Editor, Reporter, Writer
I’ve never been to Washington, DC before so I spent some days visiting my friend, and touring the city. It’s a great city, made even more beautiful by the monuments and towering buildings. Obama’s helicopter even flew over us and landed at the White House. Here are some photos from the weekend:
Could you call it a parade? Maybe. In my long life of parade experience, this was probably the saddest I’d ever seen. In downtown LA, they threw a St. Patrick’s Day parade that included lots of cops and fire trucks. The audience was made up mainly of business people rushing to their lunch spots and thinking, “Hey, look. A parade.” and construction workers and the homeless.
But it gave me a good excuse to get outside on a beautiful day and snap a few photos.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Walked a block to the St. Patrick’s Day parade downtown today. I’ve been to a lot of parades in my day, and this was for sure the saddest of them all. Barely any spectators, and just a whole bunch of fire trucks and such. But it was a nice day, at least. Sunny and warm.
A talented, smart, witty friend of mine is writing an (anonymous) blog in which she will try to…. have 30 dates in 30 days. Now, I know what you’re thinking: impossible, right? For most people, I’d say it is. But not for her. Trust me on this.
So check it out, and check back often because I think this will be a good one.
By Rebecca Ford
When I was in college, I went home one weekend to my parents’ house. My parents were away for the night, and my younger sister who was in high school at the time asked if she could have a few friends over. A few friends turned into a drunken high school party, where one kid threw up in the sink and clogged the disposal, and my sister passed out on her bedroom floor. Needless to say, I was left alone to clean up the mess till six in the morning.
I didn’t speak to my sister for a week after that. It was maybe the angriest I’ve ever been at her.
But that doesn’t matter because when it’s your sister, you get over it. No matter what, there’s this unspoken bond between two girls who lived through a childhood together.
That’s the bottom line with Sunshine Cleaning,” the new film starring Amy Adams andEmily Blunt. They play two grown-up sisters, struggling to make ends meet and overcome their mother’s suicide. When Rose (Adams) can’t pay for her son’s private school, she opens a crime scene cleaning company with her younger sister, Hannah (Blunt).
Much like my own sibling, Norah is young and rebellious. She’s tattooed, irreverent and lacks in direction. Her older sister, Rose, is the responsible one, who is raising a kid alone.
Sunshine Cleaning, brought to you by the producers of the lovable “Little Miss Sunshine” , has the same optimistic-in-the-face-of-sadness feel to it, finding the beauty in life—and death. It’s similar to the 2006 hit (Alan Arkin reappears, and the story is again based in Albuquerque), but not quite at the same high level of thoughtfulness.
Still, Sunshine is, well, a beam of sunlight in what’s been a dreary, sad movie season of late. Even while approaching a topic as sad as death, the film is able to reflect the beauty and promise in life and human kindness.
Death is one topic that really gets examined in a great way here. The sisters, still dealing with their mother’s suicide from when they were kids, see death in all forms, and—more importantly—the effect it has on the people left behind.
The chemistry between Adams, Blunt and Arkin is what makes this movie soar. Their comedic timing and expression sets off laughter at just the right time. All three, however, smoothly embody the sadness that comes with losing a loved one.
Because the acting is stellar, it assists in masking the fact that their characters are lacking in some development. Sure, we learn that Rose was a popular high school cheerleader who is sleeping with a married man and has some self-esteem issues now. But last time I checked, I didn’t like those types of girls in high school, and I’m damn glad that they peaked when they were mentally bullying around the less popular and parading down the halls in their cheerleading outfits. How are we supposed to root …
This house at Beachwood Canyon in the Hollywood Hills is covered in little toys and wonderous miniatures.
Beachwood Dr may be the best street in Hollywood.
You’re lucky the world is full of idiots. You’re lucky that most days you probably deal with people who would put up with your stupidity.
But today, today you were dealing with me. Sure, last week when you were supposed to install my cable TV and internet, you informed me that you couldn’t do the TV without the actual TV.
Fine. I can deal with that. So you installed the cable, and I rescheduled the TV installation for a week later. Of course, you wouldn’t have any earlier appointments because that’s how you operate.
So this morning, I wake up at 9 a.m., after rearranging my work schedule to fit YOUR schedule. I sit in my living room, and wait and wait and wait. An hour later, I hear my phone ring and run into the other room, a minute too late. There’s a message from you asking if I want to reschedule….what?
You never knocked on the door. You never got off your lazy ass and walked up to our (unlocked) apartment complex to knock on the door, as I sat waiting for over an hour in the living room. Instead, you told your supervisor that there was a “locked gate” and you couldn’t get in. There’s no locked gate–just a very lazy employee.
Oh, and your “customer service”? If that’s what you call that snide, rude lady who answered my phone call and told me the technician could come back–but it would have to be an all day appointment? Yeah, some customer service skills. How many pieces of flare does she have on?
So, what I’m saying Time Warner is that you are an idiot. You are the epitome of a lazy American who skims by on doing the minimum and getting away with as much laziness as you can. You have an attitude of a diva, which I guess you got because you know we need you. You know that all of Hollywood is dependant on you.
And you know what? I thought about cancelling my service with you, you jerk. But you’re like an abusive pimp. You get the job done, even if we get slapped around a little in the process.
So back to your customer service lady? She told me I had to reschedule for the “earliest appointment” which is…Saturday… my only day off… to sit around and wait for a phonecall….from an idiot.
Your faithful customer,
Rebecca
I don’t swear. Not much anyway. Only in those terrible situations like when you drop a shelf on your foot. So “No cussing week” sounds like a great idea to me.
There are over 988,968 words in the English language. I just think people should be intelligent enough to use one of those words to replace those pathetic cuss words.
Rebecca M Ford 