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<<<11:24pm>>> Sweet Merciful Crap, What Have I Done Now? if you happened to have visited this page anywhere between 10pm and 11pm...please forget you did. i like pink, probably much more than a grown woman should. but i quickly grew tired of the new layout and my "bright colors!" kick, and decided to do something funky with frames. the end result, uh, didn't work. eek. whew! everything back to normal now. you'd never guess that only a half hour ago, a disaster was brewing here. i'm actually impressed with myself. <<<2:44pm>>> for a girl who still gets carded for rated "R" films at the age of 24, is often asked by telemarketers to put her mommy on the phone, and has no idea who is being addressed when the supermarket check-out girl asks her, "paper or plastic, ma'am?", things can get disorienting from time to time. eventually, one comes to the realization that age in numeral terms is largely irrelevant, and you're better off for it as long as you are aware of what an advantage this realization can be. you stop worrying about what you *should* be doing at this age and what you *should* have accomplished by that age, and the prospect of becoming "old" barely registers a blip on the Big Radar-- a much smaller blip than that of the annoyance you suffer when having to once again pull out your driving license in order to rent 101 Nights Of Sodom; or gingerly explain to the well-meaning man calling from Sprint Long Distance that your mommy lives far away from here and the account is, indeed, in your name, even if your voice does sometimes conjure images of Betty Boop making friends with a few white lines-- and you don't want to sign up for "nickel nights", but thanks anyway. still, nothing has quite prepared me for the jolt i got when i switched over to the "VH1 Classic" channel, expecting to see Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin...and was instead treated to Devo's lovely "Whip It". "Whip It" is considered classic rock now?!? don't i still have that on cassette somewhere?? <<<1:05pm>>> check out the article "120bpm-- Madonna's Best Remixes" at Madonna Single Summaries. comprehensive countdown with a gorgeous layout. many of my fave mixes made the list, even if i don't agree with the choice for #1 ;) <<<11:27am>>> do you like the new look? i toiled into the night. well, not really. <<<30 september 2001 10:57am>>> current music: Towa Tei, Sound Museum; Madonna, Ray Of Light i really hope to get to the UK before the end of the year, in part to visit the new Tate Modern. i never got around to seeing it last year, and through January there is a special exhibition that particularly interests me. <<<29 september 2001 2:14pm>>> current music: Tori Amos, Strange Little Girls early this morning i went to the beach with my CD Walkman, alone, to watch the sunrise and listen to the new Tori Amos CD I got yesterday, Strange Little Girls. I'm totally fascinated with this album, in an asthetic sort of way-- like looking at paintings in an stark, ultra-modern museum with white, white, white walls: deceptively antiseptic with the dangerous illusion of total sanitization. i've decided to make-over my site a bit, not necessarily a total overhaul but dabble a bit with the color scheme-- i'm in the mood for bright colors suddenly. this will have to wait until later this evening, however, as i'm off to an antique fair north of here, and then to take pictures of the fall leaves. <<<11:05pm>>> i can't believe what a dork i am. i just watched an hour-long documentary on lawn mowers. <<<9:34pm>>> i love "Sex and the City". there, i said it. <<<3:45pm>>> Did You Make The List? confused as to why i may be shooting you that icy glare? wondering if you should bother showing up for Christmas this year? concerned about your status? is a string of heinous language and both my middle fingers extended just not a big enough clue for you? perhaps you should check out the Sparkle While You Can Official Shit List. <<<28 september 2001 2:08pm>>> i have high-speed internet again. yay! <<<27 september 2001 8:40pm>>> this really sucks. Nicci is having to cut Kittynoir because of some psycho situation. <<<2:32pm>>> seems Angela was able to score an appointment at Bliss --incredibly, before the end of the year. hiss.:P <<<2:02 pm>>> Stop This Train! I Want Off Now! and of course, just when you think you've seen it all, you stumble across something like this. <<<26 september 2001 1:52pm>>> Britney Spears: Oops, I Did It All Night Long take your pledge of technical virginity. then, gimme a call. <<<24 september 2001 10:55pm>>> current music: Bjork, Homogenic; Vespertine 56K...It's Not as Painful As It Sounds the past few days here have been extremely chill. i thought i'd be chomping at the bit to get back online by now, but honestly, i didn't even bother until this afternoon. not that there's been anything far more important to do, i've just been in a wierd, quiet mood for a couple of days. it's not a bad or depressed mood, just difficult to describe; calm, not much to say, simply content to absorb my new surroundings for a while. <<<16 september 2001 3:09pm>>> I'm Sailing Away...(cue Cartman) well, the time has come, and i'm hitting the road again. this nomad soul must move on. i sit here with my life neatly packed in a suitcase next to me, and the whole of my material wealth gathered in a few cardboard boxes scattered around the room. don't worry, this isn't goodbye! (i never say goodbye anyway-- i'm just no damn good at it.) i'm going to try to post while on the road, so keep checking back! and once i'm settled in my new home, Sparkle While You Can will resume normal service, broadcasting to you live from the great state of Maine. see ya soon, but before i go, i leave you with a few lyrics from some of the greatest and most famous travelers the world has ever seen, the Grateful Dead:
