I realize there are many problems in this world. Vast suffering, hopeless people, terrible fates, disease, starvation, treachery, violence, and unspeakable horrors.
Because I know this, I shouldn't bitch about the fact that Cox Cable doesn't have OnDemand service.
I'm going to anyway.
COX CABLE DOESN'T HAVE ONDEMAND SERVICE! WTF?
What? What's that you say? How is that possible?
I. haven't. a. damn. clue.
While other cable companies catapulted into the 21st century with the addition of OnDemand years ago, Cox is taking its sweet, let's-see-how-long-we-can-continue-to-screw-people-out-of-this-service time in introducing this necessity.
So you say, "Roxy, your monthly cable bill must be so much cheaper than mine because your cable company obviously and completely sucks harder than a whore on Van Buren."
To which I respond, "Au contraire! Cox has their greedy little fingers on my wad of cash AND I pay more for less than what I used to receive - just like a pimp during Sunday morning payouts."
When I asked the Cox representative if they would be getting OnDemand anytime soon, he informed me that he doesn't know anything about OnDemand - what it is, how it works, or if his company would be providing that service soon.
Again - I ask you - DOES ANYONE ON THIS PLANET HAVE A RECORDING OF THE SEASON FINALES FOR SOPRANOS AND/OR BIG LOVE THEY CAN SEND ME? I'll pay you for the damn thing.
And perhaps I can pay for it by canceling Cox.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Paris Preview
I'll post the second half of our trip later today or tomorrow morning. In the meantime, enjoy Paris!
Le Tour Eiffel
On the Seine
Outside Musee d'Orsay
Le Tour Eiffel
On the Seine
Outside Musee d'Orsay
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Good Lord!
Does anyone on this Earth have a recording of the season finale for Sopranos and Big Love that they can let me borrow?
I'm beginning to thing that I'm totally screwed and will NEVER see these finales!
I think I'm the only person on the planet that doesn't have a freakin' TiVo.
I'm beginning to thing that I'm totally screwed and will NEVER see these finales!
I think I'm the only person on the planet that doesn't have a freakin' TiVo.
"A Las Vacas," the first week...
Leave Phoenix on Friday 26.5.06
Day 1 (Saturday, 27.5.06)
Arrive Siegburg. Stay at cute Hotel Zum. Party with friends and drink all five selections on the bevvy menu plus champagne, a glass of wine, and some beer. Stumble back to hotel.
Day 2 (Sunday, 28.5.06)
Shop Siegburg.
Go to lovely palace on Rhine.
Husband professess it is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.
Spend time with friends.
Go to Dom in Cologne.
See some windows.
Go to biergarten.
Drink Kolsch. 
Day 3 (Monday, 29.5.06)
Catch metro to Cologne from Siegburg and do some shopping at H&M, my favoritest store. Drink coffee with hubby & Heather.
On the way back to Siegburg, fall UP the flight of stairs while trying to catch the train. Whine a bit about my finger, leg, and ankle.
Go to Bastei,
drink a Kir Royale and a bottle of wine, feel better.
Day 4 (Tuesday, 30.5.06)
Finger is completely f-ed, though ankle feels fine. Go to Apotheke in Siegburg to try and get a splint. No such thing. Instead, get Heparin syrum for swelling. Begin finger exercises as instructed by Physical Therapist friend Heather. Practice flipping people off, ice it down. Tape on mock splint
and go to airport to fly to Berlin. Take pictures of gnomes at the subway in Cologne airport. 
Fly to Berlin and go to KaDeWe. Go to dinner at lovely, traditional German restaurant in East Berlin. Eat great food and drink wonderful wine. Walk through city. Touch the Wall.
Feel monumentally sad at the way the human race destroys itself.
Day 5 (Wednesday, 31.5.06)
Visit Checkpoint Charlie,
see some awesome domes,
Charlottenburg,
, have coffee at cafe at Charlottenburg, 
and go to KaDeWe again. Have incredible evening with friends speaking German, Spanish, and Italian.
Thumb-press orechiette.
Eat mozarella, honeydew and fig vinegar salad, orechiette/gnocchi with sauce from scratch.
