For Daphne…
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
Early yesterday morning my aunt Daphne passed away at her home in La Pine, Oregon. She was my dad’s baby sister and she had just turned 60 in February. It wasn’t unexpected or sudden—she’d been battling a rare liver and lung cancer for a while and unfortunately, as happens all too often, the cancer ultimately won. I’ve been anticipating and dreading this moment for months and now that it’s here, I find myself even more heartbroken than I ever imagined.
I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with Daphne in my adult years, for all of the usual reasons. Families grow up, get busy and spend less time together—not because people want to distance themselves from their loved ones, but because it’s simply what happens. That’s life, for better and for worse. Family gatherings may have been few and far between in recent years, but I’ve still managed to accumulate enough incredible memories to last a lifetime. I can still recall in wonderful, vivid detail all of the summers and holidays I spent with her, my grandmother and my cousins when I was a kid. Those times stand out in my memory as some of the happiest days of my life. They were the carefree days of my childhood… lazy, fun-filled vacation days spent with much loved, rarely seen family members.
My cousin Courtney and I wiled away countless summers together, running around outside, playing Barbies for hours on end, watching movies, playing with the dogs and (treat of all treats) cruising the mall with Daphne and our grandmother. Daphne was a great cook and if I close my eyes, I can practically smell her delicious patty melts and enchiladas right now. After dinner we would all loll around on the couch and Daphne and Courtney and I would scratch each others’ backs, play with each other’s hair and snuggle with the pups while we watched movies like The Parent Trap and The Swiss Family Robinson. Then Courtney and I would retreat to her room and stay up for another two hours whispering, joking and just generally cracking ourselves up. Courtney and I also loved to watch Daphne and Gramm get all dolled up before an outing. They both had a very regimented beauty regime and we were fascinated by the rollers, curling irons, hairspray, makeup and perfume—and of course we did our best to mimic their every move. Daphne had a beautiful voice and Courtney inherited it from her, so they would sit at the piano and sing while I croaked along, off-key but enthusiastic. I really loved listening to them sing. Daphne was so modest and shy, but when you could finally coax a song out of her, it was beyond lovely. You just wanted to hear her sing one song after another.
When we got older, our family get-togethers were just as fun, if not more fun, given the copious amounts of wine involved. The many evenings spent sitting around the kitchen, or out on the porch, drinking wine, catching up and laughing uproariously at each other, are some of my fondest memories. My dad, my uncle and Daphne would rib each other good-naturedly as they entertained us with stories of their youth. I enjoyed several such evenings last August when my family went to visit Daphne and the rest of the Oregon clan at our annual family reunion. It was a bittersweet trip for me. I suspected that it might be the last time I got to see Daphne and when it came time to say goodbye, I did so with a very heavy heart. I am grateful for that time that I got though, and I’m glad that in my last memory of her she is the lovely, cheerful aunt I’d always known.
Daphne was beautiful inside and out and she didn’t have a bad bone in her body. She spent her whole life loving and caring for everything and everyone around her, and she always put the needs of others in front of her own, to a fault, really. I know everyone in my family wishes she had been a little more selfish from time to time, simply because she was so deserving of some pampering. She approached life with a good sense of humor and an easygoing attitude, and she was a person that everyone loved to be around because she always made you laugh and she always made you feel incredibly loved. It breaks my heart into a million pieces to know that she will never see me or my cousins get married and have kids, she’ll never spend another Christmas with us, and we’ll never hear her deep laughter or melodic voice ever again.
Goodbye Daphne… you were truly a treasure and there isn’t a day that will go by that we don’t think of you and wish you were here. I don’t think you ever realized just how beautiful and wonderful you were, and that is perhaps the most heartbreaking thing of all. I hope that wherever you are now, you know how deeply you were loved and appreciated by everyone who knew you. You were a bright and brilliant light in our lives and the world is a little less radiant without you in it. I’ll love you always and you’ll be in my heart forever.
That’s What She Said
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
So I’ve been writing a regular column of sorts for Playboy.com. Thanks to my many kick-ass, forthcoming girlfriends, I have been able to gather a lot of great personal anecdotes and feminine insight into various sexual topics. The first topic I tackled was oral sex—namely, what do guys do to turn girls off to it, and what do they do that makes girls get excited about it. For the second article, I queried my friends on all the creative things they do to get themselves off and they all shared some very hilarious and fascinating stories with me. To protect the privacy of my friends I have used fake names for them, however, their ages, occupations and locations are all the real deal.
