The Story of Our Pregnancy

Seamus and I had sex.

(No pictures available).

The first month I did not get pregnant.
Seamus was confused.


The next month...

At first we didn't believe it. We took a lot of tests.

I thought it would be great to take a photo of every day and track my belly's growth.
This is day 1.
This is day 4.

It seemed to be taking a while to see a big change, so we waited a little bit before the next photo.

Maybe too long.
This was the next in the series - about 5 months later.


Since Seamus was on the WGA strike line every day, we were planning to write "My Tummy Needs Healthcare" on my stomach and march with the strike baby.

But luckily the strike got settled before we pimped our unborn child.

This is the dress that my friend Anna wore to our wedding 9 months ago.

And here it is on me.


This past weekend Expectant Grandma Betsy was in town.
She and my friends Alexa, Deb, Sonia and Kendall threw me a baby shower.
There are a ton of photos up at http://aliyahandseamus.smugmug.com


The party was amazing. Just an overwhelming experience of games and gifts and friends and honey baked ham.


While the ladies and babies did their thing - Seamus and baby James went to a Red Sox Game and played poker.

Two of the gifts we got were hooded towels.
I thought they were for 3-7 months, but it's actually 3-7 years.
Seamus and I will enjoy them in the meantime.

Man I'm getting big.
Just 55 days to GO!

Trading Spaces Tonight -Set your TIVOs

For the last few months – I’ve had two projects afoot.
There’s Spanky McPants Pants, code name for the little girl I’m gestating inside me, and Trading Spaces.

Only one is ready for prime time – and that’s the original makeover breakout hit – Trading Spaces.
It’s refreshed, revamped and awesome!
Now the traders have reasons to trade, starting tonight at 10 PM with a divorced couple looking to improve their strained relationship by redoing each other’s bedrooms.

For the production buffs among you, we shot in HD with multi-cam, a jib and all sorts of production bells and whistles that make the show look HOT!
(I watched the online and HD is better than vision!)
For the TS fans among you – Paige Davis is back! If you are in NY she’s evidently also 6 stories high in Times Square.

Check it out on TLC after the Miss America contest.

Spanky will be premiering at or around May 27th.

Liam on Letterman tonight, Paige Davis on Ellen tomorrow & Trading Spaces premieres on Saturday at 10 PM

It's a big media week for the Silverstein/Hurley clan.

Liam and Josh Ritter will be playing Letterman tonight along with John Edwards and Diablo Cody - Stripper turned Juno writer. Shockingly Paris Hilton is not on again. She's been a perenial guest since the SAG folks are refusing to cross the picket line at CBS.

As for Diablo, I'm not sure whether I've got a soft spot for funny movies featuring pregnant ladies - but I loved Juno and cracked up rewatching Knocked Up. I highly recommend getting pregnant and falling asleep in front of pregnant lady comedies.

Tomorrow, Paige Davis will be on Ellen with a clip featuring a 13 pound bag of beans.

And Saturday night we FINALLY premiere Trading Spaces.

It's been an action packed week full of mini-post fires, incompatible graphics and last minute notes - so tune in Saturday night at 10 PM on TLC to watch either a very special extended Miss America contest or the best episode ever of Trading Spaces featuring the triumphant return of Paige Davis and a divorced couple redoing each other's bedrooms.

** This episode airs at 10 PM, but moving forward the next 12 episodes will air at 9 PM.

Oh Yeah - Watch Wife Swap Tomorrow Night

The episode of wife swap that I co-directed with Stephen Pettinger (one director per house) got picked to be the season premier!!

It's a beauty pageant stage mother who swaps place with a feminist Mormon preacher who home schools her kids to protect them from misogyny.

Please tune in tomorrow night at 8 PM on ABC.

Aliyah

NEW YEAR AND A NEW HURLEY (in gestation)!!!

It's been forever - or at least months - since our last posting. This is the problem of having no counter, feedback or accountability to the blog.
It still feels like a not so private diary of indulgence so there's no "you never write" guilt.

Although we've been lax on the digital front - we have been incredibly busy.

Seamus tends to start his days at 4 am, pull on a red shirt and heads out to rable rouse.
More specifically, he is the rabble rouser in charge of the Writers Guild strike line at Universal/NBC.

He's got fantastic stories that I will let him share in another post.

As for me - wiped out by 6 stimulating but exhausting months on Wired Science, I had lofty plans of an extended NY vacation with family and friends around Thanksgiving, but instead I rolled straight into running the upcoming season of Trading Spaces on TLC.

Paige Davis - whom I adore - is back and it's a whole new team at TLC so the show is being revamped into a network worthy, primetime feeling, tentpole series. So far episode 1 looks killer so we just need to keep hitting the high bar we've set for ourselves.

The downside is that it's a 7 day a week job because we air weekly starting Jan 26th.
The upside, I really like the folks I'm working with.

