Fashion Musings: 26 Going on 14

I'm wearing a massive pink bow in my hair today. It's a barrette, sitting perched on top of my head, a little to the right, giving the bow a nice tilt. It's nearly identical to a bow I wore often as a little girl.

From about the age of 3 until I was 13 my mother did my hair the same way everyday - pulled up and to the side, and fastened with a bow or barrette.

With my two cousins. Can you guess which one is me?

Recently I've been going through a phase where it's like I'm really trying to hang onto my childhood through my fashion and accessory choices. The thing is - it's fun. When you're a kid you don't care. You wear what you want because it makes you happy. So on a day like today, channeling the kid inside me I can totally wear bright blue pants and a bright orange shirt and a huge pink bow in my hair and maybe an over-sized blazer because it's sort of silly and it makes me happy.


This becomes slightly awkward, of course, when you're approached by an actual child...


See, here I am sitting at my desk, typing up some updates for our studio development grid with my boss standing next to me, when a co-worker walks by with his two kids. They're cute kids, one boy, one girl - maybe around age 10 or something. Or they might have been like 12. Maybe 8? (actually, I have no idea - I really can't distinguish children's ages all that well just yet).  As they pass by us and their Dad says hello they happen to be staring at my large desk space.  All of a sudden the little girl cries:


"McDonald's toys!" 


At which point I'm thinking, oh boy.

And sure enough, about two seconds after looking at Lego toy car, she cries:


"Silly bandz!"


She's spotted my prominent jewelry choice and now comes to stand right in front of me for a close examination of my selection of Silly Bandz.


At this point, my boss is just laughing at me. Here I am - his 26 year old assistant, with a giant pink bow in her hair, happily conversing with a little kid over a mutual interest in toys, bright colors, shiny objects, and air.  Then I gave her one of my Silly Bandz, a pink fairy that also glows in the dark.  Let's just say I was the coolest of her dad's co-workers she met today, that is for sure.  Whether or not it's a sign I need to grow up, I think I'll ignore. So maybe just about every one of my co-workers today has made a remark about the bow, I don't care. It's fun and it's me. Ironically, it's back to the "truest" version of me - the same girl wearing a big pink bow, smiling at all the bright colors and laughing at air.

My Pink Bow

Back to School (Some Unsolicited Advice for Writers)

This morning at the gym some friends were discussing Turkey (the country, not the bird). Turkey! (I said with excitement). Ah yes, the subject of my college thesis - Turkey's bid to join the European Union. I wrote it while I was living in Switzerland the final semester of my senior year, and logged a lot of hours at the UN library writing. See, I wanted to go into politics...

Okay, so that whole "Major in International Relations" didn't exactly play out how I thought it would, but how fitting I reminisce on my college studies on a day I am going back to school.  That's right - for the next 10 weeks I'm going to be taking a writing class (I believe it's called something along the lines of "Intermediate Feature Film") at UCLA, in an attempt to fine-tune my screenwriting and get another spec from a thought in my head to some words on a page.

I'm really excited - mostly because my writing partner Sarah is taking the class with me, and we first met each other in a writing class about a year ago (awwwww) but also because if there's one thing I'm certain of when it comes to writing, and developing your talent, is that it's a craft you must constantly be working on and taking a class is probably the BEST way to do that. Furthermore, beyond "honing your craft" (as they say), I just think it's such a great thing to put yourself back into an academic setting. It's nice to challenge your brain, go back to that school mindset, and just open yourself up to learning again.

So yeah - that's my unsolicited advice to all the other writers out there. Take a class. Take lots of classes. I've taken a variety - from memoir writing to extreme screenwriting to improv to sketch comedy, etc - every class I've taken has not only allowed me to better my writing, but it's been a worthwhile experience on a personal level. I don't care if you're a baby writer or the most high-paid showrunner out there - taking a class is always a good thing.


Got that, writers? Go back to school!