So far this feature has been getting a lot of traffic on the Playboy site, which I’m pretty happy about. In addition, it was recently picked up by Playboy.com in the UK and last week I went on the Playboy Radio Morning Show on Sirius XM to talk about it. I’m working on another topic right now and that article should be up at the end of the month on Playboy.com. So stay tuned…
Interview with Perry Farrell
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
I’m afraid I’ve been pretty negligent about posting my articles this year. Subsequently, I’m going to add a few that are a bit dated. First up, my interview with the legendary musician, Perry Farrell. I chatted with him for Playboy.com just prior to last summer’s Lollapalooza, and he was a very cool cat all around. You can check out my conversation with him right here.
Major Celebrity News Launches At Last
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
For quite a while now, my friend Sarah and I have been endlessly amused by the daily celebrity “headlines” that make their way across the Internet. We see all sorts of “breaking news” alerts on sites like Us Weekly and People that say things like Evan Lysacek Is Willing to Endure Spray Tan for DWTS and Matt Damon Not a Mustache Fan. What? No way! Tell me more! This is riveting stuff! In today’s celebrity-obsessed world this sort of information is considered newsworthy and people everywhere eat it up like candy. Sarah and I are both pop culture junkies ourselves, but c’mon! The vast majority of these Hollywood “stories” are just plain silly.
As writers, our hearts go out to the poor reporters who have to battle throngs of other journalists and paparazzi just to get a 10-second window of opportunity to ask a celebrity an inane question like, “How do you feel about botox?” or, “Why did you decide to wear sneakers today?” I actually have a friend who worked in this business for a while and she would have to trek around New York City and visit restaurants where people like Lindsay Lohan had allegedly been seen dining so she could ask waiters for pathetic nuggets of information. How much did Lindsay tip? What did she order? Did she seem sober? Was she friendly or was she rude? A degrading experience like that really makes a girl feel like all that cash she put into journalism school was money well spent.
Obviously there’s a market for this sort of coverage. If there wasn’t, the Internet wouldn’t be saturated with it all day long. So Sarah and I decided that rather than cracking jokes about it to each other over g-chat, we would start a blog dedicated solely to mocking this highly amusing phenomenon. Our blog is http://majorcelebritynews.onsugar.com. We launched it last Friday and we are writing posts as often as we can. This is proving to be a lot of fun for us, so we hope you will get a kick out of reading it.
Justin Timberlake Does It Again
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
I’ve always been a huge fan of Justin Timberlake. I mean, it’s kind of hard not to be—especially these days (meaning, now that he’s no longer in a boy band and wearing matching denim outfits with his train wreck of an ex, Britney Spears). He is musically gifted, can dance like a mo’fo’ and is fantastically funny to boot. What’s not to like? And thanks to the genius comedy of SNL Digital Shorts Dick In A Box and Motherlover, even the guys who really wanted to hate the hell out of him because of the whole N Sync thing have come around.
The thing is, I personally think there are three key character traits that a person has to have to be universally well liked: confidence, kindness and humility. A person who possesses all three of these qualities will never have a problem attracting friends and admirers, and will always garner the respect of others. Justin Timberlake has these attributes in spades, which is why he has been so successful at winning over both men and women. Chicks dig him because he’s hot, he’s got moves, he’s funny and he’s sweet as pie. Guys dig him because he’s cool, he’s got a dirty, playful sense of humor, he’s got mad game and because above all, Justin Timberlake is not afraid to be a complete dork and make fun of himself (Hint: That last part is a powerful combination of the whole confidence and humility thing. You should try it sometime… you’ll be amazed at the results).
There’s no question that confidence, kindness and humility are a big part of the reason why Justin Timberlake has managed to sidestep all of the typical Hollywood bullshit, rise above the melee and experience one incredible success after another. He’s professional, polite and gracious, and he is goofy and self-deprecating at all the right moments. This is all leading up to me pointing out his latest act of exemplary behavior. Justin recently performed Leonard Cohen’s much-covered “Hallelujah” with Matt Morris at the Hope for Haiti Now Telethon. His rendition of the song is incredibly moving. Once again, the incomparable JT proves that his heart and his actions are always in exactly the right place:
The Ugg-ly Truth
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
When it comes to people’s opinions on Uggs, there’s not much middle ground. There are basically two camps: Haters and Fanatics. For the better part of the past decade I have been a staunch member of the first group, however, I recently had a change of heart. So it’s time for me to ‘fess up: I no longer consider them the Britney Spears of footwear.
Years ago when Uggs first started becoming “a thing,” I was living in New York City. So of course I gradually began to see them here and there. I mean, it wasn’t hate-at-first-sight or anything that dramatic. In fact my initial reaction was “Those… might… be… cute? Maybe? I dunno.” But then, as any good trend is prone to do, Uggs became more than just “a thing.” They became an unstoppable force of nature and an aggressive invasive species. It became impossible to stand on a Manhattan street corner in the colder months without seeing at least 10 women wearing them. Chicks roved around the city looking like little packs of Conan the Barbarian foot soldiers. Don’t get me wrong—under different circumstances I would be all about roving packs of female Conan the Barbarian foot soldiers… but this was overkill.
