My Friend Tina-Bina

Ah-christ-EEEN-ah issa my favorite ah-friend-ah! In six words, Tina is Helen of Troy incarnate. She issa bella! Tina and I have been friends since 2003 but it feels like we've been friends since 1984ish. This is the story of how and why we became friends:

It was the year 2003 and I had just moved to New York to begin a graduate program in Computer Art. For the first few months, the only people I really met in New York were other students in the program. On October 31, 2003, I went to a church Halloween party and met some of my dearest friends there. Tina was one of them; however, our friendship didn't quite begin there. After that, we saw each other at church every so often, but we didn't really hang out much. I was busy with school, but by the end of November I decided to move out of my apartment and into a temporary one on a little place New York and I call Roosevelt Island (I'll save those stories for anther time). Luckily, I had Tina's phone number so I called her for the first time and asked if she could help me move. So she and Mossimo (one of my favorite Italians to impersonate) came to my rescue. Still, our friendship hadn't fully blossomed and wouldn't until January 6, 2004.

I went home for Christmas and when I came back, I had to move out of my temporary housing, say farewell to Roosevelt Island, and move into my new apartment (my current and most favorite residence yet). I called Tina, again, to help me clean my nasty apartment because I didn't really know who else to call. She came over and we scrubbed hardwood floors together. It took me 3 full days to clean the bathroom. Tina told me she was glad to have me in the neighborhood and I was so glad she was going to be my neighbor.

Since then, I've been locked out of my apartment, the gas has been shut down (so I couldn't cook anything), and I've had no water on multiple occassions. Each time those things happen, I always run to Tina's. I've done my laundry at Tina's house, laughed and cried at Tina's house, eaten wonderful food at Tina's, talked about our similar crazy families at Tina's -- it's basically my 2nd home in New York.

I'm so thankful she is so willing to serve others because we might not have become friends if it weren't for this quality of hers. That's not really true. I think we would still be friends because as Anne of Green Gables explains, we're bosom friends.

I love Tina for many reasons and one of the main reasons is because she's up for anything. On the rare occassion I feel like going out, Tina's always there to go with me. We go dancing, we walk home from church on nice days, but mostly we try out new restaurants. Perhaps our favorite place to go is Pomme Frites on 2nd Avenue. It's a small little joint that only makes french fries -- and ubergood one's at that. They also sell all of these wonderful sauces to dip your fries in. My favorites are Sun-dried tomatoe, Mango, and Vietnamese pineapple. Other popular choices are Rosemary-Garlic, Pesto, and Eggplant.


Outside Pomme Frites.


Inside Pomme Frites. Tina took this picture. Look carefully, 'cause you can see the Ketchup falling. I love action photos.


Here we are at Pomme Frites on a different night. I'm not sure what we're doing here or what that guy's name is, but I do remember we were having fun.


That night, we stayed 'til closing and brought the house down. The guys behind the counter gave me a bag full of leftover fries. I didn't really know what to do with them. I kind of didn't want to eat them anymore once the bag became wet with oil.

Tina's the kind of girl that if you ask her to combine forces for Sunday dinner she says things like this: "I don't have that much food to add to the meal." But then ends up doing things like this: makes a delicious greek chicken dish with a prune sauce along with a garden salad complete with home-made dressing. She cooks, she's beautiful, she's spontaneous, she's wise, she's a great listener, she dances, she's gonna be a lawyer, she speaks 5 languages, she plays basketball, (men, she's single), and she's the best friend I have in New York! And you can tell THAT to the presses.

In Yo Face...

In light of my most recent post, "I Look Like A Gelfling," it has been brought to my attention by another blogger that there is a website I should have known about years ago (technically it's still in its Beta version, but whatever). It's a site called My Heritage and its primary purpose is to create a network of families using genealogical information. However, one of its greatest assets is a program that attempts to perform face recognitions (well, mainly matching your face to those of celebrities). How you ask? You upload a photo of yourself on their website, then their super high-tech face recognition software scans the structure of your face, places it in a database of other faces, and finds similar matching facial structures/features all in about 15 seconds - BLAST OFF!!! Sara, why didn't we figure out how to market the Federal Governments methods of detecting one's identity to make a profit for ourselves sooner?

Before I disclose my lab results, I would like to greatly thank Skillz for bringing this site into my world. It has drastically changed my life in the last 2 hours. I'm sure the readers of lexiasnow.blogspot.com will be just as happy to discover this scienmetifical site as well.



