Oil-Gas

Hey Peeps,
I know I haven't written a post in awhile-there are so many things I could talk about-Cindy Sheehan, Brad Pitt's drop in popularity-the fact that the government want's to take away pseudoephedrine because it can be used for making Crystal Menth! AAAAH! Why is that the few idiots always ruin the good things in life??
But, I have a beef. WHY? WHY? Is the government not doing anything about the cost of gas??? We can't get social security fixed, definitely not healthcare-no way when we can't even get the cost of gas down. Don't talk to me about it! I paid $32. 63 today for a full tank of gas at $2.79 a gallon for REGULAR!!! This was in Alexandria, VA and it was not a pretty picture. I think the President needs to fix this problem and his approval rates would go up-irregardless of what 'hater's' say about the war in Iraq, forget Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore, and focus the administration on getting these ridiculous rates down!!! I shake at the thought of what someone driving a gas guzzling SUV would be paying...not good for the car manufacturers-even if the oil companies are having a good time.
This situation only increases the need for alternative sources of energy and coal is just not the answer.

First this on the Today Show from Tom Cruise,
"Before I was a Scientologist, I never agreed with psychiatry," Cruise said. "And when I started studying the history of psychiatry, I understood more and more why I didn't believe in psychology. ... And I know that psychiatry is a pseudo science."
Disputing the effectiveness of antidepressants generally, Cruise said, "all it does is mask the problem." He added, "There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance."

Then this from Brooke Shields, "To suggest that I was wrong to take drugs to deal with my depression, and that instead I should have taken vitamins and exercised shows an utter lack of understanding about postpartum depression and childbirth in general," the actress wrote.
"If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease."

AND now this,
'Tom ought to pipe down about people he doesn't know and [health] situations he hasn't experienced. You're an actor, Tom, not a med student.--Al Roker, the nicest guy in the world, in the National Enquirer. He's weighing in on the Tom Cruise versus Brooke Shields and Matt Lauer psychiatry brouhaha. In other words, Tom needs to shrink…not his head but his ego- From Eonline.

This statement supposedly made by Al Roker-really tops things off, wouldn't you say?? I mean, really, there was a BOMBING last week in London by Jihaadists and yet the Brooke Shields vs. Tom Cruise statements go on..and on..and on...while Brooke Shields promotes her new book 'Down came the Rain: My Journey through Post Partem Depression' and Tom Cruise promotes his movie 'War of the Worlds'.
And I understand no one likes a cat fight better than the American public or the media that sells to it. But, I think there is one major issue no one has bothered to consider-I mean it's been totally over looked.
THEY ARE BOTH PROMOTING PRODUCTS. Brooke wants to stand up for herself and women who are depressed? Okay. And she tells people about her issues, okay, publicly through a book, okay, then gets offended when some hyper anti-depressant vigilante doesn't like her statements???
Granted it's Tom Cruise and he is the world's biggest star, who knows how long he will last at this rate-. But that's beside the point, the point is Tom Cruise then turns around and criticizes Brooke for using anti-depressants while at the same time proclaiming the importance of SCIENTOLOGY and his movie?
What? Hello. I know he's been doing this for years, promoting his work and Scientology, but this was way over the top. He's criticizing someone for promoting something they believe in...and he's promoting what he believes in at the same time. Anti-depressants and Scientology could both be considered crutches-who knows which is worse for you-that are both used to cope with everyday albeit serious problems in life.
How one person can be right and another wrong-whatever you think about either-when they are both out promoting a product? They can't, they can only be hypocrites and annoying at that....Tom, you used to be so hot in Top Gun. Brooke, you were a pretty baby. Now, stop fighting and act like adults..oooh, that might be hard when you are on a Hollywood press junket....

Angelina Jolie adopts Ethiopian child.

Hello!
Well, the London Terrorist attacks have been well covered-maybe too well sinc e there is now controversy over who, and why they bombed those poor Londoners last week. And I feel a bit sheepish devoting a blog to it. But, I can't help myself, I'm a huge Angelina Jolie fan. She's an actress go here if you need a summary
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001401/- She is the daughter of Jon Voight who is divorced from her mother a french actress named Marcheline Bertrand. She was raised by Bertrand along with her brother James Haven.
.. You know that she adopted a son-maybe? Named Maddox from Cambodia. You probably know her as someone who is crazy, likes tattoos-in fact I believe buys tattoos that don't mean anything-her latin'what nourishes me destroys me' has got to have been translated wrong or she just got half a phrase. I would like to think it means 'What does not destroy me, nourishes me' or 'What nourishes me, cannot destroy me' or something...because the other phrase makes no sense in translation. I really need to find a latin scholar to work on that one..
Anyways, you know she is crazy, I'm sorry here we go again" CRAZY". Yes that's better and beautiful. Really she is probably one of the most beautiful women in the world. And I believe her lips are her own, I mean her father has a big pucker too. So, we can say she is probably au naturel for the time being since nothing stays that way for long in Hollywood.
I find this newest event in the news of her life to be very interesting, no not Brad. Her new daughter..which confused reporters who thought she was pregnant when she was seen shopping for girl's baby clothes, they thought it meant a pregnancy by Brad had begun...eeew.
http://www.sky.com/showbiz/article/0,,50001-1188033,00.html-Confusion over her plans for a child. Hindustan News
Silly paparazzi, Hollywood actresses don't like to have kids the natural way!! They like to have them through adoptions!
http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20050706/112066470000.html-
She is just crazy to adopt another little girl, but I have to hand it to her. She's dealing with the world's poor orphan population one child at a time. And I admire her for that...I hate the U.N. but I love the fact that she does not go around talking about politics. And the best of all is when she poses with my other favorite person Condileeza Rice! Recently when I was sick my boyfriend put a picture of Condileeza Rice on my computer with Angelina Jolie!
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/56747294e77933ff0dd7de1aa210cd31.htm
It's a weird thing to imagine this woman who travels the world for refugees, makes movies, and sleeps with men on EVERY SINGLE FILM SHE MAKES..yeah, if I were Brad I would not expect this to be a long relationship. Who knows? Maybe she's serious this time....but I doubt it..I mean she can't be serious, she's crazy. I do know this though while I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. They were totally having some sort of affair-whether emotional or physical. And maybe Brad wasn't going to make with Jen Aniston but, as I and all my other gal pals are ashamed to admit that we follow the US weeklys-they were definitely involved before the marriage was over...maybe not seriously until after papers were filed. But, the trips to Africa and time Brad spent in England and on the set of their movie Mr. And Mrs. Smith(very good). PLEASE. I don't care what Angelina told Diane Sawyer, she is or was involved with a man who was married. Her careening love affairs are now up for grabs though since her
Jolie's love life: From real to reel –
former assistant, Patricia Ebert is planning to make her love life into a movie. And I think it would make a great one, if you can include the babies she keeps adopting and her relationship to her father, and her mother, and explain why she kisses her brother on the mouth (Academy Awards 2000) and Billy Bob. If she does drugs(duh), the tattoos, and if she is anorexic?
She's crazy and somehow she gets her work done for the U.N. and Hollywood....oh and adopts babies from Ethiopia and dates Brad Pitt, and eh.....

