Long Time, no see me

Well, it's been a while and I don't expect that anyone is still reading this. In the meantime, I've started a new job, moved into my own place (!) and gotten cable TV. All very important developments. I'm trying to be healthier in general, so lots of gym time, calorie counting and cooking are happening as well. Between the gym time, the car time and the living alone time, I've had a lot of time to think, so blogging seems like a good way to vent it all out there. At least it's searchable, unlike a journal.

On the food front I've had some successes and failures. This morning I had a lovely breakfast of polenta and fried eggs (I know it sounds decadent, but polenta only has 70 cal a serving, as do medium eggs). Add some juice and coffee, and I am ready for the world. Unfortunately, earlier this week I planned a tofu and veggie stir fry that turned out less than awesome. The leftover rice I planned to use was far beyond left over and well into going rotten, so I had to sub in a nuked potato. The ginger I bought last week was moldy (how does that happen?), but I cut that off and used it anyway, though it seemed very stringy, too. Finally, I had no sauce. The tofu, peppers and onions looked very naked in the pan once I was done. Fortunately, it was edible and I only had 3 servings of the stuff to suffer through. Back to the drawing board on that genius idea, I guess.
The upshot is that I am saving a ton of $ (which is good, since my other wellness plan is to pay off all my credit cards--better late than never). Word to the wise, if you live in a big metropolitan area and cook for yourself, there are loads of places to get cheap produce. My faves in LA are the 99c Store (I know it sounds sketch, but I wouldn't lead you wrong here; also, milk by the quart and the other smaller sizes they sell are perfect if you usually cook for one); my new fave (and employer of a good friend) Fresh and Easy (like the 99c Store, their produce is prepackaged, bc they only have do-it-yourself checkouts), which also has a bunch of prepared foods for the lazy among us (I have a friend who might starve if not for them and the snacks at work; but their fresh hummus is fantastic); and Food 4 Less which has a semi warehouse feel and is prob not the best place to buy meat, but at least the produce is loose and they sell my favorite yogurt (though the 99c Store has had a lot of Yoplait 4 packs lately--that's 25c a yogurt!). And now that I cook and eat more produce than I toss (I'm looking at you, three pack of Romaine hearts), I really am saving money!

This week I tried to numb the gym time (when will they fix the 3 TVs that mock me with their blankness as I toil away on the elliptical?) with some heavy reading. Boy did I come up with a noggin scratcher (but 20 mins on a stationary bike seems like nothing when you've only read 4 pages): Baudrillard's The Illusion of The End. Yes, it's about Y2K, and isn't that long gone? But also, I am deeply interested in our cultural (and my personal) fascination with the apocalypse. What is so compelling about this notion of an end? Are we so goals oriented as a society that history must have a culmination in order to mean anything? Time must have an end? Is it the nature of our minds, because we have an end? Have we anthropomorphized more than god, but all of space-time to make it finite, like us? Or are we actually approaching the Rubicon as a species? Do we sense catastrophe the way animals sense earthquakes and hurricanes? Have I used enough rhetorical questions?
Christianity is an apocalyptic religion. It cannot culminate until we all die and the world (and presumably time as we know it) ends. Perhaps that has laid in us the desire for that end, as a moment of fulfilment. It's not even just the whack-job cultists who seem to pushing this. It's the millions of main-stream Christians who read the Left Behind books and support the state of Israel because they believe the re-establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine is a prerequisite of the Second Coming (btw, how great a name would that be for a porno? so great, I'm sure it's been done).
It seems strange that ultimately Christians believe they were created (in fact, everything was created) for the purpose of their end. I'd find religion much easier to swallow if it said we were created to live, t0 be, to get as much out of existence as possible (if I could put a soundtrack here: Those to come, by the Shins). Of course, the big sleight of hand at the end of the world is that if you are a good Christian (Muslim, Mormon, whatever) you get eternal life in some sort of spiritual realm. And if not, you are punished mercilessly for all eternity (but if time ends at Armageddon, maybe eternity isn't that long). That dovetails nicely with the human desire for reward and schadenfreude. I reject also that we were created in order to be punished--religion is madness.
Anyway, back to Baudrillard and the theory of the end. WTF? He sure manages to use a lot of big words to say nothing that makes any sense. His thesis? "This is the problem: is the course of modernity reversible, and is that reversal itself irreversible?" Huh? I think of myself as reasonably intelligent (ok, WAY more than reasonably intelligent--we all have our pride). Apparently he's concerned that our modern preoccupation with the end will lead us through a process of culturally eviscerating and digesting history to the point where nothing means anything anymore (or I guess, everything means everything, so nothing has any intrinsic significance)---oh my god, I'm doing the talking in circles thing he does to sound smart, and use a lot of print.
The process reminds me of the calculus classes I took in high school (very few intellectual experiences are traumatic enough to bring that up!): I remember trying to solve an equation (but not how, please don't ask me how) and I did a lot of work and changing this and that and multiplying and dividing things and at the end the teacher told me I had done nothing. I'd just spent 5 minutes multiplying everything by 1.
That's how this feels. Like intellectual wheel-spinning. Perhaps I am too concrete a thinker. I would like examples. If I can have an example, I can usually understand a concept that's been laid out in the abstract. The problem with the abstract is that is has to go to crazy extremes with language to avoid saying anything concrete. The concept drowns in alphabet soup.

