longer, fuller, darker

The makers of Botox have recently unveiled a new product called Latisse. (latisse.com) It is the "first FDA-approved prescription treatment for inadequate or insufficient eyelashes." Brooke Shields is the face of the new campaign.

Firstly, yes it's Rogaine for the eyelid.

Second, do people really feel INADEQUATE because of their EYELASHES? This is amazing to me.

Third, 'insufficient?' Insufficient for what?

It was a long, long time ago that I stopped caring about my male pattern baldness. But I understand that it's a real source of insecurity and anxiety for some men. I'm trying to imagine a world in which I agonize that my eyelashes aren't "longer, fuller, and darker," and I can't do it.

sanaya rose

quick news:

most importantly, emily and darius welcomed sanaya rose lakdawalla into the world on the 23rd! she's the cutest little blob you ever did see.

the first season of 'lie to me' wraps today, and it was officially picked up for a second season. tonight monica starts a much-needed vacation, and she'll be in for a long (22 episode) haul starting late july.

i'm staying very busy for an out-of-work bum, working out and playing volleyball at the local ymca, writing, helping out at emily's, and poking my nose into creative interests- meeting today to talk about doing some simple directing, and auditioned today for improv classes, both in hopes of sharpening some slightly rusty skills i have in my toolbox.

santa monica is beautiful, and the ocean-scented air coming in the window is a far cry from new york.

slogging through my mental bloggage

been a few months since my last confession, and much has changed.

i'm now living quasi-semi-permanently in LA, and very happy to be with monica. also enjoying fulfilling uncle duties more frequently, and looking forward to emily's next serving of niece, coming up very soon.

santa monica is beautiful and i'm very happy except for that little important sticking point... a job. no bites on the teaching front, even though i've begun working with a teacher placement agency of good repute. looks like i missed out on next academic year, but i'm far from giving up. going to do the whole process again next year, and this time even better!

the good news is i have some really fun gigs lined up over the next few months. monica and i will teach public speaking at the heifetz institute on the campus of brewster academy on lake winnipesaukee in early july, and i'll teach acting at the broadway theatre project in tampa for the rest of the month. from late september through november, i'm going to tour france with the same production of julius caesar that i did last year. that is gonna be GREAT.

all in all, i have plenty of reasons to be happy- i'm just a little restless and confused about what exactly i want to be when i grow up. it's all about the journey, not the destination, right?

thanks for checking in.

IMDb

the russian movie was finally listed on the IMDb! i submitted the request several months ago.

search for 'chuzhie' at imdb.org.

lie to me numbers

Nielsen ratings have never been an important thing to me. Now, with Monica's show on prime time, they take on a very real implication for our lives. Following them has been interesting.

Opening night last week had very good numbers, but not incredible ones, and I think Fox was expecting slightly better. It started at 13+ million viewers, and by the end had dropped to around 11. It beat Lost in its time slot, but was second behind Criminal Minds.

Last night, however, it had a solid 12 million, and was first in its time slot, better than Lost and Criminal Minds! The only show with better numbers in ALL of prime time last night was American Idol with a RIDICULOUS 26 million.

For context, there are about 114 million television households in the US. So, roughly one tenth watched Monica last night. Crazy!

With good enough numbers, the show can go a second season. If it does, it means many more months for Monica in LA, which is why I'm planning to move out there! If it doesn't go a second season, it means tough decisions for us.

