A rose from the town drunk

After eating breakfast on my terrace, took the bus to the top of the mountain. I got off on the wrong stop. I was in a little village called Nocelle. Trying to get back onto the "main road", I bumped into some donkeys come down the hill. Scared the crap out of me. The contruction workers cracked up. Silly American girl scared of some donkeys.

Finally after a long ass walk made it to the village of Montepertuso. The restuarant I wanted to go was only open for dinner. Che cazzo! Oh well it was a nice walk. I had to wait an hour for the bus back down. Montepertuso is a very, very small village. There was an old man sitting on a ledge with dog chilling. Then some some other dog kept barking at him. He took his cane and started screaming at the dog. Not sure why but I found this funny.

Then this other man yelled "bella, bella" at me and gave me a rose. At first I thought he was homeless but he was just messy. Later he walked up to me at the bus stop and asked "Dove sei?" Where are you from and I noticed his eyes were bloodshot. A man sitting on a wall saw the whole thing and waved to me. I waved back. I told the Angela at the front desk where I got the beautiful rose. After I described the man, she said "oh yes I know him. He's the village drunk."

Finally the bus came and it was the loudest bus ride ever, with all the PRONTO!, CIAO!, and BUONA GIORNATA! and what not. It start to pour, so I went to lunch at Chez Black on the beach since it was close. Mr Black (real name Salvatore) came over and started talking to me. He said "è bella, brava e parla italiano molto bene". He invited me to his club on the beach. Not sure how crowded it will be. Last night at the bar Next2, the bartender said although it's technically high season the crowd now is mostly married Americans tourists, Australians, and Germans who pretty much go to dinner early then call it a night. July and August, the Italians arrive.

Positano edition

bella!!

After a very long trip (including getting busted for not stamping my Rome bus ticket and paying a 50 euro fine on the spot, ouch) checked in to the Villa Rosa.
Room is simple but clean with a kick ass view. I am going to sit on my terrace and write all day tomorrow if it's too wet/cold to sit on the beach.

Met the fab Nikki "aka famous blogger of Positano". The shop is stunning. If I didn't have to deal with my car, I would have treated myself to a Pucci shirt.

Yesterday met with Ettore, Matteo, and Martina at Cafe Marzio. Then went to her agent's office and had a great meeting regarding our film. Martina is very down to earth, kind, and gorgeous.

I am starving. I need to eat and unpack.

Ciao tutti. (bye everyone)

This is an office party?

Last night went to an office party...at 10:00 p.m. Roberta's co-worker's boyfriend works for an advertising firm in Trastevere. It's on the ground floor of this buidling east of Piazza Santa Maria. A few blocks after we passed the Piazza I could hear music. They had a bar, food, a DJ, and turned the back office area into a dance floor. There were a ton of people outside, leaning on their scooters, smoking, drinking, and flirting. I cannot believe none of the neighbors called the cops about the noise.

Everyone was asking me about President "Boosh" and the war. Neither were popular with this crowd. Of course we also had to talk about movies. One of Roberta's co-workers did his thesis on the role of women in Taratino's Jackie Brown. He wanted to know when I was leaving town so he could throw a dinner party.

After some wine and dancing I walked home exhausted. The party was still going on, did not feel like a Monday night. One of Roberta's co-workers said she was worried about the creeping American work habits/consumerism influence on Rome (although the salaries here are much lower). If this keeps up she might as well move to Milan. :) She knows things are changing in this global economy but she refuses to become a workalcoholic who never sees her family or friends. When you live in a place where you see things that are thousands of years old, it makes the 75 or so years you are here on earth seem very, very short.

People here think it's bizarre I have to plan weeks in advance to see my friends for dinner/drinks. Then 70 percent of the time, it gets rescheduled because we either have too many scripts to read, a screening or have to take out talent etc.

When I'm in St. Martin, I am not working at all so I cannot make any true comparisons between my life there and L.A. Here, I have been working and it is crystal clear I need to make some serious changes when I go back to Los Angeles

The power continued, the mani/pedi edition

First let me give a shot out to Erica's blog. It is how I heard about Nail Enhancements, a nail salon near the U.S. Embassy. My nails look amazing. Not too expensive and they were very nice. No one spoke English and for some reason my Prego textbook does not give us vocabulary for these very important things. Somehow with my broken Italian everything worked out.

Okay, so to finish yesterday's post, after gelato Giampiero and I met up with his friend who directed the movie Melissa P. and his assistant. Giampiero was one of the actors in the movie and just started shooting a series for RAI. He has worked and lived in NYC/LA. He went to Rome to work a series and decided to stay. He is from Milan.

Melissa P was a monster hit in Italy, just starting to open overseas. Not sure what will happen in the US since it's about a 16 year old girl who likes to get her freak on. Melissa P.'s autobiography sold very well except in the U.S.

After being dropped off in Trastevere, got a text from Ettore and met him and a friend at Caffe Marzio in front of the Santa Maria fountain. Chilled for a minute, then went home to get ready for dinner.

Met Max and Paolo for dinner. An agent who's client is one of the writer/producers of the HBO series ROME was in town and had a dinner for 12 of us. I met several of the producers of Sex and the City who are also working on Rome and had a very good, crazy dinner. I am not used to eating so many courses and so late but I managed to make it. It was surreal to be at a "biz dinner" in Rome. However, there was very little shop talk. I might see some of them on set next Monday.

Yesterday met up with fellow Americans Andrea and her friend Dani at Gusto for lunch. They are on their way to Florence today.

Was supposed to meet Roberta for a quick drink but it ended up be dinner. She is Roman and a very good friend of the "countess". Every place was packed. It was a Sunday night. Don't people have to work today? My neighborhood was insane, campo de fiori was the most crowded I have ever seen it and there were no places to sit or stand. We went to some restaurant on a side street. I met one of her co-workers and another friend of their's met us for a drink. It was another late night (for me, as I walked home some people were just eating dinner).

Off to make some phone calls and get some gelato. Hopefully my laundry (I have a washer, no dryer) from yesterday will be dry. Jeans take forever to air dry.

The power of a good walk, good conversation, good food and of course good gelato.

After a sleepless night and crying yesterday morning I walked across the bridge closest to my apartment over to the Pantheon. It was super early and gave me a chance to clear my head.

I will just buy the best used car I can afford with the settlement from the insurance company. I cannot worry about buying a car as a status symbol. I have a goal and going into debt is not going to help me reach my goal. I would rather save money towards a down payment on an apartment in Rome. If someone doesn't want to take me seriously as a producer because of the car I drive, there is nothing I can do about that.

Met my friend Giampiero for lunch. He said it was maybe a 40 minute walk from my house. Try one hour and 40 minutes!!! He had to pick me up a mile north of the Vatican....on his scooter. We were flying and I held on for dear life.

He took me to a very residential neighborhood, Ponte (oh shit, I forgot the name), it's north of the Vatican and the Olympic stadium. After an amazing lunch at a Trattoria on the square (he insisted on paying for lunch ), we went to the kick ass bakery/gelateria around the corner called Il Mondi. Outstanding. I insisted on buying.

Ooops got to go. Off to meet the "countess'" friend for a apperitiv (drink). I'll to finish this post later.

Che Cazzo!!! blogging while angry, part 2

So after a wonderful day, eating gelato, having champagne with Max and her cool expat friends, I went with Max to Paolo's studio to check emails. Good thing I decided to call my home phone. There was a message from a week ago from my insurance company. My car is a total loss and I need to get my car from the body shop. The shop charges a daily fee to hold the car. I am in  Italy!!! I left a message on my home phone saying to call my italian cell number if there was anything urgent. Why did no one call me! My boss is going to get my car during her lunch. Hopefully the body shop won't charge too much.

My parents just sent me a check to pay off the last of my student debt. I was so excited I would finally be debt fee. Now I have to buy a freaking new car or get a very good used one. I don't want a car note. I have very unstable job in an very unstable business. This is bullshit. I could kill the moron who hit my car.

Too say that I am livid would be an understatement. There's no way to get around this. You must have a car in Los Angeles.

I wish I could just stay in Rome. Nothing has gone right since I moved to "Hell ay".

very nice, very sexy, thank you

Heard that a couple of times yesterday. Must have been my shirt but I wear simple v-neck T-shirts in Los Angeles all the time. The last guy said it to me as I crossed the Arno last night after dinner. After yelling aspetti! (wait!) twice, I said "non capisco".

Crazy vender on bridge: You speak English?

me: Non!

Now don't think I'm taking this strike thing too seriously. The only reason he wanted me to "aspetti" was so he could sell me some bad copies of Botticelli's "Birth of Venus"

Went to Sante Croce, bella church. Has the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and other Tuscan A-listers.

Glad to be going back to Rome today. Florence is too much. Met a nice older couple from Long Island at dinner last night. Their son went to S.U.

I can hear the difference in the Florentine accent vs. Roman. I haven't spoken much Italian here. There are so many American students and tourists almost everyone speaks to me first in English.

I understand Italian pretty well when people speak to me very slowly. This is a problem since Italians speak very, very quickly. I watch the news and I can only understand the context because of the visuals and catching every other word. I would have to be here for a couple months before I could become even remotely fluent. My sister went to France to study for a summer during high school. When she came back her French was excellent, accent and all.

beauty overload.

Ciao from Siena. It is molto bella. Yesterday was all about art. The Uffizi (Italian for offices, the gallery used to be the Medici's office!) was incredible. Amazing Renaissance art, Botticell, Da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, and of course Michelangelo.

Had what is supposed to be the best gelato in Florence at Vivoli. I will be back. Dinner went to Osteria de'benci. The owner is a friend of a friend. Had an excellent dinner. Walked along the Arno river back to the hotel. At night the crowds have died down and you can really appreciate how beautiful Florence is.

Took to bus to Siena, gorgeous ride through the countryside. After chaotic Florence, Siena is lovely. The buildings, the landscape, the very attractive men wearing suits going to work on their Vespas. It's too much.

Florence, losing weight Roman style, Spike

An Italian from Milan said to me once, Milan is a European city and Rome is an Italian city. Florence must be the American city. So many college students and tour groups. It's like Willowbrook Mall the day before Christmas....packed.

