cactus i.v.

By C.D. Allen
cdavidallen(at)gmail.com
Around New Year’s, I visited a friend in Tennessee. He lives in a little town outside of Nashville and plays in a funk band. I spent the night at his show and had a fairly decent amount of fun. It’s about four hours from where I live, so I of course drove. I went […]

By JORDAN HATHAWAY
partygal23(at)aol.com
Not being in a relationship yet sleeping with someone isn’t always the best situation for anyone. Someone will always want more or get hurt — but we do it anyway. It get even harder when the other person is already in a relationship with someone else. That’s when it all gets dirty — […]

By LAURA SIMON
laura.m.simon(at)gmail.com
Welcome back for another recap of the sporting week that was. As always, a TON happened this week, but here is quick rundown of the biggest stories:
The NFL Combine has been taking place in Indianapolis and Oklahoma Sooner tailback Adrian Peterson sure helped his draft stock after an amazing performance in the combine. […]

By JAMES “TATTOO” CHAPRACKI
geocities.com/tattoospinstriping
And you thought your old cans were only to be recycled for nickels.

By LISA SOKOLOWSKI
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
I hate single whores.
Wait… that doesn’t sound exactly right.
I hate people who only know a band’s single, who maul the front of the stage during a show and can’t sing a word until the single is played during the encore. Then those people rock out like they’re the band’s biggest fan.
Sorry darlings. You […]

I went bed shopping this weekend, and that experience was much more rewarding than it sounds. I got to lay on mattresses that were just as soft as I’d imagine clouds would be. My favorite was the Spring Free Meadow Mattress by Sealy — but there is not way I could justify spending $1999.99 for […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Happy Birthday Dani! That is my cousin, and she is 23 today! It’s very exciting. She is six months and a day older than me.
I developed a mild case of insomnia throughout the past week and a half. I have not slept more than four hours each night since a week-and-a-half ago. I […]

“Violinistic”
By Peter D. Oliver
i am older now
and i don’t care for things
women wine and purpose
ever were my masters
ever i their slave
all witnesses to my rise
all bearers at my grave.
too much up the nostrils
too much in the ears
women wine and purpose
seeking my father’s heaven
have made me older than my years.
i am older now
i am bitter now
i […]

By DIZZ TATE
dizztate(at)hotmail.com
This week, I am in New York City, the Big Apple, the Center of the Universe, Home to Broadway, etcetera etcetera. The streets burst with fashion possibility like a bright, shining sea of Vogue, where at every turn, there are colorful coats, padded jackets, fur, boots and the cutest little hats from plaid […]

By BEN SZMANDA
Philip K. Dick’s “A Scanner Darkly” was made into a good movie, and I still get the sense that it’s being seen in the wrong light. Not by everybody, of course, but by enough that it’s a little disconcerting. The misinterpretation says more about us than it does about the book: Our society […]

By MICHELLE L.
satine81(at)gmail.com
I was never a very big fan of magic tricks. Though the tricks can be pretty impressive, you know that the magician is using a clever technique to fool you into thinking that what you see is real. The Prestige is based on the feud between two magicians and how far each of […]

By ROXY RETAIL
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
Fashion week just took place in New York, and the biggest debate heading in wasn’t which designer would put out the best Fall fashions.
It was about weight.
Apparently models are too skinny, and Size 0 models don’t resemble America. The argument against skinny models is that youth is starving themselves to replicate models.
Can we […]

By CATHY S.
sokocathy(at)gmail.com
America finally gets to vote. The question that will be answered tonight is who is America not voting for? Two boys and two girls will be the first ones out. Do you think you know who they might be?
Let’s talk about who we think are definitely safe.
I thought that there were only four […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
petunia5045(at)gmail.com
It amazes me how we are trained to work. Computers have absolutely revolutionized our work habits, techniques and general day-to-day responsibilities.
My little nieces,  at the tender ages of 4 and 5, know how to use the computer, work the mouse and even turn the volume higher. I have cousins in third grade typing assignments. I […]

By C.D. Allen
cdavidallen(at)gmail.com
Go is my favorite verb.
There is a movie called Go.  There is a game called Go.  When you’re little you learn to say, “I have to go” when you need to use the restroom.  It’s not uncommon when you get a little older and feel a particular way about someone to ask them […]

By JAMES “TATTOO” CHAPRACKI
geocities.com/tattoospinstriping
How would you like to drive around with one of these on the front of your car?

