Rainy Gay

It's raining today. And it's supposed to be "A Day Without a Gay." I want to know if people are actually doing this in California. I know Brian is at work today, but only because our boss professed her love of gays and said he had to come in. But I think it would be pretty amazing if this was successful, especially in my home state!

And I am going to try not to blog about TV anymore. I've decided. Instead I am only going to post links like this:
http://www.zooborns.com/

Well I really only wanted to post that to celebrate this:
http://meisure.blogspot.com/

Happy rainy hump day, y'all.

Bridget

The Amazing Disgrace

I have always enjoyed "The Amazing Race." I didn't actually watch the show, but I always loved the concept. A race around the world! And Mei working on it forever, and then her going on the race made it that much more totally awesome (although those cryptic phone calls where Mei would call to say hi and upon being asked where she was would just reply "Secret..." were damn annoying.)

I watched the show for one season, about 4 years ago, when I had just moved back to NYC. My sister and I made it a weekly ritual. We liked to imagine that we, too, were on the race and may or may not have been heard saying to each other: "Rory and Bridget...you are team number...ONE." And we loved the hot brothers.

I hadn't watched it at all until this season (yes, I missed the Goths of season past). It is honestly rare that I actually follow a show. SERIOUSLY! The only shows I can actually follow have to be on Bravo because they re-air the episodes 17 times a week. But I made it a point to follow this show. And it sucked! I mean it was still exciting in a way, but the teams were terrible. And I missed the first episode where the self proclaimed Hippies got kicked off. One by one, any team I would get behind or would be entertained by were eliminated. So we were left with the horrible frat boys, the eventual winners Nick and Starr (who were conniving and backstabbing bitches) and then Ken and Tina. They were a separated couple who were trying to see if they should give their marriage another shot. And I think he cheated on her or something. But they were the WORST! In probably every sense of the word. They were annoying to look at, annoying to listen to and were just....annoying. Apparently my thesaurus is broken.

So at the end, when all of the teams are on "the mat" and Nick and Starr are reveling in their post-win glory (cocky bastards) Ken and Tina come running in, in second place. And then Ken starts shaking and almost crying and talking about how it's been a long road. And then he's pulling out a little package from his pocket and talking about how much he loves Tina. And then we see that he's pulling wedding bands from this package and grabbing Tina's hand and saying "I know we've haven't been wearing these lately" and then he's really crying and she's crying too and then he's putting the ring on her finger saying he wants to give it another go.

And then I'm crying.

I KNOW! It's ridiculous. I hate them! So why, after how ever many episodes, should they make me cry? What does this say about me as a person? As a modern woman? And he cheated on her. He's a bastard! I shouldn't cry over his display of emotion and declaration of love, I should scream at the TV and warn Tina, however annoying she is, to run, run far away and find herself a decent man who will be honest and true to her!

But I am a sucker. So I popped a few tears (I wrote "pooped" at first, which would just be a strange concept.)

So Ken and Tina, wherever you are, after the cameras are gone, after the adrenaline from running the race courses through your veins and fades into the background of your daily lives, I wish you well. I hope the marriage sticks this time. I hope you are true to each other and love each other until the day you die. If not for yourselves, then...for me.

Please, let not my tears have been in vain.

Who knew "The Amazing Race" could be so revelatory? Me, that's who.

Sincerely,
Bridget

Top Chef Beef

I have beef with Top Chef. To be more specific, I have beef with Jeff, the toe-headed wonder boy from Miami. Not only does he seem really wormy and annoying on the show, I find him REALLY unattractive. I do recognize that most people would find someone like him attractive, but I think his personality cancels it out.

Then I get to work. And people agree that he can be sort of arrogant (again, I think more wormy and pathetic than arrogant) but they all think he's HOT! How is this possible? HOT? As in, really really attractive? Ugh, there's no home for humanity.

I realize I am in the minority being so completely repulsed by him, but come ON! Look at that pose! That face! NOOOOOOOOO! It's like someone took James Spader and a dash of Ellen and made a horrible person.
I do love me some Tom Colicchio though. Maybe that explains things.

Ciao,
Bridget

Pandora's Christmas Box

I am so late to the game. Really. To every game. I used to be sort of on it. I wouldn't say I ever really had my finger on the pulse or anything like that, but I was with it. Anyway, I've only recently discovered the joys of Pandora, thanks to Kadi. I knew about it, but last week, during an extreme lull at work, decided to try it out and I love it! Better late than never?