Chirac-is that your best?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1521483,00.html
Dredge posted this yesterday.
You know a country is not doing well when their leader thinks a good insult is to make fun of a superior country's food. Seriously, Chirac sounds like a kindergartener-or a disenfrachised, quickly loosing respect, frustrated, and spoiled leader...oh wait. Heh. That's what he is.......Is he going to start telling us that no one in the U. S. knows haute couture like he does???? Ouch!Hello!!!
And take this Chirac!
Today, it was announced that London will host the 2012 Olympics. I'm sure it will be a great boon to the English economy. I bear no hard feelings over New York's loss-we just had the games in Utah not too long ago.....here is a blog on it.
http://www.sluggerotoole.com/archives/2005/07/2012_olympic_ga.php
And Dredge has pictures up today-on July 6, 2005.
http://www.drudgereport.com/

Oooh! And today is International Kissing Day! Check out the link. I celebrated by waking up to a series of kisses from my uber cute schnauzer pup. It's better than an alarm clock!
http://bamber.blogspot.com/2005/07/today-is-international-kissing-day.html
Full Article On Chirac:
Chirac's reheated food jokes bring Blair to the boil Patrick BarkhamTuesday July 5, 2005The Guardian Take one unpopular president, a brace of struggling statesmen and a couple of global summits. Heat up a hoary national stereotype, leaven with wit, sit back and watch "les rosbifs" simmer.
Jacques Chirac stirred the pot at a meeting in Russia on Sunday when he joked to Vladimir Putin and Gerhard Schröder that the British could not be trusted and worse food was only found in Finland.
The French president declared that the only thing the British have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease, the French daily Libération reported.
Mr Chirac then reportedly said: "You can't trust people who cook as badly as that. After Finland, it's the country with the worst food."
His jibes may have amused Mr Putin and Mr Schröder, but they are unlikely to have pleased members of the Paris 2012 bid team lobbying the International Olympic Committee in Singapore. Mr Chirac's absence while Tony Blair has been working on London's behalf has been noted, but Paris officials have excused it by insisting that the president would arrive in time for the final presentation on Wednesday, which Mr Blair will miss.
As a Michelin-starred Scottish chef put the final touches to his French-inspired menu for G8 leaders at Gleneagles, Mr Chirac recalled how the former Nato secretary general George Robertson, a Scot, once insisted he try a Scottish speciality, believed to be haggis.
"That's where our problems with Nato come from," he said.
The chef advising on the menu, Andrew Fairlie, who trained under Michel Guérard in France, describes his cooking as "unashamedly French but with a Scottish twist".
French aides said the quotes attributed to Mr Chirac did not "reflect the tone or the content" of the meeting in Russia. But Mr Blair made what appeared to be a reference to Mr Chirac's outburst when asked if Gleneagles would be an anticlimax after Singapore.
"I won't say the G8 summit would be an anticlimax to it because that would be undiplomatic and I know when I go there I will be in the presence of very diplomatic people," he said.
British chefs were less restrained. "Bollocks," said Antony Worrall Thompson. "Chirac doesn't get out enough.
"Our beef is the best in the world ... All the langoustines they eat are Scottish. So I'd serve him langoustines followed by good Aberdeen Angus beef and then give him a heart attack with some sticky toffee pudding."
Meanwhile Egon Ronay, the food critic, said: "A man full of bile is not fit to pronounce on food."
And today German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he was looking forward to a "decent steak" at this week's G8 summit in Scotland.
Schroeder refused to discuss Chirac's reported remarks at a news conference. "No word from me on these secret talks," the chancellor said.
He also responded cautiously when asked whether he was looking forward to the food at the G8 summit, which opens Wednesday in Gleneagles, Scotland.
"I'm no fan of salmon, and I hope I will get a decent steak - I'm sure I will get one," a smiling Schroeder said. "Beyond that, I don't know English - or Scottish - cuisine well enough that I could really talk as an expert."

Silly Democrats! Tricks are for kids!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/04/AR2005070400924_pf.html

I have been saying this for months and now the proof is in the pudding-or shall I say in the Washington Post. See the link above. This article was listed on Drudge today. It basically states that-and I urge you to read it-Nancy Pelosi had unreported trips paid for by lobbyists. One must understand this only the tip of the ice berg for the democratic party's members of Congress. The article clearly states they take more 'perk's' from lobbyists than Republicans do....so one must ask why Pelosi would dare admit that she took these trips??
Well, it's simple, she can either admit and give into defeat or be exposed by someone else. She is far better off admitting to her actions and thereby letting it be known how truly common this behavior is by Congressmen on BOTH sides of the aisle. She cannot both castigate Delay and call for his removal from the office of Majority Leader and ask forgiveness for her own actions.
SO, What I have been saying is that the Democrats made a brave move to try and remove Delay from office by creating a media frenzy and tying up the House Ethics committee by prying into Delay's trips and interactions with lobbyists. But, it was ultimately STUPID, because as everyone who has worked on Capitol Hill or in DC KNOWS-virtually ALL Congressmen receive some kind of financial compensation for work done or a perk from interaction with lobbyists. POINT BLANK.
At the very least- Most congressional staffers supplement their meager salaries with free food from Assocation receptions or dinners. There are a few people like Senator Feingold who do not allow their staff to take any of this free food. Mind you, these events do not really influence people the way a nice dinner at Oceanaire-the kind Legislative Assistants get treated to-does, but everyone is guilty on some level of taking food at the least from Lobbyists and special interest groups on the Hill. It has been this way for years, and most people think it is a fair trade for time spent listening to some groups spokesperson.
However, it doesn't leave room for the little people who don't have money for lobbying and have to depend on an issues personal ethos to a staff or Congressmen. OR a personal relationship that was developed over years of contact-which probably required some sort of prestige- money, social status, respect in a field of work, etc.
If we are really going to change politics-then you have to take the money out of it-I mean, stop letting the government administer the big bags of money through Appropriations collected by taxes. This is a sticky wicket no one wants to deal with and so we are stuck with lobbyists who are paid to send money to certain groups. And maybe we don't really want to know what is lost or gained by allowing the lobbyists to continue their work.
In short, the Democrats were completely drowned by their own hubris-because I don't hear them talking about abolishing the practice of lobbyists anytime soon..it was just a hollow attempt to unseat a good and strong leader.

Before Sunrise?

Hello Moviewatchers,
This bloggie will be about a film I saw recently, called Before Sunrise, click here for a link http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112471/, the sequel called Before Sunset was recently released in movie theaters. I had always meant to see the original film and now with the advent of the sequel my recalcatrance has been removed.

To summarize the film is about two people ; an american named Jessie played by Ethan Hawke, and a french grad student named Celine played by Julie Delpy. They meet on a train traveling to Vienna. Jessie convinces Celine to prolong her trip back to grad school at the Sorbonne by 8 hours and spend his last night in Europe with him before he travels home by plane to the U.S in the morning. So, they spend a night outdoors in Vienna talking, walking, and generally begining a relationship which can go nowhere and therefore goes everywhere conversationwise.

I must tell you to start that I had very high expectations for the film. My law school neighbor loves the film so much she watches it over and over and over....and lucky me-because I got to borrow it from her for free. And THEY DID MAKE A SEQUEL to it-now almost 9 years later-which picks up where the last movie left off 9 years later. (And the sequel link http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381681/) The film did reasonably well, Richard Linklater directed again and wrote much of the script with Kim Krizan just like the first. But, I digress.......
This film for me was wholly unrealistic and pretentious-but it was gripping-unlike most films where people are just talking the whole time-this film held my interest- in the same way that a play can hold your interest through long winding conversations.

Realistically, the story just seems implausible-the poet in the street asking for words to create beautiful poetry, the enchanting and exotic fortune teller(who is not stinky or rude-this was my experience in Europe), the bar owner who 'loans' them a bottle of wine-to the fact that you are expected to believe that Jessie really wants company and not a quick roll in the hay with a beautiful french girl before heading back to the U.S.

Jessie and Celine share the secrets of their relationships. Jessie has just been unceremoniously dumped after traveling to Spain to visit his Master's of Art history girlfriend.(It is so trendy for her to have been an Art History major-she could have been an accounting major for all it mattered.) Celine has just been dumped by a jerk. Just after the dumping, Celine visited a shrink to get some help for her depression-the shrink takes a story about a woman planning to kill her boyfriend as real that Celine has written-and decides she is nuts and alerts the police. (I must say I don't completely disagree with the Psychiatrist's actions.)