My hotel recommended by a friend from Italian class, is above the Gucci flagship store. Let's see, new hubcabs for my jalopy or use the birthday money from my parents (that I have been holding on to since August) for a bag?

Went to see David. No words. Michelangelo was 29 when he finished it. What the hell was I doing at 29? When I get home I'm going to order a biography about Mr. Buonarotti. The unfinished sculptures leading to David are incredible as well.

So yesterday I put on my jeans and they were loose. I eat gelato every day. Regarding carbs: I eat those every day too. Later for South Beach and the Zone. I finally had a pizza bianca from the place in Campo de' fiori everyone talks about. It's basically plain pizza dough with just oil olive and salt. It was amazing.

I realized I haven't had any processed foods since I been here. No soda, chips, candy etc. I have had plenty of red wine and walked about 5 miles a day.

Speaking of walking I thought I would die yesterday. I walked close to 10 miles. First back from Termini station after buying my train ticket for Florence, then walking with Max to San Clemente and back.

We had lunch at Maccheroni, near the Patheon. I am still thinking about the pasta with bolognese sause and the 4 euro house wine. Very, very good. Flirty waiters.

San Clemente is a must see. This church is on top of a church from 4th century and that structure is above a pagan temple from the 3rd century. After touring the church above ground you pay 2 or5 euros and go down to the older structures. When you get all the way down to the lowest level you can hear and see the water from the acqueduct rushing through. I'm glad Max was with me because it does get a little creepy down in those tiny corridors.

Finished up the long walk by having gelato on the steps of the fountain in front of Santa Maria in Trastevere.

Last night met a friend of a friend for drinks. They went to NYU film school ungrad together and she has been living in Italy since going to graduate film school in Rome. I thought it would be an early night but we talked for hours. She was really encouraging and suggested I try to work in both countries (once I get my French passport), given my background. I think it's very ironic how in Hollywood my work as an exec. for Spike means pretty much nothing. He's too indie, too New York, too militant, etc. I can't remember how many times I have been told if had worked for some hack director for hire it would have been a better career move. However, here it's a big deal. He is a respected filmmaker. The posters back home for Inside Man barely mentioned his name. In Rome there are posters with Denzel, Clive, and Jodie but in big letters it says "Un Film di Spike Lee". Don't get me wrong he has faults but I think it's bullshit how little respect a man with his body of work get in our town.

One good thing to come out of this trip already is I feel reinvigorated about my career. I have to stop worrying about the superficial trappings of the business. I need to remember what it is I love about movies and working with creative people. The film I'm working on with Ettore is no Citizen Kane but I wouldn't be here and met so many talented people were it not for this project. The money will come and if it doesn't I'd rather be broke and happy then spend 70 hours a week working for somebody else. Been there done that. Have nothing to show for it.

Last night around dusk as we sat outside I happened to look up and realized I never saw a sky that color blue. I was told the light here is really interesting because of how it reflects off the seven hills of Rome. I love this city.

Tomorrow Siena.

E.U.R.

Yesterday went to E.U.R with Max and her friend Paolo. He's an architect but speaks Italian and Spanish. So he was our tour guide and language tutor.

Before going to E.U.R we went to another planned community, not sure of the spelling, Garbatello. This was done by the socialists and all the houses/villas had back yards, big windows w/shutters. Plenty of open space. Since it was May Day there was a party in the park, with musicians, wine and free copies of the communist newpapaer.

E.U.R was Mussolini's grand vision. It is something to see. This dictator clearly loved his eagles.  The famous building from "La Dolce Vita" is being renovated but still incredible.

Met expat Eric, through my sister (thanks gibber), afterwards at a wine bar. He is a freelance journalist, living in Rome for 7 years. He told me how he ended up in Rome and the pro/cons of expat life.

Off to meet a friend, then going to Florence tomorrow.

ciao

Rome if you want to

This morning I was going to walk down to the Vatican and back. What was supposed to be a 40 minute walk turned into 2 hours. I got totally lost. When I started to see signs for the autostrada I knew something was wrong. Finally asked someone in Italian, where the hell was I and walked back home.

Saturday walked at least fives miles. Went to Gusto (the osteria side) for amazing bucatini carbonara, then my favorite music store on Via del corso and finally all the way to a museum on Via Guido Reni to see the Francesco Clemente exhibit. The woman at the newsstand who said the museum was 10 minutes from Piazza del Popolo, was incorrect it was more like 40 minutes. Oh well, it helped me burn off the pasta.

Ettore lives near there so he picked me up and we went back to Trastreve to meet on our project. Went to this wine bar/book store, Libera di Cinema (sp) which is owned by a director and a bunch of his friends. Had a glass of amazing red wine from Sicily for a whopping 4 euros. Same glass at L'Ermitage would be at least $14. Meeting was very productive. I might add the bartender was fine.

Sat. night went out with "la contessa di filicudi's" friend. The Contessa and I met in Italian class. Her friend went to law school in the States so his English is perfect. We went to a club called Micca to meet up with his friends. There was a great jazz band, then a DJ came on around 1:00 a.m. We had the hardest time finding the club but at least we were on the list and didn't have to wait on line. It's near Termini station located in a basement. Very cool decor, good drinks and were it not 100 degrees and packed we would have stayed longer. We were going to go to another place but stayed outside talking for awhile. Althought I kept switching back into English, I did get props for my Italian. Well except from one guy who asked me how long I have been studying Italian, 3 days? I replied Ma Dai!! (come on!) and he laughed. Finally realized it was almost 2:00 a.m.

Yesterday met Max for breakfast in Piazza Santa Maria in Tratevere. I bumped into Matteo, who I was going to see later that day, at the same restaurant. Max and I walked back towards Piazza del Popolo ( almost 2 miles one way) to the flea market on Via Flaminio. She got some cool stuff. On the way back, went into Santa Maria del Popolo. It was the middle of Sunday mass so we didn't stay. I went to that chuch last year and saw the gorgeous works by Caravaggio and Bernini. I wonder if the priest was salty because tourists were taking photos. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain which was insanity, threw in our coins and got the heck out of there. Had the best gelato so far, San Crispino (sp). I tried to find it last year but kept getting lost and gave up. I will be back.

Back to the Piazza Santa Maria for another meeting on our project. It went very well. Then met up with expat Leslie, who is a costume designer for a drink at a wine bar in the Testaccio neighborhood. On the way we went into the church Santa Maria di Cecilia. It's one of the churches I really wanted to see and it's only a few blocks from my apt.  After the bar we went to her friend's apt. around the corner. He is a screenwriter and we had more wine. Took the bus back and walked around Trastevere. Finally crashed into bed around 1:00 a.m.

I might check out the church San Clemente today or go to E.U.R or a concert in the park with Max and Paolo. Today is a national holiday, May Day and there are free concerts all over. Now I have to finish my homework. ciao.

Watch out, middle aged lady on the dance floor!

My first day in Rome was bananas! After my little trip to the market I walked around my neighborhood, crossed the river to Piazza Navona, Campo de' Fiori then the Pantheon. I went into the Pantheon last year, but now the scaffolding is gone. It's one of my favorite buildings in Rome.

I was fading fast, since I did not sleep on the plane. The freaking Darth Vader next to me kept me up with her heavy breathing and leaning over onto my seat. She complained the seats were too small the entire trip.

Max, a friend from LA is here visiting her friend. She's a producer who went to Rome over Christmas and fell in love with the city. She called me and asked what I was doing. I was going to take a nap before dinner. She told me under no circumstances take a nap. I will have the worst jet lag. She is staying near me so she picked me up and we walked all the way to TADs. TADs is like the Roman Barneys or Fred Segal. Molto $$$ but very nice.

We had drinks and the best apple tart, on the patio. The waiter bought me some little appetizers with my Mojito. I was confused, I didn't order any. He said it's for the alcohol. uhm okay.  I like this practice.

It took forever to walk back to the appt. I must have walked 5 miles yesterday. Ettore came over to pick me up for dinner. He had to show me how to turn on the TV. I hit the on button, the power comes on then nothing. He takes the remote and presses a random channel, the TV comes on. He says just press a button. Sorry in America, the on/off button turns the TV on/off. You do not have to press another button. Yesterday he helped me change the Italian prompts on my cell phone to English. I seem to be having some issues with basic technology.

We met his friend, Matteo at a local restaurant, very good food, very long dinner. There are so many people out, walking around. We walk to Piazza di Santa Maria and the square is packed! I feel like I'm back in NYC during one of those amazing spring or fall nights. We are about to say goodnight and Matteo gets a call. We could go to a club with his friend. At this point I'm still awake so why not? I can't remember the name of the place. It was outside the center. We didn't have to wait on line and ladies got in free. I tried to pay for Ettore and he was offended.

The club was huge, 3 floors. 3rd floor was techno. Since I wasn't on E. this was not my favorite floor. I can tolerate techno for maybe 10 minutes. Me no likey. 2nd floor was old-school pop, hip-hop and r&b, the first floor same genres but current. I danced non-stop for hours. Who said straight men can't dance? I just loved the vibe. The Dls were excellent. People were there just to dance and maybe make out. There was a drag show at one point. One of the songs was in Italian the other was Madonna, of course. Around 2:30 a.m. (the club stays open til 5) my middle aged self reminded me that I was not at Limelight circa 1985 and I should go to bed.

Buon giorno Roma!

After a long ass day of flying, I'm finally here. The apartment I'm renting is over 600 years old. It overlooks a piazza that has a couple of restaurants with outdoor seating. Very nice.

The owner is an actor working on a series that shoots in Naples, so his girlfriend let me in. Okay off to the supermarcato. Later I'm meeting Ettore, who picked me up at the airport, for dinner.

Ciao tutti (good bye everyone)

Never blog while angry

I am actually looking forward to being on a plane for 15 hours. No phone calls!

So this morning at 8:00 my manicurist called the salon, her car broke down. There were other women at Jessica's who could help me. I felt bad for Maria she was really stressed out.

I dropped off my car at the body shop to be repaired while I'm gone. Walked across the street to the hair salon. No one is there. Finally looked at my cell phone, which I had turned off in the nail salon. My stylist, who is always late, had great excuse this time. She was stuck with a client in Ari-freaking-zona. She left me a cell number of another stylist at the salon, David, who could take me at 2:30. Problem is she gave me the wrong cell number! I couldn't call her back because she was on the plane by then. I remembered that my former boss' wife went to this guy. I had to track down his former assistant who gave me a couple of numbers. I talk to David's former biz partner who gave me a couple of numbers to try. I leave a message for David almost in tears at this point.

