My pitas page

what i'm reading now
i really enjoy colson whitehead's writing style. and these essays about my favorite-est place to live really hit the spot. they're the perfect length to read one or two before bed.

halloween was fun
this is usually my least favorite holiday, but this year there was a party, and thus there needed to be a costume. i was j-lo (a-lo, i prefer), wearing a velour track suit much like the ones linked to here. four people actually guessed who i was--it must have been all the bling-bling i was also sporting, aiight?

the strokes and kings of leon at MSG theater
first: two thumbs up the the msg theater as a venue. i like it. second: two thumbs up to the strokes playing live. they did the smart thing which was alternate playing new songs that basically no one knows with old stuff everyone loves. so there was no large clump of new stuff leaving the audience going "huh?". they did rock, julian was obviously on something but he is such a high-functioning addict that who cares, and they played a finale with regina spektor that quite frankly made me wish they had just called it a night at "take it or leave it." but i am not a rock star so maybe it was good and i just don't know it. third: kings of leon were also good, but i think they would have been better if i'd been on the floor in front instead of in a seat half-way back. fourth: trucker hat count stalled at 5, though there were a lot of regular baseball hats, indicating that the frat boys of the greater nyc area like the strokes. possibly a bad sign. fifth and final: we saw david cross hanging out in the cheap seats with us, so that was kind of fun.

argentinian soccer readers
a very cool idea from argentina's soccer stadiums--handing out short story booklets for fans to read. the stories are all about soccer, and while i wonder if it really will calm tempers, i bet it will promote reading. people like to read about stuff they like, if i may make a very profound observation. and they like free stuff, too.

the wedding night
while staying here will hopefully not be THE highlight of the wedding night, it's still kind of exciting. because i can't think of another time we'll be doing so in the near future!

how to have a star wars wedding

a good laugh
dubya, in a desperate attempt to be as cool as howard dean, now has a campaign "blog." it is the most corporate blog you have ever read. too funny.

go red sox
i do not like to watch baseball. however, having the team i have grown up loving and hating and being fond of in that underdog sort of way kind-of-almost-maybe be in the world series is pretty exciting. i will actually have to watch the games this week, though certainly in the privacy of my own home in this yankees town.

small victories
i enjoy getting a deal, especially when it involves The Event next summer. so i am so stoked to have just bought a pair of these shoes (which i tried on this weekend and they look so fab and they are just so comfy) from a girl who just got married in them. so instead of paying the insane amount of $305, i am spending less than 1/3 of that, including shipping. do the cabbage patch.

Bad weekend for tigers
Between the one that bit "Roy" in Vegas and this one found in a NYC public housing complex, I think the tiger is in need of some seriously good public relations.

"addicted to love" no more
robert palmer dies in paris.

the west wing
oh how good it was last night, keeping up and increasing--if you can believe it--the suspense from last season. the prez's daughter is still missing, the immense republican speaker of the house has assumed control of the nation and its armed forces, and the look on charlie's face just breaks your heart. and josh is still as yummy as ever. (i can't believe i just called a boy yummy.) at any rate, here's what goes down next week, when all hell appears to break loose.

stereophonics pain
this link i have blatantly lifted from the modern age's site. but it's too good not to share. this poor guy...

this weekend
was so lovely, wasn't it? and despite not planning any actual events, it was action-packed in a good way. on saturday, tickets were purchased to see the strokes in nyc when they come around in late october. that afternoon, i got my first taste of the little italy san gennaro festival--and i have to say that while the unabashedly fake italian-american-ness of it appealed to me, i don't think i'll be going back. it's just too crowded to be fun for very long. then on sunday we ate some fabulous crumb cake (if the baker does say so herself) while watching manchester united and arsenal play a maddening game of soccer--no goals, and one heartbreaking miss. and then that afternoon we took in the new york arm wrestling championships. the winners go on to do battle november 13 in port authority with other champs from the region. mark your calendar...

the darkness, now seen
ok, so, they rocked. the bowery ballroom last night was a groaning mass of scenesters (i don't think i've used that word since the d.c. days)--lots of girls who were really dressed up and just there because it was the hottest ticket in town. but the boys in the band did not disappoint. by the end of the night lead singer justin was drenched in sweat, wearing a black and white striped unitard-thingy, and was carried through the audience on the shoulders of some lacky while playing rock guitar. and "you're really growing on me" and "i believe in a thing called love" are such great songs. go get the album, now, please. i promise you'll be dancing around your apartment to it (whether you're male or female) before very long.

average height pays off
so i went to the gap last night for some minor therapy, and saw these capri pants on sale. i tried them on, rolling down the cuff...and instead of being capri pants on me they were the perfect length for full-fledged jeans. so now, $30 later, i have a new pair of jeans for my fall wardrobe. thanks gap!

blaine over the thames is mainly inane
ok, 44 days in a suspended glass box without food? how is this magic, exactly?

you say tomato...
i know i'm a nerd, but i am quite excited to check out the "heirloom tomato festival" tonight.

another one bites the dust
one more thing checked off the bride-to-be checklist: photographer has been booked. go us.

$87 billion
i cannot even watch george bush on the news anymore without getting sick to my stomach. perhaps monday morning is not the time for such a heavy topic, but seriously, where does he think this money is going to come from? of course it will mean higher taxes for the middle class, but aside from that problemj, does this additional money make us--really and truly--any safer as americans abroad or at home? the war on terror as conducted right now in its ham-handed fashion just makes us all the more vulnerable to attacks. we disregard human rights, sovereignty, the works really, to do what we want, when we want. i am not saying saddam hussein was a nice guy, but what i am saying is that there is no way we went in there to get him because it was the right thing to do for the suffering iraqi people. nor did we go after bin laden (who is where, exactly, hm?) because his antics threaten the world at large. i just wish our prez had the balls to be honest about what we're doing--being imperialistic and small-focused--instead of hiding behind his sickening false piety of being the world's savior. because that the usa certainly is not anymore.