Posts (page 2)

Here are the actual contents of several emails I received today (I've reversed the order from a cut/paste so you can get the full effect):

-----Original Message-----
From: Tarpley, Ruth To: Tarpley, Wendy
Subject: hey

Your father asked me last night if you were ever going to call again.  Tonight while I am at Bible Study, you should call and tell him you are alive and well.  He can tell you about how the Braves are doing.

 

Love,

Mom

 

From: Tarpley, Wendy To: Tarpley, Ruth
Cc: Tarpley, Richard Civ 402 EMXG/MXVBSE
Subject: RE: hey

I was going to call tonight before I go to the MCR concert.  I wasn't off vocal restriction until yesterday, and I didn't want to mess up my voice by talking, but I am alive and feeling much better than last week.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Tarpley, Richard Civ 402 EMXG/MXVBSE

To: Tarpley, Wendy
Subject: RE: hey

From: Tarpley, Wendy To: Tarpley, Richard Civ 402 EMXG/MXVBSE
Subject: RE: hey

 

His reply:

The strange thing, I've never a) seen my father type the word "OK" or b) heard him in any context use the words "see ya".  It's like I got a reply from my sixteen year old cousin.  If he ever types LOL, I'm going to die laughing.

Here's what I know about New Rave:

1.  It started in England pretty much last year even though I think the actual style of music's been around for a long while.

2.  NME pretty much made up the name, even though most of the people they classify in that genre would be considered just dance/electronic-rock/punk to us Yanks (Sunshine Underground, New Young Pony Club, CSS, and Klaxons). 

2.  The "old rave" folks were not really excited about some of the things that NME said. 

4.  Many people dispute that New Rave actually even exists.  See this blog: http://this.bigstereo.net/2006/10/09/new-rave/  He seems very angry.  Perhaps he just needs...

5. MDMA - the way NME portrays it, let's just give Ecstasy another name and call it "MDMA-zing!"  I don't condone drug use.

Anyway, why am I posting about New Rave?  Because of what I call "Wendy goes New Rave". Behold:

http://www.paloozahead.com/9582-2e49

 

1. If you could learn to play any musical instrument from any period of history, what would it be and why?

Well, my guitar is a 1966 Kay Speed Demon, and I'd like to have mastered that, and it would've been cool to play it with a vintage Fender Amp. Does that count as part of the instrument? Anyway, outside of the guitar I already have, the hurdy-gurdy has always appealed to me. The first musical I was ever in had a song that said, "Oh, the hurdy-gurdy man, he'll play you any tune he can." Anyway, I never really knew what it was, but it involved a monkey as well apparently, so it appealed to me. I wonder if they could make an electric hurdy-gurdy…Actually, I think someone in Arcade Fire plays that.

2. Who is your literary boyfriend?

Laurie from Little Women. He's charming, kind to girls, romantic, but with a bit of wild side, drinking and gambling (not such a big deal cuz he's filthy rich) but nothing more drastic than that. Or maybe Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre minus the crazy wife in the attic and blindness.

3. Reality TV - scourge of humanity or awesome?

In the beginning, there was the documentary, then, the documentary mated with the white trash soap opera, and their bastard child became reality television. So, scourge of humanity, except for America's Next Top Model, which delights and inspires me in ways I cannot describe.

4. What is your favorite scent and why?

Pretty much anything citrus, but mainly grapefruit. As a kid, my mom would get these big boxes of oranges and grapefruits from Florida, and we would eat them constantly. She would squeeze lime juice around the kitchen to make it smell better, and those smells just comfort me.

5. Name something off your life checklist that you would like to do before you die.

I actually have 11 things left to do. Of course, one of them is have my picture taken with Jack White (while I'm wearing heels and a proper outfit since he's like 6'4" or something). Another is record a CD or something for my family for a Christmas present. I've been meaning to do it for several years yet, I just haven't. Maybe one day… Read Huckleberry Finn (I just cannot seem to finish it. It's so awful).

These are my picks for the year (one British, one Scottish, two Canadian, one from California):

1. Thew View - I was actually flying to New York City for one night only to see these Scots, but they had to postpone the show due to visa problems.  They were discovered by everyone's fave junkie, Pete Doherty, and their producer's Owen Morris (Oasis' Definitely Maybe).  Once they get over here, they're going to be ridiculous!  Just try to get their songs out of your head, you won't be able to.  "I've had the same jeans on for four days now..."  The chorus to "Wasted Little DJ's" is in Pig Latin!  They'll be this years Arctic Monkeys (only better in my opinion).

 

2. Tokyo Police Club - They're like the Canadian version of the Strokes.  A post-pop/punk, anti-establishment wonder.  The lyrics of the first song on their album have their name in it, which I think is a brilliant marketing tactic.

