Japhy Grant

Selfish Blog Finds Vain & Glorious Reason to Exist

So, I’ve figured out the goal of this self-aggrandizing blog, which is; I want to put all of my writing into one place. A writer since the dawn of the digital age, most of my writing doesn’t exist in print clipping, but in the online ether. With media companies folding all the time and the Wayback machine an imperfect archive, I wanted to be in control of my own words. And so, the goal of this site is to archive all the things I’ve written. Continue reading…

The Thrilling World of Blogging

I must be nuts. As if I don’t have enough to do over at Queerty, I’m relaunching this blog. The idea here is to be my escape valve from the endless fun of talking about the gays all day. We’re gonna start weekly and then go from there.

I’m going with a super-dope minimalist theme for now, though someday, somehow I’ll have to figure out a way to present all the writing that’s on here. The goal is to get all my writing into one place– my old blogs are here, a lot of the articles I’ve written, but print stuff has a long way to go, as do videos, scripts and stories. Still, WordPress is the best candidate for a permanent library of my writing. In the meantime, big letters, limited graphics. Woo-hoo.

Hope you’ll stick around.

This Week in Tweets

• Christmas Eve in Norwell http://phodroid.com/taz6qr #
• Sitting in the church parking lot saying blasphemies. Yay Xmas! @ Chief Justice Cushing Hwy & Windjammer Way http://loopt.us/Pkz9iQ #
• Lee Breuer has nothing on the kids in this Christmas pageant at church. Very avant. @ Chief Justice Cushing Hwy & … http://loopt.us/ZUrtmw #
• Unsubcribe #
• Billy you fat fuck, you ruined George’s life. #
• You call this a happy family? Why do we have to have all these kids?! #
• George Bailey hayes his town, hates his wife, hates his family and has anger management issues. No wonder he’s a Christmas hero. #
• This Chumby thing is amazing. I’m gonna have to develop a Queerty widget for it. @qrty #
• Dark Knight, French 75’s, chocolate cream pie, family and a fireplace. #

This Week in Tweets

• Internet came back on, then power went out 10 minutes later. Pioneer night for me and my neighbors. #

This Week in Tweets

• Busy Friday of errands, writing and planning a hike. Who am I kidding? I have it made. #
• RADAR folds, media doomed, economy doomed, so down I might just carve a ‘B’ into my face. Wait- @atodd is in jail? Hurray! #
• On Maddow: Poor redhead RADAR staffer Ana Marie Cox offers up her press creds on McCain plane to highest bidder. #
• I still can’t get over the fact that a mortgaged stucco box in Riverside is causing the economies of Iceland, India and Brazil to tank. #
• Super duper tired from hiking Mt. Williamson. #
• Planning out the next couple weeks– looking forward to election night interview on Sirius Radio. #
• Made a decision and I’m pretty happy with it. #
• I seriously need to stop looking at the Asian markets before going to bed. #
• Senator Biden is now my homeboy : http://tinyurl.com/6z54tf #
• Crazy WeHo gays hang Sarah Palin: http://tinyurl.com/6glsx6 #
• Ha ha. Ted Stevens is found guilty! #
• Twitroid could be a lot more useful, but for an alpha release, not too bad. #
• I love that the McCain campaign is complaining that Obama’s a socialist and that he has too much money. Damn that rich commie! #
• Keith made gay Palin-hanger dude “World’s Worst Person”. Yay. #
• Interviewing Nikka Costa tomorrow. What should I ask her? #
• I wish someone would go and develop a phone recording app for Android. Would make these phoner QnA’s so much easier. #
• Nikka Costa interview done. Typing it up. #
• If for some reason you’ve been waiting to dance on the grave of the Bush GOP, here is your permission to do so. #
• I was a Christian Science Monitor subscriber all through high school. Sad to hear about the paper’s demise. #
• McCain rally turns near-riot on Cuban-American Obama supporters in Miami. Police intervene. http://tinyurl.com/65ghmr #
• Is it “Wear Your Obama T-Shirt” Day? Did I not get the memo? #
• Watching Clinton talk about Obama in Florida. That dog still can hunt. #
• If you think about it, it’s better for Palin if McCain loses big than if he were to lose narrowly, a situation which would benefit Romney. #
• I have a Bacon number of 4. http://tinyurl.com/6lohvq #
• I am completely consumed with the teenage Russian romance in my building. I think they’re always arguing, but it might just be Russian. #

