Didja know I’m a Vegan Travel Correspondent now? Fancy, huh!
My friend Erin, host of Red Radio, has made me her regular contributor in the field of vegan travel. I’m gonna be talking about the places the eat, shop, and visit in various cities/locations around the country/world on her show from time to time.
Does this make me one step closer to actually and finally becoming the gay Samantha Brown?
Head on over to Red Radio – Episode 12 and have a listen while I discuss a recent trip to Philadelphia!
And since I forgot to mention it back in December, here’s the link to my first appearance on the show: Red Radio – Episode 7
I normally try to keep my work-life completely separate from my online presence, but I’m making a small exception today. Some staff at my job got together and made this video, and it went live today. Click on the screenshot to check it out!
And yes, I’m TOTES excited that I got the Ann B Davis square in the thumbnail image!
I’ve apparently lost every original bone in my body, so I’m jumping on the bandwagon of doing a year-end list. Specifically, a list of the songs that, according to my iTunes play count tallies, were my favorite songs of 2011.
I’m quite aware of the flaw in such a list. Albums that came out in January simply had eleven more months of potential playtime than albums released in December, and I don’t know any way around that issue, so unfortunately, the list could be skewed and far from accurate. In order to throw a bit of a twist in the game and keep it from becoming redundant, I decided that each artist could only appear on the list once. So, any multiple times they appear are disregarded and the next song replaces them.
Get ready to jam!
#10. I Forgive You by Kelly Clarkson
I’m super duper excited to be seeing her in concert in a few weeks and totally looking forward to this song!
#9. Run the World (Girls) by Beyonce
When she first performed this and her choreography was synced to the projections, my mind was blown.
#8. My Dilemma by Selena Gomez and the Scene
I don’t care if it makes me a tween, I adore Selena Gomez and her music is pure fun.
#7. Lightweight by Demi Lovato
I’m a sucker for a simple little melody with an emotional punch.
#6. Till the World Ends by Britney Spears
Maybe it was our almost-rapture earlier this year or the great dance beat, but this song was played a lot.
#5. What the Hell by Avril Lavigne
What can I say? I have a thing for badass Canadians.
#4. Americano by Lady Gaga
I’m actually kind of shocked that this was the track from her album that has the most plays. The more popular ones are certainly very close behind, but this is the one that came out on top.
#3. Best Mistake by Same Difference
I am THRILLED that this group cracked the top ten and actually made it into the top three. They are a brother/sister group from a former season of the UK X Factor. If you can get passed the potentially creepy aspect of a brother and sister singing the occasional love song, their music really is quite entertaining! Plus, the brother is super adorable. This is unfortunately the only video I could find of the song on YouTube. It’s only a couple minute sampler to get you hooked.
#2. Nobody’s Perfect by Jessie J
I’m not sure why she isn’t more popular than she currently is. Perhaps it’s the bizarre wardrobe and appearance, but her voice is enough to keep me hooked.
#1. Someone Like You by Adele
I don’t think there’s any shock that she landed in the top spot on someone’s music countdown. Her album was arguably the best album of the year, and this song is so perfect in every single way.
So that’s it! My top ten songs of 2011. If there’s one thing that’s just become blatantly clear, it’s that I listen to far many chicks and not enough dudes.
It’s always been a dream of sorts of mine to live in a condo in a high-rise building. I’m not 100% sure why, but I think it has something to do with the fact that it kinda feels like you’re living in a hotel, which I always equated with vacations, which also sort of fulfills my wanderlust desire to travel and see the world.
Plus, whenever you see one on TV, they’re always decorated so well and always seem to be inhabited by young, hip people who have their shit together. That’s also desirable to me.
Ideally, I would love to one day live in a high-rise building in midtown Manhattan, but that’s currently so freaking far out of my budget. But luckily, I have some friends who DO currently have this lifestyle. And this weekend I stopped by my friend Matthew’s new apartment and basked in the ridiculousness of his view.
Someday, in some way, this sort of thing will also be mine.
Today I am 31 years, 3 months, and 8 days old. That’s hardly anything to commemorate or take note of, generally. However, in its own special way, for me it is.
That is the exact age my mother was when she gave birth to me, her third child. She was 31 years, 3 months, and 8 days old. She had an eleven-year-old son, a six-year-old daughter, and was on a hospital bed squeezing out what was obviously destined to become her favorite child. Me.
She would, within about a year, go through her third divorce leaving her once again as the sole provider and caregiver to three children who needed her. And, I’m not going to romanticize it and say she did it perfectly and that all three of her children turned out perfectly. That’s simple impossible for any parent or parents to ever do. But what I can say is that never once in my life have I not felt taken care of, provided for, and perhaps most importantly of all, loved.
I can’t even fathom having the maturity and responsibility to be raising three children at this point in my life. Alone, or with a partner. Hell, I can BARELY take care of myself and a cat. I am a couple days late for Thanksgiving, but I want to take this special day in my life’s calendar to say to anyone who will listen that I am so thankful I had such a strong role model and influence in my life teaching me every single day by her example how to be a decent human being.
I am who I am today because of her. Whether anything she ever does will ever mean anything to anyone else in the entire world or if nobody else ever even knows her name, she will never ever not mean the entire world to me.
This afternoon, I made a trip to southern Manhattan to visit the 9/11 Memorial site. It was lovely to visit, and upon first walking up to one of the waterfalls and placing my hands on the names, I did get a little choked up and had to make a concerted effort to pull it together. The memorial is far from being finished, but it’s a beautiful place that memorializes those lost while not feeling like sad graveyard. A perfect compromise between honoring the past and embracing the future.
I didn’t feel like taking a ton of pictures. Just felt weird posing for cameras and cheesing it up for pictures. But I did take a few nice pictures to remember my first visit. I can’t wait to go back once more of it has been completed.
My friend Jeff has long had an animated gif collection that has left me quite jealous and amused. I jokingly asked him to make one of me stalking the Golden Girls. Apparently not one to shy away from a challenge, he managed to do it.
I’m obsessed.
If I had to narrate it, I think it would go something like this….
“Hey you! And you! And you! And you! I ate all your cheesecake!”
Anyone else wanna take a stab at making some of these from my videos? I’d love you forever!
I’ve been off the ship for almost two weeks now and still miss it. I had such a good time, which you were able to tell from the trilogy of videos I posted over the past week, I hope. I poured all of my post-cruise energy into making those that I completely put posting pictures on the back burner.
But the time has come for me to post those. Just a nice sampling of some of my favorites. A Cliff’s Notes, if you will.
