Just some inspiration...

For anyone into photography or fashion, this is the place for you! At Clothes, Cameras, and Coffee, you'll find that that is their forte! I'm pretty sure the blogger's name is Roz.... not positive though, but she definitely has talent! Beautiful photos of her gorgeous self and several other models all dressed up in clothes I'd love to own, but could never pull off, are scattered throughout her blog.
Here's a little sampler for you of some of her photos I got off her blog:

I highly suggest you go check it out for yourself! Don't waste any time!

Quote of the Week- Maggie Smith

Today, we are starting our weekly series of quotes from previous Oscar winners. We start with Maggie Smith, who can currently be seen on PBS in "Downtown Abbey" and on the big screen (well in second-run theatres perhaps) in the latest Harry Potter flick.

Smith won her Best Actress Oscar for her title role in the film "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," directed by Ronald Neame ("Tunes of Glory," "Hopscotch") who died in June at the age of 99.

Here is the quip from the ever-witty stage and screen legend:

"The performances you have in your head are always much better than the performances on stage."

A Message From My Body

I wanted to disappear today. I woke up and that was my thought: I want the world to not know that I exist today. Because if it doesn't know, then I don't have to take responsibility for existing. And then I can do nothing and no one will ever know.

But I had made plans to go to yoga. I could have canceled. I could have just not shown up. My friend would've forgiven me. Yoga would not have missed me. But, as if on auto-pilot, my body knew what I needed, and it dressed itself and made its way out the door anyway.

And the outside world was still there with its slushy New York streets and pretty snow-covered trees that make you wonder how the same substance can make something so disgusting and something so magical at the same time. The cold air slapped my face around a little bit, as if to say, You can't put life on pause, silly, you're alive and that's that. And the loneliness of an unexceptional Sunday settled in, matching my insides, making itself comfortable for the day.

Yoga was crowded and hot and I got a spot in the back of the room, which was exactly where I wanted to be. I noticed soon enough that my body was tired. I've been over-exercising and under-eating. My body was mad at me. It wanted to know why I was ignoring its needs. As I moved through the poses, I apologized to my body, letting it know I was ready to listen to it now. It told me, Overworking me and not feeding me is not going to get you an acting job or make anyone fall in love with you. Ignoring what you want is not making you stronger. All this tension is fear. This is your body, your feelings happen inside it, and they do not go away if you ignore them.

I realized I have been trying to build an armor so that I'll be less affected by the painful things in life, and it's costing me my relationship with myself. I tell myself I am searching for clarity, but I remain in a comfortable fog. I left yoga feeling more like myself than I've felt in days, possibly weeks. I feel different than I did this morning, I feel a desire to exist and to know that I am alive. I ate a full meal and enjoyed it. I rested. And now I'm sitting, waiting to find out what I need next.

My body took me to yoga today because it wanted my attention. It had to remind me that I have to listen to what I want and need, every day. I can't assume I know what will make me happy and bring me to life each day. I have to find the courage to face not only my fears, but the needs that they mask.

I am lucky I have a body that knows how to talk to me, and I am grateful I was open enough to get the message. May I be so lucky every day.

Status Update_ Cat Scratch Fever

My six-year-old (soon to be seven-year-old) cat Gizmo is actually a tuxedo cat. But he is one with a naughty streak.

This morning, as I was feeding him no less, he scratched my hand and hissed. I suppose he doesn't tuna (he must be one of the very few cats in the old who would prefer something else.....moo goo gaipan?!)

So my Status Update for 1/30/11 is: "This morning, my crazy Gizmo scratched the hell out of me."

I suppose that is one of the nice things about living in Cucumber, W.Va*, it is that it brings pure delight to use the word hell on a Sunday morning. Of course, doing it publicly is perhaps not a good idea, definitely not in a small hamlet in southeastern West Virginia.

For those who wish to adopt a cat or dog in Greensboro, NC, they can reach the Guilford County Animal Shelter at 336-297-5020. And, for those in Richmond, Va., they can contact the Henrico County Animal Shelter at 804-652-3360.

And, to those in the Washington, DC metro area who want to ease my guilt for listening to Mozart via an Internet stream from WETA-FM (an NPR station that only plays classical music), they can go to http://weta.org/fm (.), but don't tell them I sent you!

Alas, we can not list every animal shelter in the country up here, but we can always make fun of West Virginia!

*- Yes, Cucumber, W.Va., does really exist. No, I don't actually live there. According to Wikipedia (don't tell them, I 'borrowed' info on them, the small mining community in McDowell County is the only Cucumber in America!

PS- Alas, my beloved Radford University Highlanders lost to Coastal Carolina yesterday, but we did found out that surprisingly enough the women's tennis team has four young ladies from Croatia, and one of them, Mia Drobnjak has a name that's very hard to spell (well, she has my sympathies actually!)

