This Week in NYC and Politics

My favorite company name: "The Marquis de Sod" (seen while walking on 14th Street, on the back of a guy's windbreaker---apparently he's a member of a greenskeeping crew for a golf course!)

My favorite blurb this week in the New York Post: My girlfriend Lindsay's been hanging out with butchy DJ Samantha Ronsen for months now. The Post just reported this week that there was a dust-up at Greenwich Village's Beatrice Inn, when one of the Olsen Twins approached Ronsen in the club's DJ booth to say "hi." According to the Post, Lindsay then yelled at the poor girl: "Keep your skinny 15-year-old 'Full House' ass away from my girlfriend!" (Gotta love my girl Lindsay!) :)

In other "Gotta Love My Girl" news: Hillary. Pennsylvania. Drank a shot. Touted her working-class dad. Kicked ass.

Obama's got to realize: You don't win votes by saying Americans just like God and guns because they're "bitter." Believe it or not, most Americans really do believe in God and some Americans really do hunt---both primary/primordial things, not secondary "reactions" to some neurotic "feeling of discontent." Also, some Americans do feel offended when a candidate's preacher of 20 years proclaims "God DAMN America!" and when a candidate's wife says she's NEVER felt proud of America until her husband got some media attention. Not to mention how inane the generic message of "Change" sounds month after month without anything to back it up.

Obama's en route to being the McGovern of 2008. If he's nominated, he's going to get his bland, left-wing ass kicked in the general election.

Dolly + Tammy, Merle + Tammy, doofus + Tammy

Thought I was past my recent Tammy Wynette fixation. But then came across this Dolly Parton/Tammy video...I like Dolly in general (as a good songwriter and singer and general good-natured person and country representative), but she's completely jittery here. The contrast in vibe between her "look-at-me!" spasticity and Tammy's calm is interesting. (BTW: Look at that dress Tammy has on! I'm used to today's stars, in such a hot dress, bumping and grinding or something...What a concept. To just look gorgeous in a dress and have someone contemplate how beautiful your... SHOULDERS are...)



And in other duets, there's this 1988 Merle Haggard appearance with Tammy Wynette at Wembley Stadium. I like Haggard, and his voice and history, a lot. He's an old-school roughhouser, and an old friend of Tammy's ex-husband George Jones. I love the contrast between the two of them here, and how the crowd cheers when Tammy first opens her mouth... (In recognition of how goose-bump-raising her voice is! Wow.)




And then here's something completely horrible... Jarring, like being used to seeing Joan Crawford at her '30s MGM height and then too-abruptly transitioning to one of her cheesy '50s pictures with a C-grade co-star. I'm amazed at Tammy's acting skills here with this stiff, blowhardy pre-Michael Bolton. To see how real singers interact together, watch the George/Tammy videos I posted earlier, and then even the brief Haggard/Tammy Wembley Stadium video. This guy, Mark Gray from 1984 or whenever, annoys me so much because he's generic and cheesy and he belts rather than sings. There's absolutely no "flow" or connection between them whatsoever. (Though she's being a pro and TRYING to look interested.)

Julie London: King of the Road/Sway

While I've been YouTubely obsessing over Tammy Wynette recently, I kept feeling guilty for neglecting my absolute favorite female singer of all time, Julie London. "King of the Road" is by no means indicative of her usual style, but it's from one of her later albums ("Feeling Good"---1967, I think), after she had started to move away from her tighter jazz/big band sound into looser, "groove-y," "what-the-kids-are-into" music... I love her (intentionally) boozy, slurry vocals here, and the duet and song are cute, too.

Plus---that woman's FACE! Good lord. Maybe because it's spring; maybe because I don't have a girlfriend... but in recent weeks I've been especially blown away by how REALLY sexy some of these women (Joan, Lindsay, Calpernia, Tammy, Julie) are! No offense, but you 100% gay guys and 100% straight women are really missing out! ;p




And then there's "Sway," from her "Latin in a Satin Mood" album. Seven years ago, I fell in love with a girl over the Internet because she recommended this song to me and I absolutely loved it!