I wait forever at Joan's on Third for a to go order, I am very salty. Why is there only one person ringing people up at 12:00? David calls me while I'm waiting on the slowest line in America. So that works out but since I don't have a car I have to walk home and back to the salon. I lose at least an hour out of my day. I read a slipped script while getting my hair twisted, which takes 2 1/2 hours. On the walk home I call my co-workers and the producer to tell them what I think about it.

I still have to finish packing, clean my apartment and go to bed early since Super Shuttle is picking me up at 3:40 a.m. tomorrow.

I arrive in Rome at 8:00 a.m. Friday. I'm tired.

Non parlo l'italiano.

I was awful in class tonight. I think my professor's ears started bleeding after hearing me read out loud. I thought I understood our congiuntivo (subjuntive) homework. Clearly I didn't since almost half of my answers were wrong.

I have a 8:00 a.m. mani/pedi appt. tomorrow. I must go to the gym first. Why am I bloated? I look like I'm in my second trimester. I barely made it through my bootcamp class today.

One Week!

Of course I am stressed out. I have so much to do before I leave. My face looks crazy. Since I've returned to LA from the Caribbean my skin is so dry. As my brother would say, "not a good look."

Suri Cruise?!

What timing, right before M.I.3 has its world wide opening. Why is this major news? It was the lead story on the local news tonight.

Who knows who the father is but the idea that she wasn't even pregnant (see Defamer.com) is hilarious. Sad thing, I wouldn't be shocked if that crazy rumor were true.

Enough about this "relationship".

Vito, Raoul Bova

Last night's Sopranos was outstanding. Poor Vito. I doubt he will make through the season.

I tried to watch "What About Bob?" Couldn't get into it. It felt like they were trying too hard, none of the emotions were earned. However, Raoul Bova looked great.

Roma in 2 weeks!!

That is all I have to say.

Congiuntivo Presente. ugh!!!

Last night was the first class of Italian Intermediate level 2. We will finish our textbook in this class, then it's on to Advanced Italian.

It was like a reunion, same professor, and now I'm back in class with three friends.

So the congiuntivo (the subjunctive) is not used in English that often. Of course it's used frequently in written and spoken Italian. Great. I have so much homework to do it's not funny.

Tonight is graduation for the girls in our Girls Empowerment Workshop at the Hollywood Boys and Girl Club. We are going to have gifts, diplomas, pizza, and cake. I will miss the girls.  They were a great group.

So what will the close election mean for Italy?

three weeks!!

Three weeks from today I plan to walk into Giolotti, near the Pantheon, for a gelato.

I will get my poor car repaired while I'm gone. My insurance adjuster finally spoke to the guy who hit my car. She is going to fight to have his insurance reimburse all our costs. He keeps changing his story, now saying I was speeding. Sorry, going 15-20 miles per hour down a residential street with speed bumps is not speeding. Stronzo!

On Fridays I try to workout outside and hike in Runyon Canyon. I got up at 5:30 today and it was still dark out. So I went to the gym instead and used the elliptical trainer. It's the only time I get to catch up on music videos. I love the new Kanye West video. I just saw the director, Chris Milk's reel. Very, very taleted. Finally saw the Sharika/Wyclef video. Really like that song, must get the CD. Pink's "Stupid Girl" video is sad but funny. I'm still waiting for the Stupid Girl trend to end. Mary J. Blige, still in heavy rotation, cannot get enought of that song. I was sent KT Tunstall's cd a couple weeks ago and it has not left my CD player. Saw her video for the first time. Her debut CD is excellent. Madonna's "Sorry" great, fun dance song. Reminds me of going to skate USA at the Willowbrook Mall back in the day. Good times.

Speaking of the gym, I haven't weighed myself in weeks but I can tell I'm in better shape. I can almost make it through a boot camp class and my clothes are looser.

Still

Raining!! Still dealing with two car insurance companies trying to determine fault over this stupid accident. I am trying very hard to stay positive. So far 06 has not been a good year.

I do believe things are going to get better. Well, professionally anyway. I'm now entering the second month of my strike. Actually I'm going to make it retroactive and say I've been on strike for over a year. Yesterday, two people told me to try online dating again because it's the only way to meet men outside our industry. No thanks. I know, especially in LA, online dating is very popular. It's not for me. The strike continues.

Adam and Eve and T-Rex

ChristoFUH's theory on evolution on last night's Sopranos was hilarious. Paulie has gone off the deep end.

No comment on the Flavor of Love Reunion.

Okay seriously, I am really over this weather. It's raining, again. So glad I didn't have any lunch or drinks meetings today.

I am going to bed super early tonight. One, because I'm bored and two, so I can have some energy for my crazy 6:30 a.m. boot camp class at the gym.

Car accident

Didn't I just say yesterday that people cannot drive in LA? Clearly some can't even open car doors. I was driving to my lunch meeting and this guy opened his door as I was driving by him. Now he can't close his door and my passenger side is jacked up. Great.

He said he didn't see me. Maybe I'm crazy but before I open my car door, I look in my rear-view and side view mirrors. How could he not see me? We were in the middle of the block. It's not like I was coming out of a driveway or something.

Ugh!! Just what I needed. My insurance company is sending someone to look at the car in the next two days. I wonder how much this is going to cost. The exec I was having lunch with thought I was handling it well. I can't get upset. It's just one more stupid thing to deal with. I told him maybe it's a sign from God that I need to move back to a city where I don't need a car.

This weather sucks, Italian level one, finito

I was looking at Tracie B's photos on her blog today (her's is "my life italian". The link is listed on the right) and wished I was there eating some gelato outside. Instead, here it's pouring (again!), cold and no one can freaking drive. LA drivers are horrible. No signalling, always on the cellphone, rude, and drive slow as hell. Add some rain and people loose their minds. People cannot deal with the elements here. God help them if they had to take the subway or walk to work.

I learned to drive in high school in Jersey. Jersey drivers are crazy but in a good way. Fast. It's a place where you better pay attention and keep up with the speed limit. The exception being Cedar Grove where you might want to drive a little slower. The three cops they have in that town are relentless with the tickets. Don't let them catch you spending on Pompton Ave.

Yesterday was our last class for Italian Intermediate level 1. I start level 2 in 2 weeks. It's weird trying to learn a language as an adult and using another part of your brain. Yes the all the homework can be a bit much but learning a new skill at this age is a good thing. Maybe my brain won't go to mush. I swear I was losing brain cells out here.

A development exec asked me a couple years ago during the 2000 election, who Gore was and which party did he belonged to. To me this says you never read a newspaper or watch the news. How does a educated person working in the 2nd largest city in the country not know who the Vice President of the United States is? A writer said he went to pitch a project at Fox. He made a reference to Vincente Fox, who was just elected President of Mexico. The movie studio executive had no idea who he was talking about. We share a border with Mexico, it's not that far from here. This is a person who helps decide what movies we see here and internationally. Scary.

Speaking of movies, so glad Inside Man did well. Maybe the studios will remember they can make movies that are commerical and smart. Enough already with the remakes.

An Italian dinner

Last night one of my friends from class had us over for dinner and a movie. The four of us (well really three of us, one of my friends speaks very well) ended up speaking a combo of Italian and English. We saw the movie The Nanny. A little slow but interesting.

The food was so good. Fe is an amazing cook. Robin brought wine from Italy and Jane brought limoncello from Sorrento. Jane is leaving for Florence in a couple of weeks.

Why is it so hard to find dresses that fit? Yesterday I looked everywhere for a wrap dress that doesn't show everything on top. Tried DVF's. Great cut but no dice on top and to wear a camisole underneath would look awful. Maybe I should try petites and go up a size.

Thanks to my hairdresser being over a half-hour late the other day, I was able to get a chunk of reading done. Now I don't have to stress out today. I will read more this afternoon. First I must see Inside Man. Denzel and Clive in the same movie? It might be too much to handle but I must be strong.

Finally Spring is here, birthday wishes

This has been the coldest March in SoCal since 1922. I have clearly become "soft" since moving out west. How the hell did I survive winters in college? My first sememter freshman year at Syracuse, I couldn't believe all the "lake effect" snow. After a while I got used to it. Now when it's 55 degrees I'm freezing.

Yesterday it was 75 degrees, a perfect day. At night you could smell the jasmine. I think I will go on a hike tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday, my brother's was on Monday, Dad's on Wednesday. Happy Birthday! I spoke to my parents who were going out to dinner at Lee's on the Dutch side to celebrate. I didn't get to go during Christmas but I hear the lobster there is amazing.

March and August were very fun months in our household. My Mom's birthday and anniversary are during the first week of August and my birthday is later in the month. I miss my family.

Okay off to get my haircut. I hope my stylist will be on time. Is that too much to ask? Why is she always late then blames it on traffic? She is a New Yorker but has been living here for a couple of years. She knows traffic here is bananas, plan accordingly. I'm bringing two scripts to read just in case. At least I can get some work done while I wait.

Is the "smoothie" era ovah?

My friends know I am not a fan of the smoothie look. It's when men wax all their body hair off. Unless you are on the Men's Olympic swim team, there is no reason for this crime against nature. I'm all for taming a uni-brow but that no-hair-on-chest thing? Enough.

Maybe today's NYTs is making too much of it but I'm very excited about the news. Although most women do not like beards believe me, most of us are glad to see the return of a less artificial look. Of course this has not impacted Los Angeles yet, the home of the metrosexual.

From today's NYTs style section:

"This is some sort of reaction to men who look scrubbed, shaved, plucked and waxed," said the designer Bryan Bradley, who stepped onto the runway after his Tuleh presentation looking like a renegade from the John Bartlett show, at which more than half the models wore beards: untidy ones that scaled a spectrum from wiry to ratty to shabby to fully bushy.

"It's less 'little boy,' " Mr. Bradley said. "For a while men have looked too much like Boy Scouts going off to day camp."

On city streets, too, trends in scruff have reached new levels of unruliness, a backlash, some beard enthusiasts say, against the heightened grooming expectations that were unleashed with the rise of metrosexuality as a cultural trend. Men both straight and gay, it appears, want to feel rough and manly.