You believe the two could hang out because they are both broken by recent bad experiences-what they both really need is a rebound to forget their problemsif you ask me, but no one did-). There is a definite theme of loneliness and searching between them. Jesse talks about reincarnation, and how we could all just be broken pieces of other people as a way to explain the higher number of people supposedly reincarnated today than when the world began....OKAY. Celine recounts how her Grandmother was always in love with this guy she never saw again and married Celine's Grandfather. Jesse tells her that the guy wasn't so great and this is a cue to the audience that really JESSE is not one to remember or pine over in the future of Celine's life. OKAY. There are certain moments which jarr one out of the film, like these:

Jesse talks about how the fortune teller should have to tell 'true' fortunes like that to an old woman, life will be dull, boring, and meaningless until the day she dies after she leaves the fortune teller. The lines sound like a vain youthful person (and I am only 25 myself!) And btw, Jesse is a really sketchy character- I don't know if this is Ethan Hawk's inate skeeziness coming out-but he's really sketchy and looks like a child molester part of the time. This is not romantic at all! Maybe I would have liked him better in 1995 when the whole grunge look was still the rage and I could translate it to that....OR NOT.

Celine describes how much she hates the way the Media-especially American media tries to control people's minds. HEY, this was back in 1995! She describes it as a new type of Fascism-right on Celine! Except she says this is a subtle thing-and it is not-and it was not even 9 years ago.

Celine and Jesse pretend to exchange phone calls with their friends after their night in Vienna to one another-each posing as the other's friend. They use this as an excuse to tell each other how they really feel-and I am completely aware that this moment is ridiculous. It is roaringly female and cotton candy fluffed. So much so, that my male companion couldn't stop laughing during it and neither could I.
End point.

There is a theme of sexuality and gender roles. Celine and Jesse spend a good ten minutes arguing about whether men or women are worse in relationships. Celine refers to the preying mantis female insect who ripes off the head of the male to begin copulation-except she thinks it's a spider-OKAY.

Celine thinks that Feminism may have just been a plot by Men to get women to sleep with them-no strings attached, okay. And I think I might agree-as the two plod towards their inevitable make out and sex. I say inevitable because of the film type and their conversations beforehand.....it actually makes me sad that she does sleep with him. Only because she so bluntly tells the audience and Jesse that it will make her sad afterwards-and I have to agree, in real life most people would miss someone they bonded with so deeply on one night.

They confront their fears of not seeing each other again by talking about how boring long relationships are in life. How no one can stand being together very long and knowing one another truly is boring....until Celine says she would prefer to know someone really, really-boringly well. And I felt than like I had a piece of truth from the movie-because to know someone that well and like them-means you actually LOVE them. This is a deep moment in the movie-past the neurotic and shallow talk of how relationships become boring over time. They are only boring if you never really loved the person. This line of thought is conforting to people who are not in relationships, have let them fail, been failed on by another person, or fear they are missing something-and it may be true that some people get really bored in their romantic relationships and loose interest because-(gasp!) they choose to let them loose all their energy.

And Celine's omission is that she can see herself in a relationship-whereas Jesse has told us over and over-that he is somewhat broken by his recent experience in Spain. If I were there, I would tell her to stop wasting her time and get back on the train to Paris. But, if I were her-I would have stayed too-I think I did at the time. Jesse-We also know that he is not to be trusted too much-beyond the time he has with Celine. As he has told Celine and the audience over and over....he has things to do in the U.S. and a silly ex to get over in the future.

It most importantly reminded me of my own travels to Europe and that horrible feeling one gets when you meet someone you would love to date or even get to know and you have no time but the present. And so inevitably if you spend enough time hanging out-that you get to know each other in a fastforward faux intimate sort of way. The two of you exchange stories and share secrets, but it feels sick and nauseous for the reality that the two of you are parting ways inevitably....it's a common experience for Americans abroad in Europe especially to meet new people briefly-make contact and be pulled apart again by their career interests, school, or geography. And I think this is where the movie is right-it has captured an experience that many people have had who travel abroad in their early 20's. It has captured it, made it sweeter, sillier and wholly unbelievable for me. It is not the great romantic epic-my Mom's middle adged friends sighed over. It is not even overly scintilating all the time. The funny part is, I still watched the whole movie and will watch the Sequel because it was for the most part a mildly entertaining-easy to watch movie. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are good actors and they have good chemistry-this makes the movie most palatable.

Birthday Hoo Ha.

So, this is it in less than 12 hours-I will be 25 years old. I thought it would only be appropriate for me to write about the frustration that birthdays bring at this time of my life. I can only begin with the fact that Birthdays after the age of 21 begin to suck. Really, they just start to suck.
Why? Because after that age you start to pay more attention to the fact that time is ticking away and you literally are not getting any younger. When I was in my teens it was great-I was moving upward and onward-each birthday meant I was closer to freedom by driving, drinking legally, and voting. (Note: Do not do all of these together or at the same time-may cause problems.)

Now, as each year passes I find myself depressed by the slow movement of my career, I'm not a millionaire yet or running my own company. I learn to be more cynical about people and less hopeful about them. For a brief period I was getting less cynical and more excited about my career. This all stems from working doggedly and ceaselessly to attain my goals. And really I am getting to these goals-but very slowly and the progress made does not balance out my need to save money prepare for retirement and work on the big picture.

A lot of people would say my problems are common to those in their 20's and especially people in my age group working in a competitive industry. The struggling, the abusive jobs, all of it, I think what would cure my birthday blues is a guarantee of success and knowing it was worth it...but this is not possible.

Then there are the logisistics of birthdays-what day to celebrate it on? The actual day or the closest Saturday? Whether or not to have a party? Will someone throw you a party? I have had people surprise me with cakes and presents before-it's always a treat. If you do plan a party, there are complaints from even your most well meaning friends about locations, times, costs, the weather-(Hello, this is my birthday party!!!! As one friend pointed out, your friends should do what you want to do for that special day.) And of course you only care about their feelings and concerns if you are someone who is truly considerate-or maybe too considerate in my case. I.E. you don't want to be that person who holds their birthday at the 4 Seasons Hotel in Georgetown and expects everyone to splurge on expensive drinks themselves and you!
Then there are the details of a party, once the location and date have been chosen, the RSVP's for example-our culture is defunct in the most basic way when it comes to considering a host or hostess's needs. People say they will come and do not show up-or even call to cancel, they bring extra people, or no people after they have put in a specific number for dinner reservations. Sometimes they don't reply at all to invitations, simply showing up when it is inconvenient and expect special exceptions to be made for them. And at the end of the day-who wants to be picky with their friends??? It's a gross disregard for the birthday person on the part of the friend-but it's how most people conduct parties.
The planning process can make even the most happy and fun loving person weary. But, no birthday party at all would be even worse so-an admittance to defeat is not an option. And I must admit throwing a party is great fun and really the best part of the day. It's an excuse to shop and prep, to dress up and be fun. I think that's really what birthdays are about-celebrating life-even though your life at the moment may not be that great-or only as good as it gets(horrifingly enough). You can make a million changes to your life and you will still find yourself back at square one-working on your flaws, wanting to take a nap, and trying to be positive in the face of set backs. It's all you can do to plan a party, get dressed up, and smile. It's all you got and it does make you happier in the end, I think......