By LAURA SIMON
laura.m.simon(at)gmail.com
It has certainly been a busy week in the sports world, so let’s get to it.
Las Vegas was the first non-franchise city to host the NBA All-Star game and events, sparking rumors that Sin City may find itself with an NBA team in the near future. I must say, I think this […]

By LISA SOKOLOWSKI
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
Britney Spears shaved her head.
Wow.
Truth be told, this was supposed to be the week I wrote about Fall Out Boy’s Infinity On High. It’s a great album — the best FOB album yet, in my option. But that column is getting shelved because of Britney.
The once pop princess has taken a sour turn, […]

Contrary to popular belief, I think I’d like to have a daughter one day. I want to dress her in pink and put bows in her hair and name her Allie.
I don’t know how to be a mom, but you learn that stuff. And if Allie ended up with a brother, I’d be skilled by […]

By DIZZ TATE
dizztate(at)hotmail.com
From these few articles and interviews, I have learned one thing about fashion – someone truly fashionable is not just brand names and a pair of boots. In other words, it’s not just about the clothes. What about the infamous bad hair day? Everyone’s had it, and everyone hates that day! We could be […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Let’s be weird. I was watching Molto Mario on Valentine’s Day because, yeah, I didn’t have a date, and it snowed, so I stayed in and watched a lot of TV. Molto Mario made me so sick on Wednesday, I almost don’t ever want to see chocolate again. He made duck — which […]

“How to operate a Cam-era”
By Peter D. Oliver
in my drawers i find but dust
where once were filed her words of lust
for me who was her knights errant
her tattooed angel
who’d never repent
all she dreamed i was and more
we’d choke each other near death ’s door
until both she and i
could take no more
and a tear always came […]

By BEN SZMANDA
benszmanda(at)yahoo.com
Got a good one for you: Go pick up a copy of The Night in Question by Tobias Wolff. Not a very out of the ordinary selection — it’s well established that Wolff is an excellent writer — but if you’ve missed him so far, as I had, definitely check it out. He […]

By MICHELLE L.
satine81(at)aol.com
Ryan Gosling is a great actor, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a girl and because I cried during The Notebook.  Yeah, he’s gorgeous, and if you don’t believe that he is a great actor, watch a movie called The Believer.  He plays a young skinhead who because of his intelligence […]

By ROXY RETAIL
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
We all have eyebrows. Most people don’t pay too much attention to them unless there’s something horribly wrong with them – like you have a unibrow or you’re like the kid I know who burnt one of his off with a Bunsen burner in eighth grade Science class and wore a band-aid over […]

By CATHY S.
sokocathy(at)gmail.com
[[Editor’s note: Although readers have already selected a Top 12, new readers are encouraged to choose a Top 6. Read the current picks below, and email Cathy or comment her to add your picks]]
Hollywood week is over and the top 24 have been named.
Boys: A. J. Tabaldo, Blake Lewis, Brandon Rogers, Chris Richardson, […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
petunia5045(at)gmail.com
Last week, I reminisced about one of my past jobs. I worked out of a man’s home who wanted to save money by not renting out office space. If equipped with the right supplies, this is usually a nice change of environment. In this case, it was not my ideal 9 to 5. If you […]

By C.D. Allen
cdavidallen(at)gmail.com 
It’s Valentine’s Day.  This happens once a year.  We buy candy, jewelry, cards and flowers for each other.  We take each other out to dinner.  Sometimes we do a lot, sometimes a little but it’s all to make someone special feel special.  Sometimes we write the whole thing off.  Regardless of what you […]

By JENNIFER KARPIK
pshh_jenxownsx0@hotmail.com
How many boyfriends have you had? Can you count them all on one hand? The real question is: How many of them turned out to be the biggest jerks you have ever met? But what happens when you two break up, seven months pass, and that jerk becomes the most amazing person you […]

By JAMES “TATTOO” CHAPRACKI
geocities.com/tattoospinstiping
The picture is a little dark, but it’s one of Tattoo’s favorites.

