R.I.P. StarkedNY

I actually have some sad news. After 2 years of editing StarkedNY, I've just very suddenly found out that the blog is being canceled by the network that owns it. I loved maintaining that site and it was such a sudden notice, that I can't help but be really sad over losing it. I know that it's not the only site to be closed down in the network. Blame it on the economy or the stats or my base pay was too high, but it still kinda sucks. That blog helped me pay my rent when I wasn't working for those 2 months and before that, it was how I paid for NC visits and Comic Con this year and last year. I guess now I have to find something else to supplement that income. Originally, I was given a 2 week notice to end on August 14 (ironically the very first day I started editing it back in 2006). I was told a warning email came 2 weeks prior to that, but I never received it. When I questioned her, my channel editor said that she had sent this notice to me last Monday (conflicting with the '2 week earlier' story the head boss emailed me), but I checked my spam, trash & inbox again and still it wasn't there. On Sunday, I was told to "disregard" that 2 week notice and it was actually a ONE DAY notice. A "miscommunication" that I think is somewhat unprofessional. I've sent an email to the big boss to get clarification on StarkedNY's final day, but thus far, have not heard anything back. I understand how times are and how businesses work, but still the way it was handled - I never once yelled at anyone or said, "This isn't fair" and still don't intend to do that at all, so why am I being ignored for a simple question? - makes me feel as though they don't really respect their bloggers at all. What is it with the world today that everyone treats each other like crap?

However, I'm very grateful that the second blog I picked up for the network was not canceled.

Of North Carolina, Moby & Reunions

Okay, so. Saturday night. I've done basically nothing all day but clean and read and watch TV. I went to bed at 5:30pm last night because I had a bit of a migraine. My head hurt for most of today, but it feels much better. I'm going out to the Upper West Side in an hour to meet up with Eddie, Anthony, and whoever else for a little Marist reunion.

So I was in North Carolina last week, from Tuesday, November 27 - Sunday, December 2. Luckily, I had a relatively smooth airport experience both ways. I'm a rockstar for getting a week and a half off from work. *Pats self on the back.* Got lots of Christmas shopping done before I left, which is gooooood.

Got in around noon on the 27th and Clif picked me up. We chilled for the entire day: got some food and then walked around in downtown Raleigh and visited the Museum of Natural Sciences and the Museum of History. Then we hit up the mall for a bit and met Jay back at Clif's apartment. All in all, a really really fun day :)

After dinner with Jay's fam at the infamous Ruby Tuesday, we headed back to University of North Carolina at Pembroke where Jay goes to school. Hung out there all week, watched the entire first season of Veronica Mars and the movie Children of Men. Friday night we went back to Raleigh and went to this little indie venue called the Brewery to see the singer of Jay's old band perform with his new band. We got back at like 2am & had to get up at 5am because Jay had to work from 6am-10ish (he keeps score for hockey games). Saturday night we went to this burger joint where we had our first unofficial date in April & then to the movies to see August Rush. It was a really sappy chick flick, so naturally I loved it & cried at the end. We stayed up til like 2:30am after the movie because we had to finish Veronica Mars before I left, which was probably not the best of plans since I had to be up at 6am to get to the airport by 7am because I had an 8am flight.

Waaaaaaay too early on Saturday morning at the Iceplex. Like 7am too early. Like you can see the dark circles under our eyes too early.

All in all, it was really great: relaxing, nice to just do normal couple things that we never get to do because of the distance. So naturally, I've been sulking all week about having to be back in New York.

So anyway, we had our office Christmas party on Thursday night at a bar called Hi-Fi. It was actually incredibly fun. Afterwards, Max, Jeff, and I trekked all the way to Chelsea to a nightclub called Hiro, where Moby was spinnin'. Yeah, I'm not really a big fan of Moby, to be honest, but it was still cool. Jeff pushed me up on stage when he came out, so I took pictures from like a foot away to put up on StarkedNY. So click on that if you're a fan of Moby or if you want to see the pictures for shits & giggles. I got home after 3am though, so I was a bit of a zombie yesterday but surprisingly not really hungover at all. Then again, we were sober by the time we got to Hiro, since the open bar on the boss ended as soon as we left the office party ha.

