wonder of me x 100

Kristen knows she can get me to post when she tags me on a meme, although this time around she acknowledged that she might be pushing my aversion to "wonder of me" posts a bit too far.

Boy, did she ever.

I started this one the other night and needed to abandon it because it was just too gross. And, well, it's still pretty gross.

100 Amazing Things I've Already Done

This list is meant to be in response to those lists that are often generated about the things you want to do before you die to justify your time on the planet; the kind of list that will inevitably make you feel like sh*t as you look at your watch and realize that time is ticking and the top of Mount Everest isn't getting any closer to sea level.

So, yeah, this is a list of 100 thing that I have already done. Some are more impressive than others, some are about what has shaped me as a person, but all are things that I can pull out as story fodder ("Did I ever tell you about that time . . . ?"). There is a bit of starf*cking going on in here, so excuse me.

Enjoy. I tag everyone who feels the need for a little self affirmation. You can write the list in your notebook if you feel like it.

I have . . .

1. Surfed in Oregon
2. Won the gold medal in the National Latin Exam
3. Climbed the Acropolis in four-inch red heels
4. Salsa danced with Joan Baez and Desmond Tutu — at the same time
5. Been given ride home by Jackson Browne — from his concert
   
6. Talked to Maura Tierney in the bathroom at a movie premiere
7. Earned my master degree from Harvard
8. Driven cross-country — three times
9. Run Rock the Vote
10. Published a zine
11. Published a blog — for more than three years
12. Been a Salzburg Seminar faculty member
13. Traveled to South Africa – twice
14. Visited Nelson Mandela’s cell on Robben Island
15. Dipped my toes in the Indian Ocean
16. Met Al Gore
17. Met Ted Kennedy
18. Taken a class from Michael Ignatieff
19. Done an independent study with Samantha Power
20. Developed the strategy for the first-ever Cabinet member blog
21. Kissed a Heartbreaker
22. Met two members of Nirvana — and kissed one of them
23. Seen a woman take her clothes off in front of the presidential palace in Prague
24. Maintained a friendship with Chris for 20 years
25. Survived and overcome
26. Been a guest on Loveline
    
27. Avoided financial ruin after a medical emergency that occurred when I did not have insurance
28. Celebrated New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh
29. Moved to London with no job and no place to live when I was 24
30. Visited the Lower 9th Ward post-Katrina
31. Written and read an original essay on NPR
32. Walked through Sherwood Forest
33. Trained young political leaders in Cambodia
34. Sat in a green room with Ted Nugent
35. Appeared on CNN as a regular political commentator
36. Contributed to fighting the global health crisis
37. Created a career out of doing “good”
38. Visited Bonnie Raitt back stage
39. Seen Badlands in a movie theater
40. Managed to avoid ever going bowling
41. Dropped out of college for a year and a half — and gone back to school
42. Moved to San Francisco (from Connecticut) on a Greyhound bus when I was 20
43. Met Bill Clinton
44. Trained youth organizers in Mexico
45. Been on the merry-go-round near the Eiffel Tower
46. Been John Hughes’ pen pal
47. Stayed in David O. Russell's guest room
    
48. Gone from growing up on AFDC/welfare to now earning more than xx percent of the population (too tacky to actually write)
49. Been offered a job by Mary Robinson
50. Spoken at my grandmother’s funeral
51. Had an essay published by the Carnegie Corporation of New York
52. Attended a presidential debate
53. Met Bono
54. Met — and been quoted by in a speech by — Sting
55. Seen Wilco in concert (at least) 10 times
56. Climbed the Wicklow mountains in Ireland
57. Gone on a road trip to the Clinton Library
58. Talked on the phone with Katherine Hepburn
59. Shaken hands with John Edwards
60. Stood outside the Cambridge City Hall at 12:01 am on May 17, 2004 to congratulate the first-ever same sex couples to be married in Massachusetts
61. Voted in every local and national election since I turned 18
62. Attended the International AIDS Conference — in Barcelona and in Toronto
63. Maintained a database of everyone I have met for 10 years
64. Watched Taylor give birth to Victoria
65. Called John McCain a “wuss” on CNN
66. Received flowers from Martin Sheen
67. Managed to convince foundations and companies to give projects I am working on tens of millions of dollars
68. Been linked to by Jeff Jarvis
69. Had one of my ads used as set dressing (Zoey's dorm room) on The West Wing
70. Had another one of my ads used as an example of ad agency star Helen Hunt’s work in What Women Want
71. Overcome my fear of cockroaches
72. Had an essay published in How to Get Stupid White Men out of Office
73. Seen Edward Norton and Catherine Keener off-Broadway
74. Seen John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman on Broadway
75. Gone to an Ozzy Osborne concert — minus adult supervision — when I was 10
76. Seen Nation of Ulysses in concert
    
