Jessmiloo’s Neighborhood

...is opening around the corner from me:

http://www.babycakesnyc.com/locations.html

I'm super excited.  I visited them in NYC, and it was pretty awesome.  They're a vegan cupcakeria (yes, I just made up that term) who also make gluten-free cupcakes.  They also have vegan donuts.  I am so excited, I can't tell you.  And what are the chances that they would open a west coast shop literally right around the corner from me?  I can walk to get donuts in the morning in my pajamas.  Assuming that when the bank forecloses on my building, that I'll actually still be able to live there.  But that's a different topic.

Speaking of my building, H&R Block shot a commercial there last night, and for the past week, the lobby has been different stages of a fake office.  For all of my inconvenience, I received $150 cash.  I'm quite okay with that.  The first $100 was for the inconvenience.  The $50 was for putting my blinds up and turning on my lights yesterday from 4 PM to 10 PM.  Which was totally fine.  Please, shoot something complicated every week. 

Conando!

Soooo, we went to the Conan O'Brien taping yesterday.  It was awesome!  We saw Jaleel White (Steve Urkle) in the parking structure!  Too cool!

Heather Locklear and Dr. Drew were the guests!

Conando made an appearance!  Conando?  CONANDO!

Mario Lopez had a cameo in an episode of Noches De Passion con Senior Obrien!*  Shirtless Mario Lopez? Yes, por favor.

We sat in the FRONT ROW!  I was about 5 feet from Conan! OMG! FIVE FEET FROM CONAN!

The band came out and one of my friends got to play the maraca like thingy that the band member handed her!

Conan sang at the end of the show!

CONAN WALKED RIGHT BY AND SMILED AND WAVED TO US!

AHHHHH! BEST DAY EVER!

Except on the way there Shaniqua's car was rear ended.  We were in stop and go traffic.  We stopped.  The girl behind us stopped.  The guy behind her did not stop.   Sharon's car and the other girl's car weren't bad, but the Chevy that hit them, was... In the end it didn't take up too much time and we still got to sit up front anyway.

Oh, and by the way, I have to hand it to the Tonight Show people... there were signs everywhere, and it was really, really easy to find.  The only thing I think they can do better is number the tickets when you get in so there's no confusion as far as who gets to go in first.  Some people got all pissed off at us because we weren't in "line" but we'd gotten there BEFORE them.  It was werid.

Anyway, we had a GREAT time!  If you ever get the chance, I highly reccommend going to see a taping.  It's super fun!

-K.

Crap.

What's the longest you've ever waited in line?

Isn't life just like one long line? 

Something to think about. 

Or not.

Today I celebrate my independence from the British...

Whilst tossing away pretty much everything I own (CDs and DVDs... you're next!) I found a box full of stuff pertaining to that Guy-Who-I-Hope-Chokes-on-an-English-Muffin.  Pictures, gifts he'd given me (including a pair of shoes that were not my style), etc.  I went through the pictures and laughed as I went along... he really was a goofy dude... but it was sort of surreal, because while I know I dated this guy, it was like looking at someone I never even knew.  Even looking at me was weird, because I really don't recognize that person.  I pulled out a few pictures that had some other friends in them and tossed the Brit into the trash bag.  I found another stack of stuff from the Blood Seller and tossed most of that as well.

Shaniqua came in and said she never would be able to toss pictures.  I told her that these people are in my past, and frankly I don't care or think about them any more, so why hold onto these things?  To me, they're just taking up space.

Maybe that makes me cold hearted. I don't know.  But I do know that hanging onto items from the past has never meant much to me.  Whether good or bad, the experiences I had with these people have shaped who I have become now, and really, that's all the reminding I need.

So, goodbye to the Brit, and goodbye to the Bloodseller. You've been cleared out. 

I do kind of wonder, though, wherever you are, do you somehow know you've been tossed?

I guess that's a question to which I will never know the answer.

-K.

I think the thing that haunts me the most about my trip to New York back in June are these:

Oobject_15_housing_projects_from_hell_coney_island_0905_small

Giant, monolithic housing projects.  On the train from Manhattan to Brooklyn, they dot the landscape.  One after another after another.  Sometimes, in big groups.  It's one of the most depressing things I've ever seen, and somehow, this is acceptable in the United States.  I understand low-income housing is shitty, but this seriously gives me the chills ever time I see it.

I'm also really curious about them.  What are the people like who live there?  How many people live their entire lives in these?  The next time I'm in New York, I want to photograph the projects.  Now, I don't want to get too too close, but I'm thinking that I can get some pretty good shots from train platforms and such.  I especially like this photo because of its Holga-ness.  It makes it look even worse.  Coney Island looks pretty dingy on its own, but this photo succeeds in making it look even worse.

How many rappers are from these housing projects?  Hmm.

In my search for acceptable photos, I came across this site (which is where I snagged this photo from):

Depressing Housing Projects

Now if I could only manage to develop the photos from my last New York trip...    

Maine voters repeal gay marriage

Can anyone tell me why equal rights keep getting put up to a popular vote?  Anyone?

Ooh, pie chart time again:

ChristianHelp

This literally had me LOLing in the office.

Oh, Jillian.

Stuff I gotz for my birfday:

A co-worker pointed this out to me, and I just finished watching all 13 parts:

Zeitgeist: Addendum

Some of it is a little hard to swallow, but it's really interesting.  When you type it into the search browser on youtube, you also get a lot of videos refuting it.  Both of the Zeitgeist films attack religion on the notion that it's an outdated, limited explanation on how the world works, and prevents the progression of human society.  I would have to partially agree.  If so much hatred and so much violence didn't come out of "religious faith," I wouldn't feel this way.  But even having to walk down the street last week at the AIDS walk in Los Angeles with various Christian groups protesting the AIDS walk because, as we all know, AIDS is a gay disease, and being gay automatically sends you to the burning fires of hell, (which, by the way, you deserve to go to) made me less inclined to ever really subscribe to any mainstream religion that's based in blind faith.

The way to collect followers is not through blatant judgment and persecution.  Just a tip.

Also, what is with evangelicals that feel the need to make videos like this and/or picket dead soldiers' funerals, and their inability to spell and/or use correct punctuation and/or capitalization?

God, that was a terrible sentence.