There are all those little extra "zings" that help seal the deal...

My first lover: I REALLY liked her furniture---1950s turquoise-and-black leather living-room sofa and chair; 1960s king-sized bed with a red-velvet headboard. While she had a cheap apartment, as soon as I walked in and saw her decorations, I knew I'd give her a chance!

My first male lover: His "Obsession" cologne was permeating the office one day. I had no idea it was him wearing it, but started goofing around aloud to my co-workers, saying, "WHO smells so good??" and going from office to office following the trail, until I discovered... it was the boss! Hello! ;p (Another cute thing was when we were at a school function, riding around on a golf-cart, just the two of us...He kept showing off and making sharp turns, which forced me to grab his thigh so I wouldn't fall off the cart. And all the while, making small-talk about religion!) ;p

The girl I was in love with in high school: She blew smoke in my face one day... (Now, that shouldn't encourage anyone else to try the same trick; 99% of the time, that's very obnoxious. In this one instance, however... It was movie-hot!) ;p

Oh, have I been digressing?! Here's "Sway"!

'80s Tammy Medley

Her first hit, "Apartment No. 9"; "D-I-V-O-R-C-E"; and "Stand By Your Man." (Note: In "DIVORCE," in the original single, she talks about her pseudo-kid "J-O-E." Here, however, she just spells out "G-E-O." Go figure. :)

Beautiful!

I've always liked this Christina Aguilera song, but disliked it when seeing the video 'cause, while it was inspirational, it was also condescending: "All you old, gay, trans, punk FREAKS---nobody else loves ya, but I do!" Gee, thanks, Christina.

This is a video I found on YouTube, showcasing Calpernia Addams, by a friend of hers, with the accompanying Aguilera song...(At the end, how I'd love to be on the back of her bike!) :)

The Man With the Veil

I was working Saturday, smoking a cig outside the building. A big street guy walked by and came to a screeching halt in front of me:

STREET GUY: You'll put that out soon.
ME: Yeah, OK.
SG: No, you'll stop very soon.
ME [sarcastically]: Yeah, OK. I'll stop right now. It's bad for me. Thanks!
SG: You will stop smoking very soon. You will not be taken, like my 3 friends.
ME: [??]
SG: You will stop smoking completely.
ME: [??]
SG: I was born with a veil. I can see things. You will not die this way.
ME: You were born with a veil?
SG: Yes.
ME: Well, that can be a curse as well as a blessing.
SG: [looking genuinely puzzled] How a curse?
ME: What if you walked around and constantly picked up on really bad vibes from some people? What would you do?
SG: I'm protected. The spirit protects me. I'm not hurt.

[SG and I smile and part ways with a would-be handshake, except...I had a cigarette in one hand and a Coke in the other, so we two kind of knocked knuckles instead. He's Paul, I'm Stephanie, and we hope to meet again]

Tammy Wynette: Til I Can Make It On My Own

She's beautiful and sensitive. Her aura here is very "feminine." Or "yin." Or whatever you want to call it. Both boys and girls can have it, but it's very rare. I'm a woman, and I don't have it often, for instance, but I admire it greatly when I come upon it. (I'm talking about it stupidly, I know. Apologies.)

Tammy Wynette: Stand By Your Man, and Early George

George and Tammy

I love both of their voices. And I love this song, and even more their interaction here together, 2 years after their divorce. They're still sexy together, still playing off each other (including Tammy's tear at the end, which George mocks---Tammy then gives him a LOOK and a slight shake of the head for mocking! There's all this STUFF going on!). Tammy was cute and cracking up at whatever GJ was doing throughout...(aka "still wants to jump him the second they get offstage")....



In "Near You," filmed during the same TV show:... I always wanted this George/Tammy song played at my wedding...