77. Seen Circus Lupus in concert
78. Seen Lungfish in concert
79. Seen Beat Happening in concert
80. Advised three presidential campaigns on young voter outreach
81. Managed to have the most perfectly 80’s iconic first make out session ever: behind the Space Invaders game; at the roller skating rink; wearing sneaker skates, designer jeans, a velour Izod pullover and a turtleneck with a whale on the collar; while Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” played in the background
82. Interviewed Heather Armstrong and Robert Scoble
83. Saw Jawbox in concert in London
    
84. Worked on a diversity project that was cited by President Clinton's Initiative on Race as a “Promising Practice”
85. Had Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia ask me who she needed to f*ck to get into the VIP section
86. Exchanged emails with Pierre Omidyar
87. Met Walter Mondale
88. Gone to a rave in Southampton, England
89. Visited Angkor Wat
90. Shared "guest" status with Billy Baldwin on an ABCNews.com web chat
91. Served as an adviser on UNAIDS project
92. Attended four of five True False Film Festivals
93. Become a connoisseur of single malt scotch
    
94. Eaten dinner at a table next to Donald Rumsfeld
95. Served as a BBC political commentator on that fateful 2000 election eve
96. Worked on a documentary film project with Frances Reid
97. Organized a mayoral debate for young people in Kansas City
98. Driven the 101 from Los Angeles to San Francisco
99. Stayed at the oldest hotel in Savannah, Georgia
100. Attended one of two Dismemberment Plan reunion shows
     

i'd like to dedicate this to heath ledger

del.icio.us tags 01.27.08

Some people do things just to be nice (not me). techPresident wraps up the year in political video. Consumers won't dismiss your company as using "green" as a marketing ploy if you're honest with them about what you're doing right -- and wrong. And a couple of things just for fun: Sesame Street and whiny white people.

Word of Mouth

It clearly says something about me that I presumed most people wrote online reviews to stick it to a company that's done them wrong. According to Keller Fay, it's just the opposite. The majority of folks who write online reviews have something nice to say and and want to share their good news to benefit other customers. They're also motivated by the desire to reward a company who makes them happy or to help that company get better at what they do.

Politics

techPresident has posted the best political videos of 2007 -- both "voter-generated" and videos from the candidates.

I love the SwiftKids

"My mother baked me this cookie."

Citizen Journalism
Download An Introduction to Citizen Media from Rising Voices for a non-techie guide to the "fundamentals of citizen media." Comes via PBS's MediaShift Idea Lab.

CSR

Consumers are growing skeptical of companies who claim to be "green," dismissing such rumblings as being mere "marketing gimmicks." According to Linda Passante at The Halo Effect, some of the companies that are doing the best work are making the least noise. Her words of wisdom? (And they are, indeed, very wise.)

"If you firmly believe that your company is committed to the environment, to workers’ rights, to fighting heart disease, or to even just excellent customer service, then you can’t just talk about it in some altruistic tone using vague corporate language. You need to show how you will do it, do it, and then provide details as to what you learned and how you’ll work to improve. Because, in the end, we all know that no one or no corporation is perfect, but consumers will respond to an authentic and transparent commitment."

Cool Stuff

Get ready to regress into your childhood: Sesame Workshop has launched the Sesame Street video player with hundreds of videos, searchable by keyword or character. The site is in beta. Will the "real" launch include the capacity to embed content? Please?


