Ginger's follies, foibles and fixations.
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| You Listen to Me, Mr. Kick-Ass Ginger's follies, foibles and fixations. |
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Saturday, June 29, 2002 Kitty Adventure Malibu Stacie had to go to the doctor today to get her teeth checked. I note with some irony that my cat has gotten more medical care in the past year than I have. We had a minor scuffle trying to get her into the KittyKarrier--apparently she remembers the 12 hours she spent in that thing en route from Seattle to New York. But once we were on the way, she calmed down. We took two trains all the way into upper Manhattan, because that is where the holistic vet that my 'boss' recommended is stationed. The exam room had a row of autographed headshots along the wall, like you might find in any deli or dry cleaner here in the naked city. Apparently, Judi Collins, Paula Cole, Mick Jagger and Bryant Gumbel have brought their animal companions to this very place. I doubt Malibu Stacie appreciates her closeness to celebrity petdom as much as I do. Since I let Stacie's teeth get all nasty, I was feeling like Bad Mom, but the vets assured me that she was in FABulous health, with an ideal diet, beautiful skin & fur, and a kind (if terrified) disposition. But, she has bad teeth. I suppose if I hadn't brushed my teeth in three and a half years, mine might look pretty stanky too. All my years growing up, I never had to brush a cat's teeth, so really the concept is beyond me. It's too late for that now, though; now she has to be knocked out and have her teeth professionally scraped and polished. The daily brushing will have to come after, and continue for the remainder of her life. So, I made an appointment and we'll be back in two weeks. This comes four days after my own medical appointment, and I am pretty sure her procedure will cost a lot more than mine. Ohwell. (By the way, belated thanks to Mike for the linking tips!!) posted by Ginger | 10:38 PM Friday, June 28, 2002 At least I'm not the only one complaing about the heat (see entry 6/27/2002 04:43:00 PM--the link to the specific post is all screwy). But what do I know, I've been shut up all day with the A/C on. It smells like an airplane in here--yuck. But at least I'm not sweating. posted by Ginger | 5:38 PM Damn. First Dee Dee Ramone, and now this. "He was unique and irreplaceable," that's for sure. I know it's cliche to always say the dead one was your favorite, but ever since I was a little kid, watching him sing the chorus of "Boris the Spider" in The Kids are Alright, I have had a lot of affection for this guy. Rest in Peace, Ox. posted by Ginger | 11:21 AM Thursday, June 27, 2002 Hey, can anyone quickly tell me how to make it so that my links will automatically open a separate window? I'm sure it's some easy bit of code I could steal from someone's site but I'm much to lazy to do that. Much obliged, thanx! Insomnia. It's almost like real insomnia now. I could hardly sleep at ALL last night, until I took some allergy medicine and finally broke down and put on the air conditioner. I don't like having the A/C on all night but I hardly have a choice with the oppressive humidity. And it's only June--yikes. But things always change and this I'm sure is one of many weather cycles of this wacky summer. My kitty Stacie has bad teeth, so I'm taking her to the doctor this weekend. Wish us luck. Unfortunately with her teeth likely to need some sort of expensive treatment, my medical procedure next month and my goddam broken TV, I am practically hemmoraging cash. Not that I'm actually spending money about the TV, but it's one of those potential expenses... Yet on the other hand, work has never seemed so hopeful and exciting. On yet another hand, the hopeful/exciting stuff is really in the three-year plan, any actual money created by which I can expect to receive sometime in fiscal '03 or '04. Which means my life will continue much the same as now for quite some time. But for some reason finding your purpose makes you worry less about immediate rewards, or temporary lack. There are no guarantees it will all work out and end up lucrative (or hell, sustainable) for me. The nonprofit sector is nowhere to plan on getting rich, that's for damn sure. Still, I have that feeling inside me that I only have when I'm sure about something, when I know it's the right thing, that it's okay, that--no matter what twists and turns may come--that I'm on the right path. It's really an odd thing, really a weird thing. I'm not getting my head around it, somehow. Which is maybe why I can't sleep. But I will try now. Goodnight! posted by Ginger | 2:09 AM Sunday, June 23, 2002 Stroke of White Nell, bless her soul, is attempting to salvage whatever shred of indie dignity I have left by buying me a ticket to see The Strokes with The White Stripes coming up this August. I didn't even tell her that I was considering going to see Britney Spears, but I'm guessing my endless prattle about the new Eminem album made her decide it was time for an intervention. I have never heard either band--heard of them plenty, but I don't listen to the radio, and I don't have the MTV (are these guys on MTV? Is anyone? Or is it just The Osbournes 24/7?). It sounds like the kinda thing I'd like, so I'm into it. Venti Skinny The color of the universe now has a name: Cosmic Latte. I don't even drink coffee anymore, but I think that's pretty catchy. Toy Barn This evening I met another obscure celebrity. A few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail inviting me to an "exclusive" evening with Star Wars uber-collector Steve Sansweet at FAO Schwarz. For those of you who don't know, Mr. Sansweet holds the largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia in the world. He obtained his first piece before the first Star Wars movie came out in 1977 (a spiral-bound press kit he fished out of a colleague's wastebasket), and has been collecting ever since. When he moved to his current residence in Northern California, he chose the place partly because of a vast barn on the property which was (just) large enough to hold his entire collection, which took several large trucks to transport. He enviably turned his obsessive geekiness into a career by landing a job at Lucasfilm in the late nineties, and part of his job is "fan relations" for the marketing department. This, to me, roughly translates as "be nice to the geeks so they'll buy lots of crap." Nice work if you can get it! The invitation said the guest list was limited to the first 100 respondents. When I received the invitation I RSVP'd right away, but didn't expect it to be particularly special. It seemed to me just a ploy to get people into the store to shop. I thought they'd trot out Steve for a 15-minute rap about his enormous collection--just enough to inspire us all to start our own collection that very night--and maybe sign some books. Since the invitation said you could bring one guest, I figured that meant there would be 200 people in a flourescent-lit room with folding chairs, so there didn't seem much chance of private chat-time with Steve--not that I had anything in particular to say to him anyway. As today wore on I wasn't sure I would go. Steve Sansweet seems a cool guy and all, but was it really worth the commute into Manhattan on a 85-degree Sunday night? You know I hate doing anything when it's hot. But at the last moment I decided to check it out. It wasn't like I was doing anything else--my damn TV is broken! Upon arrival I found that I was indeed on the list, and so was allowed into the (closed) FAO flagship store, the first time I had ever been there. That in itself was kind of neat--I think this is where Tom Hanks did that piano-dance in Big, but I didn't have time to walk around and find it. At the top of the escalator I was directed to the Star Wars room by several immaculately-costumed stormtroopers and an impressive (most impressive) Darth Vader. Again, I recognized several of the geeks who were mercilessly ridiculed by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at the Episode II premiere. I noted to self that, like it or not, these are my people. First I noticed that the room--FAO's Star Wars "boutique"--was pretty small, and if there were a hundred chairs set up I would have been surprised. Thus I was pleased to find the event even more exclusive than I expected. Most of the seats were filled, but it looked like I wasn't going to have to fight anyone to sit down, so I helped myself to some refreshments. As I nibbled my finger sandwich, who should walk up and stand right beside me but Steve Sansweet himself! We greeted each other, and I congratulated him on the good turnout. He told me the reservations were all booked up in a single day. I asked him about the Darth Vader Bespin Duel figure, and he agreed it was fabulous, but he liked the Luke Bespin Duel even better. I then took the opportunity to drop the one thing I had wanted to tell him if I got the chance, and the main impetus for me going in the first place: I told him that I was thinking of starting a letter-writing campaign to get George Lucas to put the original versions of the Classic Trilogy on DVD, rather than just the Special Editions, as he has said he will do. According to interviews with George, he sees the first versions as "rough cuts" and that the SpEds--as they are not-so-respectfully called--are his definitive vision. It's as if millions of voices cried out in terror...Greedo did NOT shoot first! Steve shrugged his shoulders as if to say "good fucking luck," and we talked about it a bit. But then one of the FAO officials took Steve aside to remind him to mention in his speech that the registers would be open for shopping when he was finished. Yes, the event's purpose was clearly to get notoriously free-spending Star Wars fans excited about dumping more hard-earned dough on a bunch of plastic. But on the other hand, they managed to make it a fun and interesting event anyway. Mr. Sansweet spoke for a good hour and a half about his collection, showing a plethora of slides and discussing his favorite pieces. He's an enormously friendly and accessible guy, and occupies one of the weirder places in the Star Wars pantheon. Being employed by Lucasfilm, yet not having created any of the Star Wars Universe, he's the closest thing to a professional fan as one can get. And he acts more like a fan than a cog of the Lucasfilm machine--though he did admit to focusing mostly on the "official" merchandise in his presentation because of his affiliation with the company. Bootlicking toady. After chatting a little with a local fan-group member who calls himself "Qui-Gon Tim" (I don't need to tell you how he was dressed, do I?), I did buy something--a Darth Vader Lego pen. I love the Lego versions of Star Wars characters--they are so cute! I got Steve to sign the package. Generally, I think autographs are silly but in this case I felt it was appropriate since we got to have a real conversation and not just "Whassyrname?...Next!" posted by Ginger | 10:47 PM |
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