Julia London's Blog, page 49
December 30, 2011
Naughty or Nice?
It's that time of year– time to nominate a Whine Person of the Year. We've gone naughty, snarky, giving the award in the spirit of thumbing our noses at bad behavior. The Kardashians were last year's Whiners of the Year. Tom Cruise was our choice in the year of his couch-jumping. We've gone nice, honoring good behavior or choosing someone we adore, like Kathleen Givens or Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who landed a commercial flight safely on the Hudson.
For our Whine Person of 2011, should we go naughty, or nice? Make your nominations!
I nominate:
Alec Baldwin, in the spirit of snark, for Whiner of the Year. He's pompous, arrogant, bad-tempered, as evidenced by his getting thrown off a flight for refusing to quit playing Words with Friends on his iPhone. But, he bounced back with a bold, nervy apology to himself as the airline representative on Saturday Night Life. Hilarious! And so bad. Ballsy! Also, what a jerk. But also, a great nominee for Whiner of the Year.
Click here to view the embedded video.
And, I also nominate his costar in It's Complicated (can you tell what I was watching when I posted this?) Meryl Streep, in the spirit of honoring her. She's amazing. She looks great, but she looks her age and proud of it. And she might get another Academy Award for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in Iron Lady. Sometimes, I really want to be Meryl Streep.[image error][image error]
Other potential nominations: Gabrielle Giffords (amazing recovery!), Kate Middleton (married a prince!), Amanda Knox (did she or didn't she?), Casey Anthony (Rrrrg). Charlie Sheen (winning?). I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of people.
Who would you choose?
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December 28, 2011
Holiday Windows
For your enjoyment a few photos from Bergdorg Goodman's windows. They're always my favorites!
An icy Photo Session
everything here is made from paper!
Any icy Christmas --this one makes me think of the snow queen!
This is called Brass Menagerie
And a couple from Tiffany's:
Circus themed...a view inside the bigtop
The frame for each window, a circus tent
Tiffany's box under the lamp post right corner.
merry-go-round with jewels
Happy Holidays Everyone!!!!
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All I Got For Christmas…
At the end of the year, there's not a lot of news going on. People are talking about the holidays, the best of/worst of, the economy, and frankly, I wasn't excited about talking about any of that. I'd rather talk presents. Namely, what we got for gifts. Call me curious, Molly Miss NosyPants, whatever, but I want to know about the haul.
To start the ball rolling, I got a couch. Actually, the correct word is "ordered" a couch. It's a non-leather (cats and leather. No, no, no), water-cleanable fabric in 'plum'. I was worried about plum. I was thinking that when we got it into sunlight, it would be 'purple,' and I didn't want a purple couch. It's actually a dark brown with traces of red in it, which seems ok. The other choice was 'merlot' which would have matched the two den chairs to a 't', but sometimes you don't want too much of the same color in a room. So I'm opting for a 'plum' couch, and hopefully it will be 'plum' perfect.
My other gift was a Portmerion casserole dish. This was a selfish, yet thoughtful gift from my children. Thoughtful, because I love Portmerion. It is microwavable, dishwasherable, oven-able, and even freezer-able, although I have yet to freeze anything inside a Portmerion dish. The selfish part was because they love baked ziti (made it yesterday) and also chicken enchilada casserole (King Ranch Casserole for all you Texans). I definitely approve.
My favorite gift was Law & Order, Season 9, newly released on DVD. The hubster asked me if I wanted the entire Law & Order box set, but that's over one hundred DVD's and it's a lot of moolah for DVD's and even though it would definitely be worth it, I'd rather invest my money in a plum present, namely a couch.
And yes, there was chocolate candy. Lots of chocolate candy in the house. Too much chocolate candy in the house. And I made divinity, which turned out FABULOUS thanks to my new Williams & Sonoma candy thermometer. The old candy thermometer was off by about fifteen degrees (or something), and this one is digital and can clip on the pan. Oh-la-la!!!
My fav gift that I gave was to the hubster, which was a Linux cheat sheet t-shirt, courtesy of Think Geek. All the commands are printed on the shirt, upside down, so that they're readable to the wearer. Awesome!
So, what about the rest of you? Any cool things?
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December 27, 2011
Holiday Week
I confess to still being in holiday mode and out of town (don't worry, Julie! I will get to that cat 
), so this is going to be very short and sweet. What are your plans for the week? Are you:
a. Working
b. Going to the movies
c. Catching up on your reading
d. Running errands
e. None of the above. (If it's none of the above, you have to say what).
Guess what extra holiday treat I got to enjoy? I got to see VB! She was close enough to me and we managed to find a time to meet up in spite of foul weather and family obligations. It's been ten years since we graduated from high school and she hasn't changed at all. xoxoxoxox VB!
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December 26, 2011
December 24, 2011
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
No big blog today–just my hopes for everyone to enjoy a safe, healthy, and happy holiday. Would love to know what you're doing today–I'm preparing for the Big Italian Fish Feast tonight and looking forward to being with family and friends. What are your plans?
