Saturday, November 22, 2008

Deep thoughts on Era inspired by watching TV

There's a Best Buy commercial now where this guy is a Best Buy worker - we're meant to understand he's from fly-over America and he Loves his job right now ("now" being pre-holiday-time - time to prepare for military leaves --- by the way, LIE, --- the military doesn't get holiday break) --- the military wives are coming in asking for "the one with the guitar" and dvds for the few days they'll soon get with their husbands... he's explaining their situation - they have just a few days - "this is it for them."

All I want to say is fine. That is fine. Co-opt the fact of the military predicament (in this case, "my husband might die, and even if not he won't be here for a long long time") to sell Guitar Hero from Best Buy. This seems very 90's to me --- being touchy-feely in order to sell. And furthermore, no one wants to see Best Buy go under either. We're in a situation here -- we've gotta be American, we've gotta save Best Buy; The way I see it, the advertisement can say anything if it appeals. What I want to say is that eventhough it's another lying commercial - one that plays on American optimism in a semi-sad way-- I think it is 90's like - in a good way -for corporate to be direct-to-consumer with their propaganda. I much much prefer it to the government being clandestine and pro-corporate and diabolical with their propaganda. Lesser of two evils I think. I am thinking of you Barack -- yes, we are all pulling for you --- make it what we want it to be -- disingenuous commercialism straight to consumer. That's the country I love.

Love,
Alexis

Friday, November 21, 2008

Now that it's glorious times again, for the first time...

can Gen X stuff come back in?... like being a slacker?

Oh no, that's right - we're having a waaaaaay different retro fashion........... the 1930's! (Oprah hasn't noticed yet, but it's time for us to all read John Steinbeck.)

Feelin kicky, just a little sarcastic, and in need of a backrub.

love
Alexis

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

It's my birthday!

Birthdays are fun. Eventhough there is some danger of the end of my evening resembling some aspects of the tv show Arrested Development b/c my mom is taking me somewhere where I think she likes the martinis (I am smiling about this, laughing, not bitching...) it is still my birthday and therefore it should still rock, as I rock, especially on my birthday.

True story: MyfriendHol likes parties. In the summer, she also likes the beer garden. So approx 3 times I meet this new friend of hers CrazyE - a young woman - 25yo? - very pale - that's her half Norweigan - it's hard to see her half Cuban - her mom's Cuban. She is, like MyfriendHol, in an MFA program at Adelphi. That is how they know eachtoher. I met her twice at parties at MyfriendHol's house and once at the beer garden. She seemed cool enough - interesting looks, an interest in cheapy accessories paired with black&white fashion...

So on the first 3 initial occasions that I met her she pretty much talked with only a few pauses or changes about this bf she had in Norway -- and their families knew eachother which was so magical and they all had the same birthdays - in a mixed up way - also, she thought, very magical. The third time she told me about all this I was drunk at one of MyfriendHol's house parties - feeling pretty honest - and also compassionate- and I told CrazyE something like "I don't know what will happen. But the times I've felt that way - like maybe our birthdays have significnace and stuff -I've usually felt later like it was a symptom of something that was wrong - or even missing. I mean he's in Norway?" To CrazyE's credit.... she didn't get angry at me, and I think some people would -- but everyone was pretty drunk and up for the honesty.

So two days later this bf in Norway breaks up with her and she calls me and thinks I am like prescient. Also she thinks I'll be a good listenener, I think, to her obsessive spiral - which I am actually - I get that - almost everyone is obsessive when someone has just really hurt them. Kind of usually an older friend's job to listen to, but she's kind of isolated poor thing. I bring her out to a friend's low key birthday party and they're all pretty brilliant people and they find her annoying but whatever -- they're used to me doing weird thing like bringing traumatized annoying people to their birthdays.

flash forward to the-day-before-my-birthday, yesterday. :) (In the meantime I've hung out with her two more times - over the course of about a year: The first was kind of strange but she was trying to get laid- sure, fine- the second was a good time at a bar where I observed that she's clearly made friends, good, doesn't need me anymore. Throughout the year she stalks my facebook - you know, that's allowed - it's facebook -- and lastly later in the year she seriously freaked out on MyfriendHol in an insane way.)

