Read this insane article on how Ted Turner is doing away with smoking scenes in cartoons.

He's absolutely insane. I mean, how can you just edit these cartoons. I guess he has the rights now or something, but I mean, it's just awful. Why not edit out the Mammy character from Gone With the Wind. Or edit out all of Humphrey Bogart's smoking in movies.

I just don't understand why parents expect it to be the responsibility of others to censor or adjust what their children watch. I grew up with a whole generation of people who watched Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny. And surprisingly enough, none of us go around hitting each other with anvils, blowing each other up with dynamite or lighting each other on fire. Hmmmmm....wonder why that is.

Queen of Free

So I've just printed out 2 coupons for freebies. I love getting free stuff. I revel in it. I love getting something for nothing, for beating The Man at his own game.

So I've got a free Seattle company coffee beverage and a free dessert from Ruby Tuesday in honor of my birthday. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

So all this freebee stuff....can't get enough of it.

Could I be more of a dork?

C-o-n-spiracy

How is this fair? One location of Lucille Roberts is next door to McDonalds. One is next door to Baskin Robbins and one is next door to Cold Stone Creamery.

Is that supposed to be a true test of me or is it just a big cosmic joke?

Happy Birthday To Me...

I had to do a birthday post. It just screams cliche. And I've been to the gym (I figure that might help start the year on the right foot) and just chowed on a BLT and Cheetos. Hey, if I can't eat my favorite junk on my birthday, when can I eat it?

And I had a glorious birthday dinner last night. Delicious food, silly antics and even a game of "Pin the cherry on Curious George's ice cream." I was spoiled rotten and just basked in the warmth of being with my family. I even got weepy on the way home, feeling lucky that I have such support and love.

But my day isn't near over yet. I get to play my cello and get paid for it on my birthday - how cool is that?

Life is (still) good.

Can You Hear Them?

So I'm feeling slightly goofy and decided to do a hommage to the record cover for Beauty and The Beat:

Ahhhh....back in the day

So I watched Good Night and Good Luck tonight and was just wowed. What frightened me was how tangible and relevant it is to today. So eerie. I loved the speech that Murrow gave telling the television professionals that they need to change the purpose of television from mindless entertainment to educating and challenging people. Now then, could that possibly be relevant today with such gems on tv as Bridezillas and Jerry Springer?

A New Sensation

So there's this new singer on the block - Corinne Bailey Rae. She's got a breathy, soulful voice and sings great tunes. But more than that, she's got uber-cool curly hair that she wears beautifully.

And You're Like a 90's Kennedy

Well, so far it's been a delightful day. I woke up my sweetie to say goodbye, he squints his eyes open, smiles and says "Oooh, pretty." That's always a nice way to begin a day.

I get to the country club and it's absolutely gorgeous out. People are playing golf, are walking and there's this small spot where we're set up in front of the wedding. It was so intimate and quiet and lovely. And I get to play Bach and quiet wedding music. And then as people were leaving, we played some ragtime - how neat! And Lianne, the flutist turns to Meg and goes, "She's smoking." And I just beamed inside. You never know, playing with new people who have never heard you or played with you. So it's such an affirmation that's making me float on air today.

Then I stopped at the supermarket and picked up some stuff for a yummy, unconventional dinner - antipasto type items and that little square bread he's always saying looks so cool. AND....upon coming home, I discover he made the bed before leaving!! It just kept getting better and better.

So now, I'm relaxing listening to "Adult Alternative" and chowing on a baloney sandwich.

Sigh

A Red Letter Day

To start with, I tried to dress on the nicer side since I was meeting with a printer. So I sported a comfy, yet nice outfit. Polka dots galore - I always feel like I'm channeling a spirit from the 50's when wearing that. So I'm wearing something nice, go to put gas in the car, get free coffee (if it's free, it's for me!) and off to work I go. I get some work done, have a good meeting with the printer and back home I'm headed. Before I can even leave work, my friend Chris calls me and I tell him I'll call when I get home.

Get home and make a few calls, firm up this weekend's wedding (hooray!) and call Chris......who contracts me to do Into the Woods!! Hooray hooray!! We chit chat for a while and I'm thrilled. We're both so giddy to be playing together again. He tells me I'm his "number one cello!" He's just such a cutie and so talented that I'm honored to be working with him. He's also just so enthusiastic and so optimistic. Just the idea of doing so much more work is titilating. I was on an adrenaline high all night. So high in fact that I actually baked a cake at 9:00 p.m.

Diane stops by and we hit my new favorite "fast food" place, Panera. I could just sit and eat soup and bread all day there. So we get some time to chat, which is always good.

