The most interesting news is usually a scandal in some form or another--the Manti Te'o story: OMG what a gem!
For those of you that live under a rock, lemme give you an update:
September: Manti (Notre Dame linebacker) reported that his grandmother and girlfriend had died on the same day. His alleged girl, Lennay, had died of leukemia. The media was all over this tragic story-- Te'o had promised Lennay that if anything happened to her, he would play on. The media ate it up as he played like a champ-- qualifying for a Heisman.
January (week of 14th): Deadspin fact checked and broke the news that no such person exists. His GF is a hoax.
Conflicting information from interviews with Manti are all over the news and the details are hilarious. They may have even met at a USC game according to a lie he told his father. Ha! This young man couldn't keep his facts straight--and clearly didn't know how to back his way out of of a pathetic lie (which sounds like most men I know--just plain stupid bad at lying). Now some are thinking a Californian, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, is behind the hoax and is (well was) a family friend of Te'o. Wha?
Side note:the spelling of all the major characters in this saga is just plain ridiculous. No wonder everyone is so freaking confused!
Manti Malietau Louis Te'o
Lennay Kekua
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo
+Couric interview airs tomorrow.
+SNL's opening skit, particularly its portrayal of Te'o, was ridiculously hilarious.
Thanks to Te'o, the dumb jock stereotype has newfound merit.
Banksy and Shepard Fairey, I have moved on. I have a new fav street artist and his name is JR. Using large scale installations (for a video on the process watch the Wrinkles of Los Angeles vid), JR "links the memory of the elderly and the architecture of the cities". Yep, that is right, a street artist with a focus on old people. That is hipper than anything I have ever heard before. Here is some of JR's work. I am sure if you reside in LA, you have seen it around. It is phenomenal.
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| my all time fav |
+ tags are not street art.
So uhm yeah, the Nike Air Max '97 is one fine shoe.
I am a NPR junkie. You know that person that always tries to reference public radio in conversation? Yeah, that is me. The number of times I have said, " I was listening to this story on NPR the other day. . . . " is ridiculous. I don't expect that to change anytime soon.
So the other day I was listening to NPR and I had to stop eating dinner because I was so enthralled by the broadcast. I don't remember what it was called or if it was a spot on "the Story" or "this American Life" or what, but it was about a man named Ted who had a really bad speech impediment. His whole life he was plagued with the inability to speak so he ended up working for the circus since no one at Barnum & Bailey's was phased by a stutter. Anyways,the magical part of the radio story was this segment about when Ted was in a relationship. When he was speaking with this girl, he didn't stutter. Ever. It was like. . . gone. CURED. Unbelievable (especially if you heard this guy on the radio--his stutter was BAD). When the relationship started to turn sour, he began to stutter in her presence. I was just tenderly touched by this detail of the story. Our bodies know so much. We gotta listen up.
Another year has past, wha? I have concocted some resolutions of my own for 2013 and I would like to share them with the world wide web so that I may feel more accomplished when I follow-through and more guilty when I don't. I am a list writer so sometimes, for me, plans do not exist if I don't write them down. So here goes, a published list of my 2013 resolutions:
1. Participate in more cultural events in and around LA. I frequent museums enough, but I want to make it more of a habit of going to lectures, film screenings, museums exhibits, and other cultural events (like something at the Alliance Francaise) this year. The first event on the list is First Fridays at the Natural History Museum. It's January 4th for those of you who want to come along.
2. Use Skype and FaceTime more. I want to take full advantage of my gadgets in the New Year so that I am better at keeping in touch. I always forget I can not only call my friends who are across the country, but I can call and SEE my friends simultaneously. I mean, it is 2013, after all.
3. Metro to work more. I got spoiled and started driving all the time in 2012, which is just absurd since I live 2 blocks from a Purple Line stop that can transport me into DT in 6 minutes. Yes, 6 freaking minutes. I took the Metro this morning. I left Koreatown at 8:42 am and got off at the stop near my office at 8:48. Including walk time the trip takes about 12 short minutes. My stomach just hurts when I think I used to buy a monthly pass to park downtown. Times are a-changing and my wallet is gonna luck out.
4. Pack lunch. This resolution goes hand-in-hand with #3. I didn't take the time to make the right decisions that would help me begin to save some $$. So now, in 2013, I will buy some tupperware containers and put them to use. This resolution might even help me get over my aversion to leftovers.
5. Run more races. I am a veteran runner--I used to compete on a far too regular basis and got burnt out. Now, I am at a point where I have found joy in running again and would like to compete more often just for the mere challenge and fun of it. When I got back into racing I was only signing up for an annual marathon. Running one race a year put far too much pressure on me to perform on that single race day. This year's race line-up includes the Vancouver Marathon (See you in May Laron, Rachel, and Londyn!) and it won't stop there.
6. As much as I want to enjoy more of LA (see reso #1) I also want to take my hard-earned income and travel. There are so many places I have yet to see and experience. So I hope to leave LA at least once a month. Some months I will pop on a jet plane when I have the extra dough (thanks to reso #3 & #4) and others I might just jump in my car and spend a day in Santa Barbara or Joshua Tree or somewhere near-by.
7. Okay, this one is going to sound a little far-fetched and maybe even a little hokey not to mention cliche, but I want to try to treat each day like a NEW day. I want to get better about giving each day its own undivided attention and make sure that I am contributing as fully as possible to the life that I want to lead every single damn day.