It's all very exciting!

new meaning to la la land

just came back from a very short but wonderful weekend in LA. hanging around with my gorgeous girlfriend, eating organic meals outside, visiting my laughing, talkative, cute little pumpkin of a niece, it occurred to me that i am very, very lucky.

the st. pete times in florida recently published a great little piece on monica. link below.

http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/article970028.ece

movie star

my buddy jenya was our translator and friend during the russian-movie filming process. i'm glad to have his friendship because, besides being an outstanding guy, he's my eyes and ears in russia. he's been the one to tell me how the premiere went, what the posters are like, etc...

while i still don't have a copy of the DVD of the movie, it is out in russian stores. (the producers have promised us a copy, and say it is 'in the mail.') jenya tells me that the bootleg movie stands, which are just like the ones in new york, have an alternate cover for their copies of Strangers.

it's delightfully strange to imagine my silly dance moves peppering the covers of DVDs all over the streets of moscow...

crazy stalker fan

i don't think i'll EVER get used to the commercials. hooray for DVR!

lie to me!

monica FINALLY sent me a DVD of the pilot that will premiere next week and i watched it last night.

it should suffice to say that i LOVED it, and though i understand logically that there i no way i have an objective perspective on it, i am going to forge blissfully ahead in my fandom anyway. i love that it's a crime show but it's colorful and bright- i love tim roth's disaffected gestural performance- and mostly i love the insanely gorgeous latina newcomer that will be the viewpoint character in the series.

the show airs on fox, wednesday nights after american idol, starting a week from today.

photo album 2

album part 2

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=514867448&k=63E434QZU32MYCEBXF3YT

photo album 1

first of two vietnam photo albums is posted on facebook! link below:

 

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=514867448&k=Z41XXVT5U23GUDEASK26TQ

down and out in westwood

the post-script to the main body of my vietnam trip is less fun. this weekend i'm in LA, and i've been knocked out completely by some sort of major stomach bug i got in vietnam. major abdominal pain and inability to sleep has made the past couple of days difficult! i just started on an antibiotic this morning which seems to be doing the trick, and my appetite just came back.

i return to new york on monday and get back to real life!

hanoi to hong kong

hanoi was a blur. what a big, loud, active, incredible city. we stayed in a very nice hotel in the very center of downtown, and, thanks to new year's, we felt like we were living in a tornado. nica and i both developed healthy headaches soon after arriving- we think it was the incredible amount of smog and exhaust everywhere- the perpetual symphony of horn-honking could have something to do with it too!

 

we toured yesterday morning around the city by 'cyclos.' this is definitely the way to do it for people who want to keep a low tourist profile. nothing blends in better than a grand parade of 14 westerners each under a red-fringed canopy in front of their very own personal pedicab driver. it was a hair-rasing adventure, toodling around the city, facing down oncoming traffic, bumping elbows with motorcycles, and regarding pedestrians coolly from our thrones.

 

we didn't read the tour itinerary closely and all we knew about our first stop was that it was a mausoleum. we surrendered our bags and went double-file by dozens of rigid soldiers. inside, we encountered the pale, chemically-preserved body of ho chi minh. it was spooky, unsettling, and terrifically odd! it was exactly the experience i had purposefully avoided, what with the moscow art theatre's proximity to lenin's tomb during my stay in russia. the image of the body flanked by four soldiers certainly won't leave me for a very long time.

 

next we stopped at the hoa lo prison, known to most of us more affectionately as the 'hanoi hilton.' we enjoyed exhibits that consisted of leg irons, guillotines, and john mccain's flight suit. (you'll remember that he spent quite some time there) there was an odd photo gallery, including ones of POW's playing volleyball in the courtyard, and the americans getting souvenirs upon their release. souvenirs!

 

all in all, it was a strange tour! we ate an awesome lunch and spent the afternoon wandering the clogged streets and shops of hanoi.

 

i finally succumbed to stomach issues last night, suffering from severe cramps. i muddled through our new year's eve farewell feast with as much good humor as i could muster. (i skipped the slabs of fois gras and the piles of caviar, but enjoyed the vietnamese band with a male singer covering tracy chapman)

 

our hotel was only a quarter mile from the restaurant, but it took monica, her mom, and i a good thirty minutes to navigate through the throngs! we formed a human chain and literally squeezed ourselves through crowds of people, motorbikes, and stands, all the while ducking and avoiding these strange flaming parachutes revelers were setting off. they were mini-hot air balloons, complete with a baseball-sized flaming coal attached at the bottom. most soared into the sky, but some crashed into buildings, trees, and people. we saw a tree catch fire and we held our breath as we watched an apartment building decide whether it wanted to go up in flames or not when the fireball landed on a tar balcony roof.

