As the clock winds down...

So, New Year's is here. My favorite holiday. Like, ever. Tube tops and good friends and good times. This year's tube top is red, and almost corset-like in structure and tightness. It is, frankly, marvelous.

This year was never, ever dull. Hit some tough patches (oh, the great June heart-and-computer-break, and please let's try to forget The Bad Three Weeks of Fall). But it's funny, how I have no real resolutions for 2008. I just want to keep doing all the things I've been doing -- working and writing and working on writing, reading more books, running and yoga. Being there for my friends and family, taking care of business. I'm looking forward to some travel possibilities: Pittsburgh in April, London in September, and New York, New York, whenever I can. I'm looking forward, basically. It's a good feeling.

I gained a few secrets this year, and took a few chances, and made some mistakes, and savored victory when it came. I achieved far more than I realize, and over the course of it all, grew up in a pretty real and significant way. So, here's to 2008 -- more of the same, but a damn sight sexier.

Thus, it is time to put on my tube top, and start things off right.

Labels: in which our heroine

posted by Liz  # 7:04 PM 0 Comments

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My cell phone is worth $20 and two hamburgers.

In the urban economy, that is. After spending an hour roaming the same four blocks of Santa Monica where I was sure it'd fallen out of my pocket, I called my number to check my messages and Charles the homeless guy answered. We made a deal, he told me his location, and like that I was out the door.

I didn't even know there was a soup kitchen at the corner of Romaine and La Brea, but there is one -- kitty corner to the Target/Best Buy commercialism megaplex. Charles told me he was wearing a white baseball cap, and even in the two-block long line of people waiting for food, he proved to be easy to find. I shook his hand, warm, rough, and dry. We stepped away from the crowd to conduct our business.

I was trying to express how grateful I was that he'd found my phone and that I was able to find him, especially since I'm still trying to recuperate from this unemployed spell of the past few months and buying a new phone right now would really suck. "At least you have friends and family to call," Charles pointed out. "And a place where you can have a warm meal at night."

And so when I bought him some Carl's Jr, I threw in some fries. It wasn't part of the deal, but 'tis the season.

This isn't some Hallmark movie. Charles the homeless guy didn't teach me to appreciate my life. I'm already damn thankful for it. But now I know where there's a soup kitchen in my neighborhood. After the new year, I'll go see what they need.

Happy holidays, everyone.

Labels: in which our heroine

posted by Liz  # 7:59 PM 6 Comments

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Joie de Vivre: joy in small pleasures

Even if I didn't have a short story running in the first issue, I would still tell you to check out Joie de Vivre, a new webzine celebrating "small pleasures." My good friend Tara Avery has crafted something very sweet for the holiday season (and more seasons to come), and you should reward her by going and reading and linking.

Other small pleasures I have enjoyed today:

• This book I'm reading about a snarky 1930s English gardener. In today's chapter, the guy built a rock garden solely out of spite towards his neighbor. The chapter was entitled "How Not to Build A Rock Garden." SO CHARMING.
• Leftover lasagna.
• Rain.
• Maybe, just maybe, coming up with a really good solution to the latest tech problem to befall "Missed." THIS TIME FOR SURE.
• Having an extra ten minutes to kill at the Target megaplex, and using that time to find Christmas presents for people I hadn't initially planned on gifting.
• Remembering that Christmas is coming. And actually being pretty happy about it.

Labels: projects:writing

posted by Liz  # 6:47 PM 0 Comments

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Liz's favorite show about whores, coming to Showtime soon

This, aside from being delightful news about how Secret Diary of a Call Girl will be coming from Britain to Showtime, is also a pretty good rundown of why the show is so rad. Because, yes, it really is as neat as they say.

One of the hazards of ahem-ing media from foreign lands is that not a lot of people are watching the same shows you are. This is sometimes nice. It's a naughty little secret that doesn't hurt anyone (well, okay, except for maybe the financial prospects of the creatives behind the product). But it can also get a little old and lonely. So I'm excited that the odds of finding someone else capable of discussing sexy drama will soon increase dramatically. It's the little things.

Labels: great britain, teacher mother secret lover

posted by Liz  # 6:36 PM 0 Comments

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This is a blog post about spinach lasagna.