That said, I went a little nutty yesterday and decided to make a Jingle Bells station. The only artists/songs I put in to create this station was, of course, "Jingle Bells" and The Waitresses (Holiday.) That was an option. But I bring this up because it's December and I always get excited for Christmas. This is one game I'm never too late on. So I'm jamming at work, with my headphones on, to a little Elvis, Bon Jovi and then that song from Auntie Mame comes on..."Haul out the holly!" and I'm done. That song will be in my head for the next 2 months!

I always do this to myself. I should probably wait until the 20th to bust out the Christmas music. Last year I mistakenly put my infamous "BLC Christmas" albums (2001 and 2004 editions) on my ipod shuffle. I absolutely love having the shuffle and can't live without it, but I am really bad about updating it on a regular basis. So usually I'm stuck with some random playlist I made for a plane trip that I will listen to over and over. Last year, it was the Christmas playlist. So these songs end up in my iTunes "Recently Played" playlist which I will play in my apartment randomly. This means the Christmas songs keep coming up and getting played. Which then means these songs start to appear in the exclusive Top 250 playlist. The end result is that when I'm cleaning my apartment in the middle of July I will suddenly hear Angela Lansbury scream through the speakers: "Haul out the holly!" I don't know what's more embarrassing: blaring Christmas music in July or admitting that I have that damn Auntie Mame song on my ipod.

Anyway, thanks Pandora, for infecting my brain with those delicious Christmas confections and reminding me that sometimes good things come in small doses. It was a hard lesson, but a good one. Now I'm just listening to "Bridget's Depressing Music" station. Seriously, who knew my tailor made radio station would be such a downer...ugh.

Season's Greetings,
Bridget

PS: I just went and made a new Pandora station. The only song I put in was Beyonce's "Single Ladies." See, I'm upbeat! I swear!

Aloha...Thanksgiving

Okay, Obama's election is so yesterday's news. But that didn't stop me from hopping a flight to is birthplace to see where the miracle happened. I actually (happily) went to Hawaii for the wedding of an old friend. There's nothing better than going to Hawaii in November when New York is miserable. We went diving, snorkeling, cliff jumping. We watched the active lava flow. It was amazing.

And of course there's nothing worse than coming back from Hawaii in November when New York is miserable. And then you have to go back to work. So thankfully (no pun intended) it's Thanksgiving week. I just want to give a shout out to all them pilgrims and Indians who got together many centuries ago so we could all take a few days off work and stuff our faces. Honestly, Thanksgiving is the best. And then after that you get to lay around all weekend and watch Home Alone and Elf on TBS!

I am coming to realize that I am completely a creature of my surroundings. For example, whenever I go to Hawaii, or other tropical places, I want to immediately immerse myself in all things Hawaiian. I want to listen to Hawaiian music, drink fruity drinks and cover my self head to toe in hibiscus print something or other and put flowers in my hair. And when would I ever really be caught dead in New York, or anywhere else really, with a big ol' flower print dress while I'm rockin IZ on the ipod?

And then I get back to the city and it's all warm tones, browns, earthy colors. I'm looking up recipes online. I'm excited to knit. I'm NESTING for god's sake! Who even uses the word nesting but women over 40?!?!?! Okay, I just googled nesting to see what kind of results the internet would give me. And nesting is really something pregnant women do in the final trimester. So I'm basically acting like someone who's about to have a baby all because it's cold out and I like the holidays. And I'm wearing brown.

But that doesn't stop me from hoping to catch up with Kevin McAllister and all his antics sometime this weekend. It also doesn't stop me from remembering that I indeed own "Home Alone" on DVD so I can watch it whenever I want. But isn't it much more thrilling to catch an early 90s Chris Columbus classic live on television, when you have to sit through hours of commercials and it isn't even presented in it's original aspect ratio?

Exactly.

Sincerely,
Bridget

Barack Obama: 44th President of the United States

Awesome.

THIS IT IT!

Just a few hours before the first polls close....

Marathon

Halloween came and went...Saw some Palins. Saw some Jokers. The parade starts right next to my office, so it's always a mad dash out of here to beat the craziness so I can cross sixth avenue. I did see them setting up which was cool.

But more exciting than Halloween for some reason was watching the marathon go by in Brooklyn. I had never watched the marathon before, but it was so fun! There were so many people out watching and cheering. There was a local school band playing the Rocky theme...on a 3 hour loop. People were selling cupcakes, having barbecues on their stoops. It was all very wholesome and inspiring.

So inspiring, in fact, that this morning at the gym I decided to run on the treadmill. It's always been a far off goal of mine to run in a marathon. And seeing those people yesterday, so proud of themselves and happy to be out there, I wanted a part of it! I finished exactly one mile before I switched to another machine. So much for dreams...