Jeez, louize

Holy cow! 3 months of postlessness! I've done some stuff, but really nothing to justify that. I guess that's what happened--not too much, so no need to post. And the omigod-I'm-so-screwed cast of my inner dialog of late hasn't led to much post-worthy observation or insight.
Honestly, I think I've been a bit down about the whole, unemployed again thing. It gets less tolerable the older I get. I'm temping now and I definitely had some fun this summer--I was almost manic in my will to enjoy my freedom from work and a regular sleep schedule. That gets old fast, too, so I'm glad for the nights at home, the budget-minded recreational activities and the fact that the stove, if not the oven, finally works.
I'm a little more zen now that the other shoe has dropped in the form of the writers strike, which completely screws me and offers no direct benefit--especially since I plan to stay on the producers side of the table, career-wise.
On the upside, anticipating an excess of down time (which, thankfully was gobbled up by temp gigs), I volunteered at this year's AFI fest, hoping for some free loot in exchange for my free time. Alas, since I ended up working through the festival, I thought I wouldn't actually get to see any of the movies. But on Sunday, after a couple hours cutting up at the doors and collecting tickets with other volunteers, I got to sneak into the premiere of Love in the Time of Cholera, which was awesome! And afterwards, I was this close to Benjamin Bratt. Also saw Diego Luna, Alfre Woodard and that cute English dude from Fantastic 4. And I genuinely had fun working with the other volunteers on my shifts (thank god, there were a lot of weird fish running around with volunteer badges).
And my kickball team (you read that right) had our first win of the season last week. Tragically, we were eliminated in last night's playoff game, but we all had a good time and I look forward to the Spring season.
I've even done a good deed and walked the Los Angeles AIDS walk, which was a surprisingly tough 10K through West Hollywood. I think the relatively flat, paved terrain was too repetitive for 3 hours. But it was nothing compared to the near-death experience I had hiking in Northern Cali over Memorial Day weekend. That was mad brutal.
Anyway, I hope any readers I might have left had good end-of-summers and autumns. I'm really looking forward to the holiday season (heading to SC to visit my mom) and the new year. 2008 won't have to be very good to top 2007 and even if it's par for the course, at least I'm prepared. I'll try to keep posting through the madnes.

Radio Silence

Oh dear! I've been off the radar for a while!

Since I last posted I have moved, started collecting unemployment checks, turned 27 and spent more or less every day in some state of inebriation. How have you been?

My new place in Koreatown is AWESOME!!! It's a huge house and I have a huge room and many many pet ants...