This Week in Tweets

• Washington Post Endorses Obama http://tinyurl.com/43rl9l #
• Obama does stand-up at the Al Smith dinner (it’s HI-larious): http://tinyurl.com/63uxgu #
• To be fair, McCain is also a pretty funny guy as well: http://tinyurl.com/6yd5q2 #
• The squirrel outside my window is holding an avocado in its hands and staring right at me. Sorry bub, out of lime and salsa. #
• In a perfect world, we’d all be doing dramatic readings of Peggy Noonan’s latest column for each other right now. http://tinyurl.com/5faop6 #
• Off to celebrate the bday of @ericmueller #
• Debating if I want to get up early enough for a beginner’s zen practice tomorrow. What is the sound of an alarm ringing at 7:15 am? #
• McCain’s new strategy seems to be saying that if your community is voting Obama, it’s not really the real America. We’re the Obamanation. #
• Beware the Obamantion: http://tinyurl.com/5tazk3 #
• I love the feeling my hair gets after it gets all scrunchy from laying my head against a pillow while reading. #
• Planning hiking trip for next weekend. Should be sleeping. #
• If it’s Sunday… #
• Running away to Silver Lake as roommate moves out. Intelligentsia, here I come. #
• My political podcast is now on hulu.com. Search for “Japhy”. Neat! #
• Reading an inaccurate flyer on the bus comparing transit-funding Measure R to bailing out AIG. #
• Saw W. It’s funny, but we’re the punchline. #
• Having avoided doing any writing over the weekend, am now fighting urge to stress myself out about it, stay up late, wreck Monday. #
• Reading about the Japanese concept of ‘wabi-sabi’ and listening to the new Brian Wilson. This is calming me. #
• Please no more of: ‘FTW’, ‘Hussein’ as your Facebook middle name, ‘muse’ as a verb. #
• Why we’re going to lose Prop. 8: http://tinyurl.com/5bgwky #
• Successfully finished all the web series scripting I needed to do– am now staring at a pile of notecards for the sci-fi feature. Structure! #
• The new Brian Wilson album has me walking around Whole Foods with a goofy grin on my face. I mean there’s a song called ‘California Role’! #
• Totally support council member’s proposal to move L.A. Zoo’s elephants to a reservation in the foothills. Yes, I’m soft on pachiderms. #
• Cleaning out In Boxes. #
• Was doing a walk and talk on the phone and Avocado squirrel showed up with a nearly eaten avocado. Animal guide! #
• My mother believes Obama’s tax plan is socialist and that he is one too. Ugh. #
• Bouncing off the walls waiting for the UPS truck to arrive with my G1. Why do I have the patience of a 5 year old?! #
• Dear UPS, I hate you with all my G1-less heart. Your ruined Christmas. #
• first twitter from the G1. No app available yet. needs a screen keyboard, but overall impressed #
• Thoughts G1: No headphone jack is ridiculous, needs to rotate screen w/o opening keyboard, on screen keyboard, apps are jaw-drop cool. #
• I love that the NYTimes article on Palin’s wardrobe isn’t content just to mention the $150k she spent, but also that the clothes are trashy. #
• John McCain calls 9/11 targets “elitist” : http://tinyurl.com/6xkgq9 #
• Roommate search completed! #
• I love being able to Twitter to @atodd about her made-up attack. Tell us what the ‘B’ stands for! #

