I Love the Holidays...

I really do. I love the way pretty glowing lights appear on trees and houses. I love how the air inevitably smells more and more like crisp winter frost tinged with a hint of chimney smoke, even in a city where it rarely gets below 45. I love the sound of bells that infuse elevator musak and songs on the radio. I adore the smell of cinnamon, hot chocolate, and freshly baked gingerbread. Hell, I even enjoy the special lattes and massively sugary drink concoctions that pop up for a limited time on the Starbucks menu. Am I a consumer whore for Christmas? Probably. Totally.

But the part I love the most is the unspoken sense of warmth and gooeyness (like the inside of a half-baked cookie, all melty with chocolate) that envelopes people and their families during this time. I love the celebration of love. And I'm really really excited for my first Christmas as a wife :)

Now that I've gotten the mushy part out of the way, I want to share with you a little bit of pre-Christmas cheer (in the form of Shaun Peterson - a director/actor I work with.) Please enjoy my first foray into the realm of comedy on Take180.com!

http://www.take180.com/s/1eclnh?autoplay=true

Some Awe...

I try to reserve the word "awesome" for what truly fills me with amazement, joy and astonishment (more than some awe). To be honest, I'm not sure why the word "awful" describes something bad, because isn't awe a good thing? Why is having some awe good, but to be full of awe is bad? So by my understanding of the levels of awe, "awful" would be a step up from "awesome." But then what's at the bottom? What describes something horrendous, something terrible?

My new word proposal is thus: "Aweless."

"Aweless" could easily apply to something boring, mundane, or even horrific. And hey, in this ever changing modern world of grammatical and linguistic butchery, why not add my own little contribution?

But hey, I'm not here to talk about aweless things. I want to show you awful* things. (*note: my personal definition of 'awful) For the sake of clarity, however, be sure that this video I'm posting is the epitome of the classical understanding of the word "awesome."

LXD "Choices" Teaser from Jon M. Chu on Vimeo.

An epic dance webisode dedicated to telling an incredible story with human movement alone (no strings or special effects). And it's directed by Jon Chu. And the dancing is mind blowing. And it's beautifully shot. AWESOME!!!

Please, even if you don't have one rhythmic bone in your body - watch and enjoy!

Ps. The only context in which I can understand the classic relation between "awesome" and "awful" is this -- SOME cheesy enchilada is great, but FULL of cheesy enchilada is a digestive disaster. Take note...

The Awesome Wife

It's official -- I am Katherine Delaney Feldman! Well, I have been since September 13th, 2009, but it still makes me really excited to write it. I get even more excited when I have the chance to say it out loud.

So there it is. I now have the rest of my life to fulfill my vow of being "an awesome wife." Suggestions are welcome, since, you know, I've never done this before...

AND since official pictures from the wedding and the day after shoot will not be available for a few months, I thought I'd give a sneak preview, courtesy of our amazing wedding photographer Genevieve, of the photographic delights to come! Visit the link below to see a picture from our day after shoot at the Se Hotel in San Diego...

http://www.thewayweclick.com/blog/

Happy... Tuesday?

:)

Days Away...

The wedding is only five days away now! There have been a lot of questions about what's going through my head, and this was my first thought --

Never again will I have the chance to say "we have a slight rose petal situation..."

Cuckoo for GaGa

Today's post is all about guilty pleasures. Scratch that -- one guilty pleasure in particular. I cringe to say it and I cringe even more to write it, but I can't deny it. Lately, I'm loving Lady Gaga.

Yes, it's true. I hang my head in shame, but then I play the track "Paparazzi" and before long I'm bouncing off the walls. Her music is good for one thing and one thing only. Having fun. Her songs are completely vapid, lyrically. "I'm not bluffin' with my muffin"? "I wanna take a ride on your disco stick"? Umm.... we'll leave it at that.

But her beats are sick. Her electronic dance pop is utterly addicting and it's impossible (for the female gender at least) not to want to shake your booty. It may take a few listens to get past the ridiculousness of it all, (and the ridiculous nature of Lady Gaga's whole 'performance art' concept in general,) but when you do, you cross into a threshold of uninhibited fun.



And now, my one quick defense of the recording artist who beats out the Britney's of the world:
She can play the piano, and really fucking sing. Need proof? Watch an acoustic version of Poker Face on youtube. Preferably the performance she did on a Japanese show. The one where she's wearing an elephant on her head...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0WY2dVUyyY

Black Holes and Revelations

SO.