A Quote on Love

"It always fascinated me how people go from loving you madly to nothing at all, nothing. It hurts so much. When I feel someone is going to leave me, I have a tendency to break up first before I get to hear the whole thing. Here it is. One more, one less. Another wasted love story. I really love this one. When I think that it's over, that I'll never see him again like this... well yes, I'll bump into him, we'll meet our new boyfriend and girlfriend, act as if we had never been together, then we'll slowly think of each other less and less until we forget each other completely. Almost. Always the same for me. Break up, break down. Drunk up, fool around. Meet one guy, then another, fuck around. Forget the one and only. Then after a few months of total emptiness start again to look for true love, desperately look everywhere and after two years of loneliness meet a new love and swear it is the one, until that one is gone as well. There's a moment in life where you can't recover any more from another break-up. And even if this person bugs you sixty percent of the time, well, you still can’t live without him. And even if he wakes you up every day by sneezing right in your face, well, you love his sneezes more than anyone else's kisses."

-From the movie Two Days in Paris

Status Update_ Underdog Versus Palinzilla

I had a surreal last night/this morning, in which I was the late '60s cartoon hero Underdog and I was saving New York City from Palinzilla, a 90-foot fire breathing robot that looked exactly like Sarah Palin.

While I fully sympathize with "Washington Post" columnist Dana Milbank, who has said there should be a moratorium on mentioning Palinzilla's name, I could not resist sharing this story.

In the dream, I gave her one simple whack across the nose and her circuits exploded causing her to malfunction and retreat back to the Hudson Bay. It was ironically sort of like a version of 'David and Goliath.'

Of course, some feminists may argue that my Underdog engaged in domestic violence, but my response would be: "Hey, someone had to save the universe from Palinzilla." Obviously, I do not condone domestic violence in any form and as it is since Palinzilla was a robot, I could argue Underdog was not hitting a woman because androids don't have genders!

SIDEBAR: Everyone in the world seems to be talking about the riots in Egypt today. On the left, "The Nation" has articles titled like "Fire in the Streets of Cairo: Will the Army Hold?" and "Egypt's K-Street Connections."

While on the right, John McCormack has an analysis of President Barack Obama's statement on Egypt in "The Weekly Standard." While I did not have time to actually read the article, I would presume given the magazine's politics, which are actually more restrained than some of their counterparts, that it was critical of Obama.

And, for those of us on the center-left, there is always the ever-reliable "The New Republic" in which Heather Hurlburt has an article about the five things every American should know about the riots which threaten Hosni Mubarak's 30-year reign as the president of Egypt. I was a bit humored and horrified to see that the article actually featured a photograph from a riot in Turkey, which is my late father's country!

Status Update_ I Feel Like....

Status Update for 1/28: "For some very strange reason, I sure feel like a cooked goose today."

For many reasons, personal and not-so-personal, this just hasn't been my week. But lots of folks seem to be in a seasonal late January funk these days. Somehow, I don't think going to the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, Va., to see "Rabbit Hole" with Nicole Kidman (she got an Oscar nomination for her performance in the film) which is reportedly a very depressing film, would help things. But, maybe I can see if there are reruns of "The Love Boat" at my local public library (on second thougt, no that would only make things worse too!).

SIDEBAR: I want to wish the Radford University men's basketball team bonne chance/good luck in their homecoming game with Coastal Carolina University who will be coming into Radford, Va., from the Myrtle Beach, SC area (Conway, SC, to be percise). My alma mater is lead by a Turkish player named Gorkem Sonmez. As a Turkish-American and an alum of RU, I'm very proud of him. Another Turkish player named Tolga Cerrah plays the Highlanders too.

Status Update_ Ah, Macedonia!

Status Update: "I can apparently locate every country in Europe of size on the map, except Macedonia!"


I don't what it is, but I can seemingly never get all the questions right. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a Psychology 101 test or a pop culture quiz on the Internet.

Today, I took a geography quiz on mentalfloss.com and it appears that I can locate every country of size (yeah, Liechtenstein is a problem) except Macedonia, which I somehow mistook for Albania.

The key to not making this mistake again is apparently to remember that Albania has a coast with the Adriatic Sea while Macedonia, which was until a decade ago or so, a republic in the former Yugoslavia.

Greece is also angry with Macedonia for reasons we will not go into because I'm half-Turkish, and we've already talked about Cyprus! (see earlier entry). Macedonia is also famous for its folk dances.........

Status Update_ Someone from E-Harmony Must Read Our Blog

Status Update for 1/26: "Wow! Someone from E-Harmony might actually be reading our blog because I was matched with an Asian girl today!"

Amazingly enough, after saying that I would like to see E-Harmony match me with an Asian girl, and a few hours later, that's exactly what happened.

Since local newspapers appear to be waging an uphill battle against new media, we thought we'd mention a couple of good small town newspapers.

For starters, there is "The Carrboro Citizen" in Carrboro, NC, which adjoins Chapel Hill at the Flying Pig at the Crook's Corner restaurant (if you've been to Chapel Hill, you'll get the joke).

