By Jenn Zipp
I think all Nerds want to fit in some place.
For a long time I wished I was Jewish. I don’t know why out of all the denominations and religions I could’ve chosen to envy, I chose Judaism. There is a certain elitist quality. The Jewish kids had their own summer camps. They had these parties for when they came of age. Hell, they even have their own dating website. (Which yes, I will admit, I made my own profile for. My best friend and I did it on a whim to find Jewish boyfriends). And the best part about being a young Jew is Birthright. You get a free trip to Israel before you turn 26. How many Roman Catholics do you know that get free trips to Italy?
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Posted by The Better Blog on 09/16 at 09:10 PM
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Jenn Zipp •
Non-Fiction •
By Eve Sturges
Eve and Bob: The Movie (A Production Meeting) Part 2 of 2
Producer: That lunch was great.
Director: I think I have heartburn.
Writer: Whatever happened to that dumb assistant?
Producer: Uh, I sent her to get coffee.
Writer: Excellent. So where were we?
Director: Um, Eve had just left that crazy party with Bob, and they exchanged phone numbers, but he never called.
Producer: I have to say, that doesn’t sound much like a movie. I mean, it’s no romance if he never calls, right?
Writer: Hang in there. So a year and a half goes by. Eve stops working at that restaurant, gets a different job waiting tables closer to her apartment. Maybe we should have a montage, you know? Everyone loves a good montage! Her hair changes, she has a steady boyfriend for a while, her child is growing up, lots of cute scenes of Eve’s life, hanging out in LA.
Producer: Until…
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Posted by The Better Blog on 09/15 at 08:00 AM
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Eve Sturges •
Non-Fiction •
By Camille Ikalina-Robles
Swedish-born chanteuse Theresa Anderrson makes a stop in San Francisco this Saturday, September 13th at Amnesia in the Mission. The songstress is seriously talented and will grace the stage with her impressive one-woman show, which has garnered her fans across the world wide web and packed houses in venues all over New York. Just check out her video below where she performs “Na Na Na” in the middle of her kitchen. The tour is in support of her recently released album, Hummingbird Go! (Basin Street Records). Join me and Better Blog editor Jenn Zipp at the show for some indie pop-soul goodness, and maybe then you can claim you knew her way back when she used to play cozy neighborhood bars.
http://www.youtube.com/user/theresaandersson
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theresaanderssonmusic
Posted by The Better Blog on 09/13 at 12:06 AM
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Camille Ikalina-Robles •
Non-Fiction •
Reviews •
By Mark Szakonyi
Brothers and sisters, I see a reckoning coming. It should be our reckoning, but the Green Insurgence threatens our day. They skimmed the seas saving whales in the 80s, and freed rats and other vermin from cages in the 90s. But in short time they infiltrated the system, so that now Fortune 500 CEOs boast of sustainability and presidential hopefuls unveil plans to fuel the infrastructure with hope and resolve. Even the proles talk of preserving by showering less and not keeping all their TVs on all day. They know not what they endanger.
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Posted by The Better Blog on 09/10 at 08:50 PM
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Mark Szakonyi •
Non-Fiction •
By Jenn Zipp
I’m a nerd. I’m not playing it safe when I say this. I’m not the beautiful starlet that sits down, one on one with Barbara Walters, and modestly plays down her stunning beauty by proclaiming herself as a former nerd (this is usually when black and white yearbook photos appear on screen of a frizzy haired, brace-faced, pimply teenager).
No. Instead I am the Before picture. I am the beginnings of a transformation. However… the transformation into something cooler, something more sophisticated and elegant hasn’t really materialized.
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Posted by The Better Blog on 08/30 at 08:21 AM
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Non-Fiction •
By Sara Martinez
I approached 2008 with an extremely positive attitude. I made a big apartment move in the summer of 2007-- one that I knew I could barely afford, but would have a worthwhile effect on my overall disposition. I repeated to myself “Change in ’07 means great in ’08” with a feeling that 2008 would be a great year, as long as I made the proper adjustments leading up to it.
At this point, I wouldn’t so much use the word “great” to describe the last 7 months. I tend to have a weird sort of bad luck – unfortunate things happen to me, but things usually work out in the end, and through it all I have my health and my family and a roof over my head. When I think of how quickly this year has gone by, I don’t think in months, but rather in the string of disappointing occurrences. I got full body hives for a week after one day of work on a reality show about trash, followed by somebody in Bucharest hacking into my bank account and pilfering $2,000. Next, a portion of my ceiling fell in, and as I was trying to get that fixed, my refrigerator broke. I got tendonitis in my leg, and to pass my recovery time, I bought Rock Band. It turns out my Playstation is too old for it to work properly. Then, some old fogey rear-ended my mom, totaling her car. What followed was some family drama on my father’s side, and finally, in the middle of July (and in the middle of a long employment drought) my beloved 14 year old cat died.
