knowitallgirl

An archetype of cool minimalism

Who knew my boyfriend is also a coffee table? It's true that I do think of him as "a stunning signature piece that will easily accent a room or office."

My local hero!

Congrats to my very good friend Juan, who I nominated to be a KQED Local Hero for Latino Heritage Month. Juan was picked to be one of the three local heroes for 2003, and we attended the awards ceremony last week. Juan is a superstar!

Week in the life of Baghdad

Not quite as fluffy as cheeseburger fries, here's a photo essay by Scott Fleming (via AnitaRoddick.com) capturing a week in Baghdad in the days of American occupation. "Freedom and Democracy, Occupation Style" is a good one. Also, read "Veiled and Worried in Baghdad" in the NY Times to get a sense of what it's like to be female in Baghdad these days. Best quote (or quite possibly worst depending on how you look at it) -- "We don't do women," per the US military. Oh dear.

Hot beef injection

I've been busy with moving this past week, but I have to come out of my exile briefly to share this with you: cheeseburger fries. Yep. Best quote: ""The challenge is getting people to think of other ways to eat beef," said Betty Hogan, director of new product development for the association." And the test markets -- Nebraska, Minnesota, Texas, AND school cafeterias. If my kid came home and told me her school served this, I'd hurt somebody. GROSS. And look! You can place your order here. Mmmmm. I love it when you need to provide a key for how your food is shaped -- "hourglass," "nugget," "stick shape," or "natural!"

Also -- be sure to ask Arianna if she'll be your friend!

Does your site use Active X?

Then you should read this article, which really doesn't do a good job of describing the scope of the after effects of this lawsuit (this site does a better job).

The big three killed my baby

I *finally* saw the White Stripes on Saturday at UC Berkeley's Greek Theatre and I'm still in shock. It's not just that it's awesome that a two-piece band can make such incredible noise, but the chemistry of Meg and Jack on stage is amazing (after watching the show, I don't believe the brother/sister story, maybe the husband/wife legend). On the albums the rawness of their power is dominated by the Plant-esque shrillness of Jack's voice; on stage, it's clear that they are a team, and an intense one at that. Meg's shyness, so evident the moment she's not safe behind her drums, disappears into the passion of the beat, and I swore at moments that what we were all witnessing was the seductive frenzy of two people who know how to get it on, and despite the childlike imagery that's present in so many of their songs, they were sharing with us the highly sexually-charged energy that flies between them, whether they're sharing a bed or not. (My comment to Deneb at one point during the show was "I want to fuck his voice!" Now I'd like to amend that with "I'd like to fuck their music!") I think this is why I've heard The Stripes described as one of those bands you either love or hate -- if you're not tuned into that vibe, if their energy doesn't light your fire, the magic just doesn't happen (and let me tell you, honey, it definitely works me).

Anyway. *wipes sweat from forehead* They rock. Hard. I've rarely seen an audience so completely engaged, with so few people milling about the aisles, or even talking -- The Stripes were utterly captivating. I can't wait to see them again.

Texas Redistricting War, Pt. II

The Texas Democrats are returning to the capitol after over a month as fugitives in New Mexico. This event threatens to become one of the most underreported tactical manuvers in the Republican crusade for 2004. Read the story for details, and reread this post for more background.

Other things you might do with $87B

Great article on all the other things we could do with $87 Billion besides "fighting terrorism" in Iraq. Glad to know where our President's priorities are.

Dissed by "The OC"

Thanks to Sylvia, who passed along from Salon (note: requires subscription or a "day pass") this article by Susan Straight about us Riversiders being classified as white trash on Fox's "The OC." Straight brings up an obvious point that I failed to mention -- "The OC" is ridiculously whitewashed to the point of not even capturing the elite world it's supposedly trying to showcase -- forget token minorities making appearances as the household help, a significant number of OC's elite are ethnic minorities, particularly Asian and various Middle Eastern varieties (Irvine is the site of the largest Persian gathering in the US each year). The OC elite as a bunch of white, waspy types isn't reality anymore -- the Chans, Kims, and Husseins are an unignorable presence. At least, to everyone besides Hollywood, which has its collective head up so far up its ass it's flabbergasting.

Recall dough

Interested in finding out who's paying for what in the CA recall circus? Check out RecallMoneyWatch.com.Ahnold's actually the highest contributor (presumably to his own campaign) at $4MM (and he has a PAC called the "Total Recall Committee" -- let it not be said we Californians don't have a sense of humor).

Journal of the Dead

Congrats to Jason Kersten, an old pal from my UCI journalism days (even though I haven't seen him since 1995!) on his new book, 'Journal of the Dead': Two Went Out, One Came Back. NYT book review this past Sunday gave it a great review. (Thanks to Eric Reynolds for passing it along!)

Keep Tahoe Blue (and well stocked with booze)

Back from the amazing beauty that is Tahoe, and from the nuptials of Josh and Heather (see below), who now hold the honor of having one of the most scenically beautiful weddings I've ever attended. As Josh told me, Tahoe is the perfect place to get married, and with the exception of Hawai'i I couldn't agree more. (Gotta maintain some loyalty to the islands!) After wrangling away Deneb from work we enjoyed a week of hiking, swimming, mineral-springs soaking, dancing, and sangria drinking in the high Sierras. Other than coming back from vacation with a damn cold, it rocked. I think Tahoe in the summer is better than the winter, but this is coming from the girl who hates snow.

The happy couple before the wedding, who will be spending the next year driving through Central and South America in a VW bus. Yes!



Myself and the groom, with a pre-nuptial Corona.



Jen & 'Neb, proving we can clean up pretty damn well after a week in the woods.