Friday, November 18, 2005

More Fun Susanne Info

1. How many people on your buddy list are exs?
Zero

2. What is your favorite part of the chicken?
Booby. Heehee.

3. What's your favorite town?
Huntington Beach and NYC- tie but each for totally different reasons.

4. How did your last relationship end?
Well I ain’t married, so obviously we broke up. Plus he wasn’t hot enough for me.

5. What's the first word that comes to mind right now?
Headache

6. When was the last time you saw your mom in person?
3 hours ago when I left for work. My moms in NY for a visit.

7. Whats the best insult you've ever heard or said?
I can't believe that out of 10,000 sperm, you were the quickest. ~Steven Pearl


8. Who got you to join myspace?
I think it was Jen.

9. What did you have for dinner LAST NIGHT?
Peanut Butter Toast Crunch Cereal. Stuff is addictive.

10. How long have you been at your current job?
About 15 months.

11. Is Tom on your friends list?
Can you help it?

12. What's the last thing you said outloud?
See you soon. To my mom.

13. Look to your left. What's there?
My fax machine.

14. What is the last thing/person you spent over $100 on?
Broadway tickets to surprise my mom for tonight for the biggest show on Broadway.

15. Who is your favorite villian?
Reggie Mantle, always trying to steal Veronica away from Archie. What a shmuck.

16. Whats the last piece of clothing you borrowed from someone?
Do earmuffs count? It was fricken cold last night.

17. Whats the last piece of clothing you bought?
I’ve given up on buying clothes. I live in a New York apt. Theres no fricken room to put stuff.

18. What word makes you laugh no matter where, when or how many times you hear it?
Booby. HeeHee.

19. What website do you visit the most during the day?
Besides my emails, www.OnlySimchas.com

20. Go into your text message log on your phone...what does the top message say?
Thank you for authorizing your last payment of $35.31

Do you have plants in your room?
My roommate brought a couple home this week, I was like don’t kill them cause I’ll be totally depressed.

If you could drink anything right this second, what would be?
Pure caffeine. And a big glass of Scotch. Caffeinated Scotch.

Last piece of e-mail opened?
Junk

Does anything hurt on your body right now?
Head

What city was your last taxi cab ride in?
Um, let me think, New York

Last alcoholic drink?
Glass of Scotch while watching the Country Music Awards.

Do you own a picture phone?
Yup

What's your most recent Ex's birthday?
No clue, didn’t date long enough to rifle through his wallet.

What were you doing last night at 9?
Seeing Wicked, the best Broadway show ever! Never saw anything like it before.

Do you exercise as much as you should?
Does anyone?

Did you do the deed on prom night?
Maybe if I actually won for Prom Queen. Damn you Kim Stemkowski. That tiara was mine! Not to say I never hooked up with my prom date at a different time. :)

Would you give your bf/gf a second chance if they cheated on you?
Hell NO. No one deserves that.

***SOME STRANGE QUESTIONS***

Something purple within 5 feet of you:
Book on my desk.

The sexiest item of clothing you own:
From 10 Things- You don't buy black underwear unless you want somebody to see it.

Your nails were last painted:
Before my friends wedding.

The weirdest thing you've ever heated in the microwave?
Ice Cream

How much Japanese do you know?
Sake! Domo. Kinichiwa. All learned from watching Kill Bill Volume 1.

Do you look good in yellow?
Yes

Do you sing?
I’m a better singer then people think.

Ever danced naked in front of a crowd?
Not sober.

Do you spit?
Yes, I’m a New Yorker. We do all things crude.

Is your hair long enough to chew on?
Finally. I’m growing it out for the first time ever!

Least favorite color?
Purple

Ever had Dippin' Dots?
No. Always wanted to though. I’m intrigued.

Ever played an instrument?
Played the clarinet in 5th grade cause I think we got to miss a class if we did or something.

Ever been to a palm reader?
I think we had one at Ali’s like 14th birthday party. That was before the highlight of good parties was the keg.

