Last Geek Standing

Along my path from home to the Atlantic Pacific stop is a hair cutters with lots of photos in the window. I walk this path everyday and, apparently, do not pay any attention. (On this street there is also a wall covered in posters. One day, while sitting across the street at Gorilla Coffee enjoying a beverage, I noticed one of these posters read: "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a killer rabbit?" And the huge graphic on the poster is a rabbit wearing lipstick. I laughed. Then I realized I had been walking by this poster for like a month and never read it. So much for advertising, even funny advertising like this.)


A few months ago, I did a retake on one of the hair style photos because one of the hair models looked alot like a young Seth Rogen. That was because it was a young Seth Rogen. It was one in a series of year book photos taken in the opening sequence for "Freeks and Geeks." (Seriously, people, if you haven't seen it yet, do so right now. You can youtube full episodes or you can borrow it from Peggy. She bought the complete series, because, you know, that girl just can't get enough.) I thought, what a great sense of humor this haircutters has that they included Freeks and Geeks among the advertised styles.

Today, I was going to Gorilla Coffee to get a pound, and I noticed that all the Freeks and Geeks photos had been taken down. All but Bill (Martin Starr). I thought, "Wow, Bill is the last man standing. That's unexpected. Why would they take down everyone but Bill?"

So I bought buy coffee and got my free cup and stared my day. On the way back home I walked past the haircutters and noticed that it the place with the yearbook photos was actually a different store. The Freaks and Geeks lovers are across the street. So much for supercuts having a sense of humor.

Now, well on my way to being caffeinated, I decided to investigate the Bill situation to see if maybe all the other yearbook photos had just fallen down. But, no, they were gone. All but Bill. On the door of ths place were lots of flyers and one jumped out at me. It said, Thank you for all your years of patronage. You can visit us at our other location." I looked up. This was actually Video Free Brooklyn. That, along with the photos from Arrested Development and The Simpsons, started to explain the presence of Seth Rogen.

I guess that means that Bill was not the last man standing, but the one that was left behind. It seems like that might happen to Bill often.

I understand why video stores can't stay open: their product (videos) has become obsolete. But their service (knowledge of and appreciation for movies and the benefits of a community of movie lovers) becomes more scarce. You can always google an actor to find his CV. But you cannot google "what's his name, you know he walks like this and has a facial tick," or any of the other phrases and movements and descriptions that we use to get to an answer from a knowledgeable human being. Like having a good wine store with staff that make helpful suggestions and steer you towards wines you would like but wouldn't otherwise try, a good staff at a video store can open up new worlds to home movie viewers.

Movies like Clerks get made when video store employees spend too much time together. Actors like Adam Brody get their starts working in Blockbuster. These stores hold a place in movie history and it is sad that they are going the way of silent film.

Adieu, Rainboots

These are my lovely rainboots that have kept my feet dry and warm through a few winters and falls and springs.




But, sadly, they will no longer be joining me in confronting the elements and the big city. They have fallen apart, but I will not. I will move forward, onward through the puddles and the slush. And I will move forward and find new boots to comfort and protect me and my toes.

On Columbia

I was walking in the cold from one science building to another when I overheard this:

"Yeah, well I just think that there is something very respectable about saying, 'This is my job. I'm going to be an artist.' And then just going out there and making art that sells. Just changing what you are making to make something people will buy in quantity."

With all the art classes I've sat through, and all the cafes I've argued in, and all the artist lectures I've attended, I have never heard anyone express that before.

Many young artists hold their credibility and their commitment to their vision above all else. Many older artist see the benefits of producing marketable work. But, I have never heard anyone say that making art to be commercial was "respectable."

People who make art to make money aren't called artists, they're called advertisers. Somebody should give that guy the memo.

On KVET

I've given up on rewriting this paper.

Ugg. Totally. Ugg.

I love KVET and I miss Austin and I love the internet.

Last night I video chat with Peggy, David, AND BOTH cats.

Listening to KVET on the internet in the basement computer lab I just heard "Old Hippie" by the Bellamy Brothers.