Tom Terrific trapped in the closet?

What happened to freedom of speech? If he can call Matt Lauer glib why can't South Park, which makes fun of everyone, air "Trapped in the Closet"? Maybe Tom didn't know the title of the episode refers to the famous, over the top series of songs/videos from R. Kelly.

From defamer.com:

Sources from inside Paramount and South Park Studios report that parent company Viacom pulled last night's scheduled repeat of the high-rated "Trapped in the Closet" episode after the humorless Scientologist movie star Tom Cruise threatened to cancel all publicity for Mission Impossible:3 if Comedy Central aired the episode that satirizes Scientology and mocks his sexuality again.

Not only is this the first time that the South Park creators have been officially censored in their ten hit seasons with Comedy Central, Viacom officials also reportedly ordered Matt Stone and Trey Parker not to discuss the reason why their episode was cancelled.

The South Park boys are said to be angry, but will probably get revenge with the manner in which they deal with Scientologist Isaac Hayes' departure from the show.

New Attitude, Sopranos (spoilers)

In keeping with my plan to be more positive about this wack ass city, I actually went out this weekend. Usually I spend Friday and Saturday nights reading scripts, watching movies or talking on phone with my friends about how much we hate Los Angeles. This is not good.

I'm sure my friends back east are tired of me complaining, I'm tired of complaining. The "industry" is based here so until I can produce films elsewhere or inherit a bunch of money, I am going to make the best of it. I got a new attitude...well, at least for this week.

Friday went to the Belmont for happy hour with one of my friends. Saturday night drove downtown (in the rain!!) to see my friend's new apartment. She bought the loft months ago and finally moved in. It's stunning. I felt like I was in Williamsburg or Soho, before the chain stores showed up.

I need to spend more time downtown at night. It's a totally different crowd then the Koi/Hollywood type scene. Sometimes I go to the flower mart on Saturday mornings and I have been to MOCA (kept comparing it to MOMA  which is not fair) but other than jury duty that's about it.

There are a ton of loft conversions going on but very few services, like grocery stores, dry cleaners etc. It's starting to change with new restaurants, galleries, and stores. We drove to a great Japanese place, then pick up another friend and went to a very fun bar. I noticed while we were driving, we would drive past some amazing buiding. Then around the corner was skid row/tent city. There is a major homeless problem downtown. I have never seen anything like it and after college I lived in some pretty sketchy neighborhoods in DC. The non-profit I volunteer for works with the Downtown Women's Center. Most of the women have children and are fleeing abusive relationships. The stories are just heartbreaking.

Sopranos (spoiler alert!)
Last night I choked up when Carm was talking to Tony. I remember when she told Tony (I think it might have been the first episode), he was going to hell while he was getting a MRI. Six years later she still felt guilty and apologized. Not sure what is going to happen to Tony. I think he will live but clearly there is going to be a power struggle. It won't be pretty.

Where's Andre?

Yesterday met a talent manager for lunch at the Fred Segal in West Hollywood.
Were we excited about all the celeb sightings, including a very intense Mickey Rourke? No, we were excited to see Andre from "Project Runway".

SU got smacked last night, a big upset. Now I will have to watch the rest of March Madness with a heavy heart.

So glad it's Friday. I'm exhausted.

Yet another Jen cover, is she going to be on the cover of Essence next?

Walked by the newstand near the office. Can't wait to get my Elle Decor and Domino magazines. Then I saw something that put a damper on my happy magazine moment.

Jen Aniston is on the cover of Vogue. The headline says "Don't feel sorry for me". She has no control over the tabloids but the mainstream magazines? Enough already.

I'm annoyed I have to see her overexposed mug in my mailbox. Ms. Wintour, I am very disappointed. Please Jen, go volunteer, take a vacation or something. We need a break.

However, I was excited to receive my Jan/Feb issue of Italian Elle Decor in the mail. It takes forever to get here but it's worth it. Plus there are no articles about Jen, Britney, or Paris.

The Sopranos, che cazzo! (spoiler)...go Syracuse, passato remoto

What the heck was Uncle Jun mumbling about before he pulled the trigger?

Syracuse what an upset. Way to go Big East champs! Not sure how we will do during March Madness but my fingers are crossed.

This morning's class focused on yet another verb tense, passato remoto. It's used mostly in literature, when discussing historical events and sometimes in the South. Of course there are a ton of irregular verbs. I just got a handle on when to use passato prossimo, passato imperfetto or trapassato. ugh.

I am going to refrain from commenting on last night's "Flavor of Love" finale.

Some random thoughts

Why is that girl from Laguna Beach on the cover of US? Why does she have her own show?

I love the Mary J. Blige single. Should I get the CD?

Why is Italian grammar "molto difficile"? I think there are over 20 verb tenses. I know 8. I am so frustrated by the grammar, I'm forgetting basic things. In class the other day, I was reading an article outloud and forgot how to say the number 15. I felt "molto stupido".

Why is a 46 year old man walking around wearing a big ass clock around his neck that doesn't run? I'm not mad at Miss New York's mom, I wondered the same thing my damn self.

This "Laffy Taffy" payola scandal is beyond deep. At least that explains why this horrific song got on the air.

Not sure about the interpetive dance number during the "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" Oscar performance. I guess it was better than Rob Lowe singing to Snow White. Maybe not.

Will I ever go out on a date again? Am I destined to live the rest of my life without romance or passion? This is an outrage. I am going to be proactive "ala Miranda" and say I'm on strike until conditions improve. This way the celibacy thing is not somthing that is just happening to me. I refuse to be a passive victim. Therefore, as of today I am taking control of my pathetic situation dammit!!

Oscar Sunday '06, aka "Quality is now a genre"

Finally awards season is wrapping up. I was invited to a viewing party but will be watching in my PJs.

I did go to a "very fab" pre-oscar party last night. It was so fab, this junior production company exec told me they weren't let her in because she had on jeans. She was confused by the door policy. "It's LA!" The invite did said award wearing attire, so people did get a little more dressed up than usual. It was a mix of movie and music people.

I was so excited that I could actually walk to the party, very un-LA. The place was packed, I ran into some people I haven't seen in a while and hung out with some friends. Women were all over Terrence Howard and Mike Ealy "girrrrrl he has some pretty eyes". My friend said hi to Terrence but when I saw him he was surrounded. I spoke with Mike and his manager for a while. Anthony Mackie? Hello! I did not know.

The DJ was great, however my sling-back heels were so high (for me) I was trying to limit my movement. Not that many people were dancing until later in the evening. When DJ said " All you over 30s will know this one", and put on DeBarge, the crowd went crazy. Then he went into Biggie. He did not play the Ashanti song that the younger people on the dance floor think sampled Biggie. No young ones, it's a DeBarge sample.

This guy from NYC was flirting with my friend and it warmed my heart. He wasn't flirting for/because of work, he did not ask her "what do you do". I left them to do their thing, made a last loop around to say goodbye to friends then hobbled home.

Many people are freaking out about the potential low ratings for the Oscars, since all the movies are "small". Whatever. The Oscars are supposed to be about honoring excellence (or at least very good) in film not worrying about ratings or only picking films with the biggest box office. It's the studio's own fault. They used to make some movies that were great and commerical. Now the "independent" wings make those films, for a price. Ms. Dargis summed it up well today. Below are a couple paragraphs:

These days big studio movies do not, as a rule, excite the intellect or stir the soul: that's what specialty titles like "Brokeback Mountain" are for. In the last few decades, the American movie industry has become increasingly split between high-concept spectacles engineered to attract as many viewers as possible (think flypaper) and niche products pitched to specific audiences. In this climate, films released through a studio specialty unit, like "Capote" and "Good Night, and Good Luck," are just one niche among many, like horror or teen flicks. Their principal value doesn't come from ticket sales, but from the prestige and awards they confer on a parent company. In Hollywood, as a friend recently quipped, "Quality is now a genre."

The corporate independent, meaning brands like Fox Searchlight Pictures and Focus Features, may be as oxymoronic a term as high concept, but as this year's Oscars prove it's an oxymoron that has reaped important dividends for Hollywood. The absorption of independent companies into the system and the creation of specialty divisions furnished the industry with a much-needed infusion of new talent, from influential filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh to ubiquitous executives like Harvey Weinstein. Without corporate independents like Warner Independent Pictures, a specialty arm of Warner Brothers Entertainment, George Clooney might be home tonight instead of smiling for the camera on behalf of "Good Night, and Good Luck," for which he has been nominated for best director, and "Syriana," for which he received a nomination for best supporting actor. As the star of films like "Ocean's 12," Mr. Clooney makes money for Warner Brothers Entertainment; as a corporate independent player, he gives it class.

Mr. Clooney's dual capacity reflects Hollywood's tradition of giving us the same thing while making it seem somehow different. At the same time, he is part of a system that now reserves most of its smartest, most high-minded and ostensibly serious properties for its specialty divisions, the implication being that most moviegoers are not interested in smart, high-minded, serious films. Maybe they aren't. Or maybe they no longer have faith in the movies: witness Hollywood's recent inability to sell low-end garbage like "Stealth" or high-end kitsch like "Memoirs of a Geisha." Even the chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Michael Lynton, whose company released both titles, admits moviegoers aren't as stupid as the studios seem to think: "Audiences have gotten smart to the marketing, they can smell the good ones from the bad ones at a distance."

The crisis now facing Hollywood isn't unique to the movies; the atomization of the culture makes it hard to know what people want, particularly when they belong to a multi-everything society like ours. Still, something will be lost if Hollywood continues to downsize its ambitions and fails to make movies that connect with the mass audience, to make movies that speak to us as a unified whole rather than as a mass of self-interested egos, that give us a sense of collective identity and social cohesion. A nation of iPod-people, each staring at his or her individually downloaded film on the delivery system of his or her choice, seems a poor substitute for the oceanic feeling that comes with watching a film with a crowd, finding communion in the dark.

It's March 1st!!!

