Va;

First performance by Nicole from Pussy Cat Dolls:

I love The Lake House

I watched it alone. Part of my secret single behavior. I watch chick flicks that I would normally avoid.

It was awesome. One of the few times that I rooted for the protagonists. I was crying towards the end. And sometimes you just can't beat a nice cry.

Slavish Devotion to THE RULES

So, I'll admit straight away that I'm a rebel. Always have been, always will be. Tell me to be there by 9am, I purposefully get there at 9:14. Tell me I can't take a right on red? Watch me. Give me some stupid, chicken shit, over-bearing, control-freaky rule or regulation--and I'm sure to ignore it. I can't explain...but rebelling has always been my natural response. It just gets me really fired up when people blindly follow rules and don't use their reasoning abilities to determine what's right and what isn't. Must we always be told what to do, for Christ's sake? I guess I'm like that snake on the American Colonies' flag, Don't Tread On Me. (an appropriate reference, I guess, right before Indepence Day!). I know that rebelling isn't always healthy, but it's just who I am.

Which gets me around to the point of this post. (finally!! you all shout) So, I know that I'm a rebel and all, but why do people have to be such sticklers for the RULES, already?! Case in point. My dear friend and co-blogger Valerie happens to have free time during the day, God bless her. I happen to live in a place that has a beautiful pool that goes unused during the day. Match made in heaven, right? nooooooooo! Not according to the RULES (there goes that dirty word again) of our condo association.

I'll set the scene. Warm and sunny summer day. Late June. Valerie comes over to our condo and proceeds to sit by the pool (not even swimming in it) minding her own business. She's eating a little lunch and enjoying the sunshine. Sounds perfectly fine and innocent, right? Well, according to a busybody neighbor, she's a RULE BREAKER. Apparently, I, as condo owner in the complex, have no right to invite guests over to enjoy the pool when I'm not there. Did I mention that NO ONE else was trying to use the pool, or was even sitting by it? This in a condominium complex of more than 50 units? The busybody neighbor proceeded to engage Valerie in conversation, to question her presence at the pool, and to obnoxiously inform her that "guests at the pool aren't included in the CC&Rs" (for the uninitiated--CC&Rs are the RULES that govern communal living situations, like condominiums). Do we think Val cared about the CC&Rs? Really? But this neighbor did. He wanted to lord over her, to let her know that the RULES existed, and that he had deep and intimate knowledge of the RULES. So, because of the RULE, Valerie's wonderful day was cut short. Argh!

Now, I ask you. Does the RULE make sense in this case? Ok, Ok, even I'll admit that it's probably because of liability and such in the event that a non-owner would drown in the pool or something like that, but come on! It really got my goat that this neighbor a) took it upon himself to ruin someone's day, and b) had such smug self-satisfaction that he personally took down a RULE BREAKER. It's so god-damned annoying! Why do people have to be this way? Why are they slaves to rules and not to reason? Why do people enjoy nit-picking and not using their heads? Help me, dear readers!

Why Don't Adults Get Summer Vacation?

As I sit here woefully contemplating the view out of my window (a view of the Pacific Ocean via Santa Monica. If I was a good blogger, I would know how to take a picture of my view and share it with you, but I really only know how to type and press "post"), I'm thinking "Why do I have to work in the summer?"

I mean, I accept that I'm nearly dead (almost 37), but what is it inside of me that really wants to be sitting by my pool reading Us Weekly? (The NEW version that is 100% anti-Paris Hilton. Yeah, they're taking the high road...) Why haven't I gotten over the 4th-grader's love of summer vacation? Why can't I buckle down, and actually do my job rather than wistfully remembering playing in the sprinkler and lounging in the sun?

Sigh!

"That wouldn't work in New York."

Why is it that New Yorkers are so obsessed with New York? This is something that has bothered me for a while, people who feel it necessary to constantly talk about how they are from New York, or how hard core New York is.

I wouldn't be writing about if I was not so in hate with Joey from Top Chef, Season 3. He is constantly reminding us that he is from New York. Always talking about how other contestants wouldn't last in New York. Ok, we get it. You are a proud New Yorker.

Not only do New Yorkers love to boast about their hometown, they are also quick to disparage other cities. Newly arrived New Yorkers talk about how much they miss "the city" and how LA is just so suburban.

Living in Los Angeles I encounter the hate often, and not just from New Yorkers. Friends come for a visit and talk about how much they hate it-and that's before we've even gotten past the oil fields! Well, why don't they go the hell home? To steal from a comic I heard once, "we need the parking spaces."


A recent Los Angeles Magazine article points out how visitors are quick to judge a city that takes years to learn,

Nothing is more common than some interloper like Bernard-Henri Levy dragging his unbuttoned ego into town, spending a few days here (ideally at the Beverly Hills Hotel,) and then presuming to explain Los Angeles.

Another great quote from the article,

No major world city has been more sniffed at than L.A. Surely this is the only spot on earth where sunshine is routinely treated as evidence of moral vacancy."

I swing between wanting to defend my adopted hometown and wanting to let these people believe what they want to believe. We have enough people here. Why would I want to convince more to come?

Photo editor humor

Hopefully Stephen's IQ is so low that he's just psyched to see his face on the internets. Sadly, I had to Wikipedia the brothers Baldwin to figure out which less famous, and apparently dumber, brother this was.

Tennis balls in the dryer?

