A Perfect Day or Seeing Mercury for the First Time in My Life: 

So after a casual ride this afternoon . . . 

I got to Twin Peaks early, 15-20 minutes before sunset. It was windy and cold as I waited for the sun to go down. I went to scope out the best position to look for the planets, and headed up one of the boobs of Twin Peaks. It was colder and windier up there, and I decided that the second boob would have the better vantage point. So I climbed down the first boob and headed up the second boob to wait. 

It was cold and the wind was blowing something fierce, but it wasn't a bitter cold. It was a buffeting cold wind, but not the kind that cuts through you. I faced east, away from the wind, waiting for the sun to go down. Birds were chirping loudly in the twilight. It was a little surreal, calming. 

As the sun fell below the haze over the ocean, I decided to watch the sun set through my binoculars, despite warnings that one should never look at the sun through binos at any time. It was really cool, though, because the haze distorted the sphere of the sun, and looked like looking through a gateway or a portal. Maybe the light, water, and haze were playing tricks with my eyes, but it looked like there was an ocean in the sun. When I turned away because of the wind, my eyes were tearing and burning for a few seconds. Kids, when they tell you not to look at the sun with binos, DON'T! 

The sun set and the sky was getting darker, but it would be a while before any planets would appear. The recommendation was to look about 40 minutes after sunset. So I waited vigilantly facing east, listened to the birds, danced around to keep warm, and occasionally looked west to see if I could see anything. I knew that Venus would appear before Mercury, so don't even bother looking for Mercury until I saw Venus. 

Finally, 10-15 minutes later, I looked around and saw something – presumably Venus. I looked at it through my binos, nothing spectacular, looked for Mercury and saw nothing. Mercury is supposed to be a challenge because of it's proximity to and close orbit around the sun. I had my doubts, maybe Mercury was already below the haze. 

5-10 minutes later, I saw another light higher in the sky. I guessed Jupiter. I kept my vigil looking east, occasionally facing the wind to look for Mercury until my eyes teared and would have to turn around, pulling my hood tight. 

Finally, one of the times I scanned the sky below and to the right of Venus with my binos, I caught a glimpse of a tiny point of light. I froze (aside from freezing), not wanting to lose it. Was it Mercury? It had to be. I tracked my binos back to Venus, and then back to the point of light and I was certain it was Mercury! It was just a feeble point of light but I was jumping up and down in excitement (and for warmth). It's just exciting to see something I'd never seen before, especially when it's something that is usually really hard to see. 

I decided to stay up there until Saturn and Mars appeared, and then I'd make a beeline for my car. But as I was waiting, I noticed a car that had parked in the cleavage of Twin Peaks. There were people hanging out down there, and it was freezing. So I peered at them through my binos, and it looked like they had a telescope and were doing the same thing I was. Excited, I rushed down the hill in the dark, and they were indeed looking at the planets. 

I hung out with them, marveling at the planets. They let me look at Saturn and Jupiter through their scope, and Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moons were clearly visible. Mars was a distinct ruddy dot. As twilight faded, Mercury became visible to the naked eye, and it was incredible. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter strung across the western sky. A rare occurrence. I was standing in the cold wind for an hour and half and it was so worth it.

We keep getting e-mails from HR about 401(k) information sessions. I don't care about this, I don't even want to be seeing these things. Long-term life planning stuff makes me not want to be here now, and reminds me I don't want to be here then (far in the future), and the truth is I want to be around until some point which is a happy medium between the two.

I think the ones with quotation marks are jokes:

1) “Women might be able to fake orgasms. But men can fake whole relationships.” (Sharon Stone)
2) “Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is.” (Barbara Bush - Former U.S. First Lady)
3) Ah, yes, divorce..., from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man’s genitals through his wallet. (Robin Williams)
4) Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place. (Billy Crystal)
5) Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and just give her a house. (Rod Stewart)
6) “There are only two reasons to sit in the back row of an airplane: Either you have diarrhea, or you’re eager to meet people who do.” (Henry Kissinger)- (former US Secretary of State)
7) “My girlfriend always laughs during sex - no matter what she’s reading.” (Steve Jobs - Founder, Apple Computers)
8) “My cousin just died. He was only 19. He got stung by a bee - the natural enemy of a tightrope walker.” (Dan Rather - News anchorman)
9) “I saw a woman wearing a sweatshirt with ‘Guess’ on it. I said, "Thyroid problem?" (Arnold Schwarzenegger)
10) “Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps.” (Tiger Woods)
11) Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of it as the only time of the month that I can be myself. (Roseanne)
12) According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say that women are too judgmental, whereas, of course, men are just grateful. (Robert De Niro)
13) AND THE NUMBER ONE QUOTE IS: See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time. (Robin Williams)

current soundtrack: Throwing Muses - "The Real Ramona"