BIG MEDIA vs. little bloggers

For the start of this blog I would like to feature another writer's work to explain a dicussion of blogs versus the media at large. As a student of Public Relations, many of my classes and revolve around the blogosphere:How it has affected the mainstream media, what it means for journalism, and how far it can be trusted. The fact of the matter is that the big media: newspapers, major networks, and magazines do not like bloggers. They resent the control that bloggers have over them and the public. Until the advent of bloggers rise to power with the demise of Dan Rather at CBS News and Eason Jordan's resignation from CNN; Nobody was giving them much credit or paying any attention to them.
Since the past election cycle though the public and the big media have become very aware and wary of these people who are called 'bloggers'.
Will Collier, from VodkaPundit, pointed me towards another article:
'PR and the MSM'

Very interesting piece on here by Paul Graham, who was around in the early days of web start-ups. It's about how public-relations firms inject memes into the mainstream media for their clinets. In Graham's words,
PR is not dishonest. Not quite. In fact, the reason the best PR firms are so effective is precisely that they aren't dishonest. They give reporters genuinely valuable information. A good PR firm won't bug reporters just because the client tells them to; they've worked hard to build their credibility with reporters, and they don't want to destroy it by feeding them mere propaganda.
If anyone is dishonest, it's the reporters. The main reason PR firms exist is that reporters are lazy. Or, to put it more nicely, overworked. Really they ought to be out there digging up stories for themselves. But it's so tempting to sit in their offices and let PR firms bring the stories to them. After all, they know good PR firms won't lie to them.
Further down, Graham notes that the standard PR methods aren't working so well with one particular manifestation of new media:
Remember the exercises in critical reading you did in school, where you had to look at a piece of writing and step back and ask whether the author was telling the whole truth? If you really want to be a critical reader, it turns out you have to step back one step further, and ask not just whether the author is telling the truth, but why he's writing about this subject at all.
Online, the answer tends to be a lot simpler. Most people who publish online write what they write for the simple reason that they want to. You can't see the fingerprints of PR firms all over the articles, as you can in so many print publications-- which is one of the reasons, though they may not consciously realize it, that readers trust bloggers more than Business Week.
I was talking recently to a friend who works for a big newspaper. He thought the print media were in serious trouble, and that they were still mostly in denial about it. "They think the decline is cyclic," he said. "Actually it's structural."
In other words, the readers are leaving, and they're not coming back.
Why? I think the main reason is that the writing online is more honest. Imagine how incongruous the New York Times article about suits would sound if you read it in a blog:
The urge to look corporate-- sleek, commanding, prudent, yet with just a touch of hubris on your well-cut sleeve-- is an unexpected development in a time of business disgrace.
The problem with this article is not just that it originated in a PR firm. The whole tone is bogus. This is the tone of someone writing down to their audience.
Whatever its flaws, the writing you find online is authentic. It's not mystery meat cooked up out of scraps of pitch letters and press releases, and pressed into molds of zippy journalese. It's people writing what they think.)

In my opinion the big media has become too corporate, I think once maybe as recently as the early 80's journalists were people looking for a good story. They were writers who wanted to report the facts. Newspapers wanted to sell copy but, they were more creative in their day to day work. Journalists were asked to be unbiased and focus on keeping their morals intact. This is what I was taught in college for journalism, never accept gifts, keep out of your personal opinions and respect the integrity of the subjector subjects involved. But, jounalists have stopped being asked as group to adhere to these principles. Some do and some don't..so who do you trust for information?
You trust the people who you have come to know on a certain level through regular reading, personal contact, whose opinions you know how to judge, and who have not openly failed you when it comes to the facts. Trust is hard to gain these days and easy to loose, especially in readers. Cynicism seems to be the mark of an educated mind. But for all the cynicism that has been drummed into us, bloggers provide information we feel we can digest free of contamination.
Why is this true? Because bloggers openly disclose what they think and where they are coming from as they write their work. Case in point: I just told you I am a student of PR, and I want to work in the field somewhere in DC. I have nothing to gain or loose by this action. I do not get paid to write this blog and write for my own edification as a writer.
This brings me to another point:
Big PR people don't like bloggers- especiall those well the over 40 set, in Media PR, these people really look down on bloggers-they can't relate to them and don't trust them-assume they are just really easily swayed writers and inauthentic because their sources can't be traced. Another way to look at is this: Bloggers aren't on a money crunch timeline, they do their posts as apart of their personal self actualization. They don't need or even want some PR person giving them a press release to help them form a story. In addition, those bloggers who are paid and have deadlines depend on the authenticity of their work to continue blogging. Otherwise, they would be no different than a paid journalist. (It is important to distinguish bloggers from corporate website blogs as well such as GM's which is written by some ghostwriter for the CEO in the Communications office of the corporation.)
Bloggers start by developing a small base of readers who trust them or know them personally, if they are good and trustworthy their base grows-they form relationships with other bloggers who pass along their information. But, Bloggers are also under a strict adherence to the truth or to at least openly sharing where they stand on issues. If they are not honest, it seems to take about a minute for their credibilty to be shattered. It boggles the minds of PR professionals and defensive jounalists.
I can't tell you how many of my elders in this field of Media Relations have expressed an extreme dislike for bloggers. They think they are freaks, people who hang out in their underwear and eat two day old pizza off the floor-ultimately because they don't understand them and cannot control them some members of the PR profession resent bloggers as much as the mainstream media. Think about it like this: Media relations professionals had a great relationship full of perks for everyone-free information for journalists as well as meals and food(who knows), but bloggers changed that, journalists can't take free story ideas and media relations professionals can't easily give them out anymore without the public or at least some part of the public questioning the motives....the biggest question is what will happen to mainstream media. Will we all have to start logging onto our computers just get our weather report??? NO.I think the mainstream publications will stay around. The truth is bloggers work best as a compliment to what the major media outlets produce. Due to the medium and the fact that most bloggers really do have lives their will always be a space for some kind of daily newsource for current events. But, the big media producers are going to find their world changed-I think the rule of giant media is over-it only lasted 15 years anyways....I point to the fact that the newspapers have become very corporate and a lot of people who used to be journalists have left the industry altogether finding themselves embittered and angry at what has happened to journalism. In fact, a lot of ex journalists have become bloggers or dare I say it-CURRENT JOURNALISTS HAVE BLOGS, outside of their normal articles and columns. The blogosphere is a place where you can escape from the monopoly of certain subjects that run in an obnoxious repitition on the major news outlets like so many MTV videos. OR a person can find a much needed set of facts or a different opinion to fill out a current issue in their mind. But this does not really signal the end of CNN, or Fox News, or even really CBS. It does signal a change.
Additionally, in college many of my English professors hypothesized that one day the reign of the free press would end-fearing government regulation of information would take over and calling my college years the twilight of the free press. They feared this action as a result of journalists wild and often careless mistakes in publications. It was an analysis that made sense given the strength and power of the newsworld in the U.S. Journalists are both loved and feared by politicians, admired by the public and the educated, and most importantly they were believed to be truthtellers and benevolent entities. I think this stereotype still exists, but this belief is a great weight to be carried by humans and the practically non-divine. Journalists ulitmately do not like bloggers because they disempower them and smudge this image of divinity. It is the bloggers who ended the reign of big media and not the loathsome government. And this new era where the big media is enforced by the little bloggers, as a back up system of media, to produce better material is a far better solution. The development of bloggers preserves the fundamental American practice of freedom for the press and maybe even the place of traditional journalism-for this big media should be grateful to the little bloggers-no matter how much they annoy them.

Movies for a Twenty Something

I must admit as much as I hate to say it 'I heart Huckabees' and 'Gardenstate' have really captured my generation. I don't mean the Gen'x'ers. I mean the rest of us, who wallow in the shadow of 'Reality Bites'. We question ourselves, we probably think too much of therapy. But, we find some meaning in our questioning and our therapies. If you've been to college, you've been told to think with your feelings too many times. And yet, you have never really asked yourself the hard questions that would end the whole bloody narcissistic process.
What do I really want to do? Can I do it? Why do I want to do it?
Whether you are a Libertarian, Democrat, Republican, or Moderate with a hard d-you will find a small part of yourself in these films-even if you say you are 'apolitical' I will write more later..in the meantime-watch these movies.

