Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Trick or Treat

Smell my feet,
Give me something good to eat.

Seriously, if life were only that simple!

Anyway, I renamed this from Christina's World to Every Life, Every Fun for a few reasons: the Wyeth painting that Jon put up when he set this blog up for me way back when was somehow removed so calling it Christina's World just seemed weird without any reference to the painting I think--it also made me feel a bit self-conscious because I felt that it probably made me seem conceited or autistic.














Christina's World (1948) by Andrew Wyeth
Source: http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=8707

The original Every Life, Every Fun blog where I should have had all my ruminations about Tokyo and China never had a chance--so I give it new life here. I also renamed the url from csolazzo, since that just gave out too much information on the Internet about me--first name Christina, last name Solazzo--um, yeah. I hate googling myself, but I bet csolazzo.blogspot.com isn't so much of a stretch for future employers to find. I am so crafty.





The title, Every Life, Every Fun comes from a store in a mall in Tokyo.


It was like a 7-11, but better. (The 7-11 in Tokyo wasn't so bad though.) Even their products said that they had Good Price. Nice Selection.


They sold stationery and gifty stuff in addition to snacks and drinks.


Inspiration comes of working folders.


Dean & Deluca coffee (see, not a 7-11).


I actually have this folder somewhere...



They even had Helvetica pencil cases before Helvetica the movie ever came out and other funny little things. Jon got a tea cup with a lid that said something like, "Be patient." I love when inanimate objects do that.

Anyway, I have a book to edit and transmit by tomorrow, so I will leave this blog alone for awhile now...though hopefully, not too long...

In Response to Lux's Secret Agent Mars Post

I started writing a comment to this post by Lux, but it got too long, so I thought I'd make it a post instead.

Thanks for posting those clips! I saw them last night and have been thinking about whether it would have survived if it aired, and my guess is that it wouldn't.

The great thing about the first season (and second) is that she's really personally involved--it's not just a job. What's shown in these clips is that it is just a job--a job she got because (if you watched the three seasons) she was really, really good at it. And her partner nails it when he says something like,

You laugh because you're not sure. You're used to being the smartest person in the room.

Does that mean that he's her match though? I don't think so--I think he's much too much of a pretty boy. Her jaw is squarer than his--not a match. And that other guy--not as pretty as Logan or even Piz. Just weird looking and not at all compelling. A guy like Piz would have made a good partner--attractive but a bit rough looking. The other guy had to be pretty like Logan.

It fails too because they should have at least had a glimpse of what happened to the other characters--like she talks to her dad or something. Does he ever become sheriff again?

I think the thing that failed the die-hard first and second season fans (and ultimately were happy that the show ended) in the third season is the lack of personality the mysteries had. On YouTube there's a good talk with Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, and Jason Dohring. (There are multiple parts--he sounds a bit like Dean Gopin teaching art history I think.) He describes many decisions--and one of them is to tie Veronica closer to the school bus murder since at first it just seems like she's looking into without much motive.

Nevertheless, I would have watched anything Veronica Mars related because it was so freakin awesome.

Also, to comment on her choice of upcoming movies--the Apatow movie according to Seth Rogen at the New Yorker festival seems a bit up in the air. (The New Yorker talk goes through how Rogen and Apatow meet--Freaks & Geeks, Undeclared, 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked-Up, and Superbad. A perfect lecture--though someone should've fixed the mike on Seth--the man could project.) At least there's that one set in Hawaii that looks kind of interesting too.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

An Evening with Phil Pullman

Tonight Kat and I went to see Phil Pullman--author of His Dark Materials--at the new Times Center auditorium. Kat got there early so we got to sit front and center--though not as front and center as when we went to the New Yorker Festival and saw Miranda July and A.M. Homes. There are positives and negatives to both sides of where to sit to watch an author talk.

The New Yorker event required the moderator (a NYer editor) to have Miranda and A. talk about deviance. Miranda wore a nice skirt suit, black stocking, and it could've been (had signature red soles) Louboutin shoes (not Mia). The thing was that her make-up made her look mannequin-ish. And I wouldn't say her suit flattered the way her neck looked--a bit prominent, which made me wonder if I was seeing an Adam's apple. Her legs were very nice though. Anyway, this is in comparison to A. who was wearing sneakers (without socks, something she highlighted and bolded by repeating it and physically pointing out) and a collage of black. A. can best be described as an English seminar professor--a bit conceited, a bit in her own world, a bit uninteresting because of both instances because she marveled in her uniqueness. (Yet, she refused to recognize deviance--and like a 13-year old girl, basically said what is "normal" if we are all a little different?) Good writer, yes--but I don't think I'll have to pay to see her speak again. (We did see her at another event--one with Steven King among a bunch of other writers--and she was very quiet. And it made me like her more when she was.)

The thing is, perhaps, many other people have seen her speak and didn't come to see her speak that night. It seemed that many more people were there to see Miranda, who turned out to be an amateur-ish public speaker. She seemed distracted and almost like she really would rather be elsewhere. It was easy to be distracted in the space that they had too--it was the theater on 2nd St. where we saw Anthony's movie, but it wasn't in the basement, but in the same space where we saw George Saunders and T.C. Boyle (at least I think that's who it was). Anyway, there was a movie that was somewhat loud going on downstairs and the buzz of the air-conditioning made it somewhat harder to hear. Miranda made comments too--as if she were annoyed; and she tried to poke fun at herself for that, but you can tell she was kind of pissed. (Oh, and her chair was broken too so she couldn't really relax or get settled as readily as the moderator and A.) Miranda tried to make the event fun and interesting by giving out tickets to the Malcolm Gladwell event by asking questions about one of A.'s books, and no one really got them.