Anyway, speaking of marathons, the marathon election season is (hopefully) over tomorrow. I am very excited. It seems a little surreal since we've been following the campaigns for two years. And it's so sad that Obama's grandmother died, right before the election! I guess next week we'll just go back to talking about Grey's Anatomy and Friends re-runs.

Well I hope you are all going to vote (Obama) tomorrow.

Until then,
Bridget

Trick or Treatz

Halloween is fast upon us, all you spooks and ghouls! And there is no better place to be for Halloween than New York City, the ol' Big Apple. The sheer number of people, coupled with the fact that people like to go all out, is awesome. The parade, however, I could do without. Walk in it once, or dance in it. On a float. In a bikini. With a horrible sound system blaring behind you. Whatever. Do it, it's worth it. But never again. The worst thing about walking in the parade is all of the people walking with you who are wearing black hoodies and backpacks with patches from Hot Topic on them. Teenagers who think they're all badass because they jumped the barricade and are in the parade. But why? Now they're just walking with some lesbian couple and their son who's dressed as Nemo. And the group of college friends who are dressed as the Royal Tenenbaums. Again.

Anyway, last year in the parade Kelly dressed as Tracy Turnblatt from "Hairspray." Every Asian girl went NUTS for her! Seriously. For some reason, it was all Tracy, all night, from the Asian population. And there were some amazing costumes. Two girls were the old guys from the Muppet show, complete with surrounding balcony.

But that was last year.

I will try to make it a point to post pictures of what I think are the best costumes this year and then the ubiquitous ones. Last year it was all Amy Winehouse. The year before: Borat.
This year it's going to be an overload of Palins and Joes the Plumbers and some poor soul is STILL going to be sporting the "Scream" mask. It will not die.

I just remembered something really random from last Halloween. After the parade a bunch of us did karaoke. Right when we got there this very tall person in a very normal outfit took the mic and said "Hi, I'm dressed as a tall girl." The voice was pretty deep, clearly a guy. My friends and I cracked up at the simplicity of going as a tall, boring girl. HILARIOUS! But then someone said they saw her going into the girls' bathroom so it became an on-going saga. Is she or isn't she...a man? So later on, after I accidentally kicked one of the Tall Girl's friends during some Pink song, I struck up conversation starting with an apology for the kick. Then i pointed to tall girlfriend and asked if that was a guy or a girl. Her friend got so mad and said, very curtly, "it's a girl." I felt terrible. And also cheated that what I thought was the best costume of the night was just some really lazy, boring, tall girl with no imagination!

Sometimes at night I pretend she really WAS a boy, and that her costume really WAS fabulous...sometimes.

Again, that was last year.

Check back (all 4 of you) for an update soon.

Sincerely,
Bridget

PS: this jack-o-lantern is so blog appropriate, no?

TGI...W?

I'm going to see W. tomorrow I think. I'll do a live-blogging review from the theater.

But, in all honesty: THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY! I really hate that I am one of those people that says "TGIF," but I am! And I guess 90% of the US population are probably 9-5ers who really ARE thanking god (or the higher power of their choice, Oprah? Angelina Jolie?) that today is the end of the work week and that we get to enjoy two days off. I just usually assume people who say TGIF are Kathy comic reading, personalized mug owning, middle-aged people who run home to watch their tivo'd stories. Or "Dancing with the Stars."

This web post was written primarily to establish my snob status. I'm a jerk, what can I say.

TGIF Everyone,
Bridget

Nick and Norah: Stick to Bedding

I saw "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" this weekend. This was more out of necessity than actual interest, owing to the fact that there isn't much of note playing in theaters. I can't wait for the spectacle that will be "W" and I still want to see "Man on Wire," but come Sunday afternoon, it was "Nick and Norah."

To me, when I hear Nick and Norah I think of the company that makes cutesy pajamas and housewares, like the fabulous cloud comforter I had in college (please see this craigslist ad.) And when you see the poster for Nick and Norah with the handwritten block letters and Michael Cera, you can't help but think of Juno. I'm not sure if either of these is a good thing.

Let me admit that I was game for this movie. The trailer suckered me and I thought I would secretly be swooning for the teenage angst and indie pop soundtrack. So when I found myself bored AND rolling my eyes, I knew that was a bad sign.

First of all, the villain, the total hottie who previously broke Nick's heart, is more of a troll than a babe. I recognized her from "Fool's Gold" (not my finest hour) where she was similarly miscast as a hot socialite. This girl is pretty, but she's kind of weird looking. And my boyfriend pointed out that she has brown teeth! How can the "hot girl" in the movie have BROWN TEETH?!?!? Which leads me to my point...Norah is a total cutie. She looks like 2/3 Gwen Stefani plus a dash of Hilary Duff. She's adorable! So it's completely implausible that this chick is supposed to feel threatened by the troll, whose character's name is TRISS (props to the writer for the most annoying name. ever.) Kat Dennings (Norah) just isn't convincing when she says she'll never compare to Triss. Or when she's afraid to take off her sports bra. (As a side note, can anyone explain why the gay band's tour van is complete with a box of bras?)