Come home and bake my cake for Mirek who has been saintly in helping me get my office relocated. I assemble, bake and clean everything and then retire to the bedroom to just unwind. Turn on the classical station, and with the first few chords I recognize the Elgar Cello Concerto. Dash to grab my copy of it and follow along. I realize, yes it's insanely difficult, but certainly not totally outside my realm, so I vow to at least try to get some of it going.

So, all in all, a really good day. Pretty good day. Can't really complain about one like that.

You're a Cookie Filled With Arsenic

Could this movie be any cooler? I watched it the other night and just relished in all the glorious bits of it. It's got biting dialogue, amazing shots of gritty pre-Disneyfied NYC, swanky costumes, a character who almost always wears a fur, old-school 21....it's too much, not to mention a jazz ensemble that has a cello in it. Too cool.

I think this is a movie I need to own, simply because I feel more glamorous just watching it. Simply a must for anyone who considers themselves a die-hard NY-er.

What? Are You Kidding Me?

So I have a regular day at work, made only marginally crazy by a training on software. Then go for a pedicure with my pal Patricia, which was long overdue and really relaxing. We were able to catch up and just enjoy some peace and quiet. So then I make my way over towards Huntington for my concert. I go to my favorite wrap place European Republic and get my favorite chicken and brie wrap and Belgain fries that I surely don't need. Yummy yum yum. I then make my way to the Italian ice place and ask when they close, thinking that an Italian ice would suit Tommy and I as we watch the eagerly anticipated week's installment of Project Runway. I run around a little and finally drop Fred off, hop back in the car and get the Italian ice and stash it in a backstage fridge.

The concert was agonizing. I poured sweat. I oozed sweat. I had sweat coming from places I didn't know had sweat glands. It was awful, but somehow I made it through without vomitting or fainting dead away. I was glad to get out of there when we were done. I grabbed my ices and hit the car as quickly as possible, cranking the ac.

Upon getting to the neighborhood of my neighborhood though, I saw a traffic light out and realized the power outages had finally reached us. I saw that some blocks had power and some didn't and the one before mine had power, so I was hopeful. What made me even more hopeful was the fact that the streetlight on the side of the house was on. I prayed, please please please. But when I got to the front door I knew all was in vain. The outside sensor light didn't go on and the doorbell was dark. I swore. Well, actually I cried first and then swore. So I trudged upstairs, with the cello on my back, in the dark, fumble for what feels like forever and make my way inside. I manage to get the cello away, somehow take a shower and go downstairs to sit on the steps to call Mom and Dad and the electric company. Tommy gets home an hour later, smiles at me on the steps until I say, "No power."

Long story short, we pack up, somehow get all our stuff and get to Mom and Dad's to sleep in my old room. What would we do without them???

Dinner and A Movie

So hot. Too hot. Heat wave. So when Tommy came home from work I gave him a deadpan ultimatum: Movies, library or the mall? He tossed the decision back to me, so I chose movies. We first hit Burger King and then saw Lady in the Water.

Burger King puzzles me. It seems to have this seedy side to it - like it's McDonalds' red-headed-step-sibling - that it knows it can't compete with, so it just tries to go the other way. I dunno. It just seems like their help doesn't quite know how to get it right. But I had a delicious salad with chicken and those cheesy tots, which are odd. I can't tell if I like them or not. (*Note - tried them again and really enjoyed them, so I guess it's one of those hit or miss items.) But it was just nice to enjoy air conditioning on such a brutal day and leisurely eat dinner. I grabbed a slice of Hershey's Pie to enjoy during the movie and we left for the theatre.

I love, love love the Farmingdale UA Stadium theater. It's never too packed, the seats are comfy and it's just smaller. Plus, I can use $6 movie coupons. Can't beat that. So Tommy grabs some popcorn, a soda and a honking container of water and we settle in to our seats. In lieu of the usual wacky pre-movie slides, they actually had previews of upcoming television shows which was more interesting. I found a show that I really think I might enjoy: Heros. It looks different, it's got Greg Grunberg from Felicity and Milo V. from Gilmore Girls, so I figure I'll give it a try.

I loved the movie. Loved it. I really like M. Night's way of telling a story, his characters, how he lets a story develop. People (critics) are just so negative about it. And I don't understand this, because they dislike his other movies for the same reasons they raved and gushed about Sixth Sense. I don't get it. I just know that I enjoy his movies and eagerly look forward to them.

So a real nice evening and at least a couple of hours relief from the disgusting, ungodly heat we were having.