I go through Documentary phases. Usually I have to curb these phases because I watch them and get all "workers of the world unite". I'm in one of those phases now.

My latest from Netflix is: Control Room. A 2004 documentary about Al Jazeera and the coverage of the beginning of the Iraq war.

Before watching this I had little knowledge of this TV station other than it was the main news outlet for the Middle East and may or may not be associated with terrorists.

After watching this documentary I want to punch George Bush. I already wanted to punch him, but now honestly if I ever saw him I can't say that I wouldn’t spit on him (and with that sentence the FBI beings to wire tap my phone calls).

Some key points from the film:

Josh Rushing, a press officer from US Central Command (Cent Com) (and I quote): "Doesn't understand how the people of the Middle East can't separate in their minds the Palestine conflict from the overall conflict in the Middle East."

He also, after the fall of Iraq, states that the people of Iraq should be responsible for the protection of their own heritage sites and that the US Military has no responsibility for the museum looting. A BBC reporter, in complete astonishment, repeats this and states that from the mobs she saw she thought it would take a tank or men with guns to hold back the mobs. Again he stated it was not the responsibility of the US.

• Ironically he later joined Al Jazeera English after leaving the US military.

A reporter from Al Jazeera also analyzed the iconic moment when the Iraqi's took down the Statue of Saddam in the Square. She noted:

• The Us Military rode into the square where they knew all the press would be.

• All the people in the Square were males of the same age. There were no women, children or older men. No one came out of their homes to see what was happening. Only these few young men ventured out?

• The flag they used was a flag from 1991 Iraq. So this kid in his teens just happened to have a flag from 10 years ago? Do you have a flag from the US when we only had 30 states?

• Basically her point was the whole thing looked very orchestrated. After hearing her argument, it made a lot of sense.

I understand that propaganda is a necessary part of any war, but the fact that this was a war built on GW's bullshit lies (weapons of mass destruction?!) just infuriates me. It was also a good reminder to view all media with a bit of doubt.

I'm obsessed with the idea of babies lately. To go with this theme I've found the place to birth my child:

On certain days I'm not a huge asshole. Days when I don't elbow anyone on the train, silently judge outfits, give the look of death to everyone around me. Today is one of those days. I'm always pleasantly surprised what happens when I'm nice.

It started this morning when I went to go grab coffee at Starbucks before work. There was this couple in front of me in line. They were clearly tourists that spoke no English. The "barista"/cashier was being a super huge asshole about some coupon they were trying to use for a free latte. It was only good for 3 kinds of drinks and they looked so confused. To top it off the wife was getting mad at the husband. He looked kinda scared. It pissed me off that the cashier was being so mean. Tourists are going to be one of the things that keeps the economy in NYC afloat. I stepped in to help out. Problem solved, coupon redeemed.

I then started to walk to work and there was the source of the free coupons. The dude gave me a free latte coupon and TWO bags of coffee.

Flash forward to lunch time. I go to grab a egg salad sandwich on rye. I walk into the deli and order. The owner is behind the counter yelling at everyone, basically being douchy. I give the guy who is making my sandwich a "yeah what a douche" look. He smiles back. He then proceeds to cut me a fresh pickle (note: I love pickles and getting a fresh one is a huge score).

Then I walk over to redeem my coupon for coffee. I go to exit Starbucks with sandwich in one hand and coffee in the other. This guy pulls open the door from the outside, I thank him and he tells me how pretty I am! Ok so he was missing a few teeth and about 20 yrs older than me. But let’s be honest, I'll take compliments where I can get them these days..

You’d think this would teach me to be nice all the time. But let’s be honest, that is not going to happen.

A haiku dedicated to my favorite dish:

Creuset casserole
A dish that I so beloved
Broken and betrayed






I was baking a piece of chicken and it just cracked in the oven. I had a hard time bringing myself to throw it out. This haiku is my way of dealing with the pain.