Hip Hollywood Barack Obama event THIS SATURDAY!

An update from my good friend Bim, who is working tirelessly on the Obama campaign...

Below is his e-mail regarding a hip event happening this Saturday, August 25 from 4 - 7 p.m. at Falcon in Hollywood (7213 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California 90046). There is a $25 per person donation requested, and reservations are a must. Please note that Senator Obama will not be at the event (nor will I--but I'll be at the next-best-thing to a Democratic fundraiser...a Bar Mitzvah!), but plenty of hip, young Hollywood types will be and you can count on at least a handful of celebs. Please RSVP right away.

"I heard somewhere that this event is not to be missed...

All coyness aside, you, my friends, are invited to support our efforts in producing this event by not only coming, but, more importantly, sending this on to not ten, but at least twenty people, and following up with them. It's going to be a fun party - definitely worth $25 - even if it wasn't a donation to Obama's campaign, which it is.

I appreciate the support, Barack appreciates it, and our country will really appreciate it when he's elected president. Basically, you'll be a hero.

Bim"

Dissent on word of the year...

My extremely funny friend, Bim, weighed in on the "Word of the Year" post in comments. In case you missed his comment, here it is:

"I must respectfully disagree, because I think they chose quite incorrectly, actually. The problem is, if you're going to choose one word in a year, why not have it refer to something that is already previously undefined by a preexisting word? 'Plutoed' is just a shorter word for 'torpedoed' and slightly longer than 'vetoed', which all mean roughly the same thing, but sound similar. How many words do we need for rejection of ideas? By picking this word, they have done absolutely nothing for the english language. I just thought of this in a few minutes, and presumably they have tons of english scholars thinking about this kind of thing. It looks like they overlooked a very simple detail that should have 'plutoed' their bright idea."

In other news, I was recently informed that my family will soon be receiving a plot at the Oceanview Farms community co-op garden in Santa Monica. This means I will have to recover from my fear of bugs and dirt in short order (part of the reason I signed up in the first place), and also learn to garden. Any advice would be appreciated (also, free books, seeds, equipment--send them my way!). I have gorgeous images of my children, shaded by blossoming stalks of summer corn, playing happily in the soil next to the ripening raspberry bush while a favonian breeze trills through my bronze windchime. I'm trying not to imagine spider bites, Marigold stink and them choking on bits of leftover piping they pull up from the earth. Or all the driving to-and-from Santa Monica and the private jets blazing in and out of the nearby airport.

Please, if you have any gardening tips (specifically for vegetables), let me know. Also, apartment composting tips are welcome. I'm not yet sure if I'm going to attempt it, but it's under consideration. We're planning to grow tomatoes, onions, Persian cucumbers, carrots, artichokes, spinach, chives, broccoli, pumpkins, radishes, peas, beans, strawberries and possibly corn and raspberries.

Yummy.