Then, the unthinkable happened. Girls started wearing them in the summer. In July and August. In New York. Ninety-five-EFFING degrees, people! What.The.Fuck. Uggs with sundresses and Juicy Couture booty shorts… it was too much to bear. I started guzzling potent doses of Ugg Haterade. I made snotty comments, pointed, smirked, laughed in derision. I hated on them with the fury of Mel Gibson in Braveheart just after he witnesses the murder of his one true love, Murron. I trash-talked Uggs like it was my job (which I kind of wish it had been, because as I recall, I was in dire need of one at the time). My disdain for Uggs continued for the remainder of my years in New York and came with me when I moved to Washington D.C. in 2005. In Fairfax, Virginia, affluent teens would stampede Tysons Corner mall wearing their Uggs, tiny Abercrombie & Fitch cotton shorts and Hollister tank tops. It was, in my eyes, totally gagtastic.
When I moved to Chicago in January 2008 I wasn’t surprised to discover that Uggs are even more popular in the Windy City than they are in New York. But given that it’s actually cold as all get-out in Chicago, I could at least concede that the need for authentic sheepskin products is somewhat legit. I still wasn’t sold though… well, at least not until the release of Ugg’s Fall 2009 collection and accompanying Classic Cardy knit boot. It’s basically a sweater-boot (a win-win combo if there ever was one) that folds down and has three cute little buttons on the side. I tried to resist. I averted my eyes, made some jokes about slippers posing as shoes, following the sheep herd… all the standard jabs. It was futile.
The final nail got hammered into my anti-Ugg crusade coffin the day my boyfriend noticed a girl on the street wearing a pair of Ugg knit Cardy’s. He turned to me and said, “I actually think those Uggs are really hot—especially in grey.” This little endorsement was all it took. I crumbled like a sad, stale, pathetic excuse for a cookie. “Oh my god! I like the grey ones, too!” I shrieked a little too quickly, and a little too enthusiastically right in his ear. Shit. Did I just say that out loud? But even if it wasn’t obvious then, my squeals of delight the next time we saw the Cardy’s in a store window were the final dead giveaway. Game over. Uggs: 1, Aranya: 0.
And of course my boyfriend, being the thoughtful guy that he is, purchased a pair of grey Cardy boots and gave them to me for Christmas. Weeeeee! I mean, “Ew!” No, wait. I definitely meant “Weeeeeeeee!”
Since their arrival earlier this month, I have gone from wearing my knit Uggs once a week to wearing them almost non-stop. They are SO comfortable, SO warm and—in my personal opinion—SO goddang cute with jeans, that the thought of donning any other pair of shoes is beginning to seem preposterous. Every morning I wake up and tell myself, “I’m going to mix things up and wear sneakers today, or maybe even heels!” But then I look at my rows of shoes. I gaze at my sneakers and my dress boots and my eyes dart back and forth from the cloud-like lining of my Uggs to the cold, hard soles of everything else. I look out the window at the bleak winter sky and the choice is made. I want my feet swathed-in-heavenly-sheepskin-goodness-all-day-long-dammit! And it’s there for the taking… just waiting for my feet to bask in all of that cushy, toasty glory. So why should I be denied? I shouldn’t. So, I’m not. I mean, c’mon! I might as well be deciding between a spa pedicure and a hot bed of coals.
At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before these habit-forming puppies permanently fuse themselves to my feet. The worst part is I probably wouldn’t even notice. I now understand why women anxiously await “Ugg season,” and why they rush out to buy a new pair every year, stockpiling them like little treasures, wearing them day after day as if they have NO other footwear options in their closets. I understand because I’ve become one of them… an obsessed addict just waiting for my next foot fix. There. I said it. It’s the frightning truth that no one talks about: Uggs are crack-cocaine for your feet. Once you start, you can’t stop. Then you want them on your feet all the time, and you want more of them. Your fashion sense goes out the window and all you think about is comfort, warmth, comfort, warmth, comfort, warmth… more warmth… more softness… more comfort, more warmth, more, more, MORE!! Next thing you know, you’re just another brainwashed Australian sheepskin-aholic. A freakish warm-comfort junkie roaming the city streets wearing sweats and Uggs in a pack of Conan the Barbarian foot soldiers. Ugg. Pun intended, of course.
I’m so ashamed.
Luckily, my warm and cozy feet make it easy to cope with that shame, so it’s really not that bad.
All I Really Need to Know I Learned From My Dad and Conan O’Brien
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
So alas, Conan O’Brien has quit as host of The Tonight Show for real. On Friday night he hosted his final show and gave a very heartfelt farewell speech. His parting words were humble, grateful and inspiring, and he closed out with a plea to his younger viewers urging them not to let ConanLeno-Gate 2010 leave them with a cynical attitude. Apparently cynicism is one of Conan’s least favorite qualities and, incidentally, it’s also one of mine. As Conan so aptly put it: “Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard and are kind, amazing things will happen.” True ‘dat Big C, true ‘dat.