3.  Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards is just a great, great album.  They're touring with TPC, and I'm going to see them down the street from my house at Vinyl!  Not to mention, they are awfully cute, all of them.

4.  Bloc Party - I don't like them because they preach against the horrid depressed, drug-induced party weekends of people in London, and yet they are the worst offenders.  However, you'll probably like them.

5. Arcade Fire - The tickets to their concert in NYC went for $1000 on the exchanges, but people still paid it.  That's dedication.

 

Here's a video of the View:

 

I've decided to make a really generic New Year's Resolution (or, as 99X likes to call it, a "Screw Year's Resolution").  This pastor at my parents' church used to declare every year the "Year of Something".  One year it was Connection.  Another it was Purpose.  Seinfeld had the summer of George.  I've decided to declare 2007 [drumroll]...

THE YEAR OF SIMPLICITY

Pretty simple isn't it?  It's not exactly a resolution like losing 40 lbs or saving $5K or running a marathon.  It's little things that I can do to make my life (and perhaps in the process, other peoples' lives) better.  Now, when making a decision, I ask myself, "will it make my life simpler or more complicated?" 

Some of it's actually kind of elementary and silly-sounding.  Everyday tasks can be simpler.  I made myself a little chore chart at home (because I'm kind of messy), and each day I have to make sure certain things are done.  It keeps me from sitting in front of the tv watching reruns of America's Next Top Model while eating mindlessly and comparing myself to skinny girls, and my house is really clean.  Exercise and travel can be simpler.  I'm also making sure that I do at least one activity (outside of going to the gym) that requires me moving around.  The housecleaning helps with that, but Tuesday, instead of driving the six blocks to the library, I walked.  I walk to work each day too, which is good. I've taken all of the canned food that I haven't eaten to give to Atlanta food bank.  No, I haven't eaten lima beans or pizza sauce, so why am I holding onto them? I cleaned out my fridge, and made lists of things that are healthy and really easy and fast to cook.  Breakfast: oatmeal and banana.  Lunch: sandwich.  Dinner: Spaghetti.  My food choices are simpler.

Here's the big step that's the hardest:  I'm giving up almost all of my clothes.  No, really mom.  I took two garbage bags full to Goodwill yesterday, and that's only like half my closet.  There's no reason to keep a lot of things in there that I cannot/do not wear.  Why does a person need sixteen pairs of pajamas when they only sleep seven days a week?  I had, literally a drawer of tights.  Nine pairs of them were black.  I wear black tights, maybe three days a week in the winter, so why on earth would I have NINE PAIRS? (Let's not even discuss the neon pink/black horizontally striped tights.)  Why do I have a bra that I wore in high school? (Come on you know it doesn't fit anymore, and the fact that I bought it at the Gap outlet for 89 cents doesn't justify keeping it.)  I buy a lot of clothes. a lot. mostly because my other clothes are dirty or boring or hidden somewhere in the dark recesses of my closet, and I can't find them.  I've whittled my wardrobe down to the absolute basics, with no more than seven of any particular item (yes, I managed to pick out only 7 tshirts that I simply can't live without, and the others are now at Goodwill).  I'm tempted to delete that last sentence, because if I was some poor refugee or something, seven of anything, much less everything would seem like a lot.    The drawers aren't stuffed, and the closet isn't packed and overflowing.  Anyway, I open my drawers and look in my closet, and I can see what choices I have to wear.  I saw an outfit today that I never would have put together before except I could see my clothes.  What a novel concept!

 

Everyone else is doing a Top Ten Albums for the Year, so I thought I'd do one too.  There are people who will criticize me, but it's not the Blender or the Rolling Stone or the NME Top Ten, it's the Wendy's Top Ten.  I like all ten of these albums.  I'm not even sure if they're in the right order of greatness, they're just in the order I thought of them.  I know what I want my top three to be, but you're welcome to find/listen to all or none of them.

1.  The Raconteurs - "Broken Boy Soldiers" - To those who know me, this is no surprise.  They're still better live, but I'm sure everyone says that when rationalizing their mild obsessions with a favorite band.

2.  Wolfmother - "Wolfmother" - It's just an awesome, raucous good album. 

3. Arctic Monkeys - "Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not" - Just listen to the Arctic Monkeys.  The accents alone should make you love them.

4. Beck - "The Information" - I'm just a big Beck fan. I saw him on Halloween, and he's just cool.

5.  The Strokes - "First Impressions of Earth" - A step down from the prevoius album, but still great.

6.  The Killers - "Sam's Town" - I know you've heard "When You Were Young", and no, he doesn't look a thing like Jesus, but you love it anyway.

