PERTINACIOUS: (adj.) holding obstinately to a belief, purpose or design; stubbornly persistant

In your hometown, you may have been the funniest, prettiest, most talented entertainer there is or ever was. You may have even ridden that wave all the way across these great United States of ours to chase your dream in the City of Angeles. And if this is you, I guarantee you found out that in LA, everyone is that person. It's the NFL of entertainment. Only there are also LOTS of people who have either been grieveously mislead or just live in full denial as to their level of talent (To quote my friend, "Is crap a level?") who stick it out in the dim hope of being "the one in seven million who proved everyone wrong".

For most people who aren't natural beauties or crazy geniuses *cough*characteractors*cough* daily life is chock full o' stiff competition for roles, jobs, credit, apartments...whatever. Everything is a mystery, a race, a game, a scam, a trick, or a trap. But, in rare cases, for the extremely pertinacious (and very lucky) there one day comes a totally legit job...maybe one that even pays. (But then you're forced to join a union, so I guess that's kind of a trap too.) And that job leads to another and another and a better one and a better one and so on and so forth it builds and snowballs and takes off and gets your noticed and working steadily until you have your choice of jobs and suddenly you're the king of your trade where riches and accolades (and free swag) are showered on you like manna in the wilderness. And then you go to rehab.


Anyway, these are the three, yes, THREE Academy Awards of my friend, Mike. He is among that lucky and extrodinarily small group of Oscar Winners. And the even smaller and special group of Multiple Oscar Winners. And the even tinier and more exclusive echelon of Three Time Oscar Winners. And to top it off, he's a local. Can ya beat that?


No, but he probably can.


--ATay

I don't know if you've heard much about this on the west coast, but here on the east coast there's been quite a  lot coverage about this video that the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery decided to pull from their Hide/Seek show.  There's a good rundown of the situation here.  It's a fascinating tale of politics, bureaucracy and not being able to see the forest for the trees...  There have been a number of different protests about the video's removal, but I think my favorite and the one that surely will have the greatest impact is the overnight establishment of the Museum of Censored Art.  Some particularly pertinacious artists--who i'm happy to say are associated with CuDC's Flashpoint Gallery where I work--have gotten parking permits, rented a trailer and parked it right out the back door of the Portrait Gallery.  The trailer sports this "Museum of Censored Art" banner and inside they're showing the "offensive" video.  They've also got some other illuminating displays about how the video came to be called out and then removed.  It's a really smart, rational and well-executed approach to educating visitors to the Museum and the public in general about this story.  You have to really respect the initiative these guys took and their own personal commitment to keeping their museum open.

--JMcFred

PIN MONEY: (n.) Money for incidental expenses

Nothing makes me long for a little pin money to blow like a neatly lined up shelf of anything bright shiny and colorful.  Am I in need of any Neon Holographic Specialty Nail Laquer?  Not a chance.  (In fact, I probably already have some at home.)  But the lure of cosmetics aisle is a strong one--made all the stronger by my fond memories of many idle hours spent with you, Ash, in the 24-hour CVS on Broad Street in, Richmond, VA.  -JMcFred

This is the cutest little green square polka-dotted tin watch box. When I got my new watch, I had no idea that it would come in a box this adorable! The picture doesn't even do it justice. (And, no, that's not my carpeting; it's the scratching part of a cat condo.)

Anyway, I decided that I would keep it tucked away in the nightstand drawer and fill it with extra bills I found in my purse, in my laundry...whatever. Then, when I had amassed a nice little stash of pin money, I would go out on the town, or buy something fun, or treat my hubby to a date night out of the blue. Oh, the ideas I had! Adventure! Romance! Mystery! It was so exciting!

Since I've had the watch box, it's filled up a few times... But not unlike that cute little story at the beginning of the movie UP, it always ultimately went to bills or groceries. It fits the definition of "pin money", but it's not exactly the adventure I'd imagined. So, until I have the kind of life that supports collecting some bucks earmarked for blowing, I'm using it to hold something a little more my speed...


--ATay

FAINEANT: (adj.) doing nothing, idle

Matt and I found this fortune at the Panda Express by our house.  There's something beautifully faineant about a fortune that tells you to do something unusual...tomorrow.  "No rush...go ahead and do something really ordinary right now.  Or maybe do nothing at all...just hang out here and eat your Chinese...but tomorrow, TOMORROW is gonna be big!"  --Brought to you by Procrastinators Fortunes, Inc.