Polish off 5 bottles of awesome red wine and a couple of shots of hooch from Sardinia.
Completely love everything about life.
Day 6 (Thursday, 1.6.06)
See the Reichstag,
the Brandenburg Gate
and Die Drei Musketiere at the Berlin Opera House.
Day 7 (Friday, 2.6.06)
Wake up, take cab to Berlin train station. Notice awesome cleat sculpture in front of station. Read stories of World Cup teams and players. Take train to Prague.
Hotel Opera,
Vaclavske Namesti,
and dinner with wine at "Hot".
Win Kc3000 (around $100 American) at casino in Wencelas Square (Vaclavske Namesti).
Later this week - Part Deux including Prague Castle, Paris, and World Cup Stuff!
Day 1 (Saturday, 27.5.06)
Arrive Siegburg. Stay at cute Hotel Zum. Party with friends and drink all five selections on the bevvy menu plus champagne, a glass of wine, and some beer. Stumble back to hotel.
Day 2 (Sunday, 28.5.06)
Shop Siegburg.
Go to lovely palace on Rhine.
Husband professess it is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. Spend time with friends.
Go to Dom in Cologne.
See some windows.
Go to biergarten.
Drink Kolsch. 
Day 3 (Monday, 29.5.06)
Catch metro to Cologne from Siegburg and do some shopping at H&M, my favoritest store. Drink coffee with hubby & Heather.
On the way back to Siegburg, fall UP the flight of stairs while trying to catch the train. Whine a bit about my finger, leg, and ankle.
Go to Bastei,
drink a Kir Royale and a bottle of wine, feel better.Day 4 (Tuesday, 30.5.06)
Finger is completely f-ed, though ankle feels fine. Go to Apotheke in Siegburg to try and get a splint. No such thing. Instead, get Heparin syrum for swelling. Begin finger exercises as instructed by Physical Therapist friend Heather. Practice flipping people off, ice it down. Tape on mock splint
and go to airport to fly to Berlin. Take pictures of gnomes at the subway in Cologne airport. 
Fly to Berlin and go to KaDeWe. Go to dinner at lovely, traditional German restaurant in East Berlin. Eat great food and drink wonderful wine. Walk through city. Touch the Wall.
Feel monumentally sad at the way the human race destroys itself.
Day 5 (Wednesday, 31.5.06)
Visit Checkpoint Charlie,
see some awesome domes,
Charlottenburg,
, have coffee at cafe at Charlottenburg, 
and go to KaDeWe again. Have incredible evening with friends speaking German, Spanish, and Italian.
Thumb-press orechiette.
Eat mozarella, honeydew and fig vinegar salad, orechiette/gnocchi with sauce from scratch.
Polish off 5 bottles of awesome red wine and a couple of shots of hooch from Sardinia.
Completely love everything about life.
Day 6 (Thursday, 1.6.06)
See the Reichstag,
the Brandenburg Gate
and Die Drei Musketiere at the Berlin Opera House.
Day 7 (Friday, 2.6.06)
Wake up, take cab to Berlin train station. Notice awesome cleat sculpture in front of station. Read stories of World Cup teams and players. Take train to Prague.
Hotel Opera,
Vaclavske Namesti,
and dinner with wine at "Hot".
Win Kc3000 (around $100 American) at casino in Wencelas Square (Vaclavske Namesti).
Later this week - Part Deux including Prague Castle, Paris, and World Cup Stuff!
Friday, June 16, 2006
Permission
I'm a writer. Always have been. Through elementary school, high school, and college, consistently and openly. Across my waterbed - or, in college my extra-long twin - a fresh pad of paper (8 1/2 x 11 spiral-top, Cambridge series with the deep navy cover) was always nearby. Words tumbled onto it - I couldn't get them out of my brain fast enough. In the fifth grade, a behind the scenes look into the personal lives of those involved with the Boston Tea Party. In college, the paper became the orange blue skies of Arizona sunsets, the brown concrete of everyday gas stations.