There's quite a lot going on in the world it seems. A possible revolution in Iran. A continually crumbling economy. A gradual decline in pretty much all of the world's resources while the population gradually explodes, despite our continual attempts to wipe each other out. There is still, after centuries of fighting over the 'Holy Land,' no peace in sight. There is still hunger and poverty despite the efforts of bleeding hearts and those who regularly appear on the 'Best Dressed List.' Then there's Kim Jong Il (he may be a psychotic murderous bastard, but man he rocks those shades!)

And the cherry on top?

Twitter.

I feel like Twitter is a cornerstone in the decline of society as a whole. Yeah, sure, people are touting Twitter as an integral tool for communication coming out of censored places such as Iran, some even go so far as to say that Twitter is making the 'revolution' possible. To those people, I say: are you fucking kidding me?

Okay, yes Twitter has allowed greater volume of communication to the outside world via internet in a time where information is in a lockdown. But how can anyone fail to recognize that what makes a revolution possible is people? The people marching, fighting, demonstrating, and dying are what make the difference. Also that hat is pretty awesome. I'm pretty sure that hat made a difference somehow.


The French were able to pull off a revolution without the use of Twitter. They maybe got a little more excited about the guillotine than they needed to, but hey, to each revolution its own. Let's not give credit where credit is not due, that's all I'm saying.

Also, Twitter was not invented with revolution in mind. Please! Twitter was invented to make money off of narcissistic twits (yes, pun intended) who are so self-absorbed and disconnected that they feel the need to post every facet of their generally boring lives on a public forum so they can feel more important. To any rabid Twitterers out there.... yeah I don't apologize. I see the benefit of it in incredibly rare situations, (such as finding out what's on the menu at the delicious Indian restaurant Samosa House..... mmmmmm..... jackfruit and yogurt curry.....) but on the whole, it's just another tool for tools.

When I get into a nihilistic mood, as I often do when I think about twitter, it makes me feel better knowing that our whole galaxy will be sucked into a black hole in about 10 million years.

Oh, and kittens. Kittens make me feel better. Especially kittens named 'Monkey' and 'Bear'

Ahh, the glamorous life!

Hollywood ASST from Back of the Class on Vimeo.

JOLIE VS. SULEMAN

Sorry boys, this is not about a mud-wrestling match (but how awesome would that be!) It's about kids. And nature. And dumb fucks (pardon my french.)

I'm sure by now you've heard of the California woman Nadya Suleman, the woman of the octuplets. And you've probably heard that she already has six young kids. You may have even heard that this single mom also has no job, lives in a 2 bedroom house with her parents (who have gone bankrupt trying to support her,) and had all her kids through in-vitro fertilization. All I have to say is, WTF?

Seriously, wtf.

There are reasons that there are a whole series of hoops to jump through and qualifications to meet in order to adopt a child. If someone can't support a kid, they don't get a baby-hand-out.

So why does someone who is jobless and living in a 2 bedroom house with her parents and existing 6 kids get IN-VITRO so she can feed her bizarre obsession with EIGHT MORE KIDS! This is not about attacking an "unconventional lifestyle" as Suleman complained. Bitch, please. This is about total and utter irresponsibility for the sake of overly indulgent self-gratification. It's one thing for Angelina Jolie (who could buy a country) to have and adopt a bunch of kids. She can support a freaking army. But Nadya? Come on.

What happens, Nadya, when the diaper handouts run out? What happens when your 8 premature babies start having health problems? What happens when you realize you can't stuff 14 kids into a 2 bedroom home (that you share with your freaking bankrupt parents! I'm sure they're proud...) What happens when you can't divide your attention among numbers 1-14? What happens when you realize you can't support 14 children off a counselor's salary? What happens if you don't get a job? Cause the economy is so hot right now... What happens when you realize you have serious fucking issues and both you and your kids are going to need major psychological help? What happens then, huh?

It's the 14 stigmatized kids that are going to have to pay for their irresponsible mother's self-absorbed complex. Way to go, you dumb fuck.

No Country for Old (hateful) Men...

I was trying to think of a clever way to preface this, but it speaks for itself...



Watch Olbermann OWN that Dick Cheney.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/06/olbermann-special-comment_n_164603.html