It's my first FREE STUFF GIVEAWAY and it's all about 'Lone Star'

Hey Guys! So in honor of my favorite new fall show currently facing cancellation, I'm doing my first ever giveaway.  That's right - I'm going to give out FREE STUFF.

It's not all THAT exacting, but it's free. FREE! 

So what am I giving away? An exclusive (OMG EXCLUSIVE) poster that was being handed out on the Fox lot during premiere week. So this came directly from the motherland, folks. At least, that's what my co-worker who heard me raving about the show and my outrage over it's poor ratings told me as she offered it to me. Now as cool as this poster is, and as much as I would love to hang onto it, it's a little weird to have posters in your office for shows you didn't actually work on, so I figure this would be better enjoyed by a real fan.  So here it is, a smallish sized (think like 10 x 20) poster featuring all-around stud and star James Wolk:

HOT, right?

So how is this going to go down? On Twitter, DUH. Essentially you have from RIGHT NOW until Monday evening at 9pm EST/6pm PST (WHEN THE SHOW RETURNS AND YOU EAST COASTERS BETTER BE WATCHING) to follow me on Twitter (@stamos) and send me a reply with #SaveLoneStar in your tweet.  Every Twitter-er who @replies me with a #SaveLoneStar in their tweet will automatically be entered.  You can also just RT one of my #SaveLoneStar tweets to be entered. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by Twitter! Then I'll DM you for your mailing address and I'll send you your prize.  Make sense? Great. Now go get tweeting!

Oh - if you don't have Twitter (HAHAHA LOSER) then please just leave a comment below (include a way for me to contact you too, btw) and you can still be entered.


MOST IMPORTANTLY: Spread the news! That's pretty much the WHOLE REASON I'm doing this giveaway, so TV viewers can share a good show with all their friends. The more people who tweet #SaveLoneStar the better - and make sure you watch this fabulous show Monday night.

Watch 'Lone Star'

The reason I'm live in LA and work in the entertainment industry is because I love the opportunity for imaginative storytelling through television.  What I've learned to love since I've been out here is that the process of making and creating a television show is an incredibly collaborative experience that comes forth from amazing talent, talent that often needs to be shared, stretched, and nurtured. That's why TV is such an incredible media - like a book series we watch characters grow and evolve over many hours and many weeks. It's really something.  And that's why it saddens me when deserving shows don't get the chance to start that journey.


Thus I present arguably one of the best pilots from the 2010-2011 television season; Lone Star. Whether or not the show itself is as good, I have no idea - and maybe none of us will if it doesn't get enough viewers next Monday. Do yourself a favor and get a glimpse at this beautiful pilot below, and give the show a chance Monday at 9pm. Tell your friends. It'd be really nice to see some quality, high-concept, unique programming succeed.

This Weekend: It's the Abbot Kinney Festival!

I'd go more for the food than for the bands but... yeah just go. It's awesome.

"All That Glitters" isn't actually on the CW - but it probably should be.

No seriously.

Bret Easton Ellis Presents "All That Glitters" from Bret Easton Ellis

The best part about My Generation? The iPad App

In case you haven't yet, check out my latest rambling column/post/blog item up at Huffington Post - "The Horrifying Return of Fall TV." Or just read the comments because there are lots of trolls blowing up my shit and it is seriously entertaining.

Now, on a related note I want to talk about My Generation, a pilot I've followed sort of since it was first picked up by ABC.  First of all, this subject matter (the show was previously titled "Generation Y") is of interest to me simply as a former trend-forecaster who still occasionally is a freelance trend-forecaster and likes to stay abridged of trends generally (yeah that was superfluous but whatever) and happens to be a member of Generation Y. So I like, know this shit.

So I read the pilot and I thought... meh. Which was accompanied by a shrug. Then I watched the pilot, which was certainly better than I expected, but still didn't have me jumping out of my seat with joy at discovering the MUST-WATCH BREAKOUT HIT OF THE NEW SEASON!

