THIS IS THE WEEK THAT WAS

(attempt at recreating post that disappeared off of my stupid phone)

If you like the title, I can’t take credit for it. The name comes from a pre-Monty Python show that some of the troupe was a part of. On the flipside, if you hate it, remember that John Cleese has enough money to buy and sell you (or at least his 3 ex-wives do.) But I digress; the point of this post is to talk about what’s been happening and why I was blog silent all week.



Lately, it seems, my days are not my own. After work, I come home, eat, bathe, maybe catch some of my favorite shows (sometimes not even that,) and get to bed just in time to rest up to do it all again the next day. On top of this, my boss’ computer broke last weekend so blogging while Gigi was napping was also not an option. Not that I am complaining, if I really wanted to, I could have typed one out on my phone (THEN AGAIN MAYBE NOT) but with my cough currently in its 27th week, I just couldn’t be bothered which brings us to this blog…

1. My two favorite tiny people
Gigi and Graham are still wonderful (and wonderfully crazy) and I thoroughly enjoy playing with them every single day but there haven’t been too many developments to report on other than Gigi turning 18 months old and Graham’s crazy hair making his eyes less and less visible.


2. Gnomeo and Juliet
I am a Disney baby and a huge fan of Elton John so it was obvious that I was going to see this movie when Tuesday movie night rolled around. When it turned out that it wasn’t playing at Clearview (therefore it wouldn’t be free) I wasn’t even a bit deterred and luckily Lauren and my boss had a free pass so we each got in for half price. As a bonus, we didn’t see the film in 3D which meant it was (cheaper) less popular and, therefore, we had the theater with only 10 other people. This is good because, being the antisocial people that we are, we like to be in the middle of an empty row with nobody sitting directly behind us adding their two cents about every little thing that happens. I AM TALKING TO YOU DRUNK OLD LADIES

As for the movie, SPOILER ALERT: it is a retelling of Shakespeare’s classic tale Romeo and Juliet with one exception, there is a happy ending. I personally think it shouldn’t have had that, though I wasn’t surprised it was, but the cute little Gnomes and Elton John’s score more than make up for it. I was always a fan of the Original R&J movie, as well as the Leonardo DiCaprio version, and since this is geared toward children there really is no way to do a direct comparison (no bloody death scenes, no sex or kissing or nudity) though I will say Juliet that cartoon Gnome’s acting was superior to that of the young Clair Danes. All and all, I approve.


3. Fire Fire False Alarm
I woke up Thursday morning to the sound nobody ever wants to hear, the CO2 monitor going off. I, like everyone, have heard how crucial getting out is in this type of emergency so like the responsible adult that I am, I immediately ran into my parents bedroom to make sure they could wake up and vacated the house decided to brush my teeth wash, face, and get dressed before bringing the issue to my parents. Sure I had a headache at the time, but I had gone to bed with it, and I truly believed that it was a false alarm. It was not my finest moment, I admit this, but in my defense, I didn’t have my coffee yet. When I did tell them my father responded, “Oh is that what that was? I heard it but I figured it was outside.” Insert head slap here.

When the fire fighters arrived, in record time, they checked and it turned out that I was right, it was a misfire with the alarm but the point remains, you should probably react better than I did. The episode also serves as a reminder of the importance of having a carbon monoxide alarm because starting you day off by staring at 12 NYPD members who belong in a calendar or porn had there been an actual leak, we might have all been dead.

GYMBOREE PICTURES

I STILL CONTEND THAT CHILDREN ARE WEATHER PROOF AND INDOOR PLAY PLACES ARE STUPID BUT SINCE MY BOSSES, WHO AGREE THE COLD WON'T HURT THEIR CHILD, HAD NO OTHER CHOICE..

so yeah

I literally spent a half hour typing up a blog reviewing my week and I accidentally hit something on my stupid touch screen phone and the internet closed, so I lost the post. I hate this stupid phone and also, blogger for not auto saving.

Ten Things I Hate About You: A snapshot of my youth

I have a confession to make; I despise ‘80s teen flicks. I mean the soundtracks are great-ish but the movies do nothing for me. For me if Molly Ringwood is in a movie, it’s off faster than Jude Law’s pants at a Victoria Secret fashion show. I don’t get them and I don’t think I am supposed to; they are campy and trashy and allude to a world I will never know anything about, being a teenager at a time when I was still in diapers. It always seemed to me that the teen genre got better as I got older. An advancement in the field if you will; a sort of work in progress that was ever evolving and that, lucky for me, neared perfection right around the time I hit puberty.


This theory looses validity, however, when you look at the movies geared toward teens today. I am, just for a moment discounting anything involving vampires, werewolves, or wizards- not that their lives and afterlives aren’t important but I really doubt anyone ever thought to themselves, if only I found the right supernatural man, and I know he’s out there somewhere, everything else will fall into place. On second thought, many probably have but I don’t have time to get into that kind of crazy today. I’m talking about things like High School Musical, Camp Rock, or anything that involves Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, and the dreaded Justin Bieber. High school is not about everyone signing together and embracing the differences because deep down inside we all just want to dance and watching such crap makes me want to scream, “Where are the mean girls? Some dude better start talking about stealing a girl’s virtue soon before I vomit.”