Their headline story this week is that Benjamin Charis told a gathering at the First Baptist Church in Chapel Hill to be renew efforts to remember Martin Luther King, Jr., and his legacy. Personally, I consider "The Carrboro Citizen" to be the best community newspaper in the Tarheel State.

As for my alma mater "The Salem Times-Register" in Salem, Va. (I worked there as a reporter from 1996-97), one of the stories on their web sites is that Cynthia Munley (who happens to be a personal friend) got her husband Frank Munley, a professor at Roanoke College, a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr., marching from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., as done by artist Adam Reinhard.

In international news, we learned (from the radio actually) that a 32-year-old woman in Buenos Aires, Argentina, attempted suicide by jumping from the 23rd floor of her hotel only to collide with an incoming taxi which broke her fall and ironically saved her life. Of course, she is now 'in hospital' (as the Brits say) recovering from her injuries.

Status Update_ When Will E-Harmony Hook Me Up with an Asian Girl?

Status Update for 1/25/11: "I wonder when E-Harmony will hook me up with an Asian girl. Perhaps, the reason why I have this desire stems from my infactuation with the David Bowie song 'China Girl.' Shhhhhhhhhhh...."


I have been an E-Harmony member for almost two years now; it has been a mostly frustating experience.


One chief reason for this, besides all the normal things that go a wry when one is dating someone they don't know, is that they never quite match me with the right woman for my interests.

I must profess that I absolutely adore Asian girls, irregardless if they are Japanes, Chinese, Korean or even Malaysian.

I have never actually dated one though I made a futile attempt at trying to arrange a coffee date with an Asian-American girl several years ago.

The reason for this mgiht well stem from the David Bowie video for his 1983 hit "China Girl." In his recent memoir "Talking with Girls About Duran Duran," Rob Sheffield, who also writes for "Rolling Stone" said that he once told REM member Peter Buck that he was jealous of how girls liked REM when he was in high school.

Buck replied that he once felt the same way about David Bowie in the '70s!

Ironically, my mom is apparently in the process of trying to get her Vietnamese hair-stylist to set me up with a girl from Ho Chi Minh City; we'll see how that goes. Perhaps, I can stop in Hong Kong or Shanghai while I'm at it.

And, hopefully, it will be a more positive experience than the ones I've had with E-Harmony so far!

Status Update- Beat the Clock

Today, we are starting Status Updates as our new blog series. Hopefully, it will last longer than the animated tv version of Kevin Smith's "Clerks" (there is also a more famous film version and a comic book version; we don't think there is a Clerks opera though!). Not that anyone cares, but I actually follow Smith on Twitter. I wonder if he actually still resides in New Jersey.

Here is our first Status Update:

"I really should NOT have slept an extra two hours this a.m. because I can never get them back."


I do blame to excessive zzzzzzzs on staying up too late and sinus mediation, but I know that sounds like whinning.

While putting this piece together, we were curious as to learn what was going on with the Boulder Atomic Clock in Boulder, Col., which has the most accurate time in the country.

According to the clock, which one can now find on the net, it was 15:28:30 eastern time, 13:30:50 in Colorado and it was 11:29:10 in Anchorage, Alaska, where perhaps one person looking at this entry actually resides!

Quotes from the Composers- Zoltan Kodaly

We conclude our Quotes from The Composers series with a quip from Hungarian master Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) who was also an educator, linguist and philosopher. Kodaly is perhaps best-known for his orchestral/opera "Hary Janos" (1926) which Wikipedia describes as 'a Hungarian folk opera.' It was first performed by the Royal Hungarian Opera House in Budapest that same year.

We love this quote, and in case, you were wondering the image above is of Hungarian goulash, which they might serve at the Mirabell Restaurant in Chicago, which is actually a German restaurant:

"The laws of morals and the laws of music are the same."

Classical music fans in Pittsburgh, Pa., can hear a performance of "Mozart's Symphony, Number 4" on Jan. 28 at 8:00 p.m., followed by another performance on Jan. 30 at 2:30 p.m.

SIDEBAR: Since I am a Turkish-American, it may surprise a few folks that I am a huge fan of the Greek film composer Mikis Theodakris, who is alive and well (we hope!) at age 85. Theodakris is known for his legendary compostions to "Z" and "Zorba the Greek" and he also scored the 1973 Al Pacino drama "Serpico."

One can listen to WUVT-FM (90.7 Blacksburg, Va), the student-run college radio station of Virginia Tech, for Greek music from 11 a.m.-1:00 p.m. on Saturdays. A Turkish music show follows on the same station from 1:00-2:30 p.m. I co-hosted a Turkish music show on WUVT in 1994 and I was told that I played too much music from the late pop singer Baris Manco which proves it's impossible to make people happy!

Quote from The Composers- Edvard Grieg

Since we really like kitsch and all things Scandanavian (though I've never been to Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden or Finland), we thought we'd quip the great Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) for our entry in the series today.