I've seen a few movies this summer, the only ones worth mentioning are The Bourne Ultimatum and The Simpsons Movie, which were both great. The other week I won tickets to see Maximo Park at the El Rey, which was pretty cool as I've been trying to save money by not spending it on music. Though I did buy tickets to see the Cure at the Hollywood Bowl in October. It's the Cure! You can't miss the Cure!

I am very excited about a few trips I have planned for the end of summer: first going to Denver for the wedding of my dear friends Jake and Katie (tragically, I was unable to arrange for a gigolo to accompany me a la The Wedding Date, so warn the bachelors!), then going camping on Labor Day weekend in Northern Cali, which promises to be pretty cool and very, um, rustic, then finally getting back to civilization and visiting Derrick in SanFran.

I thought being unemployed would suck, but so far, I'm having a damn good time!

I've been tagged

Sara just tagged me...

Apparently I have to list 7 random things about myself then tag 7 other people (Myspace, here I come!):

1) I was born in Hawaii, so my mother tried to convince me to list "Native Islander" on my college apps to get me into better schools (turns out "smart woman from the South" was minority enough).
2) The first school I attended was Echole Maternelle St. Andre, in Bordeaux, France.
3) I spoke Hindi as a small child with my Indian ayah, Philomena.
4) Everyone I've met since I turned 18 and moved away from South Carolina has commented on my lack of accent. Sorry dudes, I learned to speak from the TV, not my neighbors.
5) My middle name is the maiden name of my mother's great-grandmother, nee Bridget Falvey. I really wish they had gone with Bridget instead.
6) I worked 2 jobs (1 full-time, 1 weekend) for 10 months to pay rent when I first moved to Cali. Not recommended.
7) I'm in a kickball league. My team's record is 0-5 and 4-5. Next week we win!

Visa Las Vegas

Yes, I'm broke and facing imminent unemployment and an apartment search, but still I am headed to Vegas in the morning. The force behind this brash disregard of impending financial doom? Easy credit. Thank you Capital One, American Express and Chase for making my dreams of dissipation and debauchery a reality.
Karaoke on Tuesday was not a quickie and I'm sure I only meant to drink one glass of wine...so yesterday hurt a bit. UTIOG won't go on until 10:30 tonight and I need to be on the road before 10 am (I know, boo-hoo, but it is a really long drive to Vegas).
Had a really interesting conversation today about zombie movies and social commentary. It's not the zombies we're scared of, it's what they represent and how we respond. I love over intellectualizing my weird taste in film. Ah well, the only art that matters is the art that resonates, whether it's Picasso or Romero...

Movie Madness

Finally got around to seeing some movies this weekend. Did a scary double feature on Friday with Prince and the gang (no, that's not the name of a band...). Disturbia was much better and scarier than I thought it would be. We were all tense and jumpy in our seats. 28 Weeks Later was awesome, as expected. Less viscerally terrifying than it's predecessor, but more intellectually disturbing. And of course it left room for further installments. By Saturday, after spending a morning doing job applications (woo-hoo) I was ready for some tamer fare, so went to see Waitress, a sweet little movie that's managed not to be completely overshadowed by the murder of it's writer/director/co-star Adrienne Shelly. Though it's been marketed as a sweet bit of down-home rom-com fluff, the film takes a much more adult and realistic approach to the role that romantic love plays in it's characters lives and it's consequences.
Spent Saturday night @ the Scene in Glendale getting up close and personal with Bedtime for Toys, who are going to be huge.
Sunday was more debauched than ever at Prince's BBQ. Took it down a notch last night to play kickball and grab a quick(ish) cider @ Big Wang's with the team.
Tonight will hopefully be a karaoke quickie @ Guy's North.
Then the rest of the week will be relatively quiet, except for UTIOG at the El Rey on Thursday. And driving to Vegas on Friday. By the time I get back I'll have to start gearing up for Tuesday...

DIY

May is national masturbation month. I'm not sure how this was made official (if it ever was--I can only imagine putting that in the hopper...), but I heard about it on morning radio, so it must be true. In any case, I have some catching up to do, and so do you..suit yourself.