Insight from Steve Martin

Smithsonian Magazine ran a great article by comedian Steve Martin for its February issue. It gives his well-written perspective on being funny. What a talent!

You can check it out here, and make sure to watch the video at the top of the story before reading.

Thanks to BoingBoing for the link!

Two items of note

Chris Rose, a longtime columnist for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans used to be known for poking fun at Louisiana native Britney Spears. (I think her dad once pulled a gun on him.) Since Katrina, he's been a key voice for the struggling people of NOLA. Two years ago, I read his wonderful book, One Dead in the Attic, a compilation of his post-Katrina columns, but I didn't realize how much he's lost personally by staying in New Orleans.

I'm so proud of him. Click here to read a touching article about Rose by the Columbia Journalism Review.

On a lighter note, click here for a very cool film (8 minutes long) of an Arcade Fire show. Stick with it to the end... it starts slowly.

Thanks for the AF link, Ze!

Isn't she lovely?

Furla, my very favorite purse brand, has come out with the perfectly named bag: The Elisabeth. It's spelled right and everything. They introduced it last fall, I think, but only in three sort of blah colors. But for spring, it comes in a whole spectrum of juicy shades, including the burnt orange pictured here.

I think this is a much better use of the name Elisabeth than Liz Claiborne made... Their "Elisabeth fashion line was a plus-sized collection. I always assumed they used the "S" for that line because the letter itself is curvier than the "Z" that usually shows up in the name.

Curvy Elisabeths unite! And I just love our new bag.

She got lip gloss on her eyebrows

This is a email that I wrote to my friend Alex, a new mom living in England... maybe I can return to blogging regularly if I post this.

.... We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's here, too, although it has become a little bittersweet. My grandmother on my father's side hosted the whole family (in shifts) for two weeks in December. John and I went over to Tulsa, Oklahoma, the town I was born in, to spend a week with Grandmother, my sister, my aunt and my uncle. We just chilled out, cooked a lot of food, drank a lot of cocktails, stayed up until midnight to celebrate 2008 and spent the rest of the time playing with my grandmother's terribly cute Lhasa Apso dogs.

It was a wistful time for the family because Grandmother was diagnosed with pretty serious cancer last fall. Well, the day after we flew back to the city, Grandmother got the news that her treatments weren't working and that the cancer had gotten worse. The doctors stopped the chemo, and barring any miracles--Come on, miracle!--Grandmother has only a few more weeks to live.

It's been hard to accept, since I've always been close to her. I know I'm lucky that I have a grandparent left, considering that I will turn 30 in a few weeks, and I'm so happy that she got to see me get married to a man that we both love. (A first for us.)

So, the family is kind of waiting to see what will happen. She's playing cards with her friends and telling us to stop calling her every five seconds to see if we can "do anything," and we're all wondering if it's too soon to call her again and see if we can "do anything."

I hope she goes without pain or suffering, but I have a hard time saying that I want her to go at all. She just seems like one of those people who is so lively, so larger than life, that she should live forever. Alex, if you got to meet her at the wedding, I'm sure she charmed your socks off. That woman could get a wall to talk back to her. Hee... when she visited me in the city, just weeks after I moved here, she would talk to everyone on the subway, and everyone chatted right back with her. She had the whole subway car laughing when she tried to put on lip gloss as the train was swaying back and forth. I still think about it when I see someone pull out a compact on the train.

John and I have offered to adopt her two puppies, so we'll have a house full when they move in. I'll send pics when that day comes... They are true charmers.

Well, thanks for letting me get that out in writing, hon. It's the first time I've tried to explain it. (It's been weeks since I posted on my blog. I just didn't know how to start saying what's on my mind.)

Give some love to Edie and Shaun for me... And here's a kiss and hug for you!! XO

ebc

Christmas is long past

Sorry for the radio silence, dear readers. I'll tune back in, soon.