So I made lasagna on Saturday night. (Spinach lasagna from the Moosehead Cookbook, if you're wondering.) People often seem impressed when I tell them I can make lasagna, though it's really not that complicated a meal to prepare. I suppose because no one ever really talks about making lasagna, the dish has built up some crazy mystique. Which is strange, because folks have been making lasagna for centuries now. It's just a casserole, dudes.

The thing with lasagna is that it's a simple combination of ingredients and effort. And the fundamental ingredients are, let's be clear, delicious. You take cheese and pasta and cheese and sauce and spinach and more cheese and more pasta, and you layer them up, and then you put some more cheese on top. All of these things are excellent, and really just the act of putting them in the same pan is victory enough.

But when you're making lasagna, you're not thinking that way. You're thinking, oh, gotta make sure not to burn it, oh, gotta make sure it's cooked through, what if I left a spinach stem in there, what if I screwed up the noodles and they're overcooked or not cooked enough? You let the pressure and expectations build up in your head, and you forget what's important: cheese and pasta and cheese, all in the same pan.

I've never made a perfect lasagna, but I've made some very good ones, because I remember in the end what matters. Preparation and presentation are definitely important in cooking, but ingredients are what make my favorite recipes good. At the heart of any dish is what you put into it.

So I made lasagna the other night, and it turned out really well. Cheese and pasta and yet more cheese. At the end of the day, you can't really lose.

Labels: in which our heroine, iron chef liz

posted by Liz  # 10:16 AM 0 Comments

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KnitML

KnitML. Oh so nerdy. Oh so neat.

posted by Liz  # 10:33 AM 0 Comments

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Dear Google Maps,

How am I ever going to get to Chechnya if you won't provide me with driving directions?

(I was actually just trying to figure out the distance between these two places, for a bit of this screenplay I'm working on. BUT STILL. WHY MUST FACTS ELUDE ME SO?)

posted by Liz  # 12:10 AM 0 Comments

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Some facts about my new job

• I am now a web editor for a Known Entertainment Journalism Venture, though I am still learning how to do the most basic of functions, and am very much a small player in a large organization. It's an interesting change of pace.
• And I feel fairly confident that the checks won't bounce. That's always exciting.
• The schedule is also new and exciting -- I start in the afternoon, and the hours typically run into the late evening.
• This means I have my mornings free, thus giving me the benefits of unemployment (sleeping in, time to work on my own projects, reading books for coverage under the covers, making my own coffee, sleeping in) with the benefits of employment (not having to sell organs on black market in order to make rent).
• And I have TiVo and friends who can stay up past 10. So it's really a pretty good arrangement so far.
• And as a part of my daily routine, I am posting TOMORROW'S NEWS TODAY.
• Please do not be too impressed. Most of tomorrow's news revolves around people getting new jobs after ankling old ones.
• I still have not figured out the dress code, and thus have been overdressing to a large extent, which puts me in the position of either having to keep it up, or do a dramatic downshift to Chucks.
• Based on my observations, I'm probably better off taking the former approach. I am going to need nicer shoes.
• But that's okay. Because I realized on my first day that this is possibly the first real adult job I've ever taken, the first time I felt taken seriously as an employee right from the start. I mean, I've had swell jobs in the past, but none of them greeted me on my first day with a desk, computer, and phone (complete with phone extension!). It's incredible, the difference that makes.
• So things are good for right now. And the future, as always, remains unwritten.

Labels: in which our heroine

posted by Liz  # 10:29 PM 4 Comments

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I had the best dream last night.

I dreamt that I had a little baby kitten named Book (who I called Bookie sometimes) and Book was black and white and prone to sprinting across the room and knocking over piles of books with her determination to climb into my palm and snuggle with me. Bookie and I were the best of friends. And she didn't pee on anything. This dream was so vivid that I seriously woke up thinking about what Bookie would want to eat this morning and whether I should get her a cute little collar for Christmas. It was AWESOME.

My landlord's a jerk.

Things that have happened to me in reality: I got a new job! I should write about it soon. But I should probably write my coverage first. Seeing as how it will cause me to make money and not eat cat food for the rest of the week.

Cat food's expensive, y'all.

posted by Liz  # 2:05 PM 5 Comments

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The most gorgeous apocalypse

See how they're advertising I Am Legend around the world. Still don't know if I'm going to see it in the theaters, but damn those are some nice banners.

posted by Liz  # 12:29 AM 0 Comments

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