1) Please Fall, hurry up
I will go on record in saying that this summer sucked. Too hot, too many people, no vacation. I usually like summer a lot: beach, swimming, social life, drinks. Not so this year. In fact, I can't wait for Fall and Winter. In fact, I hope this winter is freezing and snowy and slushy and disgusting. I will be so psyched. This past year we had no winter and a very hot summer; the cold days were few and far between. That's just not the way to go, God. We need to earn our summers, this isn't, like, Southern California.
2) This Bob Marley Documentary
This documentary is "the definitive, family authorized account of Bob Marley's life." Though hard to imagine that an unauthorized biography would contain anything too controversial (I mean, who doesn't like Bob Marley? Maybe a scorned woman here or there?). They address head on the fact that he had 11 kids with 7 different women. Imagine dealing with the inheritance issues that occurred after his death. Marley didn't believe in estate planning -- in fact putting the words Bob Marley and Estate Planning in the same sentence just feels downright sacrilegious. It actually was a religious Rastafarian thing for him; Rastafaris don't believe in death-- how convenient for them. He probably also didn't want to die and fought it as much as he could. So his family was essentially screwed for a little while, and there were legal battles galore over his estate (this is from post-movie research not the film itself). The night I watched, I was unable to sleep and lay in half slumber with visions of Marley floating around in my head and songs like One Love and Exodus in my ears. His death sealed his legend, but it was untimely and an awful way to go for someone so full of energy and love of life and people. I actually felt emotionally affected by this. I can't help but notice that historically, the best of us always seem to die early and the worst of us live on for an eternity. There really should be a scientific study about that.
3) The only viable politician right now is Hilary Clinton
I'm not psyched that Romney is basically digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole. It pains me, actually, because I would rather have two strong candidates in the race. Instead, Romney is gaffing his way out of the election on stupid remarks, off the cuff or not, and Obama looks like Christ incarnate in comparison. I agree with David Brooks on this:
Personally, I think [Romney's] a kind, decent man who says stupid things because he is pretending to be something he is not — some sort of cartoonish government-hater. But it scarcely matters. He’s running a depressingly inept presidential campaign.
"Depressingly inept" is the key thought here. I want the Republican party of yesterday. Where art they? We cannot live in a nation where only one party is able to talk common sense because that leads to a a steady decline in the quality of debate and dialogue in our country. It brings us all down to a lowest common denominator and makes us stupid, whilst believing we are clever. There's no real advancement taking place because we are stuck in the weeds of debating very basic things. Now, I am pretty disenchanted by our government and the election these days, so one beacon of hope that I am still holding out for is Hilary Clinton who seems to be the most competent politician we have. My vote will go to her in 2016 assuming she runs (and she should). Until then, I will take the path of most New Yorkers and vote on social issues because hells if I know which economic or tax policy is actually going to "create jobs" or be "generally effective."
4) And now, for some good news
Eric Kayser opened a bakery and restaurant two blocks away from my house (upper east side, I'm telling you). Apparently, he has been in business in France for 10 years and has made a killing there. I can understand this because he makes the best bread I've ever eaten in my life. And I've eaten a lot of bread. And good bread, too, because let's not forget the five years I spent in Paris. And let's not forget that New York offers the best French products money can buy. So for me to say that this is the best bread I've ever eaten is a pretty huge, people. Respect, Kayser.
This Shouts & Murmurs in the New Yorker is Hilarious
This piece in the New Yorker is so funny because it's so damn true and somehow seems to be flying under the radar of controversy (probably because it's categorized as a "humor" piece). I posted this on facebook the other day and got one "like" and one clandestine share (i.e. I got no credit for the post. This is what I get for being a content aggregator/generator). Either people didn't think it was as funny as I did, didn't read it, or silently agreed. I have plenty of friends with kids and this has nothing to do with them. It does have something to do with how society perceives women who don't have kids though. Basically, they are left out of every single political speech ever. And as someone who doesn't have a kid, I just nod vapidly at Michelle Obama's mom-in-chief statement or Ann Romney or every female politician with a family. I can't relate to half of what they say about women because half of it is about the nobility of being a mother. But I don't want to nod vapidly, I want them to address all women, not just the moms. What about people who can't have children, can't afford fertility treatments and would prefer not to adopt? What about people who choose not to have children for one reason or another? What about the people who don't find the right person to have a child with? I reserve the right to have a kid one day, by the way, but I have to say, it is far more difficult to decide not to have a child than to just have one, because (newsflash) the human species is hard wired to procreate. When you have a kid, you are following along with what pretty much everyone else in the world is doing, but when you decide not to, you are contradicting what we were biologically put on this earth to do and that takes real guts and is just as noble an act (if you think in such terms as "noble").