Sunday in the Park with George DVD:
Oh
My
God! (where to start?)
This is a musical by Stephen Sondheim. Georges Seurat is often credited as being one of the founders of a painting style called "pointillism". The idea behind Seurat's pointillism is that you can create a painting comprised solely of "dots" of primary colors, and when standing from a distance, the human eye and brain will mix the primary colors to create the illusion of a wider spectrum of colors. Seurat's crowning achievement was his painting "Sunday Afternoon on the Isle Grande Jatte". Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park with George" is a fictional piece documenting the creation of this masterpiece.

When I first bought the CD of the musical, on the basis that it was a Sondheim, I hated it. I thought it was terrible, trite, amusical, ponderous, self-absorbed, boring, etc. I was planning to pass it off to my brother. But I gave it a chance in the memorable Summer of '91, and I would find myself hearing certain melodies and snippets in my head while taking the A Train to NYU for summer classes. I ended up obsessing over the show.

The show was a critical success, but it wasn't the Broadway hit expected of Sondheim. No boisterous dance sequences, no uplifting, tear-jerking message, no memorable songs that would go down into the pantheon of songs that would be forever imitated in musical revues and karaoke bars. The show was a meditation on life and art. And as Seurat's points of primary color created a masterpiece from afar, so the moments of our lives create the masterpieces of our lives upon completion. The music of the show imitates pointillism, using just points of notes to create a musical work.

We are the artists, with a blank canvas, and we create what we want to see. There's one number in the musical when Seurat is obsessing over "finishing the hat" and he's justifying losing his girlfriend to work on his art, and that finishing that hat is more important because that is the creation of life, what is meaningful, but in the end, he confesses that he's creating a hat "where there never was a hat". That was gasp-worthy for me.

I listened to the CD of the musical long before I found out that the stage production had been videotaped. Watching it adds so many more dimensions than just the CD. The staging and the lights are incredible as is expected of all great Broadway musicals, certainly Sondheim musicals. And I was tickled pink to see a "scrim" used brilliantly. A scrim is a piece of cloth used in theater, and when it's lit from behind, the audience can see through it. But when it's lit from the front, it looks like a solid piece of cloth. It's gimmicky, and if you gotta have a gimmick the key is knowing when to use it.

So all through the first act, we see glimpses of the elements that will comprise the final piece in the characters Seurat sketches on the island on a series of Sundays between 1884 and 1886. And in the final musical piece of the first act, Seurat brings all the elements/characters together and manipulates them until on the stage is a live rendition of Seurat's masterpiece.

Life as with music as with art: "Order design composition tension balance light . . . harmony".

And that's just the first act.

"The meaning of life is connected, inextricably, to the meaning of death; mourning is a romance in reverse, and if you love, you grieve and there are no exceptions – only those who do it well and those who don't." 

- Thomas Lynch, a poet and an undertaker

Potrero Avenue and 18th St. Waiting for a bus.

The Unbearable Lightness of Suckitude: 

If Joycee gives her two week notice, I will wait one week after she leaves and then give mine. And then spend the bulk of the remainder of my time here prodding Eric to do the same after I'm gone. 

How great would it be to scrimp and save for the rest of the year, doing whatever I want that doesn't cost money, dinking around with music, never changing guitar or bass strings, going on rides every nice day there is, and otherwise drinking away the part of the day that I cannot sleep away. Oh wait. I might have to stop drinking to save money. Eh, I'll jump off that bridge once I get to it. 

And then if I haven't tried to swim to Taiwan by December, the end of my lease, I'll pack up my stuff and move to Hoboken, New Jersey, and try my luck with the music scene there. I can use my parents' house as base of operations. I can even set up my drums there! Poor neglected drumset. 

The problem with moving back to New Jersey, and what I haven't had to think about in the nine years I've been in this cold city, is that in the Summers, people usually wear short-sleeve shirts and shorts. That might be a problem for me (er, "body modifications"). It occurred to me because I just read it hit 91 degrees in Newark today. It's a pretty serious consideration. 

But for now, I'm gonna just put butter on this roll and eat it. 

