I am "bi"

When people ask my advice (because I know how to reboot a computer and use basic photoshop, they think I'm good with computers, which strikes my Unix/RedHad/IT professional of a brother as hilarious) on whether to get a Mac or PC, I shrug and say, "well, if you want to write stuff and use the internet, get a PC; if you want to record music, edit movies, and do a lot of photosharing, get a Mac." They expect me to, like many others, fire off an icinderary diatribe against one or the other.

I used to not like Mac's so much, and I know despite being in the desperate minority (what is it...5% of all computer users have a Mac?) they're freakin' expensive, but since OS 10 I've had a pleasurable time navigating them. Then, as I got into production and dabbled in songwriting and wanted to be able to edit and also record music, the Powerbook seemed an obvious choice. Each mac comes with Ilife, including the robust and amazingly simple Imovie (negating a Final Cut Pro purchase) and Garageband, so good at editing and recording music that some pros use it. I do love my powerbook.

But sitting in my walk-in closet, on a shelf I jerry rigged in the back, sits my 7-year-old HP desktop. The monitor is bigger than my entire upper body. My boyfriend aches to toss it for a cheap, new dell or something. It's my "backup" computer and my DSL hardware plugs into it. It works just fine!! Sure, it can't shut down anymore (thanks to the DSL) and it can't burn CDs and uh, in fact, it still uses floppy disks, but it's made the way things were supposed to be made--to never break!

So I always told people it was up to their preferences what computer they got. They prodded and pried, trying to get a biased answer. "I have both," i'd say, "a PC and a Mac, and I love 'em equally." Just like my two cats.

And now, I'm sitting at the Mac "Genius Bar," during my hiatus (my new job starts in August), thinking a Tuesday morning would be a slow time. Well, not when kids are out for summer. I have an hour long wait to find out how to clear up my "Startup disk." Mac "Help" was anything but ("delete some files on your startup disk," it says. Well, what files? the ones that contain actual programs for my Mac???).

So now I'm batting a bit more for the other team, the PCs. I still remain "Bi" but I'm definitely favoring that old steam-powered HP comfortably humming in my closet. But I'll be patient. I only half hour to go till some "genius" quickly rearranges my startup disk and I'm back in business. Hopefully.

Kyra Sedgwick. Emmy. NOW.

Kyra_Sedgwick
Originally uploaded by violetta.

Does anyone watch The Closer? Well, you should, because it's one of the more elegant and solid crime dramas around (and being addicted to these kinds of shows, I profess to be a bit of an expert).

I am enjoying Kyra Sedgewick's version of a "strong" woman without pushing the machismo element. She plays a southern former CIA interrogator (who almost always gets her confession) and current police chief in charge of "priority" homocides (high profile folks). She slips into a very alluring southern accent and charming mannerisms but she also does the stern cop thing very well too--it all reads so genuine.

I'm assuming it's too late for The Closer to be eligible for the Emmys, but next year, if Sedgewick doesn't get one, I'm picketing. I don't know who, but I'll picket SOMEONE.

The Reality of Women

So I was watching "60 Minutes" last night about women staying home to raise kids. Some think these women--of the elite sort, like lawyers and business school grads--are throwing away their brains and hard-fought rights. And, businesses aren't exactly easy to work with when their female employees leave for raising kids.

As I was watching this, I realized that almost every producer I've worked with in reality has been a woman. As you go more towards network reality shows (the "big" ones) you get a higher male-to-female ratio, but still, in a big way, it's a woman's world. The higher-earning camera and audio engineers are still largely male, but I've worked with at least 3 or 4 female versions too.

So most of "show biz" is still a man's world, but the trailer trash cousin, reality, is actually the most enlightened of the bunch when it comes to hiring women. Isn't that funny? In a good way, not a ha-ha way.

How Did I Miss This?

See this link:
http://www.jossip.com/gossip/tom-cruise/tom-cruise-is-gay-now-with-substantially-more-fake-evidence-20050629.php

Okay...I know, I know, there are more important things in the world. But wouldn't it be great if an A-list actor for once came out and made it just a wee bit easier to be gay?

And it definitely lends more credence to the whole weird TomKat thing. I'm dying to read that Katie Holmes intervew in W magazine...

Dammit! Must watch C-Span! Must...watch...PBS! Must get gossip trash out of my mind!

Style File 1.0

So I'm paging through "Metropolitan Home" (in one of my many forays into extracurricular activities--i.e., perhaps writing for home magazines) and I see a stunning ad.

The rings are gigantic and candy-colored, but so elegant.

Go to this site--you'll be glad you did. It'll make you hyperventilate.

http://suzannefelsen.com/

The First Couple Nickname

Since Deep Throat has been revealed, finally watching All the President's Men has been a particularly absorbing experience. Little did I know it also portended Brangelina and Bennifers I and II.

After a very shocking piece, a pivotal story, of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's making, Ben Bradlee (played by the super awesome Jason Robards) storms into the Washington Post newsroom and shouts:

"WOODSTEIN!"

This guy shoulda worked for Star Magazine!

How are the kids doing?

There is a new essay contest in Vanity Fair, and it asks, what are today's youth concerned about? Notice how an election and war dividing the nation has now taken back burner to other rather insignificant things, like Tom Cruise and Lindsay Lohan (or are these things distractions from our deeper worries...)

But, I too have noticed a disaffection amongst today's youth. I'm under 30 and ashamed of my own self for not getting more politically involved, but, as my boyfriend says, "Bitch gotta eat," and even after 50 hrs of work a week I still barely get by. Leaves little time for civil disobedience. The average family's financial risk as increased dramatically from the socially conscious '70s.

Anyhoo, me and the boy were at a party recently that happened to have a niche of just-graduated beachy golden boys. Most seemed from wealthy backgrounds--after all, one of these grads was hosting us at his beach apartment home (and techically my buddy, who is older, who lived next door--and not a spoiled college grad). As I went to find some cake, my boy overheard the following:

Guy: "When you fire a guy, that's bad--that's competition. When you fire a woman, it's okay--hey, future wife."

That's where today's youth is. Great, isn't it?

God Bless Amerrrricaaaa

I have been in L.A. for too long. First of all, I am now blond. Second of all, I now produce reality television. And third of all, I'm stupid.

I was in D.C. today walking around with my brother, sister in law, and two year old niece. As we turned away from the Washington Monument and towards that great domed building in the distance, I bent down to little CeCe and said, "See, that's where that evil man who runs the country lives."

My sister in law, imbued with motherly patience, said, "no, that's the capitol, not the white house."

I stared at her dumbly and then said, "oh, yeah, the white house has all those columns in front."

Time to renew my subscription to The Economist.

Nobel Peace Prize Goes To...

There are two things that I regularly list as the best inventions ever.

1. The Post-it.

2. The Tampon.

And now, I have added a third...

3. Tivo.

or, as it is known in non-copyrighted circles, the DVR.

I just got one and am shocked, SHOCKED, I got by without it. Now I can tape all the episodes of every show I've worked on, Dancing With The Stars, my new favorite show The Closer, every L&O known to man, and, of course, Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life on Lifetime. I can watch when I'M ready, and to hell with working my schedule around the networks'!!

It is a good and brilliant thing. Who created this? Give them the Nobel Peace Prize.