<<<15 september 8:48am>>> it seems that Madonna has modified her show in response to the recent events, according to a fan's report on last night's show at the Staples Center in L.A. posted to Madonnapower.com. she has cut the part where she appears to shoot one of her dancers with a rifle, and also done away with a particularly bizarre, off-the-cuff song about shooting her father in the head and eating him for dinner (which i personally could have done without the first time around), replacing it with a short speech:
<<<10:58am>>> "and she knows she's more than just a little misunderstood, she has trouble acting normal when she's nervous." --counting crows i have trouble acting normal, regardless of the situation. <<<3:25pm>>> "he who dislikes the cat, was in his former life a rat." -- chinese <<<4:12pm>>> books, books and more books. everywhere i goddamn turn, there's more books to pack up. i own more books than i do clothes, furniture or silverware. i suppose that's normally a good thing, but right now it's just turning out to be a major pain in the ass. <<<14 September 2001 5:29pm>>> current music: Cake, Comfort Eagle; Jamiroquai, A Funk Odyssey today was my last day at work. everyone was encouraging me to do something crazy, like go off on a moron customer, or repeatedly answer the phone "Department of Transportation, how may I direct your call?"-- what were they going to do, fire me? in the end we just threw some confetti everywhere. we also had a small impromptu ceremony in which i officially passed my title of The Baddest Bitch to Mark, who has been earning bitch points from me for a few months now. fear the new reign, ladies and gentlemen. today was also the "official" day of remembrance. i've never been one for rah-rah patriotism (like some people who were driving around with huge flags waving off their cars, or dressed head to toe in red, white and blue, or waving around those little flags they were passing out everywhere, or in some cases all of the above), but i still felt it appropriate to show *some* colors, so i went for a subtle touch and just wore my rhinestone american flag belt buckle. all day long customers kept commenting on my belt, telling me how awesome it was, asking questions like where did i get it and where could they find one? it was literally all i could do to keep from retorting, "well, actually, i bought this about two years ago when it wasn't so fashionable to be patriotic." seriously, tommy hilfiger must be making a killing right now. at noon we closed the store for an hour, like many businesses were doing. we turned on the radio, listened to the vice-president's prayer, observed the moment of silence, stood for the national anthem, and switched the radio off. the broadcast services actually went on for some time, but we figured that was enough and we all went to eat lunch. <<<9:15pm>>> current music: The Ramones, Ramones Mania; Metallica, ...And Justice For All; Soundtrack, Moulin Rouge! i was digging through stuff and found my old copy of ...And Justice For All (battered cassette copy with handwritten tracklisting-- circa seventh grade). Rock!! tonight we went to dinner at my favorite sushi place in atlanta-- Natori Japanese. it's small, always quiet, the staff is super friendly, and of course, i think they have the best sushi in town for the price. the "sushi master" there has some sort of strange cult following. so, if you like sushi and you find yourself in the Corporate Whore of the South (excuse me-- atlanta), try Natori. there is a group of people outside my apartments who have been maintaining a candlelight vigil, standing on the side of the road, since six o' clock this evening. there are lots of candles burning in windows as well. it's just surreal. <<<13 september 2001 2:33pm>>> current music: Jamiroquai, A Funk Odyssey What The World Needs Now Is Disco i bought Jamiroquai's A Funk Odyssey today. even if you aren't a Jamiroquai fan or any sort of funk/pop soul fan, just get your hands on the CD and have a look at the cover. it will make you happy. instant mood-lifter. i haven't even listened to the album straight through yet. so far i've listened to "little l" about seven thousand times. it's a car song. <<<2:55pm>>> as you may or may not know, Madonna is supposedly releasing her second "greatest hits" compilation in November. Immaculate Collection II will include several new tracks. the persistent rumor is that one of the new tracks is called "sex makes the world go round". *sigh* <<<4:37pm>>> Small