Passion for life

Is it possible that people are addicted to conflict?I think this question would have a fairly obvious answer for anyone who works in politics. I mean certain people-we sad souls that devote ourselves, or at least the most neurotic part to the drive to vanquish a certain enemy or foe?
Osama Bin Laden is a great example of someone who is addicted to conflict. I believe has outright admitted that he cannot live without a cause. Well, he says that even if the U.S. is no longer an issue to him one day, he will just look for the next threat to his empire or the Muslim world. (Well, I personally think it's mostly his empire-hopefully he'll be dead or in a prison before that becomes an option. ) But what about the average person-who needs no nuclear weapons or desires anyone's actual physical death?

I ask this because I hear too often these days-that life is boring after the presidential race. Saturday night live is boring, the news is boring, normal American life is boring. And I start to think that maybe a certain number of people are obsessed with- driven by the force of the fight to win an election or contest of some sort.
Anyways, I too have an obsession with the race to disempower those I cannot stand the influence of.. while I was starting to get a headache during the last week of the election from the endless rantings of liberal politicos and my own obsession with Bush' s kick butt win for the safety of our country-I find myself now strangely...empty. Much of my merrymaking time revolves around the image of those in the media-who annoy me.

I have come to grips with the fact that I like to analyze, tear apart, and make fun of certain media personalities in the Nation's capitol and Hollywood. Take for example Senate Minority leader Tom Daschle: Nothing makes me happier than ripping on Tom Daschle-I can still dissect in detail his ridiculous rants against the president during the Winter of 2003 on CNN and other media outlets. I really like doing it.
In my mind's eye political cartoon style-I would depict Daschle as a small puffy white poodle nipping at Bush's pant legs. That's really how I see him most of the time.
But what is this? Can it be? It seemed like only yesterday (the Fall of 2002) that Rep. Thune lost his race in South Dakota to Senator Tim Johnson and their were mutterings of the future battle to come with Daschle for his seat in the senate in 2004. Tom Daschle has been defeated and Representative Thune is now going to be Senator Thune come January 2005.

Article and link:
"SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — In a political seismic shock, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle went down in defeat Tuesday, edged by former U.S. representative John Thune after a bruising, $26-million contest in which Republican leaders went all out to depose the country's top-ranking Democrat."
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1099441266429_17?hub=World

-I thought this event would make me ecstatic. Maybe it was because I stayed up so late waiting to hear Bush had won-or that Kerry was going to sue on election night-but, I felt strangely happy and.....hollow. I loved ripping on Daschle and he really was inane most of the time. He probably won't dissappear entirely- I'm sure there is a position waiting for him somewhere in politics, but without the status of Senate Minority Leader-why would he be any fun to pick on, I mean seriously. And Senator Harry Reid just hasn't been any fun so far-who knows? Maybe he will be more meaty as time passes into the new congress this Spring.


Then the next shoe dropped, Britney Spears has finally utterly come to a hault. At least for the moment.
Article and link:
Babe Gone Horribly Wrong Britney Alexander Federline: Yikes. What was I thinking? For that matter, what has she been thinking ever since she blew it with Justin, dyed her hair, momentarily teamed up with Jason A. Alexander and moved on to whiskered fertile one Kevin F.? It would be like if Jennifer Aniston left Brad Pitt for Fred Durst and then for Kato Kaelin, and then did her hair in a brown shag. Ms. B., you were once a sexy siren in the making (yes, I realize that was mucho part of the prob). But come back to the Superstar Five and Dime, Britney Spears, Britney Spears! We miss you, girlfriend! Of course, that's like expecting a millionaire makeover for...(http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Awful/cauth/Archive2004/041223d.html)

And Scene! You see there is no one better to rip on than the Britster-because she offers that loveable and intoxicating combination of entertainment value with an utter lack of self respect. So, I can always rip on her and people actually know who she is-whereas most Americans really don't know Tom Daschle or Tom Thune. It's sad but true.

I have passed many a dull hour ripping on her songs-her desire to be like Madonna and being a pale shadow at best, her utter lack of talent-the fact that she is a marketing phenom. The way she degrades women everywhere-asking why she is still around? I share the same addiction that many people have admitted to-we love to hate her.

But, her recent marriage and public failures have made her a pitiful and marginilized celebrity.
I can't feel good picking on her anymore. I sound like a fan who keeps going why? Why did she marry Federline-didn't he just get some other woman pregnant and doesn't he have more kids already?

So, I'm left at Christmastime wondering why my life revolves around ripping so much-when I try to be so positive otherwise? And WHO? I mean WHO, will take their places? Because these days, I've got a lot to be happy about in life. Bush has been reelected and Gwen Stefani has a dance album out. The Conservatives are attacking Arlen Specter (YAH! Get him!) and Rummy(Donald Rumsfeld). It just doesn't feel the same.......and by the way MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! And Happy New Year's!!!

Cheers Kids!!!!

Figuring it out

As many of you know, the point of this blog is my career search/ struggle. It's interesting how in the last two years, well three years, I have made my way through a number of different practices. And it was only about 4 months ago that I made a real decision to pursue PR.
It was taking courses in the field at the University of Virginia that caused me to want to pursue this arena. It' s certainly a risky field, you can be fired easliy, it's competitive, and people generally don't respect you. They think PR people are inane.
What's funny though is how much work the field takes....and how people take it for granted

On the other hand, the best feeling in the world is knowing what I want to do for a living-if I could just get a job in it...I've spent a lot of time trying to get a job in Politics and gotten nowhere. But, I haven't given up the idea that I will do something in the field one day again professionally.

Right now, I am temping at this Association as an Office Manager. It's weird, I have a huge office, I make plans for the board, have my own assistant. But, I usually end up feeling like a glorified stapler or worse like the guy from "Office Space" the movie. Ya know-the middle management jackass? I carry around my cup of coffee, delegate stapling responsibilities and dream of my job in PR.

The good thing is I can do interviews and continue to look for work in PR while making money.
Until they get tired of me doing interviews and hire someone new who WANTS TO BE A GLORIFIED SECRETARY.

It could be worse though, I could be unemployed or worse working for some crazy congressman with an even crazier staff. That's the most important thing-don't work for or with people who are crazier than you! It's always a mistake. They can be the same or saner-although it's a bum deal for them-but you must avoid the crazies on a different level from you. You won't speak their language and no matter how nice you are-they will hate you for it.

I sound bitter? Bitter, you say? Well, it's time for me to have more of the creme brulee, raspberry chocolate croissant experiences that we all hope for and have in life. It's been too long for me on a diet of bitter herbs and dried jerky in the work world. I do my best, but it's been my turn for a roll on the BadJobs Train. At least I can tell myself that this is true for most people-at some point in their life-everyone goes through this......

Although some people act as if they have never had anything bad happen and have no sense of how to treat other people with compassion. I went to an interview on the hill with this Press Secretary who was looking for a Press Assistant in her ad. She called me in and when I arrived she told me that she had decided to interview all the candidates for the Deputy Position and not promote her Press Assistant.

I was nowhere near qualified for the Deputy position and she had totally done me a disservice. She took time away from my job-cost me money-and insulted me. To top it off, she then preceded to yawn her way through the interview. She dressed like a slut and had her bra hanging out at the interview. I don't know that woman's problem-and I don't care. She has a bad reputation so, I guess she earned it.

