Sweet Blog O'Mine

v. 2.0

  • 99 Cents Can Buy You Happiness

    At least temporarily.  The other night I was out at Odea with Manhattan Transfer.  A familiar song came on and we asked the bartender who sang it.  "Elton John," she replied, incorrectly.  I knew then what the answer was — The Scissor Sisters.  I went home and immediately bought "Take Your Mama," on iTunes, which has been in heavy, almost junkie-like iPod rotation since I made the 99 cent investment, especially since the recent meltdown.

    And thanks to all who have written to check up on me — I’m okay.  No guarantees that it won’t happen again, but for now, I’m good.

  • It’s All Right to Cry*

    Today was one of those days when I just lost it.  At the very least, I made it home before having a deep, hearty, and heartfelt sob.  My dad managed to get the brunt of it, due to completely unintentional poor timing on his part (he was returning my call).  I know that everything and anything I’m dealing with is temporary, that none of it is earth-shattering or particularly bad, that I’ll make it through, that I have the most supportive family and friends that anyone could ask for, but sometimes, when it all feels like too much all at once . . . you just need a good sob to make it through the day.  Follow that up with a good booty-busting workout and you’re almost as good as new.  Almost.  Sigh.

    * A tribute to Free to Be . . .You and Me, of course.

  • The Birthday and the Booty

    BirthdayboyA perfect image from last night’s birthday party — the birthday boy himself, cupcake in one hand, Schlitz in the other. 

    It was a fun and interesting evening, complete with fellow bloggers, folks from high school, a few of whom I hadn’t seen in years, and even someone who recognized me from a pro bono panel I did at Cardozo Law School recently.  And when the mood of evening turned slightly sour for me thanks to some jackass behavior on someone’s part, I met up with friends for some late-night bitching over a glass of wine.  Very thankful that I have friends who stay out late every now and again, and thank god for cell phones.

    As a result, I’m pooped today, but still managed to make it to the gym — I’m on a bit of a mission, as there’s a bridesmaid’s dress that I have to wear in a few weeks that was feeling a tad too snug around the booty for my taste.  Wish me luck — my booty and I have till February 20th to get our act together, so it’s back to the gym in the morning.  Not to mention every morning and/or night until February 20th.  Sigh.

  • Saturday Afternoon Ramblings

    Glovemontage

    Tien called them "glommitts," Manhattan Transfer called them "bum-finger gloves."  Call them what you will, but I absolutely love mine.  I now have two pairs, and they are a savior when dealing with cell phones, metrocards, and everything else.

    To continue the bday season (not mine anymore, sadly), last night was a birthday party at Double Happiness for a good friend from high school and his boyfriend, and tonight is Manhattan Transfer’s bday.  He has assured me that there will be plenty of debauchery and cute single boys.  What more can a girl ask for, really?  Between now and then I have a bunch of errands to do, including getting my bridesmaid’s dress for Erika and Jeremy’s upcoming wedding altered.  Erika, being the fabulous friend that she is, picked a super-hot, black Vera Wang number that not only will I be able to wear again, but it shows off my cleavage beautifully!  Hey — if you’ve got it, flaunt it.

    See you at the party!

  • Booze in the ‘Hood

    If you haven’t already, go check out my friend and neighbor Manhattan Transfer’s list of 240(ish) bars below 14th Street.  I’m tellin’ ya, life is great down here.  It’s a fabulous neighborhood for alcoholics social drinkers, and in fact, the NYC Health Department highlighted our tendencies for "heavy drinking" in a recent study, Alcohol Use in New York City.  So go pick a bar off of the list and make your neighbors proud!

  • Got Me a New Cameraphone

    . . . and apparently figured out how to send pics to flickr with it. Still haven’t managed to make it go directly to Typepad, but that’s ok. This amazingly flattering picture of Rob is now what pops up on my phone when he calls. Now that I’ve posted this, he’ll probably never call me again.

    Thanks again to the lovely folks at Verizon Wireless customer service who allowed me to cash in on my "new every two" program a few months early. My old phone was being held together with spit and bubble gum, and it no longer rang, which was really annoying the shit out of me.  I was afraid that I’d be chatting away one day and the thing would just snap in two.  I can’t even tell you how happy I am to hear my cell phone ring again!  And the cameraphone?  Extra bonus.  And just wait . . . it takes videos too. . .