STUNNING

http://www.calpernia.com/

I just "discovered" Calpernia Addams on the Logo network this month, in her show "TransAmerican Love Story" (in which a group of bachelors vie for her affections). After being initially annoyed that she couldn't have spelled "Calpernia" the right way ("Calpurnia" is the Roman name), I started getting into the show and liking it. It's near the end---only 3 guys left. Mike, the (seriously) dumb stud personal trainer; Jim, the female-to-male transsexual writer; Sean, the nerdy computer programmer who claims to be a "concert promoter." I like Sean the best, but he's un-sexy as hell. As is Jim. Before I learned that Jim was a FTM trans, I was watching him play clumsy, overly aggressive basketball, all the while proclaiming his immediate intense love for Calpernia. I thought, "What a bitchy little twerp." Ooops! I hadn't stopped to think, "U-Haul Lesbian!" Geez.

Calpernia's made out with Mike on the show and had a fun time hanging out with him in Vegas... The only problem is, while he's easy-going and sexy, he's also stoooooopid. Very stooopid. Though their chemistry is obvious. (Polls on the Logo network show that 43% think Jim is the best bet...I SERIOUSLY doubt that she would pick that little twerp!)

While watching one of the shows, Calpernia started crying because the boys were fighting over her, and she mentioned how she was a "psychic sponge" for everything around her... Oh, lordy. Normally, I would've thought that was ridiculous, then I thought, "Wait a second...She seems to be genuinely upset... Who else would be that upset but a Pisces?" Sure enough. I went to look her up on her website. Born on February 20. And on the show (which is supposed to be surfacely cheerful) she mentioned in passing, "Life with me would be like a roller coaster through a haunted carnival ride." LOVE that! Kind of like La Lindsay lying on the pavement with a pint in her hand, smiling... ;p

Letters to a Young Poet

Do not be bewildered by the surfaces; in the depths all becomes law. And those who live the secret wrong and badly (and they are very many), lose it only for themselves and still hand it on, like a sealed letter, without knowing it.

Dish

I'm 42, and until now I've never bought my own dishes or glasses. Everything's always been handed off to me. Back in Austin, where I lived for 20 years, I had one set of plastic turquoise 1960-dishes from my parents, then a stoneware set that my mom gave to me one Christmas sometime in the '90s. My drinking glasses were a combination of "Superfriends" glasses from my youth stolen from my mom, plus an 8-piece set that the roommate of my first girlfriend gave me for Christmas back in the late '80s.

Once I arrived in NYC in 2007, I didn't have to buy any dishware initially, since all of my 3 roommates were stocked up. Since I got my own place on February 1 of 2008, though, I had nothing! When I first moved in, I went to the local supermarket, which had plates on sale for 50 cents apiece... At the time, I bought one plate, one glass, one cheap set of flatware... (and I had one glass bowl bought upon my arrival, back from when I was at my first roommate's place, trying to proclaim my independence).

Long story short (!): I just bought some damn dishes for myself! The flatware was cheap, as were the glasses, but I liked that they all had the weird "bubble theme" in common. (For some reason, there were bubbles galore in the handles of the flatware and ONE bubble in the base of the glasses.) And then I was just in a Pier One a block away from my work, where the "Urban Dot" dishes were on sale. Dots, bubbles, yadda yadda. I'd always wanted something like the "Urban Dot" dishes, yet, truth be told, food looks kind of unappetizing when set upon those multicolored plates! :)

LOOOOOOOOOOVE her!

Pretty soon this kind of thing will be completely drilled out of her, but in the meantime...What a brave, cute, original girl! ;p

Geir Bjordal/Neil Maciejewski: CEASE AND DESIST

Public Notice regarding:
Geir Bjordal (aka "Julie Lindberg" of Norway);
Neil Maciejewski (of San Francisco):

Do not contact Stephanie Jones further online, whether through the Joan Crawford website (www.joancrawfordbest.com) or through the blog (www.blogger.com) or through any other venue.

This is a public notice pursuant to a lawsuit filed in the State of New Jersey on March 21, 2008, by Stephanie D. Jones.