I think that things might actually be changing. One of the first lines says that the Old Hippie is living on the garden he grows. Because these days its self defense.

It seems like not that long ago country radio was all angry and throwing missiles at our enemies and lighting them on fire.

Maybe I really can end my self imposed exile.

Overheard while walking on campus

Man A: Yeah, I looked so bad when you saw me the other day 'cause I'd just found out I did a bad thing. A really, really bad thing.

Man B: Well, what did you do?

Man A: I had just found out that I knocked up my wife.

Man B: That's f--ing fantastic. Congratulations. So you two are both 33.

Man A: Yes, she is going to be 34...wait, what's the date today? She's going to be 34 in two days.


Ladies and Gentleman, all I can say is if a man every knocks me up, I just hope he's as much of a keeper as this gem.

If I were Veronica Mars

A few weeks ago I got a break up/make up email from a boy. And no, I don't know any boys. It was not for me. It was for another Katie C. who has a very similar email address to me.

Because I am a total snoop with no self control (and I secretly harbored hope that this was from a long lost admirer) I read the whole email. It was clearly not for me. But it did contain a long passage about a water bottle that intrigued me to no end.

Then I replied to the dude that he had the wrong Katie.

But the story continues.

This week the other Katie emailed me for verification that said emailed had really been sent. She included the line, "I know you still don't have it." Well, clearly she doesn't know me. I am a digital packrat and just because some juicy email is none of my bee's wax is no reason to discard it.

So I forwarded the email to bizarro Katie. I wonder if she disapproves of my reading and keeping it. But she did reply "thank you."

I also wonder what is going on between these two people that bizzaro Katie is emailing strangers to check up on her man.

If I were Veronica Mars I would get to the bottom of this (and it would probably involve a murder.) But, alas, I am only just a viewer of soap operas and who will sit here and speculate.

Isn't it nice to have a president elect!

In Chris Rock's latest HBO special (filmed before the election) he makes a joke that a black man can't be president because no black woman can be first lady. This is based on the premise that black women don't stand politely in the background, a la Laura Bush. You know, like a white woman. "Oh, you think you got elected president. No, we got elected president."
Like most of this routine, it made me laugh. Then I thought, "Maybe Bill Clinton was the first black president." 'Cause we all know that Hillary didn't stand politely anywhere.
Later this year, Michelle Obama was on the Jay Leno show, where she shared a story about Malia Obama. Apparently, when Malia heard that Barack had bought prime time air space to advertise his campaign she said, "Is this going to interrupt my television!"
"No," Barack said, "we did not buy time on The Disney channel or Nick."
It's a cute story, worth utubeing, because the way Michelle tells it, you can really hear how Barack talks to his family with the same calm confidence that he talks to the public.
When I look at pictures of the first family elect I think two things. First, they are a naturally good looking group of people. Its been a while since I've seen a public family that good looking and that plastic surgery free.
Then I think, that man is surrounded by too many women. Too many. Soon he will be the most powerful man in the world, and you know that won't amount to much at home. I bet they still won't cut him any breaks.

P.S. Martha Stewart just had Seal on and said to him, "Isn't it great to have a president elect who thinks like you do, who thinks like I do."
Then she made a stuffed doll out of a glove, gave it a buzz cut, and named it Obama.

Obama's hidden contribution: High School English Curricula

This is a link to the transcript of Obama's victory speech.

Throughout this campaign Obama has made headlines for his live speeches and how they excite a live audience. Recently, I read a great editorial (I can't remember where, boo) about how even though these speeches are so well delivered, they are even better read. So true.

I am just so jealous of high school seniors who will get to analyze Obama speeches. Like most aspects young life that will be improved for those who grow up with Barack Obama instead of George Bush on Pennsylvania Avenue, the AP English essays will be better. Obama's speeches are so beautifully written, dense with literary and rhetorical devices. You could write a great exposition on one of them without much effort and you could probably find enough to fill a semester's worth of essays in a single speech.

