Grey Gardens coming to HBO

Jezebel posted today that a new Grey Gardens is coming to HBO starring Drew Barrymore.

It's a remake of the 1975 documentary that depicts the life of the eccentric aunt and cousin of Jackie O, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale.

The original documentary looks fantastic (see below) but the new version looks great also. You can watch the trailer on Jezebel here.

Picture of the Day: Saint Barack

thanks Andrew Sullivan

Hello Kitty will give your children nightmares

If they watch this MAC Hello Kitty Cosmetics ad. This is seriously the weirdest and most disturbing thing I've seen today.


thanks boing boing

Jezebel: "Twilight's Stephenie Meyer Admits Her Writing Sorta Sucks"

Stephenie Meyer was profiled in Vogue, which means all of us Twilight freaks get a chance to grasp at something in between Twilight movie fixes.

It also means that Meyers' critics get another stab at denigrating her writing.

Jezebel isn't a huge fan of Meyer's books, and went so far as to say that Meyer admitted that she "sorta sucks" in the interview. Even if the headline was written to attract clicks I think it goes a step past sensationalism. Sure she's not the greatest writer, but just because she admitted that she's "still an amateur" and "avoided creative writing in college for fear of criticism" doesn't mean she's admitting she sucks.

We might harbor some resentment towards her for putting off writing Midnight Sun "indefinitely," and even I have admitted that I don't think she's an incredibly talented writer (after reading them twice I might add), but I believe that people are just looking for reasons to hate her.

Listen, writing is a hard, tough thing. You expose yourself and put yourself out there for criticism on a mass scale. People tend to pick on Meyer because her books were ridiculously successful. Okay, so she's no James Joyce but she's not claiming to be either. People read her books and connected with them so obviously she's doing something right.

Meyer went on to say, "I'm not critical of others, but I am very critical of myself." Maybe the rest of us can follow her example.

Stephen King agrees with me...I love it when I'm right

"Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good." Read the full article here.

I totally agree with Uncle Steve--(in fact, I made the same statement last August) although I give Kudos to Stephanie Meyer for finding a formula that sells--she's no J.K.

The year that was...

Well there it is. 2008 is gone and we're welcoming 2009 with open arms and the promise of change. But before we get too ahead of ourselves let us look back on what was promised to be an historic year.

January


It seems like it was only yesterday that Mariana came to visit. January was an up and down month. A month filled with family, fun, and heartbreak. Or maybe just...car break. My car was broken into on New Years Day, not a great start to 2008.



February


2008 was the much-anticipated election year, and February was when the election debates really started to heat up. I stirred up some controversy with friends and family by supporting Ron Paul, but other than that February was a relatively quiet month. Boyan started working at Newegg at the beginning of the month, and we enjoyed each other's company at lunch.



March

March was the month we said goodbye to Bill Dotta. I can't say again how loved this man was. He is missed by many and forgotten by none.

We also said goodbye to Stephanie. She moved cross-country to tackle the Big Apple.

I made owesome cupcakes and read...a lot.

Oh, and I found this amazing animated food fight.



April
April slugged by. Boyan celebrated his 25th birthday on the 18th. We had a bunch of Elysee people over and it was a lot of fun.


May
In May a bunch of us girls traveled down to Temecula for a weekend of drinking and spa-ing for Ruth's Bachelorette Party!




June
June was a very happy month. On June 8th Boyan and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary, and at the end of the month I left the god-forsaken offices of Newegg for the bright and shiny offices of Demand Media by the sea. It would mark the beginning of a daily 80 mile commute, but it was well worth it to get far away from the People's Republic of NE. Boyan and I invested in a little scooter, so Boyan could get to and from work without me and we looked towards July as a month that would start a new chapter in our lives.

July

July went by quickly and painlessly. Boyan and I adjusted to our new schedules and we wished a Happy Birthday to Mom, George and Grandma. I prepared for my trip to Chicago in August and decided that I would cut off all my hair!

August


I had a blast visiting Chicago for the short amount of time I was there. Ruth was a beautiful bride, and it was fun having all us girls together!



August was the month that I begun reading Twilight. Enough said.

August was also the month that I had to bid goodbye to my dear friend and fellow bibliophile Emily. It was a very very sad time indeed.

