@morninggloria: If my degree serves me well, Plato praised pederasty but condemned the consummation of it, i.e., sexual intercourse. He upheld the virtues of, you know.. platonic man-boy love. Need to go back and re-read him, not sure where he precisely drew the line. Strumming lyres together while toasting s’mores? Taking in a Saturday-nite tragedy at the local amphitheatre and holding hands during the performance?
@sequined: Reading, fencing and cooking. Plus enjoying people. You know, people in all their joyous glory and folly. I'm like Lady D'Artagnan with a homey streak.
@dj_chick: LOL! OK, I'll try: I think he smelled nice in that manly way, but definitely *NOT* of men's perfume. He wore, if I can retrieve this memory correctly, a checkered shirt and jeans. Something I noticed, when he looks straight at you across the table, he seems a bit cross-eyed. =) But in a very attractive way!
He's not tall in person, more of a stocky, sturdy type. What impressed me most all the way through the photo shoot and subsequent interview was his cordial and friendly demeanor to any and all. He acknowledged and interacted in a gentlemanly manner with all of us--make-up crew, stylist, magazine flunkies, etc. He was funny but also respectful, like a properly raised boy with nice manners.
@KRS10: @Renata Halpern: Cheer up, snuggle-chops! I know it feels like crap right now, but I've been there, and trust me: It's just a phase. Soon you'll get a paying job (any sort of blasted job--we can't be picky right now, it's a recession) and you can cook your own wonderful pasta topped with shredded truffled cheese.. Which is a princely supper the likes of which not even clueless Hollywood celebs eat, (because they is stoopid), and it will make you feel happy, I promise! It's one of the most decadent and delightful things I've yet experienced on this here planet.. Good luck, dears!
@k_wood: Sorry to say, you sound a bit like me--suburbia only works happily if your main reason for the transition is that you have a husband/wife and kids who need to go to better schools. In that case it's not your own self-actualization that takes center-stage, but that of your beloved family. If you're still confused and in-between about these decisions, maybe try to use this "down"time to figure out what you really want in life: such as, pursue a project you always wanted to do, but never found the time for in the big bad city? Like, writing, sewing, cooking, whatever you like to do as a hobby and makes you happy? Who knows, when you're 10 years older, you might look at this downtime and see it as the best thing that happened to you..
Good luck!
What are your foolproof, ridiculously quick recipes that you make when you're trying to impress friends, foes, and loved ones coming over for dinner?
I'll start: I make a leek stew/compote that seems to make everyone happy. Even little kids! It's also very simple:
1. Grab a hold of some 1.5 lbs' worth of handsome leeks from the farmers market. (They always taste better than store-bought ones, plus they're sorta in season now.. Late spring/summer is their time!)
2. Wash them carefully (sand and dirt gets stuck in between the leaves, you don't want "crunchy" in this dish), and if needed, disembowel them to cleans them thoroughly.
3. Then cut 'em up in as thin-as-you-can round slivers.. Separate the green parts from the white parts, because the greenies need to cook longer.
4. Heat up a few chunks of good (organic) butter over medium heat in a big non-stick pan. When the butter is bubbling (but not burnt, or browining), toss in all the green parts. Stir. Then cover with a lid, and let simmer.
5. Add the following: salt and pepper to taste, a cocktail of vinegar, white wine, and lime juice (maybe about half a cup total.. They're all acidic ingredients and help preserve the attractive green color of the leeks, but also add a nice li'l zingy taste).
6. After about 5-7 minutes, toss in the white leek parts. Let simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 25-35 minutes. If the liquid in the pan runs too low, add a bit of water.
7. Remove pan from heat when the leeks are sort of caramelized, and have a sweetish/oniony/slightly tart taste.
8. Drain cooking liquid accumulated in the pan.
9. Toast some slices of gorgeous, country French bread. For ideal results, find crusty bread with a moist interior--like, Euro-style bread that's the shiz.
10. Then slap the leek stew on top, and taaa-daa! Serve!
PS: Also, one of the greatest things about leeks is that, in the stew form, they do NOT give you "onion breath," so you are free to frolic post-supper!
Bon Appetit & Happy 4th!
@margareita metermaid: I hugged James McAvoy once. (Scottish fox from the Atonement and Last King of Scotland.) It was at the end of a very proper professional encounter, over lunch, but he was so charming and such a gentleman-conversationalist--he even called me "luv," in that great Scottish brogue of his--that I had to grip the chair with all my might so I wouldn't lunge at him like a mad hyenna and mawl him on the spot. Addt'l cookie points: McAvoy is one of only TWO celebs I've ever met for business/professional purposes over lunch, coffee, etc. who did NOT stick me with the bill at the end. Naomi Watts was the other. These two are class acts in my book, on top of being talented, nice, and well-spoken.
