Which one's Carrie?

I thoroughly enjoyed last night's premiere episode of Cashmere Mafia, a tale of four successful businesswomen trying to balance their upward mobility with family and social demands in a hectic New York City.

The premise is startlingly similar to Sex and the City, which shared the same creator and producers, but maybe there's less focus on sex and more focus on the tensions between life in the corner office and seeking matrimonial bliss.

In any case, the costumes were fierce, the ladies were lovely and I could totes see shades of myself and my friends in this foursome.

Multi-purpose

The "storm of the century" hasn't quite abated yet, but it looks like the end is near. Everything's wet and there's debris everywhere.

San Francisco Bay Area citizens are dealing with the storm's multiple effects: power outages, toppled trees, leaky roofs, etc. And some apparently are coming up with creative solutions to their problems.

Roommate J and I were on the phone yesterday as he looked out the window and spotted a man whose van had apparently sprung a leak in its roof. To keep the inside of his vehicle dry, he was wrapping his car in green saran wrap! Practical and colorful!

Chicken fried Friday

It's a good thing Panda!!!! doesn't make new year's resolutions, especially of the sort that consider the quality of my diet. Otherwise, I think this year's would have lasted all of four days.

After Mattress, Blanca and I spent the night at a fun and frivolous birthday celebration, I somehow ended up at a diner, scarfing down chicken fried steak with gravy and eggs. I certainly wasn't hungry. And of all the things on the menu, why did I order quite possibly the least healthy option? It must have been my body yearning to have all the alcohol soaked up by something greasy.

It was a dark and stormy day

The local news is all abuzz about the confluence of three rainstorms hitting San Francisco this weekend. The first began yesterday and we're in the brunt of it currently.

My toes are still wet from coming to work this morning and I'm not sure my umbrella will function properly when I leave today. I, like a lot of people, experienced the ignoble phenomenon of walking along and having my umbrella burst inside out thanks to a gust of wind.

It looks like we should get about eight inches of rain before the weekend ends and we're looking to experience winds of 70 mph. Sheesh!

People at work are reporting felled trees, flooding and power outages. In fact, our office building a few miles south of the city has closed for the day due to a power outage. Mahogany Sparkle suffered a similar fate and lost power in the middle of the night. This morning, she woke up and had to get dressed in the dark. I wonder if she wore her lacy unmentionables over her slacks?

I'm sick *cough*

One of the problems of calling sick and spending the day in bed is that you eventually have to return to work and catch up. When I woke up yesterday, I knew I was in no condition to spend the day at The Corporation, so Panda!!!! made a phone call to the boss lady and stayed in bed.

Halfway through the day, I moved from my bed to my couch, where I enjoyed a marathon of America's Next Top Model (Remember when Rebecca fainted? When Tyra went to town on Tiffany? That cycle was delicious!) before returning back to my bed for an hour or so.

I did eventually move back to my couch for some more quality television viewing (Gossip Girl! Project Runway! Newport Harbor!) before turning in for the night.

But today I've returned to work and I'm scrambling to catch up. With the new year celebration, I feel like it's been ages since I've been at work and I'm falling woefully behind. I've had a few moments today where I've just stared at my computer, paralyzed by the work that needs to get done but unable to figure out what I need to do to start it. I wish I could return home and resume watching Tyra berate her model contestants.

This is the gayest panini party I've ever been to

Beetle got a new panini grill for Christmas so he and Mattress hosted a little impromptu panini party last night. We hit the grocery store and bought up some bread, ham, turkey, cheese and mayonnaise.

As Blanca and Beetle made two delish kinds of aioli, and as we fired up the grill, most of the party sat in the other room, first watching a Michael Jackson concert, then switching to a Celine Dion DVD. Later, it was time for "Moulin Rouge" and apparently time for Mattress to put makeup on.

Now, I haven't been to many panini parties before, but I do think this one takes the cake for being the gayest.

Good morning 2008!

Happy new year, internets! Last night was quite the celebratory evening, beginning at a lovely, low-key house party that featured a spectacular view and pomegranate-infused beverages, moving to Juanita MORE's New Year's bash, then to the club where Panda!!!! dance, dance, danced all night!

Along the way, there were some memorable events:

* Bill Paxton's Swedish shirt, an interesting piece that featured an extra panel of fabric. Was it origami? A potato sack? Couture?

* A drunk old gay who thought I was Japanese and whom Blanca and I convinced we were dorm-mates and anthropology majors at UC Berkeley

* Dancing with Beetle whilst wearing a new year's tiara and blowing those paper noise-makers with eyes crossed

* A gaggle of spazzy gays who took every opportunity to throw their arms into the air and gyrate their hips, especially when the DJ played a horrible remix of a terrible Michael Jackson song

* Searching for Blanca's keys after he had thrown them in the garbage in his haste to urinate

* Blown-out texts and phone calls throughout the night to/from our friends in other time zones

2008 has officially started off with a bang! This is looking to be one crazy year...