entertaining infinity

tagged

Maria tagged me for this delightful meme thing ... here goes:

Four jobs I've had:

• Working in the gift shop on a cruise ship
• Counselor and boating instructor at a Girl Scout camp
• PR goddess in non-profit theater(s)
• Conference Queen for The Coaches Training Institute (ok, my official title was director of pr ...)

Four movies I can watch over and over:

(i only get to pick FOUR?)

• Harold and Maude
• The Princess Bride
• Out of Africa
• Thelma and Louise

(and field of dreams, muriel's wedding, dazed and confused, pleasantville, annie hall, the jerk, wonder boys, dangerous liaisons, the hudsucker proxy, age of innocence, when harry met sally, cinema paradiso, the adventures of priscilla - queen of the dessert, a fish called wanda, star wars, monty python and the holy grail, the philadelphia story, holiday, it's a wonderful life, wild things, the usual suspects, holy smoke, the shawshank redemption, the wizard of oz; i kinda like movies ...) 

Four places I've lived:

• Sydney, Australia
• Berkeley, CA
• Brooklyn, NY
• Princeton, NJ

Four TV shows I love(d):

• Six Feet Under
• Mindless infotainment
• Thirtysomething
• I can rarely turn away from shows on this channel even though I suck at doing the stuff they do on the shows on this channel.

Four places I've vacationed:

• Lindeman Island, Australia
• The US (drove cross country by myself ... twice)
• The Lake District, UK
• The Outer Banks of NC

Four of my favorite dishes:

if i may change the question a little ... to favorite foods:

• fruit: peaches, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, blueberries, grapefruit, bananas, fuji apples, white grapes (no seeds please)
• most things Italian
• most things Mexican
• breakfast

Four sites I visit daily:

• my email account
• Google

other than that, i don't visit any site daily, but these are in heavy rotation:

• USA Today (i love craig wilson's stuff)
• my blogger buddies (see sidebar for the regular rollcall)

Four places I'd rather be right now:

I'm usually pretty OK with where I am (even when i'm not too thrilled with where i am ... if you can follow that logic) - but if I could pick ...

• Muir Beach (in photo)
• Bondi Beach
• in front of a fire
• hanging out with good friends

(combine the bottom two with one of the top two, and i'd be in heaven!)

Four bloggers I'm tagging:

Two bloggers I know well ...

• Marilyn of California Fever
• Will of CyberJazzDaddy

and just to mix it up and stretch into new worlds ... two blogs I read w/semi-regularity and enjoy, but whose authors I don't really know ...

• Michelle from la vie en rose
• Kathryn from Mindful Life

blissness

When Maria recently linked to Chris Bliss' cool "Must-See Finale" video clip, I watched it several times ... delighting in the beauty, joy and poetry of this guy's talent: juggling.

That's right juggling. 

But this is no ordinary juggling; this guy makes tossing balls in the air look like ballet. 

Over the last month I found myself going back to his site to watch this clip again and again; delighting in the athleticism, humor and jaw dropping fabulosity of it all.  (oh yeah, and he does it to the beatles 'golden slumbers/carry that weight/end' trilogy - a delicious tune blend that i adore. that don't hurt, oh no.)

In his juggling (a metaphor for what we all do a lot of our lives methinks) to great music, this guy has become a favorite inspiration pick-me-up.  (if he has any web tracking or stat monitoring, i'm sure he's starting to think he has a web-stalker in me ...)  It's just that watching him toss and catch as the Beatles sing: "and in the end/the love you take/is equal to the love you make ..." I am inspired every time.  By juggling.  Oh yeah.  Positively fizzing with delight am I.

It's not just because of the skill and the artistry of the juggling.  It's that, and it's also because I love seeing someone do what they're drawn to, and from that, creating a living.  (and from that, they're able to support causes they're passionate about.  and write about stuff that matters.)  (not a short little piece this last link, but worth reading ... print it out; trust me, you'll enjoy it ... and i don't just say that because chris bliss, like i, was heavily influenced by the apollo landing on the moon ...)

Watch it and see if it doesn't delight and inspire you too.  If this guy can kick off his career by juggling, what's possible for the rest of us out here juggling our various talents, desires and dreams?

And in the end, this guy is going to be taking a lot of love, cause he sure is making a lot of it.  A big smooch out in the universe to him.  (methinks he'll be able to catch it ...)

Now stop reading and go watch that 'must see finale'.  (you really MUST see it ...) 

fun links again...

~ The other day I got on this website, typed in the word "poop" and hit "hear word" over and over again for my three year old niece and nephew to their insane delight (uncle debbie was a hit -- then again, it doesn't take much with 3 year olds ...).  The site has other applications, of course.  Got a pesky word you can never remember how to pronounce ... (like W with nook-ya-ler?)?  Type it in and chances are good you won't mess it up again.  ('cept W, of course ...)

~ Anybody ever tell you that you look like someone famous? Upload a photo of yourself and this website will give you a list.  It's a hoot ... and addictive.  I tried 3 different photos which turned up the following matches: Patricia Arquette, Ian Thorpe, JK Rowling, Agnetha Fältskog (of the fab-wah ABBA), Johnny Ramon (gaba gaba hey), Meryl Streep, Marianne Faithful, Barbra Striesand, Princess Diana, Bella Lugosi, Margaret Thatcher and (get this) Signourney Weaver (huh?).  Other than Signourney, I think the theme is our rather pronounced probosci's.  Fun whether you agree with what they come up with or not.

~ I have to clean out my closet ... and the pile under the coffee table ... and get my tax stuff together (before march please!) ... and make that change on that life insurance policy ... and pay my bills before the 10th of the month ... and ... as the tag line on this site says: sometimes in life you just need to be nagged. 

