Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Say What?

Yesterday it was like 105 degrees in Dallas.  It was awful!  I was watching the news late last night and the weather said a "cold front was coming through" Dallas. The expected temperature was the low 90's.

A "cold front" is not the low 90's!  Stupid!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Madge the Bike

I miss you!  It was 107 degrees today, so it would be stupid for me to ride you.  One day soon, we will be reunited and it will feel so good.

Madge the Bike

Frank's Chestnut Tree Falls

From CNN:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/23/tree-beloved-by-anne-frank-falls-down/?hpt=C2

The chestnut tree Anne Frank wrote about in her diary has fallen down; the tree was approx. 150 years old.  Exerp from CNN:
"Frank admired the tree from the attic window of the secret annex where her family hid for two years, before being betrayed. "From my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind," she wrote on February 23, 1944. "As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be.""

To learn more about this beautifully brave girl, click here.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Salt

Wait for Netflix.  The worst part of the movie, it could have been great.  They could have had a Bourne style series on their hands.  I really wanted to like this movie too.  Oh boo!

Luckyyyyy....

From CNN Breaking News emails: "Jury convicts former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich of making false statement to the FBI, hung on all 23 other counts."

Maybe the Celebrity Apprentice helped you after all...

Monday, August 16, 2010

Stay Strong for Equality

From CNN Breaking News emails: "Federal appeals court blocks same-sex marriages in California until it considers broader constitutional questions."

I believe in the fundamental right for all people to be married.  I mean come on, it's not like us hetero's have done such an amazing job with the industry of marriage.  To be fair, I am not married, nor have I been.  So let's put my opinion aside and review some statistics.   According to http://www.divoricemag.com/ here are a few stats:
"Here's a sampling of some of the most recently available statistics on marriage and divorce in the United States of America:
•There were approximately 2,230,000 marriages in 2005 -- down from 2,279,000 the previous year, despite a total population increase of 2.9 million over the same period.

•The divorce rate in 2005 (per 1,000 people) was 3.6 -- the lowest rate since 1970, and down from 4.2 in 2000 and from 4.7 in 1990. (The peak was at 5.3 in 1981, according to the Associated Press.)

•The marriage rate in 2005 (per 1,000) was 7.5, down from 7.8 the previous year.

•In 2004, the state with the highest reported divorce rate was Nevada, at 6.4 (per 1,000). Arkansas was a close second, with a divorce rate of 6.3, followed by Wyoming at 5.3. The District of Columbia had the lowest reported divorce rate, at 1.7, followed by Massachusetts at 2.2 and Pennsylvania at 2.5. (Figures were not complete for California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, or Oklahoma.)

•8.1% of coupled households consist of unmarried heterosexual partners, according to The State of Our Unions 2005, a report issued by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. The same study said that only 63% of American children grow up with both biological parents -- the lowest figure in the Western world.

•As of 2003, 43.7% of custodial mothers and 56.2% of custodial fathers were either separated or divorced. And in 2002, 7.8 million Americans paid about $40 billion in child and/or spousal support (84% of the payers were male).

•Americans tend to get married more between June and October than during the rest of the year. In 2005, August had the most marriages at about 235,000 or a rate of 9.3 per 1,000 people. The previous year, July was the highest month at 246,000, or a rate of 9.9; this doubled the lowest month in 2004, January.
(Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, National Center for Health Statistics)"

No one has the right to tell anyone how to live their life.  Above anything, above culture, sex, when & where a person was born, the one thread that we all have in common first, is that we are all human.  And in my humble opinion, it is inhumane to deny another human their fundamental right to wed the one they love.

Stay strong for equality!
XOXO,
Alexandra

Damn You Completely Visible Wall!