What I hate is that I am still having to go through this bull. And I will keep doing it until I get to my goal job...but it's taken me awhile to figure this out.....that I want and have to go through this process to get what I want and won't be happy until I get to my goal.

Post Thanksgiving Day Confusion

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am most apologetic for my recent lapse in typing. You see I have nothing to say for myself except that I have been really busy. I took the advice of an old contact here in DC and began taking classes through the University of Virginia to get a certificate in PR.
You can imagine my annoyance when a recent job interviewer asked me if that is a 'pseudo graduate degree' program. I don't know what that woman meant-but I know that the classes, the homework, the reading, the restricted social life, and the bills do not feel 'fake' at all. Some people are rude and I pity them.
It's been a relief to come through the election cycle and see George W. Bush back in office. It's even better to see the conservative party running the government of our country. If there is anything I cannot do anymore if sit around and keep my mouth shut while people complain about Bush. It seems that most liberals could do nothing before the election but talk about how stupid Bush was and how Kerry was the real choice.
I worked with this inane man at a temp position who spent the entire day telling me how stupid 'W' is....and how he was going to one day unite the Democratic party by doing taxes on everything. Apparently, the Democrats are fragmented because the cannot agree on what they want taxed-he would have them tax everything and be loving to one another as a result. All of this was at frenetic heights as we approached the election. His arrogance that conservatives are ultimately stupid and unkind was a form of attack that I have never witnessed. He had no internal monologue and ultimately sputtered everything that entered his emotionally weak and deranged mind.
I had moments when I felt tempted to enlighten him to the reasons why most adults become conservatives-like when he told me that he hated the amount of money the government was taking from his paycheck-how's that for cognitive dissonance?
Anyways, I did not though-I did nothing... I only ignored him, hated him, and finally pitied him. You see he had been recently dumped by his boss-who he was dating-barely been hired back as a teacher after being accused of sexual harassment at his 2/3 of the year job. And on most days looked like a dead on for 'towlie' from Southpark. Although, I wondered if speed wasn't the drug of choice on long nights from the way he talked and acted. He told me with much pride about the many times he had successfully debated teenagers and put them in their place as a teacher. Throughout all of this, I never really ripped him down, never argued with him, and never gave him the whupping he deserved. Why? Because I wanted to be professional in the workplace, and not have arguments about politics with an insipid person. I wanted to be an adult in other words.

I would expect that these days he has fallen into a depression related to the fall of Liberals from power for real in DC. There was no Floridia recall, no votes to be recounted. The election results came in, Kerry fell from grace and bowed out gracefully-Thank you Senator Kerry for that! Now, political pundits sit around on talk shows and talk about reworking the liberal movement and plot how they should react to this stunning blow. Terry McAuliffe's days are numbered and the word liberal seems like a lonely word.

The word connotates images of snobbish, out of touch Hollywood types, rich hardened people, and well nothing I want to be connected to-I should feel some sort of happiness at the win. But, I live with and around a large number of liberals-who feel no sort of shame in crying about their loss. They complain endlessly and since I endured my coworker for those three months-quietly-dutifully, I feel like being inappropriately smug, unkind, and superior myself. I think someone would say I was taking on the liberal attitude of having all the answers and not being willing to listen to people. Really all I want is to not have to listen to this crybaby attitude. I lived through Bill Clinton and the hell of having him in office-porking the world and himself all day and night.
I feel like the 'W's' reign in office is a just and deserved retribution for having to live with Bill Clinton in office for 8 years....and with that... I can continue being kind, sympathetic, and understanding when my neighbors whine and cry over the state of the liberal government in the U.S.

Too Long....

Hiddy Ho all,
It's been awhile since I was last able to type anything on this website. I would like to apologize that..it's all related to my recent lay off. You see I was working as a Grassroots Lobbyist-not a true Lobbyist in the grandeur of Capitol Domes and world leaders. But, a lowly talker haranging poor souls all day and sometimes in the evenings to write their Congressman about various issues over the phone.
I was lucky to have been laid off as it has led me to look for better jobs and revitalized my own sense of self. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to do that type of work for awhile....hey, let's face it, it's fun to work period when you need honest money. I got to be in politics still and at the same time take a break-stop thinking and feel a little more freedom.
You see, I still never explained how I got to DC. A life long interest in the media and politics combined with a love for writing led me here......I was going crazy-feeling freaked out with nightmares of cokeheads and power driven nuts who roamed the Hollywood Hills to ever return to the Film industry.
I at least by the begining of my Senior year of college had discovered the important thing in my life. I needed to feel as if I was accomplishing something good everyday and that I wasn't just living my life in vain. Vain as in completely for myself...although the act of wanting to affect change in the world is probably vain.
Anyways, I discovered a program called the Washington Semester through my college. I had taken occupational therapy exams at this point, cried my eyes out in front of Professors and asked a million people what I should do with my life. I had gotten a variety of answers-none that really helped. I did know that Public Relations looked interesting and that I wanted some substance in my life.
I applied for the program-to go right after graduation in the Summer following college. But, first I had to find an internship-the main focus of the program. I was given a list of places to call in my specific field of interest-Public Relations. I called many places, Amtrak, Periscope Communications, and the U.S. SBA's Office of Advocacy. I interviewed with Kathryn Tobias who immediately liked me and I liked her too. She was soft spoken, kind, and liked people. She grew up in Iowa and Racine, WI just like me. She was the child of missionaries-I was the child of a Pastor. Kathryn's kindness allowed me to interview with Jody Wharton the head of the Department of Information in the Office.
Jody liked me too and I quickily received an invitation to work at the Office that Summer in 2002. I still remember my first day in DC riding the Metro from Rosslyn to work at Federal Center Southwest. I loved the sunshine, the way people were so excited and nice. I loved the energy of DC. It feels good here, Kathy said it was 'because people feel their lives have purpose and they are here to do something great.' I would still like to think I will find that purpose but, it hasn't been that easy.
That Summer, I worked for the Office doing press releases, editing economic reports, writing economic report summaries, researching and writing a legal memo on the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel. I went to the Hill for hearings and learned how to feel embarassed at being a lowly intern who felt superior to the true interns who acted like children in the courtyards and halls.
I loved working in that office and wished I could have stayed there...but all the people were older and had much more career experience than I did.....they all told me to go to the Hill. They said it was 1/3 of DC and I needed to work for a Congressman to learn the city and politics. I was scared. I hadn't spent my life working on politics as a career. I enjoyed it as a dinner debate and party discussion-best done when everyone was drunk and happy....
Now, I would have to approach it seriously as a career and my past in Entertainment stood out from my resume like a bad hang over. People kept asking me about it in interviews and wondering if I really belonged in Hollywood. I don't know why.......the next part is hard to believe but, I went home from DC for a month. I came back and lived with two friends of a former co-worker. It was hard, their house contained two cats and a dog. I am deathly allergic to cats and felt tormented. But, I also was fearful of DC as a new place-I wasn't used to driving around and got lost in Anacostia once.....I couldn't find a decent apartment and was tired all the time.
I finally went back to Riverplace and got an apartment there to move into the next month. I came back to DC on the same day John Lee Malvo started his killing spree. Weird. That Saturday I went out to do campaign work for Representative Connie Morella through the NRCC and met a girl who was doing volunteer work for the NRCC. She asked me if I would take a job working for Congressman Greg Ganske. She said they needed a Staff Assistant and it would be my foot onto the Hill. I thought about it all day and finally agreed. I sent her my resume that week and after a week and a half-they asked me to come to the office.
It was great experience but, the Congressman was running a hard race agains Senator Tom Harkin. He was basically outnumbered and needed help he wouldn't get..some say he just didn't have the stuff Senator's are made of....others say Harkin is a tough candidate to beat. I don't want to get into why he lost or why he ran..he saw an opportunity to be a Senator and he took it.....I saw an opportunity to be on the Hill and I took it.