World it was recently reported that several suspects have been removed from the Westin Hotel in Copley Square, Boston. the Westin Copley is where Cyndi and i would occasionally, on a lark, hang out at the bar in our swankiest little dresses, hoping to meet rich foreign men. that was about five years ago. imagine that. <<<6:59pm>>> my cousin is dead, and i will never see her again. i'm sorry i have to post this, sorry i have to do it in this way, but forgive me please, i just don't know what to do at this moment. i'm crying but i want to scream, i don't know if i'm angry, everything is just so fucked up right now, i don't know if i'm going to be able to deal with it. i don't know what i'm going to say to bf when he walks through the front door. i just want to be calm, but i can't calm down. i need to stop typing now, i'm shaking too badly now. <<<9:13pm>>> i'm ok. bf is making me dinner now, and afterwards i am going to lay down and get some sleep. <<<10 september 2001 3:10pm>>> For Your Reading Pleasure wow, i am really exhausted-- we're talking more dead than alive here. i'm going to tear myself away from everything right now and just force myself to lay down and catch a few hours sleep, before it's time to get BF from the airport. but, before i go, something for the ladies: Valerie Solanas's SCUM Manifesto Valerie Solanas is most famous for shooting Andy Warhol when he failed to produce a play she had written called Up Your Ass. Warhol's injuries were not fatal, but he never fully recovered from Valerie's attack, mentally or physically. in 1996 Valerie's exploits became the subject of a film, appropriately titled I Shot Andy Warhol (starring one of my all-time favorite actresses, Lili Taylor), a gritty portrait of the NYC scene of the 1960's and life at the "Factory", recreating such unforgettable Warhol superstars as Candy Darling (a brilliant performance by Stephen Dorff), Viva, and Ultra Violet. see it if you can. <<<7:16pm>>> current music: Bjork, Vespertine i had a nice two-hour nap and didn't really want to get up. but i hauled myself out of bed, had a shower, and was finally starting to feel hungry-- so, anticipating that i was going to need to leave to get BF in a short while, i only bothered to chow down a bowl of cereal. but-- ta da!-- his plane is delayed by several hours. surprise, surprise, surprise! i don't recall ever in my life being on a flight that actually left from Logan International Airport on time. i have a few hours to kill, so i'm going to drop in on a friend who told me she was planning to sit on her back porch and eat a few mushrooms this evening. while i won't be partaking, i'm going to bring a notebook and a sketchpad-- i figure this would be the perfect time to ask her if she has any ideas for my film. anyway, tripping people need company. <<<9 september 2001 10:08pm>>> W.W.J.D. (Who Wants Jack Daniels) i had an okay day at work, uneventful and average, but shortly after i got home i started to feel really terrible-- depressed and crying. i'm sure at least half of it must be a PMS thing but much of it has to do with the fact that BF is away for the weekend. after two years i still can't stand to be apart from him, and if you think i have trouble sleeping to begin with, there's absolutely no chance of it happening in a big empty bed all by myself. i tried to ring up some friends, but no one was home. i thought about doing some packing but really wasn't into it. i decided to go out. so off "Christine" and i went. so where does a lonely girl go on a sunday night in this town? that's right-- your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart, to shop for a microwave oven. Wal-Mart has a nice, small but not too small microwave oven for about $65. i periodically drop in hoping to score one on sale. well, tonight was not my lucky night. so i just pushed my shopping cart around aimlessly for a while, looking at stuff, ignoring the typical whispers and giggles that are bound to occur when you stroll into a suburban shopping mart wearing a rhinestone belt with a diamante buckle that says FUCKER. forty-five minutes later, i decided to call it a night and left with a bottled lemonade, a chocolate bar and four rolls of toilet paper. what a pathetic evening, but at least i feel better now-- i'm going to lay down and do some reading and try to fall asleep despite all. <<<11:33pm>>> Happiness Is A Warm Cat The Old Grey Poet's cat stories, such as this one involving Harry Cat and a paint tray, never fail to lift my mood. <<<8 september 2001 2:00pm>>> current music: The Doors, In Concert for the weekend i am borrowing BF's mother's 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. i have named it-- "her"-- Christine. Christine, much like her namesake in the Stephen King novel, creepily anticipates my every whim, stopping just short of driving herself. apparently, the actual steering and braking is still very much my job...as long as Christine sees fit. my relationship with Christine was disconcerting at first. she beeps at me frequently, for reasons i can't discern (oil's fine, fuel's fine, seatbelt's fastened, door's closed, why is it beeping at me?). i was strictly instructed NOT to bother with the