Dedicated to the memory of my father

Benny Settembre
April 10, 1954 - Jan 24, 2000


It may have been 5 years since I last saw your familiar face, heard your wise ass jokes, ate your pizza or sang oldies songs in your beat up old car, but you have stayed in my heart all along.

There is not a day that goes by that I'm not reminded of you, so much of ME is you.

If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you back home again.

Missing you always!
Your friend and daughter,
~Tara

PS: If you want to continue to feel melancholy like me, here is a poem that I wrote a couple of months after he passed away, just before my graduation "Left Behind"

PPS: Didn't he resemble DeNiro? He acted a lot like his film characters at least, especially in Midnight Run. People would actually stop us in airports and ask for his autograph and he'd go along with it and sign Bobby D, lol.

News Story: Ha, I can't argue with this: Jan. 24, called worst day of the year


"I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend."
--Shawshank Redeption

A step down?
Does anyone else find it a bit unsettling that Academy Award winners, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Catharine Zeta Jones are doing television commercials? Are they that desperate for more $$

Kidman can be seen in Chanel #5 perfume commercials, Zeta in T-Mobile ads and Roberts is doing voice overs for AOL.

I mean shouldn't they have some higher standards now that that they have the covitted golden award?

Come on, you never saw Katharine Hepburn in a TV commercial, and yes they had TV's then. DeNiro and Jack aren't pimping themselves out in TV ads like teeny boppers Britney Spears and frankly neither should the Best Actress winners.

PS: Speaking of the Academy Awards check out:

My very own snow globe
I have the blinds up in my place so I can see the blizzard coming down past my window, I feel like I'm what's inside a snow globe. Shake me up! :)

These are some photos I took of the snow when I was out earlier seeing the NYU Graduate Film Festival. I figured I showed you photos of inside my apartment, I should share some photos from outside. The snow so makes it look prettier and as if I live on the set of Muppet Christmas Carol ;)

Also take a look at the last photo, that's how much snow we got!


       
my neighborhood

Captain Hook of the East Side
I've been a bit of a social butterfly lately, going to dinner parties after work and after my grad class.

A few days ago I went to a 75th birthday dinner for my friends' grandmother. The apartment was around 48th street on the East Side and decorated in a Victorian style. It was definitely a NYC party from a different generation, with all the women arriving in floor length mink coats and smelling of Shalamar and Channel #5. I had champagne courtesy of the waiters that were present and talked with a real-estate agent and a man with an eye patch. Mr. eye patch said he was a retired producer or director for Law & Order. I mentioned that I had interviewed Elizabeth Rohm, the blonde district attorney on the original version of the popular show. He then said that they had just been talking about her and wondered what I thought about her. I said I wasn't really impressed by her. He laughed at that and said she couldn't act and was hard to get along with, which is why she is being written off the show. I think it happened on last night's episode or so he said. I was itching to ask him about the patch but I didn't have that much champagne ;-)

PS: saw Super Size Me yesterday and it was really well done, intersting and funny. Although I was disgusted and barely wanted to eat that evening I have to say I was also strangely still craving the golden arches french fries, lol. I definately will avoid going as often now, not that I go that much anymore, but I'm not cutting myself off altogether.

PPS: Is it weird that I want one of these? Darth Tater: The dark side of Mr. Potato Head

Why it sucks being small
I was going to say vertically challenged but I thought, why sugar coat it?

* You can never reach items on the top shelf

* You often get asked for your ID because people think you're a minor.

* On the subway bad breath gets puffed your way.

* It's harder to find clothes that fit.

* When dancing with someone taller, you can't lean your head on their shoulder like they do in the movies, instead your nose is in their chest.

* You get called Gidget--girl midget.

Why it's good to be small
I'm going to try and stay away from the cliche, good things come in small packages, because frankly I'm not a fan of jewelry, which is what usually comes in tiny boxes and instead would prefer a big screen tv, which would come in a big box...I digress...

* When you can't reach items on the top shelf, you can point and have someone else get them down for you.

* You get asked for your ID a lot, and it can be flattering as you get older.

* Nobody on the subway can smell if you have bad breath

* Smaller clothing items are usually the first to go on sale.

* When dancing with someone taller you get a close-up view of their chest.

* Gidget, played by Sally Field or Sandra Dee, are cute, lol. Although I really did hate being called this in elementary school, and it was my own mother who started the nickname!

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Yay I Made The Top 10


For the last few days I've made the top 10 list here and there at BE but then people click on my link and rate my blog with a low score and I'm back off, until someone gives me a high score and on it goes... But I'm glad to have made the list even at some point :)