No Man's Land

The guy next to me at work today is muttering again, at me, at himself, we trade insults for fun, and basically bicker like two year olds..he's like the little brother you always wanted and was glad you didn't have because he's so time consuming..but your life at work is so aimless that you welcome anything to make the day go faster. Everyone once in awhile I turn to him and say 'What, you still talking?'
So, I've spent some time telling you about LA and why I was turned off on the Entertainment Biz. Maybe I should explain what life was like after I left LA and went back to College that year...
Hellish, for years- okay since I was 16 I had dreamed of getting into film and changing people, society, the world through my work... I went out to Hollywood and discovered there was no place for a person with those kind of dreams, goals, or ambitions. Maybe my idea was too big, maybe I was too ambitious, but I found that not only were people in Hollywood-ignorant of the world. They saw themselves as the world, they really thought that what they wore, who they talked to, and what they did with their lives meant something.
And you know what? Sometimes they do something meaningful that gives people hope or relieves them from a stressful week at work. We watch the movies and shows to forget about our lives but when the camera shuts off, our lives keep going...we still have our Cancer, our wars, our break-ups, our pain, and if they did something good in the process, it almost seems to be because the system failed somehow-

I asked my supervisor about this at E! She said the whole industry was tainted with debauchery, egotism, and stratified. People always said it had to break, things would change, but they never did...she was basically saying 'accept the biz, or go home, kid.' I didn't go home, I never returned to a more childlike self that believed in the infinite possibilities of life.

I went to college that year feeling lost, scared, and confused. I embarked on a journey to find myself, I cried, I worked out like crazy, 9/11 hit and I found a new sense of fear and confusion. My parent's were supposed to go through New York that day and they would have been in New York at the time of the attacks if they're schedule had not been changed. The third plane went down 10 minutes from where they live in Somerset, PA.

I got ahold of them about an hour after the attacks, unfortunately some idiot called a bomb threat into our school so we were evacuated from the campus. I left with my best friend Blanka Kryszak. We went to McDonald's then Wal-Mart to stock up on essentials.

It sounds ridiculous but less than two hours after the attacks-you believe anything is possible, maybe this is it, everyone could die, or your other loved ones could be next, we didn't know how far the plan stretched- how complex the terrorist's moves were....

In the following days a girl at my school was assaulted based on race? She said two guys came out of nowhere on the street outside the school and attacked her. Later people said she was crazy and just wanted attention, who knows...I really don't have any idea.

Other students stocked up on gas because they were worried about gas prices going up or worse all the gas supplies drying up...we watched the Telethon on the TV at a friend's house while a girl-who I am no longer friend's with-screamed that she didn't know anyone in New York or DC and could give a shit about the stupid Telethon. Sometimes people really fail to impress you with their ability to care for others-or grasp of a situation's meaning.

Two days later a girl in one of my classes told us that she had studied wars in the U.S. and the propaganda behind them. She said we deserved what had happened to us for our actions in other countries.. I told her that if the people(Islamic Fundamentalists) we believed committed these attacks had indeed committed them:this war was social, political, and religious. I told her that-very calmly- that she had oversimplified a very complex situation. She was numb. The whole room was silent.

I only knew that much from a previous class I took on U.S. intervention in other countries over the last 100 years. The best example I knew was from Cairo, Egypt with it's wealthy westernized upper classes and starving over educated angry masses where Islamic Fundamentalism had become a savior to the people's resentment. The terrorists don't just fight us, they fight the wealthy upperclass in their own country who ignore their struggle.

9/11 served to solidify my need and thirst for something that meant more to people. I wanted to spend my life in way that seemed less frivolous than before and more worthwhile...

(to be continued.)

Alias:Walt Disney

In my last post I played out the most embarassing and funny experience at E! But, I didn't have time to tell you my most interesting story. As part of my internship, I was given a Public Relations Media contact database to update. This required me to call scores of people across the entire Entertainment Industry from Rob Reiner's former wife to Miz Ford of Ford Models herself..and a million assistants, busybodies, and other industry courtiers......all in film, TV, music, and fashion.

I can't say people were nice because they weren't...but some places were exceptionally nice and others were incredibly rude. I have to tell you if did reflect how the workers at those companies were treated. Warner Brothers had the happiest and most helpful staff of any place..Calvin Klein was very snobby.

My job was to check our old information then find the person who we should talk to and try to re-establish our relationship with them. This was no easy task but, I guess I should have felt honored that they would let me do that......the database was three years old though...so I mostly felt retarded and ill-used....

I developed great phone skills and learned how to negotiate with people over the phone quickily-professionally and efficiently....
One day I called Disney Corporation for the West Coast in Los Angeles- I think in Burbank. But, please don't quote that part..anyways... I called thinking that I would just update the connection and move on....I asked for the best contact person for E!Entertainment Online. I got the producer for Alias, she immeddiately started screaming at me, asking me what I wanted and boasting that she was the producer for Alias and Felicity(which was still on the air at the time. I was completely flabbergasted and tried to placate her by telling her that I just wanted to update my contact information. She wouldn't listen, screamed even louder and insisted I tell her what I wanted...finally I lost my cool and yelled back "I've never even heard of Alias and I don't care about Felicity. I just need to find the best contact for our department on Media issues." It was really weird. She got really calm and was like "oh, I 'll get you so and so." This woman put me through to a Vice-President- a much calmer and rational person who gave me all the information I needed and wished me luck on the project. It was amazing.

What I learned: Sadly, I learned that yelling and being a jerk get you more of what you want among these people. So, if you hear a story about a star, producer, manager, or anyone in Hollywood that is successful being a jerk. Stop and think about it...the industry us pretty much made up of people who had to be tough and sometimes mean to make it....I also learned that knowing what you want and having confidence in yourself will go farther than being 'right' in what you are doing or even part of the in crowd...as E! was not nor ever had respect.

