Odd talents that I wish I could do
* A kartwheel. I never could do one, instead I end up doing one of those wheelbarrow-like flips.

* Know the different cars that are on the roads. My friends Massiel and Jacquie are like 'did you see the s70 blah blah' and I'm like 'um, is that a car or a truck?'

* Tie a man's tie, beacuse it looks so cute in the movies when a wife or girlfriend fixes her man's tie. I know it's corny. I can actually tie them, but only on myself--I went through a brief Annie Hall inspired period or something, lol.

Odd Talents That I CAN Do

* Arch my left eyebrow, up and down, in a very Chandler Bing-esque movement. I love when my friends try to do it and their brows do not even move or just plain wiggle.

* Tie a cherry stem with my tounge. Yup, and as annoying Paris Hilton would say "That's hot!"

* Tell anyone what movie won Best Picture the year that they were born. I'm the year of Ghandi and wish I was a little younger so I could be the Terms Of Endearment year instead.

How about you? I'm talking odd talents though, otherwise I wish I could carry a note and speak several languages too.

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Also the blog A Blasphemy of Sanity had a link to the latest M&M marketing scheme with Star Wars Episode III. Watch the video, it?s very clever and funny:
http://us.mms.com/us/mpire/wm_large.jsp I can't wait to buy the dark side chocolate m&m's!

So apparently I'm dead
Because for some reason no workout machine can read my heart rate.

No matter what gym I go to or how long I hold onto the stupid sensors, none of the machines can read my HR. I've tried the treadmill, elliptical, and stair master and nada--no heart rate. Yet, my friends can use the same machine, hold the handles the same way and get a read out just fine. For me, it keeps blinking messages that read, "hold onto sensors" "cant read HR" or "heart rate, heart rate," etc. Usually after 15 mins of blinking at me, even the machine gives up trying.

A cautionary tale
This cartoon keeps making me laugh, so I borrowed it from my friend Karen's Live Journal.

Not too hard to master
The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn't hard to master. Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster. I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three loved houses went. The art of losing isn't hard to master. I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster. ---Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster. -- Elizabeth Bishop, One Art Happy 51st Birthday Dad PS: My hosting gig airs on TV tonight here in Manhattan. (read more)

Mr. Softee
I mean the ice cream, not my ex-boyfriend, lol! Cheap joke :) But seriously, have you had the soft-serve ice cream from one of their trucks? I love chocolate but the soft-serve vanilla is to die for.

I was having a hellish afternoon, running around the city in the 75 degree sun, sweating through my new smart cotton dress shirt, trying to get video camera footage transported to VHS. Like a beacon of light I spotted a Mr. Softee truck on the street corner. I said to myself, "Self, you deserve some cold ice cream."

Since I had several bags hanging from around my neck and holding my discarded jacket in one hand, I couldn't eat my ice cream with the blue spoon they gave me. So not wanting to wait, I put my face right into the cup of delicious flavorful fluff while continuing walking. It was heaven in a cup! I finally found a bench outside of a health gym. Needless to say I got angry and coveting looks from the people coming in and out of the gym, who thought I was there to mock or temp them, haha.

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Blog Traffic
I've been getting an average of 200-250 visitors a day! You like me, you really, really like me! Yeah you can hit me now, lol. Since December, Blog Explosion has given me 5,500 visitors alone. I'm also addicted to surfing other blogs on it and through BE I have found a lot of great reads, just check out my blog roll on the left.

Steel Magnolias
The 80s tear jerker film, Steel Magnolias, is now on Broadway and with a GREAT cast playing the six women in a Louisiana beauty salon sharing laughter, tears and strength.

Delta Burke is in the Dolly Parton role
Christine Ebersole (SNL 81-82, Folks, My Girl 2) as the mother of...
Rebecca Gayheart (Dylan's wife in 90210) who plays the Julia Roberts part.
Marsha Mason plays the cantankerous and funny Ouiser.
Lily Rabe is the new comer to town. This is one of her first Broadway roles and she does an excellent job.
Frances Sternhagen, Charlotte's uptight mother-in-law from "Sex and the City," steals the show as the classy Mayor's widow.

I'm a fan of Marsha Mason, which is why I pre-ordered tickets for my mother and me. For those of you who still haven't seen her in the 70s romantic drama, The Goodbye Girl or Max Dugan Returns, then what are you waiting for? Since Mason is no stranger to the theater, she of course did a great job projecting and looked at home on the stage. I just wish her character was in more scenes.

Of course, I was also looking forward to seeing Delta Burke. I loved her in Designing Women, and I thought she did a good job playing the gentle but gossipy hair dresser. She also looked great. At times though she spoke a little too softly but was still very endearing.

Gayheart was OK, but she definitely got overshadowed by the amazing talent around her.

Although I was excited to see the play, I hoped it wasn't just like the movie, which I've seen a dozen times, because that would be boring. It wasn't! The whole story takes place in the beauty salon and none of the male characters appear, instead they are just referenced. There's also a bit more social commentary in the play that I did not remember from the film. Plus the new actresses brought the characters to life in a new way. Oh and you gotta love the 80s hair and outfits... and did I mention the Southern Charm?

I think I cried harder during the ending of the play than I did in the movie, because having the raw emotion screamed at you from a few feet away is very powerful. Also, every woman there was trying to keep the tears in or at least be quiet about the crying, which made it even harder.

Review: A sweet comedy, Magnolia's gets a smashing new run