September
In September was I blessed enough to stumble upon Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. My appetite for books was as voracious as ever and I continued my spree by reading a total of six books in September alone.

October
The month began in Las Vegas. Or rather, I began my month in Las Vegas for Stephanie's Bachelorette Party. We did what people do in Vegas, and generally had a good time.


I slipped into my 24th year of living rather quietly without fuss or frenzy. The friends that matter called me to wish me a happy one, those who forgot quite simply forgot and that's fine.

I decided to take some initiative with my writing and started taking a class at UCLA extension.

And finally I said goodbye to the rest of my hair. Dawning a new shorter do a la Michelle Williams.

Boyan and I went to New York to visit my dear friend Janea and her boyfriend Jon and we had a wonderful time despite New York being "filthy" as Boyan would call it. We walked more than six miles not including miles tracked inside museums, shops and the like in one day, but we had a blast.







October was also the month that Stephanie got married!




November
I went to Louisiana to visit Emily and it was owesome!


We ate Benoits, and didn't care when we got powdered sugar all over everything.


We saw the Twilight Movie. Then bitched for the rest of the weekend about how god-awful it was.


We went to a plantation and desecrated the Slaves quarters.


I rang a really old bell...I don't think I was supposed to...EMILY MADE ME I SWEAR!


We went to Pat O's in New Orleans and got way drunk off of one Hurricane.

When I got back, I followed Britta's lead and cast my life as a movie.


December
December was a great month. My short story, "The Second Time" was published in The Broadkill Review! I couldn't be happier. I finished my class and got ready for the holidays. Britta was up from San Diego so she accompanied me to my Holiday Party.



And finally the year came full circle on December 30th, when my car was broken into again. Instead of stealing my iPod, they stole my CD's and attempted to steal my stereo but failed. I'm grateful that they didn't break my windows again, but I'm starting to wonder if these thieves really like my taste in music or are just incredibly stupid. Either way, Boyan and I aren't going to stick around to find out.

2008 was a good year as I predicted it would be. Ups and downs and small achievements here and there. I lost about 25 pounds since the beginning of the year, got a new job, got published! And, not to brag but just for my own personal satisfaction, here is a list of all the books I read from January to December:

A Wrinkle in Time (re-read) Madeleine L'Engle
The Secret Garden (re-read) Frances Hodgson Burnett
I Wanted to Write Kenneth Roberts
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much Donna Andrews
Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice
Old Man's War John Scalzi
Murder Melts in Your Mouth Nancy Martin
The Vampire Lestat Anne Rice
The Ghost Brigades John Scalzi
The Queen of the Damned Anne Rice
Xenocide Orson Scott Card
Children of the Mind Orson Scott Card
The Last Colony John Scalzi
Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein
Middlemarch George Eliot
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose Lauren Willig
Twilight (x3) Stephenie Meyer
Marked (re-read) Kristin Cast and PC Cast
Betrayed (re-read) Kristin Cast and PC Cast
Chosen (re-read) Kristin Cast and PC Cast
New Moon (x2) Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse (x2) Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn (x2) Stephenie Meyer
The Gunslinger Stephen King
The Drawing of the Three Stephen King
The Host: A Novel Stephenie Meyer
Hunger Games Suzanne Collins
Battle Royale Koushun Takami
Untamed Kristin Cast and PC Cast
Uglies Scott Westerfeld
Pretties Scott Westerfeld
Specials Scott Westerfeld
Extras Scott Westerfeld
Revolutionary Road Richard Yates
On Writing Stephen King

That's a whopping 35 for those of you keeping count. And thats not including the books I read more than once (which would bring it up to 40, an average of 3.5 books every month. That's about a book a week!).

2008 was a very successful year. I only hope 2009 is bigger and brighter.

Oh! And one last note. I just want to say...Happy Birthday Joanish! Happy 25th! And congrats on Law School, I'll be seeing you soon in San Diego. Love you.

44

Equal rights under the law

Vote

Thanks Jezebel for the cute image.

I like this

capture my mood.

Political cartoons are fun for everyone

Thank you Andrew Sullivan.

I don't need it, but I WANT IT! Kenneth Cobonpue furniture

I think I might have posted on this furniture before, but apartment therapy had it up on their site and that same guttural urge returned to me. I really like this furniture!!! I want the bed and couch for the house on my private island.