Okay, it's 9:45pm and I need to go get ready to leave here soon. Peace out cub scouts!

Gift Boxes for All

Ok, I love the "Dick in a Box" digital SNL short with Justin Timberlake & Andy Samberg. Yesterday, I came across this. I posted it on Starked NYC because I thought it was so funny. There's another one, "Box in a Box," which is also funny, but the chick in the video bothers me endlessly for no apparent reason other than it looks like she's just doing the video to try & get famous whereas these 2 bitches are just doing it to be funny. Neither are as funny as the original, but still. This one (costumes, hair, style) reminds me of something that Sarah, Sara, Amanda & I would've done back in the day, only with the "Box in a Box" lyrics. You'll see. Have fun.

NYC Christmas Fiestas & Harry Potter = SO Fetch

I actually had 2 Saturdays off in a row, which for a Dec. in retail is unheard of. I need a real job where I can have Sats off all the time. But enough of the pity party. Last Sat (Dec 2), I went to Julie & Courtney's Christmas par-tay, all the way in Upper Bumblefuck, Manhattan. Actually, it was a really nice area; I'd totally, totally consider living there if it wasn't so freaking far. I think they're on 210th St or something? It was 5 blocks from the Bronx border, at the Dyckman stop on the subway. Julia met me at Penn & we rode the 45-min ride together. Their apartment is really cute, the party was fun; I'm really glad that I went. Anthony came with Amanda Nietzel, as did Matt Hittenmark & all of their old housemates. Good times :). Matero & Eddie drove in & Shawn Lynch came, but they got there after I'd left.

Of course, I was slightly buzzing when I left, so I missed the subway & subsequently missed the train I wanted to take back to Hicksville. (I was completely fine by the time I got to my car since it was 2 hours after I left the party, though, I promise.) All of the cousins on my mom's side had gotten together that night (there's 12 including my mom, aunt & uncle). By the time I got to Syosset & called my mom, they were all finishing up. I decided to just go home & go to a party all the way in fucking Mastic with Tricia. After driving around in circles, we finally found the right street, which of course was on the other side of Wm. Floyd, with no street sign. All we had to go on was it was "by 7-11 & before the Smith Point Motel." But it was fun. We didn't do too shabby in the beer pong dept. I made Tricia drink for me the last 1.5 hours since I wasn't even going to risk driving from Mastic to Coram to Ridge, especially since I'm a big fan of taking Whiskey Rd everywhere I possibly can, at all hours of the day/night. She was waaaasted. It was a looooong night of social activity for me.

On Tues, I went to a "Pre-Holiday Grand Opening" of a salon owned by a celebrity stylist in the West Village that I was invited to through STARKED NYC. I'm not going to say much here, but here's the link for the posting I did on the website about it. I didn't know if I could bring anyone, so I had told Tricia she couldn't come. Then, I'm on the subway & I look at the invitation again & see that I can bring a guest. I'm an idiot. I called Julia cause I knew she'd be getting out of work & on her way to the subway to go home & made her come meet me. Bribing people with free booze always works. Anthony met up with us afterwards & we continued all the drinking at some bar, though not for free. I went back to Syosset, since I had been there since Mon night bc of Grandma's surgery on Tues morning. I stayed there to help take care of her til Wed night. <3

Yesterday, I drove into Brooklyn to straight chill with Julia again. She, Annie Russell & I went to get a Christmas tree for their apartment, which we strapped to the roof of my car. Jules & I put lights & festive/gay red bows on it. After eating almost an entire bag of Swedish Fish in about 4 minutes, we decided it was time to get real food. So she, Annie, another roommate Kevin & I hit up a diner. Anthony, Amanda & Laurie were having a party that I had promised Matt Dunning I'd go to, but it was cold & by the time we finished dinner, it was late. They live on the Upper West Side & it's an hour subway ride from Brooklyn. That's not so bad, but I had to work today & couldn't get home really late. I felt badly, though. We promised Dunning we'd go to Boston before March 1 to make it up to him. So it looks like I'm goin' to Boston.

