I interviewed Nikki Sixx and Kelly Gray while I was totally wired but not in a good way

My interview with Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx and his partner Kelly Gray is in the current issue of Genlux magazine. Gray, the daughter of the St. Johns Knits founders, and Sixx teamed up to start Royal Underground, an incredibly badass line of clothing that is the favorite of rock n' roll royalty. I asked them if a writer mom with two kids could rock a little Royal Underground, and Sixx just laughed and said that, speaking as a father of four, no matter what we wear our kids will never think we're cool. Well, mister, obviously you've never seen my bedazzled mom jeans and studded fanny pack.

I interviewed them over the phone, and coincidentally later that day a friend called to tell me she had a phone interview coming up and was wondering what high-tech equipment I used to talk to all these high-falutin' celebrities. I told her to come over and check it out, but that if she was expecting something out of Mission Impossible she was going to be disappointed because my desk looks like it belongs to a high school science nerd circa 1970. All that's missing is a can of Cactus Cooler and a tube of Clearasil. Okay maybe just the Cactus Cooler.

Last year I went to Radio Shack and bought a small tape recorder that is used specifically for recording calls off the phone. Sounds shady, I know, and I think the clerk even mumbled something about only previously selling them to middle-aged men with shifty eyes. Then, because I always like to have an additional recording source as backup, recently the friendly clerk at Radio Shack (who I'm now on a first-name basis with and is probably going to ask me to adopt him), suggested a recording earphone. One end plugs into the recorder and the other end has a small device that you put in whichever ear you would put the phone receiver up to.

I know you're starting to get an unbelievably sexy mental image of me right now. Hold on, let me put on my retainer.

Anyway, by the time I'm ready to do a phone interview, I've got enough wires running in and around me that I'm almost afraid to take a sip of my coffee because I think that a spilled drop will set off an electrical fire. I imagine Rigel and the girls finding my body, burned to a crisp in my office chair and the only way they'll know for sure it's me is by the piece of metal with the Radio Shack logo embedded in my corpse.

But don't let this nerdy scenario scare you away from reading the interview. Both Sixx and Gray were really funny and smart and real, and I have a feeling that even if they could see me on the other end of the phone wrapped in my fifty cords and wires they wouldn't judge me. Especially if they saw my fanny pack with the Mötley Crüe logo on it.


Click here to read the text.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: royal underground | genlux magazine | nikki sixx | kelly gray | motley crue

Tweet Pin It

The Book of Mila Kunis

My interview with actress Mila Kunis is in the current issue of Genlux magazine. When I told people I was going to interview her the question I got most often was, "Who is Mila Kunis?" and "Does this mean you'll be able to pay me back the $20 you owe me?" To answer the first question, Mila currently stars in The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington but you might know her from That 70's Show and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The answer to the second question is, "No, and as your mother I'm deeply offended."

I've never had an interview subject get upset by any questions I've asked -- I thought for sure Kim Kardashian would bolt when I brought up O.J. Simpson but she was open and candid about the whole thing -- but Mila got pretty agitated when I brought up something about her I had found online. It involved her audition for "That '70s Show," and was a story about how she had lied about her age. All audition participants were required to be 18 years old, but Mila was only 14 and told producers she was going to be 18 "on her birthday," not specifying which birthday. She got the part despite having misled them, and her creativity in gaining the audition was said to have factored in to her being cast.

Personally, I thought it was a pretty awesome story and was thinking to myself how I was going to start telling people that I turned 30 "on my birthday."

Well, when I brought this up let's just say Mila wasn't congratulating me on my fine internet research skills. She said, "Alright, look -- I'm putting an end to this story right now!" and proceeded to tell me how sick she was of hearing it, what an old story it was and how she's been asked it for years and how she wished I was dead.

Okay, I made up that last part, but she was pretty hoppin' mad and my habit of beating a dead horse didn't help any when I then asked her, "So, is it true?" She kind of breathed a is-this-freaking-interview-over-yet sigh and then she said, "I didn't say it wasn't true." I finally left it at that because who needs Mila Kunis pissed at you? Not me.

I did find out she shops at Target and likes to sleep in, though, which makes her alright in my book.


You can read the interview and see all the awesome photos here.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: mila kunis | genlux magazine | the book of eli

Tweet Pin It

I interviewed Jennifer Love Hewitt in my pajamas

I interviewed Jennifer Love Hewitt for the new issue of Genlux magazine. We were supposed to meet for lunch one day last month, but after going back and forth with her publicist for a few days and trying to fit it into Jennifer's crowded schedule, it was decided that it would be easier to do the interview over the phone. I actually like it better this way, since it doesn't require me to brush my hair, or put on clothes or any of those other time-wasting, totally unnecessary tasks. Also, there's no chance of me pulling my iPhone out of my purse during an interview and finding a granola bar stuck to it, or getting the urge to wrap up all of Mischa Barton's shrimp dumplings and take them home with me because she hadn't touched any of them.

So while it would have been nice to hang out with J-Love in a fancy restaurant and sip some wine while we chatted over a nice bread basket and a plate of expensive cheese, I got to interview her from the comfort of my own home. While wearing my pajamas. With unbrushed hair. If that image doesn't just scream 'professional journalist' I don't know what does.

I interviewed her while she was on the set of the Ghost Whisperer and she was as nice as you would imagine her to be; she started of by apologizing for not being able to meet in person and thanked me for working around her schedule. In turn I think I said something crazy like, "It's better this way because then I won't try and wrap up your dumplings." In a related story, I don't understand why I'm not getting more paying jobs.

My favorite part of the interview was when, after rattling off some of her favorite designers (Marc Jacobs, Narisco Rodriguez, Christian Louboutin) she admitted that lately she's being doing most of her shopping at...Forever 21. At that moment I thought, 'Now here's a girl I can hang out with!' I wonder if she ever goes anywhere without brushing her hair. Probably not.

You can read the entire article here. Try not to spoil it by imagining me in my pajamas.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: jennifer love hewitt | genlux magazine | the ghost whisperer

Tweet Pin It

I just figured out what to do with the kids this summer

I took Kira and Kiyomi shopping the other day and figured out that in a few years I'll be flat broke and homeless. When someone asks me why I'm living in a tent on Wilshire boulevard and eating cat food with my weathered, blistered fingers, I can tell them how it's all because of a couple of pairs of leggings from American Apparel and that sequined tunic from Hot Topic.

Then I found this story about a girl who made her own prom dress out of coffee filters and my mind started racing. Why, with an entire summer stretching before us and a garage full of paper goods from Costco, I can get the girls to make their own back-to-school wardrobe! I can see it now - a few paper towels and a Swiffer cloth magically transforms into a chic miniskirt, and a box of dryer sheets and a couple of lunch sacks becomes that rad hoodie I refused to pay $58 dollars for. And turn them loose with a stack of foam plates and a pack of picnic napkins and the sky's the limit for the kinds of purses they'll turn out. Sure some people may call it 'cheap' but I call it saving the earth while saving my wallet and cleaning out my garage at the same time.

Wait till you see the plans I have for turning yesterday's yard clippings into tomorrow's dinner casserole.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: teens | tweens | summer activities | little fashionistas

Tweet Pin It