I woke up bright and early this morning, at 7:38am.  I wake up every morning around this time because Amelia is an early riser; who picked this dog?  I kid, I kid.  Anyways, so I decide that instead of shoving my dog in the backyard and going back to sleep I would instead be productive.  I made some breakfast which consisted of lots o' coffee and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, took the trash out and cleaned up my room.  I know, super productive!  Anyways after that I got on my computer and started reviewing some new music for my blogs and my column and thought to do some laundry.  La, di, da, walking along with a basket of laundry and BAM! I walk right into a wall.  I mean as clear as day this wall was right in front of me.  What the F? So my left pinky toe is hanging on by a thread and my toe nail is split.  If my toe nail falls off......disaster!  I mean, there will be no Michael Caine toe sucking scene in my life if this nail falls off.  Not that I have a "Michael Caine" in my life but I could meet one and what if he is a toe sucker!?!  So lame!

Friday, August 13, 2010

No word on my fate...

I woke up this morning with a cloud over my head. I think I might be sleep deprived; it is simply too hot to sleep, or do anything else for that matter. When I woke up, I felt further away from dreams. It's odd and hopefully I can explain this so you can understand. Yesterday, I officially became a published writer. My very first article was posted at the examiner.com Dallas. I was so excited, I was finally writing, a career I had been saying I wanted to do for years and I was also accomplishing what I said I was moving back to Dallas for. I simply could not afford to be in L.A. and wait to be published in such an expensive city. Getting published was amazing and I felt on top of the world!
It all started late last night when I was watching VH1's Behind the Music of Courtney Love, which was amazing by the way.  Hole's album 'Live Through This' is hands down one of the best albums that came out of the 90's and I was so very fortunate to see both Nirvana and Hole in concert when I was in high school!  Anyways, I digress; during a commercial for Colonial Life Penn, I started to feel alone. I was thinking about my life and my five year plan.  I started to realize how long it truly takes to get my writing noticed.  I have both family and friends who have yet to come to either of my blogs!  And this isn't an oh whoa is me moment, this is fact.  Again, I am getting off subject.  In my five year plan, NYC is supposed to happen in the next 8 months.  I have always dreamt about living in New York City, since the first time I saw Breakfast at Tiffany's, and now, with this writing gig as Dallas' Rock Music Examiner and living in Dallas and realizing how long it truly takes to get noticed writing, I feel as if NYC is getting further and further away.  Then, in superbly dramatic fashion, I flash forwarded my life to way later in the future and I began to have an old Alexandra thought of what my one regret in life would be and it was not living in New York City.  I thought getting published would bring me closer to my dreams, not further away.  Oh boo cruel world! 

I don't want to say what I am about to say because I am so afraid it will come off snobbish.  That has been my biggest criticism since I started this blog and the Dear Dallas blog, that I come off snobbish and elitist.  Oh well, I am going to roll the dice and say it anyways, I probably am an elitist snob.  Here it is, simply put, I do not want to end up where I began.  I don't want to wrap it up and say this is it, you are in Dallas.  You may travel here and there but here is your life.  Dallas, you are a great city and I am so grateful that family will always be here, so I can always visit and travel here.  And if I have kids, bring them here so they understand where their Mom started and how this great city and great state molded me.  But for me and for my life, I want something else.  I have always wanted to live in a city with the classic four seasons and I have always felt a tug to the east coast.  One last note Dallas, and I think most of you will agree; I hate the heat and four months of something you hate is not a building block. And coming back to this monster you call a summer is hard, especially since I don't remember it being this way when I was yonger.  I loved L.A. for many reasons but one of the biggest was the weather.  80 degree weather 300 days of the year is nice living.

So that is what keeps me up at night, ruins my sleep and then the following day and what got me feeling alone late last night.  I regergitated my inner most thoughts to you, virtual diary that anyone can read.  What if NYC is not in the cards?  What if Dallas is the end of the race?
And to add insult to injury, if we can call it that, I also woke up to several emails and twitter emails regarding the said article and the link/website; apparently the link I had so diligently emailed, twittered and facebooked out into the internet universe was no longer working. My article could not be found. I panicked and emailed my contact at the examiner to receive a luke warm response. So now I technically have no proof of my column and I feel stupid and have all of these emails to explain what was so plainly explained to me. Basically, they did some website construction last night and "still have a lot of bugs to work out." I would never have published my article if I was given any indication that there would be problems the next day, I would have waited. So boo to you too examiner.com!