Take some time this week and look back over the transcripts from this election. It's worth it, especially if you love alliteration, allusion, juxtaposition, meter, repetition, rhyme, and all the rest from Intro to Literature. I know I do.

It's all happening!

Obama volunteers knocked on 1.8 million doors.
I knocked on 8 blocks worth of those doors.
That's what we're talking about Pennsylvania!

Main Street? Wall Street? No, Ventura Blvd.!!

“I feel like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Who are these guys that just keep coming?”
—Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr.

This is a great article from the WSJ discussing California's impact on the crisis at hand.

"California doesn't have a Wall Street problem. Wall Street has a California problem," says Christopher Thornberg

I remember when I was living in LA in 2005, the height of the housing boom, and everyone was acting like there was free money everywhere. People who didn't own houses were in deep depression that they had missed out on winning the lottery, and people who did own their homes were taking out equity, as much as they could. They were paying of credit card debts, a good idea, and buying boats, a bad idea.

I was at an event for Texas Exes and a girl behind me in line told me how she was planning on living without paying the super high California rent, a plan she recommended that I also follow. You get your parents to give you a downpayment on a three unit home. Then you use the rental payments as your income to pay for the place and to qualify for the loan. If you do this with an interest only loan you can make the numbers work. Of course, property values in California are never going to go down, they are only going to continue to rise at exponential rates as they have for the past five year. So the fact that you are only paying off the interest isn't as important as the fact that soon your units will be worth three times as much. If you get a job and can start paying off the principal at any point in the future, you will still be a winner. The girl who told me this plan did not have a job, and her boyfriend was also looking for work because they had both just graduated.

Seriously, who gives a loan to someone just out of school with no income. Lots of banks did. And they deserve to fail.

Living next to all this free money that other people were getting was really hard for me. It was really unfair. Now all those people are being foreclosed on. They spent their house on a boat or credit cards. How irresponsible are Americans!

No one likes to see people on the street. And many of these people were living hand to mouth before they got free houses, so its hard to hear about them going back to that position. I think that its worth keeping in mind that these heartbreaking stories of homelessness are really stories of poverty. These are people who weren't doing that well before someone gave them a loan that they couldn't afford. They probably couldn't make rent every month.

There is a lot of data floating around about personal and public finances right now. This is an article about how much it sucks to be evicted from your home.

"Forty-four percent of employees live paycheck to paycheck, according to a survey conducted by MetLife in late 2007, and 48 percent of American households have less than $5,000 in liquid assets according to Edward Wolff, an economist specializing in the study of poverty and income distribution at New York University. "

And, the average American holds a couple grand in credit card debt. It seems like protecting people from eviction is just moving deck chairs on the Titanic. Americans as indivuals have serious financial troubles. It's hard to believe that most of these people who took out terrible loans had the financial savvy to even understand what they were doing given this data. They were used by predatory lenders. And those lenders profited while completely screwing up the housing market. In effect, denying homes to people who could afford them.

I would really like to see banks punished. The money is frozen and they are hurting, but seriously they aren't hurting enough. By giving out all that free credit, banks increased ticket prices on all of the homes in California. The same number of qualified buyers existed, and those buyers were all forced into a market with people spending Monopoly money. Those are the people you feel bad for. The ones who got a lot less house for their money and are now upside down on their loans because of attacks on housing prices. They are also the ones least likely to get any help. They have jobs and can continue to pay their responsibly financed mortgages, but they probably won't see that money back soon, maybe ever. That person could have been me!

Saving some for later

Today I was feeling a little congested and my nose was a bit stuffy. So, like the lady that I am, I excused myself to the restroom to blow my nose.

My day continued with a hour of Physics tutoring. It made me hungry to think so hard, so I ate a sandwich.

Later, back in the lady's room using the facilities, I noticed a big yellow thing hanging off my nose.

In shock, disgust and humiliation I relived the time between then and blowing my nose. I had spent an hour talking one on one with someone and the whole time something was hanging out of my nose. How gross!