Porn for Yuppies

Boyan always gets on my case for looking at Apartments on Craigslist even when we are a. not going to be moving anytime soon and b. could never afford them. I can't help but look and imagine what life would be like in these spaces (as you can see) or the design possibilities not yet explored.

Well, today I found out I'm not the only one. This site, apartmenttherapy.com, which people in the know call "Porn for Yuppies," exhibits all kinds of wonderful places and spaces. Now, I don't know if I consider myself a "yuppie" but this stuff does turn me on. Not in a sexual way--but definitely in a lustful way. Take look for yourself.


Gramercy, New York


(I call this one Britta's room)


This one belonged to a gay couple in Chicago

They also have slideshows of some fab places like this one. And this one.

Furniture really does it for me too. Especially when Britta sends me stuff like this.



Oh fabulous furniture and apartments...why do you torture me so!

This is why it seems impossible to make a living working as an editor

via the Ed2010 Email Newsletter this week...the tear inducing factoids are highlighted in red.

************
Whisper Jobs
************
Ed hears ......that a women's romance magazine based in NYC has an opening for its associate editor position. The associate is responsible for reading all incoming manuscripts, contracting stories, managing all correspondence with writers, and doing some light administrative work. This entry-level position involves a lot of copy-editing, so candidate should have an excellent grasp of the English language and an acute eye for detail. Perfect for a recent college graduate with an English or Journalism degree. The starting salary is $25,000, non-negotiable, with dental and health benefits. Please email cover letter and resume as attachments to gportfolio@dorchestermedia.com. (OK to mention Ed)

For even more jobs, go to http://www.ed2010.com/jobs/whisperjobs or click here.

$25,000 for an Associate Editor's position? How is anyone supposed to pay rent let alone eat, drink and buy cigarettes on that salary? Now I understand why people sell out and become Account Executives.

Best Blog Title....EVER.

The only change I would have made would to add the word "White" in between Old and Men. Otherwise it's perfect!

Stop, Just Stop with the Awesomeness

Thanks of course to Joan (always joan) I found a new blog to be obsessed with. I discovered the material for the post below (food fight and grinning dog) there and now they've led me to a beautiful artist who does work with water named Zena Holloway. Check her out for yourself, (make sure you watch this video) and while you're at it, check out the blog shape + colour.



Discovery = Happiness

Food Fight

If you have five minutes to spare you have to watch this video called, "Food Fight" it's truly amazing. You can read a list of all the foods and what countries they represent here.

When you're done with that, take a look at this dog.

Add one more to the visual bookshelf

I finished another book this weekend. That makes three in March alone, and it's only the 10th! Did I mention I'm 50 pages away from finishing another book? There really is nothing to do in West Covina...

Which brings me to the thought of bookshelf etiquette. What do you think, should you be allowed to display books on a bookshelf if you read them? Or should it be the opposite as Ezra Klein propounds (get it? Ezra Klein propounds....Ezra Pound? Yes? No?...okay, nevermind) that books you read should only be displayed on facebook? Discuss!

Lent Begins

Today is Ash Wednesday, also the first day of Lent. Every year I have given up something substantial, from alcohol to meat. This year I decided to give up something that I feel I have been hooked on for awhile--something I know will be extremely difficult for me to face.

Gossip blogs.



That's right. No more Perez, no more Pink is the New Blog, etc. I will continue to read Jezebel but only those blogs non-celebrity related.

It's going to be really hard! Don't laugh! It's almost an automatic response--I turn on the computer open a browser and type "gmail.com crtl+T, jezebel.com crtl+t, perezhilton.com crtl+T" and on and on and on. I'm truly going to have to train myself to not visit the blogs or pick up a mag at the grocery store.

Please wish me luck with this difficult endeavor.

I was also thinking of giving up carbs, but I like to be realistic.

I don't need it, but I WANT IT! Behnaz Sarafpour Fall 2008 Ready-to-wear

I don't know what it is about this dress from Behnaz Sarafpour's Fall 2008 Ready-to-wear line, but it just calls to me.

The girls over at Jezebel hated it, but I could just see myself walking down a street in Manhattan wearing this dress with my hair curled, large sunglasses and killer strappy sandals. What do you think?