By LAURA SIMON
laura.m.simon(at)gmail.com
With the Super Bowl a memory, it must only mean one thing: Spring Training is upon us! While those of us in the Northeast are getting slammed with snow, pitchers and catchers begin to report for the spring practices on Tuesday. One person who most likely will not be reporting is Bernie Williams. […]

I put my foot in my mouth when I said I’d captain a Shape Up PA team. The program is to get Pennsylvania residents active. You can have up to 10 people on your team, and you average weight lost or activity minutes logged.
I’m quite possibly the most lazy skinny person you’ll ever meet, so […]

By LISA SOKOLOWSKI
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. That’s the glorious life of a rock star, right?
Wrong.
There’s more. And I don’t mean tour busses or long distance phone calls home. I mean attitudes.
When I went to see the Goo Goo Dolls last week, it was the opening night of their “Let Love In” tour. To […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Happy Sunday! Just a reminder for anyone who is so busy they forgot… Valentine’s Day is Wednesday. Even though my heart is a little broken (fiancé and are aren’t together anymore) I still think Valentine’s Day is a cute holiday.
I think about elementary school when you gave out those cards and candy hearts […]

“I Wanna”
By Peter D. Oliver
i wanna be a poet
and lose and find my love
i wanna be a poet
need no guidence from above
i wanna be a poet
and sit before the sea
transcribe lines given from
the fool inside of me
i wanna be a poet
never wash my hair
wanna be a poet
dine on madness, percs and cocaine
and never have to […]

By DIZZ TATE
dizztate(at)hotmail.com
“I love accessories. But do I wear them? No.”
Statements like this are often uttered by Grace Suarez and are said with such persuasive and easy-to-listen-to confidence, I find myself barely noticing, too busy being pushed off to the next point about anything and everything. Sitting back in her chair, as low as she […]

By BEN SZMANDA
John Cheever is one of the modern greats. There really is no comparison to his short stories: they are tightly written, they are filled with believable, interesting characters, and they lead to honest, and sometimes painful, conclusions. That said, I wasn’t a huge fan of his novel, Bullet Park. […]

By Roxy Retail
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
Welcome back my fashionistas-in-training. I’m beginning to feel unappreciated. I pour out all my fashion tips for you, and for what? Not even a comment.
Alas, we move forward.
Today we discuss the combover.
I have a balding coworker, and another coworker asked what I thought. Should he shave it or leave it be?
The cue ball […]

By MICHELLE L.
Satine81(at)aol.com
I was in a horror movie kind of mood last weekend, but unfortunately I’m one of those lame-os who gets nightmares after I watch them, so after some intense searching on Netflix, I found Slither (2006). It sounded like more of a comedy than a horror movie. The plot of the film centers […]

By CATHY S.
sokocathy(at)gmail.com
We’re off to Hollywood! Hopefully your Top 12 choices will all make it through the individual and group competitions to become one of the Top 24.
Speaking of your Top 12, I thought it would be fun to see who has the best ears and eyes for talent. You have been giving […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
petunia5045(at)gmail.com
Ever since I dove into the pros and cons of working from home, I began to recall the year-and-a-half I spent working out of someone else’s home office.
I was working as an assistant/associate to a talent manager. Talent managers, depending on their client list, can and do work out of their home to […]

By JENNIFER KARPIK
pshh_jenxownsx0(at)hotmail.com
Let’s talk about lying. I guess it’s a typical topic, but we’re going to mention the lying that you don’t do. We’re going to cut to the chase: How many times have you looked at a boy [dating or just seeing] and simply said “kiss me”? I’ll speak for most girls when I […]

By C.D. Allen
cdavidallen(at)gmail.com
Geneticists now tell us that we are more or less half of our mothers and half of our fathers.  Each of us is a quarter of each of our grandparents, a 16th of each great grandparent, a 32nd of each great great grandparent, etc.Of course this only applies to our genes.
I, personally, am not […]

By JAMES “TATTOO” CHAPRACKI
geocities.com/tattoospinstriping
This is Tattoo’s living room table. It’s an amazing backdrop for the photos of his eggs.