7.  My Chemical Romance - "Welcome to the Black Parade" - I don't subscribe to this take on the afterlife, but it's definitely wonderful and kind of makes me want to wear eyeliner and a band uniform and play the air guitar in my living room.

8.  Justin Timberlake - "FutureSex/LoveSounds" - I will not justify this to you.  I don't have to.  Just shut up.  I'm not going to change my mind.

9. The Kooks - "Inside In/Inside Out" - If you haven't heard them, just try it.

10.  Okay, I can think of a bunch more than ten, but I guess I have to say, ugh, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Show Your Bones" tied with Christina Aguilera - "Back to Basics" - I really am not a fan of women singers (except for a very minute few), and yes I realize that's a bit weird and self-deprecating, but it's true.  These were great albums. independent of my biased opinion.

 

Just try to tell me she's not.  I'll fight you.  To the death. 

During the holiday season, the magnanimous attorneys in our office (and I say that because they only charge like $300/hr to do work) get equally magnanimous (read: kiss-ass) Christmas gifts from vendors, clients and other attorneys.  Usually it's a gift basket (which gets shared among all employees), alcohol (which does not get shared), and the occasional actual gift.  Our managing partner got a copy of The New York Time Practical Guide to Practically Everything from someone.  I asked if I could have it, and he graciously (laughingly) gave it to me.  Now, he might have left it on a shelf to get a layer of dust, but buddy, you know I'm going to read it cover to cover.  Here are just a couple of things the book's jacket tells me:

1.  It is the essential companion for everyday life.

2.  It can tell you how to choose the best insurance policy, get a copy of your FBI file, pick the best vegetables to grow in your garden, cure a hangover, and perform the Heimlich maneuver properly.  All of these things sound practical, and I am excited to learn how to do them.

3.  The first item I turned to is...the ten films not to be missed from each year from 1975-2005.  There are also the top list of DVD's not to be missed by NYTimes critics.  That's pretty cool.

Three words: Office. Christmas. Party.  It was fabulous.  It was at Maggiano's so the food was awesome.  I stopped counting after the 6th glass of champagne.  The band was actually pretty good, and the guitar player/lead singer was blind, so we're also helping people I guess.  As Matt would say, he was clutch.  Matt was pretty clutch too.  Kudos to him for having more rhythm than your average white guy and actually being able to dance (and for putting up with my drunk self and actually dancing for a long time). On the way out, I grabbed this giant bottle of champagne (like, it was really big).  Anyway, this waiter comes by, and while I'm looking very sheepish, he says, in a Puerto Rican accent, "It's not coming out of my paycheck."  We get home, and I'm still pretty tipsy (Matt drives, of course.)  I'm like, hey, let's get the champagne.  He picks up the bottle and starts laughing hysterically because. the. bottle. is. fake.  Completely Empty!  What a gyp.

Here's what I know about large quantities of champagne:  

1. A regular bottle is 750 mL.  A magnum is 1.5 L.  Anything larger than that is named after biblical folks (don't ask me why).  A really, really big one (6 L maybe) is a Melchizedek.

2. A really big bottle of champagne that is empty is called decoration.

It's definitely baby season at our office.  My friend Cristina is due any day now, and there are at least 9 other pregnant ladies in our office. Three are having sets of twins!  That's thirteen babies.  That means 8% of the Atlanta office of Seyfarth Shaw is pregnant. That's also the same percentage of Jews in America (I'm not racist or anything, I just happen to know the percentage of Jews in America.  Jews are great.)  Here's what I know about pregnancy/gestation of babies:

1.  It takes nine months, but obstetricians actually count 40 weeks as full term from the date of your last period (not the date of ovulation, even if you know that's when it happened).

2.  I asked one of the women if she knew whether her twins were fraternal or identical and she said she wasn't sure if they knew how to tell.  Here's what google tells me:  If there's only one amniotic sac (and they're in there together), it's definitely identical.  If they are a boy and a girl, they're definitely fraternal.  Other than that, you can't tell until they come out.

3.  I remember seeing on the Today Show that as many as 1 in 8 pregnancies starts out as twins.

4.  Sometimes you crave odd things to eat (i.e. pickles and ice cream).  It's called pica (PIE-kuh).  When my mom was pregnant, she craved cherries and banana popsicles.  Cristina loves to eat cheese constantly!  I have to tease her about it because I don't think a day's gone by in the last two weeks where she hasn't eaten some form of cheese.  One of my friends wanted cotton candy at odd hours and would sob until someone found her some.  Another liked to eat Girl Scout Thin Mints and Sonny's BBQ sauce.  Eew.