(As as side note, we got this fortune the night before the Jon Stewart Rally to Restore Sanity...so we did in fact do something unusual the next day.  It's always wise to do as your fortune cookie tells you...)  --JMcFred

This is Austin, a.k.a. Fatty. (He's not fat at all actually, but our other cat is tiny, so there you go.) Fatty is an talented model who expertly portrays my moods for me in photographs. In this case, the script he is supposed to be editing (for a meeting that is a mere two hours away) is literally sitting 6 inches from him, but he can't be bothered to actually work on it. Because that would require him to sit up, turn pages, write notes, and think creatively and stuff. I know, it's like an actual nightmare come to life, right?

So, he is temporarily content to be faineant. Taking a little time to just relax and ponder the universe or whatever. Until about 30 minutes before that aforementioned meeting... Then he will be the most lightning fast, and hilariously accurate script editor you have ever seen in your entire life! Seriously, he works so well under pressure, you'd think maybe he procrastinates on purpose just to make sure he always turns in his best work. Me-ow! (That's kitty for "Genius!")


--ATay

BRAGGADOCIO--(n) empty boasting

Confession:  I didn't actually take this picture--Jason McCool did.  However, I did make the photographed Dessert for the CuDC Annual Holiday Party/Dessert Competition.  I won for Best Presentation.  mmm....retro jello, pretzel, cream cheese deliciousness!  --JMcFred




This is, and I quote, "Mathter Clayton and hith Thuper Robo-Pincher!" The little braggadocio spent a lot of time, on this particular evening, telling us how he could crush our heads into "thmithereens"! Mostly, he just made people sit really really still while he poked them in the face a bunch, trying to grab their noses. It was a lot of "Wait... wait... I got it! No, wait..."


Being the good adult role model that I am, I took him aside and told him that until his aim improved he should just go up to people, snap it open and closed a few times and yell, "I just crushed all your dreams!" And that when they laughed, just say, "No, no, they were actually quite sad..." He only kind of got it, but as this tack involved less accuracy and more mindless crushing, he was all for it. I watched proudly as he halted a conversation to shove the robo-pincher in their faces, snap it over and over, and yell, "I'm crushing all your dreams! They're sad!" On a related braggadocio note: I also taught him to pop his collar and say, "Piiimp!" Good times. I'm sure they love this kid at pre-school.  --ATay

CAP-A-PIE (adj.) from head to toe

HEAD TO TOE INDEEEED!

The Christmas season come with many parties and gifts, but this was a real 2 for 1 deal. Artist Donna Marie Kent (www.bodyimages.com) takes art to the human level with her inspired "paint on girl, girl on paper, paint on paper, fixed gazes and gaping mouths on audience viewing live imprint" formula. You'd think the whole thing would be more awkward, given that this girl is naked in a roomful of people, covered in sticky red paint, and forced to stand statue still for 30 minutes. Not at all. In fact, the only awkward part for me was that I was there with my dad. And he took a lot of photos. In the name of art, of course...

--ATay

(Note: There were two words this week: CAP-A-PIE and FETOR. Jenny chose fetor, and I chose cap-a-pie. I really wanted to use these pictures, and they, uh, don't really work with fetor. At least not in a good way.)

FETOR: (n) a strong offensive smell

The view from my bedroom window.  I love living the city.  I love the noise and the dirt and the lights.  I love the cinematic romance of a street light reflecting off the ground in the alley on a rainy night.  But I assure you few things make more noise or smell worse than the trash truck in an urban alley in the morning...

--JMcFred

ABECEDARIAN: (adj) of or relating to the alphabet

My To Do List.  

I live and die by the acronym.  Whether it's MTLP, SF, RT, JMF, RB or just WTF, everything has it's abbreviation.

--JMcFred

An Abecedarian Tale of Smug Satisfaction

Not unlike how no one but you is allowed to call your sister a stupid bitch, I don't like people complaining about my computer. (The mouse is too sensitive! The keys are so small! You've hidden all the programs in a folder!) Well, it's MINE, mine to do with whatever I please. Go get your own precious dull moused, big-keyed laptop, big messy programs arranged all willy-nilly! Be my guest! But you leave Puppy alone! (My computer's name is Puppy, yes...) 

Xmas '08: I got a gift of skull 'n' crossbones themed keyboard stickers from my mom. They take forever to apply, especially if you're anal retentive like me, but apply I did, and it took all night. The intended end result? See picture above. Sweet! The cool additional bonus result? It's REALLY hard to type on it, unless you're a skilled keyboardist who's totally used to it, like me! Most of the former complainers simply give up and use Stephen's new laptop instead. And I get to enjoy Puppy all by myself (even though she is a stupid bitch sometimes).

--ATay