And then came the marketing... that horrible, HORRIBLE marketing campaign that makes little to no sense and happens to just annoy the shit out of me.  You've seen it - those weird billboards that have pictures of Jaime King with the miserable tagline "You know this ring comes off, right?" or something equally indecipherable.

So then I started thinking about the premise of My Generation a little more - it's about a group of kids who graduated from high school during the height of the Enron scandal - so these kids are about a year or two older than me (I guess two? They graduated in 2000... so yeah, two years older than me) - and then are reunited ten years later and discover they are interconnected in all sorts of crazy soapy ways like baby-daddy drama and unrequited love etc etc etc. And it's all just such a SHOCK to their little lives.

Now, pause for a moment. These people - have they heard of FACEBOOK? Because I can tell you right now, I am Facebook friends with a lot of my high school graduating class even if I haven't talked to them in about seven years, and even if I wasn't great friends with them in the first place. So I have some sense of what these people have been up to the past few years.  Apparently this does not apply to the characters My Generation is based on, so okay, yeah, that's a believable premise and what not... you know, considering that EVERYONE IS ON FACEBOOK. And what not... but whatever... I can attempt to get past this.

But iffy premise and annoying camera-in-the-face-a-la-Real-World narrative tricks aside, My Generation is totally fucked. It's in probably the toughest time-slot of the TV season - Thursdays at 8pm, up against such stalwarts as Bones and The Big Bang Theory.  Frankly, I think the show is going to tank, with the time-slot issue being a major contributing factor. And I don't want to get attached to a show that's probably going to get canceled in the first place... so why watch?

At this point the only redeeming quality about My Generation is its kickass iPad app. Seriously. Check out the app - it's AWESOME. Not only does it make me want an iPad, but it miraculously increases my interest in the show, and actually hones on my initial curiosity - a sense of accelerated nostalgia, reminiscing about high school, the confusing life-stage of the twenty-something, etc. If I actually got sucked into this show, that is, assuming the second episode is a significant improvement upon the first, then I could see myself obsessing over this app, and having a good time with the transmedia interaction. But unless people are raving about the second episode, there's a good chance I won't be watching.  So yeah. Bummer.

I still would like an iPad though.

Drop whatever it is you are doing, and go read The Hunger Games. Now. NOW!

go buy this shit RIGHT NOW

Yes, I love YA fiction/fantasy/sci-fi. But you don't need to share that opinion to enjoy The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.  All you need is to be able to read. These books are fantastic. Yes, books is plural because it's a trilogy. A TRILOGY! AHHH I LOVE TRILOGIES!

As my friend Sarah put it - the books are like a reality show (think Survivor) meets Harry Potter meets The Handmaid's Tale.

I'm obsessed, and I've gotten all my roommates obsessed and am now working through all my friends.

READ THEM, people, READ THEM.

Wishbone.org - Dare Your Courage!

My good friend Beth Schmidt has created Wishbone - a non-profit that strives to bring opportunity to “at risk” high school students through direct sponsorhip of after-school and summer programs via online donors - and I'm helping her to raise funds. Unfortunately, we have three days left to raise $4, 506. If we do not reach this goal, Wishbone.org will not receive any of the $10, 494 that has already been raised. So please donate! I've included some great info about Wishbone below, but be sure to check out the website for more. And remember - every little bit helps!

What is Wishbone?
While teaching 10th grade English in South Central, Los Angeles (Watts), my friend Beth realized that her students had the ability to reach their goals but lacked the resources to do so. Instead of Steinbeck and sentence structure, Beth dealt mostly with shame, anger, pregnancy, drug issues, dissolved families, and the repercussions of working at a school on the front lines of gang wars. However, Beth realized that when given an opportunity, her students were empowered to pull themselves out of their own circumstances.

Beth ran a test model to prove her theory. She ran a marathon, raised $12,000 and sent seven of her students on out of school programs within their communities. Upon their return from these programs, all participating students had a fresh perspective on their capabilities to realize their goals. These seven students all graduated from Locke High School. They all went on to college. They all started to believe in something greater than their own circumstances.