 

i was asleep by 11:30, half an hour before 2009 in vietnam. when 2009 hit new york, i was reading newsweek on my plane from hanoi to hong kong.

 

all in all, it was an unforgettable trip. i learned so much and saw so many incredible things! (and ate a lot of amazing food!) i owe a debt of gratitude to mr. and mrs. raymund for welcoming me on this surreal journey!

hue part 3

still in hue, our flight to hanoi is delayed due to 'weather.' this is amazing to me since as far as i can discern, the only weather hue sees is rain.

last night we had dinner in an ancient house, hosted by a grandson of one of the senior advisors to the last emperor. he gave us a bit of a tour- think intricate woodwork stained black, and ornate carvings everywhere, even in the ceiling beams! he demonstrated the ceremonial weapons (huge halberds and my favorite, a spear with a carving of a fist on the end), and showed us how his grandfather smoked opium. (hint: with his head on the lap of his most beautiful concubine, puffing from a beautiful hand-carved elephant tusk.)

we're taking advantage of the extra time and leaving in a few minutes to go check out a tomb.

no more diaper pants, hanoi will be our last city and totally cycling-free. i'm fine with that. it's been great, but my butt is sore and i'm really sick of being soggy! i don't know if i'll ever get the mildew smell out of my suitcase.

it's really been fantastic so far. this country is filled with warm, gracious, sensitive, subtle people.

hue part 2

more biking, more fobidden palaces, temples, and pagodas, and lots lots more wet. the days are becoming blurs of mist and mud, clay and clouds. but it's still invigorating! i will look forward to the next DRY day, though!

we rode along six-foot wide roads through paddies, jungles, and towns today. on this road, the villages feel like wild west towns- all the buildings alongside each other facing 'main street,' and instead of horses, ... hondas. the motorbike is definitely the pack mule here, and the flip flop is the cowboy boot.

i cut my ride a few kilometers early when my pal tony (he's a music lawyer) capsized in a fairly large pool of mud and sliced his hands open on the gravel. we've actually had quite a few spills on this trip- biking is a dangerous business!

lunch today was on a riverboat which was pretty fun- it was bright red with giant dragons adorning the front. as i dipped my shrimp rolls in the dish of fish sauce on the white tablecloth and surveyed the jungly riverbanks, i realized i was puttering down the river under wildly different circumstances than my countrymen who visited here all those 30 or 40 years ago.

the vietnamese, for their part, have no problem discussing that ancient history, but it's certainly not their first association when they see americans. they've had more wars in the past hundred years than i can count, and our conflict here is just one chapter.

time to head out into the rain again for more cocktails and food.

Hue

just a brief note now, and hopefully deeper thoughts tomorrow. have to hurry and change for mandatory Group Cocktails.

 

the road from hoi an through da nang and most of the way to Hue (hway) was very interesting. don't remember if i mentioned this in an earlier entry, but over 75% of viet nam's population is under 29. on top of that, there is a LOT of growth- we saw an enormous high-end resort with both hotels and residences under construction along a neglected beautiful beach outside of da nang. the waves were perfect for surfing, and not a soul out there. da nang in general is growing like gangbusters- viet nam is going through some huge changes!

 

more riding in sodden clothes through non-stop mist and mud. truly, i think we'd get the same reactions from the locals if we were all santa-claus-lookalikes in drag with beehive hairdos. if you ride towards the end of the line, people have already gathered outside their homes to gawk at the first, and they're positively celebratory when you roll by. huge, toothy smiles from all around, and they're thrilled when you say hello back! the only people who don't smile and wave are men over 50, and only a small percentage of them. a couple kids so far have yelled to me "hello! what your name!" and i responded "barack obama!" and both times they gasped then laughed and squealed.

