How nice, Crash dummy families to yield intelligence on air bags.

I'm trying to find a good webpage about Garrett M. Brown, who was on the NBC show, Sisters, (and invented the Steadicam, who knew?) and now is featured in a safety commerical for Shell. I was all prepared to lament his career's downfall, but all I can find is Sister Loving Sisters.

They are both making that face!!!!

Last night I made the erroneous mistake of getting a carmel Frappucino after 10 pm. I ran around the house like a derelict, laughing hysterically at my own jokes. At one point, I sat down and leaned against the living room wall, laughing. Andrea wanted my attention, so I said "I'll be with you in a minute" and went on laughing.

I can just see Amy getting the Bookmobile gig. I would love to hitch a ride, we could cruise around Oakland saying "Heeeellloooo" to the fine readers who awaited our arrival. Then we could hijack it and drive to IKEA. How sweet would that be, grabbing some Swedish meatballs then jumping back in the Bookmobile.

I'm just cracking myself up today with all this Bookmobile talk.

Holy shit. Redherring.com - Will journalists become new media millionaires?- May 05, 2000 This article mentions a guy that I worked with briefly (aka about 2 days) at beyond. We bought another company, and this fellow with it. I guess he's hot shit, but it didn't seem that way last year. How do you go from being shitlisted to hotshit? Thanks Marnie for the link.

Is it appropriate to just IM someone you don't know because you've read their fabulous website?

I suppose not, given my convicition that what any artist has to offer me is mostly limited by their work. I've never gained anything from meeting an artist in person, in fact the (small to medium time) artists I tried to bond with one summer (first Sark, who was insanely standoffish, really turned me off to approaching people whose works I admire.

I almost met Sark because she's friends with friends of ours, something that I assumed would at least obligate her to give us the time of day, but no, she huddled with "her people" on the other side of the room, away from us lowlifes and rifraff. It's too bad, I really do admire her work, but it's all tainted now. It just doesn't seem real after that.

Later, I tried to meet the bad comedian Reno who I thought I had something in common with because she made this movie, in which her mother asked her if she was tracking down her birthmom just to make a movie about it. My newly (at the time) found birth grandmother had asked me if I found them only to write about it (this one question was arguably one of the most difficult moments of my life, not because of the question, but because it was asked. The answer still stands at no, I found them because I wanted to, because I needed to know more about my hidden history, I write about it so I can make sense of it all. They're wonderful people and I'm thrilled to know all of them but I didn't want to jeapordize our relationship or their privacy, so I largely stopped writing about them that day.) Given that similarity, which I thought was at the very least kind of unusual, I approached the almighty Reno after the film. After an hour of standing there, feeling decidedly unhip and oh so midwestern in the sea of trendy San Francisco-ites, I gave up. More like, she gave up, our only contact her pushing me gently out of her way as she moved on to trendier people.

While these two incidents sucked, they were eye-openers. Only after being brushed aside, did I see that what they, as artists, had to offer me was their work, not themselves. Does this mean that all I can offer my readers is this blog and the associated works of Liz that accompany it? I like to think no, but maybe. I'm different in real life than I am here. We all are.

But I know for sure that if I ever hit it big, or somehow find myself surrounded by people who want to talk to me, I'll make the most profound effort to hear what each of them has to say. Maybe that's the difference between the small-time celebrities I tried to meet and the bona-fide star, Joan fabulous Baez, who I met later that summer. Joan was gracious and kind, responded to my 15 seconds of gushing ("I just have to tell you -- you're awesome!!") with kindness and compassion. I'll never forget those 15 seconds and will always be grateful that she gave them to me.

I just sent Amy a job description that includes the requirements for driving the Bookmobile. How can you not apply with perks like the Bookmobile involved?

I am SO ready for our trip to Disneyland next week. The stress of having both dogs sick has been almost too much to bear, good thing they're both feeling better.

Today's virus must be the Mahir virus! I love you! I kiss you! I ruin hard drive yours and play ping pong.