I hate seeing fake insecurity on screen and I hate when it comes about because some girl, obviously cast in the lead role because she's really pretty, is put up against someone "prettier" who is really just second rate. All those stupid tween movies like "She's All That" and "10 Things I Hate About You" have these very pretty girls/women in the roles of the ugly/loser/outcast freaks. It's so obvious they're going to have their revelatory "I'm a pretty girl" scene. Or why can't they just cast truly beautiful people as their arch rivals to prove this point?

I'm going further. Sorry. In the BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice," Elizabeth Bennett, played by a lovely Jennifer Ehle, always feels she can't hold a candle to the incomparably beautiful Jane, her older sister. Well this whole concept doesn't hold water because the woman they cast for Jane looks like a man in drag. Okay, this is probably incredibly harsh but it's distracting to watch when Eliza Bennett goes on about how good and beautiful her sister is. And then you see her: BIG JANE. At least the '05 film version got it right by casting Rosamund Pike who is undeniably pretty. Here's a side by side comparison:

Big Jane in BBC's "Pride and Prejudice"

Rosamund Pike as Jane in the '05 film version

Okay? See my point? Cast matters, people.

In defense of the other tween movies, and even, I guess, Nick and Norah, sometimes it isn't the pretty girls who are "pretty" in high school. Popularity, and hence attractiveness does come about in strange ways during the teenage years...

Back to the actual movie. There's not much more to say. The random orgasm plot ripped from "American Pie" (the Weitz brothers are producers on the film, interesting...) seemed so tacked on and the resolution was quite laughable. I don't want to ruin it for those of you who still want to see the movie. But that Nick has some magic hands! Oh, and back to the Weitz brothers. I guess we have them to thank for some other random gross out scenes and the never-ending gum?

The best part of the film is the drunk friend for not only being very funny and convincing, but for paying homage to that other lost friend in a bus station: Penelope Ann Miller in "Adventures in Babysitting." I think Nick and Norah could have taken a lesson from that film. Make the stakes higher. The audience doesn't give a shit about Fluffy. And apparently, by the way the film ends, neither do the characters. Now on the other hand if your best friend was stuck in a bus station and Thor was on your tail? Smells like a classic to me.

Signing off,
Bridget

Linx

This one's for the Kadis: check out the cuteness.

And please read this post from Amity about why women for Palin shouldn't support Palin. She doesn't support women!

And if you haven't already, check out our video:

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Boots with the Fur

Everyone loves FloRida's song "Low." But one person loves it more than you. Turn up your speakers please:



I think this is what youtube was made for. EXTREMELY literal photo-lyrical interpretations of rap songs. Well that and celebrity photo montages set to Vanessa Carlton.

A Tree Grows in...

I'm calling on Jennifer to help me. I was in the Liz Christy garden this weekend for the first time and saw this plant, which was very odd. The branches were really smooth and caught my eye. What is this?

In other news, I'm ashamed to admit that I've lost my Olympic fever. After Phelps and gymnastics the rest is kind of a snooze fest. It's a lot to get invested for another entire week of completely different sports and athletes. It's not like I actually follow any of these people or events between the Olympics. So, bring on the conventions.

There is apparently supposed to be a big announcement tomorrow: Obama's Running Mate. I did not sign up for the breaking news text from Barack's camp. This, to me, is the stupidest thing ever. Come on! Are they really hoping to mobilize the youth by sending a text message when we can go and read the Drudge headline 2.5 seconds later? I am excited and increasingly anxious for the election as the thought of a McCain administration is close to unbearable. This is probably the most overstated and blindingly obvious statement I've made in a while.

Moving On. I took advantage of the NYC Summer Streets weekend before last. Here is a photo of Lafayette.
No cars! Bikes! It would be very cool to have a car free city. Or even just a car free street. It would also be cool to have a personal chef and a yacht. Or if Harrison Ford was my dad. Guess we can't have everything.

And here's a picture from the deck of the New Museum. Not a fan of the museum, love the view.

And I saw Keanu Reeves yesterday. Just a sidenote...