This Week in Tweets

• 2008 feels like The Old Crow Medicine Show sounds. #
• 70 mph winds and dust storms in Santa Barbara are perfect start to apocalypse wine trip weekend. #
• The roof on this Mexican restaurant is half blown off by the wind, but the margaritas are good. #
• Sign says Buellton, home of split pea soup. #
• In Santa Maria for wine festival. Never woken up so early for the express purpose of drinking booze. #
• Rosé is the hipster’s wine cooler. Also, i’m #
• Rosé is the hipster’s wine cooler. Also, i’m also drunk. #
• An exciting wine festival surprise: I am middle aged housewife bait. #
• A small part of my childhood was brought back post-wine festival,as we all watched claymation classic ‘The Adventures of Mark Twain’. #
• My liver is oakey with notes of cardamon and cirrosis. #
• Reading Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger on my phone in between wine tastings in the Santa Ynez Valley. #
• Channel islands to the right, harvest moon to the left, stuck listening to NPR with you. #
• NPR segment sends me off on a rant about pomo writers doing stories about their bubbas. It’s regressive chicken soup for the hipster’s soul. #
• Singing along to the Reba classic ‘Fancy’. #
• I love how McCain starts a brand new campaign for President every Monday. This week’s theme: “We’ve got nowhere to go but up!” #
• Plugging away, listening to Coldplay. #
• If yr in Tel Aviv tomorrow, go to the Darom Gallery at 20:00. I’ve got an art project showing there! #
• That’s it. Done with Heroes. At least they made it easy by turning every character unlikable. And you know, sucking hardcore. #
• Follow the L.A. fires on Google Maps. http://tinyurl.com/4×7lar #
• Writing a story about Appalachia, listening to the new OCMS album, fighting urge to go live in a cabin in the woods; not sure why. #
• I wish I weren’t half deaf. Especially when the phone rings and I can’t tell where it’s ringing from. #
• I wish I weren’t half deaf. Especially when the phone rings and I can’t tell where it’s ringing from. #
• I wish John Krokidas would call me. #
• So, someone tells you there’s a spider on you. What do you do? See what Barack Obama does: http://tinyurl.com/48ddhu #
• Watching the neighbor’s cat through my window, taking a Unisom, because seriously, I’m up at 2am watching a cat. #
• Confirmed my G1 has shipped. Woohoo! In other news, have decided to take the next week to work solely on scripts. #
• This woman at Subway just ordered double Mayo on her sandwich and it’s the grossest thing in the world. The she asked for a side of avocado. #
• Liveblogging of the debate with @doriandavis and I starting at 9pm EST at http://www.flamingpolitics.com #
• This Joe the Plumber stuff is insane. What is this? Kindergarten? #
• Joe the plumber photo up at http://www.flamingpolitics.com #
• who am I writing for? #
• Why is it that the bigger a company is, the less likely they are to pay you on time? I wish I had a goomba on retainer. #
• Finishing up outline for web series I’m writing, then off to a screening of Synecdoche, New York. #
• I’m certain I’ll be rounded derided as falling for the pretension of it, but I absolutely loved Synechoche, New York. #
• Why have the hardest interviews with McCain been from comedians (Whoopi & The View Ladies & David Letterman)? MSM needs to grow a pair. #
• I figured out my damn sci-fi screenplay! Thank you Charlie Kaufmann–and Voltaire. #

This Week in Tweets

• Finishing up flaming politics 2.0 plan today to shift gears for a week of script writing (plus you know, paid work). #
• Such a beautiful day. #
• I love reading articles that quote my governor because it gives me an excuse to read them aloud in a Terminator voice. #
• Having one of those ‘people in your neighborhood’ Sesame Street days. #
• Just visited the Obama campaign office near my house. I hadn’t been hugged so much since going to my old church in Mass. #
• O.J’s guilty! I mean, found guilty! #
• Flaming Politics got linked to by The Onion today. Traffic is through the roof. Woohoo! #
• Rainy day in los angeles, riding bus downtown to kroki’s bday scavenger hunt. No cofee yet, so sad panda. #
• Post scavenger hunt brunch at blue star downtown. #
• Despite warnings, I thoroughly enjoyed the adaptation of one of my favorite books, Blindness. #
• When did Brandon Flowers become a Chris Martin impersonator? #
• Business brunch. Though the business at hand is making comics about Satanists, so… #
• It’s Sunday afternoon and there are few things I’ve got to do–and I’m gonna do em’, I’m gonna do em’. http://tinyurl.com/29xeuo #
• How’d I miss The Twitter Song? http://tinyurl.com/594cuz #
• Why are there fighter jets buzzing West Hollywood? #
• Will somebody poll W. Va. please? My feeling is it’s gone toss-up. #
• I’ll be live-blogging the debate tonight at http://www.flamingpolitics.com #
• Liveblogging of the debate happening NOW at http://www.flamingpolitics.com #
• How many ‘my friends’ have there been? Lost count. #
• Barack Obama is gonna find you! #
• Catch up on the debate at http://www.flamingpolitics.com We’re liveblogging it #
• Check out @brocksavage @doriandavis @gambypants and my take on the debate at http://www.flamingpolitics.com #
• I found my missing pants! #
• Number of times McCain said “my friends”: 19 #
• How Heroes broke my heart: http://tinyurl.com/4f3vuz #
• Last night’s Colbert Report was the best ever. Also, more Nate Silver. #
• Dear Market, What do you want?! Capitalism and humanity are having a messy breakup. What if we gave you all our banks?! Need to buy so bad. #
• Only five points behind in Montana! And tomorrow Trooppergate findings to be released. #
• Everyone I talk to today is on edge. Is it me or the apocalypse? #
• My guess on the new Mac: laptop with touchscreen. Duh. #
• Listening to new Old Crow Medicine Show album “Tennessee Pusher”, writing, happy. #
• Tabitha’s Salon Makeover is so good. Who wouldn’t like watching incompetent lazy people be chewed out by a lady Simon Cowell? #

