Funny Strange is Lori Culwell's blog

Happy Memorial Day!

Hey look—I’m making a special effort to put things on my blog after I put them on my Facebook page.  Duplicate effort, all for you!

This is a roadside memorial "highway adoption" sign, and if you'll look closely at the bottom, the "In Memory Of" says it's dedicated to a person named Kenny "Boo" Buttwell. 

Now, don't get me wrong-- it is wonderful of Mr. Buttwell's family to adopt this part of the highway, but.... this is quite an unusual name to have on a memorial sign, is it not?  I'm just going to leave it at that.

So...did you have a nice weekend?  Seems like summer is in full swing, and we celebrated by eating a lot of good food (including a magical Chicken Parmesan that Stephan has now perfected and a whole barbeque meal that left us going “Why are we eating so much?  Are we high?).  We also took a great trip over to Storm King, which if you’re curious, is a 500 acre outdoor sculpture garden in Mountainville, New York.  It was so awesome, aside from the fact that it was 85 degrees outside and I got all overheated even though I drank three bottles of water and slathered myself in sunscreen.  As it turns out, walking uphill for two hours when it’s that hot and humid will do that to you.   Stephan is used to it, though, so he got me some Gatorade, and by the evening, we were wiped out but well enough to barbeque.  Stephan is smart!

Today we've been working on an exciting project that is officially launching on Wednesday, when everyone is back in the office and can think straight again.  Until then, here's a little Storm King photo album to keep you entertained.  Storm King photos, right here.

Yes, that's right.

Today is my birthday, and I will be celebrating by working, enjoying my Facebook and Twitter birthday wishes, then eating a fancy steak dinner and probably some cupcakes, then some birthday drinks at Sushi Roku in Santa Monica if you want to come by.  I would wax on about how much knowledge and life experience I've gained in the past couple of years and how sometimes life gives you lemons and you have to suck it up and make lemonade, but I am too busy getting a manicure and eating pancakes for lunch.  Can you see how this birthday is very food-focused?   For awhile I wasn't that into my birthday, because a few years ago, my birthday was the start of the worst year of my entire life, but now I've worked through that bad association and am ready to have fun again.   Food is fun, right?

Also, I went to a great birthday party over the weekend-- my childhood friend is the actor Marco Sanchez (from CSI and like, just about every other show on tv), and his birthday is very close to mine, and his parties are always so fun that I like to pretend they are actually combined parties for both of our birthdays, because people always wish me happy birthday too, and I didn't have to plan or stress out about the party, which I don't like doing.  So, here are some pictures from that, and a clip of Marco on CSI Miami to embarrass him and entertain you.   I would call out some of the people in the pictures, but I'm probably supposed to be all cool and not do that.    But, just in case they're reading this, it was nice to see you Don, and Tim, and Alex, and all of Marco's other cool friends.  See you next year!

  

So, happy birthday to me!   Cakes and flowers may be sent to my house between the hours of 9 and 4.  :)

Huffington Post Alert: Notes from the Virtual Graveyard

Today I'm coming to you from the Huffington Post, talking more about my "death and technology" obsession.  Go and read that right now, won't you?   

Win a free copy of Hollywood Car Wash!

 Just wanted to throw this out there-- the awesome website "Wedding Aces" is giving  away five copies of my novel, Hollywood Car Wash.  If you haven't read it already,  go on over there and sign up!  Summer's almost over! 

Check this out, because it's awesome...

Hey, here's something I think you should do-- my friend Melissa is auditioning to be the next Food Network Star-- her demo is on the site, and what's awesome about her is that she's not just trying to be the next Rachael Ray-- she's actually cooking and spreading the word about how to cook for people with dietary restrictions (and autistic kids), so they definitely should give her a show, don't you think?

Click here to watch her audition and leave a comment.  Do it! 

Two things

1.  Super awesome!    Yesterday I was the guest poster on this great blog that I read, Shoemoney.com, which you should definitely subscribe to if you're interested in internet marketing in any way.  My post "What An Internet Marketer Can Learn From a Pimp" got a bunch of great comments, and I'm so excited that they ran it! 

2.  I couldn't let the day pass without mentioning the breaking news that CLAY AIKEN IS GAY.  Did you know that CLAY AIKEN IS GAY?  Oh my GOD, it's so revelatory!  Other news that People Magazine will be reporting on in the near future include: 

--WATER IS WET
--THE POPE IS CATHOLIC
and
--YOU NEED A BEATING HEART TO LIVE

Go light a firecracker, would you?

I'm probably posting this in vain, as my entire target audience of the "bored at work network" is off today, but...happy 4th of July!    We are going to a street fair in Westchester that promises to be very entertaining and have some great carne asada.  I might even go in the bouncy house with the little kids, if I am guaranteed that there will be no projectile vomiting.  Of course, Maddie will be there, and I seem to really bring this out in her, so we'll see.

Check it Out!

Hey, in case you haven't been there yet, now might be a good time for you to go over and check out my "lifestyle" blogs at BeautifulforGood.com, the Neutrogena site I'm writing for.  It's got some other cool bloggers on it, and some funny people in the discussion groups.  So-- go on over! 

Beautiful for Good Site Launch!

Hey, if you didn’t know (or maybe if you didn’t see the big purple sign to the left), I’m writing for a new site for Neutrogena called Beautiful for Good, which launches today. If you like my witty repartee here on Funny Strange, I think you should definitely go there and check out my thoughts on healthy beauty, and tell us once and for all: what’s in your bag?

So. Awesome.

If I ever have a kid, I want them to be able to do this: