My pitas page

catherine in usa today?
does this mean she's been co-opted by middle america? who cares! she's #96!

vacation-time...just kidding
so i work for a book publishing company. and in the book publishing business, one of the very few perks we get is the week off between christmas and new year's. and it was announced in june that we would again get that week off. and then today, december 19, a directive comes down from above that actually, no. a senior person and a junior person in every department have to be in the office every day. every day. how exactly does having bitter employees in here playing on the internet increase productivity?

WTC site proposed plans
new plans unveiled today, and some of them are so great. the slideshow the new york times has put together to go with this story is quite helpful--i am a fan of the "grid", the "super-tall-spire-and-funky-modern-buildings", and the "kissing buildings". yeah, those aren't technically their names. but you'll know them when you see them.

caroline knapp
i am going to be working on her next, final, posthumous book this spring called "appetites: why women want." i'm about 1/3 through it and it's so well-written i just had to share. for any girl out there who has had major/minor food issues--and i would bet that is most of us in some way--it's an eye-opener and not necessarily in a good way. she writes about her bout with anorexia in her 20s, and how women exercise control over their appearance and their food-appetites as a way to perhaps ignore the lack of control or happiness they experience in their lives regarding other appetites. i'm going to have to spend some quality time with my journal when i'm done with it, i think. there are things that need to be figured out.

so graham norton
i am VERY much looking forward to the graham does dollywood episode premiering tonight. he is just so naughty!

red bull and redi whip
another b-h household holiday party is done gone, and i hear it was fabulous. many people came, much drink was consumed, and the pigs-in-blankets and mini-meatballs were big hits. i had such a great time preparing for the event that i don't really mind i spent most of the night, um, indisposed, shall we say. it was fun while it lasted.

hailing a taxi in new york city
i saw santa doing that very thing saturday afternoon. and i think it may actually have BEEN santa--the beard was real and everything!

so this party i went to saturday night
is commemorated on this dear pita. and happily i am one of the 15 pita-people cited. but sadly, my pita sucks majorly compared to the other pitas mentioned. i am so ashamed. this winter, i get my design groove on. after the party: got call from d and j, met them at the local in same nabe, and were regaled with stories of Real Live Bar Fight j got in that night. be careful--j will be at the holiday party this coming weekend in the hell's kitchen hood. do not anger him.

quittin' time
in the last 2 days, 2 people here have given notice. it is weird. and one of them is in my department which means that at the end of this week my workload goes through the roof. thanks a LOT, quitter!

la boheme on broadway
went on saturday night, last night of previews before star-studded opening described in this article. it was really great. i've never seen the opera before and what these kids can do with their voices is just amazing. and of course the set and staging were just gorgeous. the best part (for the four people out there who don't know this) was that david bowie and iman were sitting about 15 feet away from c. and i. and adrian brody was there too, but that's not really as cool as seeing the thin white duke and his lady.

ikea bombs
this is just ridiculous. ikea/sweden never did anything to anyone!

falling from grace
this has to be the worst movie ever. ever! but what else is one to do on a saturday afternoon in agawam?

audioslave al fresco
walking home from the subway last night, caught this band's short gig on top of the ed sullivan theater marquee. it was a very new york moment. and i never would have recognized chris cornell, even if he hadn't been many yards away from me. he's looking rather healthy these days.

about music
in my never-ending quest to figure out a good gift for x-mas for my dear sibling, i came across this record shop in greenfield, mass. i like their humorous opening page. so here it is.

menton, la france
to say that c and i will be summering on the riviera isn't really true. but this place became high up on the list of contenders for the next vacation even before this story ran. sounds lovely, yes? (or should i say magnifique.)

another thing i love
is how when you place an order with bn.com, you get same day deliery in nyc. that is just the best.

banana
another thing to like about birthays is that they ususally enable one to go shopping. so now i own this shirt in black, and may even give it a test drive tonight for opening of silk on 38th-ish street. also snagged a great pair of cords for $20--one could actually get near the sale racks last night which was a lovely change of pace.

are you a yob?
yet another reason to love the brits--they have the best derogatory terms.

the chocolate show
i am quite excited to go to this sunday for the first time ever. thank you to publishing friend with free pass!

when i worked at amfar,
this was one of the beautiful employees there too cool to talk to me. and now he is apparently semi-famous. little known fact--amfar's gorgeous p.r. girl left her fabulously wealthy husband to take up with mr. cabaret singer...wonder how that all turned out.

monsoon wedding
saw this last night courtesy of good old netflix. while the hindi-english dialogue was difficult to understand at times, the colors and general "look" of the film were fantastic. so bright and sparkly and lively. i hope when i grow up and get married i can wear red, mr. groom rides in on a horse, and dance music kicks off the evening.

david gray in nyc
going to see him on january 31. i find madison square garden a weird venue for him, but what do i know. i am sure it will be a great show.

crispo's continued
dinner here on saturday night was really, really good. i didn't have anything this reviewer ate, but what i did have was: a beet and goat cheese salad to start, a "special" veal chop with scalloped potatoes for main eating, and then a dessert of pumpkin creme brulee with walnut praline crust. and red wine. red, red wine. it was quite good, not too noisy, and i am a sucker for wooden beams in the ceiling. and after dinner we went to see if former evil roommate still lives in old apartment--yes she does.

my new boots
i LOVE them. happy birthday to me. over for another year.

secret santa
yes, it seems almost sacriligious to discuss x-mas when thanksgiving isn't even here yet. but new york cares is starting to look for "secret santas" and you should sign up as soon as you can, really. the presents have to be sent back to the agencies before 12-6, which really doesn't leave a whole lot of time to debate which lego set or barbie doll to get your tyke.

pain in my...
thigh and knee, actually. i am just about at the end of my rope, which is so lame because compared to all the bad stuff in the world this really is nothing. but here i was, pain-free for about 3 weeks, and then yesterday i did not wear the arch suppots that my physical therapist says i should wear but that lately have been bothering my feet. so today my stupid freaking illiotibial band is hurting again. i am so mad at myself...if this keeps me from doing a trial short run this weekend i might just have to ground myself or something. see above link to answer logical question of "what the heck is an illiotibial band, and how does one hurt it?"

netflix
i think this service will change my life. joined last week, and already am on rental #4. it has everything a really lazy, really picky movie-watcher could want.

crispo's
where i get to have dinner on my b-day. quite exciting.

chris and gwynnie!?
this really makes me sad. i cannot believe he is cheating on me with gwynnie p! i mean, not that i've ever met the kid, but i expected more from him than to date famous, "beautiful" women. i don't know why. she better be nice to him--unless them breaking up occasions some fabulous new coldplay songs. in which case, double yay!

it's election day
go do your civic duty--polls in nyc are open til 9 p.m.

The Marathon
stood outside in the cold for about 4 hours yesterday with aw and hp, watching a whole lot of people beat their bodies into submission. it was so much fun, and i didn't cry with self-pity once at the idea that it's quite possible i will NEVER be among them, these completely mad marathoners. it was tempting, but it was just such a cool experience i managed for once to not think about myself :) next year i am definitely going to volunteer, and i might even start volunteering at regular road runner club events during the other 11 months of the year, too. if, that is, i can get myself back up to 3 miles, 3 times a week. sad that that is my goal these days, but one does what one can, right? this coming saturday--my birthday--i am going to try 5 minutes on the treadmill. and we'll see what hapens from there.