Brett Ratner, Alias, and other reasons to leave Hollywood

In my last blog-which I apologize was written almost two weeks ago. I started to explain some of my crazier experiences at E! The next two situations pretty much explain why I have no desire to return to Hollywood-but these stories are also great Happy Hour fodder in DC.
So-One Happy, hot, and hellish Wednesday afternoon in L.A. 2001 that's about 6 weeks before 9/11-E!Online hosted Brett Ratner for an edition of FILM SCHOOL! For those who do not know anything about him.. I will explain. He is a director-a Hollywood ingenue of the moment-although he's a man-He directed the infamous Mariah Carey Heartbreaker video, Family Man, and the Rush Hour movies to name a few of his credits. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711840/ Check that link for more.
He's a lively and passionate person who on set, came off as a nice although somewhat egotistical man. Oh well. Trust me, he could have been drunk, somewhat beligerent, and demanded a make-up artist as one of the other directors did...who shall remain nameless...
Unfortunately, Brett decided to bring his Assistant Director, his publicist from PMK, and his best friend. Whoopee! I guess they usually travel in packs as most jackals in training do....or chickens..don't ask. His publicist was a freak, I hope that this woman is no longer his publicist because she scared the hell out of me and everyone in the place-who actually remembers her.
I, was overly excited, eager to please, and young. A.K.A. STUPID, at the time. One of the writers asked if someone could take Brett's publicist, his Assistant Director, and his best friend to the Studio room B to watch the online feed. That would be the questions imputed, the online footage, blah, blah. So, I volunteered to take the Publicist, his Assistant Director, and his best friend to Studio B-or the other room within E's facility of filming rooms. These are arranged in non-descript corridors, dark, and quite frankly labrythine to find your way through..especially if you are a young intern.
We went out to the Lobby to meet Brett's best friend. That went smoothly, I took them to the refreshment room. That was not so good, the Publicist got angry, started screaming at me to find the Studio Room B and gave me a panic attack. I tried to take them to find the Studio Room B since giving them a chance to get water and refreshments was so disdainful...but, I blanked...I had only been there one other time and with the three of them following me while this crazed-I believe coked out woman-shrieked at me. I simply couldn't think.....
I ended up vainly running around while they stood in the hall opening broom closets, empty studio rooms, whatever I could find-and finally getting one of the other Writers- to show them where the Studio was...to make up for my mistake. I went to get them water. This took awhile since E! wanted me to use their specially labeled E! water bottles. When, I came back the Publicist was giving me dirty looks and the Assistant refused to acknowledge me. The only person who was friendly to me was his Best Friend. He seemed to be the only person who figured-that I was just a young, easily confused intern- the publicist seemed to think I was either brain damaged or the most evil, malignant, and useless person she had ever met......and that she wanted me nowhere near her.....and who could blame her? She had plans-business to do... and fat, tall, red heads who can't find their way around studio rat mazes are well-horrid.
I should probably stop to describe his publicist- a tall, asian, very attractive, thin woman, wearing crocidile leather pumps, a black dress, and carrying one of the most beautiful blonde leather purses I have ever seen.....she also seemed to have hankering to be in one of his movies. I can only guess what movie franchise she wanted to jump on.....ruoH hsuR PART III???? The return of Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, the duo will now be embellished by the beautiful coke snarfer in this action packed follow up to the wonderful Part Deux of the original film.
It was horrible. I got Hollywood royalty- or at least the Courtiers lost for all of a minute. And what an embarassment..but it has given me a good chance to laugh since then...and when I call myself fat- I mean not anorexically thin-because that's what you have to be in Hollywood to avoid criticism.
Brett Ratner himself was very entertaining-telling us that we should just give the camera to a fat girl in Nebraska with big bangs-in response to the question of Independent film development..he was really funny-in the bad sense-I mean the we are laughing at you- not with you sense. But, he's a millionaire and I am NOT. He was very proud to tell you that he had dated Rebecca Gayhart and would happily date her again.. I bet he ate those words....she rain over a 9 yr old boy two days later in a hit and run accident while she was driving her car and talking on a cell phone.(Tragic) Her status went down after that...and so did her weight. For those who don't know-she was the Noxzema girl in the 1990's and had a great part in Jawbreaker. (Love that movie.)
Anyways, what struck me about that day was how easily people got freaked out over nothing. Nothing, I mean I fixed the problem, found someone to get them to the other room, and stayed polite. All of these things matter to me...but Brett was definitely giving the stupid, fat, red head dirty looks on his way out as the Publicist told him what happened.....nothing like that has ever happened to me in D.C.
( I would also like to observe a moment of silence for the dearly departed President Ronald Reagan. Here's one for the Gipper.)

E!Entertainment-Not so entertaining...

So-to answer the big question. How does a girl go from interning in Los Angeles at E!Entertainment Networks to living in Washington,DC and pursuing a life 180 different?
It's not easy. But, I'll sum it up like this, I had always believed that I could go out to Hollywood and create meaningful work. I would make films that inspired people, that changed the way we viewed women and the way we viewed other minority groups in the media. By my work, I would then change politics, social standards-who knows how people could be affected. This was a big dream....
My first film related internship was at CTVN(Community Television Network) in Chicago, a local documentary focused non-profit. We worked with kids from the South and West sides of Chicago to make educational documentaries that focused on topics they understood firsthand. I worked with some of the students on the idea of women in the media and the negative impact of the advertising industry on women's self image.
During this period, I met a young film student at Columbia named Spence Warren. He was a great guy, and a good person who was working at CTVN. We collaborated-after I left Chicago-and kept in touch by phone and e-mail. Together we produced a short movie in black and white about a young girl's tortured self image. I wrote the script and Spence found a young hispanic girl named Anne from CTVN to act out the monologue. The film turned out great, better than I had imagined.. we were able to get it aired on local TV in Chicago. I felt like it was a great triumph and it was the first time I had seen my work on film. A copy of the film is still in my home film collection...sometimes when I feel down about my writing and my accomplishments, I get it out and watch it..to remind myself...
So, that Summer of 2001, I moved out to Los Angeles to Intern for E!Entertainment Online. I had a column, developed great writing skills, learned to edit writing work more efficiently and discovered I had a knack for public relations...But, I found E! to be a rather lonely place with a lot of indifferent people and few friends. I made two-Celine Ohanians and Melinda Wilfred. Celine has long since moved on from her work as a writer there and Melinda still manages their photography and pictures for the website. In fact, Melinda offered me a job as her assistant last Spring. But, the job was temp to permanent and did not pay well under E!'s tight budget.
More importantly, I dreaded the idea of moving back out to Los Angeles and feared what my life would be like...I found people to be vapid, unsophisticated, and mean in this city of physical human perfection. I think of Hollywood as the backdrop to a theater stage with odds and ends hanging out all over the place, no cohesive theme, dust, and lonely forgotten pieces of scenery just sitting around waiting for someone to use them.....I met a lot of people. I actually assisted on a show at E! called Film School which, allowed me to meet action film directors Jan DeBont, Martin Campbell, John McTiernan, Richard Donner, and Brett Ratner.
The realization that I did not belong there in that environment came when I was waiting to start production on the newest show. As I stood outside of the studio room, some of the girls were joking about how they liked to shop. It was actually a funny conversation detailing how small one needs to be to fit into the jeans sold in Sunset Blvd. shops. But, then one of the ladies started talking about how if she got pregnant, she would be miserable because she wouldn't be able to shave her crotch. Do you understand, she was telling us she would have an abortion because her pubic hair would get unruly during a short 9 month period???!!! Are you kidding me? We all get a little self-conscious at the idea of being pregnant and out of shape..but this was beyond my comprehension. AND the other woman agreed with her!!!! I knew than that I could not live in this place, or work in Hollywood. I could not stand to be in this environment that took life and people so lightly and saw them as dispensable....what I didn't realize is that my entire life course would change after that moment.
There were really funny moments along the way, getting Brett Rather's best friend, assistant, and publicist lost was one of them, or getting into an argument with the main producer of Alias and actually cutting her down to size...it was an amazing experience in some ways...(to be continued)

Why....

I don't know why a person would start a blog, extreme narcissism, boredom, angst, anxiety, for fun, out of frustration?
I think that's where I will start..ya see..it's not a simple story. But, I'll tell you the basics. I live in DC, I'm 24 yrs old, I dabble in politics, have a dog, and I have been underemployed-that's working without decent pay at a non-career job for almost 6 months. That's right-6 months.
I am sometimes although not always on the verge of what my other 20 something friends jokingly call a midlife crisis or mid 20crisis. Why? High expectations for myself, from my parents, from friends, for life...too many bills and not really knowing if I will find the answers to my career problems...has made me well....nuts.
One other thing, I love to write, research papers, newspaper articles, fiction-I've written a book on my own, volumes of poetry and I am on the verge of finishing my first play since, I was 18 yrs old. Writing makes me happy because it feels so good...
So, that's how I came to start this blog, to talk about my escapades around DC. Spout off about politics and celebrities and try understand this weird spot I am in...I will try to explain in the next posting..how I came to DC..when three years ago, I was a movie obsessed kid living in LA talking about politics, great literature, and philosophy thinking I would change the world with my ideas...and now.. I live in DC, feel frustrated, can't find work in my field of interest(Media Relations)and worry that I am wasting my life....
I'm a fun girl-no really-I like to dance, love to socialize...I even just got a new boyfriend...so just give me a few minutes of your time..and please drop back by...