Joycee factoid of the day: Very riled up over the Ms. Case Manager situation, but is in cahoots with Eric to "resolve" the problem by "communicating". Count me out, I'm trying to get fired, preferably laid off.

Wow, I've gotten more work done this morning than on any morning in the past two weeks!! Possible reasons:

1. I'm clamping down and focusing out of necessity;
2. I'm blasting music through headphones, and that: a) keeps me tethered to the speakers (i.e., at my desk); b) forces anyone wanting to chat to make an effort to get my attention; and c) helps me focus by shutting out other aural distractions.
3. I woke up at 5:00 and couldn't go back to sleep so I had three shots of whiskey while finishing the packaging for Jen's mix before leaving for work;
4. Blogging is losing its obsessive novelty, so that isn't as distracting anymore;
5. I'm trying out a new strategy of swamping Ms. Case Manager with work to review, although that would be more effective if I told Eric and Joycee to do it, too, as I was planning to, but haven't yet.
6. I'm tired of staying late after work to finish in 2 hours, what I should have been working on over eight.

I'm kinda thinking it's #3, but of course I would, but shouldn't use my productivity to justify doing that on a regular basis, because that would elevate me from being "alcoholic" to "alcoholic with a problem". There's a difference. Really.

Joycee factoid of the day: Called me unfashionably fashionable for wearing a mandarin-collared corduroy shirt.

Another Monday morning, another week. Each week is Groundhog Day. Each lifetime is Groundhog Day until we get it right. And in my book, short lifetimes are better than long lifetimes.

Madoka finally e-mailed this weekend. She was in Southeast Asia longer than I expected. I expected her to be back in Tokyo a month ago. She got my letter (remember what those are?).

E: who is madoka?
K: Madoka=best friend from college. I think my relationship with her goes back lifetimes. I’m supposed to be in love with her, and I am in love with her, I’m just . . . not.

Something from said past lifetime(s) prevents. It's complicated.

Spontaneous Jen mix:
- Offline P.K. (Pinback)
- The Plan (Built to Spill)
- Start Together (Sleater-Kinney)
- LT Tour Theme (Le Tigre)
- History Lessons (764-HERO)
- Raining (Versus)
- Working for Vacation (Cibo Matto)
- Never-Ending Math Equation (Modest Mouse)
- Cashout (Fugazi)
- Science vs. Romance (Rilo Kiley)
- Within the Quilt of Demand (Shannon Wright)
- My Adidas (Versus)
- Deceptacon (Le Tigre)
- Heart Cooks Brain (Modest Mouse)
- Heartbreak Even (Ani DiFranco)
- Photographic Evidence (764-HERO)
- Underdogs of Nipomo (Archers of Loaf)
- Sidewalk (Built to Spill)
- Things You Say (Sleater-Kinney)
- Friendship Station (Le Tigre)
- Scientist Studies (Death Cab for Cutie)

current soundtrack: Katie's Mix

What the hell was I doing up at 5:46 A.M.?

• I need to be asleep


• I bought the "Please Save My Earth" DVD; another heavy, depressing anime.


• I went on another ride today. I got plenty of sun this weekend. My scars got tanned!


• I got a random check from the cable company for $105.14! It says to cash immediately. Damn straight I'm gonna cash it immediately.


• When I die, I want to embed my essence into the internet and continue weblogging. I'm curious to find what I'd blog about.


• My apartment is no cleaner than on Friday.


• I will eventually turn on my tape recorders and record something. So for now I'm not going to kick myself for not.


• Which is better, gin or whiskey? I think I'll conduct another taste test on myself.

King of the Mountain: 

Well, not really. Riding up to Tilden Park wasn't very hard. But I cheated. Instead of going up the more direct route, which incidentally would have gone past my old house in the East Bay hills, I decided at the last minute to take the more gradual route, following a bus line up Euclid to Grizzly Peak. It was longer, but it wasn't hard at all. I probably didn't need to go down to my small chain-reel at all. I want to go again and go up the harder route. And pass my old house. 

Call me crazy, but I get a rush out of climbing – a whole lot more than downhills or flats. On downhills or flats, I'm perfectly happy letting someone go ahead of me and following, but if someone's ahead of me on an uphill, I give chase. And feel good when I pass them. I'm not a competitive person. 