Beth knew that she had to affect more than these seven students. As a result, the idea for Wishbone.org was born.

Wishbone.org is an online platform that empowers at-risk youth to engage in extracurricular activities of their own choosing.  The site encourages students to participate in self-reliance, researching an out-of-school program that will ignite their passion. Wishbone.org then links the student to an online donor community who can help fund the student's program to promote growth and learning. Once the student successfully submits an application, Wishbone.org matches the student with an advisor to mentor him or her through the program experience.

What does this look like?

Meet Sandra:

“The community where I live and currently attend high school is infested with gang members, drug addicts, and prostitution. I have watched policemen raid my home several times. I have watched most of my male friends who are not a part of gangs lose their lives in my community. During high school, I was challenged by my own community’s struggles, and it was difficult for me to look past the gates of my high school and dream of something bigger. Winning one of Ms. Schmidt’s scholarships in my sophomore year and being able to research any program in Los Angeles to pursue made me have faith in people again. It made me realize that people care. UCLA’s Mock Trial Institute showed me that my journey to become a great lawyer is not going to be an easy ride. For the first time, I was in a competitive environment with 75 other students who were equally as interested and as determined to become lawyers in the future. Because we were all the same age, I realized that any choices I make must be extraordinary."

You can help a student like Sandra today. Log on to TippingBucket.org and make a donation to support Wishbone.org and its efforts.

Stand Up 2 Cancer

You can watch the telecast live right here:

Sad Dawson, meet Sad Don Draper

All this picture is missing is Sad Panda and Sad Keanu.

Source: That Lame Blog

Stamos vs. Stamos

Faithful readers, I owe you an apology - it's been over a year since the last Stamos vs. Stamos, and that, my dear friends, is terrible.  I fear that in the meanwhile, the other Stamos is gaining on me.  The good news is that while I've lost count of the overall score at this point, I feel confident that I am still winning (note: Stamos vs. Stamos competitions are almost always rigged in my favor, because well, he's John Fucking Stamos, so I'm operating with one hell of a handicap here - okay?).

HOWEVER: Today, my unflailing confidence has been brutally attacked. Crushed, almost. See, today I saw a picture of John Stamos at the premiere party for the new season of Glee - for which, as I mentioned before, he was mistakenly cast - and with one glimpse at that photo I KNEW it would be a tough round.

Look at this photo. LOOK HARD. Drink. It. In.

Pay close attention loyal readers.

Do you see it?

DO YOU SEE IT?

Yes, he's playing ping-pong, which not only demonstrates that he has a degree of athletic ability, but that he's fun to hang with at a party and probably has a great sense of humor too (whatever, he's amaaaaaaaaazing, FINE).

But it is NOT the ping-pong I am focused on here (by the way, I'm totally down for a Stamos vs. Stamos ping pong match. In the inevitable compeition reality show I'm just waiting for a network to pick up, this will definitely happen). No, how could I be focused on the ping-pong when there is something else here I cannot help but stare at...?

John Stamos is tan. VERY TAN. SO TAN I AM FIGHTING AN ENSLAUGHT OF RAGE/JEALOUSY/AROUSAL (that's a perfectly acceptable range of emotions so shut your piehole).  You see, Mr. Stamos - I am tan. I AM VERY TAN. I MAY OR MAY NOT (MAY) SUFFER FROM TANOREXIA - THAT IS HOW TAN I AM. People call me "Tannie Annie." People ask me how to properly apply sunscreen so that they too can be as tan as I am. People ask me if all I did all weekend was lay out in the sun (yes I did). I am both mocked and admired for my tan - it is a part of the Stamos package, a part of the Stamos je ne sais quoi, a part of the Stamos brand. The Stamos that is ME.  And here you are, with your perfect hair, and your excellent ping-pong paddle-holding form, with your not-too-bushy-but-just-enough-fluff eyebrows and pearly white teeth and you have a tan that not only rivals my tan, but could in fact surpass my own bronzed color.

NOT OKAY.