Grieg is known piano miniatures "Lyric Pieces" and his piano concertos in A-minor; he was born in Bergen. The composer also drew inspiration from Norwegian folk music.

Earlier today, we learned that Norway is NOT one of the 27 European Union member nations (neither is Iceland) from our friends at "Mental Floss" (actually, we don't know a single person who works for that ultra-hip magazine, based in Birmingham, Alabama- of all places). I was able to name every member state except one: Cyprus. The irony here is quite well ironic because I have been to Cyprus (well, the northern Turkish part) and Greece and Turkey, the country of my late father, fought over the island nation in a short, but bloody war in 1974.

Getting back to Grieg, whose music is of course more relevant than silly ethnic squabbles (note to my friends in Athens: our yogurt is better than your yogurt!), here is a quip from the Norwegian master who perhaps just couldn't stand Swedes:

"Suddenly a mist fell from my eyes and I knew the way I had to take."

SIDEBAR: For those interested in classic music who live in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Utah Symphony will be conducting Stravinsky's Pulcinetta from Jan. 27-29, which we perhaps should have mentioned yesterday when we were quoting Russian composers!

Quotes from The Composers- Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Today, as promised, we are featuring quotes from legendary Russian composers and today we quip Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) who the Romanitc era composer who composed symphonies, operas and chamber music. But, he is arguably best known for his ballets, which include "The Nutcracker" and "Swan Lake."

Since "The Black Swan" is in cinemas now, and we FINALLY saw it last week (I was actually going to post an entry called The Curse of the Black Swan because every time I wanted to see the film something went wrong; it is definitely one of the best films from 2010), the image of an actual black swan seemed nifty. At least, it did to Javier the intern*. The image (according to Javier) is from Perth, Australia.

Natalie Portman also won a Golden Globe Award for her cinematic performance as a ballet dancer in "Black Swan." But, since we were not able to watch the broadcast (though I saw on Twitter that foul-mouthed comedian Sarah Silverman did!), we could not see if Portman was wearing her trademark vegan sandals.

But, getting back to Tchaikovsky, here is today's quote from the Russian master:

"Truly there would be more reason to go mad were it not for music."

SIDEBAR: As we have mentioned before, there is a sequel to the hit book "Stuff White People Like" based on the ever-popular blog of the same name (they get thousands more hits than we do even though there are only periodic entries?!). The new book by Christian Lander is called "Whiter Shades of Pale." He will be promoting it at Book Cellar in Chicago on Thursday.

According to the blog's last entry from December, these days white people seem to enjoy Christopher Guest films on dvd (like "Waiting for Guffman"), cd compilations of Bolivian music (he has me there!) and single-malt scotch.

*-Javier is a fictional person!

Quote of the Day- Stevie Wonder (in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

Since his hit song "Happy Birthday" (1981) from his stellar "Hotter Than July" album was in part politically responsible for bringing recognition to the honoring of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday, we thought we would quip Stevie Wonder today.

Other songs of his that we really like include (to name a few): "Superstition" (1972), "Living in the City" (1973) and "Boogie on Reggae Woman" (1973).

We also think this quote is very ironic since Wonder is blind:

"Eyes lie if you ever look into them for the character of the person."

Tomorrow, we are going to hopefully resume quoting composers; we're even thinking of going 'with the Russians!'

Quote from The Composers_ J.S. Bach

Yes, we do have an odd sense of humor, hence we are posting an image of a '70s disco ball with our entry with a quip from the great Baroque period German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).

Bach has been more in the news lately as New York musician Simone Dinnerstein (daughter of painter Simon Dinnerstein) has just released "Bach: A Strange Beauty" which is the combination of two keyboard concertos to Bach. The recording and Dinnerstein's album were recently featured on NPR.

Dinnerstein will be performing close to home at Duke University in Durham, NC, with Tift Merrit on Jan. 21 and 22.

Among Bach's great works are "The Brandenberg Concerts," "The Goldberg Variations," "The St. Matthew Passion" and "The St. John Passion."

Here is the quote from Bach, which I personally adore:

"If I decide to be an idiot, I'll be an idiot on my own accord."

Quote from The Composers- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Yes, we decided to use an image of the late '80s Austrian pop singer Falco (1957-1998), who alas like John Lennon and Lenny Bruce died when he was 40 (which is yikes my age!). Of course, all of us who grew up in the '80s or saw the movie "Adventureland" know that Falco (who was actually more like a two-hit wonder) was best known for the 1986 smash hit single "Rock Me Amadeus," which I think all of us got sick and tired of. But, today, much like the Swedish pop group Abba, it has grown on us like kudzu!

(If memory serves me right, Falco died in a car accident on some island near Jamaica. We need our Honduran intern Javier to verify that once he gets back from Chucky Cheese!).

As for the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), who also died quite young, he is of course known as 'the genius of Salzburg' as he composed many musical classics, including the operas "The Magic Flute," "The Marriage of Figaro" and "The Shephard King"- to name a few.

