I am the worst at keeping up with my posts. Work has been crazy and I've been too busy watching hours of DVR'ed TV to actually sit down and have an original thought. But I'm going to try and see what happens. During these hours of TV, I've learned there are some good new TV shows, some really bad ones, and I now have the ability to get into shows that I didn't watch before. So the good ones? My favorite would be "Gossip Girl", probably because I'm really a 16-year old girl at heart. My least favorite? Everything else. Every other new show this season that I've seen sucks ass. But I have gotten into "30 Rock" which may be the funniest show on TV - yes, even funnier than "The Office" which is also a new show to my repetoire. I'm loving the ability to fast-forward through commercials, especially since from my years in that business I could remember every campaign, every celebrity spokesperson. It's so refreshing to actually be able to say "I have no idea what you're talking about" when someone asks me if I've seen the new Geico campaign.



What am I not DVR'ing? Anything that runs on VH-1. Seriously, have they lost their minds? Two whole series devoted to finding Flavor Flav a sex partner weren't enough? I mean, what drugs would you have to be on to even thinking of hooking up with an scrawny aging rapstar who last I knew was still living with his mom in Uniondale. ANOTHER "I Love New York"? This might be even worse than that Tila Tequila show on MTV. Should we have a series for every skanky whore who can't find a good man, as if she's actually going to find one from the 20 or so losers they pick? Hell, even the Bachelor couples can't stay together and those guys are at least usually good looking and successful. I mean, while I enjoyed "Rock of Love w/ Brett Michaels", it was total trash TV. I didn't think they could stoop further but apparently VH1 has jumped the shark. Maybe in the next installment, they'll film "I Love NY" from inside a maximum security prison - that should increase her chances at love.

I'm in Love

With my DVR that is. Earlier this year I posted a rant on how stupid I thought DVR was and how I'd never get one until I can drag it to the gym. You know what? I was an idiot. Not only do I not care if my butt ever sees the inside of the gym again, I don't plan on getting off the couch much at all this winter. Heather, Parker and Hillary teased me endlessly about not having DVR and wondered if I was even of this century. I didn't care, that is until I started traveling more and realized between work and the Junior League, I wasn't going to be home much. Since I had gotten into shows like "Lost" and "Heroes" last year which aren't re-shown ten times a week, I had no choice.

That brings me to another announcement. Annie the Head Hen told me that my blog should have a theme, that way I wouldn't be so all over the place. I agreed and decided that since what I am really good at is commenting about celebrity gossip and TV, I would post once a week going forward about something either ridiculous I had watched or something I really liked. I may go off-course from time to time, but I am going to try to stay the course.

The fall TV season started last week so stop by next week for a new post. If you're lucky, it might even be about the series finale of "Rock of Love with Brett Michaels". If the big-boobed one wins, I'm off to the gym.

I Love LA.... (when it's not 108, dusty, etc.)

So I realized that it's been over a month since my last posting - oh well, I was good for a little while. Let's blame it on the steam-pipe explosion. Work got busy and time got short but I'm back, better than ever. So I just returned from a lovely 4-day trip to see my wonderful friend Wendy in Los Angeles. It was fun as always but it was also hot....really hot. Like surface of the sun hot. I believe it got up to 108 on Friday in the Valley - it was brutal. Wendy had a bbq that evening and all we did was sit around outside complaining about the heat and asking if anyone felt the breeze that was most likely the result of others moving to unstick themselves from their chairs.

On Thursday morning I joined Wendy and Riggins (her dog) on a hike in Runyon Canyon. When someone says to a NYer that they're going on a hike, all I could think of was something that wasn't flat. Boy, was I in for a treat. We were up and out of the house by 8am and it was really beautiful. You access it off of Mulholland Drive and it allows you unparalleled views of all of LA. The hike down was not too bad, just a little steep. The hike up, a different story. We hiked up the "spine" of the Canyon, which is essentially right up the side of the mountain - no path, no place to rest, etc. I'll just say that I felt like the biggest baby ever - it was SO hard. I likened myself to one of the contestants on "The Biggest Loser" who has to have the rest of the team come carry her the rest of the way. That's how bad it was. I was on the verge of tears, hyperventilating, a pretty sight all around. But I finished it on my own and even forgave Wendy later that day. I felt better when her mom called and said "you made Jen climb Runyon?"

It's much cooler in NY now and it makes after-work plans much more pleasant. I'm going to keep that way of thinking until I have to go to Nashville at the end of the month where it'll be hot for sure. I got to see my friend Denise last night and we went to my new favorite Manhattan Italian restaurant, MAX. It's the Tribeca version of the original in the East Village and is inexpensive, unpretentious, and delicious. Denise is moving to Bermuda for three years for work and I'm looking forward to having another friend living somewhere I'd think I'd like to go, especially some place as expensive as Bermuda.

I started off strong with this post and then it just fizzled out - sorry. Will be back again soon and I might even have gone back on my word by then and gotten a DVR.

Yes, I AM Silently Judging You....

