Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Fabulous Fifteen: "I'm Still Standing"

Fishy faithful, I write to you now with the Elton John’s aforementioned outrageously upbeat song about being outrageously upbeat in my single functioning office earphone. I must say, to catch a glimpse of me from afar, one might think I just received an e-card, as I am that pumped! [ref. day 13]

Every time I hear that song, I am carried back to the video visuals. A delight! Body paint that puts the face makeup of the woman in the “Hungry Like the Wolf” video to shame!
It’s hump day folks. I won’t tease.

MY GOD THE CHOREOGRAPHY! Love it. So very much. Human dominoes? L-O-V-E it. Also, please note at that around 1:53 of this video, I think we see that the Wachowski brothers were big Elton John fans for some staircase scenes in The Matrix. Appropriate that the déjà vu scene in that movie would be déjà vu itself!

Anyway, anthem in tow, I am amazingly positively energized today. Even if I weren’t, it would probably behoove me to write a blog entry saying I was as yesterday was a bit of me unleashing the fury within, and I am not sure if my shrink is reading this (and hope “shrink” is not offensive if that is the case! [note the F.O.O. here {ref. day 8}] I swear it’s only because it sounds funnier than “therapist” and does not reflect my actual esteem for your work [love it!] or that of other mental health professionals in any way).

Wow that may be the most I’ve ever made use of bracketing at once!

Why would my shrink be reading this, you ask? Well, in discussing this project and its 40-day goal, I was asked to disclose the web address and did so.

I then immediately rushed home to skim the contents of the crockpot to see just how unstable a personal projection of myself I was giving to the world at large. I was not surprisingly less-than-comforted by discovering the last post I’d written prior to giving her the address was the one in which I compared myself to Dali, but with all of the mania and none of the genius. I believe I actually had sentences declaring myself insane in there! (ref. day 6) It’s ok, I’ve accepted the fact that I may be hit by a tranquilizing blow dart and removed from society upon returning for therapy. No worries. I love macramé. I’ll be quite content. Not vengeful at all! (Don't read yesterday's entry!)

Aside from the cosmetic necessity of sharing tales of an exhilarated state today, I have actually achieved one! I have full moon fever, and I don’t just mean the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers album (though I do quite enjoy that as well). Now, I realize that the whole concept of lunacy relates to antiquated beliefs in exposure to the moon (check out “luna” hiding in that word, eh?), so that may not completely clear me of claims of instability, but today I am putting my faith in the unexpected. I am in fact counting on the full moon to bizarrely affect the outcome of events in unexpected ways. If ever there were a day (this month) for what should not happen to happen, it should be today.

As previously mentioned, I watch more than my fair share of television programming (ref. day 9), and tend to do so with some intensity. Today I am counting on full moonbeams to break down the fourth wall of my television set and throw me into a world where people from t.v. become characters in my real life. A fan and follower of the Bravo channel reality show “Top Chef,” tonight I am going to eat dinner in one of the former contestant’s restaurants. Tonight I will be dining at Café Firenze in Moorpark, California, home of season eight fan favorite, Fabio Viviani.



While this information would be enough to make any fan excited about the connection to someone recognizable from television, I am a little more than excited because I irrationally, and completely, believe that the full moon will allow me to meet Fabio. And his best friend on the show, Stefan. I will not bother going into great detail here as really, only watching the show itself will do descriptions of their characters any justice, but they were two stars of the show who both had larger-than-life personalities, and expansive talents with cheffery. Figure that! Casting agents know what they’re doing.

Fabio is a gregarious, talkative, happy Italian guy prone to hilarious one-liners. Stefan is Finnish, justifiably cocky, precise, unflappable, and ruthlessly unapologetic about being good at what he does. He was also called upon all season long to stir the pot as he stirred the pots (I think I may be stealing this line from my brother- credit where credit is due), taunting other chef contestants about their dishes and abilities. While portrayed as the season’s bully, I found him to be nothing but likable. The show is a cooking competition, and he found a non-mean-spirited leg up on those around him. Stefan tragically lost in a finale that was as obviously doctored by the show’s producers as any reality show I’ve ever seen, but currently lives in the neighborhood adjacent to mine, a brief jaunt away from fan-favorite of the season, Fabio.

So in my mind, I’m counting on the full moon to bring me not just maybe a glance at Fabio through the kitchen door, but a full blown encounter, wherein we appreciate each other’s company as much as I appreciated his watching the show, and we hit it off so well that he introduces me to his good pal Stefan, who happens to be in the kitchen. Because reality must be just like the television world, wherein they were never willingly separated from one another. That is the wonder of television done well, and reality television is particularly insidious – believing that you would know the people in real life as well as you feel you know them on television. Sure, discount hours of editing used to sculpt common conversation into distinguishing characteristics (i.e. Stefan’s villainy) and assume that what you see is what you get.

And that anyone on t.v. would also love to be your friend as much as you’d love to be their friend.
THAT is what I anticipate this evening. And I say anticipate with full intention of wish fulfillment, so much confidence do I have in the full moon and it’s powers to make worlds (of reality and television) collide.

Disappointment is not an option.

And if by some cosmic blunder it is a disappointment, you can read all about it in day sixteen. As of now, it’s tentatively titled “Sweet Sixteen: Stefan whisks me away, only after whisking several ounces of cream to create a dessert interpretation of his newfound feelings for me.”

See, SO not crazy.

Crockin’ on! And still standing.








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