And, more importantly, he was the subject of Milos Forman's 1985 Oscar-winning film "Amadeus" which is based on a play of the same name by Peter Shaffer.

Here is our quote from Mozart, which is one I sincerely agree with:

"I pay no attention to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings."

For classical music lovers in Roanoke, Va., the Roanoke Symphony will be giving a performance called "Movie Masterworks" on Jan. 24. More details are available at their web site (rso.com).

Quote of the Week- Ludwig van Beethoven

Gazooks! It has been almost a full week since we last posted a blog entry, but I am still here.

We continue with a quip from German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) whom we all know from "A Clockwork Orange" (I know classical music people will hate me for saying that!).

For those interested, the Beethoven music in Stanley Kubrick's classic 1971 film is "Beethoven's ninth symphony, fourth movement."

Beethoven was also portrayed by actor Gary Oldman in "Immortal Beloved" (1994).

Here is our quote from Ludwig:

"Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make good soup."

One can listen to classical music 24/7 on WCPE (89.7-FM) in Raleigh, NC.

"A Clockwork Orange" will be screened at the Bardavan Opera House (ironically enough) in Poughkeepsie, NY, on Jan. 28.

Friends With Benefits

At some point, everyone tries it.

Two friends are attracted to each other, but neither wants to commit. Or, one of them doesn't want to commit and the other pretends they don't want to either. And so they agree on being FWB. The arrangement is usually based on the idea that there are no strings attached and no one is accountable for the other person's feelings. There are no, "Why didn't you reply to my text?" or "So do you wanna meet my mom tomorrow night?". It's supposed to be easy, safe, commitment-free, and fun.

There are two circumstances in which such an agreement usually sounds the most appealing to a woman. The first is if she is in love with someone else but can't be with that person (due to distance, unrequited love, unforgivable infidelity, death, whatever), and the second is if she is hoping that this arrangement will actually lead to a relationship, because once he hangs out with her enough times, he'll realize she's the love of his life. The latter is usually kept a secret, as any indication that this is the case can cause immediate and permanent disappearance of the male benefited friend.

A couple of light years ago, I was in love with someone I couldn't be with, and a FWB situation kind of just fell right on my lap. It seemed to work incredibly well. I didn't want him to be my boyfriend, but I was attracted to him, and he felt the same way. My heart seemed safely guarded, and I was lucky in that he was very respectful and honest. It all seemed like a very good idea. I couldn't help feeling sad and longing for someone I couldn't have, but I could do something about my loneliness. I could have a FWB.

But.... life is never quite so simple. The body tricks the heart, and the heart is way louder than the mind. After you sleep with someone enough times, you kind of start to wonder if maybe there isn't something there. I mean, there's all that chemistry and no pressure, so what would happen if we tried to date? Months had gone by- certainly if this was only meant to be a physical connection then it wouldn't have lasted this long, right? And, most importantly, he probably felt the same way and didn't know it.
Those thoughts, ladies, should be your flaming red alert to get the hell out.

(Aside: I've said them before, and I say them again. Remember Cassandra O'Keefe's words: "When a man says he's not the commitment type, run like the wind. You want to save something? Save a whale. Save the rainforest. Don't try to save a man." But it takes a long, long time for any woman to actually learn that lesson, doesn't it.)

One night, I asked him if he'd like to go out, a little more formally. He said the fateful words that no woman can bear to hear: he didn't want to ruin what we had. Even though I wasn't even all that sure that I liked him, now he had hurt my pride, and hit the nerve in me that needed to prove to him that he actually did want to date me. So I presented my argument: We had great chemistry, we had fun together, we weren't really interested in seeing other people, so why not take it a step further? Even if it didn't work out, at least we'd have tried, and surely we'd have fun along the way.

Maybe my argument touched him in some way, or maybe it was the fact that we had this conversation in our underwear, I don't know- but his response was, "You're right. Let's go for it."

And we did. We started dating, formally.

With my ego nourished, however, I was able to see that I actually didn't want to be in a relationship with him. There was something missing, or my heart just wasn't available then, and there really wasn't any point in forcing a relationship upon us. We broke up after three weeks, amicably.

Our FWB arrangement didn't really work after that either. Try as we did, we couldn't erase the fact that we had tried to commit to each other and that it just didn't work. We stayed in touch, though, and, down the road, when we both started dating other people, we were genuinely happy for each other.

I have no regrets. I think the instinct to see if there's something beyond the physical connection between two people is one we should listen to. Maybe there is something there. Even if it's only evolved for one of us, that's reason enough to change the circumstances. And if there is nothing there, it's probably time to find out. The only mistake one can make in a FWB situation, I conclude, is to ignore any feelings that come up.

By the way, if I'm ever in that situation again, I'm calling it FWBUFA.

Friends With Benefits Until Feelings Arise.


Image from here.