I need some coffee.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Review of The Black Keys New Album 'Brothers'

I recently reviewed The Black Keys new album 'Brothers' for the examiner.com Dallas.  Here is the link, would love for you to check it out!
http://tinyurl.com/367nbdr

Bravo California, One Step Closer!

From CNN's Breaking News email just received: "Judge lifts temporary stay on same-sex marriage in California. Couples may wed beginning August 18."

Bravo!  Equality for all!


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I requested, through CNN, to receive their Breaking News emails.  Today's is just weird and sad.  Here is what is says, "Ex-NASA head Sean O'Keefe was on plane that crashed in Alaska, a colleague says. No word on his fate."
No word on his fate.  I don't know why this sentence is so weird to me.  Maybe because it is so truthful, but the kind of truth that I want to hear and not like what I am used to hearing from news agencies.

My best to Mr. O'Keefe's family in this difficult time.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Dear Friends, Your Welcome!

Kisses,
Amelia

My Future Boo!

I just heard that my future baby daddy got a record deal.  Seth MacFarlane will be debuting an album of 40's & 50's show tunes from Universal Republic Records. Dear Seth,
I might not buy the album, but please know, that I will continue to think of  you naked!
Your Future Ex-Wife,
Alexandra

Friday, August 6, 2010

Keep hate out; equality for all!  Overturn Prop H8ate!
XOXO,
Alexandra

People Can Call You Cappy!

Unemployment can be a beautiful thing, sometimes. Today unemployment is a great marker! It allows you to create your own schedule, go to a museum on blah Tuesday afternoon, start a blog and catch up with family and friends on leisurely conversations. Earlier today, my very excited baby brother Dimitrious called me because, well he loves me, but he ALSO had two specific events to tell me about. And just a like every great man, he starts off slow to keep you in their mysterious holding pattern. First he told me that yesterday he waited on one of my best friend's husbands and wanted to tell me about it. Total snooze fest, I know. But then he got to the cream. My baby brother, whom I love dearly, just inherited a boat! One of his best friend's fathers called him up last night to let him know that his son doesn't want it and that he felt that Meatie deserved it! So, F You heat and F You job market, I am going down to Austin and I am going to chill out on my brother’s boat!


Respectfully Yours,

Alexandra
Dear Dallas,
You are almost like a small foreign country; you can smoke almost anywhere and the music is 10 years behind.
Play on Toadies!
Big Kiss,
Alexandra

Dear Dallas, A Letter from Fashion

Dear Dallas,


I recently moved back to this thriving city after twelve years of living in Los Angeles and in the process of reacquainting myself with my birth place I noticed something quite scary; you have no fashion Dallas! I was shocked to watch both men and women walking in and out of popular hot spots throughout this city without a care in the world, or a care about what they looked like. I understand the heat is huge hurtle; believe me, I do. I tell my family everyday that moving back during the summer has been my biggest mistake! I truly forgot what it was like here. But it does not stop me from putting my best foot forward in making myself presentable.

So before we get off on the wrong foot, and I dive into the holier than thou pool, let me give you some background so that maybe you understand where I am coming from. When I left Dallas I was twenty-one years old. Deep Ellum was the hot spot in Dallas and Uptown consisted of a Hard Rock CafĂ© and an Espirit Outlet Store with a few of the Dallas standards like the Mansion at Turtle Creek and the Reunion Tower mixed in. American Airlines Arena and the W Hotel had yet to be built, our NBA super star Dirk Nowitzki was the ninth overall draft pick to the Milwaukee Bucks and people still bought CD’s.

Coming back, it was an overwhelming pleasure driving into Knox/Henderson area and Oak Cliff and getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic and watching people walk the streets from one place to another. I felt the electricity this city can generate and I was so excited to be back. But once I actually walked into the bars, everything I so firmly felt was completely shattered and I was simply disappointed. I felt like I hadn’t left at all and I was back in a college bar. I was choking on khaki and polo shirts, jersey dresses and flip-flops. And this was a Saturday night! Seriously, it was not even business casual.