Since I promised to post more often and since last week provided to be a bit unusual (more on that in a minute), I thought I'd just comment on the week's starlet festivities. I had to giggle this afternoon while reading the New York Post about the picture of Lindsay Lohan in her bikini, complete with her alcohol monitoring bracelet on her ankle. The reason for my snickering was that not 10 minutes before this, I saw on the TV in our lunchroom that she had been busted for DUI AGAIN and had also been found with cocaine in her pocket. While I know it's not nice to laugh at those with problems, something came to mind that made me wonder. This girl, fresh out of rehab and just turned 21, has been showing up again on the party circuit. I can't imagine not being able to enjoy your 21st with a round of shots, but the real question is this: why is this girl still driving??? With all the money she has, you'd think SOMEONE would arrange for her to have a limo at her disposal, or at very least a sober employee to chauffeur her around. When I was young, we had Saferides to call so that you could go out and not have to worry about getting a DWI. Back in the crazy 80's, Guns n Roses guitarist Slash had someone on his payroll who's sole job it was to make sure Slash stayed alive. This entailed picking his drunk ass up out of the gutter, driving him home, cleaning up his vomit, putting him to bed, etc. I'm not saying that it's a pleasant job, especially doing it for someone unpaid, but if you can tap into Lindsay's cash flow, it might not be a bad job for say, Kevin Federline. Maybe he could pick up hot mess Britney on the way home.

In personal news, I had a nice scare last Wednesday when that steam pipe exploded about a 1/2 block from my office. As anyone who worked in NYC on 9/11 knows, you don't freak someone out like that without proper notice. My notice was a BOOM, an order over the building's loudspeaker to evacuate, and then a good old haul-ass down the sidewalk while being chased by a giant cloud of smoke and debris. That, my friends, is SO not OK.

Have a great week and catch up with y'all soon.

Do You Want Fries With That?

Question for all you out there: do you ever wonder what important things you could be learning and absorbing if it wasn't for the fact that your brain is chock full of other things? My brain is full of complete nonsense - things I've learned from Us Weekly, Entertainment Tonight and Page Six. While I think I'm a relatively intelligent person, my brain just seems to like this kind of information better than say, the square root of pi. This was highlighted by a recent viewing of VH1's "The World Series of Pop Culture". There I was, home on the couch, YELLING at the contestant who didn't know the answer to "who lost her friendship with Heather Locklear by hooking up with Richie Sambora?" This seemingly normal guy didn't have a clue. I kept yelling "Denise Richards" at him until he relented, passing the question to his competitor, who was female, and obviously knew the answer. The troubling thing is that she was A DOCTOR. I have time to know this kind of stuff, but a neurologist? Isn't she supposed to be solving brain issues like mine instead of peering in there and siphoning off the top? Granted, most of the teams are way smarter than me when it comes to the world of trivia, but I think I could at least hold my own with good back-up. For instance, on a team with Michelle Kudesh and Mark Davis? We'd be world champions. Michelle taking 80's TV, Mark taking 70's TV, and me taking 90's boy bands. Can anyone say, "I'll take 90's boy bands for $300, Alex?"

On another note, the weekend is here again, thank god. In my new tradition of recommending good music, I saw last night what had to be one of the top 5 live acts I've ever seen. This was courtesy of Trombone Shorty and his band - Trombone Shorty is about 21 years old, a cross between Jay-Z and Andre 3000, and the sickest jazz trombonist ever. Anyone that can play AC/DC's "Back in Black" on the trombone and make it sound that good has a fan in me for life. If he comes to your town, try and check him out. If he doesn't, make the trip to New Orleans and see him in his home town.

I'm so horrified......

So I should pat myself on the back for doing such a nice job updating my blog, if you even want to call it that. Is it possible that I haven't posted anything since January?? All that means is that things that I should've put down in writing have just been spewing from my mouth and most likely torturing or boring my friends and family. (or both most likely)

With that said, I'm going to try to be better about posting on a more regular basis. While few people even know I have a blog, I should at least try to keep my few fans entertained. I'm even thinking of buying a digital camera so I can post pictures! Don't hold your breath on that one considering I have a disposable camera sitting on my side table that's at least 2 years old. What I will try to do is keep you updated on what I'm up to since I can't believe that my life is as boring as I make it out to be. I'll let you be the judge.

I'm off to Vermont tomorrow for the weekend to see my good friend, Michelle, who has a house up there. Her friend Hillary is going with me and I'm looking forward to some MTV behind-the-scenes info since she's counsel for them. Hopefully the weather will be good for some shopping, hiking, and wine drinking. I'll have more to say on that next week.

Yesterday, on our nation's birthday, I decided to partake in a free concert being held in Battery Park by one of my favorite bands of late, The New Pornographers. Had it not been for the rain showers, the day would've been perfect. My work colleague, Henry, had gotten there early and grabbed a prime piece of real estate so that when Maria and I showed up, all we had to do was plop our butts down. The opening band, Midlake, was a bit of a snooze-fest but the Canadians had everyone rocking. I'm looking forward to their new album so stay tuned.

That's all for now. Thanks for your patience and I'll be in touch soon.

The argument for DVR

So apparently I'm one of the only people on the planet to not have DVR and you know what? I'm actually ok with that. When I tell people that I don't have DVR, I get the same reaction as if I told them I was still using a rotary phone or that I only worked in DOS. What's the big deal? What people don't understand is that I really don't need to watch more television. Take this weekend - it was cold and I was tired so I only left the house once between Friday night at 11pm and Sunday night at 6pm. What I did in-between was watch TV, a lot of it. Saturday night I watched 2 movies on DVD and then proceeded to watch "Cocktail" on TBS after that. I have two TV's in my apartment, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. There are times that they're both on and I'm home by myself. This my friends, is sad. And is there really that much good TV on to warrant setting aside large chunks of my limited free time to catch up? I don't think so. Aside from "Ugly Betty", the Monday night line-up on CBS, and the Law & Order franchise, I can't think of anything else I need or really want to see. I didn't allow myself to get caught up in "24" or "Lost" or any of those other shows people rave about and frankly, if I can't miss "America's Next Top Model" or "Top Chef" once and a while, I have bigger problems than not having DVR. So unless they make a portable one that I can take with me to the gym, I'm going to abstain for now.