Ultratart: It's Got Bite

"Go About Your Business"

I was having a discussion with a friend the other day about the impact technology has on dating, although not in the obvious sense. What I had got to wondering (like Carrie Bradshaw) was which scenario is better:

a) Old School: no one had voicemail or email or answering machines or even call-waiting, so when you were waiting for Someone to call you, you spent a lot of time skulking around the house or yelling at your siblings to GET OFF THE PHONE!!. On the positive side, if Said Someone DIDN'T call for a while, you were easily able to drift into denial for AGES: he got a busy signal, no one was home, my mother forgot to give me the message.

or

b) New School: you can go about your business, secure in the knowledge that Someone can leave a voicemail or email you or IM you or leave a message on your Facebook. The downside: if none of these things happen, it is MUCH HARDER to come up with a reason for it which doesn't involve the phrase "just not that into you." (As an old-fashioned girl, I prefer to imagine the person in question in traction no matter what. This also generally leads to a fantasy in which I sweep into the hospital wearing something fantastic with a full skirt and heels, like an extra in Mad Men.) This also makes life harder if you need to go Incognito yourself.

As much as I love my interwebs, I wonder if it was better when things were a bit more mysterious, or if the removal of a great percentage of self-denial is better for us in the long run. What do you think?

Could Someone Please Explain to Me:

Why, the instant you've grown your hair out, you immediately want to chop it all off again? I blame Katie Holmes.

Dear 2008

I can't believe I had to miss super hot John Hamm from Mad Man accepting his Golden Globe in a tux. Do you hate me that much?

Dial M for ANNOYING

To the kind people of Rhode Island who keep calling me for some reason,

When someone answers the phone, and says hello, it is not polite to yell, "WHOSE PHONE IS THIS?" at them. It is my phone. That is why I answered it.That is why my response to you was a surly, "who are you trying to call?" And no, I am not Kaneet. I don't know who Kaneet of Rhode Island is, but he or she is not at this number. Please stop calling me and yelling at me. YOU are the person who mis-dialed. I am just minding my own business, answering my own phone.

Thank you.

I LOVE YOU CHUCK

I know I may be biased, because I am on their payroll, but NY Mag.com's take on Gossip Girl brings me ALMOST as much intense joy as Chuck's hilarious/awesome TURTLENECKS AND CARDIGANS! Oh my god, I love his outfits. Not to mention the fact that that show is PURE GENIUS and next season promises to be all about Blair BRINGING DOWN EVERYONE. IT'S SO GOOD. It's seriously better than the books. PLEASE DON'T DO YOUR TRADITIONAL SECOND SEASON SCREW UP, JOSH SCHWARTZ! I wish the strike could get resolved so that we could get a SUMMER SEASON, just like back in the day with 90210! Squee!

Thus concludes my Gossip Girl-related girlish glee.

Help Me

Boring but practical request here -- I'm looking for two things, in the general LA area: (a) someone to frame some art I've got floating around (prints, mostly), and (b) a good furniture repair person. I've got a great old office desk chair, but one of the rollers has come off, and I have no idea how to fix it, but I don't want to have to buy a whole new chair (especially since I'm trying to do that whole Save For a House thing). I'd love to find some sort of Mom and Pop places to do these things (especially since my mother worked at a framing/wallpaper/paint store when I was a kid and I have fond memories of hanging out in the back and watching the owner, who did all the framing work), but those are kind of hard to find other than by word of mouth. Thank god for the internets, right?

New and Improved

As part of my general resolution to Live Healthier this year -- last year, I was More Environmentally Conscious, which I hope/plan to continue -- I went to yoga this morning at the local yoga studio near my house. In general, I used to prefer running to yoga, because it was too hard for me to shut off my brain during yoga, and I spent the whole time thinking, like "this hurts my knee. Do I have any diet coke at home? That guy behind me is cute. I wonder if I have butt sweat. I really like vanilla. What are we going to write for our column this week? I need to go to the tailor. I love this toenail color. Should I paint my bedroom? How about that Obama! Did I forget to shave my left leg?" whereas with running, I would just sort of sweat the thinking out (or just spend the run having imaginary arguments with people). But I have cruddy flexibility and am prone to stress (who isn't?), so I thought I'd give it another shot, and it actually went really well.  Hooray for trying new things! Especially since I was pretty sure I'd bail on the class and stay in bed where it was cozy and warm. Now I just need to figure out how to make my yoga mat less slippery. I thought I was going to faceplant during downward-facing dog.

In other news, I just realized that the GFY book comes out a month from today. I can not believe it. I really, really hope our readers enjoy it. I was in a tizzy the other night, all worried about that, and I actually got out of bed and pulled out a page from our proofs at random. I ended up with Diane Kruger in this dress (with new copy, though, although the shower curtain-aspect MAY have been mentioned), and she looks so kooky in it all on her own that I felt better and was able to move back the next thing on my list of things to worry about -- Britney. WTF, girl? Stay alive! Talk about someone who needs some yoga (in addition to some well-balanced meds and a long relaxing vacation in a secluded location).