The first go around, I most closely matched (in order of percentage) is Marc Anthony (at 71% - go figure)!
Followed by:
Michelle Pfeiffer
Nia Long
Brigitte Bardot (Ha! Ha! Look, mom and Genny-vive!)
Dane Cook
Sofia Vergara
Julia Stiles (yuck, but you were dead on Skillz)
Agam Rudberg
Jeisa Chiminazzo
Marilyn Monroe



But the second go-around was even better because I most closely matched, Drum roll please...HILARY DUFF (at 73% - too funny)!
Followed by:
Samaire Armstrong
LeeAnn Rimes
Piper Perabo
Goldie Hawn
Jo Jo
Bridget Moynahan
Rachel Bilson
Julia Roberts
Amerie

At least I didn't look like any males this time. You guys, I could play this game all day long - just uploadin' one image after the next. So have at it readers and come back and tell me your results!

I Look Like A Gelfling

Many people tell me that I look like Hilary Duff. She's like 10 years younger than me, but I've accepted the fact that I look like I'm in high school. Random strangers, though, approach me and my sister ALL THE TIME and tell us that we look like Gwyneth Paltrow or "that girl from That 70s Show." It's weird the number of times people have told us this. Sara and I have always attributed it to our blonde hair, fair skin, height, deeper voices, and maybe our sense of humor. But the funniest "you look like..." that I most recently got was from a guy my sister knows. He told her that I look like Kira from the 1982 Jim Henson movie, "The Dark Crystal."

Greeeeat, I look like a 15 year old puppet.

Maybe it's partly because my ears sometimes stick out of my lifeless flat hair. You be the judge.



More importantly, who will be my Jen so we can dream-fast together? That was for you, Sara.

The Mystery Person of 1985 goes to...

ME!!!

Growing up Mormon, I would go to Primary every Sunday. Primary is when the younger kids meet together and sing songs about God and learn about Christ through simple lessons (which usually include drawing pictures, playing games, etc.). At the beginning of Primary in 1985 (in Oklahoma), they would spotlight someone in the room and call them the "Mystery Person." Here's how the game went down. One of the Primary leaders would call one of the children's parents before church and ask them a series of questions about their child. Such as, "What is Lexia's favorite color?" Once Primary started, they would begin the game by stating one fact from their long list of questions about that child. For example, the teacher would say, "This Person's favorite color is Turquoise Blue." No one could ever guess who the Mystery Person was after the first statement was made. If you thought you knew who the mystery person was, you would raise your hand and guess. Usually by the fourth question, kids were on to who it was. Once someone guessed correctly, the teacher would read the rest of the information about the mystery person and all eyes were on them.

I always wanted to be spotlighted. Sure it was a fun game for me to guess who it could be, but more importantly I always secretly hoped it would be me. I longed for the day that I would be the Mystery Person even more than I desired to own Day-to-Night Barbie (her beautiful suit became a glamorous gown AND she had a briefcase with a cardboard calculator).

Well, it was February 2, 1985 and my longing days were over. I was finally blessed to be the MYSTERY PERSON! And here's proof:

Color of Hair: Light Brown [Really Dark Blonde]
Color of Eyes: Blue [Really Green]
Favorite Food: Spaghetti
Least Favorite Food: [Note that this was left blank because I loved/love all food]
Favorite T.V. Show: "Happy Days"
Favorite Activity: Feeding the ducks at Theta Pond [I still love feeding those darn ducks]
Favorite Family Activity: Playing Charades (guessing what people are doing); playing with dolls

Lexia is helpful to look after Sara. She puts the clean dishes away, picks up her toys and helps with the house work.

Lexia's least favorite chore is making her bed. [Honestly, what's the point in making a bed if it's going to get messed up again in about 12 hours]

Lexia has 3 cats [Still allergic]

Lexia would like to be a mommy when she grows up. [I didn't know I wanted to be a mommy. I'm so cute!]

Lexia's Story: When Lexia was just three... she liked the pretty colored Easter Eggs. She just knew they would taste extra special because they were so pretty. So she tried to eat the pretty eggs -- shell and all. She has always liked pretty things.

What a fun thing my mom recently emailed me. It's crazy how much some of those things still apply to me today. I love pretty, sparkly, twinkly, glittery, pink things. It's encoded in my DNA; I can't help it.

Side note, if you're thinking of asking me to marry you, ask with an Eames Lounge chair and ottoman (not a diamond).

I'm Mesmerized By This Cheesy Ad

Every once-in-a-while when I check my hotmail account, I'll stumble across this advertisement from Lowermybills.com. What I think will be a quick email check turns out being a 10 minute stare at this ad. My eyes are glued to it. You can't tell from the motionless photo, but the people glide across the rooftop while their bodies dance. I think I have an idea how they made it. My guess is that they filmed a live action dance sequence against a green screen, rotoscoped it, then brought it into Flash and added the other image layers. It's too bad the rest of the design sucks. Although I like the moon.

