you can afford it, the better. Keep in touch with people you work with - almost all the jobs I've ever gotten have been through someone I've already worked with mentioning my name. This is particularly hard for me as I am actually kind of shy and calling a boss or collegue out of nowhere to catch up is really hard for me. This is probably my personal biggest handicap - my advice for others is to get good at this.

Be confident in your abilities. No one knows everything but each person brings their own set of skills to the table and it is important to know what your skills are and be able to convey that to your employers. Take every opportunity to learn something new in your field and be flexible. Most people want to be in a certain niche - editor, producer, director, grip, camera, etc. but when you are starting out be willing to do ANYTHING. You will not just fall into exactly what you want to do and be able to make a living off of it right away.

Be prepared to be unemployed. I mean that both financially and emotionally. The nature of the industry is that you are hired on a project to project basis. That means when one project ends you are on your own to find the next one. The better your networking skills and the higher people think of you the easier it will be to find your next project but inevitably at the beginning there will be gaps. This is what ends up driving a lot of people into other industries. Being broke and unemployed is no fun. It starts wearing on your confidence if you let it. I strongly believe the longer you stick with this career the bigger a network you will eventually have and those employment gaps will get shorter but even professionals who have been in the industry for many years still have gaps.

Be professional and don't burn any bridges. You may not like all your collegues and you might think some jobs are too low paying/low skilled but you never know where your next recommendation is going to come from. Be nice and professional with everyone.

Lastly, my favorite job hunting sites are Mandy.com and Craigslist.org. This is because they are free. I am going to try to expand my job hunting horizons a bit and try some new sites that have been recommended (media bistro being a recent one) but they are my go-to sites. I have gotten a couple jobs off of them, which is actually pretty good since almost all jobs in this industry are word of mouth.

Hopefully this helps some recent/soon to be grads in entertainment. If anyone further along has advice for me please let me know. I am still learning and getting my feet under me as well.

One (or 5) a day keeps the doctor away

Picture thanks to freefoto.com


I, as previously stated, love coffee. And I now have further proof that it is actually great for you and everyone should basically mainline it. Not only can it apparently repair alcohol induced liver damage, but now it is said to reduce the risk, or symptoms, of Alzheimer's. We are obviously on the cusp of discovering it also cures cancer and can induce world peace. In the meantime I can gloat that I am actually being proactive and healthy when drinking it. And I love nothing better than a good gloat.

Love

My boyfriend is wonderful. I just had a full on quarter life self esteem crisis, high pitched shrill speed talking included. This is mostly relating to the fact I thought I would be rich and famous and artistically respected (well, maybe not quite all that but you know) by now, and he talked me down from the ledge, figuratively speaking. He first tried to fix the problem, which did not work AT ALL, but then he wised up and just said soothing nice things towards me and that worked much better and now I feel ok. So yay for nice boyfriends. Love you honey!

Dreams

I wish I could write. Not like, put words together in a way that makes sense write, but tell a story write. I have always really loved to read and thought that it would somehow translate as I got older into writing, but it hasn't. When I read interviews by authors they talk about how they always had this overwhelming urge to write, how they wrote stories for themselves way before they were ever published authors. I have an urge to read basically all the time but I do not sit and scribble stories in a notebook for myself and never have. I wrote plenty of papers for school and think I am decent at it, but I just don't really have that urge to write when there isn't a deadline or a grade attached to it. Nevertheless I hope that one day that author thing will strike me and that need and ability to create worlds and characters will appear. I would love nothing better than at the end of my life to know that I wrote a few books that people enjoyed reading, that I made a few movies that they enjoyed watching and that maybe one of those things made some kind of positive difference along the way.

Happy Fourth! Now Eat.

Happy Fourth of July everyone! I made some delicious key lime bars (I'm assuming, they're still cooling) which were a combination of a recipe from the Martha Stewart website and from Thursday Night Smackdown. Now I'm off to be a social butterfly and hopefully drink just a liiittle too much at a barbeque. I hope all of you will have an equally pleasant day.

