Surprise Surprise
I'm good at keeping secrets but I'm not as good at keeping surprises. Does that make sense? A secret I understand is personal and I don't go blabbing ever, but surprises I get caught up in the excitement and accidentally spill the beans.

When I was 9-years-old and out to dinner with my mom, two weeks before Christmas I turn to her and say "Angela got her mother a Meatloaf tape, but she got the idea from me because I bought my mom a Bette Middler tape." My mom laughingly looks at me and goes, "Oh really?" Dammit! lol, We always blow secrets for each other, but it's expected between us.

This summer I thought a friend knew about her birthday dinner, turns out she didn't, but that really isn't my fault, I wasn't warned by the party planner. BUT last January when my friend K turned 30 was informed of her surprise party in August, I kept my mouth shut for five months, even as her friends and family booked flights to fly in from all around the country and as she complained to me about not having anything to do for her big day. I was even the person who brought her out to the restaurant for what she believed was a dinner for just the two of us. Yes, I'm patting my own back.

So why am I writing about surprises? My lips are sealed or should I say my key strokes ;)

Update: SHOOT now I almost blabbed who my secret santa is this year.

News: My blogging friend Pia over at Courting Destiny is mentioned in the Long Island Press' Hot Target column. Congrats!

Did you ever have to make up your mind?
Pick up on one and leave the other one behind
It's not often easy, and not often kind
Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Did you ever have to finally decide?
Say yes to one and let the other one ride
There's so many changes, and tears you must hide
Did you ever have to finally decide?

I'm sure you have, everyone does. I just made a big choice and decided to switch companies. It wasn't easy either, not at all. I really liked the PR firm that I was at and learned a lot there, but it's going on two years now and I desired a new experience. Plus I'm about to get my master's degree in one months time, thus transitions are all around.

With the Godfather marathon I had two weekends ago, I can't help but quote it, "It's not personal it's business." I bet you thought I was going to say they gave me an offer I can't refuse :)

So, I'm trading in the bright Times Square for the busy Financial District. Maybe I'll meet a suit down there though.

News: Generation Y: They've arrived at work with a new attitude

Blogging from my kitchen
Why? Because I can. My apartment just went wireless this week, thanks to a router and my coworker PJ's help.

So a group of us went to the nightclub One last night on Little West 12 Street near my apartment. It was pretty cool and I had a mock dance off with a friend, lol. I was told by the guys watching us at a reserved table nearby that I'm cute and dance well, haha, go me. Luckily I didn't have my business cards with me to give out like usual ;) especially since the night before at my friend's wine and cheese party I went card happy.

I'm on TV tonight
The short Halloween film that my friends and I were in for the TED-TV Show on Manhattan Public Access channel airs this evening. It was filmed during the recent 2005 Halloween Parade, where we pretended to host the event for a news channel. I play one of the three hosts and the final version shows us messing up lines and interviewing random people marching in costume, but then one of us (my friend Massiel) goes missing and a "real" Halloween horror takes place at the parade ;) The beginning is supposed to be like regular unedited news coverage of the parade, with history tidbits, interviews, and clip montages, until Massiel goes missing and we had to start looking for her amongst the ghoulish activity. So basically we had a script for that part of it and lines to remember for the storyline but the interviews we just ad-libbed. The bloopers at the end are pretty funny as is my acting, lol.

It airs tonight Sunday, Nov. 13th at 7:30 p.m. only in Manhattan on Ch. 56 with Time Warner Cable and Ch. 108/111 on RCN Cable System. Let me know what you think.

My Latest DVD Review: Frasier - The Complete Seventh Season (IE the season where Niles' unrequited love for Daphne finally receives closure.)

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang & my dance with Robert Downey, Jr.
Last night I went to a private screening of the dark comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang followed by a Q&A with Robert Downey, Jr who stars in the film. The little theater was in the basement of the Tribeca Grand Hotel, which had about 30 corduroy cushioned seats. My friends who had seen the film all said it was really great (Sasquatch has seen it twice) so I was doubly excited to watch it.