Top 10 Biggest Turn-Offs

10. A crush on Rachel Ray so big his ringtone was her voice, talking us through a 30-minute meal

9. A pet tarantula

8. Framed Playboy covers (what's wrong with family photos, or the cliche Beatles posters?)

7. "George Bush's #1 Fan" Boxers

6. Chewing gum during.... (you can fill in the blank)....

5. Scientologist

4. Puppy kicker

3. Nail Polish on toes

2. Abstinence-only bumper sticker (the fact that it's a bumper sticker is really the disturbing part)

1. Swastika tattoo


Image from here.

Junk tree in a bottle!

I really couldn't think of a better name for this, so sorry if it doesn't do this project 'justice.' I guess I'm sort of embarrassed to admit this, but I got the inspiration for this craft from a craft book from the 70's. Oh well! Anyway, this CAN be a slightly simple craft, but it's sort of hard. I WOULD NOT recommend this for young kids because of the glass bottle and the wire.

Time: Really depends on how many 'branches' you do, probably around 30 minutes or so
Materials:
Wine Bottle (or some sort of vase, just something to display your branches in)
Soft Wire (Amount depends on how long and how many branches you choose to have)
Junk! (Could be old parts-like above- or maybe keys or something else)
Wire cutter (If the pliers you use don't have a built in one)
Pliers (I'd recommend long nosed ones)

Here's the pliers I used just in case you need a visual

Directions: 
1. Gather up all your  old parts you're going to use. I'm lucky to have a garage full of it! I personally think rusty looks a little better than shiny and new.  The book I read used parts from an old alarm clock.

2. Cut the wire to your desired lengths. I'd recommend cutting them to different lengths for an assorted look.  REMEMBER: Cut an extra inch or two just in case!

3. Wrap the end of a piece of wire around one of the parts, thus creating a 'branch'

4. Arrange all the 'branches' in a wine bottle, vase, etc.

I actually made the tree at the top and realized that it might look better with keys instead of old parts. Here's a photo:

It looks a lot better in person. I was just too lazy to turn on a light so I used the flash. Although I am kind of thinking that it looked better with the old parts instead of the keys! Oh well.

DC Diary- I Want to Go to the Holocaust Museum

We conclude our diary of the family trip to Washington, DC, with some tips on how to get your voice heard when traveling to any part of the United States, the world or The Milky Way, with members of your family or even your friends.

When traveling with groups, one of the main disadvantages is getting your voice heard, especially if you make considerably less money than anyone in your party. (I would not advise taking a trip with the Kardashians, and I'm not saying that because I'm Turkish and they're Armenian!).

Reverse psychology is one possibly effective method which could work though I did not try it myself.

A few trips back, I actually went to The Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, to see an exhibit about the infamous 1936 Berlin Olympics, which turned into a propaganda outlet for Adolf Hitler (this was before the museum guard was tragically murdered at the museum some two years ago). The museum itself is very fascinating, but of course, it is quite depressing. As much sympathy as I have for the Jewish people and what they went through, I realized I could never go back to the museum again.

So, of course, it is a place that I would say I wanted to go to if in a group of more than four people. You will inevitably have one person say: "I want to go to the Smithsonian," or The Textile Museum or The National Zoo, so if you tell the Kim Kardashian of the group that you must, absolutely, positively must go to The Holocaust Museum.

Then, everyone will say: "Hmmm...that's too depressing, can we go somewhere else?" That's when you say The National Building Museum or the Folger's Shakespeare Library (yeah, I may be the only person in a group of 20 who would choose those places). And, amazingly enough, you might just get your way.

Since, Washington, DC, has quite a lot going on, there were indeed several places, we didn't get to visit and a few places that I hope to visit some time in the near future.

They include the 9:30 Club where a band called The Virginia Coalition performs on Jan. 15 (yes, I think it sounds like a lobbying group that should be on K-Street too), the Politics and Prose bookstore where "Washington Post" music critic Anne Midgette talks tomorrow night, the Studio Theatre which is getting set to perform "Marcus, or The Secret of Sweet" and two Turkish restaurants: Cafe Divan and Meze.

I must profess that I was very intrigued when I glanced over at Meze's web site (mezedc.com) and saw that they offer Saturday and Sunday brunches with beef sausage. I can imagine this might be confusing to some Anatolian villagers from a place like Yozgat, Turkey, who would seemingly paranoid that all sausage products must come from Porky Pig!

PS_ The image above is from the acclaimed 1985 documentary "Shoah" about the Holocaust. It lasts nine hours long, but it is said to be one of the best films about the subject ever made.

Little Red to Scary Pirate costume change!

Not actually switching costumes... but really just transforming a little red riding hood costume into a lady pirate!

Since all my in progress pictures are on my other computer... I'll only be able to show you a before and after....

Sorry about the crappy quality, but you get the point!



Pretty much the before but it's  closest picture I could find online!





A Change of Heart

Amidst days of boredom and rain, I had a strange realization. I can no longer love someone who doesn't love me. It used to be possible- I had my heart broken enough times by people whom I loved dearly but who did not return the sentiment to know that it was possible.