Ciao,
Bridge

Funky Bridge

I took this picture last night on the bridge, from pretty much the same place as the earlier photo. I feel the two pictures really explore themes of night and day, gray vs. color, good meets evil. Or, it really just looks cool. I was trying to take a clear pic of the Empire State building which is apparently, for the first time!, having different color schemes on each of its sides to represent different countries performing in the Olympics. Can't you tell from this picture?


It is the embodiment of the Olympic spirit, no?

I need to go dodge another rainstorm now. This seems to be my life these days, tracking storms on wunderground.com and wondering if there is enough of a clear patch on the radar screen so I can ride my bike home. No wonder these blog posts are so exciting!

Ugh,
Bridge

ps: first clap of thunder, huge flash of lightning. Never a good sign.

Tired Bridge

I took this photo on the Brooklyn Bridge this morning on my to work. The city looked very pretty and silvery, like San Francisco.

But the truth is I was just really tired from biking up that damn incline. So why not take a photo to disguise the fact that my legs were shaking and about to give out on me? Not a good morning. But a pretty one. Kind of like Katie Holmes. Undeniably pretty, but undeniably evil.

Seriously! I'd Like to Know...

Olympic Feva!

I've got the Olympic Fever. Okay, well maybe I would have the fever if when I turned on to watch the Olympics it wasn't just badminton or beach volleyball. The fact that beach volleyball is actually an Olympic sport cracks me up. The name alone brings to mind people in Venice Beach tourist t shirts with the sleeves cut off with strands of beads on the bottom of the shirt. You know what I am talking about.

Anyway, I logged on to nbc's Olympics site and watched the apparently Earth shattering swimming relay I missed. It was pretty awesome and the quality of the video online was impressive. Go technology. And Michael Phelps. I would also like to thank Kadi for leading me to this inspirational video. Volume up, please:



How can I say anything about Phelps at all when Smashmouth says it so much better?

Anyway, there were some awesome thunder storms today. I'm still a little scared and haven't left my corner. Here's something that might brighten your day if you too are in a gray, stormy, cloud.


Always,
Bridget

For Better, or for Worse, I'm Back.

Dear Readers,
It's been a long, hard absence. I realize that. And I sincerely apologize. Let's just blame it on the rain, okay? Did I really just say that? You gotta blame it on somethin'.

Anyway, the sad thing is after 4 months I have nothing to write.

Everyone should take advantage of the NYC summer streets tomorrow:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/summerstreets/html/route/route.shtml

And watch the Olympics. I have a Google spreadsheet online with all of my viewings scheduled. Just let me know if you want to access it. I'll probably be live-blogging the equestrian events.

I want to write a funny tidbit and I really have nothing. Well, except for the fact that my writing partner/roommate/co-worker/half-brother's zipper on his too-cute cords broke today. So he's feeling awkward and in a little bit of pain with his faulty pants. Cheer up, Brian! It is Friday after all.

Missing you now more than ever,
Bridget

Oh, Gmail, You Sly Fox!

I sign into Gmail this morning to see they've added a new feature. This isn't that uncommon but today they announce "Custom Time" which essentially lets you go and backdate your emails in case of those "missed deadlines, missed birthdays and missed opportunities."

They also will go so far as to make your email look like it's been read! So you can totally pull that "I sent you that highly important email 5 days ago and YOU READ IT!" No need to take any heat for your own lack of responsibility, let Gmail do your dirty work!

Clearly, I totally fell for Gmail's cruel, cruel April Fools' Joke. Upon further reading, I was happy to see that this Custom Time feature is powered by the e-flux capacitor. Anything that references "Back to the Future" can't be all bad.

In other news, I'm afraid CNN's headline about a 10lb 4-year-old boy is not a joke.

In Da Voting Booth...

Oh man, if I don't know where Fitty's at, how can I make an informed decision?

So About Those Virgins...

There is an article in the NYT magazine about abstinence and in particular abstinence clubs at Ivy League schools. Abstinence is a fascinating topic to me, especially in the past decade with Bush and his abstinence-only education policies. I think it’s absurd that this administration and numerous other right-wing or evangelical groups actually claim that educating young adults about things like safe sex, plan b or gardisil, is in turn promoting promiscuity, debauchery, and a miserable, loveless life.

Anyway, I digress. In the article, they profile this student at Harvard who is the president of one such Virginity club. The author of the article almost seems to be winking at the reader while he writes about and interviews her. It’s easy to do as an adult, since you can just sort of wave of the naiveté of a fervent youth. It’s also easy to do when she’s shocked that her co-president (a guy) has lustful thoughts (gasp!) and has masturbated (double gasp...from him. Okay, that was terrible.) You quickly realize how young she really is. But abstinence is such a tricky issue. This young woman, and other like minded people are so focused on their message of not having sex that perhaps they don’t stop to see if this is actually the decision they truly want to make. It becomes more about the stance than the actual act of sex. And of course half the time I am thinking “don’t knock it til you’ve tried it!” but I guess that goes against the whole “waiting til marriage” thing.