I wiped away the offending matter, only to discover that it was, in fact, not a booger, but a benign bit of egg salad. The day was relived, again, this time without shame, for the egg salad had been on my face for only a few minutes.

What a relief!

Now that is not what you would expect to say after finding you had lunch on your face for half an hour. Think about that next time you save a little for later. At least its not a booger, and at least it wasn't there all day.

You can't choose your family...

In the past I've expressed my appreciation for Heroes here. And I stand behind all of it; its a well executed ensemble that makes it fun to watch tv.

What I am really impressed by, however, is the marketing. Ads for Heroes are more fun than complete shows. "Save the cheerleader. Save the world." What was that all about? The whole show was summed up by one line. Thanks to The Superbowl, everyone in America knew that line. Most couldn't say what it meant, even those who watched the show weren't that certain. We all knew who the cheerleader was, but what did she have to do with saving the world? You didn't need to know to enjoy the drama of it all. It was a powerful ad.

And this new ad campaign is just as riveting. It reminds me of a story that Peggy told me recently. The gist was: people get their political tendencies from their parents, just like their religion. So when you wouldn't expect someone to change their religion, why do you think you can talk them out of their politics.

The answer is:
You can't choose your family. But you can choose a side.

I love Halloween, and I love you, too, Brooklyn

Halloween is Martha Stewart's favorite holiday. I understand why; it involves lots of crafts and not much family. You get to fully enjoy the cuteness of other people's children (and, if you live in New York, other people's dogs) in the best possible way. They look cute and they like you. 'Cause you give them what they want: candy. Sure, too much sugar causes kids to go crazy hyper and for their teeth to rot out. But, like our current government, you think solely of the benefits, to you, at the moment. You can enjoy the instant gratification of happy kids without the taking responsibility for the sugar crash, or cleanup. And for a marginally higher up front cost, you can be the best person in the neighborhood by for handing out full sized Snickers. The best person ever, really.

I love costumes and fall and candy. So I, too, love halloween. Is it my favorite? Well, it certainly is right now. October is like the anti-February. Everything is great and the air is crisp and there are good veggies at the market and there are so many things to be happy about. February just sucks. Ask anyone. That's why they had to make it the shortest month.

So, besides (above) awesome and of over the top political pumpkin my neighbor put out, what is so great bout Brooklyn right now?

1) Someone has "vandalized" the restrooms at the Brooklyn Public Library with an 8 1/2 by 11" sticker of the Bill of Rights. How great is that! Something you actually should know there for you to read. Just because everyone I know is a lawyer, sometimes I actually get caught looking dumb when I don't know which right goes with which number. Most people don't know that crap. Unless you live in Brooklyn, and use the restroom at the library, conveniently located on the edge of the park.

(The library is beautiful and totally worth stopping by if you find yourself in the 11215)

2) This week my roommate lost a necklace from Tiffany. She was understandably upset and went on Craigslist to post a "lost" on the lost and found only to find that someone had already posted a "found" of her necklace. Someone found her jewelery in it's little Tiffany bag on our subway platform and went to the trouble to post it and return it. Lauren said, "I love Craigslist. I love Brooklyn. I love New York. I love life." Isn't that just the best.

Ahh BK

Bar on 5th Ave. (5th ave. Brooklyn, people. Brooklyn! Not what you're thinking)

Debate special

Obama cocktail: $5
McCain: $7

So I ask: "Do you really want to know what is in the McCain."

Kmart Layaway

Are you kidding me! Are things really that bad!

This makes me so sad

topical comics

This is how I play baseball. Ahh, baseball. I do love Shea and I do love Enron Field. I also love to knit.

thingsiboughtthatilove.com just really disappointed me

thingsiboughtthatilove.com has just gone password protected. It is now a blog by invitation only.

What up Mindy! What up?

First you get your blog URL published in multiple news-sources, and if that's not an invitation and advertisement to readership then I don't know what is. Then, you stop writing for several months. I figured, "Hey, the writer's strike ended so maybe she has real work to do. I can be patient. I can." But, now, you have password protected your material.

What is up? That is all I can say. What is up?