Thank God! I have never been so happy to say goodbye to a month before. The last couple of weeks were not good. The only thing I have to show for a month of the "blahs" is a nice scar from burning myself with a clothing iron. Add this scar to the one from last year, when I sliced open my hand after falling on broken glass. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Allora, (oh no, I'm starting to become one of those annoying people who use non English words when speaking English), it's a new month. I am going to lose the weight I regained and get it together. I pretty much ate non-stop last month. Were it not for going to the gym I would look like a freaking Weeble.

Pumkin vs. Miss New York

No comment.

Tom Ford's Hollywood

My co-worker and I looked at it yesterday. For all the controversy, the sad thing is, his issue truly reflects how most people in power feel about women in this industry.

I'm too busy to go off on this piece of boring bullshit. I think I can sum it up by saying, good for Rachel McAdams. I find it very interesting that when Eric Bana (who is not that well known to the general public) was uncomfortable with Ford's concept, it was changed. When Rachel who stared in 4 hits (in different genres), was uncomfortable she was no longer on the cover and not even in the magazine. She is one of the few up and coming actresses who is acknowleged as not just pretty but also very talented. I guess that means nothing because she wouldn't take her clothes off.

Nudity in art can be really beautiful, powerful or provocative, sometimes all at the same time. It's as if VF only went for provocative so there is nothing artistic about the overall theme of this issue. I actually like Sienna's picture but what is up with the theme of naked female body parts juxtaposed to clothed men. Please stop with the "oh but he's gay". Just because a man is gay doesn't mean he is automatically more "female friendly" then a straight man. That is a stereotype. Some of the most sexist men I have met in my life were gay.

If Tom wanted to put peole in the issue that were fresh, why is Jennifer Aniston in it? She is constantly on the newstand covers. He says that Hollywood is made of artists and craftmen, where are they?

Mr. Carter in his editor's letters has been bashing Bush for years, mainly for being shallow. Hello, does Carter read his magazine? Oh right, that great philosopher of our times (THAT'S HOT!!) Ms. Hilton, was on the cover a couple issues ago. Having an article on the Sudan and other important topics once in a while doesn't take away VF's sad attempt to compete with Life and Style. It's not working, circulation is still down. I stopped my subscription a couple years ago and don't buy it the newstand. I actually miss Tina Brown.

Is this week over yet?

Things just keep getting better. I had the worst fight with my landlord. She called me yesterday afternoon saying I had three days to pay her almost $800. She bought the building recently and try to illegally raise my rent...twice. When she sent the rent increase letter (without 30 days notice) it was little less then what I was paying so that is what I paid.

I called the LA office of rent stablization to find out what my rights were.
After a very heated "discussion" this morning, she is not going to raise my rent until the fall but I still have to pay over $600 in back rent. Thank god I keep good records. I sent her copies of canceled checks to prove that her attempt to increase my rent again in May (after raising it in the fall) was illegal. Needless to say the last 24 hours were not fun.

They were serving some Prosecco (italian sparkling wine) at a reception in the courtyard, before class last night. I had just been on my cellphone with my sister talking about the crazy landlord. I walked into the courtyard a little wound up. However, after seeing my friends and a class of wine I calmed the hell down.

I had to tell the class what I did on Valentine's Day (see previous post). Our professor was in rare form last night. He thought my proclamation was funny. He told the other single person in the class, it's a good thing she doesn't own any cats. Il cane? Buono. Il gatto? Non.

Okay I was being a little melodramtic in my earlier post. I have this bad habit of when something goes wrong/upsets me, I do a greatest hits rundown of all the things that are wrong. This of course gets me more upset. It all started with reading in the trades about yet another boy-wonder writer/director under 30 who signed a multi-million dollar deal. Then dealing with flaky people who say they are going to do something but don't. Ugh, one of my biggest pet peeves. Why do they offer? I found out I have to pay a business tax since I'm an independent contractor. Plus I was PMSing. My landlord was just the icing on the cake.

My friend thinks I am very stressed out and suggested I go to a Buddhist meeting with her tonight. I had introduced her to another friend of mine and that friend is also coming. I have never been to a Buddhist meeting. Now normally on Friday nights I do something very exciting, sit on my couch and read scripts. I'm trying to break the cycle.

Back to romance, so I really don't believe it's dead. I know too many amazing couples (of course most of my friends here are single, east coast different story). Romance is out there, just not in my little universe. This is one of many reasons why I need to move.

It's Valentines Day!

Whatever. I fear in my world romance as we know it is dead. I have never received flowers or anything since college. This DJ I used to go out with at Syracuse used to make tapes for me. After all my moves (DC, NYC, LA) I still have them.

Come to think of it I can count on one hand how many real dates I've been on. What the heck is going on, was I too busy working or something? Oh yeah, most of my 20's were spent in the "Cholocate City", Washington DC, where the women out number men by some ridulous number. My brother, a Howard grad, basically had women throwing themselves at him. Plus I was working in politics so my hours were crazy and I moved around alot working on campaigns.

NYC was great then I moved to LA where I am just invisible. Nothing going on but the rent. The worst dates, if you can call them that, were in this city. I do know some colleagues who have met guys online. I've tried it, not for me.

Where did the romance go? When I was younger I saw these postcards my dad sent to my mom when they were dating long distance. She was in NYC and he was in Curacao. Even to my cynical American mind they were sweet. He moved to America, a place he had never even visited to marry the women he loved. Today you are lucky if the guy you're dating on the westside will drive east of the 405 to see you.

Romance is dead. E' morto, finito, niente.

Okay off to work.

La Meglio Gioventu (the best of youth)

Just finished watching part 2. Amazing, powerful film. 6 incredible hours.

It's an Italia kind of week.

I stopped watching the Today Show a couple years ago. All that joking around is fake, they can't stand each other. The newscast was becoming too tabloid driven. Usually the first half hour is hard news, then you start to ease into the entertainment/lifestyle stuff. For me the last straw was on the Monday after 4 journalists were killed in Afganistan, CBS and ABC led off with that story. The Today show led off with some Happy Potter story. Since then I'm a GMA person. I did read the new producers at the Today want to do more hard news. Given everything that is going on in world we can do with less stories about Britney not having her kid in a car seat.

However, this week I did watch because they were broadcasting live from Rome, Florence, and Milan. Not sure why Katie let some pigeons sit on her head but otherwise there were some really great segments on art, culture, food and fashion. In Rome, Giada De laurentiis did a segment on market shopping then she cooked a meal for Katie at a relative's house. The palazzo was stunning, the views! I think it was her uncle's place.

Class on Thursday was fun. I had to tell the class about the movie "Cristo si e Fermata a Eboli" (Chirst stopped at Eboli). One of my classmates lent it to me. It was about a Northern writer under house arrest for his political views. Mussolini had sent him to Eboli, a small, remote and poor village in Southern Italy.

Thursday after class the four of us went to dinner. We "spoke" Italian for about half the night. My friend is still dating her Florentine boyfriend. She might rent an apartment there this fall. She was thinking about taking a leave from work before she even met him. She is so happy....awww amore.

Friday morning I decided to got to the Barneys Warehouse sale at 8:00 a.m. at the Santa Monica airport instead of the gym. Bought a pair of Co-op pants for practically nothing. Saw a pair of Prada pumps for under $250 but they did not have my size.

Since I was on the westside I went to the VW body shop to get an estimate. It will cost almost $700 to replace the decorative moldings on the doors. I guess I will keep driving without them. If I get a production bonus or something I'll take care of it. For now I would rather use that money to put toward my Christmas trip to St. Martin so I can see my family.

Went to Bay Cities deli and bumped into a producer who produced a film my boss started in last year. Very random. He told me he and his girlfriend go to Italy a couple times a year. He has a bunch of friends there. One of them is the director Gariele Muccino ("L'Utimo Bacio", aka "The Last Kiss") who's in town working on a project. He said next time "The Italians" come over for dinner he'll let me know. I looooove that deli. I bought salami, cheese, bread and Larzaroni milk chocolate with Amaretti di Saronno crumbles. It's all one of my classmate's fault. I went to her house on Sunday to do homework and she went to Bay Cites and came back with quite the spread. It was the first time I had that chocolate and now I'm hooked. Damn her, I better get it together before I regain the weight I lost. :)

Was invited at the last minute to some industry mixer but stayed in and watched the opening ceremony for the games. Very interesting. Disco, Fellinish acrobatics, Opera and fireworks. It was great to see the diverse group of women chosen to walk the Olympic flag in.

Went to the gym, read a bunch of scripts yesterday, made a really good soup (chicken with pasta and mushrooms) then watch part one of "La Meglio di Giovane" aka "The Best of Youth". It was a 6 hour miniseries that Miramax released theatrically last year for about a week. I will watch part two today.

Off to the Farmer's market to buy some flowers. It's held every Sunday on Melrose Place which is maybe 3 blocks from my apartment. For dinner I think I will have the rest of that soup. I don't know why I never made soups before. I made my first one a couple weeks ago. It was really good and filling. I guess if you make a cream based one it can be fattening but otherwise I assume they are pretty healthy.

Next weekend is a holiday but I think we still have class that Monday. I wasn't going out of town anyway. My sister-in-law is going to Turks and Caicos. I know she will be happy to get out of the cold weather. They just got hit with a Nor'easter. Yesterday it was in the low 80's here. Very dry and windy so there was a fire alert for most of this area.

Tom Ford, Kanye, and Santino, please sit your ass down!

"What is Kanye wearing?"

A message my sister sent from her Blackberry.

I missed most of the Grammys because last night was the first night of our Spring session for the Girls Empowerment Workshop at the Hollywood Boys and Girls club. I volunteer there on Wednesdays and I was the co-chair of the first workshop. We covered manners/etiquette. Very fun, the girls are great. Some of their questions/answers were a trip. For example, it's good to have manners but you can't be overly friendly because then people will think you're a punk. Uhmmm okay.

We haven't received the new, controversial issue of Vanity Fair at the office yet. Apparently there was all kinds of drama regarding Rachel McAdams not wanting to pose nude. I did see the cover on the newsstand. What is Tom Ford doing on the cover? He's not an actress. As much as I hate the waxed chest look "a.k.a Smoothies" are the early 70's back? What's with the shirt opened to almost the waist? Tom is in a very porn mood now (his eyewear ad campaign). The fashionistas think he is close to jumping the shark.