And then, one day, it wasn't possible anymore. Even though I thought it might be worth the risk, my heart wouldn't budge. No, it stubbornly persisted, I will not love just anyone anymore. I want to be loved in return.

Maybe it's experience. Maturity. Growth.

Or maybe my heart has hardened and developed caution. It is no longer an innocent child, or a willing adolescent. I'm an adult, after all, and so my heart responds accordingly.

I do not know whether to be happy or sad. I just know that I have changed, and so has my ability to love.

DC Diary- Those Annoying Young Couples

Yes, we see them everywhere, even in small towns like Bluefield, W.Va., or Mount Airy, NC, but they are really abundant in major metro areas, especially in Washington, DC. We are, of course, talking about Annoying Young Couples.

Of course, DC has one of America's most infamous annoying couples in Tareq and Michaele Salahi, but both of them are not spring chickens. There are also annoying celeb couples like Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag from "The Hills" who made a trip to DC themselves (not while we were there) where they posed with American flags in front of the Washington Monument.

But, there was one annoying young couple which really stood out (and there were several others that were almost as awful) when I went on the DC Metro to get to the E-Street movie theatre in Northwest DC to see "I Love You Philip Morris" on Wednesday night.

This couple consisted of an Asian-American girl, who was about 23, and her beau, who was about the same age. Both were dressed very eloquently. She was wearing a brown wool coat and designer shoes of some sort and he was wearing a green sweater and fancy pants. His hairy wasn't curly, but he did sort of look like Spencer Pratt (don't all the guys who go out with cute girls).

They were quite lovey dovey as they kissed passionately and rubbed each others shoulders and backs; I think he even kissed on her nose without any objections from her.

I was very delighted to see the guy leave his girlfriend/fiance/wife and they beamed at each other so hard I thought he was going to forget to get off the train.

After leaving DC on Thursday, I thought I would at least get away from the sight of all those annoying young couples. But, sure enough, there was one sitting beside a window at Cristina's Cafe in the small town of Strasburg, Va., about an hour south of DC.

She had on some fancy shoes and a nice dress, and I think he had an English accent. They had their legs curled around each other, and they were gazing at each other profoundly. It was quite disgusting, actually.

DC Diary- No Need for a Taxi Tonight

Since I managed to seriously lost and meander around aimlessly through Northwest DC on Wednesday night, my family who was eagerly awaiting my impending arrival on Thursday night (day four of our excursion) was delighted to see me arrive at our home away from home at 10:04 p.m. that evening.

If things had gone exactly according to my sincerest desires, I would've been dancing at the Gogol Bordello concert that night at the 9:30 Club. But, the show was sold out, and assuredly if I had gone, I would have not come back to the temporary residency until circa 2:00 a.m.

So, I opted to see the Finnish film "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale," which is about how an archaeological expedition to Antarctica yields the discovery of a Santa Claus who has been frozen stiff for eons.

When I first heard about the film, I thought it might be a bit of a subversive take on Christmas, which I would not have objected to (I am a Festivus kind of a guy). But, in actuality, it is merely a quirky comedy that is perhaps just slightly more "A Christmas Story" than "Bad Santa" though the distinctive Scandinavian sense of humor which one can see in films like "The Kitchen Stories" (Norway) and "Together" (Sweden) would probably be lost on most American audiences.

So, as it was, since I got home in time, there was no need for the friendly Indian or Pakistani taxi driver who had bailed me out the night before!

SIDEBAR: We love this tweet from comic book artist/cartoonist Chris Eliopoulos, who is always a hoot: "My wife made lobster mac and cheese ensuring that I will die of a heart attack b4 I'm 50."

Happy New Year from Lucky Luke/Red Kit

Today, we are taking a brief hiatus from blogging about our family trip to Washington, DC, which had elements of both "National Lampoon's Vacation" and "Taxi Driver" to send holiday greetings via our favorite French cowboy Lucky Luke, whom I still refer to as Red Kit since that was his name in the Turkish translations of his adventures.

Surprisingly enough, even though Lucky Luke's stories all took place in the American west, and featured such real-life figures as Billy the Kid, who Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico did not pardon yesterday, the comic book was never popular in America. Though, Lucky Luke did develop a loyal following in Canada, Turkey, Italy, Germany, the former Yugoslavia and even Vietnam.

The first Lucky Luke comic books arrived in 1946, and his rivals were the Dalton Brothers, a Keystone Kopsesque bunch of numb-skulls who were based loosely on the real-life Dalton Gang.

The books were drawn by the Morris (1923-2001) and the stories were written by the late French icon Rene Goscinny, who also worked on the adventures of Asterix the Gaul.

Red Kit rode a white horse named Jolly Jumper and he was accompanied by a stupid dog Rantanplan, who was a satire of Rin Tin Tin. In fact, the dog was called Rin Tin Tin in the Turkish versions.

Lucky Luke was criticized for using cigarettes, and Morris defended the character using the tobacco product in the children books up until 1988 when he decided it was time for the French cowboy to go cold turkey.