Conan’s little nugget of life wisdom really hit home with me on a personal level. I was recently pissing and moaning to my father about an impending life change that’s got me feeling a tad ambivalent, despite the fact that it hardly qualifies as a negative turn of events for me. After dutifully listening to me gripe my dad finally said, “Punkin,” (Yes, my dad calls me Punkin—shut it!), “Nothing in life is ever totally perfect, so there’s no point in fixating on all of the little things that aren’t exactly how you want them to be, because if you do that, you’ll never be satisfied or happy.” I knew he was absolutely right, and to then hear Conan say essentially the same thing one week later only cemented the truth of his advice more firmly in my mind.
I consider myself to be a pretty positive person in general, but I feel an especially strong determination to keep my focus in the coming year on all of the wonderful and amazing things in my life, rather than on the things I wish were different. Truth be told, this should hardly be a daunting task for me considering how incredibly blessed I’ve been overall: I have a great family; a job that I absolutely love; good health and amazing people in my life. When I really think about these things, the minor bumps and challenges that sideline me every now and then seem insignificant in comparison.
Along the same vein, I recently read a great quote in an Esquire “What I’ve Learned” interview with one of my favorite actors, Kelsey Grammer. One of the things “Dr. Frasier” says he’s learned over the years is that he cannot control what happens, he can only control how he reacts. I’ve always prescribed to this line of thinking, but I guess I just loved how succinctly he was able to paraphrase the whole approach. Being the neurotic humans that we are, I think we have a natural tendency to fixate on everything that’s not going right in our lives and to agonize over all of the things we should have, or could have, done differently to change the course of our path. While this is a perfectly understandable behavior, the fact is, it doesn’t accomplish shit. Worrying is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere. We all obsess over the daily choices we make, our “To Do” lists, our personal lives and everything in between, but there has to be a point when we say to ourselves, “Okay. That happened. It totally sucked balls, but I learned [insert monumental or trivial corresponding life lesson here] from the experience, and now I’ve got to move forward and tackle what’s in front of me.”
So, yes. My dad and Conan are right. Nothing is ever 100-percent perfect. And although we as individuals achieve all sorts of wonderful things constantly over the course of our lives, we never stop wanting more—or, we get what we think we wanted and then decide that we desire something else entirely. Given our propensity for this sort of self-inflicted torture and misery, it seems that our best hope for attaining serenity is to train ourselves to accept life’s inevitable flaws and learn to devote the bulk of our thoughts and energy to the acknowledgement and appreciation of its innumerable gifts.
I’ve come to realize that opportunities almost never present themselves in precisely the way I’d like, and my error has been to assume that this somehow makes them less valuable, or less good. Opportunities are what we make of them, plain and simple. SO, here’s to unexpected change. It’s never asked for and it’s rarely easy, but it often leads to phenomenal things.
The Sweetest Tweets
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
I recently wrote an article for Playboy.com on the 10 women you need to be following on Twitter, and it went live on the site on June 29.
These babes are hot, smart and cool to boot. You can check learn more about them in my article, The Sweetest Tweets.
10 Sexy iPhone Apps
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
My feature on the top 10 sexiest iPhone and iPod Touch apps went live on Playboy.com today. You can check it out here:
Sex Cells: 10 Sexy iPhone Apps
The link is totally safe for work, which brings me to another point. Playboy.com IS totally safe for work people! I understand that some companies just straight up block it, but for those of you who are just afraid, I reiterate, Playboy.com is exactly the same as going to Maxim.com or any other guy site. There is NO NUDITY on Playboy.com…. you have to join the Playboy Cyber Club to see nude photos. So I hope more people will start to realize that—unless they have a block at their office—they can put their fears aside and visit Playboy.com without feeling even remotely pervy or inappropriate (unless you want to feel that way, and well then, that’s just your own business).
I’ve got a couple other features going up soon, so I’ll be linking to those as they go live in the coming weeks.
I’m Finding Science In Everything!
Posted by aranya | Filed under Uncategorized
Last Wednesday I went to see the Medill Magazine Publishing Project presentation and was taken down memory lane. Even though it was just last fall, t seems like eons ago that my and my 14 classmates were slaving away to produce Sci Q magazine and the Sci Q website. I was impressed with the spring quarter’s concept, particularly since there were so few of them and they were required to take an extra class in addition to the project (a new Medill policy that I TOTALLY disagree with). Despite such obstacles, they did a stellar job.
In any event, I feel compelled to post the Sci Q video that my class made for our big final presentation. We were a wild and crazy bunch =)