Clearly Kanye got his fashion cues from Tom. What's up with the gloves and the sunglasses? My man you are not Prince, stop tripping. Mr. West is talented but seems to have no sense of humor and a very thin skin. He talks smack but takes himself way too seriously. I haven't heard one positive thing about him from my friends or colleagues who deal with him.

Santino, I'm perplexed as to why he is still there. The man does not listen. His jumpsuit was awful. It did not fit and was falling apart. He is very critical of everyone's work but thinks he's perfect.

I know these are very tough fields to suceed in and it's important to be confident. However, there's no need to treat people around you like crap. The same people you step on to reach the top will be cheering your demise on your way down. Ask Mike Ovitz.

A case of the blahs

I was watching the news and they were talking about the problems older moms face. I realized, seeing how I am single and broke, I may never be a mom and became very upset. I think sometimes I forget how old I am and still believe I'm going to get married and have a family. I haven't had a date in maybe 2-3 years, so that is unlikely. I think the last one was with that freaky "architect/perfomance artist" guy from Columbia who had serious father and anger issues. One of the worst dates ever.

My backup plan of adopting might be a non starter as well. I need to make some money in order to adopt and where would I raise a child by myself? Out here far from my siblings and thousand of miles away from my parents? The public schools are terrible and real estate is out of control. A two bedroom room condo around the corner from me sold for 1.3 million. No doorman, or pool and this being LA you need a car. I get paying those prices in NYC, San Fran or Boston not so much on Croft street.

Stuff like this makes me want to eat some Doritos. It will take much discipline not to stop by Gelsons after class. Tomorrow a group of us are going to see the movie Something New. It's really a damn documentary (except for the part about the cute guy with the jeep and the nice dog).

File under something to look forward to: While typing this I just got off the phone with an exec at HBO. He told me to call him before my trip. The miniseries "Rome" might be in production and he will try to get me a set visit. It's shooting at Cinecitta. Maybe I will get to go on one of the days James Purefoy and Ray Stevenson are working.

See, now I can stop before a rant kicks in. In a couple of months I will be outta here!!

Confessions on a dance floor, CMAs

Madonna is 47?! 20 years after "Everybody", Madge, almost 50, still has a career in this one-hit-wonder culture we now live in.

I heard this CD all over St. Martin and bought it when I got back. I didn't love her last CD but this one is great. The first three tracks are my favorites.

I wasn't feeling her during her I love Britney phase. What was she doing, sucking up her? Britney is not the next Madonna, anymore more than 50 Cent is the next Chuck D, or Coldplay the next U2. Please, people get a grip.

We weren't allowed to watch too much TV growing up, esp. on school nights. We watched the local news, Mr. Cronkite, and maybe one hour of prime time. Instead after homework we could read books, listen to music or play. My parents let us watch more of "the idiot box" as my dad called TV, on Saturday mornings. I can't remember which NYC station used to show Soul Train and American Bandstand back-to-back but those were good times.

When we moved to the burbs, we were older and of course watched more TV. However, we were the last family in the tri-state area to get cable, so I didn't get my MTV for a while. Some Saturday mornings I would still watch those shows. I remember sitting in the den watching this petite woman with a long row of rubber black braclets singing "Holiday". After the song Dick Clark interviewed her. The last question was:

Dick Clark: So what is your goal?
Madonna: To rule the world.


All this week I've been playing old-school hip hop, Led, and Marley. I talk to my sister who is ten years younger than me and even she complains about most of the music out today. Yes, there has always been throwaway music but with everything that is going on in the world today, why is most of the stuff on the charts garbage?

I happened to see some of the CMA's rerun at the gym a couple weeks ago. I was fasinated that all the performers could actually sing. No backing vocals, no lip syncing. It was very weird to see a music awards show with real musicians. I knew who the artists were but I don't have a lot of country CDs. After the show, I thought I need to check Martina McBride, Big and Rich etc. Faith Hill's (other than the song "This Kiss", not a big fan, her stuff seems like watered down bad pop) duet with her husband, Tim McGraw was beautiful.

My parents loved Johnny Cash so when I go home to St. Martin for Christmas, I'll bring them the "Walk the Line" DVD. A lot of West Indians of their generation listened to country and my parents were no exception. The music didn't have the same negative cultural connotations to them that it did to many Afrian-Americans of that age. You could hear the blues and gospel influences and the lyrics dealt with love, family, friends, loss, heartache, the things that make life what it is.

When I hear a song like "Redemption Song" or a "Change is Going to Come" and the power of those lyrics, it makes me sad that now we have bullshit like the "Laffy Taffy" song. Ugh.

Mi piace la mia classe ( I like my class), peace agreement on hold?

I love my new italian conversational class. We met last night in the library at the Insituto. There are 10 of us in the class. 3 of my friends are in it along with 2 of my former classmates. It was good to see everyone and our professor, Roberto, is great.

He asked (98 percent of all conversation is in italian, sometimes we will ask him to explain something in english) me to tell the class what Italian film I have seen lately. I said Romanzo Criminale. He said great tells us about the movie. Uhmm right, so I basically had to give the plot and my opinion in Italian. With a some help I was able to have an coherent conversation.

The lead news story this morning was, what is going to happen with the peace agreement with Prime Minister Sharon in the hospital and the Hamas landslide? How is this new goverment going to work? Will the EU, USA ,and other countries recognize Hamas as a political party? Will the current Palestinian PM who remains in office, be effective now that his party is in the minority? His party followers are not happy, the polls had indicated they would hold on to more parliment seats. What happened?

2 down 10 to go! Project Runway

These crazy bootcamp classes must be working. Although it's hard to get up in the dark, at 6:00 a.m., I feel great after the class. I have so much energy and I can tell I am losing some inches.

I wanted to lose 12 pounds, would be happy with 9 but going for the gold. So far lost 2. I'm sure if I did the South Beach diet I would have lost more by now. However, I really don't want to gain it all back the minute I eat some pasta. Cutting out whole food groups is stupid and makes me very, very cranky. When I went to stay with my dutch relatives after college, I noticed they ate bread, cheese, butter, nutella (this is not a low calorie food item!!), whatever and were thin. It's all about portions and not eating a ton of junk food.

Speaking of junk, I so want to try the new Black Cherry Vanilla coke. I see those damn billboards everywhere. I don't know where this willpower is coming from. Instead of drinking coke every weekend while reading scripts, I decided cut back to one Saturday a month. I think I'll treat myself next weekend. Also I cut way, way back on candy. There is an amazing, high end chocolate store across the street from our office that also sells Swedish Fish and Jelly Bellys. My two favorite candies. The chocolate is crazy expensive but I used to stop by that store a couple times a week and get a little candy. That adds up. Now I get a small amount on Thursdays. Doesn't take much to make me happy.

Re: Project Runway. Let this be a lesson, stealing models is not cool. Sistergirl was wrong. She should've focused on her craft and not just competing.

Koo Koo Roo, Italiano

There are a couple of local chains Angelenos love, like In-n-Out. I haven't eaten there in a while but the food is good. I don't understand the love for Koo Koo Roo. In the 7 years I've lived here I think I have bought food from there twice. After yesterday I remember why. For now on it will be a Koo Koo don't.

I am trying to eat better, so instead of getting a slice of pepperoni pizza and a coke on the avenue, I went across the street. I ordered skinless, roasted chicken and steamed veggies. First of all, the chicken tasted like cardboard and then later that day I became sick.

I thought I had just really bad cramps, which would be weird to get at the end of my cycle. When I got home (without getting too graphic) and went to the ladies room, I realized what the hell was going on. I have never had stomach pain that bad. My co-worker gave me some Aleve and Tums, which did not help. Or maybe it did and prevented me from passing out. At one point I thought if childbirth is worst than this, I don't how I will make it. Doesn't matter that I can't remember the last time I had sex, these are the things I worry about as my clock expires.

My post St. Martin depression has lifted because I booked my trip to Italy. I was going to go in the fall but need to go back earlier for some meetings on one of my projects. Since I will be there anyway might as well travel. I am renting a great apt. in Trastevere. My friend Ettore, put me in touch with a friend of his. His friend is an actor on a series that shoots in Naples, so he rents out his place in Rome. I'm paying less for the apartment because I went through the owner and not the rental agency. This trip wouldn't be possible without my parents. I am using the money they gave me for my birthday and Christmas. I could use the money to put towards a new car but I need to get out of Hell-lay.

Speaking of Italia, I started my classes on Monday. I'm a little rusty. The class is small, only 5 students and I have the same "professore" from last year. Monday night went to dinner with a producer friend's assistant. She thought we should meet. He is Roman and went to grad school at the London School of Economics, so he speaks perfect English. We spoke italian for the first 15 minutes. He said he will email me to help me practice writing the language.

The Italian Cultural Institute per several student's request is offering a conversational class for the intermediate level. Before they only offered advanced conversational classes. Three of my classmates from last year are taking it and the class starts tomorrow night. Hopefully having two classes a week, doing the homework, watching movies and listening to my pimsleur CDs will help. It's not the same as total immersion but moving to Rome is not an option right now. Non posso aspettare per il mio viaggio (I cannot wait for my trip)!!

Larry Fishburne is trippin'

If this is true.  So my friend sent me the following. Call me crazy but I think it's illegal to fire someone because they are pregnant. Between this and the B.S. list BET put together for their finest women of the past 25 years and Goldie's behavoir on Flavor of Love, things are not cool.


Laurence Fishburne's former personal assistant is suing him for allegedly firing her because she was pregnant and single, her lawyer said Wednesday.
Kristal Crews filed the lawsuit against the actor in Superior Court on Tuesday, seeking unspecified damages.
"He told her that he didn't think single women should have children," Crews' attorney Nikki Tolt said.
Fishburne's attorney, Lawrence Gartner, denied the allegations, saying in a statement that during Crews' employment "she was always treated in a fair and professional manner."
"It is unfortunate that the visibility of actors causes people to say all kinds of things about them for what we can only assume are their own purposes. We are confident that Mr. Fishburne will be vindicated in these proceedings," Gartner said in the statement issued by the actor's spokesman, Alan Nierob.
Tolt alleged that several months after Crews became pregnant and requested special accommodation for a film shoot in New Orleans, Fishburne told his assistant she would be fired.
"He told her he was going to fire her on her due date. What a sweetheart," Tolt said.
Tolt said Crews worked for Fishburne on the day she gave birth, a month early, in November 2004, and that stress forced the woman to have an emergency Caesarean section.
Crews' termination date was then extended to Jan. 17, 2005, the day she was supposed to return from her pregnancy leave, Tolt said.