So instead of going out like normal 22-year-olds, what did we do? Watch Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire! I've been rereading all the books again. The only other movie I've seen is the first one, which didn't do much for me. This one = so good. I got ridiculously into it too. If I were Julia (or even Annie, who probably heard me in her room), I'd definitely have rolled my eyes at the extreme level of nerd that I was emitting. I may or may not have tried warning Cedric Diggory to turn back at the end in a vain attempt to save his life. I also may or may not have squealed when Voldemort came back. Fantaaaaaastic. I got home in an hour, 15 minutes. Great success! The L.I.E. isn't so bad when there's no traffic. OH & there's a Palace Diner in Queens - I feel as though I need to go there just out of principle.

Some P.S.'es:

• Mean Girls has been on TBS all weekend. So fetch. Holler.
• The 6th season of Scrubs started last week. Double holler.
• I'm now obsessed with The Office. Jim is my new crush.

Road Trip, Day 2 - The Vegas Edition

Day #2 - Tuesday, Nov. 7: Aight, so we woke up, packed our shit up & decided a tentative plan for the day (leave around noon, meet Anna on her lunch break to say goodbye, go to In-N-Out burger, drive to Vegas). Since I have a serious problem with beach addiction, Tricia dropped me off at the beach for like 45 minutes so I could jog on the beach/go in the water. Can I just say that I hate the hs kids who were playing volleyball outside on the beach for their GYM CLASS?! We did NOT do that in Longwood. But I got to go in the ocean, so life was good.

We left on schedule & stopped to say a quick goodbye to Tricia's sister then proceeded to hit up In-N-Out Burger. You know how I hate fast food & will only really eat Taco Bell or Wendy's every once in a very long while? WELL, if I lived on the west coast, I'd totally, totally be eating In-N-Out every freaking day. Holy shit, they're as good as advertised. They're so good that I think if Brian had one, he'd completely forget about his love affair with Wendy's. I think I'm pissed at Katie for not using that place as an excuse to bribe me to come out sooner. OHHH - GET THIS: On the way to get, we were driving along the highway & came across a sign that said "Watch for" & had a MEXICAN FAMILY RUNNING ACROSS A ROAD on it. I nearly died. I wish I could've taken a picture, but we were going too fast. Mama, Papa & bambito figures runnin' cross the road. I need to find a pic. There we go ^. It's GREAT.

So after my taste of fast food delight, we were off. We made it to Vegas in like 4 or 5 hours. After riding the CRAZY ass roller coaster at the NY, NY hotel (I'm talking upside down, steep drops, the whole 9 yards), I dragged Tricia to the Belagio so I could have an "Ocean's 11 moment" by the fountain (fuck you, I'm a dork). Then we met up with Roy Tahsin, who's the publisher of STARKED NYC (aka my boss). He's only a year older than me, actually sooo he's Tricia's age. Anyway, we went to dinner at the Venetian. Amazing. Inside, the whole thing is made to look like Venice (duh), with moats & gondollas & though it was like 9:30pm, looked like it was daytime inside. We went over to the Wynn, which is supposedly the most expensive hotel on the strip, afterwards for a few drinks. It was sort of tacky inside, actually, but you could tell that it was mad expensive. We found a random balcony with a bar & watched some weird waterfall lights show. It was...strange...but sort of cool. It was something that Sarah would find awesome but Julia would be like, "Um, what the hell?!" (If that makes sense at all?) It was very artsy.

ANYWAY, after that, Roy showed us a nice hotel that was just outside the strip, meaning it was nice but much more in our price range. We checked in at 12:30am then got up at 5:15am to hit the road at 6am. Wednesday was the most ridiculous, Murphy's Law filled day, so more about that lata. The videos started on Wed, so prepare get your eye-rolling practice in.

Pictures:

Greatest. Fast food. Ever.

Yum.Purty CA desert sunset.

New York gal does the NY, NY in Vegas.

Helllooooo Belagio fountain, can you tell me where George Clooney is?

Helloooooo small part of the interior of the Belagio.

The Venetian. That chick steering the gondolla sings. It's super.

Our host: the one & only Roy Tahsin.

Part of the weird light show. I thought those statues in the water were real & couldn't figure out why the people weren't moving. It was a great moment for me.

I'm a wild & untamed thing

"I'd rather stick my dick in a blender." -Funniest text message Chris Golio has ever sent me.

