Damn. Sometimes I wish I was still an anonymous blogger. And that’s the only thing I’m gonna say publicly about last night.

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Photo credit: Davide Guglielmo

• The History of Christmas. Wanna know the origins of the upcoming holiday? Check out The History Channel’s website. Despite what you may have heard, The History Channel is *not* changing their name to “The WWII Channel”. They have programming unrelated to the war; it’s rare, but it exists.

• How to Have a Green Christmas. Learn how to reduce your carbon footprint during the holidays. Newsweek tells you everything you need to know about eco-friendly lights, shopping, wrapping, trees and cards.

• Bah Humbug. The New Yorker explores the war on Christmas.

• Santa Takes Manhattan. There’s still time to nab a kickass photo with the fat man. New York magazine tells you where to find Santa in the streets of Manhattan.

• Holiday Guide 2007. Time Out New York asks you to take a “drink of our yuletide wisdom as though it were a hot toddy on a snowy New York night.”

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Photo Credit: Marius Muresan

Somehow, when none of us were looking, Casey Affleck morphed from that “goofy pale kid with the annoying voice” to “Ben Affeck’s HOT little brother (with the annoying voice)”. I finally went to see Gone Baby Gone over the weekend. Strong acting. Beautifully shot. Good story. I’m glad I saw the movie. As I mentioned before, Casey grew up nice and good. Morgan Freeman still rocks the “charming and distinguished” sexy factor quite well. Man, I love this time of year at the movies. Lots of great stuff on the big screen. Is Why Did I Get Married still in the theaters? Has anyone seen Atonement yet? Is No Country for Old Men as good as everyone says it is? If you’ve seen any good flicks lately, feel free to leave suggestions or recommendations in the comment section. Tell us what’s good, and what’s not worth the $11.75 movie ticket. Or, of course, tell us how much it costs to buy a movie ticket in your city. :)

Related FBC post

• Wouldn’t You Like to Be a Coppola, Too?

[Wipes sweat from brow.] Whew! I did it. OMG, this week was insane. Busy. Busy. Busy. I feel totally drained and exhausted. Apologies for the post-free days. Here’s what’s been going on … This week, my mornings and evenings have been unusually packed. I don’t blog about work, so you’ll read no details about my mornings here. At night, I spent A LOT of time writing. I worked on a “relationships” feature for a national women’s site, and I finished a “lifestyle” piece for a publication that pushes emerging artists in fashion, film and other great arenas. Both articles were spoken for — i.e. I already knew where and (a general idea of) when they’d be published. [Random sidnote: When I relaunch/redesign this site, FBC 4.0, I'll include links to my articles.] Okay, so, those are the things that I’d contracted to write. I’m also working on a piece that I promised my friend Rachel. I swear that woman is going to kill me if I don’t get it to her soon. (Rachel, baby, if you’re reading, don’t kill me!!! It’s coming.)

Now, let’s talk about the “other” writing project.

It’s a personal essay that touches on, among other things, how my childhood shaped my love life. A nod goes out to my writing group for the constructive criticism they gave me. Also, of course, I want to publicly thank Susan Shapiro for all of her wonderful direction and feedback. She’s one of my “gurus”, and I’m reading her book “Only as Good as Your Word” right now. She does a lot of writing about relationships. Her book “Five Men Who Broke My Heart” was optioned for Paramount Pictures film. You’ll see the story on the big screen soon. And, if I ever have a chance to interview Susan for funkybrownchick.com (or Nerve), you’ll see her on your computer screen via the blog.

Okay, folks; that’s all I’ve got for you today. I’ll keep you posted on any developments with the personal essay. I wrote it because I wanted to write it, but I also penned the thing because I really needed to do it. It’s like that “don’t die with the music still in you” quote. If you’ve got something really creative and special living inside of you, it’s important to you. And you HAVE TO get it out during your brief time on earth. So, that’s what I did. I wrote the story. Fingers crossed!

Go there. Long story. More later.

Link: No More Mr. White (American) Guy

It’s time for a very French “Manly Monday” dessert. As some of you know, I recently re-watched the Magnolia Pictures film Broken English. My short synopsis:

Angst-ridden, 30-something Nora (Parker Posey) wonders why her dating life is so fucked up. “What’s wrong with me?” she asks her married friends until an attractive Frenchman named Julien (Melvil Poupaud) changes her luck in love.

Oh la la! The boys from France. What proper red-blooded American woman doesn’t have dreams of being swept away by a sexy Frenchman?! I swear the water over there must be infused with extra ounces of sexy.

From left to right, top to bottom: soccer players Zindine Zidane and Thierry Henry; and actors Michael Vartan, Louis Garrel, Melvil Poupaud and Romain Duris. Feel free to use the comment section to tell us which Frenchman you’d like to eat for desert. (For the record, I choose Zinedine!)

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FBC @ Nerve Today:
Don’t Kill Him, Girl: The Funky Brown Chick’s Survival Guide to Dating White Men

Related FBC Posts:
Zinedine Zidane: Is He Hot or Not?
Crazy Love ( … flick from Magnolia Pictures — the same folks did Broken English

Related Non-FBC links:
French Men Talk about Lingerie
American women, French men: A dangerous chemistry
French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)