It was a good talk, but the Phil Pullman was really good. Like, REALLY REALLY good. But Jon's here, and I have to show him the books I bought for a ridiculous amount at face value and got signed.

Note to self--Pullman does a good bear voice.

We also saw the preview for the movie (which he said he approved of and had a good experience with), which I'll leave you (Lakshmi, since I think you're probably the one occasional reader I ever get) with: http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

Friday, October 19, 2007

So...

People weren't kidding when they said that the last post I wrote was way back when--and that was back in April. What was I doing between then and now? I think mostly learning more about the book publishing world, to put it simply. The conclusion is that I was recently promoted from Editorial Assistant to Senior Editorial Assistant--and that was quite nice.

It's been a hairy past few weeks though--no lunch, no sunlight, just work. But I'm nearly on top of everything now, and hopefully, will not have to be spending so many more hours in the office than is necessary. And it's not because I'm behind--it's just been ridiculously busy with all the new books coming out and the other books coming in. My main two major projects are to finish the slides for Garde Manger and start editing the Catering IM. That and to get in quotes for two upcoming books.

Getting quotes is harder and more time-consuming than you would think. To get the quotes on back of books, you get a list from either the editor or author (of people who they might know, but mostly likely, they will not know them). Then you figure out the best way to contact the people on the list (chefs with restaurants are easier than those without--searching for chef and "assistant" has been good too because most big chefs have assistants who will be coordinating on their end; for celebrities for Bubby's Pies, specifically to find out how to reach Billy Crystal, I whipped out my credit card and signed up for the platinum IMDB trial thing--did you know that a lot of actors run their own production companies?). Then you figure out how to call their people to get an answer from them about a) if they got the materials b) if they have a quote to give you. Only once or twice did anyone email me a quote by deadline without me having to follow up. Still it must be like a dentist--pulling teeth is hard and messy, but it's gratifying in the end. For example, look at the quotes I got for Professional Chef. Chef Bocuse was travelling, so I couldn't get a new quote from him--and it was pretty traumatic when I called and spoke with some scary French lady who had no idea what I was saying, but everyone else on the list I either contacted and spoke with them directly, or for most of them, I spoke with their assistants. And when you don't have the direct line to the "offices" at French Laundry, you wait for half an hour since the reservation line is the only one on the web. Nuts, but it's great! It's like a game.

I'm probably thinking "dentist" up above because I got two fillings yesterday. Last week I went to the dentist for a cleaning, and the poking device he used to check my teeth kept getting stuck on my upper right back tooth and lower right back tooth (#2 and #30-something) so he said that I had holes and my teeth were soft there so I should get them filled. Keep in mind that I had no idea that these "holes" meant cavities. Meanwhile after my cleaning, my gums were swollen because I should have been flossing. (And I've tried to floss at least two or three times a week since then, which is what my dentist told me was the least flossing that I could plausibly do.) Flossing meant bleeding though, but he convinced me that if I continued to floss that I would stop bleeding. (That part is true--I've really healthy looking gums.) So yesterday, I went to get my fillings. To clarify what I thought I was getting: silver to fill in the holes. Not a solution to a cavity which would involve pain and drilling. So I am in the chair, and he asks if I want to go numb. And well, why would I want to go numb if he's just applying stuff to the holes? So we agree that going numb is dumb. He said it might feel a little sensitive--that's all. So he's doing something to my two teeth, and then he says to rinse, and I do. And I think I'm done. Then he says, Okay, we're going to fill it now. And I was like, Wait, what did you just do if you didn't fill it? He drilled me! Anyway, I now have some cool metal in my mouth. (When I was eleven, I fell in love with this boy who I thought was perfect--he had glasses and braces, and apparently a nasty hairy mole somewhere visible, but I never saw it. Anyway, it's nice to be apart of his metal-mouthed club over 10 years later...) Also, the weird thing about my first visit was that he kept saying that last time we had discussed how I went to or was going to Paris to get engaged. And the funny thing is that last year I did go to Paris--and it would have been very nice to get engaged there, but it didn't happen. I showed my dentist my left hand and said, Uh, not me. It took some convincing, but he realized he meant someone else. Lucky bitch.

Anyway, it's October 19th today, and in a few weeks I will be moving out of Manhattan.
It will either be back to my parents' house in North Bergen or to Reston, Virginia. I've given Jon an ultimatum--he has to propose if he wants me to quit everything here and go down there with him. He's this close to buying a ring I think--poor guy has tons of windows on the computer open reading up on diamonds. A few weeks ago, I had a dream where he proposed with a ring from Kohls. Though in my dream I was initially upset, I got over it and was pretty happy--I mean he got it from Kohls, and it wasn't exactly the style of ring that we discussed, but it had a nice diamond--and I do love him. And I woke up happy that I didn't screw up my relationship in my dream over a ring, but the real me was also kind of angry at the sleeping Jon for a) sleeping b) getting a ring that was totally not what we discussed, from Kohls. We shall see.

Anyway, Jon is here now, and I cannot proofread with him reading over my shoulder. So I hope it mostly makes sense...
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