Men With Bags
So apparently, men who wear backpacks do not realize that their bags are an extension of their body. That's why when they turn and hit you with the house that they have stored in their satchels and backpacks they don't apologize or feel any remorse. Even if you emit a yelp or an OW they can look at you like you were the nut for not avoiding their backpack when they decided to instantly spin around and look at the subway map. After all, the BAG hit you, not them. UGRHH! Lately it's becoming an epidemic in the city; even men with fancy business suits are carrying tattered backpacks.

Women, however, who are accustomed to owning large bags, are much more conscious of them in general. When someone new enters the train and space is needed, they will shift their bags in front of them and sort of clutch them like a baby. Men, however will let their freakin bags stick out there, proudly, making you crane your neck or duck to avoid being smashed against them. Even when the trains are not crowded they don't mind whacking the people who are sitting or the people they pass by, because they can't help having all that stuff on their back. They aren't to blame, bad backpacks, bad backpacks, you're naughty! ;)

If you've have been a victim of a backpack hit and run and have felt that dazed you've-just-been-struck feeling, don't worry, Tara will be forming a support group soon.

From the Friends episode "The One With Joey's Bag"
Rachel: Okay, it's missing something. Ooh, I know! Umm, okay. (Goes and grabs a bag, that looks like a purse, and shows it to Joey.)
Joey: Really? A purse?
Rachel: It's not a purse! It's a shoulder bag.
Joey: It looks like a women's purse.
Rachel: No Joey, look. Trust me, all the men are wearing them in the spring catalog. Look. (Shows him.) See look, men, carrying the bag.
Joey: See look, women, carrying the bag. (He puts it on his shoulder and looks at himself in the mirror and likes what he sees.) But it is odd how a women's purse looks good on me, a man.
Rachel: Exactly! Unisex!
Joey: Maybe you need sex. I had sex a couple days ago.
Rachel: No! No Joey! U-N-I-sex.
Joey: Well, I ain't gonna say no to that.

lol, love that scene!

Article: Men's Handbags - Will They Ever Catch On?

Just when I thought I was out,
THEY PULL ME BACK IN!

This summer, after a years absence, I was planning on pursuing a job or internship in journalism again. After all, that is what I am getting my master's degree at NYU in and signing lots of loans for. Yet, PR (Public Relations), which is considered the dark side of journalism and the media, has drawn me back into its sticky web.

I've been working at the PR firm, Fusion, in Times Square for the last year and I was just offered a full-time job and a promotion last week. I just accepted. The money is not great, by no means, but I'm still technically a student even if it's a graduate student and the title will look great on my resume. I'm an Account Specialist, not an Account Facilitator but a "specialist" (I actually did the finger quotes in my mind) The pres figured that since I had been there a year, I could forgo the junior title. I'll be working on four different accounts and will be responsible for getting them in the news, so do not be surprised if I shamelessly plug them here on my blog ;) Not that it would count though.

Now, my j-school friends, I'm so not giving up on journalism. I will still freelance, I even have an article coming up in a magazine and hopefully during the Fall I can explore an internship more through my studies. I'm also taking a night course this summer on Travel Writing, so I'll be one class freer come September.

Plus in Fusion's defense, they have a candy wall, foosball table, dart board, bagel Fridays and fun people. I'm also moving from my cubicle to a work station, which is not very different but I'll have more space and be closer to my coworkers. Addison, the boxers wearing Vermont teddy bear on my desk, will like that.

PS: Happy Birthday Audrey! You still look like you're in your thirties, even if you are not out disco-ing anymore! ;) smooches!

News: Ouch! Tony Danza's Go-Kart Flips During Show Taping

Happy Mother's Day!
50% of women say their moms are their best friends (Newsweek).

We celebrated my best friend's day on Friday with my Nanny too. The three of us walked around the stores near my apartment and of course ate a lot. It was the first time my Nanny saw my place and she really enjoyed her visit.

This is my Nanny trying out the ladder to my lofted bed in my tiny studio haha, she's too cute!



For a present, I bought my mother a canvas painting by Alice Dalton Brown. I think it will blend perfectly into its surroundings at her home in Connecticut, which overlooks the Long Island Sound :) She had liked a larger painting by Brown, but it was too big for her wall space and detracted from the actual view. This one is large too (22x37) but not as much so.

Whatcha think? The version I got her isn't a print but on a canvas and it doesn't have the signiture part on the bottom.

Crash
I saw an advanced screening of Crash on Tuesday. Despite the title and poster, it is not a horror movie, but a powerful and intense social drama with a great ensemble (Don Cheadle, Ryan Phillippe, Sandra Bullock, Thandie Newton, Matt Dillon, Ludacris and Brandon Fraser).

It takes place in LA and shows the lives of many separate people of different wealth, occupation and race and how at some point they "crash" into one another during a period of 36 hours. I personally enjoy movies where seemingly unrelated people are later weaved together.

Crash unflinchingly deals with racial tolerance in contemporary America and the different stereotypes and fears people have, even towards their own cultures. At times these fears and prejudices are handled with humor and shock. It was weird being at a theater and hearing other audience members laugh at racial and ethnic slurs, but then I realized most of it was awkward laughter and other times the script actually is able to poke fun really skillfully to reveal tensions.

The film was written and directed by Paul Haggis, who wrote the Best Picture Million Dollar Baby. His new film effort is incredibly well-acted, especially by Don Cheadle, which comes as no surprise. It was also interesting seeing actors and actresses like Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon in unfamiliar roles and playing a bitch and racist. Tony Danza actually has a brief cameo, playing an actor who wants a black co star to act in a scene like he was more "black."

Overall, this was a powerful film and shows that there is no black or white but a lot of gray are in between. Crash opens this Friday, May 6.

Review: Accidents Will Happen, Paul Haggis's thrilling, provocative Crash spins a great cast into moral collisions. New York Magazine

Yeah, but can they flush and put down the seat?


A Burmese cat named 'Doogal' is seen in this combo picture as it sits on a toilet in Sydney on May 3, 2005. Doogal's owner, Jo Lapidge, invented a toilet training system for cats called the 'Litter-Kwitter.' Lapidge said she was inspired by the cat 'Mr Jinks' in the Hollywood film 'Meet the Fockers,' and invented the toilet training system. (REUTERS) (read more).

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!