A truth deeper and more ambiguous

From the 3/17 "New Yorker." The article was about magic and magicians in general, and I was reading along numbly and passively...And then this passage jerked me out of my numbness and passivity:


"...the empathetic interchange between minds is satisfying only when it is 'dynamic,' unfinished, unresolved. Friendships, flirtations, even love affairs depend, like magic tricks, on a constant exchange of incomplete but tantalizing information. We are always reducing the claim or raising the proof. The magician teaches us that romance lies in an unstable contest of minds that leaves us knowing it's a trick but not which one it is, and being impressed by the other person's ability to let the trickery go on. Frauds master our minds; magicians, like poets and lovers, engage them in a permanent maze of possibilities. The trick is to renew the possibilities, to keep them them from becoming schematized, to let them be imperfect, and the question between us is always "Who's the magician?" When we say that love is magic, we are telling a truth deeper, and more ambiguous, than we know."

Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)

I first heard this John Lennon song back when I was in high school, in the early '80s. It had come out in 1974. (From the 1974 album "Walls and Bridges.") I just put on the "Walls and Bridges" album right now, and cranked up "Surprise." Some lines have been in my head since I first heard them in '80:


"Sweet as the smell of success, her body's warm and wet
She gets me through this godawful loneliness..."

"Oh boy, you don't know what she do to me
She makes me sweat and forget who I am..."

"Well I was wondering how long this could go on, on and on,
I thought I could never be surprised,
But could it be that I bit my own tongue,
Oh yeah, it's so hard to swallow when you're wrong..."

"A bird of paradise,
The sunrise in her eyes,
God only knows such a sweet surprise,
I was blind she blew my mind, think that
I love, love, love, love, love her..."

Since I was 15, I have learned that Lennon was rather an asshole in his personal life, but I still love these beautiful, romantic lyrics. These will always be about any girl/woman I love.

----------------------------------------------

Sweet as the smell of success,
Her body's warm and wet,
She gets me through this godawful loneliness,
A natural high, butterfly, oh I,
I need, need, need her.

Just like a willow tree,
A breath of spring you see,
And oh boy you don't know what she do to me,
She makes me sweat and forget who I am,
I need, need, need, need her.

A bird of paradise,
The sunrise in her eyes,
God only knows such a sweet surprise,
I was blind she blew my mind, think that
I love, love, love, love, love her,
I love her, I love her, I love her, I love her.

Sweet sweet, sweet sweet love.

Pre-conceived notions

Saturday at work I got into a heated argument with a native Austrian (who'd been in NYC for over 30 years). He was arguing with someone else in the room and came up with, "Hunters, they shoot everything first and ask questions later. They're all crazy. They're in the news all the time with people they've shot."

Now, I grew up in a hunting culture. I absolutely don't agree with hunting for pure sport (which is nothing but sadistic). I also don't think there's anything wrong with hunting if you eat the game. (That's a lot more sane---killing and eating your own meat---than passively eating the mass-killed meat we all find in grocery stores.)

This guy, though, knew nothing about hunting or guns and was just mouthing off a pre-conceived liberal notion about "guns = bad." He hadn't thought anything out. Hadn't thought out why anyone might personally want to own a gun. (If an intruder entered your home, would you rather be able to kill the fucker or be killed yourself? I absolutely don't begrudge anyone the right to shoot someone who's intruded into their home or tried to rape or kill them.)

While I'm anti-hunting, I found myself almost yelling at the guy: "That's bullshit. You're just spouting stuff you've soaked up from the Northeast Liberal culture. 99% of hunters don't have shooting accidents." I actually said "Northeast Liberal culture." Sigh. I think I was right, but I'm also embarrassed about my terminology.

My New Place

Back in Texas, when I saw a piece of furniture I liked in a store or at a garage sale, I could just buy it and cart in home in my car. Here in NJ/NY, I have no car at my disposal, and it's a much more difficult proposition getting stuff home. (Even a minor table that I saw out on the curb on trash pick-up day a couple of weeks ago, only two blocks from my house, I couldn't take, though I wanted to, because it was too heavy for me to carry that far.)

My first roommate's place was completely furnished, so I didn't have to worry about it. My second roommate: I took the subway to a Target in the Bronx and bought a cheap fake-wood computer desk and bookshelf and TV stand, which I had a cab haul home for about $12. My third roommate in Weehawken, NJ: I just needed something to sit/sleep on in my unfurnished room, so I got a futon delivered---very expensive, since the only futon store I knew of was in Manhattan, and they charged a bunch to deliver across state lines...

