Bitter Single People

You wouldn't believe it by looking at this pic, but we are three bitter single people. Nah, not really. But here Mel and I are posing with Greg, who writes the syndicated column Bitter Single Guy. He was an exhibitor at the AAN conference, and this pic (taken at the gala at the Arkansas Arts Center) just came through from Kim, our production manager.

Multi-Talented? Why, Yes, I Am!

Look! I got a photo credit in another alt-weekly! Read the column that goes along with it (it's by Steve from Exit Weekly about the AAN conference in Little Rock), it was hysterical! It's probably funnier to me because I was there and witnessed practically everything that he wrote about, but I think people who weren't there will find it funny, too, and very well-written.

Tuesdays With Travis

Had dinner in Washington Park with Trav last night. We tried the new vegetarian place on Lark Street, called Peas & Beans, and it was yummy (for you local folk who haven't been there yet, it's right by where Shades of Green used to be). Trav had the veggie falafel and I had organic rice and beans, of which they gave me enough--for $3.50-- for two meals. So we recommend it, if you were curious. Then we went to the M'Land office so I could be a guinea pig for his presentation for the Princeton Review, for whom he'll be instructing an SAT prep course. Good luck Trav, you'll do great!

Pool at the Palais

Admittedly off my game! But still fun.

I Fear . . .

I may have gotten myself into something of a pickle.

Uhh, Yeah!

I'm debating whether or not to tell you men how on point this article really is.

Once in a while, Maxim manages to impress me.

*Note to all you peeps who thought I was crazy for making a big deal out of the guy calling me an hour later: See No. 88.

FUNNY Rotten Scoundrels!

Oh my god, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels could very likely be the funniest thing I've ever seen. And I've seen some funny things in my time. In addition to making the audience hoot and howl, Jonathan Pryce and Norbert Leo Butz (who just won a Tony for his role) kept cracking each other up, which made watching them even funnier. It was absolutely, perfectly hysterical.

And the Darwin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History was great--if you go, allow yourself a LOT of time to make your way through the exhibit. An hour minimum, I'd say. There's a lot of information to absorb and lots to see. Including some giant turtles and iguananas. Which, I now know, are both pretty yummy as dinner.

I added to my book collection this weekend. *Cringe!* I'm so bad. I keep promising myself the madness will stop! I think I'm really going to have to break down and buy another bookcase. This weekend I acquired two T.C. Boyle books and The Ghost of Hannah Mendes by Naomi Ragen (thanks, Gram!!); while in the city we also bought The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, Newjack by Ted Conover, and The Jewish Kitchen by Clarissa Hymen (this one in particular is super, because this book will actually teach me how to make hazelnut rugelach! I can't even tell you how exciting this is).

We had a nice, respectable kosher lunch at Fine & Shapiro in the Upper West Side, and dinner at Ollie's. Yum. Till next time. . .

My New Desktop Background

This is the tube stop at Gloucester Road, where I stayed when I was in London a couple months ago. (Well, not in the tube stop, exactly, you know what I mean. . . ) My friend John (who I met in the Millennium Gloucester with his whole Midwest contingent) sent me this pic just the other day, and I love it. I neglected to take a picture of this artwork myself, so I'm glad to have it. Thanks, John!

Cutie

Jonah, my 20-pound monster of a cat, dreaming of pirouhettes.

It's Thursday. . .

. . . and I've been daydreaming . . . all day long . . .

This weekend I'll be in the city to see a matinee of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (starring Jonathan Pryce!) and to visit one of my favorite places on earth, Zabar's. And to see the Darwin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. (And the butterflies if I have time--I love the butterflies!)

I'd love to stop by the New York Press office to visit my new friends, but I doubt anyone will be there on a Saturday. I'm just going to have to play hooky from work one day and go down during the week.

First Day of Summer

I am celebrating by sitting glued to my seat on this sunny production day. Thursday would be so much more appropriate, in my world, for the first day of summer.

Back From AAN 2006

I'm back from Little Rock and in the process of recovering from the late nights (and early mornings), parties, heavy food and general Little Rockdom. Good lord that was a good time.

Mel and I hang at the hotel bar Saturday night. (This is right before Melli had a big fat cigar hanging out of her mouth.)

Our new friend Steve from Exit Weekly. Such a great pic, I had to post it.

These peeps are Steve, Nick and Terry, the boys from the New York Press. They rocked the house.

Bill Clinton was our keynote speaker. He loved us, and we loved him. He's so amazingly smart. Fab!

Who You Callin' Little?

In two days I leave for Little Rock, Arkansas. That is where this year's AAN conference is being held, hosted by the Arkansas Times. The keynote speaker for the conference is Bill Clinton. That's pretty cool, I hafta admit. We won three awards, though our placement (1st, 2nd etc.) hasn't been determined yet--we'll learn that at the conference. Melli (M'Land marketing coordinator and old friend of mine) and I will be roommates at the Peabody Hotel. This spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e! We are going to have waaaaay too much fun.

Hm, what else is new? Aaron kicked my ass last night at Scrabble. That was embarrassing. But I went about four rounds with no vowels! How fair is that? Not very, methinks. Anyway, I'll have to show him who the Scrabble champ is next go-round.

Taking my Little Sister to see Cars tonight, I can't wait!
Pixar+popcorn+sweet little girl=Happy Kate

Bye Bye Book Shop

So sad.

GRE: Done

Wow, I am not in a hurry to do that again. Four hours of testing, blah.

GRE: The Horror!

After a desperate--and unsuccessful--attempt at rescheduling my GREs, I have now accepted my loathsome fate and have embarked on a three-day cramming session. I am pretty confident in my capability concerning the verbal side of the test (it's how I make my living, after all)--it's the math portion that has me shaking in my black patent-leather heels.

To all of my supportive, truly wonderful friends: Though I love you all dearly, you sadly have absolutely no idea what you're talking about when you say "Oh, you'll do just fine!" Obviously none of you have seen any sort of attempt on my part to calculate. It's embarrassing. It took me (and a colleague of mine, David, who is also pretty math-challenged) at least 10 minutes not too long ago to split a lunch bill. To be fair to us, though, I think there had to have been something in the food that was clouding our heads.

Thank goodness Trav has agreed to work with me tomorrow night on my math skills. I'd have no chance otherwise. However, I must say, Mitch (uh, how come he got the math gene and I didn't? huh? mom? dad?) picked up my prep book today and pointed out an equation and said "Look, you can do this one, easy," and I looked, and I did it. In my head. It was a pretty simple equation though. But it did have an 'x' in it.

Heaven help me.

Fashion and Fun at Noche

Saturday night, and a sweet VIP magazine launch party/fashion show downtown. Lights, drama, clothes, paparazzi, wine. . . . What more could a girl want?

Yet Another Photo Shoot

Mitch was a last-minute fill-in as a model for our '50s-themed Summer Guide. He's posing with Billie Jean, a model who looks amazingly like Betty Boop. Check out our Summer Guide when it hits the streets next week (June 8).