1 pound down 11 to go!

I thought I was going to get sick during our bootcamp class at the gym this morning. However, I was motivated to push on through after weighing myself before class. I have to keep middle age spread in check, esp. in my business. Hello a size 6 is considered big.

I'm not on a structured diet, just trying to eat better. I actually made it through a weekend without eating popcorn. I realized I was always eating that or candy while reading scripts. Not a good habit. I can't go cold turkey so I will have one weekend in Feb. where I'll treat myself.

Now Trader Joe's is opening a store in my old neighborhood. From today's NYT's:

At 15,000 square feet, including the wine shop, the new Trader Joe's will be less than a third the size of the Whole Foods that opened last year at 4 Union Square South. Balducci's recently opened a 10,000-square-foot store at Eighth Avenue and 14th Street, Garden of Eden has a store at 14th Street and Fifth Avenue, and four days a week, the city's flagship Greenmarket is in Union Square.

Man, all that great food right there. I ate more when I lived in NYC but weighed 10 lbs less. I used to walk everywhere, even during the winter. Now I can't stand being cold. How did I ever go to college in upstate New York? My brother was right, LA has made me soft.

Is it a holiday?

Today is MLK day but I have been going non stop. First the gym, laundry, italian homework, read two scripts, cleaned my apartment. The Golden Globes are today. My boss asked me if I wanted to go to the Lionsgate pre-party, I had nothing to wear so stayed home and made jerk chicken. I used the spices I bought in St. Martin. Very good but I thought the mild one was pretty spicy.

Yesterday, did some shopping and tried a new recipe I found on Foodnetwork.com. I made a lemon pound cake. I burnt the sides a little but it was sooooo good. I'm going to take the rest to work tomorrow.

I was going to go over to a friend's house to watch the Globes but she is slammed with work and will basically have the show on mute. So instead I'll watch the show at home in my PJs. For dinner I think I'll make some garlic shrimp and try not to eat too much cake. I need to lose 14 lbs.

I have a week before my Italian classes start again. I will be Intermediate, Level 1. I am so out of practice. I am trying to review a few chapters from our textbook and listen to my CDs. Our gang of 4 from class last year are going to meet for drinks in a couple weeks. We are all in different classes this year. Two are one level ahead of us. Last time we met for brunch, I couldn't understand half the conversation.

Okay back to work.

SXM

I have finally finished unpacking. My dad asked me if I could work from St. Martin, I wish. I don't think I could live there full time right now. It's very family oriented (there seems to be no single women over 30) and too small an island. But I would love to spend a month or so there at a time. I really missed my siblings but next Christmas we will all be there.

It was interesting to be on the island with a friend who has never been there. She wanted to know if we were related to everyone on the island. It became a running joke, we kept bumping into cousins, family friends, people I didn't even know we were related to. I don't know my parents who had not live there for decades, keep track.

It is so beautiful. I love the values, no botox, fake boobs no one cares what kind of car you drive. It's about family and community. Folks are proud and quality of life is great. There is cable (my parents get the NYC local channels, along with the CNNs, HBOs etc.) so you still know what is going on in the world. Great food, music, fresh air, stunning beaches, and men who flirt.

On the down side, small island so everybody knows your business, over development (esp. on the dutch side), many things have to be imported so prices are higher on those items. Not knowing french is a negative for me. My mom's french is back. My dad spoke french until his family move to Curacao in second grade. He said the dutch, spanish and papimento (local dialect of Curacao and Aruba, combo of spanish, porteguese with some hebrew mixed in) killed it. Most people do speak English but a lot of business (like paying your electric bill, grocery shopping) is in French.

We went to Le Gailion, Friar's Bay, Baie Rouge beaches. We miss Dawn Beach. I can't believe they are building such a huge hotel there. It's the same developers of the tacky Atlantis. One of the best beach bars on the island, Scavangers, had to close.

Had too many amazing meals to list from nice places like Spiga to "lolos", like Talk of the Town. That place has amazing Johnny cakes.

We went to Anguilla to see family and show my friend the sites. We stopped by the hospital and received some bad news.

Anguilla, british west indies, is very different from St. Martin. Quiet and laid back but popular with celebs who don't like the "sceney" St. Barths. Population is only 8,000. There are more Anguillians in the UK. It was under the radar until Brad and Jen, Beyonce, Jay z, Denzel etc. were there last christmas. It's still a pain to get to and very expensive so I don't think it will turn into Dutch Sint Maarten. There are no casinos, really nothing to do but relax. We saw David Ducovny (sp), Tea Leoni and Julianne Moore with their families when they arrive at SXM on their way to Anguilla. Saw Usher when I was leaving. Short, nice smile. Only the tourists seem to notice him.

My friend forwarded the site below to me. Nice photos of Anguilla.

http://www.d-nice.com/journal/archives/000077.php

match point, munich, king kong

It's awards season and I'm trying to catch up on my movies. I still need to see Walk the Line and Capote. Not enough hours in the day.

The last three movies I saw were, Match Point, Munich, and King King. I'm still thinking about the first two. I wasn't emotionally invested in King Kong at all. I thought some of the special effects were amazing, Naomi was great but it didn't move me.

Jon Stewart will be hosting the Oscars this year. This should be very interesting.

Off to read.

Flavor Flav/Hell ay

Can Mike Fleiss sue? Basically Flav's show is a ghetto version of The Bachelor. My friends were talking about the show and I couldn't quite believe my eyes. The woman who was hysterically crying after not receiving a clock...was she serious? I wonder what Chuck D thinks.

"Los Angeles is 27 suburbs in search of a city." Joan Didion

I went to jr/high school in the suburbs and it doesn't even have the perks of suburban living (i.e. great public schools).

Been back only a few days and already planning my next trip out of this place. I've been here 7 years. Why do I still hate it? I thought by now it things would be better. I do things outside of the business, take classes and volunteer and yet I look forward to the day I can do my job elsewhere. It just feels souless to me. No energy or flavor. It's hard to explain.

Now with my friends leaving or wanting to leave it's actually getting worse living here. This is not a city for single older women.

However, my work is here and I need to change my attitude. I'm treated like doo-doo on a stick in LA but yet every time I leave the city it's different story. Instead of getting bummed out about this I should get over it. I have to live here.

I crack up when my male colleagues complain the women they meet only want to date men with money and nice cars and how high maintenance they are. If they stopped dating "mattresses" they wouldn't have these problems. I'll never forget being at a birthday party for a studio exec and this bland 40 year old hit on a very pretty 20 year saying his movie was opening that weekend. She couldn't care less and he was taken aback, shocked!! Maybe she didn't care about his Porsche or maybe she thought his movie was cheesy. I just thought it was bizarre that was his opening line. I have to get out. I don't want to be living here full time when I'm 45 (that would be 95 by Hollywood standards).

Miami international airport sucks!!!

So here I am at midnight typing on one of those phone/internet things. St. martin and anguilla were amazing. I miss my family already. My friend had fun despite the hospital visit to one of my relatives (long story), island time service, and spending New Years watching Godfather 1 instead of fireworks.

I had a great time until I tried to leave the island. flights had to refuel in San Juan since SXM ran out of fuel. So we missed our connecting flights. Since it's not American's fault they are not obligated to pay for our hotel rooms. so I decided to stay in the airport since my stand by is at 8:00 a.m. and I should be here at least 2 hours before the flight. I am so beyond livid at how disorganized everything was. We were told to go directly to our connecting flights. 5 minutes before the plane takes off, all of us from the sxm flight were pulled off since we did not go through customs. After customs, another long ass line only to find out all flights until 5:00 p.m. tomorrow are sold out. ugh!!! This is not a good way to end a two week trip.

I hate this airport. There is always drama. Last Christmas we almost missed our connecting flights and my brother's luggage took three days to arrive. I paid $1200 for my ticket and it takes almost 9 hours of flying time plus a couple hours waiting time, connecting etc. The least they could do is give us some accurate info. I hope to be back in LA tomorrow.

I'm too tired and pissed off to write more about my trip. I'll try this weekend.

My friend notice how great her skin looked after only 2 weeks. I have been dealing with a dry patch on my left cheek since it started to get "cold" in LA. Now it's gone, skin flawless. Of course staying overnight in this stupid airport and eating Burger King (for the first time in over 15 years, it was the only thing open) might jack up my skin. I will add there is a very eclectic crowd in the airport.

Okay, now I am going to try and find a spot and sit until 5:00 a.m.

Bon jour St. Martin

This time tomorrow I will be sitting on my parent's porch (aka veranda) chilling with the rents and a mojito. There is an amazing but tiny french deli the next village over with the best baguettes. Fresh loaves (still warm) every morning. My brother found it and we would get our wine, cheese and bread from there. Too bad after 8 years of jr/high school and college French, I can't speak it. Since I started taking Italian random French words pop into my head and I can sort of read it. My parents asked me when I'm going to start taking French. I can barely handle intermediate Italian. French is going to have to wait.

I hope this year the local carolers do not show up at 1:00 a.m. Last year my siblings and I were coming home from a very long and good dinner and we saw all these people on the porch wearing Santa hats. My brother said "Isn't it late, what the f**k"? They were singing carols. Badly. All loud and off key. This could be because they were drunk. We were cracking up, basically at every house they have something to drink. I think my dad gave them some guava punch. There are not that many houses in my parents neighborhood, so they know all the carolers. The next night the carolers were back. I didn't think it was possible but they were actually worse and woke up half the house.

Christmas is on a Sunday this year, which means I will be in church at 8:00 a.m. Their United Methodist Church is the minister's first service of the day. I think he goes to Marigot or Philipsburg next. The bells start ringing at 7:30 a.m. If the bells don't wake you the wild roosters in the hills will have you up at the crack of dawn. My grandfather used to have roosters and as kids we really wanted to take them out.

My dad rebuilt the house and they don't have any animals but there are some mango and lime trees from when my grandfather lived there. Too bad all the coconut trees were damaged after the last big hurricane to hit St. Martin in '94. My dad has planted some new trees and I think there's a banana tree too.