I wholeheartedly agree that people should only have sex because they want to. And at the same time, if people want to wait that should be their choice as well. It’s terrible that people (girls especially) get pressured into doing it or doing things against their will. But this speaks more to empowering women, and arming them with confidence and self esteem, than it does to promoting abstinence. How you can successfully do this, I have no idea. But to promote something so ardently, whether it be abstinence or not having abortions, always rubs me the wrong way...no pun intended this time. Maybe because I am not for anyone telling me that I CANNOT do something. I’m all for people strongly advocating and protesting on behalf of things like gay marriage or freedom of speech. But who’s to tell me I can’t (or shouldn’t) have sex? Or marry a woman? Or eat trans fat!

I think what this all boils down to is my stubborn independence and the few months I was living with my aunt and uncle in the 80’s. Like I told them, if you’re not my mom, you’re not the boss of me. Anyway, I am sure there are feminists galore who can sum this up much more succinctly and articulately than I just have. And I’m not exactly sure what my point is, except to say: it’s my way or the highway and if I don’t like your views, you’re stupid. Fair enough, right?

In unrelated news, Terry O’Quinn came up in conversation and with any mention of Terry, one must recognize his stellar turn in the classic 80’s hit “The Stepfather.” Upon close inspection of the official IMDB page, I discovered this tagline: Daddy's Home and He's Not Very Happy. Yeah, tell me something I don’t know, Internet Movie Database...*

PS: I loved this look.

Also, has anyone seen the trailer for Helen Hunt’s directorial debut? Hangdog, anyone?

Love and Bra Burning,
Bridget

*Disclaimer: my dad’s actually pretty cool.

Bare Bush...that was too easy

So Jennifer requested a Carla Bruni/Laura Bush side by side comparison. I would love to oblige, especially under the recent headlines Bruni is getting. But I don’t think I can find nude photos of Carla AND Laura on the internet...

I would love it, though, if the UK tabloids were going nuts over some decade old glamour shots of Laura in the buff. That sweet smile, the perfectly coiffed bob. God love ‘er, but she’s ridiculously boring.
So obviously I am trying to be better about updating my blog which means: even MORE mundane posts about random things! And I don’t even have anything to offer today, save my two bits on Laura Bush posing naked. But chew on this: I’m going out for Mexican tonight (sorry Kadi). Will I get a big burrito? Some enchiladas? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

Hasta Manana!
Bridge

Our Fearless Leaders...

If anyone wants to debate why Europeans are inherently cooler than Americans they need to look no further than this:

Their president is more rock star than policy maker.

And then look at this:
IS HE SERIOUS? He looks as sincere as my cousin Stacy hugging that Easter Bunny (I mean that in the best way, Stace!) It really doesn't strike me as creepy, which might be my gut reaction if it was say, Spitzer (remind me to blog about my Spitzer dream) or any other man over 10. Bush really might just have the mental capacity of a 9-year-old. I truly believe he was as enthused to hug that bunny as I was to ride the Flying Dumbo ride at Disneyland when I was 3.

I need to thank Drudge for having both of those photos on his page.

In TV news, we all know I claim to be a non-tv person. Do you like how I wrote "we all" as if the readership of this blog is more than 3 people? Anyway, I claim I don't watch a lot of TV and I claim not to watch shows regularly, save "Project Runway." But I was so excited yesterday when I saw a promo for the new season of "Workout." This was a show I dismissed and would only watch out of laziness because it aired after Runway at some point. But I totally got addicted thanks to the Bravo programming gods who insist on airing their original shows non-stop. Suffice to say, I would so set my tivo to record...if I had a tivo. But why would I need one of those? I'm not a tv person, remember?

Sincerely,
Bridget

Triple Thick

I like Chili's. I've spent a lot of time on the road and i grew up in the suburbs so you learn to pick and choose your battles. When it's between Applebee's and TGI Friday's you choose Chili's. Well if you're smart you choose Chili's.

At least this is what I always thought. Until Chili's decided to promote their new bacon burgers with TRIPLE THICK BACON! The strips are seriously an inch thick! And if you've seen the commercial there are like four pieces of bacon on every burger. Falling onto the grill, falling on the burger. Bacon everywhere.

We just had a discussion in my office about this and the consensus is that bacon is supposed to be crispy. When it's thicker than a pink eraser you really don't achieve the desired bacon effect. I will admit that I don't eat bacon regularly and can in no way consider myself a bacon connoisseur. But even a novice bacon eater recognizes a gross bacon misjudgement when they see one.