I've always told stories. Let me rephrase - I've always written stories. I've never had the gift to verbalize what I write. I feel more at home with a piece of paper and a pen - my words clip together more gracefully than if uttered from my tripping tongue. (I used to think that just because I liked to be the center of attention, and could hold court appropriately, that I should be able to speak as well as I write. Now, I leave the story telling to people like Remi, Monica and Bettina while I scribble phrases on loose slips of scraps and restaurant napkins.)
The blank piece of paper has always been a gift. Sometimes a daunting one, but appropriate for me. (Perhaps this is why I'm fascinated with stationary?) the anticipation of the first word - the magic of an introductory sentence - sweet as first sex.
I've avoided my writing for so long - worried that the words would betray my inadequate self. Obsessing, even. I'd convey to others this desire to write - profess my authoring tendencies - and then catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror (or a nearby window) and tell my hopeful reflection that I couldn't write. That I am talentless and used. That the spirit of writing no longer slammed through my veins and that I should shout "give!" at the top of my lungs and retreat to reading and simpleton duties that I could master.
No longer.
I've found something inside. A loud pulsing urge to write no matter what. Do I know that I'm talentless? Yes. But the real question, the question that needs to be confronted and chewed out from time to time, asks me if I am coward enough to care. The coward wonders what other people think and folds the words away into secret crevices - if I don't write the words, others can't judge.
So - to others - judge if you must. But I'm giving myself permission for my passion.
I'm here to write.
I've always told stories. Let me rephrase - I've always written stories. I've never had the gift to verbalize what I write. I feel more at home with a piece of paper and a pen - my words clip together more gracefully than if uttered from my tripping tongue. (I used to think that just because I liked to be the center of attention, and could hold court appropriately, that I should be able to speak as well as I write. Now, I leave the story telling to people like Remi, Monica and Bettina while I scribble phrases on loose slips of scraps and restaurant napkins.)
The blank piece of paper has always been a gift. Sometimes a daunting one, but appropriate for me. (Perhaps this is why I'm fascinated with stationary?) the anticipation of the first word - the magic of an introductory sentence - sweet as first sex.
I've avoided my writing for so long - worried that the words would betray my inadequate self. Obsessing, even. I'd convey to others this desire to write - profess my authoring tendencies - and then catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror (or a nearby window) and tell my hopeful reflection that I couldn't write. That I am talentless and used. That the spirit of writing no longer slammed through my veins and that I should shout "give!" at the top of my lungs and retreat to reading and simpleton duties that I could master.
No longer.
I've found something inside. A loud pulsing urge to write no matter what. Do I know that I'm talentless? Yes. But the real question, the question that needs to be confronted and chewed out from time to time, asks me if I am coward enough to care. The coward wonders what other people think and folds the words away into secret crevices - if I don't write the words, others can't judge.
So - to others - judge if you must. But I'm giving myself permission for my passion.
I'm here to write.
Bathroom Stall, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin
"People of Deutschland: Do not judge America's People: Majority = Anti-Bush. All Apologies.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Keepin' it short and sweet
Dear Beautiful People of Europe,
Thank you for a lovely time! We enjoyed our stay in a few of your fine countries and cities. I feel more relaxed now than I have in years.
I just have one thing to point out, mostly to the occupants of France and the Czech Republic.
Please be aware that if you can afford designer clothing and numerous steaming coffees at streetside cafes, you can also afford a shower and perhaps a stick of deodorant. Feel free to take my advice immediately - or at the very least - before my next visit.
Love and smoochies,
Roxy
Thank you for a lovely time! We enjoyed our stay in a few of your fine countries and cities. I feel more relaxed now than I have in years.
I just have one thing to point out, mostly to the occupants of France and the Czech Republic.
Please be aware that if you can afford designer clothing and numerous steaming coffees at streetside cafes, you can also afford a shower and perhaps a stick of deodorant. Feel free to take my advice immediately - or at the very least - before my next visit.