Our upcoming trip to Disneyland will include dinner at Medieval Times. It's the corniest thing but I'm hopelessly addicted to it. Maybe it's the Medieval Grog or Medieval Pizza they serve.

Looking for the best way to resign from your job? Use the Random Letter of Resignation Generator.

Every turntable known to man is featured here. Do we all have too much time on our hands?

Andrea informed me that some of my posts are arrogant, or at the very least they come off that way. Who's to say? I don't think I'm arrogant but maybe, to you, I am. I don't mean to be but this medium is flawed -- no matter what I intend, the subtle dip in timbre that would let you know that I'm kidding is lost and it's easy (especially if we've never spoken) to assume that I'm not kidding, when I am. But I've always had this problem, while I've made great strides in my speaking life to overcome it, it's all but impossible to overcome here on the Web.

Which leaves me with 2 options -- 1) start writing in a more innocuous, less interesting, manner that makes it crystal clear that I'm kidding or 2) keep writing the way I have been (honestly, hinged by the knowledge that anything I say can be misinterpreted) and take my chances. If I went for #1, there's no point in blogging at all so I guess I'll do #2 and accept that some folks may occasionally mistake me for a real jerk.

I'm extremely grumpy today. Everything is pissing me off.

It's hard to know when to speak freely with people. I have some friends that I can always tell what I'm thinking about anything, including what they're doing. Generally, I give them sound advice. Other friends (and nameless relatives whose opinions I care very deeply about but would never ask for) I just want to shake and say "hello? You're pissing people (or me) off/ hurting people! Stop it!" But I can't. Why? Guess I value their friendship or whatever limited love they've shown me more than the fallout that seems inevitable.

I'm just not sure that everyone needs a website.

Talk about stuff that's good to know -- Air Force hits lowest readiness level in 15 years.

Would these protesters be there if it wasn't a warm comfy tropical paradise?

Today, Alice is better but she's doing everything in slow motion.

I had no idea that things like Faster Pussycat, Wax! Wax! went on.

I came home last night to find Alice breathing weird, snorting, and none too interested in dinner. After a mad dash to the emergency vet (sorry to everyone I cut off on the way) which included me yelling at her to keep her awake since I had no idea what was wrong, we made it to the emergency vet. She has pneumonia. I woke up every 2 hours to check on her breathing so now I'm wiped out. Alice is here with me at work, breathing heavy behind me but resting comfortably.

All those movies where they take a satellite photo and get so close that you can see Will Smith's teeth aren't that far from the truth. TerraServer.com

Holy cow! You CAN do everything online. Even take Disco dancing lessons. Bring your own polyester suit, though.

Is it just my connection, or is the Internet broken today?

International adoptees in U.S. struggle with identities. FYI -- all adopted kids struggle with their identity. Just because I was adopted in the same country where I was born doesn't mean it's easy to look at the faces around you, that reflect nothing of what you look like (not to mention vast personality differences) and not wonder if there are people out there who do look like you. I was lucky, I found a roomfull of people who look like me, but I think my identity will always be split between them.

Annie took us to a place that's almost better than Hot Pot City. A & J Noodles, where you can order everything from from fried chicken to hot & spicy wontons. We got a table full of food for 4 people and it only cost $31. Yum yum!

Recently I bought a clarinet off of ebay. The ad said it was 'nice, ' didn't mention that the A and Bflat keys had a leak, and that no self-respecting instrument repair shop would work on it. If you call that nice, then I guess I got what I paid for.

When the word extreme isn't enough: Suspension MUni.

The weekend was jam-packed with stuff, so much that I don't feel rested and I'm already counting down to next weekend. Played a 2 hour concert at an outdoor shopping mall yesterday, forgot to put sunscreen on my knees so they are a very sexy bright red. We also saw Cirque du Soliel's touring show, Dralion. It wasn't nearly as polished as either of their Vegas shows but at half the price, it was pretty cool. The way they pack up everything (including bathrooms with flushable toilets and an air-conditioned tent) was amazing.