WISHING YOU ALL A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY! xox
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December 23, 2011
Feed the World
It's Christmas time. There's no need to be afraid. At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade.
And we decorate trees and listen to carols and start to question those lyrics, particularly Do They Know It's Christmas? the Band Aid 80s classic. [image error]
Yes, in the 80s, I loved the song, and the video, all my favorite bands and singers getting together out of the goodness of their hearts. Sigh. Well, that's what I believed then. Now I wonder how much personal glory and self-promotion was involved. Did they all really care about starving Ethiopian children? Or was it a good chance to get together and have some laughs and boost their profiles?
Feed the world, let them know it's Christmas time. Aw. Seems innocent enough, concerned rock stars eager to raise money for poor kids. So maybe at worst, it was simply tone deaf. Check out these lyrics, as sung by Bono:
Well, tonight thank God it's them instead of you.
Seriously! Ouch. That's almost as bad as my solicitation from St. Jude Children's Hospital- a worthy cause with a skeevy campaign that says something like "Please donate. We pray that you and your family never have to suffer from serious illness." It's almost a veiled threat. If you don't donate… cue sinister music.
But I'm sure they mean well. Another blog was picking apart one of my favorite classics, Baby, It's Cold Outside. They accused it of being a rape anthem. What? Oh, because of the line "Say, what's in this drink?" Oh, come on! It's a sweet little song about two lovers who look for excuses not to part. I'm sure she isn't really suggesting he slipped her a mickey.[image error]
So I am going to lighten up and go back to enjoying Do They Know It's Christmas? As Simon Le Bon so cheerily sung in his part:
There's a world outside your window… and it's a world of dread and fear.
Um, okay. I'm going to lighten up and go back to enjoying Baby, It's Cold Outside. I love the Glee version. And maybe some Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Yes! That's better.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. From now on our troubles will be out of sight.
Oh yes! That's lovely. We wish you all a merry little Christmas, happy Chanukah, wonderful Festivus, whatever you celebrate, we're thinking of you with love and joy in our Whiny hearts. Bless us, every one.
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December 22, 2011
Revisiting Pretty in Pink
A few weeks ago, Pretty in Pink was on TV, and I watched it again. This is one I haven't seen since 1986, the year it came out… which was also the year I was a senior in high school, like the main characters, and going through things like parties, prom, impending graduation, and the combination thrill/fear of what comes next. And it was fascinating to watch and discover how Grown-Up Me felt about characters and situations compared to Young Me.[image error]
I identified with Molly Ringwald's Andie, a poor girl afraid to bring her new boyfriend home to see where she lives. I hated people to know that I grew up in a low income housing complex. The guy I liked at the time made it pretty clear that he had a problem with where I lived and judged me for it. And did I tell myself that the guy was a big jerk and I was lucky to stay away? No. I went off to college still pining for him. Stupid, stupid young me.[image error]
Most girls at the time were torn between Andie's two potential romantic partners: Blane, the sensitive rich guy, and Duckie(Phil), her best friend from childhood. I had a lot of friends who thought she should have ended up with Duckie, and I thought they were crazy at the time. Who wouldn't choose blue eyed Andrew McCarthy over pompadour-haired Jon Cryer?
But my man of choice from Pretty in Pink was… Steff. James Spader's cruel, taunting arrogant rich guy character who wanted to sleep with Andie just because he'd had everyone else and wanted a taste of something new. [image error]
Grown-Up Me was screaming at Young Me watching this over again. What on earth was wrong with Young Me? I think I had a thing for the bad boy, and like many women with a thing for the bad boy, thought he was probably only bad because he needed me to show him love and change him. Stupid, stupid Young Me. I have long since learned that bad boys are really just childish men. In fact, watching it again, I was suddenly pretty sure I would choose… Duckie. OMG. This one shocked me. Blane, let's face it, was no Steff, but he was a little judgy and said some really prickish things to Andie about her friends and her background.
The action was all leading to the big night: Prom. Andie didn't have a mom to help guide her, but she did have the completely cool, way out there, record store owner Iona, as played by a very likable Annie Potts. Iona, of course, helped Andie pull together the perfect prom dress. Young Me thought Andie was crazy to destroy a very fifties pink ballgown complete with a voluminous netted skirt to make this:
And grown up me kind of agreed. Meh.
But of course, in the end, Prom solidified Andie's attachment to Blane, and they rode off into the Prom Sunset while Duckie… got over her quickly as soon as one of the hot cheerleader types looked his way. So… things were going to be right with the world after all. Nope. Young Me was somehow satisfied with this ending. Grown-Up Me said, "what about after prom? Will she keep seeing him? Where are they all going to college?" Duckie would no doubt keep in touch. Blane would be on to the next big college romance.
Young Me saw the theater in the movie with friends. Grown-Up Me had the pleasure of some young male insights. My son wouldn't watch the whole thing, but he kept coming into the room for updates. "Whoa, that's the guy from Two and a Half Men." Nick was also in Duckie's corner. I think just because he wanted poor Alan to get some. Also, he mentioned how great it would have been had Charlie Sheen been cast as Blane instead of Andrew McCarthy. And I had to agree. Grown-Up Me had a good laugh imaging that. Young Me wouldn't have gotten the joke. [image error]
Have you had different opinions of movies watching them again? Is there a movie classic from your youth that you might see differently now? Do you remember Pretty in Pink? Were you Team Blane or Team Duckie? How about that prom gown?