White Whine has a new "white person complaint" every week (“I really wish the Wings DVD’s would get here . . . I’m almost done with Mad About You.”) I'm sure they could come up with more . . .

love letters from the past

What happened, Ennis?

Love letters from the past . . .

11.12.05 handsome beyond measure

12.08.05 entertainment tonight

12.22.05 healthy crush

01.01.06 marketing hetero love

01.09.06 excuses excuses

01.16.06 time for a picture

01.17.06 nothing to miss

02.26.06 gaze upon the beauty

03.05.06 ruff ruff

03.06.06 no conspiracy

04.09.06 damn good coffee

G-d bless, Heath.

bad boy in dockers

Today is Jason Bateman's birthday.

I take an inordinate amount of pleasure in the fact that I was hot for Jason when I was 12. As "Derek" on Silver Spoons, he was the Han Solo to Ricky Schroeder's Luke Skywalker. A little naughty, a bad boy in Dockers.

I'm still hot for him today, but now it's because he's that seemingly uber-normal guy that I never date -- with a really great sense of humor.

I would put money on the likelihood that I am the only person on the planet who has ever deconstructed their 25-year crush on Jason Bateman.

At least I didn't write a poem.

del.icio.us tags 12.23.07

The British Royal Family has launched their own YouTube channel. Tune in on Christmas Day for the Queen's annual Christmas broadcast. In the meantime, the thrilling (and three part) A Day in the Life of the Prince of Wales is riveting.

The League of Conservation Voters thinks that the Sunday morning news show hosts are neglecting the climate change issue when interviewing the presidential candidates. Head over to What Are They Waiting For? if you think 3 of 2275 questions just isn't enough. Sign the petition. Tell a friend about the site. Get more information. Donate. Keep the media accountable.


Finally, the Pew Internet and American Life Project released their latest report on teens and their use of social media. Lots of good data (as always), but few surprises. The number of teens who are online and creating content is on the rise. Social network use is on the rise, as is blogging, with the latter particularly on the rise among teens from lower income and single parent families. Teens are posting more photos and video than adult internet users. And, whatever you may think, teens who are heavy Internet users are also active offline. And those who are most plugged in are the most communicative and social of all.

wrapping things up

Kristen posted her annual End of Year meme and tagged me to do it as well. I have been posting these now for a couple of years, always prompted to do so by Kristen.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?

• I convinced a Cabinet member to blog.
• I traveled to Greece and went to the Acropolis.
  
• I became confident in my skills as a manager.
  
• I saw The Dismemberment Plan in concert.
• I became a scotch drinker.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't make new year's resolutions. I make resolutions every day to take care of myself physically and emotionally. There is a reason I make these resolutions every day: I don't keep them.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

A whole bunch of folks had babies these year, but the person to whom I am closest was Amy, who gave birth to Jonas Aidan -- who resembles an old Chinese man more than most babies do -- on November 8.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

no

5. What countries did you visit?

I did less international travel in 2007 than I did in 2006. I spent a few days in Switzerland (Geneva) and a few days in England (London) in March and, in October, I went to Greece. All trips were work related and two out of three of those trips were with the great Johnny B.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

• a social life that extends a little bit further than drinks at Smith & Wollensky
• patience, but I'm not holding out any hope
• hope for the political future of our country
  

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I have a few . . .

I'll always remember June 16, the day I visited my grandmother after her apartment fire, because it will be difficult to ever get the sight and scent of her apartment out of my mind, as well as the sadness of seeing her on the balcony of her temporary living space, looking lost -- and old.

On a happier note, I'll remember April 8, the day Andrew and I met up at the Sackler. He was giddy (as much as Andrew can be giddy) about the pottery and I was giddy about spending time with him again.

Finally, I'll remember October 6, the day John and I explored Athens with Michael Darragh. I knew I was getting ready to move on, but I loved seeing something new with John, who has helped me to see so many other new things, often inside myself.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I really do think I grew as a manager. I wasn't always "nice," but I was always incredibly invested in giving my team the opportunity to strengthen their skills and, therefore, their value to the group. I think that's rare. Rarer than it should be.