Hey, this blog is full of introspection and looking back. But remember that successful people don't look back, they only look forward. So... onward to looking backward.
1) In the event of an apocalypse, I will not be one of the post-apocalyptic survivors
Unfortunately, I don't have skills that are connected back to the earth in any way. I don't know how to build a fire, or kill animals, or build shelter or generally survive off the land no matter how many episodes of Mythbusters I watch. In all those post-apocalyptic shows, movies and books, the survivors are bad ass in some way shape or another: they're really strong, they look scary, they're really good with a bow, they just happen to own a lot of weapons, they're doctors (and therefore useful to everyone), they're truly evil. I have none of these skills.
But if you need to create and produce a 30 second TV spot, I'm your girl.
2) Most of my Facebook Friends are Democrats...
... as evidenced by the RNC bashing and the DNC worshiping that occurred on my wall over the last week. My own perspective is that the DNC's speeches were superior and more sophisticated but that doesn't mean much. I thought Ann Romney did a great job with her speech as well, and Mitt Romney doesn't scare me as much as he does most people for some reason. And I've always actually liked Chris Christie. If I lived in New Jersey, I'd have voted for him. But the people surrounding Mitt do scare the living hell out of me. I think Bill Clinton's speech will go down in history as one of the more candid and clear political speeches. I do believe that the GOP has hijacked the House and Senate, making it impossible to govern, and I think part of the reason is that they just don't like Obama. Period. Whether that be, deep down, racism, or whether they just don't like the guy, it's certainly affecting things negatively. The truth is that we the people will never really know the truth as it occurs, unless we are there in Washington, living the political life for ourselves, there is no way of knowing what is really happening in government. My own belief is that all is corrupt and driven by special interest no matter what party. I like the Democratic party rhetoric the most because to me, it seems to stem from common sense. But I don't vote for party, I vote for people and the truth is, I don't care what party is in the White House, I just want them to do a good job -- I know I've said this before. I wouldn't be psyched if Romney wins and fails for instance (I'm sure some would). Nor do I want Obama to fail. I just want the right person for the job. Maybe that makes me a flip flopper, but I like to keep my options open.
3) You should check out this movie "Keep the Lights On"
A friend of a friend, who I had the pleasure of meeting, plays one of the leading roles in this film (Paul). It's a love story about a gay couple that lasts long and then ends. Check it out. Limited release in NY and LA, because the states in the middle are just not there yet.
4) Please God, let the men's US Open Final be tomorrow
Because I have tickets, and if I can't go tomorrow, I won't be able to go at all. Fuck.
This documentary is "the definitive, family authorized account of Bob Marley's life." Though hard to imagine that an unauthorized biography would contain anything too controversial (I mean, who doesn't like Bob Marley? Maybe a scorned woman here or there?). They address head on the fact that he had 11 kids with 7 different women. Imagine dealing with the inheritance issues that occurred after his death. Marley didn't believe in estate planning -- in fact putting the words Bob Marley and Estate Planning in the same sentence just feels downright sacrilegious. It actually was a religious Rastafarian thing for him; Rastafaris don't believe in death-- how convenient for them. He probably also didn't want to die and fought it as much as he could. So his family was essentially screwed for a little while, and there were legal battles galore over his estate (this is from post-movie research not the film itself). The night I watched, I was unable to sleep and lay in half slumber with visions of Marley floating around in my head and songs like One Love and Exodus in my ears. His death sealed his legend, but it was untimely and an awful way to go for someone so full of energy and love of life and people. I actually felt emotionally affected by this. I can't help but notice that historically, the best of us always seem to die early and the worst of us live on for an eternity. There really should be a scientific study about that.