California on Monday morning! Then Tricia & I are going to drive back across country, leaving sometime Tuesday? Colleen = Excited. I know we're probably stopping in Vegas, we're stopping in Tennessee so she can see her grandmother & in Baltimore to visit her dad (yessssss, our last adventure in Baltimore back in April was SO much fun; I got to see some of the places that Tricia caused trouble when she was growing up & then during her Towson days). I think getting away from everything on Long Island that's completely stressed me out since I got home in May will be just what I need, since the only other thing that would be 'just what I need' is a real job & that one's obviously workin' like gangbusters.

Aaaaanyway, I don't really have any fun work stories at the moment - except that when you're in the wordrobing room, you can hear people in the break room, since there's a little window that connects the two. There's a vending machine right against the shared wall that breaks every other day & often times, whoever's in the dressing room can hear whoever's frustrated with the vending machine banging/shaking it in order to get their candy out (usually the Swedish Fish get stuck, FYI in case anyone ever finds themselves in the break room of Ann Taylor anytime soon).

So this afternoon, I hear someone beating the shit out of this machine for being such a withholding little bitch. I open the window & call out, "Stop beating up the vending machine!" (I was going to make a tasteless misogynistic joke too but alas, did not.) Usually, someone will say something back, but this time - nothing. So I thought nothing of it til about an hour later when one of the stock guys, Ryan, comes up to me.

Ryan: "Did you yell at Dillion (new guy) for shaking the vending machine?"
Me: "Yeah, I heard him giving it a beatdown through the wall."
Ryan: "He thought that it was an automated message. He came back white as a ghost, claiming that the vending machine was TALKING to him, telling him to stop shaking it!!"

Exactly. And in case you're wondering, hell yeah I made fun of the new guy for the rest of the day. I don't care if he's Lisa's brother. Dude thought the vending machine was talking to him...

Ok, that's enough for one night. I'm off for the next 2 weeks. Yaaaay for not having to work, boooo for how broke I'm going to be soon!!

Oh - holler at me if you want me to send you a postcard or something, since everyone knows I'm big on that shit since I'm so cheesy. Roadtripping advice also encouraged.

P.S. STARKED NYC's been down since Wednesday, which SUCKS cause I spent like 2 hours on Wed night doing all the Daily News Links with a Rocky Horror Show theme for Halloween, wasting time that I could have spent in NYC with Amanda, Courtney, Julie, Hittenmark, Matero, etc & of course as soon as I publish it, the site's down so no one could fucking see it. However, I'm sharing this with all of you because I found it hysterical & nearly peed my pants when I saw it (don't you just love redundency?) & have no other way of sharing it with people til the site's back up. Have fun: Have Yourself a Merry Lohan Christmas!

maybe a bright sandy beach is gonna bring you back

Being that I had almost the exact same "conversation" today with two different people, I feel the need to include the away message of Brian Sabella, the second person to bring the 'not-going-back-to-Marist' topic to my attention today (not that it wasn't already on my mind/brought up by almost everyone i've ever met in the past few weeks).

StamosIsLife: Finishing up packing for Marist...

Oh wait, Im old.

You little bastards better enjoy it.

Muffin is right. Katelyn actually said to me the other night, "You know, it's really scary that you graduated. I don't like it. It makes me realize that it doesn't last forever." Damn right it doesn't. I'm not going to get into it now cause it's late, but sometimes you really don't know what you've got til it's gone. But I was lucky. After a somewhat rough year (that had good moments, I'm not complaining), I had a very, very, very, very awesome last month of school. Starting with Festival then Banquet then Riverfest then Yuck then Senior week then Senior Formal then graduation; I feel incredibly lucky & blessed that I ended my time at Marist on such a high note.

I guess that's why this has been such a frustrating summer for me. Some things that I wanted to last...didn't and some things that I wanted to happen...haven't. But that's neither here nor there & this is not the time/place to analyze my summer. Maybe another time. Life is funny. I'm a very intense person but I'm an understanding person & not unforgiving. People never give me enough credit: I'm good at brushing things off my shoulders simply bc I don't want the weight of being angry or hurt or hating someone/having them dislike me. It's not worth it. Ok, shut up, Colleen. Just shut up.