Did you have a good weekend?
Not at all. This weekend will be better.

Current yearning:
Winning the lottery.

Have you ever had a black eye?
My brother threw a football at my face from a short distance. That was also my first bloody nose. I thought it was so cool. I was such a damn tomboy.

How is the day going for you?
Good. Fridays are 4 hour workdays this time of year.

Any plans for tonight?
Going to Temple to do me some mingling then having some friends over for dinner.

Are you ready for Christmas?
I don’t celebrate it but I see Macy’s on 34th Street outside my window right now and they’ve had their Christmas lights up for a month already. Its crazy here.

Do you find Smurfette sexy?
Nope. But that babe musta got a lot of play.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Brooks and Dunn/ Craig's List

Craigslist NYC is an incredible resource for young New Yorkers without a lot of money to spare. With the CMA awards in town this week for their Tuesday night awards ceremony, all the incredible country artists have landed on the island of Manhattan, cowboy hats and all. Trying to make the most of this historic visit, a ton of incredible artists have scheduled concerts right here in the city. Not really figuring this out until pretty last minute, all of the best concerts were already sold out. So I went on Craig's List and plugged in some of the big concerts. The first one that popped up was Brooks and Dunn. I offered some dude who realized he had others plans for that night 50 bucks for his pair of tickets. He happily agreed. With concert tickets today for country, pop, and everything else going for $75-$100 for general admission this bid I was sure would be turned down. I also posted that I really wanted to go to the Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, Sugarland concert. On Craigslist you aren't supposed to sell tickets for more than face value and tickets for that concert were on 40 bucks. I love Sugarland, my new fave band, after the Dixie Chicks of course. Was contacted by some random NY woman whos friend cancelled that she was gonna go with. I'm not the type of person to generally go to a concert without a friend but her seats were incredible and she was selling for face value. I took her up on it. Turns out she actually knows some people I know which makes me think she won't murder me or anything if we hang out. The Brooks and Dunn dude lost 30 bucks in selling me the tickets but I am incredibly grateful. Brooks and Dunn have never been my favorite band out there but I know enough of their music to make a concert worth it. The concert was incredible. Decked out in my cowboy hat I bought on our senior trip to Puerto Vallerto after HS graduation, jeans, and tennis shoes (couldn't wear my boots cause it was standing room only and cowboy boots would grow uncomfortable for that long). I got to Irving Plaza the concert venue in no time leaving me to stand in line for an hour and a half before the doors opened, ensuring me a sweet spot. I was kinda embarrassed on the Subway so I didn't put on my hat, just carried it. That got me enough stares alone. Destiny got out of the hospital late and I had to leave her ticket at Will Call so I could run in and get us a good spot. The great thing about country is everyone is so damn friendly. I waited in line with a niece and aunt from Memphis and a family from the Bronx. Once I got inside I stood nearby those new friends, but also a 60-year-old Hispanic woman celebrating her birthday with her sister and a couple where the husband was drunk already when we got inside. You'll never see a more interesting bunch of folks than you'll find at a country concert. Alot of folks are just like me, in denial that they enjoy country music, always writing Anything But Country on a Fave Music listing on sites like MySpace. That is until they hear that one song that opens their ear for the first time. That song for me was Don't Take the Girl by Tim McGraw. It really opened my eyes to the truthfulness and beauty of the country lyric. Thats something I could no longer deny. So the concert was unbelievable. We were steps from the stage, maybe one person separated us from reach up and plucking their guitars ourselves. The opening band sucked (I don't particularly dig bluegrass, like I said before, the lyrics are what really drives the music for me) but when Brooks and Dunn came out the standing room only crowd just erupted. They put on an incredible show. They aren't stringy about throwing souveniors out to the crowd. Throughout the concert, Ronnie Dunn was throwing out drumsticks to the crowd. I caught one right away, almost got a second to give to Destiny but some fat dude stepped on it and I couldn't get it out. But hey, I'm not greedy one bit. They even made comments to the psyched crowd about how stupid it is to say there aren't any country fans in NY. This packed house in the Village of all places shows thats not true one bit. I thought that was great. Theres all this hoopla surronding country coming to NYC. All the papers are running stories and there are posters all over town. On the way home I proudly wore my hat on the subway and loudly sang You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl. It was awesome. The stares soooo did not bother me as I played drums with my new Brooks and Dunn drumstick. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are like the Country Music Missionaries to NYC. They are hosting the CMAs on Tuesday night, but not until they finish a free (I hope) concert from the roof of Madison Square Garden, the venue of the awards ceremony. Since MSG is a block from my midtown office I plan to be there for that concert and will try to get as close to the red carpet as possible. Anything to view my fave Tim McGraw. Love him! Anyway, thats all for now. Peace!