Also, a good friend of mine once grabbed Mark Ruffalo's butt cheek in the elevator after a party at Chateau Marmont.
@BlondeGoddess: Me three! Radar mag once put up a theme issue about the most toxic bachelors, and Mr. Bensimon was in the Top 10. They reported that he often disrobes during his shoots, and attempts to entertain everyone by showing off his "elephant trunk," as he apparently calls it.
Whenever I see Ewan McGregor, I revert to my 14-year-old self, who was obsessed with a-ha* and collected their posters.. I just want to squeal! Those sideburns! That attractively crinkled visage! The uber-fair eyebrows! ..And, such a wonderful actor, to boot. Despite the nerdy Star Wars sh*t he did.
*a-ha: Norwegian pop band; authors of the immortal MTV hit "Take on Me."
I initially assessed this as a really clever hed and was chuckling away, but then I saw the pic and thought.. What? Silence? Hams? U2? Don't get it! Unless you mean that Bono is a ham. But he's not a "silent" ham, he's the most vocal ham in the entire goddam charcuterie..
There's another "Dune" remake supposedly coming out next year. Where are Kanye's pimpin' skillz & how could he have missed this MEGA product placement opportunity?
@ASmallTurnip: Liesl! Liesl! German for "Lizzie." (She was the "16 going on 17" daughter in "The Sound of Music.")
The creators of this show stole the idea from Weird Al Yankovic. Remember his "Fat" and "Eat It" videos? "Ham on, ham on, ham on wheat.. All right!"
Something is missing from this missive. Unicorns! I'm referring specifically to cute pocket-sized unicorns playing melodies of sympathy on tiny violins. And the lyrics to their songs go likes this, "I am so sorry that I cheated on you, cheater. I am troubled! And yet oh-so-great! If you just as much as wink at me on Facebook, I shall descend from the heavenly throne from whence I survey the pitiful world of humans and strum my lyre, like the Greek gods on Mount Olympus, and afford you the honor to bleep my brains out again. PS: I love you!"
@lalinguist: Haiku intros?
@DorothyBarker: Kinda like how any big New Yorker article, on any given topic, always has that "New Yorker voice"?! Obviously, because crap dudes are all alike; nice dudes are nice each in his own way.
I'm obsessed with watching foil fencing on TV or online--it's just so much FUN!--but since I never practiced the sport, it took me literally, years, to figure out all the intensely complex rules. I wonder if there's any other Olympic sport that demands as much intellectual engagement from its fans? If you don't know the rules, it's practically impossible to understand who's kicking whose ass, or savor the particularly beautiful bouts. Talk about a sport for smarties!
Honest to G_d guys, I don't get the ragging on L Lohan thing. She's a young woman in trouble. She's clearly not free of her addiction past, and what do we do? Slap her down? She's not equal to Paris Hilton or any of those other celeb-y pests. She's a good actress, and in the hands of the proper director, I feel she could even be a sublime actress. She deserves a second chance. Her nutty behavior of late I feel is typical addict behavior.. I have nothing but sympathy for that. She needs help, not brutal slapdowns..
I want Lindsay Lohan to be happy, and healthy and successful, and be able to flip the birdie to all her detractors. I WANT her to arise and shine.. Lindz, you've done bad, bad, things, and stupid things, but I still like you. It's very hard NOT to like you--you're so human, and also so cute. And, although most people in the biz don't get that, I also think you're wonderfully talented. Just a small advice: Please stop doing that thing when you exhale on every breath when you deliver a line, so everything sounds like a huffy reposte.. (Note: "Chapter 27") It's distracting on the screen. Lindsay, oh Miss Lohan. Cut that shit out, girl, the alcohol and the drugs and the insanity. You're a bleeping talented, beautiful woman. If nothing else, stop the shit because of your vanity. You're too pretty to see your looks go to shit because of druggy crap. You're pretty, talented, smart, and have a wonderful smoky voice that I adore in women. Now cut it out, and go to work soberly.
One thing I'm surprised to almost never see discussed in connection with Jackson is the fact that his father (or their entire family, but mainly his father) was a hardcore Jehova's Witness. I discovered that that will mess you up real good. I once fell in love (hard) for a guy who grew up with a similarly rigid father, full-on in the church, which basically controlled every aspect of his life until he turned 18 and ran off to college and escaped the madness. Just like with Michael Jackson, my ex was promptly dis-fellowshiped and renounced by his father. My ex survived this, and is today a lovely and intelligent and successful person on the surface, but scratch the surface and he is one of the most emotionally messed-up people walking the earth. The combination of a dogmatic father and a rigid, controlling belief system damaged his ability to love, to communicate, to relate to other people to such an extent that I am not even sure it can ever be fixed. My theory about Jackson is that he developed all these weird ways of coping because of the issues of control, followed by abandonment, that he experienced as a child.
