a Cheap Holiday: 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006

Cheap Holiday

Welcome to a cheap holiday in my life. At least you get to go home at the end of the day!

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Weekly Philaphamily Phunnies

A couple of times during the month, at least four members of the Philaphamily find themselves having dinner or drinks together and inevitably someone makes a joke that enters the archives.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Memoirs of a Geisha with Satyr, littlelethrgirl, and flowergirl. There is a scene in the film where the geisha, Sayuri, performs a dance depicting the downfall of love and beauty. The movement itself seems more reminiscent of Martha Graham, rather than Japanese traditional dance, and I've formally taken Martha Graham dance technique, so I would know. However, it was stunningly lit and well-danced and apparently at the end of the scene, Satyr had gripped littlelethrgirl's arm in the darkness and whispered to her "That was amazing."

So later, during drinks, I announce to the group that Satyr has discovered a new-found love of interpretative dance.

He counters with "I've always loved interpretative dance."

I slam-dunk with...

...wait for it...

"Is that with or without the pole?"

[ba DUM dum chhh]

Monday, January 16, 2006

I got tagged and I feel great!

Four jobs you have had in your life:
Waitress
Graphic designer
Cashier
Retail sales

Four movies you could watch over and over:
Pitch Black
The Chronicles of Riddick (It would be cool if Vin Diesel were way gay)
Fight Club
The Matrix

Four places you've lived:
Raleigh, NC
San Francisco, CA
State College, PA
Philadelphia, PA

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Firefly (only on DVD now)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi Channel revisioning)
Any weird UFO or Biblical show on the History Channel

Four places you've been on vacation:
Amsterdam, NL
London, UK
Vegas, baby, Vegas
The American Southwest deserts

Four of your favorite foods:
Anything with a noodle of any kind
Anything with a cheese of any kind
Good crusty French bread
A well-made tomato or carrot soup with a drizzle of basil or white truffle oil on top

Four places you'd rather be right now:
In my bed
In Masuimi Max' bed
In a Manolo Blahnik store with about $2000
Snowboarding at Kirkwood in Tahoe

Four sites I visit daily:
www.yahoo.com (email)
www.myspace.com
www.tribe.net
www.cnn.com

Four Bloggers you are tagging:
Bwef
Pooty
Zillah
Komejo

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Well, everybody else has one

Time for my own personal "Best of 2005" list. Why should Philebrity have all the fun?

Best Album
Green Day's "American Idiot"

Best Movie
"Junebug"

Best Text Message
From ACG (of course): "when ur done ur playdate, u can come by 4 butt meds & hair brushies if u want."

Best Restaurant Meal
Blue Ribbon with Satyr

Best Home-cooked Meal
V's osso bucco

Best Cocktail
Bloody Marys at Zeitgeist in San Francisco

Best Gift
Czechoslovakian jet-bead choker/necklace from Kali

Best Shoe Purchase
Brown suede kitten-heeled boots from Ann Taylor ($60!)

Best TV Series
Sorry, I don't watch "Lost" so it's going to have to be "Battlestar Galactica"

Best Moment When I Seriously Doubted My Sanity
6am workout in 18 degree weather along Penn's Landing

Best Holiday
Thanksgiving with the Philaphamily

Best Clothing Purchase
Red, cashmere-blend reefer-style winter coat ($98!)

Best Reason to Hate Philly
The trashmen's ability to strew as much trash as they pickup on trash day

Best Reason to Love Philly
Food! (and not just cheesesteak)

Best Happy Hour
Free raw bar Fridays at Striped Bass

Best Bar to Get Yer Drunk On
The one, the only...Dirty Frank's

Best Fetish Event
Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco

Best Free PR Event
The opening of Gigi on Market St., because my man George is the proprietor

Best Sketch Comedy Troupe
The Waitstaff

Best Online Comic
Dinosaur Comics

Best Drunk
"Sheila Tequila" night with ACG

Sunday, January 01, 2006

The joys of the season

The usual Christmas trip to Raleigh, North Carolina. Last year's was a bit onerous. Almost having a fist fight with one's sibling tends to put a damper on things. Thankfully, this year was much calmer. Sometimes there is such a thing as too much excitement.

Until settling in at Zillah's house, numerous hours were spent in Helios Coffee. This is our modern version of Parisian Cafe Society: good coffee, a free wireless hotspot, and a hawt, blue-eyed barista. They could stand to upgrade their menu a bit though.

The week was spent shuttling between Raleigh and other points. Highlights of the trip:
- Me and Bwef trying to convince the bartender at The Hibernian that I do indeed have a more interesting sex life than him
- The foie gras with dear friends at the Underground
- Watching all the Old Raleigh hipsters go to die at the Rockford (decent bartender though)
- Accompanying my teenage nephew as he makes sartorial decisions at Crabtree Valley Mall; God, once he's 18, he's going to look stunning in a Calvin Klein suit
- The Flyers/Hurricanes ice hockey game at the RBC Center with my sibling. We managed to be civil, even cordial. Both teams were dragging in the first period, but picked up afterwards. I felt the Canes played a good game, they just got out-shot.

Even the drive back to Philly wasn't too bad. I would have beaten my all-time best time if I'd not gotten behind an accident south of DC. As it was, I finished in average time.