This Week in Tweets

• Busy Day, pre-debate. #
• Retweet: Nationwide drinking game tonight: #obamashot for every time Obama says “change” and #mccainshot every time McCain says “my friends” #
• Liveblogging the debate tonight on http://www.flamingpolitics.com #
• Half hour til debates. Follow and comment along at http://www.flamingpolitics.com #
• Jim Lehrer on stage now explaining rules and format to the audience. #
• First Question: Where do you stand on the financial recovery plan? #
• McCain has a crazy tie on. Maverick! #
• Obama mentions Chinese space program, but he actually wants to cut funding to NASA. #
• #current Feels like Obama is leading the focus. #
• Obama to McCain: You were wrong! McCain’s blood is starting to boil. You can hear it in his voice. #
• #debate08: Obama sounds more like a hawk than McCain with his willingness to go into Pakistan. Mentions that McCain sings about bombing Iran #
• “No soldier dies in vain”- great line from Obama. #
• McCain’s tie is the exact same zebra pattern used by cameras to show overexposed areas. I keep wanting to adjust the white balance. #
• Obama-McCain won’t commit to meeting the PM of Spain. McCain-I’m not setting the White House visitors schedule yet. I don’t even have a seal #
• Retweet @thomasjkeeley: Kissinger on meeting w/o preconditions (he’s for it): http://is.gd/3ceX #
• Both candidates have now used the phrase “we have to walk the walk and talk the talk”. #
• Ugh. Obama’s for missile defense? It doesn’t work, it’s unlikely it will ever work, it’s a waste of money. #
• Hah! McCain compares Obama to Bush. Nice. #
• Final Arguments: McCain: Obama’s not ready, I am. Obama: The road to national security is by improving the lives of everyday citizens. #
• On points, McCain wins. On who seemed most Presidential, Obama. #
• Anybody going to the Pickens Plan discussion? #
• NBC surrogates are VP-nom Biden and… Rudy Giuliani. Where’s Sarah? #
• McCain email to supporters already! Subject line: “Back to Work” #
• The twitter election feed is in the tank for Obama. Consensus favors Obama on the debate– mainly on style points. #
• Important bit of news that got overlooked: McCain said he would vote for the bailout. #
• CBS poll of undecided voters: 40% Obama won. 22% McCain won. 38% draw. 68% prefer Obama on economy. 55% prefer McCain on Iraq. #
• Politico, CNN, CBS polls all show Obama considered to be clear winner of the debate #
• What the heart wants is intimate conversation, the rest is an excuse. -Turkish saying #
• My analysis of the debate: http://tinyurl.com/3nfj58 #
• Finding stability and happiness in making brisket chili and hiding out for the weekend, working on top secret projects. #
• Sort of quietly singing Brit pop musicals to myself at whole foods. I’m a weird kid. #
• Deal reached on bailout, goes to vote Monday. #
• Eating chili, getting ready to celebrate other people’s bday’s, and organizing for the week. #
• Excited for Jewish holiday dinner fun tonight with my 73 year old neighbor. She was in the Poseiden Adventure! #
• “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” #
• The latest Palin-McCain interview with Katie Couric feels like a parent-teacher conference. #
• Heroes is insultingly bad. Like Congress. #
• Seriously considering dumping the media thing for a culinary career. #
• Culinary career shot down by Facebook peanut gallery. Guess I’ll just have to fall back on more practical writing/directing career. #
• To sum up the election: The house is on fire and we’re deciding which guy we want to build a deck for us. #
• I love the Santa Anna’s. Considering the beach this weekend. #
• Sarah Palin: “In the great history of America rulings there have been rulings”. SO FUCKING TRUE! #
• Biden/Palin on Roe v. Wade. Well, really just Biden: http://tinyurl.com/4fd7rn #
• Sarah Palin, Gay Icon? http://www.flamingpolitics.com/ #
• Finishing up some stuff before heading to Social in Hollywood for debate watching par-tay. #
• New Review: “Robin Thicke lays it on with Something Else” http://tinyurl.com/5xvfy5 #
• Can I call you Joe? Adorable! #
• I may not bother debating but i’m going to talk a lot to fill up the room! #
• Biden’s had work done. #
• Rear that head! #
• I love that Palin’s response to being cornered is ‘Nah, I’m not gonna answer that.’ #
• Palin talks about how Joe thinks drilling is raping the environment. And if the environment gets pregnant, it better not want an abortion. #
• Oh god, make her stop talking about gays. #
• Oh god, make her stop talking about gays. #
• Obama/Biden debate go to: John McCain was wrong. Works every time. #
• Palin: watch out for the castro brothers! #
• Biden p0wns Palin on mideast policy. #
• What the fuck is she saying about ‘nuclear weaponry’? #
• Why is she not bringing up Biden’s plan to partition Iraq? Did she drop that card on her way to the stage? #
• Gwen’s question about what happens if yr running mate dies is stupid. #
• Jesus Christ. She stole Reagan’s ‘there you go again’ line. Lame. #
• The vp as legislative question was a blowout. It was clear Palin had never thought about that issue until that very moment. #
• PALIN just made Joe Biden cry. #
• Just for the record, I teared up over Biden talking about being a single dad. Shame on you, Sarah Palin. You should have apologized. #
• Did Palin win a single debate point? It was either a talkin’ point or weird feedback loops of nonsense. #
• Rachel maddow also called on Palin’s inhuman response to Biden talking about his kids. #
• Who won the debate (CBS poll) Biden 46%, Palin 21%, Draw 33% #
• My take on the debate is here: http://tinyurl.com/4mzn4z #