  • Yenta Drives a Taxi, Apparently

    So it seems there are folks out there other than Hugh who think I need a husband.  As I was on my way home, alone, in a cab after my birthday on Saturday night (well, early Sunday morning.  Details, details), the driver started chatting with me.  "Where’s your husband tonight?"  "I don’t have a husband."  "Boyfriend, then?" "Nope, no boyfriend."  He glanced back at me in the rearview mirror.  "Really?"  "Yep.  Really."  He then proceeded to tell me all about his friend Gil, who he thought I should meet.  Apparently he owns his own business – a sporting goods company.  He kept telling me this as an illustration of what good husband material Gil was.  He then asked if he could give me Gil’s contact information, which he wrote for me on a napkin and handed to me as he dropped me off at home.

    I’m not sure I’m quite at the point where I’d contact someone referred to me by a perfect stranger (a cabdriver who drove me home at 4:30 a.m. no less), but I certainly was impressed to learn that his sporting goods company is strictly opposed to child labor.  Call me picky if you will, but ya gotta draw lines somewhere, folks.

  • Another Birthday Bash


    Birthday Girls
    Originally uploaded by Sweet Blog o’ Mine.

    Ellen and I co-hosted a birthday party at the Magician last night. It was so wonderful to have such a rich cross-section of all the folks in my life: friends from high school, college, camp, bloggers, wine club society, and other assorted riff-raff with whom I socialize. The only downside to hosting a big party in a crowded bar — not enough time or space to talk to everyone who came. Thanks to everyone who made it out, and extra-special thanks to the crew who made it for late-night karaoke at Winnie’s!

    You can see the whole album here (and yes, the photo above was posted through flick’r).

  • The Grass is Always Greener

    So it’s Saturday, I let myself sleep ridiculously late in preparation for what may be late night at the bday bash, and I’m puttering around the apartment, listening to Jonathan Schwartz on WNYC.  I just heard two of the most depressing Sondheim songs: Sorry, Grateful, from Company, which attempts to describe the characters’ feeling about his marriage, and Saturday Night from Saturday Night about how if you’re alone on a Saturday night when you’re single, "you might as well be dead."  Jeez.

    This brings me back to a conversation I had yesterday with some married and formerly married female work colleagues, most of whom are somewhat older than I am — they were basically saying that husbands were great to have around for reproduction purposes, but then they essentially wore out their welcome.   I sat there with a panicked grin on my face, then finally turned and said, "so I should pretty much stick with single life, huh?."  "No," one replied, "not if you want a family."  Yes, I do want a family, but I don’t want to be unhappily married.  Look — I figure I’m increasing my odds of a good, healthy marriage the later it happens.  Even if I met the perfect guy for me tomorrow (or tonight at the birthday party, perhaps),  we’d have to have a relationship for a while, so by the time we actually get married, I’ll be solidly in my mid-to-late thirties.  I would like to hope that would help to prevent the "bitter married" attitute. 

    And I generally really enjoy being single (well, except when I’m sick), but I don’t want to lose hope that I’ll end up in a meaningful, healthy relationship that will ultimately turn into a healthy, long-lasting marriage and a family.

    Some of you married folks out there, gimme some hope, will ya?  And single folks — we don’t have it bad at all, right?

  • Flickr and Whatnot

    This is a test post from flickr, a fancy photo sharing thing.

    Yes, I’ve joined flickr — will play with it a bit this weekend.  Not sure what the advantages or disadvantages are of using it vs. just posting stuff up on my blog, but I’ll give it a whirl — after all, it’s free!

    So tonight I have two birthday parties to attend, and given the weather, I was excited that they were both in Brooklyn.  That is, until I looked at a map and realized that they were nowhere near each other and would require ridiculous subway transfers/walking in the freezing cold.  First plan of action, however, as soon as my stupid Palm finishes synching here (which is taking forever since it seems to have died on me and I had to start from scratch) is to go home and take a short nap.  That said, I have a feeling I’m only going to make it to the latter of the two birthdays (which happens to be the more subway-access-friendly of the two).

    And speaking of birthdays — tomorrow night Ms. Standard Deviance and I are hosting our belated birthday bash.  If you know me and didn’t receive an email, drop me a note and I’ll forward the details (it was most likely an oversight — my contacts are in about 5 different places these days).