I thought to myself, maybe it is the places I am going to or the crowd on that particular night. But after a recent Saturday evening out in Uptown for a friend’s birthday party, as I found myself elbow to elbow with men in their 20’s to their late 30’s with baseball caps and khaki shorts, and I deduced that it wasn’t just a fluke. This is just the fashion of Dallas. As I waited for someone to walk by with a fraternity plastered on a t-shirt or a baseball cap; or both, I realized something astonishing. I realized that it had been almost an hour and a half and I had yet to notice another woman, outside of my party, to walk in with heels on. At this point I completely ceased participation with the rest of my party and occupied myself with the reality show of my surroundings. I started wondering why the dress code was what it was and if anyone had taken a stand. I wondered why the women didn’t work harder on their boyfriends/husbands and vice versa. I have always felt that you are your own personal billboard and just as we are to “Keep Austin Weird”, I have always felt we are to “Keep Dallas Shallow”.

I decided to take my thoughts to the streets and ask my group how they felt. I dumped out all that I had been thinking and without the objective of validation. I truly wanted to know why. Amidst the collective thought that everyone was “over that tired look”, tangents of stereotype’s and caste systems where thrown about. Then a friend replied back simply with the most logical answer ever; she said, “Sometimes it’s just easier to walk into a bar where everyone dresses the same.”

Dallas, you are the ninth largest city in the United States, second in Texas. You are a metropolitan town with more restaurants per capita than in New York City. This is a friendly town wrapped up around a bustling skyline, that’s ever growing. This town also houses some of the largest corporate headquarters in the nation. You know how to dress for a job interview; you know how to dress for your job, what makes meeting a new friend or a new “friend” any different? There are some old adages that still work, and the one that comes to mind now is that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. If you want to impress a potential boss, a potential client; you dress for success. The same goes for meeting a potential date.

I hope we can still be friends Dallas. Stay shallow and so will I.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Day 2: On Strike

It's hot today; so hot that I am on strike with the outdoors.  I have a twelve pack of Diet Coke, Shark Week begins on Discovery and some decent restaurants that deliver.  I am good.  My Mom and my brother stupidly ventured outside of the house and went to breakfast but lovingly brought me back some tater tots.
Dallas, this is what makes me wonder about you people.  Yes your tater tots are good and the queso flows as strong as the Rio Grande but why would you knowingly stay here with this never ending summer?  And not the never ending summer in the cool, good way like Malibu, the Ruby Coast or Greece but the never ending summer of triple digits with humidity that makes you want to go on strike!  The kind of heat that has you sweating by the time you walk to your car.  The worst part is getting into your car and sitting in enclosed heat until finally you can feel the air conditioning.  It's not normal!  I have always felt that summer was the most social season for people.  Personally I have always preferred the Fall/Winter seasons because I love the cold weather and my fall wardrobe is better; but most of my circle love, love, love's the summer.  Maybe it's the engraining from the school schedule and family vacations in the van. 
I just don't understand why there is permenant habitation here and I don't know anyone in Dallas that enjoy's this heat.  Maybe this is a bit of a mission for me to try and figure out why people love this city so much.  And this state!  This is the only state I have been to that you consistently see the state flag and the US flag hung side by side.  Now I just opened a whole can of worms. Da, da, daaaaaaa.
Big Kiss,
Alexandra

Commencement Address

I am starting this blog out of sheer boredom.  I recently moved back home to Dallas and in with my Mom and my eldest brother Nik.  For the last twelve years I had been living in Los Angeles.  I stupidly moved back to Dallas during the summer where the triple digits never go away and the only place to be comfortable is indoors.  Timing really is everything. 
I don't really know how to "blog".  I guess I just need to think of it as a digital diary; only when I was kid keeping your diary away from your Mom and any siblings was a necessity and the rule.  Today kids just put all of their emotional drama out in the open, as if their life was a reality tv show.  That was wierd, talking about kids today as if I am not one of them.  All evidence to the contrary; yikes. 
I have always thought of myself as a throwback, sort of an analog signal in this digital world; so this is my attempt to bridge into modern living.  I will still buy vinyl,  I won't sell out completely, but I guess this will keep me from being totally out of touch.
I don't know what to expect from you out there but my mission statement, so to speak, will be to keep track of the spiral that is my life and maybe have something substantial to reread at a much later date.
Big Kiss,
Alexandra