I just got back from the laundromat (how two people generate 4 loads of laundry per week I will never understand) and saw a woman put tennis balls in her dryer. I was stumped...and fascinated. The woman only spoke Korean so I couldn't ask her why, but when I got home I looked it up and found a slew of uses for old tennis balls. Below are some laundry uses. Others (give them to dogs, hang in garage to know when you are in far enough) were not as exciting: Got this from The Frugal Life

Put two or three tennis balls into the dryer with your just washed pillows and as they dry, the tennis balls will knock out any lumps that will form in the pillows if you try and dry them without the tennis balls. And if you have too many tennis balls, then share with other people who wash their pillows regularly. - Erin

Keep old tennis balls to throw in the washing machine with shower curtain liners....they add friction so that you can remove the "slime" from the dirty shower curtain. It's important to wash shower liners once a month or so with either a little vinegar and detergent or bleach or ammonia (don't mix the bleach and ammonia it'll make poisonous fumes) to keep nasty fungus' like the ones that cause ringworm or athelete's foot or plantar's wart from growing.

I always put 2 or 3 tennis balls in the dryer when I am drying a blanket or something larger - to help it turn better, instead of continually falling back on itself. It saves drying time.

Who knew?

I hate Prius people

Maybe hate is a strong word, but damn do they bug me. I think they are the new crappy drivers on the road. And I think they are also a bit of why liberals can be so annoying. Here is why I don't like 'em:

1. Sure they are using less fuel, and that is great, but should they really have the ability to drive on the highway ALONE in the carpool lane? Isn't that negating the spirit of the carpool lane? Prius drivers should want to get more people OFF the road, right?


2. They get a tax break for buying a new car. What about the folks on the bus? Where is their tax break? (this point is stolen from my friend, M, who shares my feelings) Basically this is rewarding people who can afford a new $20K+ car. I ride my bike whenever I can and prior to May had shared a car with Tommy for 5 years. He took the bus to work and I walked or rode whenever possible. Granted we shared an old SUV, but we drove it about once a week. Are we not deserving of getting a tax break?

3.They have a superior air about them. They drive like A-holes and give the stink eye to other, less PC cars.

4. These are probably the same people who fly around the country, if not the world. What about that footprint? Isn't flying super bad for global warming?


5. I sort of think it is a bit of a marketing scam. Since I don't like to do actual research, I am basing this on what a good friend has told me, basically that the Prius mainly uses gas, not the battery.

The Un-Thank You

Well, it's finally time that I weigh in on stuff that annoys me...as Valerie will get upset (and annoyed) with me if I don't do my share of contributing to the blog. (Val, maybe you could blog about how annoying it is when friends say they're going to do something with you, and then actually flake and don't do anything at all!)

But, back to the business at hand. I've been doing some shopping lately--nothing exciting--a new bra at Macy's, some housewares at Williams-Sonoma, some shirts at the Gap--and I've noticed something that really bugs. The "Un-Thank You."

Maybe it's because I've worked retail before (my Mom's Hallmark store, from a tender young age, not to mention stints at the Gap when in graduate school!), but is it too much to ask to be thanked after you've just spent money at a store? Apparently so. Mom would not be pleased--the ultimate rule was to always thank the customer for shopping with us.

Enter what I call the "Un-Thank You." Rather than being sent on your way with some gratefulness, you get the "Buh-bye," the vacant stare, or the crumpled receipt wordlessly handed over into your outstretched palm. You never get, "Thanks for shopping at [insert over-priced retail outlet's name here.] Do you know what I'm saying, people?

Often, I find myself confusedly thanking the salesperson for the sheer privilege of purchasing a lemon-zester. Or nervously screeching, "thanks a lot!!" as the clerk has already forgotten that I was there, and has resumed the arduous task of chewing her gum. Crazy, I know. Old habits die hard.

Am I hideously old and suffer from an outmoded moral code? Are my manners Victorian? Do I need to get hip with the times and accept that the post-sale thank-you has gone the way of the dodo?

Why do grocery stores have crap bathrooms?

Seriously, why do they make us walk through those dark swinging doors (you know, the ones that make you feel like you are entering a forbidden zone,) navigate the stacks of bread, find the stairs and wind our way upstairs, through the employee break room and finally to a generally nasty bathroom? And for a place that has all sorts of fancy toilet paper options why do they always seem to have the single-ply varietal?

Why? And this is not just old stores. I experienced this at a recently renovated Pavilions.

Wouldn't you think that a lot of moms with newly-potty trained kids are in that store? Do they just not want people using the loo at their market? To Seinfeld a bit, What Is The Deal?

I should mention that Whole Foods is the only market with a dedicated public bathroom. Thank you Whole Foods.

Why is Paris Hilton the leading story on my local news?

seriously. I love pop culture more than most, but I am horrified that ABC "News" is leading off their broadcast with a story about Paris Hilton being released from jail.

When did ABC turn into Perez Hilton?

Now I am definitely going to watch the national news to see if they cover this "breaking news" as well

Not only is their lead story about Paris leaving jail, now they are talking about how the paparazzi is swarming Paris' house. News about the paparazzi is not news. I am horrified.

And their "exclusive eyewitness news poll" is about whether or not Paris should have been released early.

Oh, and their story following the Paris news? that Nicole Richie's DUI trial date has been postponed.

REALLY?!?!

Inaugural post

Hello there-

I have been posting random stuff to our Bridal Wave blog and it occurred to me, thanks to a subtle hint from Erin, that I should find a new place to voice my strong opinions about random stuff. Here it is.