Beyond that, and despite the fact that not being able to work with John every day SUCKS, I see the new job I will be taking on in 2008 as a big achievement because it is getting me back into advocacy work.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Folks, I ate like a pig.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

This year, it became pretty clear to me that I am getting old. Everything is falling to pieces. No major illnesses or injuries, but a general state of decay has set in. Lordy, it ain't pretty.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I love the brown jacket I bought at Anthropologie, but my Nikon D40x makes me swoon. Just ask Wyatt.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Al Gore for keeping up the fight, John Edwards for his populist message, Elizabeth Edwards for telling cancer (and her critics) to f*ck off, Wayne Coyne for continuing to have more fun than the rest of us, Jon Corzine and Martin O'Malley for fighting the death penalty, Heather Armstrong for her persistent honesty and humor. There are probably others. There are some good folks out there.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

How about appalled and angry? Ann Coulter is, and always will be, scum. She's just embarrassing.

14. Where did most of your money go?

eating out and clothes

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

I don't think I got excited enough this year, but I got excited when I got the invite to go to Greece and I got excited when I met the folks with whom I will be working in the new year.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?

Don't give me a hard time, but Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks had the right amount of righteous indignation to get me to sing along every time I heard it. It was released in 2006, but I bought the CD this year.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you

• happier or sadder? sadder
• thinner or fatter? definitely fatter
• richer or poorer? richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

I wish I had taken care of myself more: emotionally and physically.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

• read about Britney Spear's persistent downward spiral
• updated my status on Facebook

20. How will you be spending New Year’s?

I think I will be at Julia's.

22. Did you fall in love in 2007?

I was already there.

23. How many one-night stands?

zip

24. What was your favorite TV program?

I love How I Met Your Mother, although Kid Nation was a sincere source of fascination.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I don't hate people. I dislike a few, but they're irrelevant.

26. What was the best book you read?

Homicide By David Simon and The Assault on Reason by Al Gore

27. What was your greatest musical (re)discovery?

I love Grinderman. That's damn good car music.

28. What did you want and get?

a reason to leave where I was

29. What did you want and not get?

a reason to stay where I was

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

I don't think I went to the movies the entire year. I just don't enjoy it anymore. But my favorite rentals were a cheery group: Little Children, Dogville, Half Nelson, The Chumscrubber, In the Heat of the Night, Sherrybaby, A Scanner Darkly, The Baxter, The Statement and Inside Man.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I honestly can't remember (what I did -- I am well aware of how old I am.) I'm at the point where I'm not a big fan of birthdays.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I could have used some more time with friends and less time working.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?

This was the year of the headband.

34. What kept you sane?

That's awfully presumptuous of you . . . I guess Steve did the best he could.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I watched every episode of Homicide this year and I fell in love with Kyle Secor (aka Baylis). Someone needs to give that man (and Andre Braugher) a job.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

There's no one political issue that stirs me. I get riled up pretty easily day to day and there have been points throughout the presidential campaign where I was ready to impale myself, usually because of some ridiculously folksy thing Mike Huckabee said or because I can not believe that anyone would give serious consideration to Rudy Giuliani as President of the United States. But, I was thrilled with the recent Supreme Court decision to enable lower court judges not to follow federal sentencing guidelines for crack offenses, addressing the longstanding disparity between sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offences. That was one of those, "Wait, someone actually wants to right an injustice?" moments that comes so infrequently.

37. Who did you miss?

I missed Chris. But I took care of that, didn't I?

38. Who was the best new person you met?

I really like Cooper. He tells great stories (I like stories involving his son in which he adopts a voice that sounds like Beavis -- or Butthead, I can't tell -- with a lisp) and, in general, is just a f*cking charming guy. Plus, he was apparently a rock star in a former life. I hope we stay in touch . . . and I wish him the best.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.

Sometimes doing what's right for you hurts more than doing the wrong thing. (I think I knew that already.)