The Bonk: So even though it wasn't hard, it was still fun. It was a bit nostalgic since I passed a lot of my old running courses. I had to meet Nobuko at Jupiter's at 4:30, so I started making my way out of the park, but then I took a detour up South Park Road because I thought it would be shorter. Wrong. It turned out to be hill, which would have been fine, except I was running out of fuel and I bonked hard. I'm never getting Clif Bars for rides again. Power Bars – "don't bonk"! It's so humiliating walking a bike up a hill. After a 15 minute rest, I crawled the rest of the way up the hill and found I was in the totally wrong place. 

Centennial Road: I didn't want to be late so I started booking. Fortunately, after all that climbing, it was literally all downhill. I got to Centennial Road which I knew would take me down to campus. What I didn't know was that Centennial Road is helluv steep! That road friggin' plunges!! Not knowing that beforehand and with four cars behind me, I just went for it. My top speed was 39.5 mph, and all I could do to keep calm was keep saying, "yo . . . yo . . . yo . . . yo . . . yo" all the way down. It was scary, but I was laughing and smiling when it was over. 

current soundtrack: Shannon Wright - "Dyed in the Wool"

I'm still not having any success getting work done. The file that I was working on until 7:00 last night was still on my desk this morning, and at 10:15 I told myself to have it off my desk by 10:30. It is now almost noon. I'm trying a new strategy now of blasting music in my headphones to try to make me focus. Last week, I was so behind it was funny. Then earlier this week, I was so behind it wasn't funny. It's now funny again.

current soundtrack: Built to Spill - "Live"

Found this test from Jahva's weblog, and yes it is perplexing. I think (hey, I was a religion minor in college):

1. Mahayana Buddhism (100%)
2. Neo-Pagan (91%)
3. Hinduism (88%)
4. New Age (86%)
5. Theravada Buddhism (84%)
6. Unitarian Universalism (82%)
7. Liberal Quakers (74%)
8. Jainism (72%)
9. Taoism (72%)
10. New Thought (64%)
11. Scientology (63%)
12. Sikhism (60%)
13. Orthodox Quaker (52%)
14. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (51%)
15. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (51%)
16. Secular Humanism (44%)
17. Reform Judaism (38%)
18. Bahá'í Faith (37%)
19. Orthodox Judaism (33%)
20. Seventh Day Adventist (31%)
21. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (25%)
22. Eastern Orthodox (21%)
23. Islam (21%)
24. Roman Catholic (21%)
25. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (21%)
26. Jehovah's Witness (20%)
27. Nontheist (20%)

My brow furrows, why is anything around and below 50% showing up at all?

My personal belief, in general, is that religion is language. Russians speak Russian because that's how they communicate, that's how they express and understand. Same with Japanese, English, French, all languages. If you want to know where the bathroom is, it's best if you know how to ask in the language of the country you're in.

The analogy isn't exact with religion, but it's sort of there for true seekers; people who aren't just following religious tenets because they have no mind of their own and need to be spoon-fed their beliefs (sorry, that came out much more condescending and patronizing than I'd ever intend it).

Buddhism is a language for me, I don't fancy pigeon-holing myself as a Buddhist, but the language that Buddhism uses is what resonated with me. I was sent to Sunday school growing up, and nothing resonated. I was exposed to the JCC growing up, and nothing resonated with me. But when Buddhism was spoken to me, I was like, "yea, I can dig it yo!"

But the basic teaching is no different than any other "religious language". Much of what I agree with Christianity and Judaism and other "religions", I just have to translate into Buddhist concepts, and if you look, you'll find them there. They're just clothed and veiled in different languages, different cultures, different geographic locations.

In college, I ran into a brick wall with Zen Buddhism, so I ended up in Islam classes, and I was blown away. The writings associated with Sufism (mystical branch of Islam), to me, were explaining the mechanics of Zen Buddhist concepts, which when explained in Zen Buddhist language is abstract and supposed to be intuitive, and as such, not very helpful. (mushin: no mind: ooh, yea, I get it man, empty your mind, that's what we're supposed to be striving for, man. Give me a fucking break, please explain emptying your fucking mind).

What my ground-floor thesis is, is that religion is personal, but there are gradients in which we can find communities to help us find our own way. There is a large umbrella of Christianity, of Islam, of Judaism, of Hinduism, of Buddhism, etc. But then each of these umbrellas are broken down into sects because not everyone agrees with everyone else. But then these sects can be broken down into subsects because not everyone agrees with everyone else. Keep doing that.

Keep doing that until you get to the individuals and try to find two people with the exact same religious belief. It can happen, but my "thesis" states that in most cases, there will be some point on which any two people will disagree with. Each and every person has their own religion.