Ding Dong the Witch is - wait, what?

Yay! She's giving up some power! It does make me a little nervous as to what she's got planned though. You know it's not that she suddenly realized she's not qualified or capable.

Adorableness

caI found some old pictures of my cats, and I wanted to share. I have the cutest cats in the world. I don't care what other pet owners think. Not super graceful (they love to lay on their back with their limbs flung out, like what kind of cat does that?) but absolutely loving and gorgeous. And I want to say that they do still have their claws, as I think declawing cats is cruel (though their owners are not, necessarily).

Guinness as a baby

A young Shale

Edited to add : Shale loves to chew on boxes and all sorts of other things. Is this a tooth issue or is she just weird?

Sulk

This blog would be better with pictures. I want a camera.

Casting Couch

Whatever happens with the project I'm working on going forward, I'm glad I now have experience casting. I spent the last couple of days explaining over and over to actors (while my voice slowly gave out) what the project is about and answering all their questions. We pitched the film more to them then they pitched themselves to us. I hope the producer found it helpful and we end up actually using some of them in the film. I think we will. In the meantime everyone just cross your fingers that we get financing - the film is on hold until we do.

Which means I am once again looking for another project to pay me.

I don't know what the normal career progression for someone doing film is, or if there is one, but I wonder sometimes if I am missing some crucial element. I have been out of film school for three years now and am still waiting for that magical moment where when one job ends another is lined up to go. It seems like each job involves a torturous amount of resume sending and applying, and there is far too much time in between them. I know plenty of other people in my position but it still gets really frustrating after a while. It does however give me a great deal of time to hone my cooking and tv watching skills. Valuable.

Health Insurance Rant

I believe we should have a state/government run health insurance program for EVERYONE in this country. This is what I believe, though I know many people are horrified at the thought.

When the show I worked on went on haitus a few months ago I was briefly left without health insurance, as I could not afford to pay for Cobra. When the stimulus plan kicked in suddenly it became affordable for me, though still my biggest expense other than rent and student loan bills. It was really scary not being covered, because I knew that one minor illness or accident, one hospital or even maybe a doctor's visit, would leave me in debt for years. I don't make a lot of money right now. Hopefully one day I will, but right now I am getting by by budgeting carefully and hoping that nothing goes wrong. Many people are.

I had a family member pass away from cancer a few years ago. It's a devestating disease. Due to the fact he lived in Europe his family was not left with crippling debt or bankruptcy on top of the loss of their loved one. When people get very sick here, they better be covered and they better stay covered because otherwise not only will they be in debt for the rest of their lives, they risk running out of money to even get treated at all, or they get subpar treatment.

And if they recover, if they then lose their coverage for whatever reason good luck ever getting covered again- insurance companies don't want to touch people with a history of serious illness with a ten foot stick. You'd better hope you stay healthy forever!

Add this to the fact that though public education is free (which it should be, by the way) but that if you are sick you're on your own and the system seems really fucked up. One day, down the line, if I have kids, I can teach them to read and teach them history, etc, if I have to. There are books out there to teach ME what I need to teach them. People homeschool all the time.

I cannot learn to administer chemo from a book if someone I love gets sick. I cannot learn to do a triple bypass or how to create antibiotics in my kitchen.

As much as I think free public education is important, I think free healthcare (well, not free, but public since nothing in this world is free) is more important by far. If I had to choose for my family, I would choose health care every time. If you are well enough off your kids probably go to private schools and have private healthcare anyway. If you are not rich, the state should provide both. But you can't fix dead. You can teach someone to read or whatever at any point but you can't bring them back if they die from lack of care.

So why does everyone basically agree that education is a divine right in this country but healthcare isn't? Why are some conservatives horrified at the thought of a government run program? I'm not saying education is not important. I think it's critical. I think without it we would collapse back into the dark ages. I would fight for it to the end. But do people not feel the same way about health care? Why is that somehow our own problem?

I was just at a website that has a lot more facts and data than I do, and it is worth reading about, but do we really need a ton of statistics to understand this? Isn't it common sense?