Anyway, I did a first for me today: went to the beach by myself. Now, I absolutely love going to the beach but it's been the one thing that I've never really considered doing before. I've seen movies by myself (working at a movie theater desensitizes you to that), eaten by myself (granted, not at a restaurant, but I've gone into places like Panera or Dunkin Donuts or Quiznos, etc al & eaten alone), i've sat at concerts by myself (even if I had friends who were there, just sitting in a different section - DMB @ SPAC 2003 for example) and i've gone to see plays alone. Bottomline: I don't have a problem with a little 'me' time. Anyway, I've never considered going to the beach alone & especially this summer with certain 'circumstances' - so to speak - have caused me to always feel it necessary to have a beach buddy. Cassidy & Claudio have gone to the beach by themselves before & it's quite relaxing & peaceful & gorgeous there, so it shouldn't be a big deal at all. Soooo after an absolutely AMAZING day yesterday at the beach with Julia, Brian, Chris Golio, Ian face & Joe Matero, I decided I wanted to go again today. I woke up and it was gorgeous out so I thought to myself, "Self, just go do it."

So I did. And I relaxed with a book then walked around for over an hour. Said a hello that wasn't as awkward as I thought (I guess? from my POV but what do I know about anything?). Oh yeah - I also saw an old naked guy pissing into the ocean.

Basically, at Smith's Point, if you go all the way down to the right, there's a nude section. I remember walking down there in like 11th grade or something with either Claudio or Tricia or someone bc when you're like 16, the idea of naked people at the beach is still funny. Anyway, I remembered it being alot further than it actually is. At first I was like, "Ok, that dude's naked. Don't stare, just walk a little bit further, it's not crowded." I'm an idiot but I didn't feel like turning around and going back yet. So then I walk about 3 more minutes & see more saggy ballsacs. This time, I'm kinda getting the feeling (especially when I see some naked fat old lady) that it's time to go back. The clincher was when I look up from finding a song on my newly created playlist & see some guy standing by the sea. "Ok, Colleen, don't stare," I say to myself. Then I notice that he's NOT JUST STANDING THERE. NOPE. OLD GUY. NAKED. PISSING INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.

Yup. That was great. I did not go swimming after I got back from my walk.

Ok, this post is long & I have to go find stories for StarkedNY.com for tomorrow since I have work at AT 3-close & I have to go back to the mall so shit's gotta be done early. Thanks to everyone who's been going there & reading it. I really, really appreciate it.

P.S. Snakes on a Plane was awesome. Just awesome. Audience participation. I got to say, "Oohh, what's a trouser snake?" when the guy got bit in the crotch & Matero yelled out, "It's a trouser snake!" My favorite part (other than *the* line) was some guy from the audience yelling, "Why isn't William Shatner in this movie?!"
P.P.S. I'm going to put up videos from the Counting Crows concert as soon as I figure out how to load shit onto YouTube. Adam Duritz is fantastic.

*I finally unloaded like a month's worth of pictures from my camera; this is one from Aug 2, when Danny & I went with Brian to his gig in Hartford. We met up with Bri's friend, Tim, watched Brian play, then stayed up all night playing in Tim's pool, drinking & then having an insane game of "Never Have I Ever." But to kick off the night - aka Happy Hour - Brian bought us all pints. Look how tiny I am next to Danny & the pint haha.

Colleen pimps her new, paying blog gig on her newer, non-paying blog.

Word up, homeys?

Here's the link for the website that I started writing for yesterday: www.starkedny.com.

Everyone check it out daily; I have to make like 3 or 4 posts a day (though we all know how much I love making fun of famous people, so I'm sure that I'll end up doing more haha). I get paid based on the revenue the site takes in, which is based on how many people read it sooooo everyone try to get here as much as possible! Tell everyone (family, friends, MCCTA, coworkers, perfect strangers, your bank teller, the korean woman who does your nails, the 16 year old kid who bags your groceries at Shoprite, etc) wooooo. Leave comments or something. It'll be just like at school all over again, just minus the 12 million US Weekly's and Entertainment Weekly's laying around. But yes, if everyone could at least visit the site whenever possible, I'd really appreciate it.

P.S. Check out Anthony's show - www.thefartiste.com. If you get the NY Post, there's a sweet write up on it!