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

I try to keep the house nice and neat
I make my bed I change the sheets
I even learned how to use the washing machine
But keeping things clean doesn't change anything
("Hate it Here" by Wilco)

I'm tagging Kaitlyn, Qui and Samantha, although I am not sure any of them will do it.

resolving the debate: yes

There has been a fair amount of debate among the gossip blog crowd about whether or not Maggie Gyllenhal, newly-featured in ads for Agent Provocateur, was a suitable model. The debate has centered around whether or not Maggie is sexy enough.


As a public service to all of you, I will end this debate now and say, yes, Maggie is sexy enough.

(Has no one seen Secretary? If you can manage to be sexy while wearing a polyester blouse with a large bow . . .)


Move on.

Next topic? Is it true that Brad and Angelina have never told each other, "I love you," and, if so, why?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

del.icio.us tags 06.08.07

Not So Gay - Lauren Moore titled her post "What's the gayest site on the Web?," which is slightly misleading, since she's really just letting us know which sites that target the LGBT audience have the best reach and engagement metrics. I don't know what I was looking for. (Something like this?) But Moore gets ten points for a good post title.

Hey, Ladies - Now, this is gay. AfterEllen.com's list of the Top 100 hotties. They describe it as the anti-Maxim Hot 100 list (although Carmen Electra still manages to make it on the list). Leisha Hailey from The L Word is the number one hottie, which compels me to share that I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Hailey in 2000 when she and Heather Grody (aka The Murmurs) played a Rock the Vote event for us in New York. She also agreed to be featured in Rock the Vote's first (and only) gay youth targeted campaign, Take Pride Take Action. I'm a fan.

unbelievable truth

Sad news for Hal Hartley fans, including myself.

Update: Okay, this is just weird. And still sad.

just a rumor

Thank G-d I read US magazine today because I learned that the rumor that John Stamos and Sheryl Crow are a couple is just that - a rumor.

All is well with the universe again. Oh, except for global warming, war and genocide.

huh?

John Stamos and Sheryl Crow? The weirdest couple since . . . I honestly can't think of anything weirder.

talking trash

This is just lame. Annie Prouix, the author of Brokeback Mountain, is still kvetching about the fact that Crash won the Best Picture Oscar. She's even stooping low enough to call the winning film "Trash". Get over yourself, Ms. Prouix. You're not doing anyone any favors and you're not winning any fans. Belittling racism as a relevant and contemporary issue and putting yourself up on a pedestal is not becoming.

And Michael Douglas will be joining Ms. Prouix in hell. Forget that, he's going to have his own special VIP room in the burning pits. Please tell me he didn't really say this.

the morning after

I like Susie Bright's take on Oscar fashion. Comes to you via The Huffington Post.

ryan's hope

I got tired. Crash won. Consolation prize for Terrence Howard and Matt Dillon, but mostly for Ryan Phillipe, who is doing his best to avoid his destiny as a much hotter version of Chad Lowe.

And we all know what happened to Chad Lowe.

it's hard out here

"A whole lot of WITCHES jumpin' ship."

Okay. Let's take a vote. Are you more offended by the use of the word "bitch" or the fact that they just turned a hip hop song into something that resembles Rob Lowe's song and dance routine with Snow White, circa 1989?

(They won!)

bad word of mouth

I just called housekeeping because they didn't call me. Yeah, they didn't find it. I really really really hate incompetence.

So, if you're ever in New York and you need a place to stay DON'T stay at The Time Hotel at 8th Avenue and 49th Street. I know I never will again.

By the way, I am proud to be out of touch as well, Mr. Clooney.

ha ha

The first Brokeback Mountain joke of the night.

And, um, the first child molestation joke of the night . . .

hooray for hollywood

Oscar night. I'm in my pajamas waiting for housekeeping to call me back to tell me whether or not they have the adaptor for my Blackberry that I left in my room the other night. I'm already brewing for a fight if they tell me they don't . . .

I am also listening to the sound of the elevator through my wall. This may be the last time I ever stay in this hotel. I'm getting grumpier by the second.

high on believing

This is a beautiful thing. Turn the sound up and have fun. (Thanks to The Superficial.)