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Archive | 2010

Lunchtime Interview #3: Andrew Mager; mayo agnostic, nap taker

Today we caught up with Andrew Mager who apparently actually works in between taking naps and playing ping pong in his new role as “gazetteer” at SimpleGeo.“Back in the day a gazetteer was a guy who worked with the mapmaker to figure out where the addresses would go on maps. I’m a finder of places,” he says, of the job title he admits he made up. “So you work in conjunction with a cartographer?” we responded, because we wanted to use the word cartographer. Then we realized we were using the second person for no good reason so I stopped. Also, Andrew Mager designed and coded this here web site you’re looking at.

Can you name this sandwich?

Tell me about this sandwich.

It was introduced to me by my lovely colleague Nicole. She cooks breakfast on Fridays. We have cheap breakfast croissants in the freezer but she went to the store and bought croissants, thick cut pepper bacon, Velveeta slices  and the secret ingredient which is mayonnaise.

Mayonnaise is controversial.

It is and a lot of people saw her using it and said they no longer wanted the sandwich.

Do you agree with their decision?

Not really. I don’t really like mayonnaise either but Nicole said (more…)

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On Sunday's ARIYNBF

On Sunday’s episode of Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend, C Gibbs of Lucinda Black Bear will be playing live in my apartment. Here’s one of his music videos.

I suspect when he plays on my show it’ll be a little less bombastic and more ballad-y, more akin to his stuff on his earlier albums, but I could be wrong. He’s one of my favorite musicians though, so I’m really excited.

Also? Other surprises including all your favorite things plus other things!

Hey, here’s an idea! Send your phone number for the Phone a Fan segment and maybe we’ll call you. Send it to fanphonecall@alisonrosen.com.

See you Sunday at 7pm ET/4pm PT!

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See me on TV Guide Channel August 15th

I’ll be awkwardly molesting you through your TV screens on August 15th at 8pm on the TV Guide Channel’s History of Sex. Followed by the History of Awkwardly Avoiding Eye Contact and the History of Screening Your Calls. Throw a viewing party and invite me! I won’t make it, but at least I’ll feel popular.

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Lunchtime interview #2: Kara Dennison; nugget lover, theft victim

Today we caught up with the lovely Kara Dennison, 29,  who lives and works in Newport News, Virginia, as an editor for a news website. Kara tried to order a tuna melt for lunch today but accidentally received dick sandwich, hold the bun. She ended up going to Chick-fil-A. Read on for details!

Not a tuna melt

That isn’t a tuna melt.

Kara: It’s not. I ended up getting Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets and waffle fries and some Dr. Pepper.

I’ve never been to a Chick-fil-A but I hear it’s amazing.

It’s great. The only problem is it’s not open on Sundays and that’s always when you get the craving.

Why Sunday?

It’s just the way it works. Naturally you want it on the day it’s closed. (more…)

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Lunchtime interview #1: Kristan, Subway hater; meat purist

I used to do a column where I’d interview co-workers about their lunch. It was possibly the most popular thing I ever did, which is weird. Still, I’ve decided to give the people what they want by bringing it back.  The column needs a name though. Ideas? When I did it on the TONY blog I used to call it “Hey… You Gonna Eat That?” but I feel like a fresh name might be in order. Or maybe not. Anyway, here’s the first one. Read it with a side of ranch.

Today we’re chatting with the lovely Kristan Sydboten, 22, who’s a hairstylist in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and who, according to her Twitter bio, is “smarter than you think.” Apparently so because she gamed the system by sending in a photo of her friend’s lunch instead of her own! Shifty!

Not Kristan’s Lunch

Alison: So wait, you didn’t eat this Chinese food?

Kristan: No, I had Subway. Do you want me to pretend I ate her lunch? (more…)

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Dustin has a sweet ride

Dustin has a car and we’re going to dinner. Because of said vehicle, we’re going to attempt going somewhere, in his words, “far-flung.”

Dustin: Ok, so we’re looking for seafood, somewhere out of the way that you can’t get to by subway.

Me: Yes. We’re looking for inconvenient seafood.

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Informal formal visits and my own personal war effort

Tomorrow I’m doing a brand new episode of Alison Rosen Is  Your New Best Friend even though I was tempted not to do one, but I can’t deprive you of me. It’s just not fair. Because it’s so late in the day I’m not sending out Facebook invites yet again because they won’t get there in time. Instead I’ll be knocking on each of your doors individually later on today and I’ll be expecting you to invite me in for a light snack. Nothing fancy, just make sure it’s something you would serve royalty. There’s a chance I may need to use your bathroom so please see to it that you’ve cleaned it top to bottom and inside and out and put out the finest hand-milled French soap. And when I say hand-milled I expect you to mill it yourself. If you don’t know how, this is no time to learn. Just call your local neighborhood miller and find out if they do soap, in addition to whatever millers do. Anyone? I know I read the Miller’s Tale in college in my Chaucer class but that information has long ago been replaced with other stuff. What kind of stuff? Let’s discuss that over caviar when I drop in for an informal formal visit.

In other news, it’s hot but not TOO hot in New York so you can breathe a sigh of relief if you were wondering how I was coping. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer cold weather, but it’s not so hot that I want to die.

Actually, come to think of it, sleeping in this weather is kind of difficult, which is why I look so sleepy and also AM so sleepy.

How sleepy am I? Very. You would definitely not want me driving your heavy machinery unless it happened to be air conditioned and then we could talk.

Anyway, I have a lot of things to say but I can’t say them because of the Marvin gag order but just you wait, internet, because a flood of stuff is all bottled up in here.