Love and smoochies,
Roxy
Monday, June 12, 2006
Priceless
Buying airline tickets to Cologne with side dishes of Berlin, Prague, and Paris: ~ $2,300 American
Spending two weeks touring castles, museums, assorted attractions, and more cathedrals than I can remember: ~$500 American
Spending an evening at the theatre for 4 in Berlin: $300 American
Exploring wonderful, sexy, local, delicious food (including the wonderful, local, delicious wine and beer): ~$1500 American
Imbibing a Coca-Cola at a sidewalk cafe near Notre Dame: $7 American
Finding ice cubes in that Coca-Cola: Priceless
Spending two weeks touring castles, museums, assorted attractions, and more cathedrals than I can remember: ~$500 American
Spending an evening at the theatre for 4 in Berlin: $300 American
Exploring wonderful, sexy, local, delicious food (including the wonderful, local, delicious wine and beer): ~$1500 American
Imbibing a Coca-Cola at a sidewalk cafe near Notre Dame: $7 American
Finding ice cubes in that Coca-Cola: Priceless
Friday, May 26, 2006
Things I plan to do in Europe for the next two and a half weeks
Explore. Learn. Shop. Love.
Be close to friends. Party. Drink. Laugh. Cry. Kiss the ground in Germany when I land.
Freeze. Be on top. Spreche Deutsche. Witness the wonderful madness.
Revel in the City of Light. Parlez-Vous Français (badly, but parlez-vous nonetheless). Get closer than I've ever been, to being alive...in Bohemia. (And, the first person who can tell me what that line is from, I'll send you a Czech goody.)
Admire the view.
Train it. Get lost. Find something.
Be close to friends. Party. Drink. Laugh. Cry. Kiss the ground in Germany when I land.
Freeze. Be on top. Spreche Deutsche. Witness the wonderful madness.
Revel in the City of Light. Parlez-Vous Français (badly, but parlez-vous nonetheless). Get closer than I've ever been, to being alive...in Bohemia. (And, the first person who can tell me what that line is from, I'll send you a Czech goody.)
Admire the view.
Train it. Get lost. Find something.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Fan-spec-tacu-lastic!
My dear friends at Moojuice Records in Scotland have just launched some amazing music here in the United States.
Log on immediately and purchase these CD's. No excuses people. They will knock your socks off. For those of you flailing around in our pathetically poppy American Music Scene*, this is a welcome respite:
Keith Anderson
Scottish Enlightenment
Craig Rennie
Check out the artists - their profiles and a podcast are available on the website.
You also must click on the "Radio Moo" link and listen. Every song has amazing vocal and instrumental elements. (Roxy's favorite is "Turning Back to You" by Keith Anderson. It makes her feel like someone slammed her in the chest with reality.)
Stay tuned to the Moojuice site for future releases. While you're there, sign up for news and information delivered directly to your inbox!
Most of you know that I don't promote music, books, politics, and/or whatever unless it plucks my heartstrings. If you visit Moojuice and support the site, I guaran-fricken-tee you that you will not be disappointed**.
*yes, i know there are many fantastic american musicians as well. unfortunately the things that get popular for the most part are crap***.
**just let me know if you aren't completely satisfied and i'll reimburse you with a big "you don't know what you're talking about" on my blog.
***if it's not scottish, it's crap.
Log on immediately and purchase these CD's. No excuses people. They will knock your socks off. For those of you flailing around in our pathetically poppy American Music Scene*, this is a welcome respite:
Keith Anderson
Scottish Enlightenment
Craig Rennie
Check out the artists - their profiles and a podcast are available on the website.
You also must click on the "Radio Moo" link and listen. Every song has amazing vocal and instrumental elements. (Roxy's favorite is "Turning Back to You" by Keith Anderson. It makes her feel like someone slammed her in the chest with reality.)
Stay tuned to the Moojuice site for future releases. While you're there, sign up for news and information delivered directly to your inbox!
Most of you know that I don't promote music, books, politics, and/or whatever unless it plucks my heartstrings. If you visit Moojuice and support the site, I guaran-fricken-tee you that you will not be disappointed**.
*yes, i know there are many fantastic american musicians as well. unfortunately the things that get popular for the most part are crap***.
**just let me know if you aren't completely satisfied and i'll reimburse you with a big "you don't know what you're talking about" on my blog.
***if it's not scottish, it's crap.
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