The truth is no decade’s movies were better, they are just what I knew which is why, if you were born in the ‘70s you’ve lived a John Waters life and for people like me, you know what it was like for the students in Ten Things I Hate About You (not the TV show.) I wore those clothes, I listened to those songs, and most importantly, I grew up with those actors. I have dealt with academic staff members who are just as incompetent as Ms. Perky (sitting in her guidance office ignoring students while she works on her sex novel) or as uncaring and self involved as Mr. Morgan. I fully believed (who am I kidding, still believe) that two of the teachers at my high school were hooking up in the TV closet and my best friend once injured herself in PE because the teacher read a magazine while we taught ourselves Tai bo from a video. While it is true that a cute foreign boy never hijacked the PA system and serenaded me in front of the student body (clearly this was because I went to all girls catholic) I did see a fist fight that not only matches Larisa Oleynik’s but might even beat it.


So while I can’t understand the sex appeal of Charlie Sheen or Judd Nelson and just plain can’t understand Bieber, it doesn’t matter, you can keep your washed up or future burn outs because I will always have Patrick Verona, and he will always be too good to be true.

TALES FROM THE CROUP

As a babysitter of over ten years coup has always been a matter of sadness. "We're sorry we have to cancel, the kids have croup," or, "we postponed the birthday party. She has croup and is miserable," have been heard for years. I knew of croup, croup is bad, but never experienced it first hand until this year. I hate croup.

A few weeks ago poor G contracted the virus; it started with a seal cough and led to a week of just plain bad. After a visit to the ER (weekend thankfully) there was snoring and sleeplessness and a very unhappy baby in a steamed up bathroom. Still even the needle and discomfort isn't the worst of the virus' effects because Croup is a gateway sickness and makes the victims susceptible to other illness.

In G's case this meant ear infection and, oh by the way, she had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. Several medications and doctors visits later, the little lovely is finally better (having only one casualty in the process, her poor mom had adult croup) and her smile and laugh returned which makes me smile too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

BAD HAIR DAY

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Some Hot Man Candy For A Cold Valentine's Day Weekend

As I've mentioned, I am a fan of Python Alum/ Director Extraordinaire Terry Gilliam. I believe his work is amazing, his mind is boggling, and you know what, his genes aren't bad either. Gilliam- seen below with his daughter Amy, wife Maggie, daughter Holly, and son Harry (not a bad looking older dude) would never be considered traditionally handsome, though he is by no means ugly, but take a good look at that son of his!




22 year old Harry Gilliam just happens to be a model, and is currently the poster boy for the Spring/Summer line for some jeans company in England. Here is the campaign along with behind the scenes footage, take a look...









Now that the drool portion of the post is done, I should mention that Hottie, I mean Harry, is actually an artist who models in order to fund his craft. He is really good, at least in my opinion, and you can see all the different kinds of art he does, as well as some videos, and articles at his website http://www.harrygilliamart.co.uk/site

It even tells you where you can view his art if you happen to be in England (I know for a fact I have at least one reader from there- HI SARAH )

Brooklyn meets New Jersey epicness!!!

Ryan Star will open for Bon Jovi

Message from Ryan at http://www.rstar.net/ where you can find all of the dates.

Life is Full circle - Bon Jovi dates.





Attached is a picture of me and my band, Stage,
years ago with Bon Jovi. For me, it was truly day one that this journey began.
It was the moment I realized that this path for me was real and that music would
be my life. It was the night we opened for them at Jones Beach in NY by winning
a radio contest going into our senior year of high school. Years later, in the
most romantic and poetic fashion, the world and Jon have given me this
incredible opportunity once again to get in front of the greatest and biggest
audiences in the world. This news is so elating, I had to rush this email out to
all of you who have been on this ride with me.

Here are some of the
dates dates the band and I will be rockin':

March 17 San Antonio, TX @
AT&T Center
March 19 Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena (that's
right, baby! Like Tyson, Holyfield and RSTAR)
March 22 Salt Lake City, UT @
Energy Solutions Arena

That is all I can announce now, but don't worry,
there will be more touring coming up.

Thank you all for your continued
support and love. See you on the road.

R

Ryan, I am so happy for you. If anyone has a chance to go see the shows, do it and in the meantime, here's a taste of Ryan.

GAME DAY

Today is the big game, no I'm not talking about football. I mean the PUPPY BOWL. Starting at 3 today, and repeating every two hours, Animal Planet airs puppies playing in a football replica. cutiest thing in the world! Go watch now.

HIGHLINE IN WINTER

What better way to end a long and at times stressful week than the tranquility of the HIGHLINE with the little pumpkin.

SADD

This morning, like so many before it over the last few months, was graced with a winter storm. Today's version was an ice storm, which is a nice change from the almost nonstop snow, I guess, but it is just another example of how bad this winter has been. On the rare occation when it isn't snowing, there are still tons of piles that remain reminding the freezing and bundled passersby how horrible it is and preventing cars from parking because snow has filled every parking space. Mayor has failed the city with cleanup.


I miss the sun and warmth on my body. It has been the worst winter in my life. Not all hope is lost, however, because today is Groundhog Day and the little dude says Spring will be here in two weeks. If he is lying, though, lets kill him (or atleast the tradition.)