 

we toured the forbidden city of the imperial city this afternoon. took many pictures. hue used to be the capital of viet nam. we saw pictures of the boy emperor circa 1925- a feat since no one was supposed to be allowed to look at his face! back then, the crime was beheading. today, it costs a several thousand dong (a few dollars) to walk around the secret city like you own the place.

 

dad's been here before. very cool and kind of strange to know, considering our wildly different circumstances. shoot, gotta go! thanks for the fun notes and emails!

how white is your rice (hoi an)

the city of hoi an is my favorite yet. it may be the tourist trap of viet nam, but i love the bustling market, the tailor shops everywhere, and the combination of westerners and vietnamese that want to be near westerners (either to make money off them, or, rare as it is here, to be more like them).

yesterday was long long long, between the boat, the van, the plane, and 30 km of cycling in the rain. that was all before lunch! i also wandered the neverending market, toured a chinese temple to the water goddess, visited a house that has been in the same family for EIGHT generations, and got measured and picked out fabric for my new three piece suit.

last night we ate at mango mango, a popular restaurant on the river, with overly-flavorful food and overly-strong drinks.

this morning we had an incredible vietnamese cooking class. we made (and ate) incredible summer rolls, winter rolls, scallion pancakes, jicama-banana leaf salad, and the most delectable spiced chicken i've had in a very long time. we learned that bean sprouts are good for virility, and that, even though the vietnamese have come to admit brown rice is better for you, they still judge a meal's value by how white the rice is.

afterwards i stopped in a barbershop and had the most comprehensive face and head shave ever. he even shaved and cleaned my ears!

most of the group is out riding for the afternoon- i'm taking it off, to do more shopping, have a fitting for my suit, pick up laundry, and generally take a breather.

as much fun as i'm having, i'm definitely homesick!

pitch black morning

only a couple minutes to report before we leave on a loooong day's worth of adventure.

 

we had no trouble getting up in the blackness of 4:45 AM this morning- we chose to sleep on the open second floor of our private bungalow, which seemed like a good idea at the time. we nestled on the daybed in our 'fort,' which consisted of many large pillows and a cascading mosquito net. there was a gentle breeze and the sound of surf. as the night wore on, the wind began to howl, and things crashed about. strange birds landed ON our railing and cawed in loud, eerily human voices.

 

it's pitch black still now, at 5:23 AM, and we've successfully showered outside, picking our way over these amazing black slugs with narrow red racing stripes, and packed our things. we'll hike to the beach in a minute to take a boat to the mainland, then a van to the airport, then a 30km ride to lunch, followed by more van transfers and riding. we'll apparently still have time for a walking tour of hoi an before dinner.

 

my personal butler (i'm not kidding) just informed me that the boat is ready, so i'm off! happy holidays to everyone!

christmas day on ninh van bay

this is ridiculous.

i'm sitting in the 'library' at the six senses hideaway on the coast. the library is a deck made of weathered wood, with a high thatched roof, and the no walls. i'm looking out on the bay, surf is crashing in and there are several vietnamese fishing boats crawling in the water.

six senses is on a small island- we arrived by boat. there is a short beach (in front of every cabana, just beyond the personal plunge pool) and the island quickly inclines in a glorious cluster of trees and rocks. to make the view even better, this portion of the beach (the kilometer or so that the resort covers) is concave, so to both sides you can see the cliffs and trees rising up and reaching out over the water.

it's rained just about non-stop since we arrived yesterday afternoon, which i beautiful in its own right, but we are definitely mourning for the beauty we know we'd experience in this green place if the sun were out. the puddly gravel walkways and wooden deck pathways are littered with large snails and slugs. the high winds rattle the wood and canvas of our cabana, make the thick nautical rope whine pleasantly, and render our rain ponchos ineffective!