Yogi's

Being a Southern California girl in NYC isn't easy to begin with. The cold for one sucks ass. Highs have been in the 50s with nowhere to go but down. Also, there is no country music in NY. Or there hadn't been for years. Country artists skip over us on their national tours. There is no country music station in NYC. In fact I almost got in a fist fight with a station exec a few years back at a Tim McGraw launch party at South Street Seaport when I made a sign that said "Theres no Country Radio in NY, so I'm Moving to Jersey". Any New Yorker knows how cruel of a threat moving to Jersey could be. Its horrendous there. The exec erroneously claimed that there is in fact a country station in the city. He was full of crap of course. I lived next door to the Empire State building at the time so if anyone could hear it, it woulda been me. So anyway, I thought I had nowhere to turn. Until last Saturday night when my buddy, neighbor, and Huntington Beach native Destiny dragged me from a really crappy party along with random sweet Jewish Pediatrician Joe to Yogi's. This was a place I must have walked by hundreds of times. Located at 76th and Broadway on an extremely busy throughfare of NY I don't have a clue how I coulda missed it all these country neglected years. Yogi's is the kinda bar you would expect to find on a rural road in Alabama. Cheap beer pitchers and cheap jukeboxes plaining loud country music. I filled that box up with all the songs I never expected to hear in a NYC bar. Tim McGraw, Gretchen Wilson, Toby Keith, and a ton of others. It was quite an incredible night. I plan to head back there many, many more times in the future. It was like heaven on this little island of New York City. The first bar I felt truly comfortable in in this great city. Thanks Destiny!

Friday, November 04, 2005

Another new NJOP chap

Heres hoping some of you clever peeps can submit ideas. Please forward to any individuals, parents, teachers, or members of industry whom you think can help:

What are the best gifts for children this Hanukkah?

The National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP) is looking beyond the shelves of Target and Toys "R" Us to find the best Jewish toys, books and games for children this Hanukkah. Our list of eight recommended products will showcase those that engage, inspire and inform children (toddler to teen,) helping them feel more connected to Jewish culture, heritage and religion.

Beginning November 4th, NJOP will accept suggestions and submissions from manufacturers, parents, store owners and children themselves. NJOP will consider the old and new, the expensive and the bargain item so long as the gift is "Jewish" in nature.

All items will be evaluated by a panel of experts including Jewish educators, child development experts, parents and children. The recommended items will be announced on November 29th.

"Each year parents struggle to show the beauty and background of an important Jewish holiday -Hanukkah- amidst the lights and Christmas decorations everywhere a child looks," said Rabbi Buchwald of the National Jewish Outreach Program. "This year, with Hanukkah beginning on December 25th, we wanted to help parents make Hanukkah very special and meaningful for their children."

To send book, toy, game or other product recommendations, please email hannukahgifts@njop.org. Manufacturers wishing to send product directly should contact Rachel Shtern at 646-871-4444 or Ilya Welfeld at 201.439.1010 for shipping instructions.

Deadline for submission is November 21st.