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December 20, 2011
Christmas Bells
The cold wind blew up the busy street. Christmas shoppers hurried home, trying to beat the quickly descending darkness. Shop windows glittered like jewels, dressed in their Christmas finery. Everything was the same. Everything was different.
Vienna at Christmas is like a fairy tale. Gluh Wein, Kristkindl Markts, candles and somebody called Krampus. And there's winter. Real honest-to-goodness winter.
But it wasn't home. Christmas trees don't appear until the week before Christmas, and we had to drag ours home three blocks and up four flights of stairs. There were no Santa's on the corners, no ringing of Salvation Army bells, no Charlie Brown's Christmas, and nothing even resembling Pillsbury crescent rolls.
Living in Vienna was wonderful, but holidays are for families and ours were a continent away. We spent Christmas Eve with friends from England, enjoying champagne and Christmas Crackers. But when they had gone, and everything was quiet, I felt a loneliness that ran soul deep. What were we doing so far away from home on the most wonderful night of the year?
I looked out the window, and there in the darkness, I saw snowflakes spiraling through the air. Christmas snow. I opened the window and the night was filled with the sound of bells. The church bells of Vienna singing their joyous news. For Unto Us A Son Is Given.
I reached for my husband's hand, realizing that home is truly where the heart is, and that where there is love, there is always Christmas. It was right there in the magic of the bells.
Happy Holidays to you and yours! And a wondrous New Year!
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A Compendium of Kathleen's Complexing Melange
There've been a lot of things occupying my mind recently, some good, some bad, but it all makes me want to make changes within myself.
Yesterday, it was announced that Kim Jong-il of North Korea had died over the weekend. I have no love lost for the dude, I don't think he did his people any favors, but I think we can take away some lessons from his death.
The HAIR! — I take a look at the pics and video clips and I think about my own hair. I love my hair after its been cut, but I so rarely make time for a good cut. But this? Okay, I can see that my new years resolution will be to keep my hair in good working shape.
Having a Bad Hair Life...
The Body! — I never understand how rich people are pudgy. If I were rich, I would have a cook and a gym in the basement. My cook would keep fresh fruits and vegetables in the house. I would have elaborate salads (with crumbled eggs!) and sautéed mushrooms mixed with onions. And fish! I would have the freshest of fresh fish with dill sauce (love DILL sauce). I would have no more trips to the grocery store and my cook would also do dishes. And after dinner, I would saunter down to the gym where I get on the treadmill, load up Netflix, and walk/run for a good hour while catching up on the latest episode of Breaking Bad. Kim Jong-il had NO EXCUSES for being pudgy.
Owing to a long conversation with Julie Kenner and long email conversations with Julia London, I have started a no-carb diet. I have now lost four pounds and I did NOT spend hours in the gym. It's actually a cool feeling to know a diet is truly working and my weight is moving in the direction that I want it to go. In the past, I would gain weight on the diet. I wasn't a cheater, either, but I don't think I was cutting out the right thing. Carbs are in everything, and I gave them a free pass, but no more, Mr. Carbohydrate! When I lose a bit more, I'm keeping my eye on you because I suspect that you're the secret nuke in my diet.
And then there's the Congress wrangling over the payroll tax cut. It's like Oprah's weight. On, off, on, off! First Congress was going to pass it, then they said they weren't, then they said they would. Geez, you'd think our elected officials had been tippling at the holiday champagne a LITTLE EARLY. Legislating under the influence should be banned at our Capitol, but I suspect that like anything that involves "sanity" and "wisdom" and "common sense," such a law would be dead in the water.
The Legislative Bill-Binger
And then there's the holiday shopping. This year has a very weird feel to it. I started Christmas shopping earlier this year, and so it feels like I've been at it for ever. There have been no long marathon shopping days, and I've almost got everything, and yet… Christmas is on Sunday. Sunday? Why do they put Christmas on Sunday? There should be laws against that. The kids get out of school on Friday, the day before Christmas Eve. Ack. We are trying to coordinate a grocery trip/food pantry trip in order for my children to know the true spirit of giving, but is the school district cooperating? NO! They want to keep my children from learning the joy of the Christmas spirit, and keep them "locked" in school until the very last minute. I'm calling Bill O'Reilly (not my cuz, but sometimes I say that we're related) and say that the war on Christmas is not over… not by a long shot. Not until they keep Christmas off the weekend, so we can do weekday Christmasy things (mostly at the mall) because the mall is JAMMED on the weekends and who has time to troll for parking over the holidays? There are presents to buy, cards to write, dinners to cook? You see how subtly insidious the plot to decimate the season is.
So, I think that is everything that is weighing on my mind today. What is on your mind? Are you stressed, relaxed, do you hate when holidays fall on the weekend?
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