I’ve had bad days. Everyone that is remotely human has as well. But let me tell you, yesterday was such a crap day for me. There have been worse days, like the time I was late to work and Henry decided he needed to poo at the exact second I needed to leave and because his tail hair is so long, some of his poo got stuck to his tail and he ran circles around the house and SAT on my mother’s Persian rugs with his heart beating a mile a minute because he was so frightened that his own bowel movement had gotten stuck to his body. So see, there have been worse days.

Wednesday, however, really was a doozy. It all started when I woke up at 8 a.m instead of 7. Everything then went downhill from there. I couldn’t decide what to wear, and in addition to raiding my own closet, I raided my sister’s as well and left clothes all over the place. Because I woke up late, I didn’t have time for a shower and was forced to tie up my hair in an effort to conserve some shred of self-confidence. Then, when I looked into the mirror, I almost had a melt down because there seemed to be a pimple the size of a volcano taking up residence on my chin.

Today wasn’t any better. Because of a combination of stress, my vegetarian diet and possible weight loss, I have been getting the worst cramps everything month. I’m sure you can guess why. So I had to stay home. I felt like a ridiculous drama queen, missing work because of it, but it really was debilitating. So today, I was on the couch, in 2 blankets, with abottle of Midol and many cups of tea. What a waste of a perfectly good day.

I’m hoping this weekend will be much better and my posts will be more frequent.

is not a good day. It’s quite a bad day. I feel like crawling into bed and disappearing. It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces. I agree with Bridget Jones. So on a perfect Sunday afternoon in L.A., I’d really love to drown my sorrows in some carbs. But I won’t. I know better. I’d watch t.v., but there’s nothing on except “Monster in Law” and “The Wedding Planner.” Two Jennifer Lopez movies back to back, just what I need. I might watch “Ace of Cakes” but in the midst of enjoying the program, I’ll probably get upset because I want to be the one baking those awesome cakes. Yea, it’s that kind of day.

Henry totally senses when I’m upset. Animals are so intuitive. He won’t leave my side if he sees that I’m not in a good mood. He’s sleeping next to me as I type this. When I cry, he licks my tears. I love him.

I’ve got a room to clean and a car to clean, a ticket to pay, drawers to organize and a bath to give to the aforementioned tear-licker, but I can’t bring myself to get out of my bed. Maybe tomorrow.

Ever since I can remember, I have had a fascination with Russian Matryoshka dolls. I first came across them when a relative of my Russian-born grandmother’s brought them when he came to visit from Moscow. At 10 years old, I thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. I still have my first Matryoshka set on display in my room.

There’s been a recent trend that’s reintroduced the Matryoshka into mainstream products. They’ve cropped up everywhere, from bed spreads to pillows and even as jewelry. Here are some of my favorite Matryoshka products.

Russian Dolls coin purse Matryoshka purse

Matryoshka bedspread, $32                      The Littlest Matryoshka, $10.33

“Matryoshka” actually derived from the Russian female first name “Matryona”, which is traditionally associated with a fat and robust Russian woman. The first ones date to about 1890 and are said to be have been inspired from Japan.

Folk dessert plate set, $28                                         Nestina doll bank

Today is the 111th day of the year. How in the world did it go so fast?

It’s also the anniversary of Nina Simone’s death. Aside from “My Baby Just Cares for Me,” which is one of my all time favorite songs, I have been listening to “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl” nonstop for the past couple weeks. Apparently, her version of “I’ve Put a Spell on You” inspired the Beatle’s hit “Michelle.” Quite impressive, Ms. Simone.

She’s actually really interesting, because she breaks the mold when it comes to female singers of her genre and era. She had incredibly strong views on race, civil rights and homosexuality.

She once said, “I think the rich will eventually have to cave in too, because the economic situation around the world is not gonna tolerate the United States being on top forever.“

I really don’t know when she said this, seeing as to the fact that she was around until 2003, but it’s a bit ironic that it’s come true, in a sense.

Lord have mercy on this land of mine

We’re all gonna get it in due time

I don’t belong here

I don’t belong there

I’ve even stopped believing in prayer…

In the spring of 2007, I had the pleasure of working on an article for my college magazine about a topic I had been interested in for a long time. When the opportunity presented itself to write about the history, demise and rising interest in drive-in theaters, I took it. After all, when again could I pick and choose what I wanted to write about? After the magazine was published, my article was cut down considerably, but I present to you in its entirety, “The Lost Days of Drive-Ins”

Like the record player, the cassette tape and the soon to be extinct VCR, the drive-in theater, despite its massive land circumference, seems like a forgotten art lost in the black hole of nostalgia. Decades ago, it alluded not only teenagers whose hormones were racing at the speed of light, but families who sought to enjoy the experience of watching a movie on a humongous screen while munching on popcorn in the comfort and confines of their cars. But while their popularity peaked in the late to early 50’s and 60’s, property values, technology and the aging baby boomer population led to their demise. First opened in 1933 by Richard Hollingshead Jr. in Camden, New Jersey Drive-In theaters were never really built to last says Frank Huttinger, a film buyer for De Anza Land & Leisure Corp., which owns drive-ins in Montclair and Riverside County as well as many others across the U.S. Huttinger says they were more or less built to last about 10 to 15 years.

“Until 4 or 5 years ago, we thought they were all going away. People’s habits changed, baby boomers got older. The family outing to movie got less of an important thing to do,” says Huttinger who added that the remaining drive-ins survived by having swap meets on their property.”

Though many were over taken by cinemas who boasted multiple screens or torn down to be replaced by shopping centers, RV Parks and hypermarkets such as Walmart, you may be surprised to learn that this iconic piece of American history was never fully driven out. In the last 5 years, drive-ins have seen a fascinating resurgence in audience attendance and many have used the opportunity to renovate and remodel the remaining theaters in hopes of attracting more movie-goers who are looking for a different or even a familiar experience that brings back memories of their childhood. With common movie theaters still around and high definition television and paper view, drive-ins, to the untrained business eye seem like a dead end investment for any company. Huttinger says otherwise.

“They’re a profitable business,” he says. In fact, since the resurgence began about 5 years ago, Huttinger says he’s seen attendance steadily increase five to seven percent each year for the last 3 years.

One major reason for this is because studios began making more horror and family oriented films-genres that are well suited for drive-in theaters. Indeed, the movie industry has seen a significant resurgence in horror and suspense thrillers, which were the ultimate choice at drive-ins back in the day. Movies like “Saw,” “The Ring,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “28 Days Later” have dominated the box office and their graphic violence and stunning visuals have made them perfect for the big screen.

Through a series of horribly unfortunate events in the last two weeks, I somehow managed to completely delete every post I have made on my site since its inception. My heart dropped to my stomach when I found out, but overall, I did not feel like it was the end of the world. When one door closes, another opens, as they say. So this is a chance to start new. Over the course of the next few days, I will be uploading the posts that I did manage to save. I’m now with a new host (take that Yahoo!), with a new design and this blog will be one portion of a site about me, what I do and what I like. I don’t want to say “Enjoy!” because I don’t know how much anyone would enjoy coming to my site and reading my ramblings. But here it is. Pour yourself some hot tea, get under a blanket and get to reading.