That sounded kind of menacing, didn’t it? I didn’t mean it to.

In fact right now I feel kind of estranged from words, which are my favorite things in the world right up there with ducklings and puppies, and it’s a fairly shitty feeling and it’s contributing to this amorphous directionless blob feeling I’m having.

I have half a mind to just delete this entire post but I have another half a mind to not and then another half a mind which is just thinking about TV shows. It’s a wonder I can fit into hats.

In addition to being estranged from words apparently I’m also estranged from jokes.

Imagine if you are in a war suddenly and it suddenly gives your life shape and meaning, especially if maybe before the war you were struggling a bit in your chosen profession and wondering if it wasn’t time to shake things up but not knowing exactly how. So just when you were considering a massive shakeup along comes a crisis which happens to be a war and so you ship off and you’re dealing with war stuff every single day from the moment you wake up to the moment you sleep, which is not enough by the way, and you know this war is going to change your life but a little bit you’re aware that there’s maybe something opportunistic in the way you’re throwing yourself into your new war duties because  you needed something to throw yourself into. At the same time it’s a blessing you were able to ship off at that moment, because the war effort wouldn’t have been the same without you. So then let’s say that particular battle is dying down and you’re debating whether to stay on for the rest of the war, or to return home, where things are less dramatic and poignant and ratcheted up. But see, if you return home the war will still be waged across the country and you feel wrong not being there. But you’re also aware there’s a very good chance you’ll join the war and put the rest of your life on hold which would be a mistake even if it’s easy.

Not that any of this is easy.

In the midst of writing the above I lost track of all the metaphors. I guess what I’m trying to say is hard shit is happening across the country and I feel weird being here and I feel weird being there. I just feel weird. And also sleepy.

The end.

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A list because you love lists

So I’m back in New York after six intense weeks of Marvin care and I have so many things to say it’s making it hard for me to say anything. This is a hazard when you’re a blogger who is known for sharing the details of your life. Also when you’re known for being achingly beautiful. I’m telling you, spending nights in the hospital did my complexion no favors. And that delicious hospital cafeteria food went straight to my hips. I think I should make a list of things I need to tell you:

1) I trust you’re all coming to see me Thursday in News Distillery at the 92Y. Here’s a story about Faith Salie that mentions it if you want more info which you probably do because you’re so like that.

2) I’m really proud of the ARIYNBF shows I put on in CA and I’m glad I did that even though at times it was hard.

3) Perhaps you’re reading this and you’re new to me and you’re wondering what I’m talking about.

4) Soon I will be able to speak about it, I think, but for now I have to be all vague and elliptical but here’s what you can know: one of my family members whom I’ve named “Marvin” was just diagnosed with something no one wants and so I’ve been helping out.

5) Not crabs, though no one wants them.

6) Or Jordan almonds.

7) Before the Mad Men premiere I kept wanting to write a list of “Mad Men inspired drinking games by someone who doesn’t watch Mad Men and doesn’t understand drinking games.” That person isn’t me, of course, since I watch Mad Men and love to drink till I puke.

8) It would be a persona. A device. A trope, if you will.

9) You won’t.

10) By the way, I don’t actually love to drink till I puke. In fact I seldom drink these days which is all part of the way I don’t have fun and am letting life pass me by.

11) woe = me

12) I’m actually tired of the Goldenrod Footbridge. Can you believe it?

13) In the past going home to CA was taking a break however a few days before I returned to New York it was suggested to me that I should return if for no other reason than I clearly needed a break and needed to get strong again before coming back to CA. This idea that New York is now the place I go when I need a break is doing all sorts of funky things in my head.

14) Specifically it’s doing the electric slide.

15) “A Marvin being sick marks the true end of childhood,” said a therapist.

16) Or maybe she said, “A Marvin being sick truly marks the end of childhood.”

17) Well, you get the point.

17.5) Not MY therapist! What use would I have for therapy? My brain is perfection and my emotions are a thing of beauty and my thoughts conform to the Platonic ideal of thoughts and my feelings are so appropriate you only WISH you had my feelings.

18) It’s hot in New York. I kind of hate that.

19) True Blood is now my favorite distraction and I’m sad I’m all caught up.

20) Also? I’ve been cheating on Splenda with Truvia. Just a little though.

21) I miss Tobey.

22) Congrats to Natali Del Conte on the birth of her baby boy!

23) Thank you all for the encouraging words you’ve sent my way.

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On tonight's ARIYNBF

Here’s Jenna Kim Jones and I looking effortlessly cool on a recent show

Tonight’s show is going to be a big happening. A real don’t-miss-this kinda rocking good time. The kind of thing that your friends will be talking about long after it’s over and if you miss out you will feel like a real dipshit. Do you want to feel like that? I don’t think so. Did you know that once my mom and dad and sister went to Vienna without me and they still talk about it, sometimes forgetting that I wasn’t there? Assholes, I tell you.

Anyway, I didn’t send out the regular Facebook invite thing because I suck and I’m fine with that. On tonight’s show, writer/comedian/Daily Show staffer Jenna Kim Jones, whom you know from her appearances on my show in New York will be on the show because she’s in California as well and how cool is that that we’re both here? Exactly. Also on the show? Paul Layton who over the years has been referred to as “cute Paul” behind his back. I like to throw it in his face. He plays guitar and sings and I’m not quite sure the exact style of his upcoming EP. When I last heard him he was playing some glammy poppy kind of awesome stuff. You love that.

So tune in tonight at 7pm PT/10pm ET. DO IT!

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