Now that I'm in my very first place on my own: This place is HUGE---a living room, big dining area, two bedrooms, plus a spare "half-bedroom." And I've got nothing to put in it! It's great for my imagination and future plans, but for the time being...

I already had the futon and a TV from my last roommate's place, which now sit in the living room. In the "dining room" once sat my cheap Target computer table and bookshelf... I also just bought a cheap mattress set for @ $200 from a discount furniture store a couple of blocks away, though I don't like to sleep on it in the back bedroom very much because the room is small and dreary. I've been sleeping in the front room, on the futon, with the beautiful windows and view... I just had delivered, though, a huge six-foot-long "farmer's table" from Pier One (on sale for $199), as well as Pier One bookshelf, on sale for $99. (Though there was the $100 delivery charge.) As it is, my apartment's now "functional," although it's not yet exactly how I'd like it to look... The structure is beautiful and the neighborhood is beautiful; it's just that I have to live up to, aesthetically, what I've moved into.

Super Tuesday 2

Oh god, the drama! And my bleeding-heart relatives in Texas! :) I was watching Texas/Ohio election results for hours tonight, then had to call home to Texas, knowing full well who everyone (Mom, brother, sis-in-law) was voting for---Obama. (My mom went to the caucus in San Antonio, where she was elected a delegate to the county convention. My brother was at the local caucus when I called, unable to leave after several hours because of the disorganization. My sister-in-law, whom I talked to when I called, said she'd hoped to get to the caucus herself after my brother came home...but it didn't look like he was coming home any time soon!

Sis wasn't/isn't a Hillary fan, mainly because she doesn't like her personality. As with my mom, I'm amazed by women who don't like Hillary. But I had this to offer my sis-in-law: Just think of the movie "Election." Remember how obnoxious the Reese Witherspoon character running for class president was? All of her overt trying-too-hard and campaigning? You started out hating her, but as the movie went on, started to realize that she really WAS the most qualified, and HAD worked the hardest, and didn't deserve the shaft she got! I think the movie "Election" is Hillary's campaign in a nutshell.

This just in from CNN as I write at 1:03am---Hillary wins TEXAS (!) as well as the earlier announced Ohio. Take THAT, obnoxious Chris Matthews from MSNBC! (Damn---I'm a lifelong Democrat, but listening to the anti-Clinton bias of Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Joe Scarborough on MSNBC lately has made me nauseous. I'm switching to CNN.)

"My Girl"

Earlier this week, one of my co-workers (the one who met Marilyn Monroe back in the '50s!) was reading the New York Times, and he mentioned off-handedly to me, "Looks like your girl's in trouble." I immediately put down my pencil and laser-focused on him: "What? WHAT? Is Lindsay OK??" Good lord, but I'm a big dork! He knew that I supported Hillary Clinton and he was only talking about her loss in Wisconsin and how things were looking rough for her politically. Everybody else in the room (including me) laughed at me, 'cause I had such the panic attack! ;p (Gawd, next thing you know, I'll be on YouTube, sobbing "Leave Lindsay alone!")

A couple of days later, I also got an e-mail from my dad using the exact same language---"Your girl seems to be in trouble in Texas. Did you watch the debate?" This time, I knew who he was talking about so didn't freak. (But no, I hadn't watched the Thursday CNN debate that took place at my alma mater, UT-Austin, since I'd opted to see yet another one of "my girls" instead---Joan Crawford in "Female on the Beach" playing at the Chelsea!)

It's been a busy couple of weeks for "my girls"---Hillary with her campaign travails; Joan in "Vanity Fair" and the NYTimes, plus her new DVD and book releases; Lindsay's "Marilyn" spread in "New York" magazine, plus her cover and "super-hero" photo shoot for "Harper's Bazaar."