The stunning conclusion: At 4 am yesterday (not this morning - 4 am yesterday morning- I was awake because I had been scared nearly to death by True blood earlier in the evening.) I go check my email and I have a new post on my facebook wall. It is from CrazyE and I swear to God it reads something like: "hey girl - It's fo sho yo birfday! Wuz happening cuz it's fo sho been a minnit!" or was it more like "Hey girl happy birfday fo sho - we have to party 'cuz I fo sho haven't seen yo fo a minnit" It is 4 am. I don't have time to think about it. My gut reaction is that I am horrified and I delete it.

What a weird girl!!!!!!!!!!! I have told you about basically all of our interaction-we have never sat around speaking sort of minstrel-era ebonics to eachother. I think that would be pretty racist if we did--- but facebook is crazy, bitches, don't forget your girl told you get that dirt off your shoulders!

love
Alexis

Monday, November 17, 2008

laws of attraction

I am avoiding working on my play. It is shameful. But I will work on it tomorrow. I really will. I'll make coffee when I wake up early -- early enough to easily get dressed, drink coffee, watch some New York 1, and leave the house - read over what I've got on the train - and be ready to sit down and make some progress on it as soon as I sit down for tomorrow's great trudge of nothing at all to do at work.

I am very grateful for my job - loosely termed, of course, given the current economy.

So I'll entertain you with tales of dating being the usual grotesque sideshow! I must cancel eharmony. I've got two eharmoniers on the dating calendar now who need to get off the calendar because I'm not attracted to them. The first is nice enough (but what I'm really saying is not enough) but he does a terrible thing of inching closer to me or inching his hands toward mine like he's going to get physical contact secretly. That's all you need to know there. Sigh.

The other is a nice enough guy, but not hot (oh neither is the other), and I try not to eliminate on not hot alone, in case this is a brilliant wonderful becomes hot because of inner hotness person. However there is not hot working against him already. Working for him was the fact I had an allergic reaction to a pine nut on our date and he went to the hospital with me. But the second date revealed that a love connection shall not be.

I'm a little bored of this for writing about it...

oh blah - the people have needs- here - he said he could dance but couldn't actually dance. That's hard to get past.

It was so funny though -- after I was wonderful (read: drunk) enough to gracefully deal with the dancing situation, he said he might have a joint. I knew that meant he didn't -- you know when you have ajoint back home. So, you know: "well, do you have red wine?" "I have scotch" "Okay - sure - let's go have some scotch"

Half hour long conversation with his godfather who actually owns the mess of an apartment (there was an electrical fire there recently) later, God, I just want to pass out - where can I do that? "I have a trundle bed" "Oh great, that works" "But you can't actually use it becasue it's just a mattress box on it" Oh. I pass out in my jeans and fancy gold lace shirt on my back like a plank of wood on top of the blanket and somehow don't move an inch the entire night and just sleep through the awkwardest thing ever - good job Alexis!

So - not being a molester is not quite enough for me to like you. Damn these standards! :)

ANYWAY - I'm not complaining - just updating to avoid working on my play and to try to make the office day end. Who are these people meeting like guys with careers and without trundle beds on the internet?

Do I sound like a bitch though?

Hmmm... anyway, things are pretty good. Better when I actually do some writig tomorrow.

love
Alexis

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Re: President Barack Obama

Really can't say when I'll stop feeling absolutely elated about this. Celebrated with M & Z and champagne as it played out Tuesday night --- can't get enough of the New York Times since then --- I wouldn't beleive it til I saw it.

I do hope that he is somehow permanently encased in bullet proof glass. We need him so badly - I don't want an evil maniac to rob us of how much potential there is to fix so many things.

It's amazing. I've been a sucker for him since the beginning because the generalities - hope and change - are good enough for me - they just seemed too good to be true. Who else was willing enough to really attach themselves to Hope - not cynicism. I, for one, wasn't willing til I saw it on Tuesday... I was so scared - it seemed to me that if McCain won, then as a country the USA really would be now no better than Nazi -- basically willing to go in for fear and intimidation as our primary motivators. I was so scared of that, I wasn't going to be too hopeful. Also, it turns out, I didn't know what in the hell Montana was. :) Obama is brilliant - he's once in a lifetime - I am so happy, SO happy that it turns out that with hope and tireless striving, the USA can elect the brilliant person who will affect change. Yes we can yes we can yes we can. (I wasn't sure - so there's a change already.)

I really do wonder how long I'm going to be walking around feeling like this - the rest of my life? (most likely not, right?) I got home last night and turned on the tv to weep with joy a little more. It's so bizarre.

love
Alexis