What I've Realized Lately

1. Waking up early is considered ambitious behavior. Staying up late is considered suspicious behavior. (As Malice might say, that is a ricockulous double standard based on an outmoded agrarian mindset.)

2. You can be feeling really discouraged and then someone hands you some unexpected cash and it's all daisies and dildos again.*

3. Champagne cocktails give me just as happy a buzz as sangria and margaritas, plus they make me feel fancy.

4. I don't enjoy capers.

5. It's OK to be frivolous and silly today, even though yesterday was somber and sentimental. Life needs both.

*I have no idea what that phrase means, but like it.

In Memory of Mandy

Today a girl I knew died. She wasn't technically a girl, as she was in her mid-30s, but she was a girl at heart. I worked with her for years. She was most famous for the way her voice carried from one end of the building to the other, to the chagrin of many a coworker. She was fun-loving, but wore her emotions on her sleeve--the euphoric highs and sob-inducing lows. She laughed from her gut and was generous to a fault.

I still remember riding in her crappy little white compact car on the way back from a client meeting one sunny day. I was explaining to her how I had started nicknaming my ex-boyfriends after famous wars (e.g., Vietnam, Desert Storm). She was laughing so hard, she was having a hard time staying in her lane.

After awhile she met a nice guy, got married and moved away. They bought a home and got pregnant. Then she found out she was sick. Stage 4 colon cancer. Her doctors induced birth prematurely in order to get Mandy into chemo treatment as soon as possible. She held on for a long time and got to see her little girl grow for awhile. I know that little girl kept her going and gave her incredible joy, but seeing that little baby's face had to break her heart, too.

Last year, friends of hers in L.A. hosted a fund-raiser party to help gather money to cover Mandy's medical expenses. I was amazed at the huge turnout and the incredible band of friends Mandy's big heart had touched. It was a real tribute to the kind of person she was.

A few weeks ago, Mandy sent me a thank you note for a book I'd sent her hoping to lift her spirits. She told me she'd started thinking about heaven, even though she'd never been a spiritual person, and it gave her some comfort. "After all, who wouldn't like heaven?" she asked. Then she told me not to make work my number one priority. I remember her working late all the time, stressed over deadlines. That hit a little close to home, since I'm often at my desk way too long stressing way too much.

Thank you, Mandy. My only comfort in your passing is that I know you're not suffering anymore. It is also comforting to know that during this life, you tasted true joy and gave it to so many others. Thank you for your sunshine and your laugh. I hope you find that piece of heaven you deserve.

The Namesake

The two reasons to see director Mira Nair's lastest film The Namesake are pictured here: lead actors Tabu and Irfan Khan. They are absolutely brilliant in their roles as a married Bengali couple who start a new family in America, only to see their children grow up to be less than respectful of their traditions and values.

Apart from their utter grace and grounded presence, the film as a whole is dissatisfying. The narrative is spotty and certain scenes interrupt the proceedings to the point of distraction. The youthful actors are not as skilled as their parental units, which subtracts from the experience, too. (I'm talking to you, Kumar.)

Tabu and Khan, though, are riveting to watch. Their gentle expressions convey so much with so little effort. I would partially credit the dialogue with making these characters so endearing, but the script is rather simple and unremarkable. It's truly their acting talent that transforms this film from "movie of the week" fare into something worthwhile.

10 good things about today

1. Waking up in a peaceful mood.
2. Drizzly weather.
3. Turtleneck and tights.
4. Good music on the radio (note to self: check out band called Sunny Day Sets Fire)
5. Earl Grey tea with soy milk.
6. Honey bran muffin with raisins.
7. Looking at my eight-month-old nephew's St. Patrick's Day picture.
8. Making dinner plans with an old friend.
9. Making amends with another old friend.
10. Finding out I won a bronze in a non-Olympic event.

Extra mean

Returning to my "watching TV on DVD" ways, I recently took in the first three episodes of season one of the Ricky Gervais' HBO series Extras. I've one word for it: mirthless. The premise is funny, the dialogue is not. The attempt at Burns and Allen duo humor is ham-handed and mildy offensive. Now, I know it's usually unfair to judge a show on its first few episodes. Many great shows take a year to hit their stride. So maybe when season two comes out on DVD, I'll give it one more shot.

Extras suffers from the same comedic misstep that Lisa Kudrow's The Comeback did. Both are just too mean-spirited to be truly funny. And I'm a big fan of black comedy, so I should be primed to savor bile-leaking humor. For instance, I think Bad Santa is freakin' hilarious and that involves a drunk criminal cursing out little kids while wearing a soiled Santa suit.

I'm trying to figure out why the mean-heartedness of Extras and The Comeback falls so flat for me. I'm thinking it's because the characters just aren't likable or sympathetic. On the flip side, they're also not interesting enough to hate. That's what I'm thinking. You?

Office life

Things I have learned from watching season two of the American version of the TV show The Office on DVD:

1. It is getting funnier, just like people said it was.
2. The (plethora of) deleted scenes were actually quite entertaining.
3. It will never be funnier than the British version of the show.
4. Office life is just absurb. How millions of professionals show up dutifully five days a week to serve as desk jockeys in fluorescently lit, air-conditioned boxes of blandness seems like a special kind of wrong.

Shintastic

I'm going to go out on a limb and declare The Shins' new album Wincing the Night Away the best of 2007. I haven't listened to a CD so ad nauseum and still found new details to savor since Beck's Sea Change. Ravishing melodies, lush production details and brain noodling lyrics wash over you from end to end. Not to mention James Mercer's sweetly plaintive vocal goodness. (Personal favorite track: Red Rabbits. When James hits the line, "I might just give the old dark side a try" it just slays me. Really it does.)

In some ways, the album feels like one long song to me. And by "in some ways," I mean "in a very good way." Listening to it is like riding a gentle wave. It's soothing, but every once in awhile a swell catches you offguard, lifts you up and spins you around. I can't imagine any other release topping it this year. If that happens--if two albums reach this pinnacle of aural pleasure--then I will be beside myself, grinning the night away.