That's Entertainment

See this: HOWL


Then pick up THIS and read it out loud. Read any poetry out loud. You will transport to a place in an underdeveloped part of your brain. One that is long forgotten but still vibrating from the initial time you plugged in. Your senses might take you to the smell of old text books or a candle from the bedroom of a sensitive lover. 


Oh, and you'll surprise yourself if you read the poems you usually skip over in The New Yorker when you're on the toilet. The cartoons show up in your mind.

Bare Naked Ladies

I'm too young and too... different... to miss silk stockings, but I do.  I understand some considered them mini torture experiments in pre-breakfast time management and idol life-style embracement. You simply cannot jump out of bed, into your clothes and out the door if you require two espressos, reading glasses and an extra 20 minutes to strap into your underwear. You also cannot sit under or near most nouns, which poses a problem to your colleagues and office furniture in your shared cubicle. One snag from a car door and it's over. It is an entirely different lifestyle. A little more graceful and a lot more difficult. Kind of like... being a woman I suppose.

Meme Missions

Are the Haitians doing better? How about New Orleans? The coal miners in West Virginia? The Gulf of Mexico? Gay Marriage? Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Autism? Barack's birth? Breast Cancer? Gun toting teens? Celebrity adoption? Jungles? Forests? War? Whales? Pandas? HIV?

There are so so so so so many things to wave a flag for out there. We need to be careful we don't drop the support for one to run across the red carpet for the other. Our suffering world is not a trend. Turtles, please don't turn into rabbits. We need you both. Divide and conquer but most importantly FOCUS and FOLLOW THROUGH.

And remember, blogs, tweets and social network postings most certainly show support but dollars turn into action. Don't forget the money where your mouth is thing. 

I'm not just talking pole dancing.

Manhattan Photo Scavenger Hunt

1. A land line telephone in a Hell's Kitchen apartment.


2. A quiet teenager reading on a park bench in Central Park.


3. A female cab driver.


4. A chorus boy with a wedding ring.


5. A 30-something celebrity without sunglasses.


6. A clean Starbucks bathroom sink.


7. A person pushing a grocery cart full of groceries.


8. A smiling Parking Enforcement Officer.


9. A dog without a leash.


10. A woman in Prada shoes on the subway.

"Come on people now smile on your brother everybody get together and try to love one another right now..."

These folks are staring at the back of an opaque, white tent with flashing paparazzi lights visibly going off on the inside.  All in the name of a glimpse of... ?

Serenade

You know you are loved when one of your favorite queens leaves you a voice mail at 2am singing only the background vocals to one of your favorite 80's tunes from your favorite 80's band:

"Girls on Film."

(5 Second Pause)

"Girls on Film."

(3 Seconds)

"See you togetheaahh..."

(10 Seconds... I think she's forgotten she called me... )

"GUHRLZZOONFFFFLMMMM!"

(Spoken...)

"I LOVE YOU GUHRL.  I wish you were my boyfriend."
(Click.)

Train to Nowhere: Fast

Starbucks is a nice place to get free "weefee" and they provide an excellent community service for those with small bladder emergencies in NYC. I feel this may be reason enough to pay the extra $3.75 for a cup o' Joe. I'm paying communal rent.  

But if you sit in one of the franchises long enough, it's like you're stuck on a subway car full of 'melting pot' folks that just shot Red Bull into their veins. You're forced to listen to a loud conversation about hair and television and you never know who might break out into song then ask you for money... the teen skipping school for a year or the transient who skipped bathing for just as long. Sometimes that is one person.

If you're not tweaking too terribly from the caffeine, it's kind of beautiful.

Wisdom From the Trenches

A very wise and beautiful Queen Bear recently told me the secret to life:


"Choose & Act"


Make a decision and take action.


It doesn't matter what you apply this to, it will propel you forward. 


The worst thing you can do with your life is nothing.

Fasten your seat belts...

Stop with the guilt trips and take responsibility for your own happiness. Passive aggression is about as mature as stealing from a three year old. If you have a problem with someone, tell them. If you don't feel you can do that, let it go and move on. 

Life is too short.

Drag Rot

For me, Halloween is more than just a day to try on costumes. I can't think of any labels I want to become that I don't already try on throughout the year.  Everyday is Halloween if we're just talking outfits.  I prefer a concept costume.  

This year I think I'll pre-empt the drunks and stay out late on Devil's Eve. I'll go to bed wasted and in my clothes. I'll wake up early on Halloween and without a shower or a glance in the mirror I'll head out the door to hang out with people I don't know very well. I'll make sure I get lost on the way there. I'll spend all day eating what I want and sleeping where I want... even if I end up at work.

I'll tell everyone I see I hope they are having a good year even though I disappoint them.  I'll carry a never ending glass of vodka and hand out items I found under my bed and wrapped in newspaper. 

This year I'm going as Christmas.

YouStooge

I cannot fathom a human being behaving so cruelly as to secretly film another then streaming it online without permission.  It doesn't matter what a person is doing or who they are doing it with, it is wrong.  Especially in this new age of growing up online, we need to teach our children respect for each other's privacy. The Internet is an extension of us.  We create it.  It is another virtual planet.  The same rules that apply in this world should apply there too.  If we do not teach our children to respect this massive tool, it will destroy us.