The day after Christmas is Boxing Day. Not sure why it's celebrated on an island that is French and Dutch. It's a British holiday. Everyone goes to the beach, then to big house parties.

I am going to ask one of my parent's neighbor where are the fun places to go. She is a single French woman and has lived on the island for years. One of my friends is coming down from New York and I'm sure she'll want to go out. I have the beaches and restaurants covered. Don't know the bars that well. Not sure if we are going to take the ferry over to Anguilla. I would like to see some of my cousins but they will probably be at one of the Boxing Day parties in St. Martin.

I am going to get my Type A mom to relax and hang out with us at the beach. It will be tough. Last year I tried to do my own laundry and she yelled at me. She wanted me to take it easy. I did cook dinner a couple of times. However, everytime she would come into the kitchen asking if she could help. The few times I have seen her not working are during church, The McNeil/Lerher (sp) Report and Young and Restless. Not sure if she still watches Bold and the Beautiful. Y&R has been her "story" for years. It was a great day in the Tri-State area when my parents got a VCR. My mom could tape her stories and watch them whenever.

I have to finish cleaning. I am packed. Got my brows done today, mani/pedi and hair twisted yesterday. My hairdresser was almost an hour late, ugh! which made me late for my nail appt. at Jessica's. My twists are really thin so they are kinda curly. Still getting used to them, they really stand out in the land of weaves. After brows, went to the foreign currency counter at the bank to get some Euros. Not looking forward to sitting at LAX for three hours but very excited about tomorrow!

Tomkat's creepy photo op

http://people.aol.com/people/galleries/0,19884,1141767,00.html


Someone sent the above photo to me. Okay, that just looks weird. Also what 27 year old grown ass woman wants a party at FAO Schwartz? I love the store too but come on! I hope in 2006 we will hear less about them, the tacky Federline's, Jen, Jessica/Nick's split and maybe more about how we are going to pay off the trillion dollar deficit. Or how are we going to pay for re-buidling New Orleans and Iraq without raising taxes. I guess I'm being unrealistic. As long as Us, InTouch, The Star, keep selling, we will be bombarded with these stupid cover stories.

Cannot wait to get out of here tomorrow.

voting, christmas

Over 70 percent of Iraqis voted yesterday. This despite threats of violence and very long lines. I think for us it's less than 50 percent. We do take a lot of things for granted here. I hope we will start withdrawing troops soon.
I bet some will come home next summer, right before the mid-term elections.

I told my sister today, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all. There is maybe one house two streets over that has lights on. Maybe in other areas of LA people get into it. I heard Donny Hathaway's This Christmas on my walkman radio at gym this morning (too cold for Runyon) and it threw me for a minute. "wait why are they playing Christmas music?" The only thing really worshiped in the biz is money. I think it's hilarious after The Passion did so well, this most secular part of the USA is trying to reach out to that audience. Hello, America is bigger than west of the 405.

I was watching some Bobby Flay special on the Food Network. It was all about Christmas in NYC. The big star on Fifth Avenue, the store windows, the tree at Rockefeller Center. I miss it. NYC seems more festive. Everyone is out and about, not stuck in traffic on the 101 cursing. You could get your holiday drink on and not worry about driving. I guess if I grew up here, I would be used to the warm weather and weird looking decorations on Wilshire in Beverly Hills.

It will be strange not having the whole family together. I better get used to it. My siblings are married now and have other obligations. It's very expensive to go home to St. Martin during high season. My ticket was $1200 and it takes forever to get there from LA.

Since I'm working from home today, I will break out the Christmas music. Got my Nat King Cole, Mariah and some classical stuff like the Nutcraker. I do have Donny Hathaway's single on a CD my former assistant burned for me but have to find it. I need to start labeling these things.

job, santino, gym, and pain

After being in "the industry" for 7 years I'm shocked when people actually follow through on something. Last month my boss told me she would talk to me about my contract, which is not up until January, before the holidays. Lo and behold she did! Yesterday after the office holiday lunch, she told me the partners want to renew for the year. We will keep the same part-time/consultanting structure for now. As the company grows I might come on full time and of course they would pay me more.

This time last year the production company I was running, shut down eventhough our overhead deal with the studio wasn't up for months. We received two weeks severence (after three years of busting my ass, what a joke), no bonus, and owner's wife thought it would be great for morale to turn our conference room into a gift wrap room. They should have wrapped the gifts in their guest house. We did't need to see the thousands of dollars they spent while we were cleaning out our desks and worried about paying bills.

Santino, get over yourself. You do not need to win every challenge on Project Runway.

Woke up at 5:30 this morning. Did some work before going to Equinox for my 6:30 bootcamp class. I missed the class the last couple of weeks, could not drag my butt out of bed until 7:00. I'm still sore from Tuesday's class. Today, Carlos was not playing. I felt sick at one point. If I'm not in too much pain tomorrow, I am going to hike in Runyon canyon.

Week from today I will be in St. Martin. Cannot freaking wait!!! This time I won't be stressed out about being unemployed.

santino, tyra and jason

Wednesday night was graduation for the girls in our Girls Empowerment Workshop at the Hollywood Boys and Girls club. I will miss them. We had 17 girls in the program and most of us grown ups have not spent that much time with 11-14 year olds since we were that age. The program was great and the girls were amazing.

Not a big reality tv fan but thanks to my friend Nicole, I started watching Project Runway towards the end of the first season. Damn her, now I'm hooked.

Season two started Wednesday. DVF was one of the special judges. Love her clothes. She just opened a store here around the corner from Marc Jacobs. This Santino guy is a trip. His ego is out of control, which of course will make for good TV. I thought his comment about not winning the second challenge was tacky.

I recently saw a couple episodes of Top Model. It's so over the top and takes itself so seriously. Please. I saw Tyra at L'Ermitage last night. Man, that is a big ass weave, lotta hair.

Maybe I should get a blond weave. kidding. With my complexion I would look ridiculous but on the other hand I would probably get more play. Sad.

Speaking of last night, after work went to drinks at Chateau where a very handsome Jason Statham smiled at my friend, then we (my friend not Jason) went to a "people of color"industry mixer at Lobby. Mike Ealy with his fine self was there and we talked for a while. I did not ask him about the Halle/preggers rumors. I thought it would be inappropiate. At 10 there was a private party, so they kick us out. The folks that got there at 9:45 were not happy.

My friend and I went to L'ermitage after. Staying out until 11:30 is a late night for me. I didn't go to the gym this morning but like clockwork, still woke up at 6:00.

I am soooo glad it's Friday. Waiting for the gas company to come over and turn on the furnance pilot so I can't leave.

valet parking, industry parties

I hate using valet parking. Coming from the East coast it's not something I grew up with. In the 'burbs there was plenty of parking and I sold my car before I moved back into the city. My friends who do have cars in Manhattan only use to them to get out of the city. I spent so much on valets this weekend, I could have bought groceries, books or 2 DVD's. I parked on the street near Yamashiro's Friday night and was told I had to use valet. ugh. So I'm standing at valet watching them retrieve one high end car after another, then they bring out my poor car.

When I got promoted a couple years ago my friends out here told me I needed to get a new car. I was a VP now and shouldn't drive a DOD (director of development) car. Seriously. Thank god I did not lease the BMW I wanted. I would have been screwed when the company I was working for shut down. I am all about keeping my overhead low. My Jetta might be falling apart but it's paid for. I would love to say as a New Yorker I never care about what car I drive. I don't most of the time but I avoid parking at agencies when I have meetings there. God forbid one of the agents I know sees my in my jalopy (sp).

The last two years I cut way back on going to industry parties. I have too much work to do. One of my studio exec friends was on my case, saying if I want to stay in the biz I gotta play the game. I still do lunches and drinks but I don't think after 7 years I shouldn't be at every random party. I'd rather spend my limited time with my friends. For my birthday this year I had a small party at a hotel bar, then went back east to see family and friends. Last year I went to Big Sur by myself. The other years did the big 300 people Evite party thing. When you are just starting out it's fun to have and to go to these big d-girl/boy parties. Now who wants to talk business all the time, esp. at a birthday party? Plus half the people I started out with have left/been squeezed out of the biz.

Friday went to a female producers/execs holiday party. It was great and I got to see some people I haven't talked to in a while. Yes there are a couple women running studios but this is still a boys club. It's good to have a support system.

Saturday drove out to freaking Canoga Park for another party. The guys and some women were watching the fight and there was amazing Jambaliya (sp). I met up with one of my friends and it was fun to hang out. It was a diverse crowd, industry and a bunch of lawyers. The host was an attorney at a big law firm and now works in biz affairs at a studio. I saw his skiing pictures and told him he was too bougie. :) I had to leave early so I wasn't able to enjoy the gift from the lawyer who showed up with a case of Belvedere. I'm sure I will get the post party wrap up tomorrow.

The reason I had to leave early last night is because of a charity event today. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to get to the Century Plaza. The Junior League's annual holiday luncheon was today and I had to help set up.

I then went to brunch with 3 friends from Italian class. Era molto divertente (it was very fun). I received a children's picture Italian dictionary and earrings as Christmas gifts. One of my classmates just returned from Florence. She is in love. Her guy seems great. This was her second trip this fall. She's a prosecutor so it's a big deal for her to take time off. Good for her. Earlier this year we were talking about how dating sucks for black women here. My white girlfriends complain too but at least they date/get asked out. My friend had to leave the country. :) Kidding, she was going to a language school in Florence when they met. I'm so glad I signed up for classes. I would have never met two of them. One is an actress but the other two do not work in the business.

At the party last night I saw someone I haven't seen in months. She just started working again. She had quit her production company job and went to school in Spain for 4 months. I told her about my trip to Italy and my plans for next year. She suggested I go for a couple of months instead of weeks, that is the best way to learn the language. I actually need to work so that is not an option right now. I will take her advice and write it down as a goal, maybe 2007.

Speaking of work, I have to finish my weekend read. I told one of my friends last night, 2006 is going to be a great year. We are not going to spend every Friday and Saturday night at home reading scripts. This the second largest city in the country, we should be able to find something to do that is not work related. Another friend, who is not dating anyone now, told me she's going to get married. Ahh the power of positive thinking. I'm taking baby steps, a date would be a step in the right direction.