OK, I'm officially drunk. Oooommmmmm. Ooooommmm. I see editing in my future. Ooooommmm. (no nothing is sacred)

My life used to be fraught with coincidence and synchronicity that had meaning.

I did think there was such thing as "pure coincidence", but that it didn't occur as often as we'd like to think. Most "coincidences" were manipulations of our unconscious mind, gravitating things into our lives as signs, or hints, or guidance. But I guess childhood ended some time during law school, and now the signs still come up, but they just have no more meaning anymore.

I've got this pile of work sitting behind me, and it's so bad that I'm at a complete loss why boss-lady hasn't come in here and asked, "what's going on here?". But I think she's giving me credit for being responsible and not in need of micro-management, and I appreciate that enough that I might come in on the weekend to clear some of this out.

I actually could use some micro-management about now. I'm not feeling very responsible. But I haven't given any indication that something's going on, so there's no reason for her to instigate an intervention. Not that she doesn't have enough shit to deal with everyday without one or two of her team members melting down. And an intervention would just make me freeze up and lock anyway.

And I'm not melting down. Really, nothing has happened to cause me to melt down except that it's April again. My daily routine has been the same, my thoughts haven't been unusual, I've been doing fun stuff, Daylight Savings Time has kicked in, and the weather's getting warmer, it's just that it's April again. But then what the hell is this pile of work sitting behind me?

Boss-lady was subtley hinting/suggesting that I write down issues for each case if they had any, just in case something happened to me. Like get hit by a bus. It was subtle because what she said made me come up with the suggestion. As a manager, she's GENIUS.

Joycee factoid of the day: SHOW AND TELL: She brought in this teeny-tiny radio-control (RC) car that is less than two inches long and we set up a ramp in my "spare cube" to do jumps.

On David Hasselhoff: 

I hate to subject even more innocent human beings to this than I already have. I would just like to say that the first time I watched this, I was shocked and incredulous, like I had just watched the meaning of life sucked away right before my eyes, there was no reason to live another day on this planet with any hope for anything whatsoever. Pointless. 

What brought me to watch it a second time, I don't know, maybe desperation. After losing the meaning of life, perhaps I needed to revisit the source of this hideous violation of my being. This time, there was one shot with a fish that elicited a grin out of me. 

Finally, after sending it to co-workers, followed by introspective discussions and focus/support grouping with said co-workers, I watched it one last time. I actually think I appreciated it, if not enjoyed it. Really. I'm even feeling a little bit, dare I say it?, European. Yes, indeedy. Yes, indeedy, indeed. 

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you: 

David Hasselhoff (NB: No, YouTube did not exist in 2002, this is a stand-in replicating whatever video technology did exist back then. - future ed.)

Disclaimer: I have no background information on the production or source of this. If anyone knows anything about it, please don't tell me. 

My good friend Terry had just this to say about it: 

"To whomever is responsible for this: 

Don't ever do this to me again. 

Never. 

Got it? 

-tk" 

Joycee factoid of the day: Joycee: "The sun's coming out"; Me: "And it's not even tomorrow"; Joycee (without missing a beat): "The sun'll come out, tomorrow, tomorrow".

Monday morning reality check.
*sigh*
Yup, still here.

Katie mix (finally):

1. Science vs. Romance (Rilo Kiley)


2. Flowers (Cibo Matto)


3. 3rd Planet (Modest Mouse)


4. I Was a Kaleidoscope (Death Cab for Cutie)


5. Fake French (Le Tigre)


6. Start Together (Sleater-Kinney)


7. Skylines (764-HERO)


8. Radar Follows You (Versus)


9. Carry the Zero (Built to Spill)


10. Raining (Versus)


11. Atropine (Rainer Maria)


12. BBtone (Pinback)


13. Room Service (Pizzicato Five)


14. Hotel Yorba (The White Stripes)


15. Out of Gas (Modest Mouse)


16. Information Travels Faster (Death Cab for Cutie)


17. At the Surface (764-HERO)


18. Morning Glory (Versus)


19. August (Rilo Kiley)

Northern Exposure quote of the day:
Enrique Lopez (a shepard): You know, lately, I ask myself, "What are people going to say about me after I'm gone?" Enrique Lopez, he raised sheep. I gotta try something else before I'm too old.
Ruth Anne: Like what?
Enrique Lopez: I don't know. Cows, maybe.