We were seated in the second row, in a reserved seat, thanks to my mother and her connections with Bombay Blue Sapphire Gin, which sponsored the event with The New Yorker magazine. Unfortunately there was a woman with a huge fro like Sideshow Bob seated in front of me, causing me to crane my neck to see the screen. The impartial view didn't prevent me from enjoying the film though, which was directed and written by Shane Black the screenwriter of Lethal Weapon, The Last Boyscout and The Long Kiss Goodnight. Although this is his directorial debut.

The plot in a nutshell features Harry Lockhart (Downey) whose a petty theft in NYC who gets discovered by a Hollywood producer and flys out to LA to play a private detective. In order to prepare for the role he follows a real private dick, Gay Perry (Val Kilmer)and gets involved in a real murder mystery. Gay Perry by the way is gay in the film, thus the name. Both stars have great chemistry and are fun to watch interact. I found myself cringing, laughing out loud and generally enjoying this quirky film, I definitely recommend it.

It's very Pulp Fiction, and I mean that in two ways--It's an outlandish and interlaced crime story like the Pulp Fiction movie and also like the cheap dime books, which the story highlights. The film also pokes fun of the fact that it is a film and includes narration that addresses and engages the audience. The story is also very LA noir, but without being too tongue in cheek or over non-industry heads.

After wards Robert Downey, Jr. came out and did a Q&A with a reporter from The New Yorker and then answered questions from the audience. I didn't know what to ask, my concentration in pop-culture and the several intense film study classes that I took during my undergraduate degree were loss to me at that moment. I just listened and the reporter in me, regretted that I didn't have my notebook. Generally he talked about the future of film and the genre, but he did mention how it was fun to work with his son who appeared in the film as his younger self and how he related to his character's optimism. He was really energetic and personable and no, he wasn't high or anything. Although he did reek of cigarette smoke and resembled Bernie in Weekend at Bernie's with his long hair and beard.

I headed to the cocktail reception feeling like a wimp for not coming up with a pretentious question like the others or for not letting him know how much I enjoyed the film, his acting and especially his older movie Chances Are, but to my delight he and his new wife and producer Susan Levin mingled for a bit and talked with our group.

While posing for a photo with him I mentioned that I loved him in Chances Are and he said it was just on TV the other day and his wife hadn't seen it so they watched his 23-year-old self (he's now 40). He then began dancing with me and serenading me to the song Chances Are. It was really sweet--not skeevy--and I was definitely giddy.

Here are some photos, a.k.a my proof. The photo of us dancing was way too bright since the flash went off at the same time as the professional photographer's.


After my mother and I headed to The Dinner in the meat packing district for some fried chicken and mac and cheese. On my way back to my apartment, I was staring down at my feet making sure I didn't get my heels stuck in the cobble stoned streets, when I spotted a real $100 bill on the ground. I'm serious. I know it sounds crazy and something that would only happen to me, but it's true. I have a witness too. If I saw someone drop it, of course I'd give it back to someone but it was just lying there by itself waiting for me to happen by. So, yes, yesterday was a lucky night for me! :) Too bad it means it was a shitty night for whoever lost the c note.

Whole Foods Before The Storm
It's always an adventure going to Whole Foods supermarket, especially during lunch time or after work when the lines are gynormous despite the 26-manned registers. It reminds me of skiing and the lines you have to stand in while waiting for a ski lift. There's six long lines that filter into one, a couple express lanes for singles and an employee at the end directing people where to go just like at a ski mountain. In the end the bill is almost as expensive as a ski pass too, which is why I don't go often, but the food court that lets people eat the prepared foods they just bought is fun and really nice.

When leaving the store, guess who got suckered into buying a normally $3 umbrella for $7 since it was pouring out? Me, because I stupidly forgot to pack my umbrella today despite the weather reports. The guy didn't even extend his opened umbrella over my head while I scrambled for the bills. So, I ended up soaked anyway. The faux fur on my jean coat looked like a wet cat and my cords got dark and dirty on the bottoms as I walked home. At least I had bought some soup to warm me up.

News: Now I don't have to feel too guilty about eating Magnolia cupcakes or making homeade Mac and Cheese. Comfort Foods Switch Off Stress, Scientists Find