You can try to view the commercial here

Or here's a photo:

And um, sorry I just wrote an entire post about bacon.

Peace, Love and....bacon,
Bridget

LEAP DAY! OMFG!

Today at the gym I glanced up at a TV that was airing CNN. They have this whole new look for the election, a sort of distressed Americana thing on a white background. Usually the text says something like "CLINTON! OBAMA! THE DEBATE!" Today is was something to the effect of "LEAP DAY COVERAGE: ALL DAY!"

Leap day coverage? Are they serious? Then again, they are the same people who list this story on the top of their webpage.

On another note, I have used the phrase "waiting for the other shoe to drop" maybe 5 times in the last week about completely different things. So I decided to look up this phrase because that's the kind of thing I do at work. I ended up on some message board where someone wrote "What does this mean? I heard it on Sex and the City and didn't get it." Oh Carrie, you stump us all!

Happy Leap Day, everyone. Live coverage all day. From me.

My Super Tuesday

Yesterday was cool. Over the course of the day I:

1. Hit the gym
2. Ate a subway sandwich
3. Surfed the web
4. Started a new improv class

Thanks for listening,
Bridge

SIck of Being Sick

I'm one of those people who never gets sick. Seriously. If I do get sick it's maybe a slight fever or a runny nose for a day or two. So far, in the last month, I've been sick three times. THREE TIMES! It's hideous! I got a disturbingly debilitating stomach flu when I was in California for the holidays. I had a slight cold a few weeks ago and now i have something else which consists of a heinous cough and a fever. My throat is so sore that when I am walking outside in the cold my throat burns from the cold, dry air. I mean, not that I'm complaining or anything.

So, getting sick sucks. I guess the only consolation is that it's January and at least I'm not missing out on amazing weather. Oh, that and I got to catch up on the "Rock of Love" episode I missed the other night. What's better than a skanky, manly looking French girl getting naked for a has been rock star? Oh my god, I am dying right now. I just found her (Angelique's) myspace page and it says she's only 25! I still can't even believe she's a female. I will miss her...

If These Balls Could...

I know there is a myriad of important things going on in the world (recessions? Heath? election?) but what is more important than my inaugural dodgeball game of the season? not much. And how exciting were our first 2 games? Not very. If These Balls Could Talk 2 got creamed.

What amazes me about this dodgeball league is that people actually take it seriously. We played a team last night that is a notoriously good - and brutal - team. They happen to have the tallest person known to man on their team and a few other beasts. But they are ruthless! Not only do they play a fierce game (and fierce in a bad way not in a gay heeeey! way), they are not even congenial people between games. They are just straight up assholes. It's like they got picked on their entire lives, they never excelled at sports and now are exacting their revenge. Or better yet, all they ever had was sports and come graduation from high school or college or whatever, they find themselves in the sport-free zone of NYC and need to fight poor defenseless non-jocks like the people on my team. I bet they all work at investment banks or something. Not that I am opposed to investment bankers.

Obviously, I never played sports in high school. Well I am only assuming that's obvious by the comments I made above. But let's just say that in high school I was one of the girls who had to take a second year of P.E. because I wasn't in a sport. And because I had a full schedule of AP and IB and BS classes I didn't have time to take this second year of P.E. until my junior year. But even then, I only had time to take half a semester. And I got lucky. My best friend and I ended up in a class full of sophomore boys. Just us and a bunch of tiny, adolescent, squeaky voiced little guys. And, naturally, we ruled the class. We were always team captains, rallying the troops, telling the teacher we had our periods so we didn't have to do anything. You know, taking advantage of our female status. And it was ridiculously fun.

But then senior year comes around. Last semester. And I still have half a P.E. class to finish. And no best friend this time. So there I am, moments from graduating, caring more about my boyfriend and off campus lunch than badminton, in a class full of non-athletic sophomore girls. It was like the worst stereotypes you can imagine came to life: the girl in the wheelchair, the fat girl, the non-English speaking crew, the girl who always wore sweats - in and out of class. And then me. I was forced to make friends with some semi-socially awkward girls who had collections of lip balm and hair scrunchies so I could partner with them versus the girl who smelled like milk and old bread. There was one girl I became particularly close with, if you call chatting in an awkward class "close." She was a senior, like myself. I had vaguely seen her around over the course of the past four years. She was a quieter girl, nerdy, but had a large group of co-nerdy girlfriends. Not that i was miss popularity or anything, but I had my share of friends spread around the school. The funny thing with this girl was that we would see each other around campus and quietly nod or smile, acknowledging each other. It was like we were having a secret love affair and we didn't want our friends to know. Just two girls from different sides of the tracks. I still think about her now, wondering how things turned out. If she ever finished UCSB like she wanted, if she ever fell in love. Who am I? Kevin Arnold?