The good news, however, is that I just got back from six days in Maine where I spent a luxurious Labor Day weekend kayaking and playing tennis and laying on the beach, and eating fresh seafood gathered from the ocean that is essentailly my own backyard, (and what did you do this weekend? Work on that TV show or something? Laaaaaaaame) so I too am tan.  You know, I am SO TAN, in fact, that this round?

I win.

I don't even need to hold my forearm up against yours for comparison (however, I am completely open to that option if you'd like to challenge these results. We can rub forearms any day of the week). I win. I AM TANNER.

But nice try, Stamos. NICE TRY. I'll admit, it was a little too close for comfort this time. I don't think you've come this close to conquering me since you pulled out an improbable win at Disneyland.

Oops. Totally my WASPy fault.

I just had to write the following email:

Yo, looks like we need to reschedule again. I am not Jewish and thus lack awareness of most Jewish holidays. [Boss] is Jewish and will be out of here early tomorrow.

Sorry bout that – totally my WASPy fault.

The sad thing is as former Religion minor and Half-Jew, I should know these things. 

I know - you're impressed with both my smarts and my professionalism.

Epic Mickey

Watch the intro below. More info here.

Looks rad, no?

I'm pissed I didn't think of this.

The Airport Adventure of a Lifetime!

So last night I left Los Angeles on that red eye headed back to Maine. For lack of travel companions and really, anything better to do, I spontaneously decided to "live-tweet" the majority of my travel experience. Here it is in its gloriously annoying chronological entirety, from airport arrival to the security checkpoint, to the Hudson News, to the plane, to my layover, and all the way to Maine - my Airport Adventure of a Lifetime!

I think Sam Axe would approve of my travel clothes, don't you? http://twitpic.com/2k4uvm

Airport Security Check vs. The Jolly Rancher. It's a race against time!

I'm about to take a massive tweet dump. #gross

Dear Air Tran, thanks for calling me 5 times to warn me about a gate change but not telling me about the 40 min flight delay. #WTFisAirTran

That was fast. Airport Security Check: 1 Stamos: 0 #thejollyrancher

I'm offended that no one else in line has acknowledged my Chuck Finley t-shirt. Apparently you all have horrible taste in television.

Remember that time that lady called me a cultural fascist for hating Private Practice? That was awesome.

Omg thank GOD I found the Nicholas Sparks section: http://twitpic.com/2k5cau #gross

Tucker Max - for your sake, I hope they don't serve beer in hell.

I'm wearing jeggings. #gross

Airports: the one place it's socially acceptable to drink alone. #beerme

I lost my license and have developed the terrible habit of flashing my passport as though it were a police badge.

I just realized I should probably head over to the direction of my gate. At some point. #thejollyrancher

Ever worry you're gonna take an Adderall when you mean to take a Xanax? #whitegirlproblems

They should really just rename Air Tran to Budget. Just Budget.

I just dominated See's Candies. It's the Airport Trip of a Lifetime!

Licorice, Peach, Buttered Popcorn and a whole lot of Sizzling Cinnamon: http://twitpic.com/2k5p28 #jellybelly

Air Tran is the Fung Wah of airlines.

I don't want this airport adventure to end! It's like I'm playing Tom Hanks in my own Tom Hanks movie.

Going to the airplane bathroom - excuse me, lavatory - is miserable.

No seriously, what IS Air Tran?

Spotted - baby who will potentially cry at 6 o'clock.

That's right Mr. Flight Attendant. You get me that non-bottled water.

Of all the drugs I'm prescribed I'd have to say Xanax has the worst chemical aftertaste. #whitegirlproblems

This will be the best flight ever, by default. There's no one sitting next to me.

Sir, you will have to pry this mobile device from my cold dead hands if you want me to power off. 

Woke up to creepy dude two seats over patting my back. Never again, Air Tran.


First thing I spot on layover in Baltimore: http://twitpic.com/2k7ndw #sillybands #Imbaaaaack

MAINE! (Thus ends tweet dump. Going off the grid. Thanks for playing)