headlights-- Christine turns them on automatically! she knows when it's dark, knows when it's raining, and once the ignition is cut, she waits for 30 seconds...then switches the headlights off herself. Christine automatically locks all four doors when the gear is put into drive. i'm not sure if this is designed to keep bad people out or to keep me from escaping her. a computer in Christine's overhead console can be programmed, among other useful things, to display the outside temperature. if i'm feeling warm, i might activate the "Dual Zone Climate Control System". if i fiddle with a toggle on my left side, my seat noiselessly glides forward, backwards, or tilts me up or down. Christine can remember my preferred seating position, if i want her to. (i don't. she knows too much already.) when i open my door to get out, Christine courteously slides the seat all the way back to make my exit easier. i can lock and unlock her with a key or with a remote; she chirps at me to let me know she's locked. and if she's bumped, accosted, dinged or disturbed as she waits for me in the parking lot, she sounds an ear-piercing alarm that can only be abated by pressing a button on aforementioned remote. no, we didn't get along at first, but Christine and I are like two peas in a pod now, so much so i'll be reluctant to hand her over on Monday. talk about a smooth ride! i could put the pedal to the metal and never even feel the acceleration. parking in the tightest of spots is a breeze-- her turn radius is a vast improvement over the tacoma, which corners like the fucking Titanic. oh well. a vehicle like Christine is, obviously, a bit out of my price range for now. and i wouldn't exactly consider the Tacoma to be chopped liver. don't think I'll be giving it up anytime soon. <<<7:31pm>>> Heart Of Stone In Serious Danger Of Infiltration Nicci has authored an original and touching tribute to her husband on their fourth wedding anniversary. while i'm still not entirely sold on the idea of matrimony, these two have obviously found happiness in their union and i truly wish them the best. <<<8:24pm>>> They Called Her "Whoopie Lupe" i found this gem of a website devoted to my favorite old-Hollywood movie star, and namesake of my (unlikely) future daughter, the scandalous Lupe Velez. sadly, much of the site seems to have been dismantled, but there's still a huge gallery of ravishing photos. Lupe Velez and her less-than-glamorous dissolution was also the subject of an early Andy Warhol film starring "Factory" celebrity Edie Sedgwick. so do i ever plan to tell my little Lupe Velez the story of her namesake's fantastic but ironic demise? of course. i will never let her forget the importance of living up to her name. <<<6 september 2001 9:40pm>>> current music: Madonna, What It Feels Like For A Girl maxi-single; Bjork, All Is Full Of Love maxi-single today i found the Bjork Remix Web, a huge repository of homemade bjork remixes. you can stream the mixes or download them, see what hardware, software and original track was used, and read listener reviews of individual mixes. because of the very nature of Bjork's music to begin with, there's some incredibly creative re-interpretations here. the Soundtrack Mix of Hyperballad is short but...oddly moving. <<<5 september 2001 2:04pm>>> the tacoma had to go into the shop today, to have the alignment adjusted. :( seems i've been taking its "off road" capabilities a bit too seriously. but i ask you-- why should i waste time at a stoplight, waiting for traffic to move, when i can just drive over the curb to get to the right turn lane? i simply believe in driving a vehicle in the way it was designed to be driven. i'm glad i'm not working today, as i'm in one of those restless moods where i can't seem to find any satisfaction with anything. don't want to go out but don't want to stay in, a whole pantry full of food but nothing i want to eat, nothing on telly, can't focus on a book, every CD i own bores me to tears, etc. i think i'm going to spend the next few hours packing things up. our (third, so far) estimated time of departure for the Great White North (well, we're not exactly going all the way to Canada, but it feels that way, sometimes) is mid-month, and although we don't really have a lot of stuff, i'd rather tackle it now while i have an un-fucking-believable two whole days off from work. <<<8:43pm>>> current music: Fleetwood Mac, The Dance; Rumours after a couple of hours of packing, i finally felt chill enough to sit in the bathtub for a while, read through a magazine, and listen to a Fleetwood Mac album. (i like to read while soaking; i always keep a stack of magazines and paperback books handy to the tub-- if they get wet, no big deal.) my big problem now? over the course of the evening i've developed the most diabolical craving for chocolate; such a craving, in fact, that i'm about to head out to the supermarket and get a chocolate bar, or some ice cream, or oreos or something (hopefully not all three). i would go all the way to the mall and hit up Godiva, but they're closed now... so, maybe by the time i get back i'll be better equipped to mess around online a little and possibly post something interesting. |