steve’s birthday isn’t until tomorrow but he prefers to think of it as a week-long celebration (if not longer), and has encouraged his pals (myself among them) to focus our celebration on different days.
STEVE – to commemorate the day before your 33rd birthday, here are a few of my favorites steve moments from over the years:
1)when you posed as my film professor and busted adam t. for falsely claiming to be ill with Scarlatina.
2)Your stellar performance in The Unicorn Prankand the Elite in general.
3)London trip − Class A lasers, non-sensical answers, Glenn 3000, your ceaseless singing of “Shine Sweet Freedom” by Michael McDonald and propensity to call everyone around us “foreigners.”
4)The stakes you put on a game of catch in Minneapolis … if someone dropped the ball their plane would crash. Also the determination that the entire trip would be wiped from our memories if the US Women’s Olympics soccer team didn’t triumph against Brazil (they did – shwoo).
5)When you got rid of a chick in Key West by sending her home on the back of a stranger’s bike at the wee hours after we refused to clear the room to facilitate your hook up. And of course the festival of song that ensued.
6)When you wore a tank top and wrap skirt (was it a skort?) and played the bongos in John & my apartment in Brooklyn.
7)All your stories from the Special Liabilities Group in Farmington. Used condom in Yogurt (fruit on the bottom … thank you very little).
8 )When we had the brilliant idea to bet on GO SHAMMY at the Kentucky Derby solely based on the name GO SHAMMY (and about half a dozen mint juleps).
9)Your classiness in always taking me to Subway (or at least offering). The fact that upscale means Chile’s or TGI Friday’s.
just saw bill hader , of SNL and superbad fame, on hudson st. second time i saw him in the nabe. he had a sour look on his face. maybe he was irritated that the chick at the duane reade checkout denied eye contact (i understand this move, BTW. you’re exhausted, you’re tired of seeing these rich west village mugs dropping crazy cash like it’s nothing — you don’t want to look them/me in the eye — i get it.) who knows exactly what made hader a hata in that moment but i sort of expected it. he is very talented and all that … supper funny but with his precise features he has the look of a really smart literary dude who’s prickly, sour and brooding. like he might have been a nation intern at one point. alas, he also has crazy fun eyes that are almost cross eyed so perhaps that cancels it out. regardless, he did a good thing by using his brain and wit for good (comedy) rather than bullshit academics and other “serious” pursuits. hada might have been a hata on hudson tonight but i’m still hollarin’ at him! (sorry bad inside joke. one time a pal was going through a mc donald’s drive thru and the dude said, “you fine girl. you got a boyfriend?” she said yes. he was like: “damn. well can i still holla at you?”)
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
The New York Times
Published: July 22, 2008
Over the past three decades, the incidence of melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer, has increased much more sharply in young women than in young men.
Melanoma incidence in people 15 to 39 has risen and fallen over the years since data collection began, increasing among white men to 7.7 per 100,000 in 2004 from 4.7 in 1973. But at the same time among white women, cases rose to 13.9 per 100,000 from 5.5. The trend was also evident for later-stage tumors less likely to be misdiagnosed, suggesting this is a real increase rather than simply a result of more accurate surveillance.
make an appt. to have a skin scan. stay the hell away from tanning beds. SPF up! skin cancer kills.
am really diggin’ albert hammond jr.’s 2nd LP “como te llama.” if you’re not versed, he’s from the strokes, one of my very fave bands. am a coupla months late in this discovery, but alas … who gives a crap about release dates anymore — movies, tv, music … what’s the urgency? good stuff abounds, and is there whenever you want it.
recently my ipod got wiped out due to my carelessness. cousin jack, one of my MVC’s (most valuable curators) re-jacked it. out of the thousands of new songs, movies and shows he put on it, como te is my fave collection so far. it speaks to how i feel right now. ironically, my favorite song on the album is “feed me jack. ” cousin jack not only feeds me music — he also cooked for me the night i picked up the ipod (bonus!).
and as if alberto and his tunes aren’t sexy enough (you may recall, i have a major thing for rocker boys and musicians in general), he had to go and have one of his videos directed by haunting hottie joaquin phoenix:
then there’s also this amusing rough around the edges homemade one, which reminds me of the early days of MTV when all videos told very clear stories. actually, it must be from his first solo album, yours to keep,which i did have at one point, before another, previous ipod wipeout (note to self: back that shit up!). anyways, worth a look … and a listen:
The bike is a dream,I must say. I bought a lock for it today so I can make the occasional stop and leave it outside at pal’s places, stores, etc. Am totes p-noid that someone’s gonna steal it since it’s so cool looking. Alas, que sera sera. That’s an approach I am taking to life overall. It’s a period of pretty epic stress. My Dad is very ill. Compounding the matter is a general denial of reality, or at least the refusal to articulate it … the ongoing propensity to “protect” my brothers, family and friends by pretending it’s all under control. Nothing’s under control. Such is life.
I struggle with how much to disclose, and to whom. You hear about “very private people.” I am not one of those, clearly − my biz is all over the internets. I don’t want pity, I don’t want morbid attention (positive attention? Bring it). But I hate walking around acting like everything’s dandy. It’s hard to give a shit about anything else. The day-to-day stuff that occupies my time is unimportant, but at the same time I’m glad for the distraction. Am fortunate to have an amazing network of people supporting me − family, friends, colleagues. Plus I’m being good to myself −eating well, exercising lots, not working too much. I know this too shall pass but in the meantime, as my pals have helped me acknowledge, I am in it. I’m in it and it blows.
After I bought the lock I drove down to the new Whole Foods in Tribeca (so close — dream!). Got ingredients for a Warm Garbanzo and Quinoa Salad. Cost me 8 bucks. Chucked it all in my backpack and cruised home. Am totes impressed with how well the meal came out. Am also starting to feel myself metamorphosize into something new. In spite of the difficulties, I feel I am on a good path. Lately that good path involves a bike path.
just saw 
am really diggin’ 
The bike is a dream,
After I bought the lock I drove down to the new 