By LAURA SIMON
laura.m.simon(at)gmail.com
Well… the big game has come and gone… and yes, I picked incorrectly, but I’m quite okay with my pick. I had to stand behind my boys… and Robbie Gould did his job, so I’m happy. (Speaking of Robbie… I found two shirts on ebay… I LOVE them! So, if you want to […]

By LISA SOKOLOWSKI
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
My musical tastes used to be scattered. I listened to ’80s pop when I was a kid, listening to “Manic Monday” and “Janie’s Got A Gun” like they were the greatest songs every written.
For me, they were.
A few years later, I fell asleep to the oldies station, loving songs like “Earth Angel.”
Then I […]

I was getting in my car last this weekend when I witnessed the results of a crime – a CD was lying face down in the parking lot. What a sin! I picked up the CD and flipped it over. There were hardly any scratches, so it couldn’t have been there for long. It was […]

“Hoodlum Days”
Peter D. Oliver
turn them away in mass
turn them toward their graves
past all the fables
straight thru to the rewards
to the only thing that saves.
knock - knock the door down and take what we want
forever’s not here yet
we’ll see you in heaven
or wherever we end
and that’s where we’ll repay our debt.
there we’ll tell all the stories […]

By DIZZ TATE
dizztate(at)hotmail.com
Walking along a crowded corridor, there are often few people who truly stand out. Pair of jeans after pair of jeans become a blur of familiarity and, basically, boredom. And seriously, haven’t we seen enough of brand name tees? If I see another baby blue Hollister t-shirt, {I’ve seen three so far, and it’s […]

By BEN SZMANDA
Professional rabble rouser Eric Schlosser’s book, Reefer Madness, is an examination of three aspects of the black market: marijuana, illegal labor and the now omnipresent porn. The underground economy is something that polite society likes to look past, and yet, as Schlosser notes, we do so at our extreme peril; as of 1994 […]

By Josiah Hager
First off, allow me to say that this list is not meant to be a definitive list of the best TV shows, the most important ones or the most influential. Hopefully, some of these shows fit those criteria, but those standards were not the formula with which I formed the list. These are the […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Happy Saturday readers! Hope everyone’s week was awesome; mine sucked. I have this new job where all I do is file or answer phones, which is a huge change from my other jobs where I am in charge and doing everything. So I’m bored and need a change. But what else is new… […]

By SUSAN LULGJURAJ
yanxchick(at)gmail.com
Have you ever seen a play at a poker game that just baffled you? You sit there and wonder, ‘What the heck was he thinking?’
Well, the easy answer is: He wasn’t.
Poker is an intellectual game and don’t let anyone tell you differently. Sure, there is gambling involved and a bit of luck, but […]

By Roxy Retail
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
A lot of people come up to me to tell me I have perfect hair.
I say thank you, then quickly turn the conversation to anything else – the weather, the Knicks, Al Gore’s ideas on foreign public policy.
It’s not that I don’t have perfect hair because, well, I do. But, as a woman […]

By MICHELLE L.
satine81(at)aol.com
And the Best Picture Goes to… Little Miss Sunshine (2006)!
In the spirit of Oscar season, I wanted to review a movie that is up for several awards. No… it’s not The Departed, and no… it’s not Dreamgirls either. It’s Little Miss Sunshine, an “indie” flick starring Toni Collette (Muriel’s Wedding, In Her Shoes), […]

By CATHY S.
sokocathy(at)gmail.com
I received email from a cactus i.v. reader who wanted to let me know that Kenneth Briggs (the “bush monkey”) and Jonathan Jayne, the friend he made at the auditions in Seattle, have become celebrities. They have agents and are being called “William Hungians.” They have appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, The […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
laniep(at)gmail.com
Working from home can seem like a sweet deal: Working in your jammies, taking many snack breaks, smoking in the workplace.
If you work from home, you also have more freedom. You don’t have a boss breathing down your neck. You don’t have the IT department spying on what you are doing on your computer. […]