Anyway, flash forward to the present, I'm back in the gym. Wishing I had given more thought to that second year of P.E. and writing a post that would make Brian proud, ie: taking an epic stroll down memory lane sans the super witty one-liners.

Love and Dodgeball,
Bridget

Thanks European Vacation!

Today is Tuesday. It's January. It's 5:46 and totally dark out. What else is there to say?

Oh, right! Gym news! You can imagine how ecstatic I was this morning when I turned on Bravo and saw the opening credits to "European Vacation." Yesterday, they were airing some movie with Ewan McGregor playing a stock trader in Singapore. It was evident that it was based on a true story, because it was exhaustively detailed which meant it was very boring.

The same, however, cannot be said for the second installment of the Griswold family saga. I happen to think that this one is highly under appreciated. There are the die hard "Vacation" fans and a younger crop of "Christmas Vacation" loyalists, but I would say the majority of people dismiss their trip over the pond. But why? There are many funny bits, but I think the crown jewel is the daughter, Audrey (played by Dana Hill.) She's funny just to look at. She's kind of a little creature with a raspy voice. And her endless "I miss Jack"s are insane! And it seemed even funnier that they kept highlighting the fact that she didn't want to gain weight, when she looked like a chunk. But then you'd see a long shot of her and realize she was actually really tiny.

The sad thing is that she really wasn't a little creature. She was sick and had diabetes which apparently stunted her growth and then put her into a coma and eventually killed her! It's terrible. So this post goes out to her.


And to the scene in Italy when the Griswolds get hideous new outfits. That is probably why everyone hates the movie.

Love and basketball,
Bridget

Live Blogging: Caddy Wompus

Okay, I am half kidding with the live blogging thing. And the five people who read this were promptly emailed when this incident happened. I work across the street (caddy corner if we’re getting specific, okay?) from this new Trump SoHo BS tower that is going up. It’s huge and being constructed at record pace and the neighborhood hates it. And I hate it! I walk by it every day on my way to and from work and the construction site freaks me out. They fill they huge metal buckets with cement and hoist them via crane to the top of the building, which is apparently 46 stories above me, little pedestrian, on the street. And I swear they fly up. I have wanted to write about this fact alone, because this alone freaks me out.

We moved into our new office space at the start of the year (caddy corner...ugh, worst phrase) and now I get a beautiful view of the building and the cement buckets right outside the window next to my desk. So today, there was a huge noise and my boss and co-workers and I clamor to the window to see an unsettling amount of debris fall from the building, and further see that a large chunk of the top floors are gone. Chaos ensued, FDNY showed up, EMTs, the news crews, the whole deal. Apparently, one person died immediately, which is horribly tragic. One of the construction workers was even trapped in a safety net and we saw them bring him down in his own metal bucket. He was promptly whisked away on a stretcher when he got to street level.

Needless to say (even though I already have 6 times in this post), shit like this really freaks me out! Most of you know I did a short film in college about a woman who wears a bicycle helmet all of the time. And while most of that stemmed from growing up in California with earthquakes and whatnot, living in New York City does not help calm my latent things-falling-down-on-my-head paranoia (I’m 90% sure that is an accurate, medical term.) You always hear about scaffolding coming down, or a crane load falling from a construction site (as exemplified by today’s incident.) So maybe there’s an actual reason for my paranoia. Maybe I’ll start wearing a helmet or maybe I just won’t leave my apartment. Okay, let’s be honest, if that happens it’s most likely because Ocean’s 11 is airing on TBS or something. You know I’m a sucker for a tv movie “event.”

Here are some photos:

They just pulled out another person on a stretcher. It’s been about 2 hours. Apparently he was trapped somehow. Here’s a link to some more accurate reporting on Gothamist.

Anyway, after all that, I am not really sure what my point is except to say that I am no longer walking along this stretch of Spring St. on my way to work. And I did a google search of caddy corner to make sure I had the correct spelling and I found out I could have also used: kitty corner (this is just straight up annoying) or caddy wompus! I really missed the boat on caddy wompus....there’s always next time I guess.

Okay enough about Trump. I have to get back to uploading a new facebook photo.

Ciao!
Bridge

Happy New Year!

Well it’s a new year and what better way to ring it in than with this uplifting news story.

Seriously? SERIOUSLY!?!?

Anyway, on a brighter note it’s almost 60 degrees in the middle of January in New York City. That is cause for celebration.

Sincerely,
Bridge