Whenever I type out a smiley, it’s eyes to the left, smile to the right.

But with people younger than I am, I usually see the smiley the other way around when it’s typed.

(:

Said smiley also sometimes grows longer eyes:

(=

When did this happen?!

If you are under the age of 22 (I turn 23 soon; omg), please answer – how did the smiley flip? was it of its own volition? are there any plans to flip upside down at some point?

Last night my friend Kate and I went to see Coldplay at Madison Square Garden – they kicked off a promotional tour with a free show. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of theirs – I knew of the songs but didn’t really know any of the lyrics. I did, however, “wooo-oooOOOOO!” at what was apparently the appropriate time.

we were pretty far back but you could still tell what was going on.

They also came to the back of the arena to sing an acoustic version of Yellow, which meant that we were about 200 feet away from the band. You can see Chris on the far left.

“Lost?” is my jam, you guys.

Anyway, yay for free shows. I am a fan of those.

Also, I might go see Blake Lewis tonight after I babysit because I am not typically a purveyor of the art of beatbox and I think it’s high time I start to appreciate the art. Matt and I both love his CD, though, so I’d feel like a jerk for going by myself . . . sigh.

edit: I did end up going. Tickets were way more expensive than they should’ve been, but the venue was tiny and there were 100 people there at most. I was about ten feet away from the stage. Awesome. Teach me how to beatbox, B.

some chick (Brianna?) from The Real World this season opened for him. Her voice was okay but her stage presence was horrible.

I asked the kids I babysit and their parents what their . . . stage names . . . were (we called it something different in school, but this is the squeaky clean version; deal!).

To find yours, take the name of your first pet – that’s your first name – and add it to the first street you lived on – that’s your last name.

Voila.

Samples:
Chumsley Vendome
Garbanzo Fairway
Elizabeth Westend
Comet Partridge

What’s yours?

p.s. if you are looking for a new screen name, I recommend these

TREMEN

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

This is my dad with his sixth child, Eleanor Rigby. Here are some fun facts about him.

• He can never be president of the US because he was born in Europe.
• English is his second language! You would never know that if you talked to him.
• He is a Six Sigma black belt
• I’m still not exactly sure what that entails
• He makes fabulous omelets every time I come home to visit
• He is a soccer champ and is always a fair ref
• He is not, however, afraid to give out yellow cards
• He has been married to my mom for 28 years and has put up with a lot of craziness in the past three years
• He attended the gymnastics meet where I got a 7.4 on my floor routine (1-up!)
• He has twelve keychains of various shotguns/rifles/handheld weapons because I got them for him for Father’s Day!

. . . and he bought Xanga Premium.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads on Xanga.

P.S. I cried twice during Meet the Press today and subsequently got weepy after the show while I was on the phone with Matt. Oh, Tim . . . you make me want to be a better person.

You guys.

Tim Russert died.

I watch MTP every Sunday and read his book last month.

I am in disbelief.

RIP, man.

Matthew sent cookies to the ever hungry Xanga Team.

Thanks! You rock our world.

my keyboard is going to have crumbs all over it

What is your favorite movie involving children and wild animals?

mine:

I had a dream that I was putting off a trip to a water park to watch season 1 of Making The Band on DVD.

Then I remembered that s1 will probably never come out on DVD and I’ll have to watch my worn out VHS tapes forever instead.

ARGH.

After Office Hours, Eugenia and I wanted cupcakes, so I ran out to Cupcake Cafe . . . when I rounded the corner at 40th Street, I noticed a bunch of people standing on the corner, staring at the New York Times building and taking pictures with their phones and cameras.

“It’s Spiderman!” one man yelled.
“That dude is [effin]‘ climbing!” another practically screamed into his phone.

Alain Robert, a French climate change activist/attention whore with a fantastic talent, drew crowds, stopped traffic and was arrested atop the 52nd floor of the building.

Times employees stood against the windows and looked up at him; crowds below cheered and whistled when he reached the top.

As for me, I was fighting to get back to the building and felt like a fish swimming upstream. “I think we’re the only two people in New York who don’t care about this,” the guy next to me said. “You must not watch a lot of TV.”

“I watch too much,” I replied, “so I guess I’m just desensitized.” He went on to tell me the story of a daredevil who performed a sort of demented tightrope walk between the two World Trade Center towers and had to perform in front of elementary schoolers as his community service punishment.

When I got back to our building, ready to break the news, everyone was already watching him climb from our windows that face the building. We went up to the roof and watched as he scaled the building and climbed to the top.

So while it was hard to hear the cheering from the helicopters flying overhead and now everyone’s going back to their normally scheduled events, for that moment, I think we all felt like extras in a Spiderman movie. It’s one of those ridiculous New York moments you’ll remember for a long time.