What's the connection between the three of them that attracts me to them? Certainly Hillary's no glamour girl, like Joan or Lindsay (though I do think she's attractive and would sleep with her!), nor does she seem to have that public slightly decadent edge that I like so. But I think they all definitely have INTENSITY in common, however differently that manifests itself in each woman. Both Joan and Hillary are prime examples of absolute focus and discipline---"Here's the goal. Now what do I need to do to get there?" Both in highly risky fields that require an extraordinary amount of sheer talent and will-power and luck and brains. I love listening to Hillary Clinton talk in debates because I'm wow'd by her knowledge of the issues and intelligence. When I listen to her, I always think, "What an utterly sane and intelligent and competent person." I trust her. Plus, from what I've read from her close associates (and from what I gather from wild-man Bill's decision to stick around for the long-haul), she's fun and interesting in personal conversation, as well.

Now, with those Other Two...! ;p I certainly can't say that I think either Joan or Lindsay are "utterly sane," however gorgeous they are! But Joan's mastery of her craft and devotion to it, and her willingness to compete for roles and not back down in the face of a myriad of obstacles, are also admirable and attractive to me, as is her hustling up roles for herself once the powers-that-be considered her past her prime. And how in her latter years she worked the TV and business markets, proving herself competent in areas beyond "just" movie stardom.

As for Lindsay: At 21, it's hard to tell whether she will last, other than a gut feeling that's based, embarrassing to admit, almost solely on how she photographs. She's beautiful, yes, but there's also an ongoing subtext of darkness/depth in her eyes, regardless of who's shooting or in what setting. As with Joan, the camera absolutely loves her and brings out a side of her that may not be so evident in interviews. (Though Joan's depth was also definitely and explicitly revealed in/after her decades of film work. Lindsay, at 21, has only hinted at her talent by being pleasing onscreen. But think for a second: At age 21, Joan's latest films were "The Boob," "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp," and "Paris." Hardly memorable. She didn't break through until "Our Dancing Daughters" in 1928, when she was 23. And didn't get respect until '31/'32, with "Possessed," "Grand Hotel," "Letty Lynton," and "Rain." And didn't become a true box-office star until a couple of years after that.)

I was in a drug-store today and came across the new Harper's Bazaar with Lindsay. I was flipping through it, just to see, not planning on buying it. But the photos were absolutely amazing! The theme was fun (Lindsay with various superheroes) and cleverly done (Lindsay in the laundry with Captain America/in front of a 99-cent store with the Incredible Hulk/walking baby Spidey with Spiderman). I ended up having to have the pictures and bought a cheap montage frame in the same store. And at home, after a few minutes of trimming, had my first "art" for my new apartment! (If I'd been 13, I would've just ripped the magazine pages out and taped them to my bedroom walls!) Unfortunately, the limitations of the "montage frame" meant I had to cut out the superheroes who appeared with Lindsay---they made the photos great, but I guess the point was, I wanted some representation of her neat-looking face up on my walls, and I couldn't find arty shots online anywhere! I'm including my framed shots in my apartment here, but you should really see the actual shots from Harper's:

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/cover/lindsay-lohan-lookbook-0308/

And speaking of magazine shots... I wasn't really that impressed with the "Lindsay-as-Marilyn" shots from "New York" magazine. Aside from displaying that she has a great body (!), I don't think LL is very Marilyn-like at all. I personally find LL sensual, but in a much harder way than Marilyn's style of sensuality. Many of the photos in this shoot I thought looked downright harsh or just plain bad, considering the theme. Here's the link to the actual article/spread:

http://media.nymag.com/fashion/08/spring/44247/

Very brave of her to attempt to replicate an icon's last shoot, but it didn't seem that Lindsay's personal style was suited for it. Her face, at only 21, already reveals a soul decades older than Marilyn's at 36. The girl needs to start looking to Joan, whose shoots through the years consistently revealed a "timeless" quality and were "arty" as opposed to "cheesecake." (The Bert Stern photos of Marilyn weren't that great to begin with. Marilyn looked tired and far from fresh. Interesting to me that the article revealed that LL had rented an apartment of Marilyn's and that she had a "cartoony" painting of Marilyn, with pill bottle, up on her walls. As I said, that ain't the way to go...Seems that LL's trying to hook into something that isn't at all a good fit for her.)