"Saving Daylight" - Sara Suleri (Meatless Days)
Soon, I think, we will put the clock forward, obliterate one April hour, and the day will make a startling leap into expansive evenings, creating ample setting for lucid conversation. What times of old luxury I have known in something like the miraculous length of evening in an English summer . . . sitting in a garden with my father talking through night's stillness, the total stillness of a summer in Lahore. The garden is still full with people and voices, bodies waiting for the rain and its sharp release of fragrance when it puts water on their dust, in order that they may sigh aloud, "another summer done". I, in some other era of negotiation with my clock, own now a different idiom in which to mention respite: "anther summer," sighs my father; "another winter," echo I.

I have long since not read and re-read this book in Amina's voice, which I heard last in January of 1994. Not so strangely, I have also since ceased to consider this book one of my favorites, and not so beautifully written as I did when Amina was in my life.

I still consider Amina the love of my life, "I will always love you first and most", I had written or said. And it's true, I still love her first and most. The only difference is that Amina, the person I knew ten years ago, certainly does not exist anymore. If I were to run into her now, that wicked chemical spark I felt when I first laid eyes on her, and felt each and every subsequent time I met up with her, wouldn't be there.

If I ran into her on the street now, I would see her and remember the feelings, but more like as if they were on a page in a book, not as if they were in three dimensional physical reality. So when I say that I maintain my "love you first and most" directed at her, what does that mean? It has nothing to do with the physical fact of her existence somewhere, probably in Chicago, definitely married, nor the possibility of our paths crossing once more.

It means that my love for her was real, more real than anything this physical reality could suggest or have to offer, but it had more to do with me than it did with her, per se. It was about my ability to love, to accept, to see things differently, to break out of the mould that was created by my upbringing (although it was that mould that significantly contributed to our departure from each other's lives, I think). Amina was the catalyst of so much, she has no idea I shouldn't wonder, that I think I would be unrecognizably different today if I had never met her.

As it is, every April and every October, I pick up this book and read through the last chapter, "Saving Daylight", even though it in large part makes no sense to me. And I no longer read it hearing Amina's voice.

"Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion" was on TV. I was friends with Mira Sorvino in high school (she was two years older in my brother's grade), and I started watching it and was just enthralled. She actually is a really, really good actress, and I'm watching this movie noticing what a great acting job she's doing. Her accent is incredibly funny! I'm totally eating it up.

Sadly, 'Michelle and Romy' is one of her better films. And it's actually a pretty good one, the humor is markedly subtle and clever, almost sophisticated in its dead-pandedness (dead-panness? dead-panninity?). My ex-sister-in-law was best friends with Mira in high school (Mira came to the wedding in a limo - tres disappointing) and she lamented Mira's choice of scripts. Mira would be a great dramatic actor, and all the roles she's taken have not been sympathetic to her talent. She pulled off Romy, but it should have been her "fun" gig to show she can be fun and quirky.

Well, that's my brush with fame. And anyone who knows me is two degrees of separation from Mira Sorvino, and three degrees of separation from everyone in Hollywood that Mira knows. I'm two degrees of separation away from Chow Yun-Fat ('Replacement Killer') and Rob Morrow ('Quiz Show'), and therefore three degrees of separation from the entire cast of 'Northern Exposure'. Woo hoo.

Other brushes with the Sorvino's factoids:
- Paul Sorvino, was a pompous butt
- I went out with her sister Amanda for like three months in high school (she was a year younger than me, and went to Tenafly high? I think she also had something to do with that professional children's school in Manhattan since she was a child prodigy)
- I think Mira finished her Harvard application on my brother's computer the night it needed to be posted. I forget if my brother drove her to Manhattan get it in on time.
- Amanda was a child prodigy on piano
- I have recordings of Mira singing 'Dear Prudence' (The Beatles) and 'Another Nail for My Heart' (Squeeze) . . . flat. Apparently her voice was much better by her China sojourn (she was a Chinese major at Harvard or something like that), when she sang on Chinese TV. Or so I heard. She's fluent in Mandarin. Or so I hear.
- During college, I was visiting my friend Lisa in Boston, and we were walking around and Lisa kept running into high school friends. I thought if there was anyone in Boston I knew, and the only person I could think of was maybe Mira at Harvard, and not too long thereafter, boom, we ran into Mira!! I think my jaw dropped.
- Amanda was much better at mimicing and doing imitations than Mira (Amanda was very outwardly, playfully creative, whereas Mira was a more serious thespian), but after Mira got famous, I caught her on Conan O'Brien, and Mira did an imitation of Amanda that made me fall out of my chair!

current soundtrack: my own horn