~ A plug for a pal - personal trainer and all 'round fabulous woman Kim Eickhoff and a few collaborators wrote a book to help young kids think and be healthy.

~ All this, and a typeface made out of your handwriting ... the internet is a cool place.

help deb snag jon stewart!

I love Jon Stewart.  I am a pathetic fan of him and The Daily Show and would debase my relationship with my schweetie in a New York minute were Jon Stewart to glance my way.  Call me a slut, I will not deny it.  (ok, maybe i'm being a little overly dramatic ...) (maybe.)

Last week it was announced that (hubba hubba) Jon Stewart was going to host the next Academy Awards.  What a great choice, I thought.  I always enjoy the Oscars, although I'm not sure why.  I love the movies, but the Oscars show can be so boring - with too many long winded expositions (cinematography. what would a film be without the gifts of light and shadow that a cinematographer creates? blah, blah, blah ... yes, yes, we appreciate it already ... now give the bloody award!).  So this year, the experience might be a bit more enjoyable ... cause not only will I enjoy seeing which lovelies might be wearing one of my friend James' frocks at said Oscars, but I can drool over Jon Stewart while he makes me laugh (oh how i love those guys who make me laugh) through (and, i suspect, at) the pomp and circumstance that is the Academy Awards.

A day or so after the news of Stewart's Oscar gig came out, I got a call from my fab-wah editor/friend.  "Did you hear that Jon Stewart was going to be hosting the Oscars?" she asked. (yes, i told her, i had ...)  "Did you know that he grew up in the Princeton area?"  (no, i didn't ...) ... "Wouldn't that be a cool local-angle story?"  (uh huh ...) " ... and ... would you want to do it?"

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!  Would I want to do it?  I'm so excited I'm vibrating.  How cool would that be?  (but could i interview him and not make a complete idiot of myself?  hmmm...) 

Ah, but wait, wait ... don't get too excited, Deb.  Y'see, in order to do a story, you've got to land the interview.  (as we were unable to with steve, as you may recall ...)

A little more than a week out and so far, we can't even get in the door.  Between fab editor/friend and I, we've been working whatever contacts we have and can't figure out who 'his people' are, or when/if we think we've found one, we can't get contact info to approach them.  We've read that he has nice connections to his hometown and we think that if ONLY he knew that we wanted to interview him, he'd probably be willing to give us 10 or 15 minutes for an interview.  ( ... i know US1 is a tiny little biz/entertainment weekly in the scheme of things, but still ...)

And then today, I thought of this new blog community that I'm involved with.  (and of the new the artists way group and the concept of synchronicity ...)  And I thought: what if it were easy?  And so I ask you, my blog readers/buddies: help me find a way to snag an interview with Jon Stewart.  It's been said that there are six degrees of separation between each person on the planet (and six degrees of kevin bacon too), and I'm SURE that with a little help from you all, I can snag my interview with Jon Stewart.  If you tell two friends, and they tell two friends ... (remember that shampoo commercial?) ... it can happen.

Make a girls dream come true.  Do you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who might know someone who could get me in the door?  Post it on your blog, link to this posting, leave a comment or email me. Help Deb Snag Jon Stewart!

Time's a wastin' - my deadline is February 22.  Thanks in advance for (what i am sure will be) magical help!

cool stuffs

It's time for more fun links!

Found this great music site the other day - register (it's free - just give 'em your email address and some generic info), and custom make your own internet radio stations.  You just type in the name of a favorite artist (or two or three), and the site starts offering up similar artists and music.  If they play something you don't like you can put the kabosh on that song and they won't play it again.  I've discovered all sorts of cool artists, and rediscovered some old favorites. 

I currently have a "Dave" station (i started by typing in dave matthews band and david wilcox), and a Questionable Classics station (typed in the monkees, abba, and the cowsills).  Fun city.

Another cool discovery: If you're like me and you can't stomach network news ("horror in your favorite food!" - "murder in your neighborhood!" - "bombings ... everywhere!") (in other words: trust no one - the world is bad, bad, bad...), this site is a delightful antidote.  Life is good, if you know where to look.

Always happy to hear of the good stuff you've seen out there (send those links baby!).

fun links again...

- Check out my friend Marybeth's music.  A year or so ago she was just dreaming about songwriting, and now she's got streaming files on the internet, entering songwriting contests, and performing in her adopted home in Germany with a group of other expatriates in the group 'Far From Home.' 

I turned my niece onto her song 'Waiting to Fly' (my favorite) and now said niece has it on her ipod.  Be the first on YOUR block to hear it.  (cause i swear, some day the dixie chicks are going to record it...)

- Google maps - and particularly the satellite version - are pretty cool.  And kinda freaky too.  Makes me think of what an old lover once said (he'd been in the military a few years before, so i think this influenced this perspective...) that if people wanted to find out stuff about you, they could.  Google maps makes me realize how close that is to reality.  If I can zero in on my old neighborhood in Berkeley and the house I lived in when I learned about infinity - maybe the evil empire could look in though my windows where I live now and catch me in subversive activities.  (or maybe just watching bad tv...) 

- When people ask me how old I am, I don't lie (then again, i'm not tellin' if they don't ask), but for the last several years if someone asks how old I FEEL, I say 37.  I think I've been happily stuck at 37 for ... uh ... almost 6 years now (you do the math).  37 was a good year; I hit a personal/psychic kinda stride then...felt like I'd come into myself in a whole new way.  Well, now with this fun quiz, I find that I'm actually 31.  Hm.  Go figure.  ;)