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Posted by The Better Blog on 08/29 at 09:48 PM
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Non-Fiction •
By Eve Sturges
Eve and Bob: The Movie (A Production Meeting) Part 1 of 2
Writer: So I’m thinking, we got this girl, right? Her name is Eve.
Director: Who you got lined up?
Writer: Anyone young, whatever, but she’s got to have spunk. You know, like, uh...what’s her name?
Assistant: Meryl Streep?
Writer: No, someone YOUNG.
Director: Kate Hudson?
Writer: Not that pretty.
Director: Katie Holmes?
Assistant: Not that tall.
Producer: Miley Cyrus.
Writer: Not THAT young. Jeezuz. Anyway, moving on. Okay. So she moves to LA and starts working in a super swanky restaurant. Think like, chandeliers, dim lighting, plastic surgery everywhere. Lots of stars, paparazzi hangin’ around out front. And there’s this DJ, right?
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Posted by The Better Blog on 08/26 at 10:25 PM
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Eve Sturges •
Non-Fiction •
By Camille Ikalina-Robles
Monday--rain, rain stay for another day.
It’s raining as we pull our luggage over puddles across the uneven concrete. It’s a cool spring rain in the late afternoon in Mexico City, like the 3 p.m. rainstorms I looked forward to every day when I was a kid during the summers I spent in Florida visiting my dad. But it’s not humid, and there is no thunder, just the steady rain in a city high above sea level, tucked in a valley surrounded my mountains.
That valley is the Valley of Anáhuac. Built upon soft land above old pre-hispanic cities, I am convinced the ancient ruins below house the spirits of old Aztec ghosts. Where I walk now is a very modern city, haunted by its own ghosts torn between modernity and the subtle hold of the hands of its past. The marks of old pagan cultures mix with the practices of the prevalent Catholic faith, and the influence of the richer land beyond its northern border is visible through the high fashion store windows. Spain exists here as well, just another ghost.
Noemi, my dear friend whom I met while in Morocco, is traveling with me. We are students and we are broke. But traveling is something that exists deep in our bones, hers from a heritage linked to indigenous Mexico, and me from my roots to the Basque gypsies of northern Spain. So we make the best of it even when we have little money. Our hotel is clean and a nice place to lay your head. It’s got a shower and clean sheets, and it’s only $35 American dollars a night for both of us. It really puts being “broke” into perspective.
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Posted by The Better Blog on 08/24 at 10:24 PM
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Camille Ikalina-Robles •
Non-Fiction •
By Abbey Leroux
I never knew I needed an alter-ego until I saw those words strung together on a tea menu.
Iron Goddess of Mercy.
It was like someone from another dimension was calling out my long-lost name! Who is she? What does she look like? How does she roll? Somehow I knew. Those three powerful words explained it all. She is strong as iron, unlimited in her divine gifts and powers, and yet sweetly understanding and merciful upon all those she encounters—especially the dudes; the dudes who have been less-than-merciful unto her.
For some reason, the dudes are not immediately fond of this name when I reveal it. Some deeply intuitive part of them does just as the Iron Goddess of Mercy would expect: they tremble in fear. They scoff. They look at me like I might be a little bit more dangerous
than my small frame and generally sweet disposition suggests.
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Posted by The Better Blog on 08/21 at 10:18 PM
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Abbey Leroux •
Non-Fiction •
By Ted Grudin
Of course no one’s too excited about a $5 gallon of gas (unless you happen to be pro-environment like me) or the loss of jobs that results from the impending recession in the United States of America.
But one thing I will say in its favor is that it builds character. Hardships and struggles challenge us to make it without the usual padding and ease. In other words, instead of driving across town, you may just decide you have to take public transit. Instead of flying to Moscow for your vacation, you may consider going camping 60 miles away from where you live, or staying at a friend’s cabin. Instead of eating out at that fancy restaurant, you may stay home and cook those potatoes and leeks that the previous owner of your house had planted in your backyard. Instead of moving far away from your family, you may just decide to stay near, or you may even live with your parents longer (this is quite the norm in some countries, and I see nothing wrong with it as long as it is done right).
I will not go as far as to say that whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. No, I don’t believe such a fallacy. It simply isn’t true - if you eat ten pounds of laundry detergent and survive, you surely will not be stronger.
But, I will say that these impending economic hardships in our country may just bring our communities closer together - they may make us face our communities in ways we have never done before. And it may strengthen both our communities and our culture.
Of course I am not saying that this would be easy, but what true growth is ever easy?
Posted by The Better Blog on 08/19 at 08:54 AM
Filed under:
Ted Grudin •
Non-Fiction •
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