Tapes'n Tapes'n Tapes'n Tapes...

Sometimes I find a song that I love intensely for months straight. Not in a dissimilar fashion to the way that I crush on boys. The process goes a little something like this: hear it/see him, interest peaks, notice every detail, love it, can't get enough of it, with me at all times, then lastly another new song/boy enters and the process is repeated. It's a viscious cycle. However, it's important to note that I never discard! When I like something, I like it forever -- I'm classic in that respect, or I just have timeless taste.

I can remember some of the earlier songs I was intensely addicted to:
- Rocky Soundtrack: "Gonna Fly Now" (I wore this record OUT dancin' to it on my yellow record player. And let me just say that "Philadelphia Morning" is still da bomb, folks)
- C + C Music Factory: "Gonna Make You Sweat/Everybody Dance Now" (this was the first tape I ever bought)
- Siouxsie and the Banshees: "Peek-A-Boo"
- L.L. Cool J: "Momma Said Knock You Out"
- Abba: "Dancing Queen"
- U2: "All I Want Is You" ("Rattle and Hum" was the first CD I ever bought -- like I said people, I don't waste my money, hearing, or kisses)
- Nirvana: "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
- Silverchair: "Tomorrow"
- Blur: "Song 2"
- Elastica: "Connection"
- Pink Floyd: The entire album "Dark Side of The Moon"
- Debussy: "Suite Bergamasque: Claire de lune"
- Led Zepplin: "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do"
- The Strokes: My favorite off the new album is "Ize of the World" (okay and "You Only Live Once")
- Vince Guaraldi Trio: "Christmas Time Is Here"

While I still love "Promiscuous Boy," by good ole Nelly, I can't get enough of the Tapes'n Tapes song "50s Parking." I just can't sit still when I listen to it and I always smile when I hear it. I like to imagine he's singing it to me or that I'm singing it to someone else.

I love the way he sings this line:
I'll put my hazards on, it's done quite easily...

But especially these ones:
Long, cold walks,
Don't compare to bare,
In parking lots,
At night.
Well we watched the moon in true,
On the moves too bold for noon.
I think I'm making my move.
I think I'm making my move.

I think I'm making my move on Tapes 'n Tapes! There's nothing sweeter than cute boys in a band -- gets me every time. Silly Tapes'n Tapes. They just wouldn't be the same if they were CDs 'n CDs or MP3s 'n MP3s, now would they? Seriously, this song should be on your next make-out compilation.

New York Summer Nights

I love New York at night. I especially love it at the end of the summer. People are out and about. I'm out and about -- and usually just talking with friends. The two friends in the following photo sequence are Francesco, a newbie to New York and to my friend list, and Reagan, an older friend/roommate. These photos were taken by the camera (but it was Francesco's camera) at a "park" on 10th St. and 2nd Ave.


Us on a bench #1


Us on the same bench #1


Us AGAIN on the same bench #1


What with the bench #1?!?

My Friend Brigham

Because I'm currently figuring out my life right now, I haven't blogged as much. But, I have another idea for a series of posts. I decided to spotlight a few friends of mine. I always like hearing something nice about myself and decided I would write a few things about some of my friends in hopes that their hearts will feel a little warm and fuzzy or they'll visit my blog and increase my visitors statistics - whichever comes first.

The first friend I decided to write about is not my best friend, but is one of the first friends of the Young Sisters that I adopted - Brigham. Why him? Well, I recently stumbled on some old photos that were taken of us, circa 2004, in the earliest stages of our friendship. We happened to be wearing similar outfits one day and thought, "hey, this would be a nice photo opportunity." As we were lamely posing, we decided to spice things up and pose as if we were taking our engagement pictures. Note: We are not, nor have we ever been engaged - although, I think my mother would like such an engagement to occur. Mom, stop emailing him.


Lame pose.


The cliche arm-over-the-chest pose. I totally used the wrong arm, though; engagement rings are on the left hand. However, I am a little subversive.


I couldn't be serious, but look how great Brigham is acting.

Over the years, Brigham and I have evolved from eating together at the Young's apartment, to socializing at activities outside the Young's apartment, to sort of talking on the phone, to actually seeing three movies together, and finally to making this video (click the "play" button to view):


"Personal Best"
2006
Nominated at the 2006 Lingos Festival (heh, heh).

Although it's been a while since I've encountered Brigham, I just wanted to remind him that I consider him a friend and will always think of him as "not boring." It's been a good 2.5 years, Brigham. Here's to another 2.5 years!

Who will the next friend I post about be? You'll just have to wait and find out. I'm sure the suspense is killing you!

Tina, send me those photos so I can post about you next.