New English-language versions made by Cinebooks can be found at considerably more retailers here in les etats unis than in years past. One of them is my personal favorite comic book shop Chapel Hill Comics in Chapel Hill, NC, where one can also see a Tom Waits octopus!

SIDEBAR: Kudos to the following New Years Day babies who were among the first born in their areas: Colton Jackson Rodenhauer of Richmond, Va., Sean-John Arruda of Fall River, Mass. and Jasmine Bessou of Winston-Salem, NC.

The Betrayal

All I could think of, as I sat on that train to Boston on a September evening, was what an idiot I was. What a horrible friend, what a terrible woman, what an ugly, unworthy, and selfish being I was. I had done something I knew would hurt one of my dearest friends, and now I was going to Boston to confess my dirty deed.

Jenna and I had been friends for many, many years. We shared a love for theatre and the arts. She was kind, sensitive, sweet, and incredibly generous. I held her dearly in my heart, and thought, frequently, that we would be friends forever. We did many plays in school together, and when we went away to colleges that were really far away from each other, we stayed in touch. She was one of the very few friends I had in my life whom I considered a soul sister.

But these were things I took for granted. Not realizing their rarity and weight, I threw them away. I was on that train to Boston to tell Jenna, to her face, that I had slept with her ex-boyfriend, a man she had loved for many years. It was a secret I couldn't keep from her. I didn't know how to continue being her friend after having done that to her. I knew, as I sat there on the train, that I was about to hurt my friend irreparably.

When I arrived to Boston, I wanted to sit down with her somewhere quiet and tell her right away. But she said she had a night class and she absolutely had to go. Even though I was feeling like death, I told her I'd wait for her. I sat on a chair outside the classroom while she was in class, staring at the wall; the weight of my confession sitting on my chest, getting heavier with every minute. When she got out of class, we went to her dorm. She showered, talked to some people, took care of some things around the house, while I waited on her bed. Now, in retrospect, I am able to realize that she already knew I was about to tell her something devastating, and she was stalling for time. Maybe she wanted to delay that painful moment and protect herself, or maybe she was stretching out the minutes before our friendship ended. I don't know.

Finally, she came into her room and closed the door. We sat on her floor. I couldn't look her in the eyes. The words I had carefully chosen in the hours I'd spent preparing my confession escaped me. Any prepared speech seemed perfectly ridiculous. Looking down at her wooden floor, I said, "I did something I don't know how to explain. It involves your ex-boyfriend." She asked me to look at her. Her eyes, which had always smiled at me, were cold. Then she said, "You had sex with him?" I nodded my head yes, once again looking away from her. "Then the word you're looking for is fucking. That's how you can explain it." I sat there, not knowing what to do, wishing I could evaporate and take my shame with me. There were things I could have said, there were explanations for my actions, there where complicated details that justified my behavior, in part. But there was no point. The essence, no matter what I said or how I phrased it, was that I had betrayed her.

Not once did she cry or yell at me. She looked at me at one point, though, after a long silence, and said quietly, "I knew you were selfish, egotistical, and self-centered, but I never thought you'd do something like this to me." Her pain was tangible. Again, I looked away. Her words would haunt me for a long, long time.

I slept on the floor of her living room that night, still feverish and ill, grateful that she hadn't kicked me out into the night on my own. In the morning, I went up to her room to say good-bye before I left back for New York. She didn't get up or walk me to the door. There was no hug, no hand-shake, no last look. That was it. I had proved myself unworthy of final good-bye gesture. I knew, as I walked to the train station, that I would never see her again.

I tried, several times, to write to her. I apologized and hoped to mend that broken bridge. But I knew that I had done something unforgivable. I had, in a few moments, lost years of a friendship, and I had no one but myself to blame. I felt I deserved to have lost her. I had done something I knew would hurt someone I loved, for my own selfish reasons. I had no business bugging her to forgive me and I knew it. I had to let her go now, and bear the burden of my guilt. I had brought this loss upon myself, and now I had to learn to live with it.

My chest still tenses up as I think of this story. Although many years have passed, and surely Jenna is living a peaceful life surrounded by people who are worthy of her friendship, I still have to work on forgiving myself. Mostly, I just miss her. The regrets, the embarrassment, and the "if only" thoughts are not as strong as the sad, heaving feeling of having lost someone I cared about. I still see things that I'd like to share with her and am saddened that I can't just pick up the phone and call her. I still miss her advice, her patience, and her smile.

This is one of my mistakes, the one by which I learned who I really am, what I'm capable of doing, and the consequences of my reckless actions. It is a part of me I am ashamed to own up to, but it is, nonetheless, part of what makes me who I am. I have to remember that there are parts of me I am proud of too, and it all makes up a whole- a person capable of both good, selfless actions and hurtful, selfish ones too.

It is easy to embrace our lightness. The challenge comes in accepting our darkness. It is a lesson I am still learning.