Quick! Ice! no wait... butter? Crap, just google it.

I burnt the living hell out of my hand.

Ok, so I'm being a bit dramatic. But burns hurt, even if they are small.

I was stupid and left the oven on after I was done using it and plum forgot all about it! Good golly gosh I am so much like my mother sometimes.

Turns out, if you leave the oven on for four hours, the outside gets just as hot as the inside. (or at least it does when you have a coco brown, 1960 Electric Living oven... it doesn't even have self cleaning! I digress.)

So a note from Auntie Pix, even if you never use it, get a damned first aid kit. After finally sticking my blistering flesh in cold running water, I realized how unprepared I was for things like this. I live alone and if I had a serious accident I'd be mopping up my wound with dirty kitchen towels...

Go to Amazon right now and get one for $40. Cause when your leaned up against the sink with tears in your eyes, your skin bubbling up, all alone, you are going to want something to ease the pain. Believe me.

Oh, and get a big sign to hang in the kitchen that says, "Turn off the oven. You may not be Martha Stewart but if you can avoid burning yourself or the house down, you get a gold star." I'll have the mock up for my new sign soon.

Dreaming of India

There are only a few more complicated places in the world.

Cast systems, the rise in technology and education and that some of the poorest people in the world are just steps from some of the most wealthy.

No, this bit was not brought on by Slumdog Millionaire. Well, sorta. (Damn good movie by the by. Go see it. Tell them your Auntie Pix sent you.) Last night I saw The Darjeeling Limited for the first time and I'm inspired to write it.

Candles at a Hindu festivalFirst, let me tell you about Darjeeling. I love Wes Anderson. He is very much an acquired taste, I feel, because of his unique styles and aloofness of characters. (the aloof always fades by the end) I love his movies. I love that everyone in the beginning is strange and alone. Unexplained things happen around them and they float around, searching. And there is always quirky things in every corner of the films. A character that never wears shoes. Or that the whole cast wears the same outfit for the whole movie, just different colors. I love those little things you notice that you whisper to your best friend in the movie.

Basically, you have three brothers who have been through a lot and seem to be so caught up in their own shit that they're missing the point of this amazing trip they're on. Then there is disaster and after having the metaphysical crap kicked out of them, the brothers find their path again.

GaneshaIndia is a place I know little about. My mother told me stories of her travels there, about how beautiful and brutal it was. About the time four men were following her to her hotel but she was more scared of the monkeys at the temple. About the beggar woman holding a baby that had a hole in it's stomach, screaming. She loved the temples and the food but came away so sad about the state of people's livings. But that was 20 years ago...

Instead of wonder and excitement, most my friends are fearful of a trip to India. Even though it's the world's largest democracy and the major religion being Hinduism, it's a scary place these days. Major terrorist attacks on westerners last year and attacks on Jews, Muslims, Christians and Indian civilians have left a seed of doubt in so many minds. (not to mention that, according to the state department, "rape is the fastest growing crime in India." What has happened to men that now they suddenly think it's ok? Or perhaps it's just being reported more...) So what am I to think? There are so many scary places in the world and it seems to be getting worse and worse, especially for Western woman. (who also happen to be 5' 10'' redheads who stick out like sore thumbs... except in Ireland.)

So then I remind myself of Spain. Years ago, visiting my cousin who was studying dance in Madrid, I got on a train to go see Toledo when our train caught fire. This was around the time that Islamic extremist bombed 4 commuter trains killing almost 200 people, the deadliest attack in recent European history. Everyone hurried off the train, the men helping the little old ladies down off the train (which, without a platform, was quite a leap). I sat in a field, looking at the engineering marvel as the men in their uniforms searched the train up and down. I asked a very handsome man from Madrid, "Aren't you scared of getting blown up?" He replied, "I take this train 3 times a week. I can't stop taking it or my business will suffer. It's up to G-d whether it is my time to go or not. I will not cease living because of a bomb that might be there."

Handsome and did I mention smart? Words to live by...and I will try do so.


*Update*
I had to share this out of pure curiosity. While perusing the state department website I found this:

"If a driver hits a pedestrian or a cow, the vehicle and its occupants are at risk of being attacked by passersby. Such attacks pose significant risk of injury or death to the vehicle's occupants or at least of incineration of the vehicle. It can thus be unsafe to remain at the scene of an accident of this nature, and drivers may instead wish to seek out the nearest police station."

Wait... why would people want me dead if my cab driver hit someone? If this happened in New York there would be burning cars all over the place! Can someone explain this to me?

Blackout

Yesterday, we became helpless, sad little babies.

I was at the office, mid-email, when all the power to the whole complex went out. We were lost! There were no phones, no computers, no faxes, people had to pee in pitch black (and the janitorial crew was not happy about that, let me tell you...) What the hell were we gonna do??? We were forced to *gasp* talk to each other. It was great. We played table top bowling and has wheely chair races. But by three I knew I could get some work done if I headed home, so off I went.