last night we had dinner in the restaurant, at one long table. the room is a much larger version of this library, with a tremendously high thatched roof, and wet, powerful wind threatened our napkins and gave the whole affair sort of an urgent feel. as we dined on course after course, troupes of young, heavily made-up and thoroughly sequinned vietnamese girls performed a series of dances in unison, divided in the middle by a 'fashion show.'

yesterday's ride was incredible. another rainy day, i abandoned my rain coat early (it was very hot) and succumbed to the wet. when it wasn't raining, our bikes still plowed through mist and steam and ground-level clouds, and ripped up puddles of thick mud. i had a solid racing stripe of brown dirt when i was done, from the back of my head to my bum, thanks to the kickback of my rear tire.

here was the vietnam that i had imagined. we perimetered miles of rice paddies, in various states of harvest. during the first part of the ride, the shoots were so green they were fluorescent. just like the pictures, workers in conical hats patiently picked their way through the ten-inch water. other paddies were muddy and devastated, post-harvest, and workers slogged around with hoes, churning the mud.

we cut through lots of villages, where we were often received with giggly 'hello!'s, mostly from kids. i'd always return the hello full-voiced and with a big sloppy grin, and kids and adults alike would descend into peals of laughter. we're a heck of a parade, with our neon clothes and big fancy bikes and western faces.

the houses in these villages vary greatly in style and value. many are narrow concrete construction with colorful fronts and bare gray sides, as if they were supposed to be nestled in a crowded city block- but they stand alone in a field! many houses are combination residence/ convenience store, and all seem to have a front room with no front wall. most have large outdoor living areas, cantinas of a sort, with simple sheet metal roofs to keep the rain off. the small, brightly-colored plastic kiddy chairs (such as mom and i have purchased from the grocery store for my niece anahita) are ubiquitous- they are EVERYWHERE. almost as common as motorbikes! in fact, the preferred sitting and hanging out apparatus around here seems to be kiddy chairs and motorbikes- only beat out by the tireless squatting on the haunches that the vietnamese do so well. the floor is never too far away, and even the elderly pop up and down with alacrity.

as we turned one corner, an open-front house was blasting "feliz navidad.' it was still ringing in my ears as we broke from the jungle and penetrated yet another rice paddy, this one ringed with a low green mountain swathed in impossibly-low-hanging clouds.

it's christmas and i am on an island, off the coast of vietnam. it's achingly beautiful, and wonderful to be with my sweetheart, but, as the surf crashes and the rain pours down around me, it's also throbbingly far from family and home.

da lat pt. 3

my muscles are burning. today's ride was as predicted, amazing, but also downright grueling. i'm not used to cycling at all, let alone these long, long inclines!

 

we stopped today at a flower farm that's completely enclosed by greenhouse-like netting. rows and rows of colorful flowers of different types awaited harvest. a guy sat on a cinderblock in front of a HUGE heap of picked flowers, and with lightning-quickness, wrapped each head in plastic, then tossed it to the side in piles sorted by color, without looking.

 

we cruised up and down many hills today that were covered in tall pine trees! there were a couple of spots, if you excused one or two plants, that could easily pass for washington state. the pines aren't native- they were introduced by the french. the sky was huge and brilliantly blue, and we often had sweeping views of rolling farmland, carved into tiny plots. all day it was very cool, with a healthy breeze. the wind picked up a couple times, only when we were going up hill, and only directly into our faces!

 

we ate lunch on another covered patio today, this time at the home of a man who was busy preparing for his eldest daughter's wedding the next day! we watched as the bride and groom created a stage, and a huge truck delivering plastic chairs arrived. he is expecting 500 guests tomorrow, yet he was excited to have us as guests for lunch.

 

the hills killed today; this trip is either going to whip me into shape or destroy me.

 

we're going to a local market soon, and tonight we dine at the hotel.