I haven't felt this upset about something like this since they cancelled Veronica Mars. With V. Mars, sure, I saw it coming. The story was petering out; there were talks of Kristen Bell getting other gigs; actors who played minor characters were seen on other shows. Still, I was just living for new episodes, and watching the DVD of old ones too much, just too much. The story picked up and it looked like they might be able to take it somewhere. There was hope. And, then, with one double episode finale, it was gone, replace by The Pussycat Dolls. All that hope had just been wishful thinking.

This is just as bad. Just as bad. I have been waiting; I read the back log; I gave J. Crew another look. I know that blogs get abandoned all the time. People get bored with the concept or just bored with all that typing. It looked like maybe shoes would be the last entry. I was preparing myself, giving up. But, still, maybe she just was too busy to write. Maybe she just didn't have time to shop. Maybe she would come back, when we need her most, when the economy had gone to shit and there was a heightened need to be shopping vicariously. Shopping vicariously with someone in one of the two recession proof American industries. (Ahh, now a blog about what a Mafiosa liked to buy, that's an idea. But, no, a Hollywood shopper is just as fun, and probably better written. Probably. You hear that, that's how upset I am. I won't even concede that a murdered wouldn't write as well as you, Mindy. A murderer from New Jersey.)

And just in time for the stock market to drop below 8,000 for the first time in five years, she's back. It looks like there might be more blurbs on great products that could change your life. Just not for me. No things for me. Ugg. Seriously, ugg. I can only sit here and think wistfully of the great new products and silhouettes that I'm missing.

Times are tough

I went to Target today to buy a bunch of colorful index cards and markers, because if I'm gonna be spending this much time making and learning from flashcards, they better as hell look good.

At checkout I paid with a credit card and at signing the little machine asked me if I wanted to accept the signature or "also pay with other method."

Really! I asked the checkout technician if people often paid with multiple credit cards. They do. That's how hard times are out here. A fill up takes 3 cards because of the $50 limit, but soap and toilet paper take two cards because you are wayyy over extended. Ouch.

Yummy Yummy

Fall produce is just one of the season's many charms. I love summer berries, but by the end of summer aren't you ready for apples and root veggies and squash?

The cold weather asks for warm foods, for heavy cream and butter. This is how you get fat. So instead of grabbing for a pound cake or calling out for curry (yum!), go for some greens. Kundalinis believe that the reason we get sick in the winter is that we eat too many sweets made with white sugar and not enough green stuff. So many people pound the vitamin C and ecanacia at the first sign of a cold. But, really, tough green foods have just as many vitamins and the combo may be more effective. I have no real data to back this up. But it definitely tastes better and warms you up, too. Its just like a nice nap blanket for your tummy.

While making this dish of peas and lettuce on her television show, Nagella Lawson waxed orgastic about the joys of staring into a bowl of green on a cloudy winter day. I can't agree more. I have been staring into a bowl of chard with garlic and red pepper flakes, a la Alice Waters, for the past two weeks.

Then, I'll make a dish of squash and red bell peppers on the side, because the bell peppers have been great this fall and doesn't it just add the right amount of color. I'm thinking of how Obama tried to make every meal at the DNC have one each of five colors. He took some heat for that. But, once again, the man is a leader, and a leader looking to take us in the right direction.

This weeks Dining In/Dining Out has a great little ditty about the intersection of growing seasons for chard and peppers. I love chard. I hope to make this recipe this week.

I hear that after the hurricane my father really relished trashing the chard that I had bought and left in his fridge. Well, that's fine, but I think that this casserole might make him a chard convert. It looks really yummy and really rich. So, one of you gentle readers out there should make this casserole and take it over to him and tell him that its a broccoli casserole. He will eat it and love it and talk about how underrated broccoli is. This is one of my favorite of my father's rants. He is completely right; broccoli tempura is fantastic, cream of broccoli soup rocks, and broccoli stir fry is also a lovely little surprise. After this rant, tell him that it was chard all along.

New Haircut, Again, uhh.