With all of our technology, we were helpless with electricity. We handled it pretty well in the end but history has showed up that not everyone can stay calm.

In the middle of July, 1977 New York City had a major, city wide black out. Unlike the black outs of 1965 and 2003, the people of NYC in 77 went ape shit and destroyed their neighborhoods, looted and set fire to anything that would catch.

Let me set the scene... It's hotter than hell, the economy is crap and the son of Sam was running around all willy nilly shooting young people. And it's New York so everyone is already a little crazy. (sorry Taylor but you know it's a little true.) The lights go out and people lose their shit...

Looting in the poorest neighborhoods was rampant, and with so much insanity and emergencies involving people, property took a back seat. Crown Heights suffered some of the most looting while Bushwick nearly burnt to the ground. Fifty new cars were stolen from a single dealership. Chains were tied around store front gates, then to cars and torn from the building to gain access to stores. Over four thousand people were arrested. Both airports were shut down, people evacuated from subways and tunnels. Knife wounds and fist fight injuries came in all night at local hospitals. After all was said and done and the numbers tallied, three hundred million dollars in damage was caused... don't forget, this is 1977 dollars. With inflation, that makes it roughly one BILLION, fifteen million dollars.
And all this cause by a loose nut at the Hudson river substation. That and some bad decisions.

Not that it was ALL bad... with stolen DJ equipment, young up and coming rappers were able to get started. It's also an urban legend that the birthrate went up 35% due to the blackout. When its dark, what else are you gonna do?

In 2003 there was another bigger blackout (almost the ENTIRE state of NY and up through Canada) but people held it together. There were of course some instances of stupid jerks who wanted to start some trouble but it was nothing like 1977. Bars stayed open so commuters and locals could enjoy the night. Restaurants took their perishable/fresh everything, cooked it and just gave it away since it was going to spoil anyway. The Indigo Girls played in The Park with generators and food cooked with propane. In all, it was a pretty happy time.

Our little blackout was nothing compared to those but it's good to know that if were are capable of riots and looting, we are also capable of good food and parties.

Welcome back to the light.

ok, I've been a huge slacker.

Ever since this whole thing with the chief, I've been distracted. But now I'm back and (hopefully) ready to get back to writing.

I'm back to the business of being excited about life.

Today, I'm excited about a warehouse in Los Angeles. A friend calls me saying that he thought that I had mentioned to him a very young designer (or puppet figurehead, whomever you choose to believe) Kira Plastinina. She is a teenage Russian girl who happens to have over 40 shops all over the world and has finally come to LA. She's huge onOMG, like, I'm bankrupt! the scene, hanging with Paris (gag, choke) and the lot...But there must be some problems, cause someone isn't paying their bills... A storage facility will be selling off a tons of her and other designers clothing because someone wasn't paying their storage fees and now the warehouse company legal owns all the property within the overdue facilities.

Too bad, so sad. I guess I must reap the benefits! I've sent him a shopping list and wired him some cash and I will be getting some sweet cotoure in no time!

This recession sucks, if I may be so eloquent. Not that I really care that Kira's stores are going out, because I know she'll be okay with her trust fund and allowance and such. I do care about people who are really in need. People on the verge of losing their homes or skipping lunch to be able to afford dinner.

I know, I go from "Yay, I'm getting new clothes" to "Those sad poor people!". So I give you this for your pipe, so that you might smoke it. For every piece of clothing I get from California, I'm giving away 3 other pieces. I've been meaning to do some spring cleaning and I know there are those who could use them more than me. I mostly think of myself as a child, searching the racks at the good will, hoping for that amazing find, that one cool dress or shirt that would give me the confidence to get on that bus and show up for my first day of 5th grade(or 8th grade... or 12th). I know there is a little chic out there looking right now and I'm giving her my crochet caps and small (for me) skirts and tops, braided and metallic belts, skirts, shoes and anything else I can find that I haven't worn.

There is really nothing better than a good find at the local good will shop or Arch or whichever. I just wish I could be there to dig through and find treasures in the LA warehouse... Oh well.

Pictures of happy new dresses to come!

Ok, it's mean, but I laughed a little

• Teen Russian Designer Kira Plastinina Closes Stores

Don't forget "maddening"...

Heart breaking, expensive and frustrating are the words I must use.

I will be shipping the first of a dozen boxes to The Chief today.

He gave me a list of his things, including things that belonged to us. It's just money but it hurts that he requests them like they had no meaning to our relationship.

He sent me a list and wants to know what's in all the boxes and when he will be getting them. I try to be calm and polite but there is only so much a girl can take.

I so badly want this over with. I want to ship it all out yesterday. I think perhaps I will leave early and take them all to the post office today. I can't have the boxes sitting there looking at me anymore.


I'm sorry for this post; it's boring and selfish but I had to get it off my chest. Thanks.