This Week in Tweets

• How much is the lowest estimate of the bailout (500 billion)? That’s the total cost of the Iraq War so far. #
• The End: Hi folks,This is my 501st entry on The Modern Romantic, and it will be my last. I began The Mode.. http://tinyurl.com/4xw9dn #
• Laid up with knee injury and hulu.com. Ever seen Titan A.E.? Nathan Lane is double-crossing space alien. It’s amazing. #
• Sarah Conner Chronicles may just be the best thing on TV right now. #
• McCain gets black guy to play Obama in debate prep. RNC ad out calling Al Franken a rapist. Rush says Obama is Arabic. And Wall St. burns. #
• Gallup: Positive consumer confidence now at 4%, 51% call the economy poor. #
• Just ordered my G1! Woohoo open source! #
• Stupid knee injury set me back two days, but writing and catching up. #
• Janice Dickinson followed by Rachel Maddow– brain cells die, brain cells come back. #
• McCain compares economic crisis to 9/11, "suspends" campaign, cancels debates, runs back to D.C. No politics here, folks! #
• President Shit For Brains Is On! Remember that financial collapse 9 days ago? He’s getting to it! #
• Terrifying ten minutes at NRO and found consensus from right wing crazies is the debate should go on. They still hate Obama, though. #
• Q: How excited am I that next week’s preview of Project Runway was nothing but the contestants crying? A: Very. #
• Obligatory Twitter to reassure my Aunt I’m still alive. Have suspended updates to focus on the economic crisis. I’m an American hero! #
• See ya later Washington Mutual. Still waiting for John McCain to save the economy… #
• McCain kills bailout deal in late night memo- doesn’t support Bush Administration plan, offering no alternative. Wait til morning bell. #
• Facebook will not allow me to post YouTube video of Sarah Palin being an idiot in front of Katie Couric. What gives? #
• Reading the news and getting a sense it’s going to happen, the economy will collapse. The tidal wave of Wall St. is already hitting Main St. #