Because of the unexpected new job and it's Saturday after Thanksgiving start date - instead of 10 days in NY, Conn and DC, I spent 2 glorious days on my parents couch holding my perfect nephew Jackson Ezra (son to Josiah and Felicia) and surrounded by my parents, in-laws, grandma, extended family, and my favorite Aunt.

More on Jackson:
Hes beautiful, smart, highly advanced and very handome.
He doesn't actually do much yet - so we entertained ourselves by feeding, changing and bathing him - and also putting a speakerphone under his butt to pretend he could talk.


More on my aunt:
Sydne is now fully recovered from the bout with cancer that left her alternately voiceless, prodded with needles, soldiering through chemo and surgery and generally uncomfortable. She is full of energy again and back to high spirits. We are all REALLY, REALLY grateful.

And in the spirit of burying the lead.
I am pregnant with a baby girl who is due to make her entrance into the world on May 27th.
Seamus and I cannot wait. Her "inside" name is Spanky McPantsPants and there is a short video of her at 13 weeks below. The part at the beginning where it gets cloudy is me cracking up and laughing when I first saw the image.

Oh my god - it really looks like a baby!

Much love to all!

Aliyah and Seamus

Don't Ask Don't Tell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Johnson_Air_Force_Base
I'll take this as proof that either 13 year old boys or Bart Simpson are at least the rank that is in charge of naming bases.

In cat news, the cat #4 was very pregnant. Stephanie took her home to birth the kittens. We'll see how that turns out. She didn't look pregnant at all, so my hopes are low. For any other cats, I be changing my tactics. I think I can get some help from the neighborhood, so I returned Jennifer's trap to her.

In Red Sox news:
This is a picture of Manny hitting a ball so hard it landed in the Bronx. Rumor has it the ball landed in Jetter's make-up kit, shattering his compact's mirror and giving him 7 years bad luck.

The Reviews Are Already Coming In!

NY Daily News
8:00 p.m. (13) "Wired Science." This may be the most successful attempt
by PBS in a decade or more, going all the way back to "Alive From Off
Center," to aggressively court a younger, cutting-edge audience. That
series was all about the arts. This one, coming from the folks at Wired
magazine, is all about the sciences - including a bank robbery done via
the Internet.

Detroit Free Press
Wired Science" (10:30 p.m., WTVS-TV, Channel 56, PBS). Series premiere.
Produced in association with Wired magazine, the fast-paced weekly
journal, co-hosted by Chris Hardwicke and Kamala Lopez, explores
cutting-edge advances in science and technology. Sharp, informative, fun.

Westchester NY Times Herald
The new series "Wired Science" (8 p.m., PBS) offers a quick and
entertaining roundup of science and technology stories. The experts are
young, and the tone is fast and cheeky.

TV Barn, syndicated
Joining "Nova" and "Nature" on the PBS lineup this week, "Wired Science"
is a wholly successful adaptation of the leading print magazine of new
technology. It's fast-paced, yet substantial; serious, yet with a light
touch.

USA Today
PBS teams with Wired magazine for Wired Science (tonight, 8 ET/PT, times
may vary), which promises to take an irreverent approach to scientific
subjects. Up first is a report on a botnet attack on Estonia's banks and
newspapers. And if the term "botnet" is a stumper, then the show and PBS
are fulfilling their educational mission.

Hartford Courant
In an attempt to present a hipper version of "Nova," the new "Wired
Science" (CPTV, 8 p.m.) uses the resources of the tech magazine Wired to
present a mélange of interesting developments, usually involving the
Internet. It starts with a story about a huge Internet crash in Estonia
caused by robots. The smart-alecky host you're trying to place is Chris
Hardwick, the former host of "Shipmates."

Hollywood Reporter
Bottom Line: Mr. Wizard" for the grown-up but hip generation

My friend Vic Sarjoo -
"Hey -- This is great. It's like 3-2-1-contact for adults.
Watching the russkies cyber-attack Estonia segment online now.
I'm genuinely engaged."

Dan Abrams (to me and Damon Gambuto, producer extraordinaire) : "Overall, I would watch and enjoy this show even if I didn't know you worked on it.But because you're two of the smartest, most entertaining people I know I get the positive vicarious kick that surpasses my higher expectations."
Check out Damon's blog at http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/blogs/2007/10/the-making-of.html

My Dad -
"Hey Sweetie, It was great, we loved your show. We watched it all the way to the end and your card was longer than David Byrne's. We're very proud."

GET WIRED

Dear Friends,

The first of ten episodes of Wired Science, the series I've been producing, premieres on October 3rd. That's this Wednesday at 8 PM on PBS.

I'm incredibly proud of the show.
It's smart, funny, engaging and has taught me loads that I didn't know before.

Check out the video previews at:
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/

The hosts are:
Chris Hardwick (yes, from singled Out). He's friggin hilarious and a legit geek.
His website is http://hardnphirm.wordpress.com/. (PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO UNDER FEINGLASS GETS PHIRMED - V FUNNY)
Ziya Tong - super hottie and smartie pants. In addition to being a great host (she's won the Canadian equivalwent of an Emmy) she's also a good friend and the person who recommended me for this gig.
Kamala Lopes who is talented & lovely &, like me, went to Midwood High School AND was on Sesame Street as a kid. What are the chances?
Adam Rogers - he's the science editor for Wired Magazine and the Meteorite Hunters pieces was his first TV appearance. He's a natural & this show will make him a star.

Depending on what kind of TV viewer you are, maybe you'll watch it because you donate to PBS and you want to know how I’m spending your money, or perhaps you'll watch it because it's HD and it will let you enjoy the full functionality of your flat screen investment, or maybe you'll watch because you are my grandma.

Whatever reason you watch, I think you’ll enjoy it.

If you prefer not to commit your TIVO time until you know what the UConn Daily Campus has o say - well look no further. There is a ridiculously hyperbole filled review at: http://media.www.dailycampus.com/media/storage/paper340/news/2007/09/26/Focus/Wired.Takes.On.Tv.In.science-2992949.shtml

In other news, I've been spending loads of time in the edit bay.
For any of you who work in television (or movies or promos), you'll appreciate these two links.
Rough Cut Lady (went around last year, but still hilarious).
Impossible Promo Approval Guy

Aliyah

Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2, line 137 vs. I'm Gonna Get You Sukkah

"...That it should come to this!"

It is hard to write the words that express how great this week is.

(1) The Red Sox won the division title tonight!

It has been 12 years. We've been to the play-offs since then. We've even won the World Series since then. And, admittedly, I was worried for a while that a 14 & 1/2 game lead this season would ultimately be squandered.

I also admit during the second half of the season I regularly sent e-mails to Julian Tavarez offering him increasing amounts of money to stab Julio Lugo. [Not "career-ending-stab," just "60-day-DL-stab."] Then it was J. D. Drew. Finally, I just wanted Gange to have an "kitchen accident." By the end, $300 was the most I could raise. Perhaps I didn't try hard enough. Or, more likely, I should have just cut to the chase and solicited Yankees fans. Regardless, jtarvarez@dustyballs.com never responded.

An obscene amount of my time this week was spent being a Lay-Z-Boz Francona and debating other Red Sox fans and several homeless people (side-note: there is significant overlap between these groups in Los Angeles) if it would have been better to be well-rested and the wild card team or to be the division champions and tired. Now it is a moot point and sadly I can't get those hours (or the 3% of my Pabst-eaten liver) back.

ANYWAY...

The Red Sox beat the Twins (as it should be) and the Yankees lost to the Orioles on a bunt in the tenth inning. If there is any justice, Jeter-tear-flavored Cheerios will be on E-Bay tomorrow.

(2) The Festival of Sukkot has started!

By far this is my favorite Jewish ceremony. (A) We get to sleep outside. (B) By sleeping outside we pay respect to people who had the courage and dignity to rise up and declare "I built the pyramids. Up the Pharaoh with this a slave thing!"

Early on, Aliyah and I agreed to raise our children Jewish and Red Sox fans. I look forward to building the Sukkah with them, explaining why we are sleeping outside, and teaching them that their ancestors (both Jewish and Irish) never backed down, and that it will be a cold day in Hell before they do.

Lastly, here is my favorite version of "Hamlet":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNmL2jX7M2M

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day

Today was International Talk Like a Pirate day. I hope all you scallywags had clear skies.

In my attempt not to obsess over the Red Sox's diminishing lead over the Yankees, I thought about my second biggest baseball wish: I want the Brewers to win the NL Central Division.

The Cubs and the Brewers are tied for the division, and I feel the Cubs fans' pain, but I want to see this more:

http://peeyourpantsforthebrewers.com/

Being a NL Central fan must be awesome because you get to see to two teams with the best names, the Brewers and the Pirates, play all the time. Often they play each other. Awesome.

Don't get me wrong - I am proud of my team, but I wouldn't mind it if we weren't named after smelly clothing. The original Boston team was called the Boston Americans. That was a great name. After that there were the Boston Braves, which became the Atlanta Braves. Also a great name, but I understand that it is/was taken after they moved.

Then we got another team (imported from Minnesota I think) and somehow, instead of going with a name that would declare to the world how great we are, that would intimidate our opponents, we got... socks. Stinky, stinky socks. Misspelled. Why? What was the logic? "Oh no! Look out everybody! Here come the Sox! Hide your borax and your washboards!"

Speaking of logic, once upon a time I studied for the LSAT. This was an actual LSAT prep course question, and now it makes a lot more sense:

Fill in the blank with the most logical choice. American patriot, fierce Brave warrior, sock, ______.

(A) panty hose
(B) rubber shoes
(C) Curt Schilling
(D) Bucky F. N. Dent
(E) a sense of fulfillment
(F) a ski mask
(G) a glove
(H) a tapeworm
(I) Snuggle, the Fabric Softener Bear

CAT UPDATE: I hadn't gotten my trap or Cat #3 back yet so I called Stephanie during lunch today. She just called back with the best news possible. Cat #3 is being adopted! Century Vet rocks!